Attaining Immortality, Starting From Slaying Demons

Li Mujin walked ahead, her thoughts drifting.

Her brother's personality was impulsive, but his judgment was indeed astute.

Initially, she thought Li Xinhan valued Shen Yi's attitude a bit too highly, but the trip to Shuiyun Village had genuinely confirmed Shen Yi's level.

Compared to her brother's straightforward methods, his crude promises of "status" and "women" to the other party.

Li Mujin preferred to close the gap first, using a carefree demeanor to dissolve any wariness that the impoverished talent might have towards aristocratic families.

She wanted him to feel that there was no difference between them, that they were both spirited martial artists, collegial peers who knew each other inside out, even potential intimate acquaintances.

In a subtle and gradual way, she would let him experience the privileges of an "aristocratic scion," and once he got used to it, no matter what he thought personally, he would at least appear to be branded with the Li family's mark in the eyes of others.

The youth of Qingzhou always repay kindness.

Her gratitude when she bowed was sincere.

She was truly willing to share the resources and connections controlled by the Li family with such a talent as Shen Yi, even offering more than she would to others. Not to mention, at least until Shen Yi reached Jade Liquid Perfection, the innumerable precious medicines he needed could all be covered by the Li family.

Of course, the idea of bringing him under her wing to serve at her beck and call was equally genuine.

This was an instinct etched into their bones from growing up in aristocratic families and being immersed in that environment from a young age.

However, what Li Mujin had not expected was that Shen Yi had reacted from the very beginning and had diplomatically declined her offer.

Recalling how several times before he had swatted away her hand.

This lad from Baiyun County had never believed from the start that they were on the same side.

He truly was... impervious to persuasion.

Li Mujin felt slightly troubled.

There seemed to be an inexplicable confidence about Shen Yi, as if he could stand his ground in Qingzhou all by himself without depending on others.

She did feel a certain admiration in her heart, but she couldn't help but wonder.

Where did that confidence come from?

Fang Heng, who was also from a poor background and of a similar age to Shen Yi, had to soak in medicinal baths for several years before successfully breaking through to the Initial Realm and was now at the Jade Liquid Middle Stage.

Such talent was astonishing, even making her father covetous.

But what was the result? Despite returning from slaying a demon and being taken as a disciple by the General, that was all subsequent.

Before that, he nearly died at the hands of a demon at the Jade Liquid Late Stage.

If there had been any mistake, his death would have gone unnoticed, leaving no trace behind.

Even if he wanted to replicate his path, not even he might be able to do it again, let alone Shen Yi, who was slightly less capable.

"..."

Li Mujin stopped in front of a row of separate quarters and looked back at Shen Yi.

He would soon know.

How cold and indifferent the true face of the Demon-suppression Bureau could be, they really didn't treat people as human beings.

Here lay countless treasures, with the bones of the dead piled up into hills below.

Even with the support of her family, she and her brother almost lost their lives in Shuiyun Village. As for those without backgrounds, over so many years, the number of those who managed to make a name for themselves... were few and far between.

"Just make do with the living conditions. Let me know if you need anything else," she said.

Since Shen Yi was unwilling, Li Mujin couldn't insist. She stretched and waved her hand, "I'm off to catch up on some sleep."

After she had left.

Shen Yi turned and entered the side courtyard, which had a total of eight rooms, with the arched wall on the right leading to another separate courtyard.

This was indeed the dwelling befitting a Demon-suppression Marshal.

He chose an empty room.

Shen Yi brought water from the old well in the courtyard to fill a wooden bucket and returned to the room to scrub his body clean from head to toe.

He changed into clean robes and carefully examined the two cloud patterns on the cuffs for a while. According to what Liu Xiujie had said before, the number of cloud patterns determined the monthly salary, which was several hundred silver taels.

The salary was nothing compared to what the emaciated monk had offered before, but the supply of cultivation resources each month was where the big expenses lay.

Two hundred taels of silver, if simply used for eating meat and drinking, buying land, and getting married, were already quite a lot.

Shen Yi gathered his thoughts and fixated his gaze on the so-called top three Jade Liquid Boundary internal work in Qingzhou, his eyes gradually heating up with intensity.

As he flipped it open, he saw that almost every section bore notations left by predecessors, as well as all places prone to misinterpretation clearly marked.

This was probably the first martial arts text Shen Yi could understand. He was not in a hurry and carefully started to read.

Getting a preliminary understanding now would save him much of his lifespan when deducing it later.

"Using the power of blood and qi to connect the acupoints within the body, transform it into a flesh and blood furnace, and smelt the breath of heaven and earth..."

Shen Yi suddenly remembered.

Under the accumulation of a large span of lifespan, he too had condensed the qi within his body into golden Jade Liquid, albeit only a few drops.

The Wind-Thunder Sun-Melting Manual was a method to accelerate this process.

The many acupoints were connected by blood and qi, forming a Sun Melting Furnace, trapping the Twelve Major Orifices within.

Using the body as the furnace, blood and qi as the fire.

Like alchemy, continually refining the qi within.

Of the 362 acupoints in the human body, aside from the Twelve Major Orifices, there remained three hundred and fifty.

According to the annotations in the book, a Low-grade Treasure Furnace had seventy acupoints, a medium-grade one hundred and fifty, and a Sun Melting Furnace composed of two hundred and seventy acupoints was the finest among the finest.

The difference between them was significant, the stronger the fire, the faster the refining speed, hence the efficiency of cultivation was worlds apart.

If put in the jianghu, it would be a treasure worth risking one's entire family's life to seize; within a sect, one feared they wouldn't even get a glance at the cover without being a direct disciple.

"..."

Flipping to the last page, the hastily copied bold characters faintly revealed the original's intent to kill.

Those who privately transmit it will be placed on the Demon Execution List, execute!

Shen Yi closed the book and summoned the panel in front of him.

[Jade Liquid. Wind-Thunder Sun-Melting Manual (Uninitiated)]

[Remaining demon lifespan: One thousand five hundred years. Can be condensed.]

The vast demon lifespan flowed into the Wind-Thunder Sun-Melting Manual like water.

...

[In the first year, you moved your blood and qi, trying to connect the acupoints within your body.]

[In the second year, as your blood and qi were depleted, you picked up the upper part of the Wind-Thunder Precious Scroll from back in the day. You had used it to achieve Mortal Fetal Perfection, and now you needed it again to fill the deficits.]
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[In the seventh year, you became quite knowledgeable about the method of the Precious Furnace, albeit slightly clumsy in practice; you had successfully communicated between seventy-six acupoints.]

[In the thirteenth year, you became increasingly proficient, avoiding all wrong paths, and your steady temperament over the years meant you made no mistakes. A proto form of the Precious Furnace was faintly in place within the body with one hundred ninety acupoints.]

[In the seventeenth year, the surging blood and qi began to boil, the Sun Melting Furnace roared, and the qi of heaven and earth within your body tried to flee, but was trapped to death by the nearly perfect structure of the furnace.]

[In the twentieth year, you cultivated and refined while breathing deeply, with Jade Dew already completely filling two of the Major Orifices.]

"..."

Shen Yi ceased the inundation of lifespan.

He vividly recalled how, in his days of ignorance, it had taken him a full one hundred and thirty-five years to convert just half of one Major Orifice into Jade Dew.

Now, taking only three years, he had filled two of them.

The efficiency had improved nearly two hundredfold, the marvels of the Wind-Thunder Sun Melting Furnace need not be mentioned further.

But it still wasn't quite enough.

Reason suggested that since he was cultivating the same internal work, talent affects only the time taken to link the furnace, the speed of refining qi should be similar.

At the very least, it would take eighteen years to reach the Jade Liquid Early Stage, which was far too different from the situation with those others.

Shen Yi slowly took out one Beast Origin and two Demon Cores.

As the lifespan of the demon once again poured in, he sequentially placed them into his mouth.