Beside the pool of blood, a headless corpse lay quietly, with no life left in it.
Yuan Ming squatted aside. A rag shirt was spread out on the ground, and a dark red human head was placed neatly on it. It belonged to the Mandrill King.
He packed the head carefully and looked at the silver cat squatting beside him.
He was carefully looking at a black ball the size of a dragon's eye in front of him, wondering what he was thinking about.
"Let's go." Yuan Ming reminded.
The silver cat suddenly came to his senses, raised a front paw, and lightly swiped the soul bead, and the soul bead disappeared from the spot.
Yuan Ming was surprised, but he didn't ask any questions. He picked up the package containing the mandrill king's head and left through the cave exit on the other side under the guidance of the silver cat.
…
After an unknown amount of time, two figures quickly searched through the underground cave and finally arrived here.
"The person's aura here is strong, it's unmistakable, he's inside..." Elder Chu Xiong's eyes lit up, he pointed to the hole beside him and said.
"Kill it quickly and find the soul pearl." Elder Saren urged.
Elder Chu Xiong waved his hand, and a black weapon that looked like a bone claw appeared out of thin air in his palm, and he rushed into the cave in a flash.
Elder Saren followed closely behind and also rushed in.
However, when they rushed into the cave, the two of them were stunned at the same time.
Inside the cave, it was a mess, with fragments of corpses scattered everywhere on the ground. Most of them were severely rotten, and many were reduced to bones and were in a state of chaos.
And near the blood pool, there was a headless corpse lying.
"This is..." Elder Chu Xiong was startled and rushed over quickly.
Elder Saren chased after him.
"How did he die? Could it be a lie?" Elder Saren said in disbelief.
"The wound on the chest was caused by my bone-eroding hand. It can't be wrong, it's him." Elder Chu Xiong explained, his brows furrowed, obviously full of suspicion.
Why did this mandrill king die suddenly, and... where did his head go?
"Soul Pearl!"
The two elders' hearts tightened at the same time, and they quickly searched him.
But after a while, both of them felt cold at the same time. Someone got there first and the soul orb was gone.
"Elder Chu, does anyone else know about the soul pearl?" Elder Saren asked in surprise.
"You know this is about his true identity, how could I tell others? Couldn't you..." Elder Chu Xiong looked at Elder Saren and said suspiciously.
"Do you think I am someone who would do something stupid like that?" Elder Saren glanced at him and said.
"Then who did this?" Elder Chu Xiong frowned and pondered.
After Elder Saren looked around, he looked at the corpses scattered on the ground, and his brows twisted into knots.
"Have you guessed something?" Looking at the troubled expression on his face, Elder Chu Xiong couldn't help but ask.
"Look at the state and distribution of the corpses on the ground, do you see anything?" Elder Saren asked.
After hearing this, Elder Chu Xiong observed carefully for a moment, and his expression suddenly changed.
"These corpses showed traces of activity before. They were manipulated." Elder Chu Xiong looked at Elder Saren in disbelief.
"Being able to control corpses at least means that the person who took away the soul beads... is a soul cultivator. This..." Elder Saren hesitated.
"It's just you and me here, what else are you afraid to say? Do you also think it was the Great Elder who did it?" Elder Chu Xiong said straightforwardly.
"In the entire Biluo Cave, apart from his old man, I can't think of another person." Elder Saren nodded.
"This old guy might have discovered the existence of the soul pearl a long time ago, and he actually took the lead in cutting it off. It was in vain that we planned to donate it to him after getting it." Elder Chu Xiong said with some indignation.
"But why did he take his head off?" Elder Saren asked a little puzzled.
"Could it be that...he has already..." Elder Chu Xiong's expression changed slightly.
"There is something wrong with this matter. If it is really the Great Elder, who among us would dare to disobey with just one order? Besides, why would he take away the head?" Elder Saren said after thinking carefully for a moment.
"Soul cultivators have always been mysterious and sinister. Taking away the head may be used to refine some soul cultivating magic weapon, but it may not be certain." Elder Chu Xiong said thoughtfully.
"It makes sense to put it this way. If it was the great elder who did it, we must never mention the soul beads again... Let's just pretend that this matter has never happened." Elder Saren smiled bitterly and said .
"That's right! Fortunately, he is already dead. After destroying the body and removing all traces, this matter is finally over, and the heartache that you and I have suffered for many years can be eliminated." Elder Chu Xiong sighed and said.
After the two of them finished speaking, they looked at each other in silence, not feeling much relieved in their hearts.
…
On the other side, in a hidden valley.
Yuan Ming squatted under a green cliff, put the head of the Mandrill King into a large dug hole, filled it with sand and stones, and buried it.
Then, he found a long stone with a unique shape and put it aside, which was regarded as a monument without words.
After doing all this, he glanced at the silver cat squatting on the stone next to him, frowned, and said:
"This is over, let's say goodbye." He was quite dissatisfied with what happened in the cave previously and did not want to have too much interaction with it.
"stop."
Silver Cat's voice sounded in his mind, still unquestionable.
Yuan Ming looked back and saw a palm-thick cyan book appearing out of thin air and landing at his feet.
"What is this?" Yuan Ming frowned.
"Without your help this time... I wouldn't have gotten the soul beads so easily... This is my reward." Silver Cat said, not caring about Yuan Ming's reaction, and turned around and left.
Yuan Ming was left alone, hesitating in place for a long time before picking up the cyan book from the ground.
At a glance, I saw the three characters "Mingyue Jue" written on the cover of the book.
It's not the southern Xinjiang script, but the script used by the Central Plains people in Yuan Ming's memory.
After a while, Yuan Ming picked a sunny hillside, sat down on a large flat rock, and opened the blue book.
"The art of soul-covering cultivation is not burdened by form or convention. It is unpredictable and difficult to prevent. People who practice it must consider themselves. Unless you have a strong soul and a strong will, you must not practice it on your own. Remember, remember
.”
The first paragraph at the beginning is not to outline the general principles of the exercises, but to remind readers to examine themselves and see if they are qualified to practice the exercises?
Although Yuan Ming didn't understand what the art of soul cultivation was, he felt that the opening words were somewhat bluffing.
He continued to read down, and what was described later became much more normal.
"The essence of the sun is in the spirit, and the essence of the moon is in the soul. The moon essence is used to nourish the soul, nourish the soul, and strengthen the soul..."
Yuan Ming read the entire "Ming Yue Jue" and realized that the so-called soul cultivation seems to be a type of monk who refines the power of the soul, and the soul cultivation method is usually a cultivation method with the purpose of tempering the soul.
Its attack method when facing the enemy in battle is also to attack the enemy's spiritual consciousness. The method is more subtle and unpredictable, making it difficult for people to guard against it.
Yuan Ming couldn't help but remember that when he was fighting the Mandrill King in the cave, those corpses had attacked in groups. Maybe it was a soul-cultivating method used by the silver cat, right?
However, it seems that practicing this kind of technique is extremely difficult. The previous warning is not an exaggeration, but there are indeed risks in practicing, and those who are not strong-willed are very likely to harm their own souls.
Once the soul is damaged, people may lose their memory, lose their intelligence, lose their soul, or even become stupid.
Yuan Ming was originally not very interested in the "Mingyue Jue", but after reading the first-level exercises, as long as he could successfully practice them, he could transform the power of the soul into a physical form, and some cultivation ideas emerged in his mind.
Xi’s thoughts.
Although he didn't know whether his soul power was up to standard, he still had some confidence in his willpower.
Afterwards, he continued to read the rest of the content, and found that this technique was unexpectedly short, with only three levels in total.
However, the contents of these three levels of exercises are very detailed, and there are occasionally some small-scale characters in the blank spaces next to them, which seem to be comments left by someone.
It records the cultivation methods and later attack methods in detail, but the content is quite difficult and obscure. At least for Yuan Ming, it is still somewhat difficult to understand them all.
At the moment, he had no intention of practicing immediately, so he put away the books, adjusted his breathing on the spot for half an hour, and then left.
…
In the next half month, Yuan Ming did not go out to hunt animals, but stayed in his cave, recovering from his injuries and practicing at the same time.
Firstly, he is not sure whether Kuntu and Bada will come to trouble him. Secondly, he is not sure whether the sect's handling of the mandrill incident will involve him. Although he is just a humble beast slave,
Due to his identity, the chances of these two things happening were not very high, but he had to guard against them.
During the day, he continued to practice the Nine Yuan Jue, and at night when the bright moon hung in the sky, he would come out and try to practice the "Mingyue Jue".
What troubled him was that he once again encountered the same dilemma as when practicing the Blood Qi Method.
There is a very clear entry standard for practicing "Mingyue Jue", which is to be able to "see inwardly with spiritual consciousness, sit down and observe oneself".
The so-called spiritual consciousness is an ability that transcends the six senses and is born after the monks enter the Qi Refining Stage. It is also mentioned in the Nine Yuan Jue. In short, it is a special perception that can detect everything.
It's just that now, his spiritual consciousness is very weak, and he can only perceive a range of a few feet with his eyes closed. Moreover, every time he opens his spiritual consciousness for a long time, he will feel a sense of exhaustion, and he needs to rest for a long time to recover.
In addition, with each improvement in cultivation level, the spiritual consciousness will also be slightly enhanced, but for Yuan Ming, the feeling is not too obvious.
According to the book, the so-called "spiritual consciousness to look within, sit and reflect on oneself" must guide the spiritual consciousness to observe the three important internal scenes of one's own Dantian, meridians and sea of consciousness, which is like a human king inspecting the mountains and rivers within the territory to show control.
However, after half a month of hard work, Yuan Ming could only look inside his own sea of consciousness. What he saw was only a small area of chaos, and he could not truly look inside the entire sea of consciousness.
Not to mention the so-called spiritual consciousness traveling through the meridians and visiting the Dantian.
This kind of flow of spiritual consciousness is different from the previous instructions given by Yinmao to use the power of the soul to condense his eyes. The operation is more detailed and the control of the power of the soul is extremely strict. It has always been difficult for Yuan Ming to master it.