Chapter 1: Siblings

  After resting in the post station for several days, everyone finally bid farewell to Emperor Taizong of the Great Zhou Dynasty and was sent out of the capital under his thousand thanks.

  Murong Yuxi's injuries were more severe and she was not suitable for traveling by boat or carriage, so she temporarily stayed in the Great Zhou Imperial Palace to rest.

  Thus, Lu Chen's group of ten people became nine, led by Lan Qing Zhenren, and took the main road back to Qian Yu Men.

  With the previous praise of Lian Qingzhen to Lu Chen, this kid suddenly became a hero in the eyes of the female disciples. Along the way, they drove the horse carriage, and the female disciples surrounded Lu Chen, asking him this and that. They were mostly asking how he blocked the demon's path last night and how he helped Lian Qingzhen destroy the demon. Since ancient times, beauties love heroes, Lu Chen's bravery and selflessness naturally earned their admiration.

  Trash becomes a hero, and the treatment is naturally different. The little girls on the way didn't hesitate to throw their eyebrows at Lu Chen, obviously they thought that being able to help Ling Qing with real strength, it's impossible that there's only a weak Qi-refining third-layer cultivation, but fundamentally speaking, based on Lu Chen's performance in the past two times, among this group of fresh flowers in front of him, he wouldn't be a pile of cow dung, but rather a tender grass with extremely strong plasticity.

  Then, all sorts of ambiguous actions began to emerge, making Lu Chen feel great, and he was talking about this and that with them in high spirits. His eloquence was indeed not bad, and in just a few words, he vividly portrayed how formidable Lan Qing was, his exaggerated tone even causing Lan Qing in another car to blush uncontrollably...

  All in all, it's still full of spring scenery along the way...

  ……

  All the way without a word, back to Qianyu Gate, all disciples returned to rest, Lu Chen was no exception, and hurriedly ran towards the small wooden house.

  There are two reasons for the urgency.

  Firstly, I reckon Dust has returned quickly, must go and see him, can't wait until Master comes back, won't be able to find himself, will get angry, the rattan stick wasn't prepared for nothing.

  Secondly, if Dust wasn't around, it would be even more convenient. I haven't had a good look at what's inside the demon's Qiankun bag yet.

  Down from the Yuning Temple Square, turned a few corners, and ran all the way along the winding path of Wangduan Peak. Before long, I climbed to the top of the peak and returned to the bamboo forest. I called out several times but there was no response. After pushing open the door and entering, everything was as usual, nothing had changed.

  Regarding the jade pendant, he also had some exchanges with Lan Qing along the way. He naturally wouldn't mention anything about the jade pendant. It was just that Lan Qing kept intentionally asking Lu Chen about his realm of strength because he discovered that since Lu Chen killed Li Can, that power which surpassed the seventh layer of Qi training had disappeared. As for this point, Lan Qing was always puzzled. However, Lu Chen didn't say anything, and he couldn't do anything about it - after all, someone else's status was higher than his own.

  Lu Chen always smiled and didn't want to talk much, but he wasn't indifferent. On the contrary, he was extremely concerned. Along the way, taking advantage of the undisturbed time, he secretly examined the jade pendant, only because Lan Qing had used her foundation period's magical powers to suppress the killing aura on her body in order to wake herself up from the dream state, so for the time being, Lu Chen couldn't study the jade pendant in depth.

  But there was one thing that Lu Chen grasped.

  Since absorbing the Li Can, Lu Chen felt that he had absorbed a small portion of the evil energy, and his strength had also increased somewhat. However, most of the evil energy was released during the battle with Li Can, so he didn't get any other benefits. From this, Lu Chen came to understand: these evil energies are a type of spiritual energy that can be absorbed, but each time you absorb it, although you can increase your strength, you must be able to suppress it yourself, otherwise, it's very likely to lead to demonic possession. This was also what Lan Qing had told him before, warning him to carefully control his own heart, or else he would easily become possessed.

  Since he couldn't figure out the secret of the jade pendant, Lu Chen didn't bother to investigate further. Some things were better left to fate... Besides, there was something else that could get him most excited that he hadn't done yet.

  "Master hasn't returned yet, well, let's take a look at what's inside this Qiankun bag..." Lu Chen's eyes sparkled as he played with the Qiankun bag he had snatched from Li Can. This was his first time stealing treasure, and it was even a storage bag of a Foundation Establishment cultivator, so there must be good stuff inside.

  Lu Chen thought for a moment, then stretched out one hand and bit his finger hard, letting a drop of blood fall onto the Qian Kun bag to acknowledge its ownership.

  Qian Kun bag is equivalent to a magic treasure, requiring blood recognition. And once the Qian Kun bag has an owner, it must wait until the owner's death before it can become ownerless...

  In a flash of light, the Qian Kun bag recognized its master successfully. Lu Chen's spiritual awareness swept across and he couldn't help but take in a breath of cold air.

  "Ghost Sect... Netherworld Prison, Mysterious Skill: 'Hundred Ghosts Soul Transformation Technique'..."

  "Ghost Sect... Netherworld Prison, Mysterious Skill: 'Dark Allure Ghost Shadow'..."

  "Xianling Museum Catalogue", a notebook, nearly 200 pieces of low-grade spirit stones, a mysterious jade box...

  Ling's gaze swept across, and the various things in the Qiankun bag appeared in his mind. Lu Chen's mouth was stretched to the bottom of his ears, and he couldn't close it no matter how hard he tried.

  The old demon's Qiankun bag was much richer than Lu Chen's own, not to mention the volume of "Bai Gui Hua Hun Jue", which was obviously a ghost sect's cultivation method, and Lu Chen would have no use for it.

  "Dark Allure Ghost Shadow", this is good stuff. Lu Chen first opened the Dark Allure Ghost Shadow and carefully went through it, and indeed, as the name suggests, this is a light body technique: "Dark Allure Ghost Shadow", a mid-level light body technique from the Netherworld, divided into five levels, can be cultivated during the Qi Refining stage, cultivating to the extreme, can fly in the air for a short time...

  Below is the cultivation method of "Dark Charm Ghost Shadow". Lu Chen read it word by word, and the more he looked at it, the happier he became. The cultivation method of "Dark Charm Ghost Shadow" was not difficult at all, similar to the Five Luo Flowing Cloud Step. It's just that there are divisions in the levels: five layers, which can be cultivated during the Qi Refining period, and it doesn't matter what kind of innate spiritual root one has, as long as they possess true yuan, they can cultivate it. The most attractive part of "Dark Charm Ghost Shadow" is that sentence that allows for short-term flight in mid-air...

  To know, cultivators can only use the Driving Object Technique to temporarily control flying swords and fly after reaching the 7th layer of Qi Refining. This depends on the individual's True Yuan Law Power cultivation level, with higher law power allowing for longer sword control time. Only by breaking through the Foundation Establishment period and reaching the true Cultivation period, also known as the Golden Elixir period, can one ascend to heaven step by step without relying on any magical tools, controlling the air to fly. From Qi Refining to Golden Elixir, it usually takes around twenty years or more to achieve under normal circumstances.

  If you have "Dark Phantom" during this process, it's different. Cultivate to the fifth level and fly without relying on any artifacts for a short time, although the time is very short, but in actual combat, it has a great use.

  Imagine two foundation-building cultivators fighting, one of whom has mastered the "Dark Ghostly Shadow" technique. During a fierce sword fight, the opponent is unable to fly, while the practitioner suddenly takes to the air and launches a sneak attack, greatly increasing their chances of severely injuring or killing their opponent.

  "'Dark Charm' is just a technique, it won't give off that eerie aura of the Ghost Sect. As long as you master its use, outsiders won't be able to tell anything." Lu Chen licked his lips excitedly, "Good stuff..."

  Put away "Dark Charm Ghost Shadow" for now, find some time to cultivate properly, and casually opened "Xianling Museum Records" to take a look. Inside, it mostly records the names of various large and small sects on the Xianling Continent, as well as the characteristics of their techniques. Although rough and not very detailed, for someone like Lu Chen who knows nothing about Gui Zong, it's still a good thing to broaden his horizons.

  Still received in the Qiankun bag, and then there was a notebook, which contained some cultivation experiences of the demon, including the cultivation secrets of "Dark Charm Ghost Shadow", which can take less detours, smiled and put it away.

  Ling stone, must be collected, the more the better...

  Mysterious Jade Box?

  "Huh? What is this thing?" The strange box had a rough, damaged pattern on its surface and gave off an eerie aura that Lu Chen could sense.

  "I don't know what kind of evil thing is inside..." Lu Chen muttered to himself, but ultimately decided to open it and take a look.

  He glanced around and saw that there was no lock on the box, only a small keyhole on the lid. The keyhole was unusual, not a circular hole with a cross-shaped slot, but a round one.

  "How does this open?" Lu Chen thought in distress: "It can't be opened with magic power, right?"

  Thinking of this, Lu Chen gritted his teeth and activated the Clear Mind Incantation, injecting a thread of magical power into it.

  With a soft "click", the lid of the box slowly opened, revealing a small gap. Lu Chen slowly and carefully flipped open the lid, and inside the palm-sized jade box, he saw that an object was quietly lying...

  Skull?