Start with everyday skills and grind your way to immortality.

Chapter 92 Resurrection Through Soil: A Huge Misunderstanding

As dusk approached, it would take more than two hours to reach the nearest ferry, Qinghe Ferry, even at full gallop.

The night road was dangerous, and Chen Qian, being alone, was unwilling to take the risk.

He decided to find a dilapidated wooden house to take temporary shelter in a reed marshland five miles away from the county town.

This place is very close to the riverbank and is a "fish nest" used by local fishermen to rest and dry their fishing nets. Few people come here on weekdays, but it is quiet and secluded.

Chen Qian didn't stand on ceremony; he tossed the old fisherman two hundred coins and rented the fish-smelling hut for two days.

As night fell, the river breeze was damp and cold.

The room was completely dark, with no lights on.

But in Chen Qian's view, everything was crystal clear.

He sat cross-legged on the only wooden couch.

He mechanically chewed a piece of dry ginseng, the dry fibers were crushed and the medicinal juice seeped out.

With each breath of the health-preserving mantra, a surge of heat washes over the limbs and bones, warding off the damp chill of the cold night.

It also permeates the five internal organs through respiration, continuously strengthening the body's qi and blood.

On the square table in front of him, missing a leg, lay the spoils of his life.

They were all scraps scavenged from the tomb raiders and their gang.

Several packets of powder of different colors.

One of them, Chen Qian saw that Elder Ge had used.

Used to disrupt the sense of smell of skinned monsters, similar to the effect of snake repellent powder.

The other two are of different tastes: one is fishy and spicy, and the other is tasteless. Their uses are currently unknown.

There was also a dumbbell that wouldn't ring, and a piece of an unidentified small animal leg bone; judging from their condition, they were all old items.

Chen Qian pushed the clutter aside and finally focused his gaze on the two items in the middle.

One was an open leather bag containing a handful of grayish-white soul soil.

The soil looks ordinary.

You can put your hand inside, and even without touching it, you can feel a refreshing coolness.

The feeling was wonderful, like a restless soul being gently caressed by a tender hand, and the murderous aura of the past few days dissipated considerably.

Beside this Soul Soil lay a charred paper figure with only half a head remaining.

The paper figure's body had been burned away, leaving only a pair of eyes drawn with cinnabar.

A strange, dark red glow shone through the darkness, as if it were still staring intently at Chen Qian.

"Can this paper figure be awakened?"

Chen Qian felt a little uneasy.

The ten-day deadline was like a sword hanging over his head; if Li Chengyun didn't wake up, he would really have no choice but to wait for death.

He hesitated for a moment, then extended two fingers and carefully picked up the tattered paper doll's head, inserting it vertically into the pile of grayish-white soul soil.

"Burying souls in the soil—that should work, right?"

Chen Qian didn't understand the intricacies of the matter, so he could only try anything as a last resort.

One breath, two breaths —

Just as Chen Qian thought the method was wrong and was about to change his position,

The once lifeless pile of soul soil suddenly began to tremble violently, as if it were boiling.

Immediately afterwards, the paper doll's head, which was only half intact, suddenly shot upwards.

Like a mushroom growing out of the ground, it was literally "pulled" an inch higher from the soil.

Although the paper effigy's facial features remained still, the exasperated emotion emanating from its red eyes instantly filled the entire room.

"You brat!"

A furious, even weak, roar exploded in the quiet room: "Are you out of your mind, or have you forgotten your brain in the water?"

"I seriously doubt whether those old devils from the Taiyi Sect are blind enough to give a compass to a brute like you!"

Chen Qian was stunned by the scolding, staring blankly at the piece of paper trembling violently in the pile of dirt: "Master? You... you've come back to life?"

"Live my ass!"

Li Chengyun's voice was practically a roar: "You almost caused this fragmented soul of mine to dissipate! Do you know how close that last moment was? If I hadn't risked my life, using my last breath to protect you and push you to the surface, you would be a floating corpse at the bottom of the water by now!"

"I'm absolutely furious! Just a hair's breadth away, just a tiny bit more, and my fragmented paper effigy would have been completely burned away!"

Chen Qian looked completely innocent, blinked, and said aggrievedly, "Master, this isn't my fault."

"Didn't you say, 'The living must stay, the dead must cross the line'? I followed your instructions strictly, risking my life in that desperate situation!"

"I thought that incantation was a backup plan you left for me. I thought that as long as I obtained the Soul Soil, you would use your supernatural powers at the last moment to pull me back."

"Am I wrong?"

"you----"

The paper figure's red eyes widened, seemingly choked by Chen Qian's "closed-loop logic."

Although the drawn mouth couldn't move, Chen Qian seemed to see Li Chengyun's mouth twitching wildly.

a long time.

A deep, powerless sigh came from within the paper figure: "What's wrong with your brain—how is it structured?"

"I am but a paper effigy, with only a wisp of my soul remaining. How could I possibly possess such extraordinary abilities to pull a truly drowned person back from the clutches of Yama, the King of Hell?"

"So you mean—" Chen Qian asked humbly.

"Are you a pig?"

Li Chengyun scolded him with exasperation, "I told you to go too far with the death penalty, I meant to make you find a scapegoat!"

"Just kill someone, or find a fresh corpse, stick this paper figure on them, and I can use the corpse to cross the line, right?"

"Who told you to go and die? Huh? Who told you to jump into the water?"

"You're so ruthless to yourself, are you trying to scare someone to death?"

Chen Qian: "————"

The air suddenly became quiet.

Chen Qian opened his mouth, looking at the paper figure that was raging in the ground, and a feeling of utter absurdity welled up in his heart.

So this is what "the dead crossing the border" means?

So all you need to do is kill one person?

He spent half the day rehearsing his inner monologue, and even held his breath underwater until he almost saw his great-grandmother.

The result was that I overthought things and turned easy mode into hell mode?

"Cough cough————"

Chen Qian coughed awkwardly twice, then quickly plastered a fawning and worshipful smile on his face, cupping his hands in a gesture of respect towards the paper head: "Master is right! It was your disciple who was foolish!"

"Disciple was just thinking that as a righteous sect, we shouldn't kill innocent people indiscriminately—"

"Besides, if I had even a tenth of your ability and wisdom, Master, I wouldn't be in such a miserable state. Master, your methods are so extraordinary; I wouldn't even dare to dream of such a thing!"

Don't give me that!

Li Chengyun snorted, his tone still harsh, but he was clearly pleased with the flattery. The piece of paper that had been trembling in the dirt finally quieted down: "A prestigious sect? With your ruthless methods of shifting blame and killing, cutting off people's escape routes, you dare to call yourself a prestigious sect?"

"Alright, enough with the nonsense."

"Now that we've obtained the Soul Soil, this deal is done."

"7

"Next, let's talk about how to save your life."

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