Chapter 130: Kitchen God's Secret Art
Shen Yu’s actions attracted quite a few glances. Liu Ciming frowned slightly: “What is that person doing?!”
“Hm?”
The gazes of the demonic cultivators and demons all converged on Shen Yu.
“He…”
“He seems to be… refining this Infinite Hells?”
“Heh, how is that possible?”
Liu Ciming scoffed: “An ink treasure is not a magical artifact. How could one possibly…”
But halfway through his sentence, he suddenly realized what was happening and froze on the spot.
“That’s right.” Zheng Daming still wore his trademark squinting smile: “Now that Jin Tianya has cast his secret art and refined his own soul into it…”
“The nature of this ink treasure has already changed.”
He too began to follow Shen Yu’s lead, tentatively sinking his spiritual energy and divine sense into the ink-black darkness.
Several Underworld Springs Path demonic cultivators, Liu Ciming included, followed suit one after another.
Even the demons of Corpse Bone Abyss joined in.
Though the Infinite Hells was bizarre, outsiders attempting to refine it would not face too much risk.
One merely needed to guard one’s mind and continuously channel spiritual energy.
However, even with Shen Yu’s late Foundation Establishment stage spiritual energy, he could only carve out a narrow path through the ink-black darkness, slowly extending toward the mountain of white bones.
During this process, a number of perceptive cultivators noticed something.
The path formed after several Foundation Establishment cultivators had refined it seemed to have significantly reduced the vengeful resentment of the ghosts upon it.
No new ghostly apparitions were even spawning anymore.
This discovery prompted many others to begin their own attempts.
Xu Ziqing knew full well that with his level of spiritual energy cultivation, he could not achieve any substantial result in this contest.
But don’t forget—inside this Infinite Hells right now, two of his own disciples were still desperately holding on.
If the path formed by spiritual energy refinement could keep those two alive, then for him, that was enough.
Several elders who had been observing finally poured forth their spiritual energy and began to refine as well.
…
The Infinite Hells.
Song Yan and Li Qingfeng, the two unfortunate brothers, were still struggling to make their way outward with arduous steps.
Their spiritual energy was rapidly depleting, and their physical strength was gradually failing.
The demonic whispers at their ears grew ever more cacophonous, and hallucinations began to appear before their eyes.
“This is bad…”
Under the manifold torment and suffering, both felt a growing sense of dread in their hearts.
If not for the tormenting ghostly apparitions all around them, their situation would have been more bearable—they could simply walk forward.
But now, the two of them were already in a state that tasted of a dead end.
Song Yan looked around, uncertain how many of the dozen or so Qi Refining cultivators in Shigu Ping were still alive.
Just as Old Song was weighed down with worry, Li Qingfeng seemed to have reached his limit.
He made a certain decision.
“Damn it all!”
Li Qingfeng gritted his teeth and waved the kitchen cleaver in his hand, slicing apart two ghostly apparitions lunging at him.
This time, however, he did not wait for them to dissipate on their own. Instead, he grabbed the two ghosts in his hands!
Then he flipped the large black pot sideways and tossed the ghosts inside.
“Boom—”
The meager spiritual energy remaining in his body surged frantically, and a great fire blazed beneath the black pot!
Song Yan stared, dumbfounded: “Qingfeng… what… what are you doing?!”
Li Qingfeng had probably gone mad.
“There’s an old saying—you eat what you want to become!”
“Today, little master here is going to taste what these vengeful ghosts are like!”
“Rumble…”
In the blink of an eye, the two ghostly apparitions melted down inside the black pot, refined by the great fire until they became a small black pill.
Li Qingfeng pinched the pill between his fingers, and without any hesitation popped it into his mouth.
“Mm… this is my closely guarded secret…” he said to Song Yan while chewing the pill refined from the ghostly apparitions.
But the ghost pill was sticky in his mouth, so Song Yan could only hear him vaguely.
With a gulp, Li Qingfeng swallowed the ghost pill.
“Since we’ve been through life and death together, I won’t hide it from you.”
“My Kitchen God’s Secret Art can refine all things under heaven!”
“Eating it can enhance one’s cultivation and spiritual energy. Of course… it has other effects as well.”
After their adventure at Peach Blossom Wharf, the two had already been through life and death together, and Song Yan had just saved his life again, so Li Qingfeng no longer kept anything hidden.
“Refining spiritual objects typically yields effects related to the nature of the object itself.”
“If eating this ghost pill can make us impervious to a hundred ghosts, then our chances of walking out of this Infinite Hells will be a bit better.”
“Only… I have never refined this kind of thing before.”
“…I see!”
Song Yan suddenly understood—he had thought Li Fatty had gone mad.
Then he grew amazed: the secret arts and texts of the cultivation world truly were full of strange and wondrous things.
“This secret art is truly impressive! It can even refine and consume vengeful ghosts.”
Song Yan praised: “Back when we were at Stone Bridge, a wandering Daoist claimed he could chew ghost bones dry. I thought he was just scamming people…”
“…That one was indeed a scam.”
“…”
“…So do you feel anything now?”
Li Qingfeng paused: “Huh?”
The two of them pondered it, and it seemed that in the time since he had swallowed the pill, no more vengeful ghosts were charging at them.
Though the hellscape reflection kept reaching out with hands, the pressure had at least eased considerably.
“Old Song, the special effect gained from refining spiritual objects can only activate once within a short period.”
“I can’t tell whether this ghost pill has a time limit. Slay a few more vengeful ghosts and I’ll refine another pill.”
“In a moment, you eat one.”
“Alright!”
Though no ghostly apparitions were rushing at them for the time being, that didn’t mean there weren’t any nearby.
Quite the opposite—whether it was their imagination or not, the ghostly apparitions around them seemed to be growing more numerous.
Song Yan slew three ghostly apparitions and tossed them into Li Qingfeng’s large black pot.
Before Li Qingfeng could begin refining them, Elder Xu Ziqing’s voice transmission reached their ears.
“All disciples within the ghost domain, heed my command!”
“The elders are currently refining the source of this painting’s anomalous phenomenon. All of you, flee toward the northeast. Follow the path that has been refined, and you will be safe.”
A painting?!
Such a grand celestial phenomenon was merely a painting created by some predecessor?
But then, Song Yan and Li Qingfeng’s hearts lifted with joy.
With the ghost pill’s boost, they could finally spare a moment to glance at the scene in the sky from afar.
Several sect elders were all channeling their spiritual energy at full force, attempting to refine a safe passage so their disciples could escape.
Elder Xu Ziqing had long since found a position closest to the two of them, and the refined spiritual energy path was heading straight toward them.
He had not entertained even the slightest thought of “trying his luck elsewhere.”
That path was very close to them!
The two wasted no more time. Li Qingfeng put away the black pot and hurriedly began making his way toward Elder Xu Ziqing’s indicated direction with great difficulty.
At the very center of the Infinite Hells, atop the mountain of white bones.
Jin Tianya watched the movements of the Foundation Establishment cultivators beyond the boundary and let out a cold snort.
“Not so easy.”
He spread both hands, and the entire Infinite Hells trembled violently.
The ink-black surface beneath his feet suddenly cracked open, then rapidly shifted and rearranged itself.
Indeed, he could not escape the fate of being refined by someone and losing his own consciousness.
But if he could keep these Qi Refining Stage cultivators here and strengthen himself, perhaps he could try to contend with those Foundation Establishment cultivators lurking hungrily outside!