Stealthily cultivating in the chaotic world of demons and martial artists
Chapter 313 - 311: Life-bound Skills (Making up for the owed updates 11)_1

Chapter 313: Chapter 311: Life-bound Skills (Making up for the owed updates 11)_1

"I hadn’t expected that the Penetrating Marrow Poison would truly be so effective, that it could even penetrate the defenses of the Human Skin Magic Tool... directly eroding its master."

Yu Hua looked on at this scene, muttering to himself, then a trace of cruelty flashed across his face, "I only wished to join the Taoist Temple, to learn the true method, why... why must each of you push me?"

"That pale-faced Prime Taoist only gave me this poison, but said nothing of a follow-up... I fear he plans to use me as a scapegoat. The only plan now is to run away!"

Having made up his mind, he prepared to flee.

...

"Haha... You, young man, are quite impressive!"

Suddenly, a burst of laughter came through as Fang Xi appeared, holding a pale-faced Prime Taoist in his hand.

"Is it the senior?!"

Yu Hua showed a look of surprise, though it was partly feigned, Fang Xi still somewhat approved.

"Do you know... what exactly happened tonight?"

Fang Xi however, leisurely sat down and poured himself a pot of clear tea.

By now, he could confirm that the condition of the former Temple Master of the Skinless Temple was definitely very bad.

And the ’Six Desires Mixed Sky Demon’s’ ability to hide was incredibly strong, difficult to see through by peers.

"I don’t know, please enlighten me, senior!"

Yu Hua bowed deeply.

"In short, the Skinless Temple is currently like dragons without a head, with various high-ranking Taoists infighting..."

Fang Xi smiled slightly and pointed at Li, "This man wanted to use you as a prime ingredient, presented to his master, to treat his master’s injuries from demonic cultivation going awry... And this Prime Taoist’s master did not want to see this happen, thus ordered him to secretly interfere..."

He casually threw the pale-faced Prime Taoist to the ground, alongside Li, and asked indifferently, "Do you know your circumstances?"

"A scapegoat?" Yu Hua gave a wry smile, then suddenly bowed deeply again, "I ask for the senior’s help!"

"Hmm... our meeting first is also a kind of fate, but one must help oneself for heaven to extend aid..."

Fang Xi spoke unhurriedly, "Your magic power is low, truly a burden... Now on the ground, there are two great Spiritual Pills, you can consume their magic power, commandeer their husks..."

He was still somewhat skeptical that one could steal the base of cultivation from another in this realm; this required further field investigation.

"How do I seize them?"

Yu Hua fell silent for a moment, then immediately knelt down and struck his head against the ground three times.

The ’Skin Peeling Skills’ he learned were not complete and lacked this part.

"Not bad, not bad..."

Fang Xi laughed heartily, passing on a mantra he obtained from searching the soul of the pale-faced Prime Taoist.

Yu Hua, who already had a foundation in ’Skin Peeling Skills’, learned this method as if divinely assisted.

A short while later, he stood up and walked towards Li and the pale-faced Prime Taoist.

...

After the time it takes for an incense to burn.

Fang Xi looked at an overjoyed Yu Hua in front of him.

The man was forming spells with both hands, standing a Taoist on each side clad in human skin.

The two pieces of human skin happened to belong to Li and the pale-faced Prime Taoist.

Under Yu Hua’s command, the two pieces of human skin quickly filled out to become two puppet-like beings, robustly performing a set of fist sequences.

Bang!

Li’s fist smashed against a wooden pillar, leaving a deep imprint.

Meanwhile, the pale-faced Prime Taoist brandished a dagger, slicing towards his finger.

Crack!

The dagger split in half and fell to the ground.

The two Skin Shadows turned out to be enormously strong, their limbs comparable to exceptional weapons!

Not only that, but after commanding the two human skins, even Yu Hua’s own cultivation level greatly increased, as though he had ingested some miraculous Spiritual Pill.

"This method... is indeed extremely sinister."

Fang Xi looked at Yu Hua, who showed delight, and muttered to himself, followed by a strange cackle, "Now you are just a slightly larger ant... having turned yourself into a Human Skin Magic Tool, if you face a Taoist practicing ’Skin Shadow Skills’, a simple gesture from them... and you’ll be no more!"

"Skin Shadow Skills?!" Yu Hua stopped performing his technique, his eyes burning as he stared at Fang Xi.

"In the way of the Dao, grasp one method, within the method grasp one skill... The supreme legacy of the Skinless Temple is ’Blood Skin Skills,’ followed by ’Skin Shadow Skills’... If you obtain ’Skin Shadow Skills,’ Foundation Establishment is within reach for you!"

Fang Xi explained with a smile.

"If the senior has any requests, please speak directly, as your junior cannot refuse anyway..." Yu Hua was moved, then resumed a stoic face.

"Good, that’s what makes you worth saving... ’Skin Shadow Skills’ I do not possess, but I know of someone who does, dare you join me?"

Fang Xi asked.

"Please, senior, lead the way!" Yu Hua clasped his fist.

"Haha!"

Fang Xi laughed heartily, grabbed Yu Hua’s arm, and swaggered out of the room.

Along the way, Yu Hua saw many patrolling Taoists, but they seemingly ignored the two.

As for Fang Xi, he appeared to know the way well, navigating through halls until they arrived in front of a palace.

Yu Hua looked up and saw the palace’s nameplate – Hall of No Origin!

"To take down that person near the old guy without causing any disturbance, indeed seems a bit troublesome."

Fang Xi murmured to himself, then patted the storage bag at his waist.

Several cyan-colored Array Flags emerged, cast into the surroundings, concealed in the palace walls and artificial stones.

The Taoists near the Hall of No Origin dared not approach for patrol, which conveniently benefited him.

After the array was set up, Fang Xi performed a hand seal with one hand and chanted, "Rise!"

An invisible ripple spread out instantaneously, like a large bowl, covering the Hall of No Origin within it.

"Alright, with this setup, no matter what chaos ensues here, the outside world will remain completely undisturbed," Fang Xi said.

With his hands clasped behind his back, Fang Xi walked into the palace.

"Who are you?"

A person covered in skin that looked like a maid’s, with rouge on her face, spotted Fang Xi and let out a shrill scream, her hands lunging toward Fang Xi.

A metallic shade imbued her semi-translucent skin palms, potent enough to leave marks on any magic tool!

Hiss!

The maid’s skin palms swept past Fang Xi, sparking like fire, but his chest remained completely unharmed.

He grabbed the maid; corpse fire surfaced on his palm and, in an instant, turned her to ashes.

At that moment, numerous skin shadows began to surround him, at least a hundred in number.

"Who are you?"

"Who are you?"

The skin shadows suddenly spoke up, their numerous voices overlapping.

"I am the one who will take your life," Fang Xi calmly responded, his hands forming seals. A surge of pitch-black light shot into the sky, turning into countless dense threads that suddenly penetrated each of the skin shadows.

"Is it a true Master?"

The skin shadows shrieked with fear, and a few who survived attempted to flee: "Master of the Temple, save me!!"

Unfortunately, before they could get far, a black light pierced them from behind.

Yu Hua stared blankly at the piercing object, which seemed to be a pitch-black fingernail.

And that thunderous roar just before had not traveled to the outside world at all.

"Senior... Are you a true Master?" Yu Hua looked at Fang Xi, somewhat in disbelief.

Fang Xi was at this time searching the souls of each of the human skins, barely obtaining what he wanted: "I can impart the Skin Shadow Skills to you... but you also have to do one thing for me."

"Please command me, Master!"

Yu Hua was excited in his heart, vaguely feeling that this was the greatest opportunity of his life!

"After mastering this skill, consume all the human skins in this hall... then proceed to establish your Taoist Foundation!" Fang Xi pointed at the skins within the hall, still pierced and immobilized by the black threads, and said with a smile.

"Taoist Foundation?!"

Yu Hua’s mouth hung open: "Can I... become a Taoist?!"

"As long as your will is strong enough, there shouldn’t be any problem..." Fang Xi stroked his chin, beginning to transmit the skills.

He still needed a test subject for this world’s demon skills to ascertain their difference from the ’Stealing Immortal Foundation’ method.

Then, he could proceed to snatch the ’Blood Skin Skills’.

...

Though the No Origin Palace was located in a remote area, by dawn the disappearance of Li and the pale-faced Taoist would inevitably cause a stir.

Therefore, Fang Xi chose to take the human skins and the old Taoist Hua Ying, along with Yu Hua, to quietly leave the Skinless Temple first, randomly picking an abandoned house in the city to begin imparting the cultivation method at leisure.

"Skin Shadow Skills..."

Yu Hua sat cross-legged, holding a piece of skin shadow in his hands.

It was part of the old Taoist Hua Ying’s skin, but after being suppressed by Fang Xi’s demon skills, it became like a dead object, easily refined by Yu Hua.

Even his magic power had risen a notch!

In the next room, Fang Xi withdrew his Divine Consciousness: "These Skin Shadow Skills are indeed quite unique... the higher the magic power, the more skin shadows can be manipulated... each skin shadow is at least equivalent to a Qi Refining puppet... With enough numbers, even Cultivators at the Foundation Establishment level would flee in panic."

"Even more astonishing is the rate at which magic power can advance by mutually devouring Taoist Foundations. With my help through the demon skills, this person has advanced from the mere beginning stage of Qi Refining to near-perfection in less than a month..."

"Moreover, he’s already ready to start preparing for Foundation Establishment... and the success rate is very high."

...

It wasn’t long before Yu Hua came to pay his respects.

"Not bad at all... It seems you now qualify to refine a Life-bound Skill," Fang Xi said with a smile, tossing a human skin mask his way.

It was the skin of the old Taoist Hua Ying himself!

After the disappearance of the man and his disciple, the Skinless Temple was indeed in disarray, but with the old Golden Core nearing his end and the city’s mixed state of affairs, other Taoists were reluctant to launch a full search for them, and the issue died down...

This gave Fang Xi a deeper understanding of the chaos and cruelty of this world.

"Thank you, senior. I will proceed to establish my foundation..."

Yu Hua’s hands trembled as he took the human skin mask.

On the mask, crimson lines were throbbing, but they were locked down by layers of talismans and couldn’t move at all.

He proceeded to the closed-door cultivation room, closing the door behind him before taking a deep breath.

Next, Yu Hua repeatedly tapped his fingertips, sending threads of greyish-white lines into the human skin mask.

The skin mask struggled to twist into an expression of fury, only to be immobilized by the talismans, unable to move.

"I have barely begun to learn the Skin Shadow Skills... but no matter, once I refine you, I will gain the accumulation of the entire Skin Shadow Skills, easily forging my Life-bound Skill, constructing the base of the Great Dao!" Yu Hua spoke to the face and then commenced the refining process with his eyes closed...

Three months later.

Fang Xi, who was in a small pavilion, felt the convergence of spiritual energy and couldn’t help revealing a smile: "Success... Still, this sensation is somewhat different from the Stealing Immortal Foundation. The teachings of this realm are indeed creative... They take the path of gathering everything for quick success."