Chapter 27: Spirit Fetus Cultivation Method

Whoosh—

In the forest outside Disabled Elderly Village, Qin Mu unleashed a palm strike. Vitality surged from his arm, coiling around it like a fiery dragon. The air before him instantly grew intensely hot, as if ignited!

He moved his feet, continuously striking with his palms. The air became increasingly scorching, like a desert with ten suns blazing overhead, incredibly hot!

He was using Grandpa Ma's boxing technique, the fourth form of the Eight Thundering Sounds: Kuafu Chasing the Sun Amidst Wind and Thunder.

Suddenly, Qin Mu's footwork shifted, and his moves changed accordingly. Each strike flowed like a mighty river rushing to the sea. His vitality astonishingly transformed directly from fire to water attribute. A water dragon, formed from mist, coiled around his arm, and during his continuous strikes, a surging sound of waves erupted, as if a great flood flowed around him.

His technique changed once more. With hands lightly clasped, water vapor surged like spears, like a long dragon, overturning rivers and seas.

For the past few days, he had been honing his Sword Control with Vitality in the village, focusing on refining his vital energy. However, he still needed to first observe fire to imbue his vital energy with the fire attribute before he could perform Sword Control with Vitality.

With each practice session, the time needed to observe fire grew shorter. Now, he no longer had to look at a stove; simply by thinking of the flames within a furnace, his vital energy automatically became scorching hot.

However, the Butcher's Pig-Slaughtering Blade Technique belonged to the combat skills school. Qin Mu's attempts to use the Pig-Slaughtering Blade Technique to hone his Sword Control with Vitality had yielded little result.

In contrast, his practice of Grandpa Ma's Eight Thundering Sounds and the Blind Man's spear techniques had been quite fruitful, showing rapid progress.

Now, when he performed the fourth form of the Eight Thundering Sounds, Kuafu Chasing the Sun Amidst Wind and Thunder, he moved like a giant sprinting. A tremor from his palm caused the air to crackle and explode—this was the power of vital energy!

Of course, the Vermillion Bird vitality, being fire-attributed, could not perfectly unleash the full power of Grandpa Ma's Eight Thundering Sounds. The most suitable vital energy for the Eight Thundering Sounds was the Azure Dragon vitality.

However, the Black Tortoise vitality, being water-attributed, could perfectly bring out the Blind Man's spear techniques.

After a long while, Qin Mu stopped. He took two Vitality Stabilizing Pills to replenish his rapidly depleting vital energy and carefully reflected on the shortcomings in his vital energy application.

Previously, he could only take one Vitality Stabilizing Pill before feeling bloated to the point of madness. But ever since his Spirit Embryo awakened from its slumber, taking two pills caused no significant issues, merely a feeling of fullness.

"Can the demonic ape eat Vitality Stabilizing Pills? Probably not. Grandpa Apothecary said these pills contain four attributes, which are poison to anyone who isn't a Hegemon Body. Perhaps another day, I'll refine a jar of Vitality Stabilizing Pills specifically for the demonic ape."

Qin Mu's heart stirred as he thought of the large creature that often fought with him. He hadn't sought out the demonic ape in a few days and wondered how well the exotic beast had been practicing the "Three Elixirs Hegemon Body Art."

He leaped up and moved with incredible speed towards the demonic ape's territory. After all, he was still a boy, and with only elders in the village, he had no friends. He and the demonic ape had become acquainted through their sparring, and after a few days apart, he actually missed it.

Before long, Qin Mu arrived outside the valley where the demonic ape resided. Suddenly, a mountain-like figure rose from the forest—it was the demonic ape.

After a few days, the demonic ape had grown even more robust. It was exceptionally delighted to see Qin Mu, pounding its chest and motioning for Qin Mu to jump onto its shoulder.

Qin Mu leaped onto its shoulder, and the demonic ape, bounding with incredible speed, carried him into the valley and ran deeper inside.

This was Qin Mu's first time entering the demonic ape's lair. He saw wild deer and horses everywhere in the valley, along with some musk deer and naive roe deer. In the interior lay an ancient ruin, with crumbling walls and broken remnants, looking utterly dilapidated.

The demonic ape's dwelling was a palace that had already half-collapsed. In front of it stood a ruined half-beast, half-human stone statue. When Qin Mu activated his Divine Firmament Heavenly Eye, his heart trembled slightly.

This statue, like those in Disabled Elderly Village, appeared in his Divine Firmament Heavenly Eye. The divine aura within it resembled a towering, ferocious beast god, incredibly fierce and radiating immense power!

It seemed the demonic ape relied on this statue every night to ward off the encroaching darkness and preserve its life.

"Such extraordinary divine aura... could this also be a statue carved by a god for a god?"

Qin Mu jumped down from the demonic ape's shoulder. A naive roe deer approached, sniffed his clothes, and chewed on them a couple of times, mistaking them for food.

The demonic ape gently picked up the roe deer, carefully set it aside, and then waved its hand, signaling Qin Mu to follow.

It was the ruler and protector of this valley, safeguarding these animals, fierce only towards intruders.

Qin Mu followed it into the dilapidated palace and immediately frowned. The air was filled with the scent of wild beasts; presumably, the animals from the valley also entered the palace at night to escape the darkness.

"Little one, look!" the demonic ape said, pointing to a wall.

Qin Mu looked up. On the palace walls were some damaged murals. They were mottled, with some areas peeled off and others faded, leaving only a few relatively complete images.

These murals depicted people cultivating, with internal arrows indicating the flow of vital energy.

After a few glances, Qin Mu's heart suddenly pounded: he saw the vital energy circulation path of the "Three Elixirs Hegemon Body Art"!

The demonic ape must have found similarities between the murals and the "Three Elixirs Hegemon Body Art" after practicing it, which was why it led him here!

However, Qin Mu quickly noticed something amiss. While the first mural indeed showed the guide map for the Three Elixirs Hegemon Body Art, the second was different. Although it still followed the path of the Three Elixirs Hegemon Body Art, it was more complex.

The vital energy circulation path in the second mural entered the Spirit Embryo Divine Treasure in the brow!

After the vital energy entered the Spirit Embryo Divine Treasure, it led to the third mural. This third mural depicted the vital energy's circulation path within the Spirit Embryo Divine Treasure. Instead of being directly breathed in and out by the Spirit Embryo, the vital energy formed wondrous vital energy array patterns beneath the Spirit Embryo's feet.

These array patterns were extremely intricate, surpassing even the Divine Firmament Heavenly Gang array patterns taught to him by the Blind Man. Qin Mu examined them closely, diligently memorizing them, while simultaneously using his own vital energy to simulate and form the patterns beneath his Spirit Embryo's feet.

Once he successfully formed the Spirit Embryo array patterns, his body trembled slightly. He immediately felt an inexplicable connection linking him and his Spirit Embryo together!

When he breathed, the Spirit Embryo breathed with him. When he made a move, the Spirit Embryo made the same move. When he activated the Three Elixirs Hegemon Body Art, the Spirit Embryo also activated it!

Qin Mu was stunned, then overjoyed: "Doesn't this mean two of me are cultivating together?"

However, he immediately noticed that the Spirit Embryo activating the Three Elixirs Hegemon Body Art didn't increase his vital energy cultivation; instead, it refined his vital energy.

His vital energy circulated within the array patterns beneath the Spirit Embryo's feet, absorbing golden light from the golden sea, then entering the Spirit Embryo's body and being exhaled. After fusing with the golden light, the vital energy became even more resilient and pure.

Previously, his Spirit Embryo had also absorbed golden light, albeit faintly, but not as quickly as with the array patterns depicted in the third mural.

"Could this be the Spirit Embryo realm technique for the Three Elixirs Hegemon Body Art?"

Qin Mu's heart pounded. The village chief had said he didn't know the subsequent techniques for the Hegemon Body. He never expected to find a Hegemon Body technique for the Spirit Embryo realm here!

He looked at the fourth mural and frowned slightly. The fourth mural had peeled off, with only half remaining. It likely recorded the techniques for the Five Elements realm.

This mural had some animal claw marks, suggesting it had been damaged by the animals living there.

The fifth mural was also incomplete, and the sixth had mostly peeled off. The subsequent murals were even more tattered and difficult to discern.

"This palace is so dilapidated; I wonder how much longer these murals can last."

Qin Mu sighed. It was already incredibly rare for even a few murals to have survived until now. He fully memorized the second and third murals, then silently reviewed them a few times before feeling relieved.

Even if the murals in the palace were completely destroyed, they would live on through him, to be taught to the next "Hegemon Body"!

Few complete murals remained on the palace walls. Aside from those depicting the "Three Elixirs Hegemon Body Art," there was one other relatively complete mural.

It was a map. Qin Mu examined it closely and found the location of Surging River, his heart stirring. "Is this a map of the Great Ruins?"

He traced the Surging River little by little, following its flow and the turns of its channel, finally locating Disabled Elderly Village.

"Hmm? Why is there a dragon drawn here?"

Qin Mu's gaze fell on the map about a hundred *li* upstream from Disabled Elderly Village. A dragon shape was inexplicably drawn on the Surging River there.

"Surging River Dragon King!"

Qin Mu's heart trembled slightly. Next to the dragon, the characters "Surging River Dragon King" were written, though he didn't know what they meant.

This map contained more than just this strange spot. Other places were also peculiar. Thirty *li* east of Disabled Elderly Village, a well was drawn, with four characters written beside it: "Sky Well Dragon King."

Another spot also showed a well, labeled "Sea Eye Dragon King."

He also saw a boat in a more distant part of the Great Ruins map. A sun was drawn on the boat, with the words "Sun Boat" written beside it. Not far from the Sun Boat was a place called Sun Well. Far from the Sun Boat, there was also a Moon Boat, with a crescent moon drawn beside it. Next to the Moon Boat, there was also a peculiar place called Moon Well.

Qin Mu scanned the map but found no ancient temple in the middle of the river where Wu Nü was suppressed, nor did he find Imbued Dragon City a thousand *li* downstream.

"Could this map be from before the Great Ruins' Cataclysm?"

Qin Mu searched for a moment, and his heart leaped. He found the canyon ruin he had discovered while escaping the darkness. However, the map didn't label it as a ruin, but as "Goddess Pass"!

"Indeed, it's a map from before the Great Ruins' Cataclysm!"