C14 Great Art of Swallowing Whale and Hunting Spirit

Chu Yan felt as if he were being skewered and roasted over an open flame, his body searing with heat and wracked by waves of intense pain. In a haze, he suddenly found himself inside the Return to the Ruins Tower.

"What's happening?" Chu Yan blinked in confusion. "Was it the echo loop that brought me here?"

He couldn't make heads or tails of the situation. It seemed as though it wasn't his body that had entered the Return to the Ruins Tower, but rather his consciousness had barged in.

He could "see" the scenes within the tower, yet his own body was nowhere to be found.

Now that he was here, and considering the echo loop's mysterious properties, Chu Yan wasted no time. He "drifted" towards the fourth floor of the Return to the Ruins Tower.

The fourth floor required one to be at the Third Stage of Genuine Force to gain entry. Having achieved his advancement during his previous soul-stealing battle, Chu Yan now easily broke the seal on the entrance to the fourth layer.

The fourth floor was desolate, with not a single booklet in sight. As Chu Yan stood there, perplexed, the void around him suddenly lit up with glowing characters.

These characters appeared chaotically, multiplying rapidly in midair like stars twinkling into existence in the night sky.

As Chu Yan watched in astonishment, the characters transformed into streams of light that shot directly towards him. In an instant, he was enveloped in a luminous cocoon.

"What in the world is this?" Chu Yan, still trying to grasp the situation, was taken aback as a chant materialized in his mind.

"The Great Art of Whale Hunting? What's this? Another martial technique?" Chu Yan's thoughts raced as he quickly steadied his mind.

The mantra for the Great Art of Whale Hunting was unlike the Dragon's Bow of Rage. It had emerged directly within Chu Yan's consciousness, as if it were an innate memory that he could never forget.

With just a thought, the entire chant would vividly resurface in his mind.

Upon reviewing it, Chu Yan discovered that the Swallowing Whale Spirit Hunting Technique wasn't a martial skill at all, but rather a method designed to teach one how to eat.

When it comes to eating, it might seem like child's play, but the Art of the Whale-Swallowing Spirit is no ordinary matter. It teaches you not just to consume food, but to devour the vital blood energy and spiritual essence within it.

The Art of the Whale-Swallowing Spirit proclaims that all things in the world, from the tiniest blade of grass to the most stubborn rock, are imbued with spiritual energy. If you know how to eat properly, you can absorb this energy into your body, fortifying your physical form.

This profound technique instructs you in the art of consumption. Follow its guidance, and you'll be able to ingest even metals and stones in the future, dissolving them in your stomach to extract their spiritual essence.

Chu Yan was familiar with the concept of Spiritual Qi. He understood that martial artists reached a level known as the Genuine Force Stage, and beyond that lay the even loftier Pulse Condensation Stage. However, in the small Southern Yuan Kingdom and its neighboring territories, cultivators of the Pulse Condensation Stage were unheard of, leaving their true might shrouded in mystery.

Despite this, Chu Yan, through trade, had heard tales of these elusive cultivators and had even acquired items that only they could utilize. For instance, he recognized the True Essence talisman, used in Soul Stealing, as a potent charm that only a Pulse Condensation Stage cultivator could activate with their spiritual energy. A Genuine Force Stage cultivator would have to pay a steep price, draining their vital essence or even risking their life, to harness such power. The mastery over Spiritual Qi is what fundamentally sets the Pulse Condensation Stage apart from the Genuine Force Stage.

The details beyond that remained elusive to Chu Yan. As a former crown prince, he had longed to break free from the constraints of the Genuine Force Stage and ascend to the Pulse Condensation Stage, eager to explore the vast new horizons it promised.

Having revisited the intricacies of the Whale-Swallowing Spirit Hunting Technique, Chu Yan was suddenly struck by a wave of dizziness. It was then he remembered the severity of his injuries. This realization caused his consciousness to wane, and within moments, he succumbed to unconsciousness once more.

Meanwhile, not far from where Chu Yan had lost consciousness, two figures dashed along the cliff's edge with remarkable speed. The previous night's downpour had left the bare rock face treacherously slick, a hazard that would have sent any ordinary person tumbling with the slightest misstep. Yet these men moved with ease, seemingly unaffected by the perilous conditions, their pace outstripping that of an average person sprinting on solid ground.

At the moment, however, their expressions were grim, betraying the gravity of their predicament. The man in the lead, his brows knitted in worry, was closely followed by his companion, who seemed to wrestle with his thoughts before finally voicing his concern in a hushed tone, "Brother Zhao, are you sure we should just head back like this?"

Zhao Ji halted abruptly, turning to face Feng Ru with a steely gaze. "Feng Ru, given the circumstances, what other choice do we have?"

"But I just can't come to terms with it, Brother Zhao," Feng Ru, a man in his thirties with eyes reddening, lamented. "It wasn't our fault. Who could have anticipated that the young master, not yet part of our household, would be murdered? The Old Master assured us he was a warrior, but to be killed in such a manner..."

"The Old Master isn't mistaken; we've been duped," Zhao Ji bit back, his jaw set. "Someone's definitely pulling strings behind the scenes. Yet, it appears that our negligence led to the young master's death before he could join the Lin Family. Our only option now is to return and fully disclose the events to the Old Master, hoping for his leniency. I'm confident he'll be able to discern the truth of the matter."

"Like you, I trust the Old Master, Brother Zhao, but it's the others I'm wary of," Feng Ru's urgency was palpable. "I understand your point, and I suspect we're thinking of the same culprit. But here lies the issue, Brother Zhao—do you really think they'll spare us if we return? By now, they've likely laid out all the charges, just waiting for us to come back and admit guilt. I fear we won't even get the chance to defend ourselves..."

Before Feng Ru could finish his sentence, he caught Zhao Ji raising an eyebrow, a sharp gleam darting through his eyes.

The two had a long history of collaboration, so Feng Ru instantly read the change in Zhao Ji's demeanor, signaling that something was amiss. He fell silent at once, holding his breath and concentrating, his gaze tracking Zhao Ji's.

At a mere glance, Feng Ru's pupils shrank sharply, and he turned to whisper, "Brother Zhao."

"We should check it out; something's off," Zhao Ji murmured, gripping a long knife in his hand as he moved silently forward.

Feng Ru kept pace beside him.

Carried by the forest's soft breeze, they both detected a faint, bloody scent in the air.

But the scent's intensity suggested that either someone had recently died, or many had perished before last night's downpour.