Chapter 41: The Tank Attacks (Please keep reading, please vote)

It was much faster than before. After all, the efficiency of one idle slot was "2 strands/day," so two slots meant "4 strands/day," and the third slot had to be occupied by [Corpse Demon Secret Method] and could not be moved.

Placing the primary cultivation technique in two idle slots doubled the efficiency of its deduction and advancement to a second-tier technique, reducing the time from twenty years to ten—a significant boon for him.

After all, the slight increase in aptitude provided by the *Cold Blood Art* was crucial to him.

On the day he emerged from seclusion, a talisman letter was posted on the isolation restriction of Wang Yu's residence. After reading the information on it, he couldn't help but smile.

"A second-tier corpse-refining arm... I didn't expect to actually find one."

Three days later, he went out to fulfill an appointment.

Meanwhile, in the gradually declining Xu residence, the massive Xu Jiaojiao stood before Su Qingshan. Within her squinted eyes, buried under folds of fat, flashed a cold light that outsiders would find difficult to detect, though her voice remained sweet and charming.

"Dearest Su, my father has been taken away by the Law Enforcement Hall and all news of him has ceased. Are you certain that Wang Yu is the one behind this?"

"Naturally."

Su Qingshan maintained an air of absolute confidence, analyzing the situation logically: "Jiaomei, according to my investigation, those grandparents surnamed Zhu in your father's shop were the ones reported by Wang Yu. He also benefited from it and caught the eye of Zhuo Shouqing from the Law Enforcement Hall.

"Zhu Xiaosun offended the Third True Disciple of Evil God Peak. He conspired with his grandfather, Manager Zhu, at the Xu Family Alchemy Shop to deceive your father and seize the Xu family's resources, intending to use spirit stones to atone for the crime.

"Wang Yu disrupted this matter, and nearly a hundred thousand spirit stones were swallowed by Zhuo Shouqing. When the True Disciple of Evil God Peak learned of this, he grew greedy for the stones and used the excuse of detaining your father to try and take a cut for himself.

"Ultimately, it is all Wang Yu's fault!"

Su Qingshan's investigation process was not false, and his sources of information were quite accurate, proving he possessed some level of ability. However, blaming the fault on Wang Yu was utterly baseless.

But it was a desperate measure.

Neither Zhuo Shouqing nor the True Disciple of Evil God Peak were people that the Xu family or he could afford to offend; they could only blame Wang Yu and hate him.

Was this not a form of self-deception, a way of burying one's head in the sand?

Evil God Peak was already ranked at the bottom of the Spirit Reversal Blood Sect. It was only fitting that a mere True Disciple would covet such a sum of spirit stones; Deacon Xu was simply unlucky.

The fact that he dared to open an alchemy shop in the Evil God Market meant he had already offended the people of Evil God Peak. The spirit stones he paid went partly to the Alchemy Hall, representing the sect's orthodoxy, and partly to the Xu family lineage of the Fifth Peak, [Barbarian Ghost Peak], to seek protection.

How could Evil God Peak accept this? It was highly possible that the True Disciple of Evil God Peak had personally ordered the Zhu grandparents to defraud the Xu Family Alchemy Shop.

Due to practicing a demonic cultivation technique her father had obtained through a fortuitous encounter, Xu Jiaojiao had transformed from a young maiden into an ugly sow. She dared not go out to see people all day, her temperament both simple and twisted.

To say she was simple was because she still believed in love; she was willing to hand over the medicinal pills used for her cultivation to Su Qingshan to refine, believing that once he broke through to the Foundation Establishment stage, he would be able to disregard the strange looks of the world and marry her!

To say she was twisted was not just because of her strange and torturous sexual fetishes, but also because of her bizarre and perverted personality.

Su Qingshan's original intention in guiding Xu Jiaojiao to hate Wang Yu was to obtain secret information regarding Tantai Chan from Wang Yu, thereby plotting to seize the high-grade Foundation Establishment Pills in her possession.

However, ever since Tantai Chan returned from Heavenly Treasure City, many first-generation Foundation Establishment cultivators had fallen silent. Even the Alchemy Hall had invited Tantai Chan to lecture the inner sect disciples practicing alchemy.

This had greatly intimidated all those with ill intentions.

She had a background—this was common knowledge!

Thus, Su Qingshan abandoned his pursuit of the opportunities surrounding Tantai Chan and instead turned to seeking Foundation Establishment opportunities from his father-in-law. With Xu Jiaojiao by his side, if he could sacrifice his charms and use his silver tongue to persuade him...

He couldn't guarantee high-grade Foundation Establishment Pills, but there was a high probability of obtaining low-grade ones like the Blood Reversal Pill; it was a fallback plan.

And then... there was no "then."

Deacon Xu was detained, the Xu Family Alchemy Shop was sealed, and there was a massive deficit of nearly a hundred thousand spirit stones. Even if the father-in-law escaped imprisonment, providing Foundation Establishment Pills for Xu Jiaojiao would be a problem, let alone for him, the son-in-law who hadn't even officially married into the family.

He hated Wang Yu to the extreme. He used secret methods to control several outer disciples of Wuyin Peak, driving them to ambush Wang Yu with the intent to kill him quickly.

Unexpectedly, they were all killed in return. In the critical moment, the controlled minds gave up the name "Xu Jiaojiao" to clear their own suspicion, which led to today's events.

—An ambush once again!

At this moment, Wang Yu felt a massive headache. Following the philosophy of learning from one's mistakes, he generally avoided venturing into remote corners. Today, he had an appointment with an inner disciple of Corpse Heaven Peak.

Instead, he encountered Xu Jiaojiao near the corpse-rearing grounds of the [Corpse Heaven Market].

The corpse-rearing grounds were equipped with a Yin-gathering formation and covered a vast area, located at the outermost edge of the [Corpse Heaven Market]. Aside from a few small pavilions where the corpse-raisers lived, it was no different from the wilderness.

The fact that she could locate him so precisely meant that the inner disciple from Corpse Heaven Peak who had arranged the meeting must have betrayed him. Thinking of this, he reasoned

"Miss Xu, I consider myself to have no grievance or enmity with you, and I even helped Deacon Xu. Why do you persist in hounding me?"

"Hounding you? Helped my father?

"Nonsense!"

A ferocious rage appeared on Xu Jiaojiao's fat-laden face. "When did this lady ever hound you? It is you who won't let my Xu family go—you deserve to die!"

Wang Yu keenly sensed that something was wrong, but the arrow was already on the string and had to be released. Seeing that "tiger-style tank" charging at him, how could he simply surrender?

"Hmph, stubborn to the end!"

Times had changed. A year and a half later, the changes in Wang Yu were earth-shattering.

With a movement, he immediately produced nine phantom bodies that scattered in all directions, taking a Nine Palaces formation, while his single hand formed a sword seal.

Beside each phantom body, ten sharp ice swords condensed, and hundreds of them shot out in a dense barrage!

Nine fakes and one truth; the ice crystal blades shimmered with an eerie light, making them almost indistinguishable.

Xu Jiaojiao planted her feet firmly, sank her breath into her dantian, and let out a sudden roar.

It was a rare sonic technique. Barbarian Ghost Peak was famous for its powerful physiques; although it was not a traditional body-refining inheritance, it still possessed sixty percent of the essence.

This was a high-grade spell—[Barbarian Ghost Roar]!

Waves of shrieking rose, creating visible sonic ripples. The fake ice swords condensed by the phantom bodies all vanished, leaving only the ice swords cast by Wang Yu's true body advancing.

With that, Xu Jiaojiao swung her upper arm, and her right hand was suddenly shrouded in black smoke, expanding several times over to transform into a black ghostly hand that swept away all the ice swords.

Wang Yu's expression turned solemn. The cultivation level Xu Jiaojiao revealed was a terrifying eighth level of Qi Refinement. With a gap of three full realms, the pressure surged!

He once again pinched a seal to increase the power of his technique.

"Ice Coffin Curse: Bind!"

The temperature plummeted rapidly, and frost began to condense on the ground. Four ice walls also appeared around Xu Jiaojiao, closing in instantly.

Immediately after, the top and bottom gaps were sealed by ice crystals, and a giant ice coffin floated horizontally in the air.