Yamafu Military Affairs

Chapter 612 Soul Search
At midnight, the South Peak Hall had been cleaned up inside and out. The elders of the Cold Wasteland were engaged in heated debate in the hall, while the skilled physicians summoned by the emperor were brewing medicine, casting spells, and treating the wounded in a corner. Qin Huai was looking through the spiritual arts collected by the Cold Wasteland Kingdom when he asked Chu Zongshu, who had taken Qi Spring Elixir and whose condition had clearly improved, "Your Majesty, I didn't expect that the Cold Wasteland Treasury would also contain the extremely rare Soul Searching Technique. As far as I know, this technique has been explicitly forbidden in the Five Great Clans, and its practice is no longer allowed, right?"

"That's true, but my Cold Wilderness Kingdom is far in the far north and relatively independent, with very little interaction with other parts of the Great Wilderness. The five major clans won't cause trouble for such a small matter. In addition, the cultivation level and talent required to cultivate this kind of technique are too high. My eight barbarian clans are naturally strong and skilled in martial arts, but they have little aptitude for spiritual techniques. Therefore, even if we search the entire vast Western Emperor Mountain, we cannot find a shaman skilled in soul searching. We can only ask you to study and practice it yourself and see if you can subdue the soul of my good-for-nothing cousin."

Chu Zongshu lay on the bedding woven from ice silkworm silk, looking at Qin Huai and the animal skin scroll containing the Spirit Rhinoceros Technique in his hand. His words were full of apology: "Lord Taotie, we must thank you for your timely help and assistance. The barbarian tribe has no way to repay you. If you have any request, let alone this scroll of Spirit Rhinoceros Technique, even the rarest treasures, fine wines, and beautiful women, the eight clans of the Cold Wilderness will do their utmost to find them for you to repay this great kindness!"

"It's just a trivial matter, why do you care?"

Qin Huai shook his head, his gaze lingering on the unassuming animal hide scroll.

[Copy of the Great Wilderness Soul Searching Technique]

Quality: Legendary!
Category: Arcane Arts (Special Codex)

The written record of the "Soul Searching" technique of the Spiritual Rhinoceros method records the secrets of how to use spiritual power to obtain the memories and information of other intelligent beings. Practitioners need to have strong three souls and seven spirits, otherwise they are easily overwhelmed by the massive amount of memory information, causing extremely serious sequelae.

Note: If you don't want to look like an idiot, never use this on someone of a higher rank!!!
By spending Yama Points to study, one can perform visualization. There is a certain chance of obtaining this secret technique through visualization. The secret technique does not occupy a skill slot, and the success rate of visualization is related to the strength of the specialization related to movement.

Each visualization costs 100 Jambudvipa Points, or 2000 Jambudvipa Points to directly master this secret technique.

The basic requirements are: walking on the eight extremes and having all three souls and seven spirits intact.

Similar to the Jambudvipa tokens that grant the user the authority to visualize skills.

Moreover, the threshold for visualization is not high, but caution is needed when choosing which object to use it for.

Having extracted these two key points, the wealthy and powerful Qin Huai did not hesitate at all. He directly spent two thousand Yanfu points to master them. Countless obscure and ancient information immediately flowed through his mind, as if he had practiced it a thousand times. His rich experience was instantly imprinted into the depths of his soul, turning this rather difficult Lingxi technique into Qin Huai's instinct.

"Let me see what you're planning to do."

Retrieving Chu Ning's soul from the Kunlun Space, Qin Huai's five fingers unleashed a gentle surge of Returning to Truth Qi, enveloping it. The Taotie, its form clearly visible, leaped out from the Niwan Palace and swallowed it whole with its gaping maw!
The desolate wilderness, the western sea, the water demon, and the most ferocious creature.
Countless bizarre memories flashed before Qin Huai's eyes, even the most trivial details were clearly visible. After a long time, Qin Huai finally pieced these scattered fragments together and thoroughly understood the cause and effect of the Cold Wasteland Gu Calamity.

It turns out that although Chu Ning was the cousin of Chu Zongshu, the ruler of the Cold Wasteland Kingdom, and held the high position of High Priest of the Eight Clans, he was inherently stubborn. He and Nü Chou, Ye Xue, and others considered themselves barbarian patriots. They believed that the Cold Wasteland Kingdom's alliance with the Golden Demon and its submission to the latter was an unjust act that went against the will of their ancestors, and that they were willing to become slaves. Therefore, they deeply hated the Golden Demon and the Council of Elders of the Eight Clans.

In an attempt to overthrow Chu Zongshu and split the eight clans back from the Jin clan, Chu Ning and his associates secretly gathered followers, forming the Ice Dragon Sect. They raised ferocious beasts, wreaking havoc everywhere, and resorted to all sorts of underhanded tactics, including sowing discord and spreading rumors. However, due to the Jin clan's appeasement and appeasement efforts, they were unable to succeed. After one failed operation, the elders discovered that Chu Ning was the mastermind behind the beasts' evil deeds. Enraged, they expelled him. Left with no other option, Chu Ning and his group colluded with the Western Sea Demon, hoping to use its power to seize independence for the eight clans.

Meanwhile, the sea demons of the West Sea seemed to have powerful allies, also showing great interest in the vast lands of the far northern wilderness. Thus, the two sides quickly reached an agreement, and after much discussion, finally decided to use the snow disaster and calamity that shrouded the Great Wilderness as a cover. First, the female demon would spread the wrathful decree of the Great God of the Wilderness, while Chu Ning and Ye Xue would transform into Taotie and Frost Snow Bat to assassinate Chu Zongshu. Then, the Gu master and the West Sea Ancestor would work together to break the seal on the Ice Armored Horned Demon Dragon, shatter the Mi Mountain, and use the mysterious river of Nuwa's Intestine, which spread throughout the Great Wilderness, to draw water from the West Sea, flooding the Wilderness and creating a swampy land.

Shao Hao's arrival undoubtedly provided an excellent prelude to this conspiracy, but unfortunately, no matter how much man plans, Heaven only has one plan. They never expected that a Taotie would descend from the sky and abruptly interrupt this fierce battle in the desolate wilderness with an incomparably domineering and awe-inspiring power.

"So, beneath the deep pool where the Gu Luo fish was discovered in the Beast Mountain Range lies the mysterious underground river known as the 'Intestines of Nuwa'."

Qin Huai opened his eyes, rubbed his throbbing and aching temples, his mind filled with a myriad of thoughts.

Just now, he used the Soul Searching Technique to deconstruct Chu Ning's soul and filter memories, which did tire his three souls and seven spirits. However, it was not without its benefits. Having received the knowledge of the barbarian high priest, he now has a thorough understanding of the situation in the Great Wilderness of the Mountains and Seas, and naturally knows exactly what the [Intestine of Nuwa] is.

Legend has it that in ancient times, after the goddess Nuwa returned to the earth, her body transformed into the ground, and her intestines stretched underground, becoming a network of interconnected underground rivers. These crisscrossing rivers were quite mysterious, with extremely strong whirlpools; once drowned, escape was nearly impossible. Hundreds of years ago, a 30,000-strong army of the Jin tribe invaded the Frosty Wilderness and suddenly vanished without a trace. Two years later, Jin scouts discovered 30,000 corpses floating in the underground rivers of a rift valley in the Western Frosty Arctic. This event caused a great stir at the time; people said that the Jin army must have acted unjustly, angering the goddess Nuwa, which caused them to fall into Nuwa's intestines and drown. The barbarian tribes were overjoyed upon hearing the news, while the Jin tribe dared not send troops westward for a century.

"Judging by the time, the Western Sea Ancestor and the Gu Master will soon be unsealing the Ice Armored Horned Demon Dragon. It's just a pity that those brave and strong creatures who became innocent nourishment not only suffered from the Corpse Gu in life, but also had to be driven by people after death. Even if only their limbs and bones remain, they will be devoured by that old thief, making the most of them!"

With a sigh, Qin Huai shook his head, put away the animal skin scroll given to him by Chu Zongshu, and said to the King of Hanhuang, who was still on the bed, "Your Majesty, Chu Ning's collusion with the Old Ancestor of the Western Sea will soon unseal the Ice-Armored Horned Demon Dragon, using its ferocity to lift the Heaven-Turning Stone Seal embedded in Mishan Mountain, and divert the waters of the Western Sea to flood Hanhuang. To save the barbarians, I will first return to the Mountain of Beasts to settle accounts with that old thief. You and the young master must remember to quickly go to Kunlun to fetch reinforcements to help me!"

After saying that, Qin Huai ignored the pleas and dissuasion of the elders of the eight clans, and flames surged from his feet, transforming him into a blazing line of fire as he flew towards the Beast Mountain Range.
-
The night fog was chilly, and the moonlight was dim. Qin Huai flew swiftly all the way, but instead of returning to the northern peaks from which she had come, she followed the Beast Mountain Range that ran from north to south to the southern mountains.

Just as Qin Huai passed over a jagged, pointed mountain, as if some kind of warning or restriction had been suddenly triggered, the roars of beasts and the cries of birds suddenly came from all directions, overwhelming the sky and the earth. Countless dark shadows flew out from thousands of mountains and valleys, covering the sky and the moon, and flew in a vast and mighty wave.

wrong!

Qin Huai's heart skipped a beat, and his battle intuition immediately gave him a warning. He could hear the clear, resonant sound of a zither breaking through the air amidst the roars of beasts and cries of birds, and he immediately realized that this must be the Ice Armor Dragon Tendon Zither that Chu Ning had personally stolen from the Frosty Wilderness Treasure Vault. And the one wielding this beast-taming divine weapon was none other than Baili Chunqiu, the water demon who was ranked alongside the Dragon Girl Rain Master and the Fire God Zhurong as the number one beast-taming master in the Great Wilderness!
Thinking of this, Qin Huai's mind stirred, and his True Qi surged forth, gathering into a spherical shield that shimmered with iridescent colors. It forcefully carved a bloody path through the swarm of birds and beasts, flying straight towards the source of the zither music.

As the music grew closer, Qin Huai saw from afar that in the snow-covered ground at the entrance of the cave on the cliff, sat an old man with an otherworldly air, playing the zither. His white hair flowed, his beard and eyebrows danced together, and even the hem of his clothes rose and fell with the rhythm of the music.

A startling glance.

【Bai Li Chunqiu】: The number one beast tamer among the aquatic tribes, with three thousand years of cultivation, a master of the immortal level, and ranked among the minor gods. He already possessed the 【Spring and Autumn Mirror】, but after acquiring the 【Ice Armor Dragon Tendon Kite】, he was like a tiger with wings, able to tame all the ferocious beasts in the world.

【Ice Armor Dragon Tendon Zither】: A legendary artifact, it was made by the heroes of the cold wilderness after they hunted down a demonic dragon. They removed its spine and carved it into a zither case, extracted its dragon tendons to make the strings, and pulled out its dragon teeth to make the zither frets. It is a national treasure made from claws, teeth, scales and horns.

Seeing Qin Huai fly over, the white-haired old man seemed to have anticipated it. The music of his zither suddenly changed, like the roar of a withered tree. Five strange shadows that kept expanding and changing emerged from the dark cave behind him. The cold and fierce aura that belonged to the desolate wilderness filled the sky and pressed down on the lone Qin Huai.

"Although I don't know your origins, if you intend to ruin my clan's grand plan, there's only one word: death!"

Before the words were finished, the five strange figures had already completely transformed, revealing themselves as the most ferocious beasts of the desolate wilderness, except for the Ice-Armored Horned Demon Dragon, the Frost Snow Bat, and the Taotie. The five ferocious beasts flew around in circles, and different colored lights burst out from their bodies, merging and intertwining, actually managing to block the cannonball-like colorful Qi shield.

The next instant, the green-skinned steel rhinoceros, the size of a hill, raised its sharp, gleaming golden horns and charged towards Qin Huai with thunderous speed.

Glancing at the five fierce beasts whose outlines emitted a faint red glow, Qin Huai drew his Seven Sins Spear, temporarily using it as a staff, and cleaved down with force, directly smashing the Golden Horn's head askew and halting its momentum. The Golden Horn Steel Rhinoceros felt an immense force on its head, trying to grit its teeth and withstand it, but it couldn't resist. With a mournful cry, it plummeted from mid-air, crashing into the thick snow and ice of the icy peak, smashing a huge hole in the dark cliff face.

Seeing that the Golden Horned Rhinoceros had been defeated in a single round, Baili Chunqiu was so shocked that his eyelids twitched. He lifted the zither with the tip of his foot, and the zither rested steadily on his shoulder. His five fingers brushed over the snow-white dragon tendon strings, and the zither, illuminated by the moonlight, suddenly shone with an extremely dazzling light.

漻活~
The deafening sound of the zither and the dazzling light spread outwards, followed by the Divine Bird, whose wingspan could blot out the sky, stirring up an extremely cold wind. Then came the Ice Jade Spider King, which sprayed countless spider silks. After that came the Snow Horned Bear, which wielded its claws, had thick skin and long fur, and was over five zhang tall. Then came a brown six-horned ox, each horn so thick that it would take several people to encircle it. These four fierce beasts were filled with demonic energy, and each of them had nearly three thousand years of cultivation! Especially under the command of the zither, they were quite in sync, their offense and defense were perfectly coordinated. The four fierce beasts of the Frosty Wilderness, working together, were even stronger than the Taotie, which truly possessed the strength of the Seven Palaces.

Faced with the four villains' encirclement, Qin Huai did not retreat but advanced, his movements so fast that it seemed as if he had grown three heads and six arms, deflecting many of their attacks.

Clang!

Baili Chunqiu plucked the strings, and streams of emerald light flowed from his fingertips into the zither, creating sound waves powerful enough to shatter metal and stone, which exploded into a ferocious dragon that roared and crashed into the colorful Qi shield.

Roar!
The collision caused mountains to crumble and the earth to split, ghosts to wail and gods to weep. Thousands of rainbow flames burst forth, shooting angrily into the sky. Birds and beasts cried out in sorrow and despair, turning to ashes and smoke. The embers drifted between heaven and earth, indistinguishable from the cold, fine snow.

Hey~
Bai Li Chunqiu's five fingers plucked the strings, and the music played rapidly, like pearls falling on a jade plate, like ice, frost, snow and rain, coming right at you.

Qin Huai's entire body surged with Qi, his martial spirit and Buddhist tendons undulating rapidly like waves, his blazing golden eyes burning with a tangible ferocity, and the immense power of ghosts and gods unleashing a sky full of spear light that shattered thunder and lightning, vast and mighty. The battle formation composed of the four fierce beasts of the cold wilderness was completely unable to compress the spear circle drawn by the Blood Pattern Sinful Edge.

Qingqing!

Seeing that Qin Huai's ferocity was hard to suppress, Baili Chunqiu plucked the strings again, and the double sound resonated. The music suddenly rose, like a waterfall, like an avalanche of snow, sharp and fierce, aggressive and intimidating. Thousands of birds and beasts roared wildly, and countless black shadows swooped down like lightning, attacking Qin Huai.

"I'm sick!"

Qin Huai roared, and a massive amount of extremely vicious and ferocious energy condensed into a colossal Taotie with round gray eyes, a gaping maw, and sharp, fanged teeth. Sharp golden energy mixed with bone-chilling frost burst from its mouth, like a rapidly spinning tornado, tearing the surging beasts to shreds. Countless extremely vicious and ferocious energy instantly flew out and merged into Qin Huai's body.

Suddenly, everything around turned into a black and white line drawing. Peaks, blood rain, and flames all became abstract lines. The Four Fiends of the Cold Wasteland also became colorless line drawings. In the blink of an eye, only the lines that make up their bodies swayed.

At the same time, the world fell silent. Qin Huai, his eyes tinged with black and white, used his gun as a brush, freely unleashing his power in the vast world of lines, easily scattering the four fierce beasts of the desolate wilderness into chaotic lines. The ink-splashed spear light swept straight towards the figure playing the zither.

Evil deeds are easy to commit!

The crimson blood patterns covering the deep black blade emitted an eerie red light, and it looked as if it was about to behead Baili Chunqiu with a single spear thrust, turning him to ashes.

roar~
Just then, a roar suddenly rang out. Qin Huai frowned slightly, feeling a series of thunderous explosions in his ears and a bloody wind swirling around him. A crimson tentacle as thick as a beam shot out from the cave behind Baili Chunqiu, blocking the indestructible Black Edge.

(End of this chapter)