Cultivation through Skin Making

A few days later...

"Ouch, ouch, ouch~~~"

The shrill sound of pigs echoed at the top of the cliff.

But the sound soon faded and then disappeared.

Song Yan swiftly killed with a single blow, then took a bucket to catch the fresh pig blood, and skillfully skinned and cut the meat. After hanging the pig skin aside, he began to process the meat.

As luck would have it, a few days ago, after being robbed by bandits, they ventured to the mountaintop and actually found a bandit's hideout, pretending to be vagabonds of Jianghu, robbing the bandit's mountain.

It turns out this bandit hideout was quite wealthy, so... they got pigs, got sheep, got pots and pans, and also collected quite a bit of alcohol.

Although these drinks were not as good as the fine wine from the city, many were self-brewed from mountain villages, mostly fruit wine, and had a unique taste.

Song Yan built pigsties and sheepfolds, leaving enough pigs and sheep, letting males and females live separately, and every few days bringing them together to mate and give birth. And today... he decided to first try his hand on a pig.

By evening, besides cooking ribs and meat soup, he also completed the pig skin shadow puppet, and after successfully seeing "[You have absorbed the remaining lifespan of a pig: 10 years]" such information, Song Yan continued to make. However, he did not make it into a living shadow puppet through summoning, but instead turned it into "spicy pig skin," and also made a portion of "pig skin jelly" to accompany the drink.

"So it is... Old Master Li..."

Madam Ling was stunned to see those familiar dishes.

Song Yan said, "Did I not tell you before?"

"No..."

Madam Ling had previously thought that Song Yan had sneaked into the secret realm team, but she did not expect him to actually be Old Master Li.

As for others related to the Flying Knife Gang, she might not know much, but she initially went for Old Master Li's famous skills, knowing more or less that the old master was a decent and honest local, with unrivaled grilled pork and pig skin, considered an old brand.

This...

Turns out it's Brother Song.

"Come, sit. After eating, you still have to hurry on your journey." Song Yan placed the delicious food on the table, casually sitting aside, and gathered the chopsticks made from secret realm wood.

Due to the characteristics of the "night candle soul worm," Madam Ling always traveled at night and rested during the day, even in the extreme southern wilderness.

Madam Ling sat down, took a bite of the spicy pig skin, then picked a piece of the skin jelly, complimented, and then gulped down soup.

The two sat facing each other, looking at each other, both somewhat speechless.

At this moment, memories of many years ago were brought back.

Back then, when he and she were still in Celestial Cloud City, there were four sparrows in the mansion, and the sparrows stewed lamb soup, the soup was delicious and warm, just like the rib soup now.

Only, things have changed dramatically, their identities have undergone earth-shattering changes, they are no longer people of Jianghu, but cultivators.

Fortunately, still not deviated, still on the same path.

Madam Ling said, "Brother Song, I heard that Old Master Li was an elderly rooted in Chao Li County, but there is no Profound Qi in Chao Li County, how do you usually cultivate?"

Song Yan pulled out a handful of Profound Crystal, scattering it on the table, and said, "I previously made a lot of shadow puppets on Puppet Peak, later exchanged them all for Profound Crystals."

"I see."

Madam Ling said, "Brother's actions are truly remarkably cautious. Just..."

She glanced at Brother Song's pigsties and sheepfolds, plus the wild boars, wild wolves, bears running along the riverside cliffs below, somewhat amusedly said, "Brother raising these, aren't you still making skins?"

Song Yan said, "A lifelong love, it's a habit."

Madam Ling suddenly recalled the scene when Song Yan fought Grandmother Zhu, manipulating ten shadow puppets with both hands, and finally used powerful magic to defeat Grandmother Zhu, she couldn't help but feel moved, exclaiming: 'Perhaps only someone as obsessed with a technique as Brother Song can have such deep mastery.'

She had a great opportunity, accidentally blending with the thoughts of a powerful insect cultivator, while Brother Song relied on his own two hands to struggle to this point. Thinking of this, Madam Ling couldn't help but admire more.

While eating, Madam Ling suddenly said, "Brother, it's close to summertime now, long days and short nights, it's still not dark at this time. To save some time, why don't we dual cultivate, and then I go out and hurry on my journey, how about it?"

Song Yan said, "Sounds good."

...

After the meal...

In the small wooden house.

For a long time...

"Brother, are you ready?" Madam Ling's dignified, calm voice suddenly came.

Song Yan asked, "You?"

Madam Ling coldly said, "I've always been waiting for Brother."

Song Yan said, "Come on."

...

Soon...

Madam Ling adjusted her clothes comfortably, put on the ghost face, left the secret realm, and continued her journey.

Originally fleeing everywhere, plus Grandmother Zhu's blade hanging high over her head, her mindset also became somewhat twisted to a certain extent, but now... it has become smoother in such peaceful dual cultivation and life.

...

...

Traveling along the edge of the Southern Wilderness all the way westward, finally arriving at a city on a sweltering summer day.

This city is called Linwu City, extremely barren, but in these ten miles around, it's the place with the most people.

Further west from Linwu City, is a place called "Hundred Thousand Mountains" of dense towering mountains.

The mountain is high and the terrain is steep, and it is the only passage to Western Shu.

This winding and rugged path is called "Coiling Silk Mountain Road" by the locals.

Since they were about to enter Snake Corpse Market, the two planned to stock up here.

This replenishment was mainly what Song Yan needed.

He planned to buy some pigs, sheep, horses, and the like, to keep in the Secret Realm, along with some daily necessities like tea, rice, oil, salt, and wine.

By then, he would have it transported by cart outside the city, and put it all into the Secret Realm, all without anyone noticing.

The two walked along the road to Linwu Mountain City, which was truly primitive compared to the northern towns... one stall after another lined up at the head of the road, with many displaying beautiful small gems, dried mushrooms, unknown bundles of grass, animal horn products, and so on...

Soon, Song Yan struck a deal with a local, preparing to obtain some cattle, sheep, and horses.

While discussing, a woman's scream suddenly rang out from the street, and the stallholders seemed accustomed to it, merely frowning, looking dejected, and with an expression as if observing their noses with their eyes, and their hearts with their noses.

Song Yan asked, "What's wrong?"

The person he made the deal with hurriedly pulled him, saying, "Young man, your companion may be wearing a ghost face, but she must be a pretty woman, right? That figure can't be hidden even in a black robe... trust the old man's advice, hide quickly. It's not good, they're coming!"

Saying this, the elder quickly ran inside the house.

Song Yan wisely took the advice, pulling Lady Ling's hand, and also slipped into the elder's house.

He spread his Divine Sense, covering the area.

On the street, a man with black cloth tied over his eyes, reeking of alcohol, was laughing carelessly, chasing after someone, shouting things like "Beautiful, don't run."

Ahead, a young lady with tattered clothes, sleeves partially exposed, was running in terror.

Even with his eyes covered, the man's Perception was extremely keen; no matter how silently the young lady tried to hide, he could always catch up.

Finally, this game of cat and mouse ended.

The man staggered and tackled the young lady to the ground, starting to do that thing right on the street.

The onlookers dared not watch, nor dared they move away, pretending they were non-existent while continuing their haggling and trading.

Song Yan's expression darkened.

Because, with just one glance, he saw this man's Profound Qi was almost depleted, yet he was unmistakably at the "Refining Profound Sixth Layer" Realm, and despite his disorganized moves, faint traces of Nanwu Sword Sect's Cultivation Technique could be glimpsed.

Song Yan was truly surprised, just as he was about to leave Southern Wu, he encountered such a person...

He became intrigued.

...

...

Bai Xiuhu, originally from a small city on the edge of Southern Wu called "Linwu City," relied on his Talent and a stroke of fortune to become a disciple of Nanwu Sword Sect, then helped his father become the City Lord of Linwu City.

He was emotionally and morally bound to his fellow Sword Sect brothers, always claiming with each drink that he had a clear conscience, loyal and valiant.

But after Puppet Sect and Nanwu Sword Sect tore their ties apart, battles between cultivators frequently erupted.

Bai Xiuhu, a Refining Profound Sixth Layer Cultivator, was also sent with his partner-brothers to execute patrol missions, and during one such encounter with Demon Sect disciples, in a brutal fight... his brothers died tragically, he intended to sacrifice himself but found himself suddenly cowardly. Had he acted, the captured junior sister might have had hope, but he was so terrified that he turned and fled.

Upon returning to the Sect, he spoke not of it, and the Sword Sect reassigned him to another team...

Months later, the same scene repeated.

And he made the same choice.

He didn't even dare to draw his sword, turned and escaped.

His Dao Heart completely collapsed.

He didn't return to Nanwu Sword Sect, fled to Linwu City like a madman, then behaved imperiously using his "cultivator status" and "City Lord's son status," indulging himself in debauchery as a form of venting.

At this moment, in that luxurious and secluded courtyard, Bai Xiuhu was brutally abusing a young girl, then, in a neurotic state, crying, "It's all my fault, it's all my fault."

The young girl trembled... after a while, unable to bear the torment, she fainted.

Bai Xiuhu's breathing gradually calmed, standing up, he glanced at the fainted young girl, checked her breath, and found she was dead, he was momentarily astonished, then coldly said, "I did nothing wrong, nothing!"

He sat alone in the courtyard, with a variable expression, pondering who knows what.

But whatever it was, he was like an overlord in this place, no one could do anything to him.

What's wrong with casually killing a few people?

And just then, his expression suddenly changed, a ghostly figure swiftly moved from afar to near, crossing a distance of over a hundred zhang in an instant, pointing at his forehead.

"You..."

Bai Xiuhu was utterly terrified, yet instantly lost consciousness.

Absorbing this information, Song Yan nonchalantly pointed to kill him, capturing his Divine Soul, turning it into a wandering ghost, then dropped a "Fox Grandmother" Shadow Puppet, imparting a strand of Divine Soul onto the "Fox Grandmother" Shadow Puppet using the technique.

The Grandmother Shadow Puppet shook and transformed into Bai Xiuhu's appearance, standing with hands behind back, coldly murmuring in the summer breeze, "I did nothing wrong, I did nothing wrong."

Having done all this... Song Yan glanced at the dead young girl and sighed softly, stepping forward to Soul Search, upon discovering the young girl's information, he did not capture her Soul, letting it depart, immediately fetching another Fox Demon Shadow Puppet, making it transform into the young girl's fainted form.

...

The next day...

Everything was calm.

Song Yan and Lady Ling had finished their shopping, embarking on the Coiling Silk Mountain Dao to Western Shu.