Chapter 1 Brother and Sister

  A humanoid skull with golden light flowing all over its body, only slightly larger than a middle finger, seemingly made of some special material.

  "Perhaps it's gold?"

  Covered in gold color..., Lu Chen thought of this, and couldn't help but feel disappointed, completely treating this object as a decorative item made of gold.

  In order to find out the purity of this gold, Lu Chen picked up the skull man and put his big toe in his mouth, biting hard.

  "Ah..."

  "It's so hard, I couldn't even bite it, indeed it's gold..." Lu Chen bit down forcefully, and his tooth root ached severely.

  Just then, the skull-like creature seemed to come back to life, its small, toothy mouth chattering "clickety-clack" as it emitted a spine-tingling sound.

  Lu Chen hadn't reacted yet, when the skull little man bit down on his finger, bright red blood flowed out from the tip of his finger and dripped directly onto the skull little man's cranium.

  "Ow!" Lu Chen cried out in pain and flung the skull figurine at the wall.

  The skull doll was indeed hard enough, the thumb-sized skull doll hit the wall and only made a crisp "click" sound before falling to the ground, amazingly without any damage.

  "Boom!"

  "Too evil!" Lu Chen had just cursed when suddenly the entire wooden house was swept up in a fierce gust of wind.

  Only to see that the skull little man slowly crawled up from the ground, and kept getting bigger and bigger, until he grew as tall as Lu Chen, before finally stopping.

  "Ghost......" Lu Chen's eyes widened in shock, staring blankly at everything, backing away in disbelief.

  The most terrifying thing in the world is that humans have seen unknown creatures. Although this skull is not an unfamiliar unknown creature, it's possible to change from a thumb-sized skull to a golden man as tall as a person. Lu Chen saw it for the first time.

  In a state of shock, Lu Chen had yet to regain his composure, and all he felt was that he had received an astonishing message in his mind:

  "Skull Servant, low-grade artifact, power comparable to 7th layer Qi Refining. After blood oath, can use 'Nourishing Soul Technique' to feed and grow the refined soul..."

  "What? Skull Master? Lower-grade artifact or a Skull Master who has cultivated the seventh layer of Qi, what does 'Nourishing Soul Technique' feeding essence to grow soul spirits mean?"

  Lu Chen was surprised and increasingly puzzled, what followed was indeed incomprehensible, but what came before was enough to make one jump up in surprise.

  Skull Master, this thing is a magical instrument that can change its size at will. When in use, it can be summoned and controlled with spiritual consciousness, equivalent to having an extra helper of the seventh layer of Qi training. When not in use, it's also simple, just a thought away, and it can be stored in a jade box, absolutely a high-grade good thing!

  The more he thought about it, the more excited Lu Chen became, and he decided to experience the wonders of the law enforcement equipment on the spot.

  Slowly stood up, Lu Chen's mind moved, and he shouted: "Left hand!"

  The skeleton monk raised his left hand~

  "It's effective......" Lu Chen's eyes lit up: "Right hand~"

  The skeleton monk raised his right hand again~

  "You're really obedient!"

  "Kick legs~"

  "Wow!"

  With one kick, the wind whistled, and the cushion on the ground flew towards Lu Chen with a "whoosh". Lu Chen tilted his head to the side, stretched out his right hand, and with a "slap", caught the cushion in his palm.

  Satisfied, Lu Chen nodded his head, a smile spreading across his face. After some thought, he felt that something was missing from the skull cultivator's appearance... it wasn't intimidating or domineering enough.

  Just as he was thinking about it, Lu Chen's gaze turned to the jade box, where there was still a flowing golden light: "Could there be something else?"

  Open the jade box, Lu Chen took a closer look, it was a golden needle the size of a toothpick, and after another careful look: "Hiss~"

  Lu Chen took in a breath of cool air: "Isn't this a golden sword?"

  "Could it be..." Lu Chen looked at the skull cultivator and then at the golden knife, which was about the size of a toothpick, as if he had understood something.

  He pulled out the golden knife, and with a slight movement of his mind, the golden knife slowly transformed into a real golden knife, roughly the same length as a long sword, with a heavier blade that gave off a sense of solidity; the blade was sharp, with a faint glint of cold light emanating from it.

  Lu Chen weighed the golden knife, nodded slightly, and immediately tossed it to the Skull Master. Since Lu Chen took out the golden knife and transformed its size, a faint golden light seemed to flash in the empty eyes of the Skull Master, as if he had gained spiritual intelligence, looking at the golden knife with a somewhat greedy and fond taste.

  Lu Chen smiled slightly and tossed the golden knife to the Skull Master. This time, without Lu Chen's instruction, the Skull Master stretched out his right arm on his own, and the five slender bony fingers grasped the golden knife with great force at a very opportune moment. Afterwards, he swung it twice, looking very pleased...

  Under these circumstances, Lu Chen understood that his guess was correct, and it seemed that the skull priest and the golden knife were a perfect match.

  Lu Chen thought for a moment and decided to try communicating with the Skull Priest, to see if they could reach a spiritual understanding.

  "What's your name?" Lu Chen asked tentatively.

  The Skull Priest didn't react.

  "No name?"

  Still no response, but this time, the Skull Master seemed somewhat perplexed...

  Lu Chen thought for a moment and said: "How about this? From now on, you can call Jin Xiu."

  Jīn xiū, a golden light envelops his entire body, he is also a Qi Practitioner of the Seventh Layer, and is thus called Jīn Xiū.

  The skull monk stared blankly, and after a long while, he finally nodded. He moved his fingers slightly, making a "click click" sound.

  Lu Chen was extremely excited: "Indeed, this skull cultivator is intelligent, it's just that it hasn't fully awakened yet..."

  At this thought, Lu Chen's blood was boiling, and he asked again: "Jin Xiu~, you are a Qi Practitioner of the 7th layer, can you control this Golden Flying Knife?"

  Jin Xiu seemed to be pondering Master Lu Chen's meaning, and after a long time, he finally nodded.

  "Really?" Lu Chen's eyes gleamed with excitement as he almost shouted: "Come on, let's try it out right here!"

  Jin Xi nodded and immediately threw the golden knife into the air in front of Lu Chen. The wooden house was not very spacious, at most it could hold four or five people inside, and it wasn't high either, three meters would be enough.

  The golden knife was thrown into the sky, first making several unstable rotations in mid-air without a fixed trajectory, before slowly becoming stable.

  "It's probably Jinxiu's first time wielding a sword, still quite clumsy... let's see..." Lu Chen made up his mind and refrained from speaking.

  Golden Blade approached steadily, quietly floating in mid-air above the wooden house. Golden Repair thought for a moment, then lifted his leg and with a whooshing sound, jumped onto the back of Golden Blade. At first, Golden Repair was unsteady, but after getting familiar with it for a while, he could already start moving around the room freely. This made Lu Chen even more excited.

  "Practicing Qi for seven layers... indeed a true Practicing Qi for seven layers' skull cultivator, great! From now on, I'll have another powerful Practicing Qi for seven layers expert to protect me."

  Excited, he almost shouted out loud, but Lu Chen knew that at the moment he was in Qian Yu Men, and absolutely could not let this golden repair appear in front of others. Even little servant girl Zuo Qing Hua couldn't be told for now. He had to wait until one day when he had the power, then he could let him show his true use.

  But now~

  "It's still necessary to understand Jinxiu's strength~" Thinking of this, Lucheng gave the order: "Jinxiu, come down."

  Jinxiu was very obedient and jumped down from the golden knife, standing there motionless with his back bent.

  "Do you know how to use a knife?"

  Jinxiu nodded.

  "Show me a few moves!"

  Jin Xiu thought for a moment, looked at the golden knife in his hand, and suddenly burst out laughing. Lu Chen was stunned, and before he could react, Jin Xiu's slender wrist shook slightly, and a streak of knife energy shot out horizontally.

  "Whoosh... Whoosh... Whoosh..."

  In the wooden house, a fierce aura burst forth, and golden sparks flew out from the blade, instantly cutting the table in front of the hall into two halves, followed by the wooden bed, wooden door, and beam.

  "Whoa, stop! Stop!" Lu Chen shouted loudly as he saw what was happening, but it was too late.

  Jin Xiuzhe stood still with his sword in hand, expressionless (not that he could have any expressions anyway).

  "Crack!" The beam let out a faint crisp sound, and a cloud of dust fell down.

  "Rattle... rattle... rattle..." The entire house frame began to shake.

  "No... it can't be..." Lu Chen's face turned pale, he had already thought of the kind of inhumane punishment he would receive when Dust returned.

  "Don't..."

  The words had barely fallen when the small wooden house finally collapsed with a loud crash.

  At this moment, a dragon's roar echoed from the Qianyu Palace, Lu Chen was slightly startled, his spiritual consciousness stirred, and he hastily put away the Golden Repair in the jade box and threw it into the Qiankun bag.

  "Junior brother, what are you doing?"

  The newcomer was none other than the current leader of the Qianyu Gate, Lu Chen's senior: Yu Yang Zhen Ren.

  "What's going on... Master's wooden house has become like this... It's all over..."

  The cool night wind quickly swept through the mountains, and in no time it blew away the last bit of warmth brought by the sunset. The dense stars shone like tiny lanterns in the night sky, clustering around the crescent moon, weaving a vast starry tapestry on the velvet expanse.

  The green leaves in the bamboo forest were still rustling, and the fresh air was always unusually thick in this sacred place. If a wandering hermit were to discover this scene, he would surely be inspired to compose a poem. However, at this moment, two figures in the bamboo forest were sweating profusely as they gazed at the ruins before them, constantly wondering how much anger and astonishment the master of this place would feel when he returned.

  "Master~, Younger Brother Master~" Yu Yang Zhen Ren swallowed his saliva and wiped the sweat, asking: "What's going on here?"

  "Uh..." Lu Chen also swallowed his saliva and muttered: "This... this... it just happened like that."

  "Is it a small mistake?" Yu Yang Zhen Ren rolled his eyes wildly and thought: "Deceiving ghosts? Such a big commotion."

  "Hehe~, hehe~"

  ……

  That night, the clear weather only lasted for half a time, and the strong wind and heavy rain washed over the entire Míyī Mountain. In between, lightning and thunder struck, rumbling loudly. The previous day had destroyed the small bamboo forest, and Lù Chén was helpless, so he could only run to the kitchen at the foot of the mountain and spend a miserable night there. On the second day, early in the morning, Yù Yáng sent someone to start rebuilding the wooden house. What can be done? This is the dwelling place of the highest authority of the Qián Yù Gate, so it's better to wait for someone to come back and tidy up properly.

  Lu Chen also joined in, of course, the details inside were unknown to anyone except him and Yu Yang, so much so that several disciples who worked on it cursed the person who destroyed the wooden house for three consecutive days.

  Lu Xue endured the cold and fear, not daring to make a sound, and could only pretend that she hadn't heard anything.

  Several days passed again, and Liedust still did not return. Lu Xuan was relieved: after a few more days, all the things in the house would be prepared, and there shouldn't be any problems, at most he would get a beating with a rattan stick. Fortunately, it thundered that night, so when Master Liedust returned, he had an excuse. The wooden house must have been struck by lightning.

  Sitting in the house, these days there is no time to run around on the mountain, except for building a wooden house, the rest of the time, Lu Chen has put all his energy into studying the "Dark Ghost Shadow" set of body techniques and the "Nourishing Soul Technique".

  "Dark Charm Ghost Shadow" is okay, although it's a bit harder than "Wu Luo Liu Yun Bu", but with the foundation, it's nothing.

  "The Soul Nourishing Technique" is even easier, it's just a skillful use of magic, but it's a bit cruel. This technique requires the use of a method called "Soul Summoning", which extracts the soul of a newly deceased person and transfers it to a gap above the golden crown bone on the head, where it can be fed. As for cruelty, yes, it is indeed so. After all, when people die, their souls return to heaven, go down to the underworld, and can even reincarnate as humans or animals. No matter what, that's another living life. But if the three souls and seven spirits are extracted, there's no way to reincarnate. For this reason, Lu Chen struggled for a long time, wondering whether he should practice this evil technique. In the end, he thought, forget it, let's just practice it, and only extract the souls of those who have done evil.

  The Xianling Continent is a place where cultivators are superior, and morality is inferior to cultivation. Every successful cultivator's hands are stained with blood, which is quite normal in this era and world. If one wants to talk about morality, it would be better to use their brains and become an ordinary person with wealth and power, donating money to the laboring masses and relieving the poor.

  The Soul Summoning Technique is easy to cultivate, and once you memorize the ten or so hand seals and incantations, you can start practicing. As for mastering it, that requires countless actual attempts to gradually improve. According to the method described in the Soul Nourishing Technique, if Jin Xiu wants to slightly increase his strength, he must absorb a large number of souls. For example, to reach the seventh level of Qi Cultivation, he needs 7963 living souls. To reach the eighth level, it's 872 only, and so on. After the Foundation Establishment stage, there is no introduction, presumably it will be even more. With such a large number, you can't just go out and become a serial killer, right?

  Lu Chen was thinking anxiously, holding the demon's notebook and looking at his notes, and he also knew the name of this demon: Li Can.

  Li Can is obviously a person from the Western State, and he came to the Eastern State earlier to escape being hunted down by his enemies, which led him to flee to the Imperial Palace of the Great Zhou Dynasty and hide under an assumed name as the Empress. These records are all documented in these notes. The key point that delights Lu Chen is that he fought against Nan Xingchen all along, and the reason why he didn't bring out Jinyu was because the actual strength of a cultivator cannot be too different from that of a Skull Cultivator.

  Three levels up and down.

  The period of practicing Qi is like this.

  "It seems that this Li Can has just obtained the Skull Master and hasn't had time to nurture it yet, but his strength has already far surpassed the Qi Refining stage, reaching the Foundation Building stage. According to the records in the manual, if the difference is too great, more than three levels lower, the Skull Master will self-destruct due to the master's excessive strength; not to mention if it's higher than three levels, I'm afraid this Skull Master will turn around and devour its master."

  Lu Chen carefully looked, afraid of missing a single word. Also because of this, he secretly rejoiced: "Fortunately, I just entered the fifth layer of Qi training, Jin Xiu is at the seventh layer, only two layers apart, exceeding this limit is either Jin Xiu's death or being killed by Jin Xiu."

  Li Can's hands were withdrawn, and Lu Chen had nothing to do, so he began to recall his cultivation over the past few months.

  Wu Luo's Flowing Cloud Steps and Flowing Sand Fingers were just minor accomplishments, not very powerful. With his own cultivation of the fifth layer of Qi, he could now exchange blows with a seventh-layer Qi cultivator.

  The Three Gates Technique is the weakest, the Quicksand Technique can still be of some help, but the Earth Spike and Earth Wall Techniques are not feasible. In this aspect, I must intensify my training, otherwise, if I encounter another expert, I won't have that many spirit symbols to use.

  An Ying Gui Ying is a good thing, it must be combined with Wu Luo Liu Yun Bu to ensure that one has a physique beyond ordinary people. If you can't beat them, you can always run... Lu Chen is not a reckless person, nor is he a brainless thug, in his mind, life is always the top priority. Otherwise, why would he always say "as long as the green mountain is there, don't worry about firewood"?

  Apart from that, his trump card is Jīn Xiū. This thing is also quite annoying. In the Eastern State's territory, they are most wary of the Ghost Dao Magic Sect. Taking this thing out, wouldn't people think it's an evil cult? So calling it a trump card is not excessive at all. What is a trump card? When used, it must be able to defeat the enemy on the spot; otherwise, there will be endless troubles later. It must be used with caution.

  Finally, it's the spiritual symbols. Thinking of this, Lu Chen still felt relieved. After inquiring from multiple sources, it seems that even those core disciples didn't have such a perverted level of skill - one stroke could produce dozens of talismans, and during battles, they would be thrown out desperately. Li Can's death was also due to the effect of several dozen fireball symbols and several immobilization symbols.

  "I still have to keep drawing. Yeah, I need to stock up on this stuff." Lu Chen thought to himself, taking out the Five Thunderbolt Spell, his eyes shining with excitement: "This is a great thing, it can even kill someone in the Foundation Establishment stage, this thing is definitely a treasure, sigh... when will I be able to get my hands on the drawing method for the Five Thunderbolt Spell, draw 180 of them, scatter them all over the place, that would be awesome."

  That's all, this is all the capital I have now.

  After considering for a long time, Lu Chen summarized all the mysterious skills and methods he had mastered, fearing that he would forget something, so he thought back and forth for half a day. In the end, uh, he indeed forgot some things.

  "Damn it, there's still one more magical artifact."

  Lu Chen's mention of a magic tool naturally referred to that extremely ferocious Soul-Devouring Banner.

  He took out the Soul Devouring Flag and Lu Chen flipped it over and over, studying it for half a day. This kind of artifact was very difficult to activate without being refined through blood sacrifice. However, Lu Chen did not plan on refining this vicious artifact just yet.