Translator: CinderTL
Xu Sanyan emptied the remaining two storage pouches and sorted through the contents. He found over 43,000 spirit stones, four soul crystals (plus two more from another pouch), and various miscellaneous items, magic artifacts, and medicinal pills.
After organizing everything, Xu Sanyan leaned against a tree trunk to rest, gazing upward in contemplation. As his cultivation level rose, he encountered increasingly secretive matters. Now, upon reflection, some of these encounters sent a chill down his spine.
The portrait in Wang Zixuan's room, the fleeting glimpse of fleshy tendrils in the Wang Family ancestral hall, and the Daoist Nun's terrifying appearance all assaulted his mind.
He had never heard of the "forbidden art" mentioned by the great elder.
Nor had he ever seen the sage of this world, despite being the holy son of the demonic sect. Even as the holy son, he had never met his own Sect Leader.
Are they truly unwilling to show themselves?
Xu Sanyan couldn't be sure, but he preferred to believe that these sages were simply unable to reveal themselves.
After all, he possessed a treasure that would surely tempt even a sage: the jade slip inscribed with the heavenly dao!
Putting himself in their shoes, he knew he would spare no effort to seize the jade slip.
"Sigh..."
Xu Sanyan sighed deeply. Despite his cultivation progress, his troubles hadn't diminished; in fact, they seemed to multiply with each breakthrough.
There was the Yaotian Holy Sect, which had existed for over thirty thousand years. Yet even the Heaven's Will Demon Subduing Temple, the oldest of the five great sects in the central region, was less than ten thousand years old. Where had those missing twenty thousand years gone?
He had never heard anyone mention them.
It seemed that only after breaking through to the Soul Refinement Realm had the world truly begun to reveal its mysterious corner to him.
As he pondered this, a golden streak of light suddenly flashed across the horizon, crashing heavily into the ground not far ahead. It plowed through several trees before finally coming to a stop.
The golden light was instantly familiar—it was the Great Elder of the Wang Clan.
That old bastard is still alive?
Thousand Autumns City lay in this direction, so it made sense that the great elder would be returning to the Wang Family. Their encounter here was hardly surprising.
But judging by his condition... he seemed severely injured.
Xu Sanyan narrowed his eyes. Void Harmony Realm experts truly weren't easy to kill; they could even survive encounters with that terrifying entity.
After a moment's thought, he rushed forward. The great elder lay sprawled on the ground, desperately trying to retrieve something from his storage pouch, but even his fingers barely twitched.
"Are you alright?" Xu Sanyan asked from a distance, careful not to approach further and give the great elder space.
The great elder's face was deathly pale. He glanced at Xu Sanyan, as if trying to speak, but the moment he opened his mouth, he vomited a large mouthful of blood.
"Medicinal pill..." The great elder's gaze fell to the storage pouch at his waist as he forced out the words.
Xu Sanyan stepped forward, unfastened the pouch, and rummaged through it, pulling out a pile of porcelain bottles. Unsure which contained the healing pills, he simply took them all out.
"Two pills," the great elder instructed, his gaze fixed on a pale green bottle, signaling Xu Sanyan to feed them to him.
Xu Sanyan nodded, uncorked the bottle, and a rich medicinal fragrance filled the air—the scent alone confirmed the pills' high quality.
Without hesitation, he poured out two brown pills and fed them to the great elder.
After swallowing the pills, the great elder closed his eyes to recuperate, falling silent.
Xu Sanyan stood quietly by, waiting. The great elder's survival was fortunate for him.
If the great elder had died, Xu Sanyan would have struggled to explain his return to the Wang Family. He had set out with over a dozen others, yet he alone had returned—the one with the lowest cultivation level. Anyone would suspect foul play.
But if he didn't return to the Wang Family, all his previous efforts would be wasted, and he'd have to find another place to settle.
When he had retrieved the medicinal pill earlier, Xu Sanyan had glanced at the great elder's storage pouch. It contained surprisingly little: a few porcelain bottles, medicinal pills, books, and miscellaneous items. There were even only a handful of spirit stones.
A powerhouse in the void harmony realm shouldn't have so little, Xu Sanyan thought. He must have other means of storing his valuables.
Xu Sanyan had no intention of killing the elder for his meager possessions. The risk far outweighed the reward, and besides, who knew what tricks the old man might still have up his sleeve?
After a long while, the great elder's deathly pale complexion gradually regained some color. His eyes slowly opened, and he looked at Xu Sanyan.
"Cough... Thank you, young friend."
"You're welcome, Great Elder," Xu Sanyan replied with a wave of his hand. He then asked, "May I ask why the Daoist Nun transformed into such a state?"
The great elder calmed the turbulent energy within his body. Perhaps out of gratitude for Xu Sanyan's help in retrieving the pill, he weakly explained, "That was a forbidden art. The path to immortality is fraught with temptations. Those who cannot resist will stray from the true path."
Xu Sanyan frowned inwardly. What's the point of saying that? It's as useful as a fart.
The great elder saw his confusion and shook his head, explaining, "It's not that I don't want to tell you, but I don't know where to begin. Forbidden arts differ from ordinary techniques. Even when multiple people cultivate the same art, their results will vary."
"Think of it like a grand road with countless branching paths. At certain junctures, different individuals will inevitably choose different routes."
"Ahem..."
The great elder clutched his chest as he slowly rose to his feet. "The reasons for cultivating forbidden arts are many. Some seek to prolong their lifespans, others to break through cultivation realms, or to achieve specific goals. But once you begin cultivating a forbidden art, it becomes nearly impossible to stop."
Xu Sanyan remained unconvinced. "So, according to you, these forbidden arts seem harmless?"
"Not at all. The drawbacks of forbidden arts far outweigh their benefits. Look at that Daoist Nun—though she displayed temporary power, only she knows the true consequences. She'll be trapped in that form for the rest of her life, and may never regain her sanity, becoming a calamity wandering the world, destined to be eradicated sooner or later."
Never regain her sanity...?
Xu Sanyan clicked his tongue inwardly. If that were true, what difference was there between that and death?
She had become someone else entirely.
Sensing he had said enough, the great elder changed the subject. "Let's go..."
"Mm."
The two soared into the sky. Though gravely wounded, the great elder managed to fly, albeit at a much slower pace.
The Wang Family had suffered heavy losses in this campaign. Not only was the great elder severely injured, but over a dozen Soul Refining Realm cultivators had also perished, leaving the clan's vitality severely depleted.
Fortunately, the outcome was still acceptable. The Qian Kingdom had suffered even greater losses. Even if the Daoist Nun regained her sanity, she could never return to the Qian Kingdom, nor would they ever accept her back—at least not publicly, given the Qian Kingdom's status as a righteous path power.
The forbidden art, once cast, was irreversible. She would spend the rest of her life trapped in that grotesque, mountain-of-flesh form, a sight so repulsive it induced nausea.
Xu Sanyan followed behind the great elder, silently pondering his earlier words and grasping their implications.
According to the great elder, the practice of forbidden arts seemed to involve two distinct stages: cultivation and execution.
Cultivation served specific purposes, such as extending lifespan or aiding breakthroughs in cultivation realms.
Execution, on the other hand, was what the Daoist Nun had done—transforming into that horrifying form. While it granted immense power, it came with catastrophic consequences.
Moreover, the great elder's words suggested that the risks extended beyond the execution stage, likely including dangers inherent in the cultivation process itself.
(End of the Chapter)
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