Chapter 22: Direction of Cultivation (Part 1)

  Lin Qiulü had never been so shocked, not even when she encountered the strongest moment in the imperial palace. But everything before her eyes made her involuntarily rise up from her heart a kind of indescribable fear. The red light even affected the surrounding dense forest, and the green forest was also filled with a dark red mixed with shadows.

  Just a hint of color wouldn't make Lin Qiulü so flustered, but the kind of aura it contained was enough to stir up tiny ripples on the entire lake, and even the surrounding hills were trembling with fear due to this fierce energy. A surge of ferocity made Lin Qiulü involuntarily retreat several steps, and she ended up sitting down on the ground with a thud, looking extremely unglamorous.

  But just retreating a few steps was not enough to resist this pressure, and even in a state of no movement, her mind was still forcibly flooded with countless bloody scenes. Lin Qiulü had never thought that there were such hellish scenes in the world, let out a scream, got up hastily, and ran frantically towards the distance.

  It's okay, having been here for a long time, I still firmly remember that I shouldn't easily use my spiritual power in this place. Even when I received a shock, I restrained myself from instinctively using the flying sword and quickly climbed towards the mountain top in the direction of the inn.

  It wasn't until she reached the top of the mountain that she could barely calm down. Although there were still some faint sounds in her ears, as long as she didn't cultivate her skills, these sounds would at most be just auditory hallucinations and wouldn't have any impact on herself.

  It wasn't until now that Lin Qiulü truly felt shocked and admired by the challenges Qin Yifan faced every day. It seemed like he was just fishing by the lake every day, but he could actually contend with such a monster. At this moment, her feelings towards Qin Yifan could no longer be described as shock and admiration, it was almost a kind of reverence that bordered on worship.

  At such a distance, yet still able to feel such an intense aura, I believe the only consequence of practicing here is that I will immediately go mad. In the past, I have never seen red light before, which can only explain one thing: the small achievement I was proud of was actually just the result of the evil spirit in the lake intentionally letting me off easy. It's fortunate that I thought I could slowly control the evil aura here.

  Never had Lin Qiulü been so introspective, on the one hand feeling the aura that ordinary people could sense under the red light, on the other hand examining herself, and at the same time looking at the motionless figure in the lake. The distance was so far away, that figure looked so small, but in Lin Qiulü's heart, it was more majestic than any figure she had seen before.

  He was just a martial artist, without any guidance from a cultivator, no one to help him, and no spiritual elixirs. He relied solely on a single healing acupuncture technique to face such pressure, and it's unknown how long he could hold on. A person like this, regardless of who they are, even if they're just a coarse and unrefined martial artist in the eyes of cultivators, is still worthy of respect.

  It's okay, it was just daytime. Although the red light was clearly visible at Lin Qiulü's place, it couldn't be seen from the inn side, and it didn't attract the attention of the villagers. The village was still very quiet.

  Almost an hour later, in another direction at the foot of the mountain, a black figure suddenly shot up into the sky and slowly fell back down. But when it reached the ground, it flashed away, fleeing in the direction farthest from the lake.

  Lin Qiulü saw clearly that it was the corpse. It seemed that it was also because it couldn't bear such a strong aura of murder in the underground, so it had to leave its dwelling place.

  Since learning that all the disappearances were caused by the yin corpse, Lin Qiulü had not seen her again. The yin corpse did not have any hostility towards Qin Yifan, and she knew this very clearly. As for how Qin Yifan arranged for the yin corpse, she didn't pay attention to it. Now it seemed that Qin Yifan just let it stay in its original place. This yin corpse was special, and it even knew how to show gratitude.

  The relationship between Yīn Shī and Qín Yìfán was not very clear to Lín Qiūlòu either. As for this evil and poisonous technique that she considered a great taboo, she didn't understand it much either, and knew even less about Yīn Shī. Otherwise, there wouldn't have been the situation where Qín Yìfán thought burying him would make him rest in peace and Lín Qiūlòu didn't object.

  But the fact that the corpse can endure for so long underground is beyond Lin Qiulü's expectations. At a time when everyone here cannot use their divine powers, only the corpse can use them with impunity, and the Corpse Control Technique requires absorbing yin energy, which the corpse can naturally do.

  However, they were ultimately unable to withstand the pressure that exceeded their limits, and even the yin corpses were forced out of the ground. If the yin corpses, which were originally yin evil bodies, were like this, how strong would the pressure be for Qin Yifan in the lake? Lin Qiulü no longer dared to imagine how Qin Yifan could endure under such pressure. She didn't know when she would have a will as strong as Qin Yifan's.

  After escaping for a distance, Lin Qiulü saw from afar that the dark corpse had also stopped, just like herself, facing the lake water and staring into the distance.

  The color in the lake has not diminished at all, and it can be seen that the pressure has never been reduced. There is no movement on the surface of the lake, and sometimes Lin Qiulü even suspects whether Qin Yifan has already fainted into the water and cannot move, so he remains motionless?

  Impatience, this emotion hadn't appeared on Lin Qiulü's body for a long time, and now it let her experience it once again. Qin Yifan in the lake still didn't have any movement, which made Lin Qiulü's heart more and more chaotic.

  Concerned and disordered, Lin Qiulü didn't know how to describe her emotions. Perhaps it was just the sense of responsibility as a guard, watching her master's household in danger yet being unable to do anything that made her worried.

  The sky had already darkened, but the red glow still hadn't faded away. On the contrary, it became even more pronounced against the backdrop of night. However, strangely enough, it seemed to be confined only to the surface of the lake and the ground within tens of meters around it, while everywhere else was completely normal.

  Finally, the red light on the lake surface slowly began to fade away and eventually receded back into the water. Qin Yifan's figure in the water seemed to have just woken up from a big dream, slowly moved, and then started swimming slowly towards the shore.

  Lin Qiu's tense heartstrings suddenly relaxed, and a relieved smile also appeared on her face. Afterwards, whether it was now or at night, she was still on the mountain top, accelerating downwards, crawling down the mountain. She wanted to go over and take a look, whether Qin Yifan was really safe and sound, and had survived under such pressure.