It was late at night the next day when we returned to the Metaphysics Shop. The shop was already locked, so the evil sacrificial spirit and I had to fly upstairs.
As soon as we stood still, the light in the room lit up. Zhang Kanwen was sitting on the sofa, looking at us.
He was wearing thin clothes, and his eyes were a little swollen. It seemed he had sensed our auras and was waiting for us.
I went forward to greet him. Then, I asked about Wang Li's recent situation.
The evil sacrificial spirit wasn't in the mood to listen to us and returned to his room.
I learned from Zhang Kanwen that after Wang Li had been tortured by the ghostly face, his body was much stronger than an ordinary child's. His talent wasn't bad, either. That was why he had developed faster and could already walk and talk.
He planned to stay here and teach Wang Li. He would put aside all the grudges in the Metaphysics world. Before Wang Li grew up, he wouldn't leave this place.
I was happy for him as I looked at his smiling face when he mentioned Wang Li.
The world of Jianghu was dangerous, and there was no day without disputes in the Metaphysics world. It wasn't a bad move for him to stay here and teach Wang Li.
After talking about Wang Li, he asked me why I had come back this time.
Over the years, every time I returned to Shenzhen, I always had a purpose. I couldn't blame him for asking that question. However, the situation was different this time. I shook my head and told him, "I just want to rest for a while. I don't have a plan for how long I'll stay."
Zhang Kanwen gave me a slight nod and didn't ask further.
After talking to Zhang Kanwen, I returned to my room.
The furnishings in the room hadn't been touched, but it was very clean. It seemed Xie and Liu often came here to clean it.
I sat on the bed and took out the second volume of the 'Death Scripture' from my Xiangliu bag. I opened it in my hand and read it carefully.
I remembered that the first volume recorded some geography, geomancy, and the introduction of ghosts and monsters. There weren't many cultivation techniques.
Moreover, the cultivation techniques were only mentioned before the Heavenly Seal Master.
However, the second volume was mostly about cultivation techniques, including battle techniques and some heart sutras.
I skimmed through it, and my eyes eventually locked on a cultivation technique called the Sky Devouring Secret Art.
Just by listening to the name, I felt a majestic aura.
After looking at it carefully, it was indeed extraordinary.
There was no record of which sect this Sky Devouring Art belonged to. It only described its use and cultivation method.
I pondered for a long time before I finally figured out a way to do it.
Ordinary cultivation methods were to circulate the Dao Qi in the body to a certain acupoint according to the meridians, and then use it through the contraction of the acupoint.
However, the Devouring Heaven Incantation was different. Instead, it reversed the flow of Qi of the Way in the meridians, causing the acupoints to contract passively, thereby absorbing energy from the outside world through the skin.
It was just that the second volume did not mention what kind of energy it was.
However, according to my conjecture, everything in this world is transformed from energy.
As long as it could promote cultivation, it could be called energy.
In that case, the Sky Devouring Secret Art was indeed a peculiar cultivation technique.
Not only that, but it also mentioned that if one mastered this technique, they would have the ability to devour the heavens.
This description shocked me a little.
If not for the fact that it was recorded in the Death Scripture, it was very likely that people would regard it as an evil technique.
Of course, good and evil always existed in one's heart. As long as it was used properly, there would be many benefits and no harm.
I continued to read while trying to figure out how to use the Sky Devouring Secret Art. According to the description, when using this technique against an enemy, I could transfer the energy of the enemy's attack into my body, thereby reducing the damage on the surface of my body.
However, once the absorbed energy was saturated, it would cause great harm to the body.
There didn't seem to be any method to resolve this, so I couldn't understand it.
If I could convert all the energy from the outside world for my own use, I could save the time I had to absorb the dragon energy from the jade bracelet.
Just relying on the dragon energy to restore my strength wouldn't last long. Moreover, more than half of the dragon energy in the jade bracelet had been used to treat the fatty. I was afraid that it wouldn't be long before it was used up.
Thinking about this, I turned around and read again to see if I had missed any cultivation techniques. However, after checking for a while, I didn't find anything.
While thinking about this, I suddenly remembered that before we went to Chiyou's tomb, the fatty had performed a divination for me. Because of this, he was punished by the heavens, and Zhang Kanwen was also implicated.
However, at that time, Zhang Kanwen had used the secret technique of Wenshan's lineage to digest the power of the heavens' punishment in his body and advance to the Heavenly Seal Master Realm.
Later on, he had taught me and the fatty the Art of Devouring.
If I used the Sky Devouring Secret Art and the Art of Devouring at the same time, I might be able to convert the energy I absorbed into my body.
Thinking about this, I couldn't help but feel excited.
I hurriedly closed my eyes and tried to cultivate the Sky Devouring Secret Art.
However, after a long time, I only felt refreshed, but I didn't feel any energy entering my body.
I tried a few times, but the results were the same. I didn't know what was going on.
Feeling helpless, I temporarily stopped cultivating and continued to think.
The cultivation technique recorded in the second volume of the "Death Scripture" definitely wouldn't have any problems. After carefully recalling it, I didn't make any mistakes in the cultivation steps. If that was the case, the problem was most likely with the surrounding environment.
The metaphysics area was located in Shenzhen, and the surrounding greenery was considered good compared to other areas. However, overall, the vegetation was still sparse, and the spiritual energy was even thinner. There wasn't much energy for cultivation. That was why I only felt refreshed when I used the Sky Devouring Secret Art a few times, but nothing else happened.
After understanding the crux of the matter, I didn't harp on it anymore. I planned to find the evil sacrificial spirit tomorrow to test it out.
The next morning, I knocked on the evil sacrificial spirit's door and told him about the cultivation technique.
Of course, he didn't refuse when I asked him to test it out. He nodded and listened to me explain in detail what to do. Then, he mobilized the shaman energy in his body and prepared to attack me.
I hastily stopped him.
The evil sacrificial spirit was too strong. If he attacked me in the metaphysics shop, it would cause a huge commotion. I was afraid that it would cause some trouble. It would be safer to find an empty space.
After listening to me, he nodded and thought that it was reasonable. Then, he followed me out of the city.
Around two hours later, I found a deserted mountain that was rarely visited.
It was early in the morning, and the surroundings were foggy. Naturally, no one would notice us.
Moreover, the vegetation was lush, and the spiritual energy in the air was abundant. It was the perfect place to cultivate.
After standing still, I signaled the evil sacrificial spirit to attack.
He didn't delay and mobilized the shaman energy in his body to his hands. Wind blew under his feet, and he instantly appeared in front of me.
When his palm hit my chest, I immediately used the Sky Devouring Art.
The abundant shaman energy in his hands quickly weakened and disappeared after a few seconds. I had absorbed all of it into my body.
Considering my cultivation base, the evil sacrificial spirit didn't use much shaman energy. However, with his cultivation base, even a simple movement of his finger was powerful. If I hadn't used the Sky Devouring Art, I would have been blown away.
Now that I was standing firmly in my original spot, it was obvious that the Sky Devouring Art wasn't ordinary.
The evil sacrificial spirit looked surprised. After he retracted his stance, he frowned and looked at me. It seemed that he wanted to see if I was using the cultivation technique.
I didn't care about anything else. While frantically circulating the Sky Devouring Art, I also used the devouring power that Zhang Kanwen had taught me to wear down the shaman energy.
Not long after, the shaman energy flowed through my meridians and into the veins of the sky, turning into a power that I could use.
After I succeeded, I was elated.
At first, it was just a speculation of mine. Who knew that I would succeed after I tried it?
Moreover, the combination of the two cultivation techniques was much more powerful than the original Sky Devouring Art. It could be considered an upgraded version of the Sky Devouring Art.
Of course, while I was happy, I also had a clear understanding.
The reason why I could refine it so quickly was that the evil sacrificial spirit was using shaman energy, and I was also cultivating shaman energy.
The two didn't repel each other, and I only needed to use the devouring power to guide it.
As early as the ancient times, there were very few people who cultivated Sorcery Qi, so there were very few variations in it, and it was almost of the same origin. However, Qi of Dao was different. After thousands of years of inheritance, different schools of Qi of Dao had given rise to many branches. For example, Tong Tong's Yin Qi, Fatty's Zhanshi Dao. Fundamentally speaking, they were all Qi of Dao, but there was a huge difference between them, and they could not be mentioned in the same breath.
Therefore, absorbing the evil sacrificial spirit's power was easy, but absorbing other people's power wouldn't be so easy. I had to work hard to connect with them.
On the other hand, the speed of absorption was closely related to the power that I was facing.
For example, when Zhang Kanwen was refining the power of Heaven's Punishment, the power of Heaven's Punishment was too strong, and the power wasn't completely compatible with Taoist energy.
That was why it took him a long time.
After understanding the magical effects of the Sky Devouring Art and the direction that I needed to work hard on, I felt better.
With this technique in hand, I'll be able to protect my life when I face an even stronger opponent in the future.
It was around noon when I returned to the Metaphysics Shop with the evil sacrificial spirit.
Xie and Liu didn't know that I had returned last night. When they saw me enter the shop, they were surprised. Then, they became happy.
However, there were still customers in the shop, so they came to greet me. I didn't linger on the first floor and went upstairs.
Not long after, they finished their business downstairs and hurried to see me. They told me that they had something to report.
I thought they were worried about the talismans in the shop again. However, they told me that a person who cultivated witchcraft Qi had appeared in Hong Kong.
I couldn't help but be startled by this news.
For many years, besides me and the evil sacrificial spirit, Nangong was the only person I knew who cultivated shaman energy.
Could they be talking about Nangong?
I had always wanted to meet Nangong because of the Master of Mount Lao. The evil sacrificial spirit seemed to know what I was thinking. He frowned and said, "Why don't we go there and see?"
I had the same thought. If it was Nangong, I could ask him about the Master of Mount Lao. If it wasn't Nangong, he must be a member of the shaman tribe or someone with the inheritance of the shaman tribe.
It would be good to find out more about him.
I didn't linger and took the evil sacrificial spirit to Hong Kong.
It only took two hours to drive from Shenzhen City to Hong Kong through the Western Passage.
However, the Xie and Liu brothers didn't know where the person cultivating shaman energy was. The evil sacrificial spirit and I could only wander around Hong Kong to sense the aura of shaman energy.
Although Hong Kong wasn't big, it was hard to find a person with just the two of us. We searched for the whole afternoon, but we didn't find anything.
It wasn't a good idea to continue like this. The last time I came to Hong Kong, I had a good relationship with the Mi family. They had a high status in Hong Kong and a lot of connections.
If I could ask the Mi Ding City for help, it would save me a lot of trouble.
After making up my mind, I didn't linger and headed directly to the Mi family's manor.
As soon as I arrived at the outskirts of the manor, I sensed several strong waves of Dao energy coming from inside.
Not only that, but I also sensed a wisp of shaman energy among those waves of Dao energy!
It was true that one could wear out iron shoes in fruitless searching only to find it by chance.
I carefully sensed and found that the waves of shaman energy were weak and unfamiliar. It didn't look like it came from Nangong.
It was possible that another member of the shaman tribe had shown up.
Although it wasn't Nangong, I was still excited.
The appearance of a member of the shaman tribe would help me understand many things about the tribe.
Moreover, since this person cultivated shaman energy, perhaps he had some connection with Nangong.