Chapter 102 The World Called Huangdou

Ying Shu was amused by Ye Chuxiao's arrogant attitude.

Without further ado, she directly manipulated the Heart Pill, constantly interfering with Ye Chuxiao's mind.

At times, lustful desires surged, at times, greed prevailed, and at times, some girlish feelings were infused, attempting to forcefully twist Ye Chuxiao's orientation, making him effeminate.

However, all of these were blocked outside by Ye Chuxiao's mental armor, unable to penetrate, and could only be regarded as invalid garbage thoughts, swept into the trash heap of his mind after flashing by.

After a long while, Ying Shu finally stopped this 'ineffective attack'.

She had obviously fully recognized the thickness of Ye Chuxiao's mental armor, and secretly hated that she had given Ye Chuxiao too little of the Heart Pill's power in the first place.

But apart from that, there was also a trace of relief.

At least as a safety lock, for now, Ye Chuxiao was considered 'qualified'.

Although she regarded Jin Buyi as a key chess piece, it wasn't impossible to reverse the order.

Everything could be adapted as needed.

"Forget it, I have a set of Flowing Cloud Hundred Transformations body technique here, which is considered the best in martial arts body techniques, are you willing to trade it?" Ying Shu was ultimately more concerned about Jin Buyi, and chose to compromise.

She had no choice but to compromise. The power of thirty percent of the Heart Pill couldn't break through Ye Chuxiao's mental defenses, and she herself was still imprisoned in the Ministry of Justice's dungeon. Even if she had already made arrangements for escaping, the time was not yet ripe.

"Ah! I'm currently greedy, it must be the Heart Pill working."

"So... not enough!" Ye Chuxiao mercilessly slashed the price.

There was no need to be polite with this妖n妖女 (yao nü, seductress).

"You... fine! I'll also teach you the technique of One Thought Creates Talisman, as well as the Original Truth Sect's secret art of 'Ascending the Tower'. The Ascending the Tower secret art is a secret method for accumulating and stacking foundation. Each time you ascend a floor, your cultivation will become more solid. The higher you climb, the deeper your foundation will be. If you can accumulate dozens or hundreds of floors, then even if you are only at the Profound realm, you will be qualified to kill cultivators at the Transformation realm or even the Wisdom realm across realms." The妖n妖女 (yao nü, seductress) Ying Shu's tone carried a hint of bewitchment.

Ye Chuxiao wanted to squeeze her a bit more, but the妖n妖女 (yao nü, seductress) Ying Shu seemed to have anticipated it, and decisively said, "I don't only have you as a source of information. Although it's a bit more troublesome, I can still bypass you and seek Jin Buyi's secrets from other sources. Think clearly before you answer."

Ye Chuxiao felt that Ying Shu might be bluffing him, but since he was going to inform Ying Shu anyway and have her restrict Jin Buyi, he chose to take what he could get.

"Alright! Give me the promised reward first," Ye Chuxiao said.

Ying Shu directly transmitted the three methods over through the Heart Pill, not afraid that Ye Chuxiao would break his promise.

There was a certain contractual nature between the original owner of the Heart Pill and the furnace.

If he broke his promise, Ye Chuxiao's mind would be opened a crack by Ying Shu. For Ying Shu, it might be even more beneficial.

Ye Chuxiao didn't look at these three methods first, but instead told Ying Shu all of his guesses and discoveries about Jin Buyi, only concealing the part where Ye Chuqi described the future.

"Colluding with an unknown palace eunuch expert?"

"Could it be that Jin Buyi has defected to the little Emperor or the Empress Dowager?"

"It should be the Empress Dowager. If the little Emperor had a hidden Intent realm eunuch, it would be impossible for him to just casually use him on Jin Buyi, exposing his trump card."

"But if it's the Empress Dowager... wouldn't she be paying too much attention to Jin Buyi? Although Jin Buyi is a Divine Constable of the Six Doors, he doesn't have full control over the Six Doors after all. In terms of the power struggle within the court, he shouldn't be that important." Ying Shu's 'self-talk' didn't hide from Ye Chuxiao, obviously wanting to stimulate Ye Chuxiao to reveal more thoughts through this method.

Of course Ye Chuxiao had thoughts. He believed that Jin Buyi was neither the little Emperor's man nor the Empress Dowager's man.

But what exactly he was, was hard to say.

Seeing that she could no longer gain anything from Ye Chuxiao, Ying Shu slowly fell silent.

After the Lu Manor incident, Blade Hero Yan Po returned to Little Cold Mountain and continued to work as his bamboo craftsman. Erlong successfully connected with the Six Doors, obtained some help from the Six Doors, borrowed some manpower, and gained some face. He searched all over Yaoshan, entered some secret realms, and still focused on finding opportunities to see if he could get a royal invitation to climb Yaoshan.

As for the results of interrogating the green-robed eunuch... it was impossible to tell Ye Chuxiao.

Even if he was one of the parties involved.

Therefore, the origin of the green-robed eunuch was still a mystery to Ye Chuxiao.

Of course, it was also possible that Yuan Shen and Shi Huang hadn't gotten an answer either.

The mouths of Intent realm cultivators were not so easy to pry open.

Many illusion techniques, soul-searching, mind-bewitching, and other methods didn't have much effect on Intent realm cultivators. As for physical torture, it was even more ineffective.

Intent realm cultivators could separate their soul and body at any time. Even if their bodies were ground to ashes, they might not feel the slightest pain. The torture effect was zero.

In a secluded courtyard, Ye Chuxiao was cultivating the Ascending the Tower secret art.

Just like Ying Shu said, the Ascending the Tower secret art was a powerful secret art with almost infinite potential.

Each time he cultivated a floor, the true qi in his body would become a bit more solid, and his perception and manipulation of the energy of heaven and earth would also increase by a point.

Although each floor didn't increase much, if he continued to stack them, he could indeed accumulate immeasurable advantages.

"It's just... it takes too much time!"

"It only took an incense stick's time to cultivate the first floor, the second floor requires an hour, the third floor requires three hours, and the fourth floor requires half a day."

"Now I've only cultivated to the seventh floor, and it's taken a full three days, and the increase and accumulation gained from seven floors of ascending the tower is only about half a percent more than before. It's not without its benefits, but it's really not that great for now." Ye Chuxiao opened his eyes, looked at the calm lake water, and exhaled a long breath.

Perhaps because his past experiences had raised Ye Chuxiao's threshold too high, he actually looked down on the increase of half a percent in accumulation and foundation in three days.

If it were an ordinary cultivator, they would be overjoyed to have such progress in three days.

"Actually, it's not impossible. Find a cultivator with Dao rhythm, teach him the Ascending the Tower secret art, and after he has cultivated it to a considerable extent, kill him... I can inherit his Ascending the Tower proficiency by decomposing his Dao rhythm." When Ye Chuxiao thought of this, he was suddenly shocked.

How could he suddenly have such a thorough idea of harming others for his own benefit?

"It seems that the Heart Pill still has a subtle influence on me. Even with mental armor, it's impossible to achieve 100% complete defense."

"The matter of the mind is too mysterious. Who can completely understand it?" Ye Chuxiao thought.

Standing up, Ye Chuxiao sat at the white stone table, poured a cup of hot tea, and waited for Ye Chuqi's arrival.

Today was the day they had agreed to exchange information.

For this reason, Ye Chuxiao had specially given the two Butterfly Envoys a few jars of honey wine to drink, letting them get drunk and pass out.

A flash of light passed by, and Ye Chuqi appeared as mysteriously as ever, making it impossible to see how he appeared.

However, this time, Ye Chuxiao saw some clues.

"So it's the flowing light body from the Flowing Cloud Hundred Transformations body technique. This is a method summarized and deduced based on one's own habits and abilities after mastering and comprehending the Flowing Cloud Hundred Transformations to a very high level. It cleverly uses the interaction between light and light to hide oneself, thereby achieving excellent concealment and stealth without consuming any energy." Although Ye Chuxiao's mastery of the Flowing Cloud Hundred Transformations body technique was still very basic, with the premise of understanding, he could see the origin of Ye Chuqi's methods.

Simply put, he couldn't do it, but he could talk about it.

There was no need to hide anything from Ye Chuqi.

He told him all of his thoughts, and the two brothers fell into a thoughtful silence at the same time.

"Do you think... is there a possibility that Jin Buyi is not the real Jin Buyi, but that he has been possessed?" Ye Chuxiao took the lead in opening the conversation.

Ye Chuqi nodded and said, "There's a high possibility! And, from the looks of it now, Jin Buyi's previous identity is very likely to be a member of the royal family, or even a former Emperor."

"If that's the case, then it can also explain why, after Jin Buyi seized power and usurped the throne, those Unfettered experts accumulated by the Daheng Dynasty did not strongly intervene, but instead allowed him to take power."

"But... the point of changing dynasties doesn't make sense. Could it be related to his later direct use of demonic arts to absorb the earth vein energy of the world?"

"We'll find out by looking it up. Although there have been many members of the royal family over the past thousand years, there should still be a limited number of important royal members who have cultivated to the Profound realm in the past," Ye Chuxiao said.

Only by entering the Profound realm can one have Yin longevity, and only then can one be qualified and have the possibility to be reborn through possession.

And members of the royal family, or even the Emperor himself, are not necessarily cultivation experts, and they must be able to cultivate to the Profound realm.

Although cultivation emphasizes resources, it's not just about resources. It also emphasizes aptitude and accumulation, as well as one's own mentality and courage.

For example, the first level of the Bitter realm is a great test for cultivators. If they can't endure hardship and don't have Ye Chuxiao's 'cheating' experience, then wanting to cross the Sea of Bitterness is by no means an easy task.

For example, going from the Capable realm to the Profound realm also requires seclusion, and one needs to comprehend the mysteries of cultivation between life and death.

This is another test.

Some Emperors are terrible as the Son of Heaven, and their cultivation is of course very bad. Not to mention the Profound realm, they haven't even crossed the Bitter realm.

If every Emperor were good at cultivation, then Daheng might not have changed Emperors much in the past thousand years! Three or five Emperors would have filled the past thousand years.

This is probably like how, in ancient China, some Emperors were proficient in both literary and martial arts, while some were useless in both, some were skilled in power struggles, and some were foolish and vulgar.

Emperors are rich in all corners of the world and can obtain a large number of resources that ordinary people do not have, but this is only the foundation. Whether they can succeed, and whether they have prospects, depends on their own efforts and talent.

"This still depends on you."

"I can't access the information and archives of the Daheng royal family right now," Ye Chuqi said.

Ye Chuxiao said, "I can't either. The royal archives are all in the Court of the Imperial Clan. The Six Doors only has some simple backups from the past one or two hundred years, and the information is severely incomplete. I've also checked it these past few days, and there's no gain."

"The key is that there's no information related to the Emperor at all."

"Also, Xiao Chi, the Prince Chen that I'm more concerned about, there's no record of him either!" Ye Chuxiao added in his heart.

Ye Chuxiao had a hunch that Jin Buyi might be related to Prince Chen Xiao Chi, but Ye Chuxiao was not sure if they might be the same person.

After all, in the description of Dragon Queen Yuan Meng, Prince Chen Xiao Chi was a great and magnificent king who cared about the people of the world. The reason why he was branded as a traitor and skinned alive was also because he couldn't bear to cause the people to suffer due to the war, so he repeatedly compromised with the Emperor.

And Jin Buyi was a completely selfish person who would not hesitate to bring the world to the brink of collapse for his own selfish desires.

No matter how you look at it, such a person doesn't match Prince Chen Xiao Chi.

Of course, after experiencing so much, even Prince Chen Xiao Chi might have turned to the dark side.

"This requires you to think of more ways. You have this official skin, so it's always more convenient than me."

"The Original Truth Sect also emphasizes seniority. Although I'm climbing fast now, it will still take time to get in touch with the core secret vault," Ye Chuqi said.

Although Ye Chuqi was reborn, rebirth is not a cheat code that grants omniscience.

Going back from 2022 to 2012, can one be knowledgeable about all aspects of all walks of life? That's absolutely impossible. At most, one would only remember some major trends.

Before, Ye Chuqi didn't make a very remarkable name for himself in Daheng. Having been reborn, the world is still mostly a mystery to him.

"Time! What I lack is time! My realm... is still weak," Ye Chuxiao sighed again.

He was lacking time!

Whether it was Ying Shu or Jin Buyi, as their 'competitor', the huge gap in cultivation between Ye Chuxiao and them often made Ye Chuxiao feel like he was sitting on pins and needles.

As if to them, he, Ye Chuxiao, was a 'cake' that could be swallowed in one bite at any time.

This could be seen from Jin Buyi's attitude towards Ye Chuxiao.

Ye Chuxiao needed to be mindful of Jin Buyi's life and death, but Jin Buyi didn't care about Ye Chuxiao's life or death.

Because there was a gap in their realms, and there was also a gap in their endurance.

However, after cultivating to the Profound realm, one actually enters a relatively long period of adjustment and slow progress.

Jin Sanniang can be considered young and promising!

From what Ye Chuxiao heard from her introduction, she entered the Profound realm at the age of nineteen, and she was now thirty-five, but she was still at the peak of the Transformation realm.

In other words, she had lingered from the Profound realm to the Transformation realm for a full sixteen years.

Even if she had been forcibly enlightened at the age of nine under the protection of her elders due to her noble family background and started cultivating, it only took her ten years to go from the Foolish realm to the Profound realm.

"The Profound realm is about gradually comprehending the subtle mysteries of cultivation through observation and learning, while the Transformation realm is about comprehending the balance of all phenomena through tempering and enriching knowledge."

"These all require time and experience to grow and polish, just like a person's experience. Even for those who are most sensitive to the outside world, they still need to go through real experiences to increase their experience," Ye Chuqi said to Ye Chuxiao.

Compared to Ye Chuxiao, Ye Chuqi didn't have this problem.

He already had the accumulation from before his rebirth. Walking through it again was just about regaining his strength. Before reaching the peak state in his memory, he would hardly encounter any bottlenecks.

"If there were a way to condense years of accumulation into just a few months, that would be great," Ye Chuxiao sighed.

Upon hearing this, Ye Chuqi seemed a little hesitant.

A hesitant expression appeared on his face.

"You have a way? If you have a way, just say it! Don't beat around the bush!" Ye Chuxiao looked at Ye Chuqi and said.

Ye Chuqi said, "There is a way. I know of a world. Not only do I know some of the major future events in this world, but I'm also very confident that the special nature of this world will be very helpful to your current predicament."

"But... the cost is very high."

"What's the cost?" Ye Chuxiao asked.

"Lifespan! If you plan to bring back the increased cultivation after cultivating in that world, then you will have to completely bear the backlash from the defects of that world. Your lifespan will be greatly devoured, and even before you break through to the Unfettered realm, your lifespan may become the same as that of ordinary people," Ye Chuqi said.

Then Ye Chuqi continued, "The world I'm talking about is called 'Huangdou' (Barren Struggle), which is a world that is feared by cultivators from all over the heavens."

"Almost no external cultivators would choose to cross over there."

"Because its disadvantage is that it devours lifespan. Cultivation doesn't increase lifespan. Even if you reach the level of an Intent realm cultivator, you may still end up as just a handful of yellow earth after a hundred years?" Ye Chuxiao asked Ye Chuqi.

Ye Chuqi nodded and said, "That's right! That's exactly the case. But if there are disadvantages, there are advantages. You should have experienced some worlds, so you should understand the principles here."

Of course Ye Chuxiao understood.

Just like the original Daheng, the disadvantage was that the higher one's cultivation, the colder one's heart would become, and one could only seek out worlds with countering defects to make up for it. But also because of the coldness, one's mentality was stable in many ways, and one wouldn't panic in the face of major events.

Cultivators in the Tianluo world would be manic and impulsive, but they were all good at fighting, full of courage, and dared to wield their blades against the strong.

Cultivators in the Island world had rampant chuunibyou (middle-school second-year syndrome), but they also had huge imaginations and a great tolerance and ability to learn new things.

Cultivators in the Academy world all had hobbies, but special hobbies would also turn into powerful talents.

The defects and advantages of the Heavenly Dao often complemented each other.

"It seems that the disadvantage of this Huangdou world you're talking about is that it reduces the lifespan of cultivators, making the lifespan of cultivators below the Unfettered realm the same as that of ordinary people, but it can also allow cultivators to quickly gain rapid improvement and growth in cultivation in a very short period of time." Ye Chuxiao deduced the conclusion according to the rules.

Ye Chuqi said, "That's true. I was also chased and killed back then, and had no choice but to flee into the Huangdou world."

"Within just two years in the Huangdou world, I pushed my cultivation from the mid-stage of the Profound realm to the Wisdom realm. Later, in order to leave this world and regain my lifespan, I cut off all the cultivation I had gained in that world, and erased all my knowledge of cultivation from those stages."

"Later, I would occasionally think, if I hadn't chosen to reduce my cultivation, would I have had a stronger cultivation when the Demon Disaster broke out, to survive the Demon Disaster, and even enter the Unfettered realm... Of course, it's also possible that I wouldn't have lived to see the Demon Disaster break out at all."

Ye Chuqi rambled on, but Ye Chuxiao was considering the gains and losses.

He thought he didn't have enough 'time', and Ye Chuqi gave him a direction.

Although it didn't increase his time, it was equivalent to shortening the time he needed to spend accumulating his cultivation.

The price was also very high. The three hundred years of Yang lifespan he had just gained would be reduced by more than half.

"Is it worth it to go to the Huangdou world to cultivate?"

Ye Chuxiao hesitated for a moment, and finally made up his mind.

"It's worth it!"

"Although I have three hundred years of lifespan, if I can't gain the capital and qualifications to confront Jin Buyi and Ying Shu in a short period of time, I won't even live for a hundred years."

"So three hundred years of lifespan is a false proposition for me. The Heart Pill struggle has nothing to do with the outside world. Even if I can escape to other worlds, I may not be able to avoid this struggle. So, escaping can't really solve the problem, it just puts myself in a passive situation and delays the arrival of a tragic outcome. Whether Jin Buyi devours Ying Shu, or Ying Shu devours Jin Buyi, they may enter the Unfettered realm. That is a realm that is completely different from the previous seven realms. I know almost nothing about it and can't blindly trust the abilities of the golden clock."

"Stacking mental armor is a solution, but it's a bit passive. In this Heart Pill game, what I want is not just self-preservation, but also... winning the championship!"

"If I devoured Ying Shu and Jin Buyi, then for me, the door to the Unfettered realm would also be opened."

"Give me the coordinates!" Ye Chuxiao looked at Ye Chuqi and said.

Ye Chuqi was stunned: "You've made up your mind?"

Ye Chuxiao said: "That's right! And actually, I can do this. If I can gain a huge increase in ability in a very short period of time and increase my chances of winning in the struggle, then the Unfettered realm is beckoning to me, and the lifespan I pay is not a big deal at all. If the harvest is not good, then I can cut off my cultivation. It's just a delay of a few months. For me now, if I can't take off in cultivation in a few months, then the practical significance is actually not great."

"Actually, you can also choose to temporarily cooperate with Ying Shu, and then use Ying Shu to restrain Jin Buyi to buy time," Ye Chuqi still advised.

Ye Chuxiao shook his head and said, "Impossible! Do you know what Ying Shu taught me recently?"

"She taught me a secret technique."

"Ascending the Tower Secret Art!"

Ye Chuqi's expression changed drastically upon hearing this.

"Ascending the Tower? This is the core inheritance of the Original Truth Sect, second only to the Longevity Blade by half a point. That's also because this secret technique becomes more and more difficult the further you go. Although theoretically you can ascend the tower infinitely, the highest ascending the tower record is only one hundred and ninety-nine floors, and any further up, your lifespan won't be enough."

"If someone has thousands of years of lifespan, they could suppress the heavens and dominate the universe with just the Ascending the Tower Secret Art," Ye Chuqi said.

"Since Ying Shu has passed this secret technique to you, it means that she has become wary of you and wants to use the Ascending the Tower Secret Art to distract you."

"Although it's important to stack the foundation and accumulate the background, what's more important is to improve your true realm cultivation. But the allure of the Ascending the Tower Secret Art is also not to be underestimated. You should have already cultivated it. How do you feel?" As he spoke, Ye Chuqi showed a curious expression.

Ye Chuxiao said, "It feels very good. In three days, I ascended seven floors, my true qi became half a percent more solid, and I improved by half a percent. There was also an improvement in my control and micro-manipulation of the spiritual energy of heaven and earth. If I continue, there will be even more improvements."

As he spoke, he looked at Ye Chuqi and said, "If you don't know this secret technique, I can teach it to you. Anyway, I'm not a member of the Original Truth Sect, so I don't have to keep secrets for you."

Ye Chuqi hesitated for a moment, but shook his head: "This is a demonic art. It has demonic nature. The more you ascend the tower, the more you can feel the benefits, and then you will unconsciously continue to spend time and energy ascending the tower. The higher the floor, the more you will be unable to turn back, delaying your true cultivation."

"I'm just afraid that I don't have that kind of determination to stop at the right time."

"You also need to be careful. It's fine if you've only ascended seven floors, but if you reach a dozen or twenty floors, I'm afraid you won't want to stop yourself."

Upon hearing this, Ye Chuxiao's mind fluctuated, and he couldn't help but think of that 'evil' idea from before.

Then, he suddenly shook his head and suppressed this thought again.

But it popped up from another direction: "If I imprison heinous people, then give them Dao rhythm, teach them to ascend the tower, and finally kill them to extract and decompose their Dao rhythm, is that feasible?"

"No, it's not feasible! It takes too long. Other people's time and my time are synchronized, which is actually consuming time."

"Actually, it's not impossible. If I go to the Huangdou world, the special environment there might be an excellent place for cultivating the Ascending the Tower Secret Art."

Thinking of this, Ye Chuxiao's heart stirred.

Secret techniques, he had them!

Dao rhythm, he also had it!

What he lacked was just the Huangdou world!

A special world where he could race against time!