"Disgusting!"
Su Tu's gaze was incredibly cold, the loathing in his eyes almost overflowing.
Everything that just happened was not what the village chief had described.
These filthy, disgusting people, not a single word they said was worth Su Tu's attention.
Everything that transpired was orchestrated by the mystical cat, which forcefully dismantled and pieced together the memories of the spirits into what Su Tu had just seen.
What was about to happen next was so unbearably disgusting that Su Tu could not bear to watch any longer.
But to uncover the whole truth, Su Tu still endured it all.
Glancing at the True Spirits suffering various punishments in the Netherworld Hell, Su Tu only felt that no punishment could be too much for these guys.
However, this mystical cat's methods did surprise him a bit.
To be honest, although the mystical cat seemed benign ordinarily, its real form was majestic and large, bristling with malevolence, and faintly glowed with golden light.
Su Tu once thought that the cat was a divine avatar of the Western White Tiger, mastering the art of slaughter, capable of summoning the Seven Stars of Killing, wielding the Power of Geng Metal.
But now, it turned out to be a completely different story.
This creature could actually mimic the Netherworld Hell and the Eighteen Floors of Senluo.
"Mystical cat, just what kind of divine being are you?" Su Tu scrutinized the mystical cat, but it had reverted to its previous form.
It lay lazily on the Heishan, eyes half-closed in a lackadaisical manner.
"Forget it..." Su Tu shook his head helplessly, thinking that none of his mystical allies were simple beings, but Heishan was the most honest and considerate one...
In the nether realm, past events continued to unfold.
Those spirits currently howling in the netherworld, enduring interminable pain, in their memories, madly rushed towards A Chang.
Their eyes oozing desire like fresh blood.
But they did not succeed; before the villagers could reach A Chang, she reluctantly removed the hairpin Niu Er had given her, with a wistful look at the unconscious Niu Er.
Then... the hairpin deeply pierced her neck...
Blood splattered profusely, but her blood that fell to the ground turned into vermilion gemstones.
The people's madness was reignited, they frantically scrambled for A Chang's body, her blood turned to gems, her hair to gold and silver, her organs to glass.
In the end, only a pile of flesh and a bony skeleton remained.
Which was the only thing from A Chang's body that didn't transform into wealth.
A Chang was gone, and piles of jewels formed small mountains, seemingly brightening up the entire night; the village chief and villagers hid all the jewels away.
No need to rush; sudden riches in the village would draw attention.
The whole village seemed jubilant during this period, as if some grand fortune had descended.
Yes indeed... a great fortune, except for a small family being torn apart, this was immense wealth for the village...
True to his word, the village chief offered the village's plow oxen, who no longer needed to work since the treasure hoard could last several lifetimes.
The men's greatest joy now was to visit the cellar every night and check on their treasures.
But after a few days...
Something bizarre happened!!
Someone saw A Chang's... spirit wandering the village!
Her spirit was trapped by the Hundred Infant Rope, she couldn't leave!!
The villagers were consumed with fear; they dared to desecrate the immortal divine but feared the ghost's revenge...
But only the village chief, upon learning this, was ecstatic, knowing the old ox hadn't lied.
Only by trapping A Chang's spirit could the whole village enjoy the blessings of the immortal, he once again gathered the men and repeated the old ox's words.
"Become immortal!!"
"We!! We can also become immortals?"
"Yes!! Yes!! We too want to become immortals, become immortals!!"
The villagers went en masse to kneel and worship the plow ox, and the village chief told the ox that A Chang's spirit was now trapped within the village, and asked what to do next.
The gigantic ox had become increasingly eerie, growing larger, occasionally even walking on hind legs.
Looking at the kneeling villagers, the ox spoke.
"My master, you misunderstood me, I only told you to trap her body, yet you defiled the divine."
"I can hear her spirit crying, when the heavens find her, you all will face the world's most terrifying punishments."
Hearing the old ox's words, the village chief panicked, as did all the villagers, unsure of what to do; they could only repeatedly kowtow to the ox.
Seeking a solution.
"Old friend, you must have a way, right, you have to save me!" The village chief also knelt at the ox's feet, continuously kowtowing to their former livestock.
After they had bled from their foreheads, staining the stone ground red, the ox finally spoke.
"Now, there is one way to remedy this, and that is to ensure the heavens never find the divine."
"You must hide the remains of the divine, never let them be exposed."
"Then have the women merge with the divine, making them part of the divine."
"That way, heaven will think the divine still lives, and the women who ate will be blessed by the divine grace, which will shelter you, extending to the whole village, finally allowing you all to... become immortals!"
Its voice carried madness and temptation, resonating in all the villagers' ears.
Upon hearing the ox's words, the villagers raised their heads, voiceless.
Their wives were their companions in hardship, having persevered together through the toughest times....
But now, they were to merge with the divine...
This... is simply perfect!!!
"Indeed, the Divine Bull is truly formidable!!"
"Good!! Even the damn woman gets to eat this blessing!"
"Heh, I've long wanted to change wives, just looking at her is an eyesore and a disgrace to the Immortal. After this, divorcing her seems pretty reasonable, right."
"You're disgusting, but... the idea isn't bad!"
A sinister smile appeared simultaneously on the faces of the villagers.
No one knows when it started, but these honest and simple people, who could survive together even during years of natural disasters, turned into...
'Beasts' wearing human skin.
Afterward, they forced the women in the village to devour the flesh and blood of Achang, and strange events began to occur. The women in the village started to lose hair continuously, and rotting flesh grew on their heads.
Layers of human skin grew over their heads.
Looking at the grotesque appearances of these women, the men initially felt a bit of fear, but it later turned into meaningless violent outbursts.
The village gradually took out their jewels, and transformed from the poorest settlement into the richest village in the area, erecting city walls, forging city gates, and eventually resembling a real metropolis.
The women were hidden inside their homes, forbidden to leave the village, and even more so, not allowed to remove their hats.
Another year passed, a prosperous year came. The entire village gathered at the ancestral temple. Now the men of Niu Village were full of high spirits, and many had married new wives outside.
Today, at the ancestral worship, they wanted to report the achievements of these years to the ancestors. Presently, Niu Village had become the largest village nearby, with some saying it was more prosperous than ordinary cities.
Those who once mocked the village chief now didn't even have the right to kiss his feet.
They worshipped their ancestors and had not forgotten the plowing ox that brought them everything.
The old village chief led the plowing ox to the ancestral temple, granting it the same treatment as the ancestors.
He asked the ox, "Old friend, the glory of Niu Village today is all thanks to you. I wonder what we can do to repay you."
The ox looked at the increasingly wealthy village chief before it, licking its lips: "Chief, there's really something I want."
"Oh! My old friend, as long as you ask, anything I have, I can give to you!" the chief promised.
"I want something you surely possess."
"What is it?" The chief curiously looked at the ox.
For so many years, the ox had never asked for anything. In the first years, it would still ask for some food, but later, it gradually faded out from people's sight.
Only during holidays would it be brought out for worship, and now hearing the ox's request,
the entire village couldn't help but be a little curious.
"I want to see what color your liver and heart are!!" The ox's voice suddenly turned extremely sharp, piercingly loud.
In the next moment, the ox stood upright, its mouth enlarging several times, filled with sharp teeth, ripping half of the village chief's body to shreds at once, blood and flesh splattering everywhere.
The men were stunned, watching everything in terror, feeling nothing but fear. These years had been too peaceful, they had forgotten their past courage of even daring to desecrate the 'Immortal'.
"So, your liver and heart are red too..."
Hearing the voice from the ox, the men felt increasingly familiar with it.
Finally, a man widened his eyes in disbelief, clutching his head, and said: "Achang!! It's Achang's voice!!"
As his voice fell.
The next moment!!
They saw the ox's skin being stripped entirely, and a woman composed of black strands of hair emerged from the ox's body.
And then...
Everything perished.
This was the villagers' last memory.
Needless to overthink, it was that hair woman who annihilated these people's physical bodies, even possibly preserving their True Spirits.
Their spirits lingered here for a very long time.
The first half of their lives was spent fearing the heavenly punishment, therefore making the women eat the Immortal's flesh, but in the end, they did not await Heaven's punishment.
But...
They welcomed... Su Tu.
At this moment, countless small ghosts were pulling the village chief's limbs, constantly stretching them in all directions, a chariot punishment, followed by the emergence of iron trees binding the villagers to them.
Slight movement would cut their flesh off, while staying still would invite thousands of ant insects to continually devour their bodies.
They wept bitterly, wailing, and continuously begged for Su Tu's mercy and forgiveness.
But Su Tu only found it laughable.
The scenes that unfolded in this village brought a phrase to Su Tu's mind.
The only two things in this world that cannot be looked at directly, one is the sun, the other is the human heart…
Su Tu withdrew his consciousness.
The hair in front still drifted, a massive sense of sadness surged on it.
A slightly raspy woman's voice echoed in Su Tu's ears.
"Hence, immortal power is hidden within the Grotto Heaven, with the Five Mansions accompanying it, guiding it..."
Segment after segment of intricate and marvelous spell formulas continuously echoed in Su Tu's ears, at this moment, Su Tu no longer experienced the earlier joy of obtaining the spell formulas.
Only a calmness remained, he now only wished to know, in this game of chance, what was the final truth.
As the voice continued to chant, Su Tu gradually understood how to condense immortal power.
It turns out he was wrong before, immortal power is a level higher than True Qi, requiring one to see the five organs as five heavenly mansions, transforming them into Five Mansions, to nourish and gather, using the Ancient Skill spell formulas as the foundation to cultivate the Five Mansions before one can nurture immortal power.
Previously, during that time at the Martial Arts Department, when anger surged, causing Qi reversal, it was precisely when he managed to execute the Heaven-Flipping Seal, the ancient skill guided the Five Mansions to appear for a moment, creating a fleeting moment of immortal power, allowing Su Tu to successfully execute the Heaven-Flipping Seal.
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