Eternal Life Begins with Learning

The night had deepened.

Under the escort of nearly a hundred Inspectors, a flatbed cart slowly rolled out of the Inspection Office.

Chu Mu remembered this was the very same cart that had carried the old man’s corpse from that mountain village to the dungeons.

And now, this same cart was carrying the old man’s body—dismembered and then stitched back together—out of the dungeon.

Next, the corpse would be hung from the memorial arch at the Northern exit of the town.

A public display of the corpse... to... lure the snake from its hole.

It had to be said, the seemingly unremarkable forensic doctor was extremely skilled.

The body, which had been dissected into pieces, was now stitched back together and dressed in burial clothes. At a glance, one could hardly see anything wrong with it.

Only upon closer inspection did the ghastly stitches come into view, creating an indescribably horrifying sight.

"Hang it up."

At the Northern exit, following Wu Shuo’s orders, the now utterly terrifying corpse was hoisted up beneath the tall memorial arch.

Under the night sky, with torches flickering, a gruesome corpse hung in the air, swaying with the wind. It was a good thing the Inspectors present had been involved from the start. Otherwise, any unsuspecting person would have been scared half to death.

"Brother Mu, are there really ghosts?"

Even now, Xu Yuan clearly hadn’t recovered from the news about the Resentful Soul. He looked at Chu Mu and stammered out his question.

"Don’t overthink it!"

Chu Mu pulled the copy of the Body Refining Technique from his robes and shoved it into Xu Yuan’s hands. "When you have time, study this. If there’s anything you don’t understand, come ask me."

Xu Yuan was stunned. When he saw the three words on the cover—Body Refining Technique—he immediately tried to refuse:

"Brother Mu, I can’t take this! This is from the Squad Leader...!"

"I already spoke to the Squad Leader. Don’t worry about it."

Chu Mu waved his hand dismissively, his eyes scanning their surroundings. He clearly didn’t want to say any more. 𝒻𝑟𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝑛𝘰𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝘤𝘰𝘮

Chu Mu wasn’t worried about whether Xu Yuan could understand it. Before his father died, Xu Yuan’s family circumstances had been far better than his own.

His father had forced the boy to attend a private school for several years, so literacy was certainly not an issue for him.

Seeing Chu Mu’s vigilant expression as he scanned the area, Xu Yuan opened his mouth, but in the end, said nothing more. He gripped the copy of the Body Refining Technique tightly, a new resolve hardening his features.

Chu Mu’s attention, however, was no longer on Xu Yuan at all. It was focused entirely on their surroundings.

If the Resentful Soul hadn’t appeared, he wouldn’t have been so cautious. But now, the veil had been lifted on a higher level of mystery.

His rudimentary Sword Technique, his newly cultivated Qi Blood, his self-defense skills that seemed remarkable against ordinary people—all of it was pitifully insignificant before this higher level of mystery.

And right now, strictly speaking, he was one of the participants in this public display of the corpse...

In a confrontation beyond his abilities, the slightest misstep would make him cannon fodder.

Given all this, Chu Mu had no choice but to be on high alert.

But for some strange reason, Chu Mu felt a flicker of anticipation, hoping the boy would come seeking revenge.

He knew that even if this hope was realized, it wouldn’t mean much for him personally.

But the human heart... is always prone to a bit of wishful thinking.

Anticipation... wishful thinking, yet also worry... and even fear...

Time... slowly ticked by amid Chu Mu’s complex state of mind.

The night grew deeper, then faded away. The rooster’s crow heralded the dawn, but the corpse still hung high, swaying in the wind. Nothing out of the ordinary had occurred.

After the incident at Fengyue Tower, the focus of Nanshan Town and even Qinghe County had clearly shifted according to Li Jinghong’s will.

Nearly a hundred Inspectors stood guard, both in plain sight and in hiding, beneath this memorial arch. By early morning, under Li Jinghong’s command, almost two hundred Inspectors from the County Patrol Inspection Camp had also rushed to Nanshan Town overnight.

Immediately after, another hundred or so Inspectors were transferred from the mines to this Northern part of town, relieving Chu Mu and his men, who had endured a nerve-wracking night.

It wasn’t until the sun had just begun to rise that Chu Mu finally made it home.

After a whole night on high alert, Chu Mu was undoubtedly exhausted.

But more than his exhaustion, the sense of urgency born from his worries weighed on him far more heavily than his physical and mental fatigue.

As soon as he got home, Chu Mu carefully inspected every room in his house. Without a moment’s delay, he began to boil the medicinal herbs that would support his Qi and Blood Cultivation. As for the negative side effects of overusing the herbs...

Given the current situation and the shock of the mysterious and Extraordinary, the mere negative effects of medicinal toxins were, to Chu Mu, utterly insignificant.

The medicinal liquid bubbled over the roaring fire. After adding more firewood, Chu Mu prepared a simple meal for himself and then returned to his courtyard.

He went through a few rounds of his Sword Technique to loosen his stiff body, then threw himself completely into his Qi and Blood Cultivation.

He assumed the Pile Skill stance. As he calmed his mind and quieted his spirit, the sensation of his Qi Blood instantly flooded his awareness. With a slight movement of his Heart Spirit, the Qi Blood began to circulate.

Compared to Cultivation supported by medicine, this simple refinement of his own body’s qi was vastly different.

The wisps of qi converted from food were truly insignificant compared to the tidal wave of Medicinal Power that surged from the herbal concoction.

But undeniably, compared to refining the turbulent Medicinal Power, absorbing and integrating this qi—which was naturally converted by his own body and shared the same source—was far simpler. Moreover, it came with no restrictions or negative side effects.

Time passed, bit by bit. After about a quarter of an hour, Chu Mu stopped his Qi and Blood Cultivation.

Of course, it wasn’t that he didn’t want to continue his Cultivation, but that he couldn’t.

After all, the qi refined during Qi and Blood Cultivation was generated from the food he ate.

The amount was extremely limited. Furthermore, Qi and Blood Cultivation was not simply about strengthening Qi Blood. Its fundamental purpose was to fortify the internal organs and nurture Essence and Spirit.

Therefore, every session of Qi and Blood Cultivation was also a form of consumption of Qi Blood.

However, this consumption wasn’t a loss into thin air. Through the process of fortifying the organs and nurturing Essence and Spirit, it was converted into the body’s foundation—an indispensable step in the gradual process of transcending the human form.

But it was obvious that to practice Qi and Blood Cultivation, one had to ensure a sufficient supply of food, as well as the support of external forces like medicinal herbs.

Otherwise, each session would not be strengthening the organs and fortifying the foundation, but rather damaging the organs, harming the foundation—a path to self-destruction!

’Just one point of Skill Level...’

Seeing the increase in Skill Level displayed on the Light Curtain Panel, the corner of Chu Mu’s mouth couldn’t help but twitch.

’And I’m a beginner, for crying out loud! When learning anything new, a beginner’s progress is always the most obvious. As one’s proficiency deepens, it’s inevitable for the learning pace to slow down, or even stagnate. At this rate, without the support of medicinal concoctions, relying solely on my own practice might truly be a lifetime of thankless toil! Moreover, considering the human life cycle, it’s inevitable to gradually decline after reaching one’s prime. Qi and Blood Cultivation is fundamentally about strengthening the body. Once the body begins to age and one’s Essence, Qi, and Spirit weaken, the cultivation progress will undoubtedly be severely hindered. At an older age, it would probably be normal to regress instead of progress.’

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