Shen Lang glanced at him and said, "Blood Evil Island has a very secret technique called ’Feeding the Evil with One’s Body.’ Have you heard of it? Do you know the origin of Blood Evil Island?"

"No, I haven’t... Does that mean using one’s own body to feed Evil Qi?" Nanfeng Yao asked, a look of confusion on his face.

Shen Lang nodded. "That’s more or less it."

"Blood Evil Island is called Blood Evil Island because, according to legend, a small fissure deep beneath it connects to the Nine Netherworld Prison. The Qi of Seven Evils from the Nine Netherworld Prison seeps out through this tiny crack."

"The Qi of Seven Evils is born from the negative emotions and pessimistic energies of countless beings in the Human Realm. When the Ancient Demon Gods were sealed in the Nine Netherworld Prison, their overwhelming resentment allowed this Qi of Seven Evils to spread and grow, eventually filling the entire Nine Netherworld Prison."

"Tens of thousands of years ago, the War God Hall discovered this fissure. They dispatched powerful experts to seal it and left a few of them behind to guard the area."

"However, Evil Qi is not only difficult to destroy, but it’s also generated from the negative emotions and energies of countless beings. It has a tremendous effect on any living creature, capable of corroding the heart, drawing out the negative emotions of humans or demons, and ultimately taking complete control."

"The experts guarding the fissure were exposed to the Evil Qi for years on end. Eventually, they were corrupted by it, their temperaments drastically changed, and they founded the Sect of Blood Evil Island, which now runs rampant in the Western Wilderness."

Nanfeng Yao’s face was filled with disbelief. "I can’t believe Blood Evil Island has such an origin. It was founded by experts from the War God Hall? But they’ve long been classified as one of the Demonic Sects, bloodthirsty and ruthless. Why doesn’t the War God Hall do anything about them?"

’The War God Hall can barely protect itself right now. How could it have the time to deal with this mess?’

Shen Lang didn’t say this out loud. He shook his head and explained, "Demonic Sects are a normal part of this world. Although they are tyrannical by nature, as long as they don’t commit too many unforgivable atrocities, the War God Hall generally can’t be bothered to intervene."

"Otherwise, how could all the Demonic Sects in the Four Desolates of the East, South, West, and North, plus the Central Province, still be thriving?"

"The founder of Blood Evil Island established the Sect precisely to use the Evil Qi there for cultivation."

"Among them, one of the founders created the Secret Technique of ’Feeding the Evil with One’s Body’..."

"When Sister Hong Yu killed Shui Tianji, you all surely noticed something strange, right? That demoness’s Primordial Spirit was hidden within the conjured Flood Dragon, while her physical body became an empty shell—an Outer Path Demon Statue. To put it bluntly, it was a Puppet!"

"After a Martial Artist’s cultivation reaches the King Martial Realm, they can undergo Profound Pill Nascent Soul transformation. This Nascent Soul, or Primordial Spirit, can leave the body, but it becomes extremely fragile the moment it does. For experts at the King Martial Realm and above, cultivation involves unifying the Primordial Spirit and the physical body to strengthen oneself, while also comprehending the Heaven and Earth Rules and controlling the Heaven and Earth Primordial Qi."

"This method of separating the Primordial Spirit from the body, hiding it elsewhere, and then manipulating the physical body like a Puppet is completely counterintuitive to the path of cultivation. In the end, not only would the puppet body struggle to grow, but the Primordial Spirit would also have difficulty strengthening. Shui Tianji managed to cultivate to the King Martial Realm Fifth Heaven; she’s definitely no fool. Why do you think she would do such a thing?"

Nanfeng Yao pondered for a moment before saying, "You mean she separated her Primordial Spirit, used Refinement to turn her body into a Puppet, and then used that body to practice the ’Feeding the Evil with One’s Body’ you just mentioned? That’s insane!"

"Precisely," Shen Lang said with a nod.

"Evil Qi is far more terrifying than Demonic Qi or Death Qi because it can corrode a person’s heart without them even realizing it, making them unable to notice the changes within themselves. The expert who first guarded Blood Evil Island understood this."

"So he came up with this trick: turning his physical body into a Puppet through Refinement, and then using that Puppet to absorb Evil Qi to grow stronger."

"It’s called a Puppet, but it still has a body of flesh and blood, so absorbing Evil Qi is very simple."

"But the Puppet itself has no consciousness; it is controlled purely by the original owner’s Divine Thought."

Nanfeng Yao looked confused again. "But... Shui Tianji’s physical body didn’t seem that tough. Or was Miss Hong Yu’s sword strike just that powerful, allowing her to slay it so easily?"

"Toughness is relative. The physical strength of that Four-winged Green-scaled Python was actually far beyond that of a Demon Beast of the same level. An ordinary expert around the King Martial Realm Fifth Heaven wouldn’t have been able to injure her body at all. The reason Sister Hong Yu could slay it in one strike is that she used a Swordsmanship technique on par with those of the Three Sect Ancestors of the Imperial Dragon Sect and the other sects. Moreover, the longsword in her hand is just one step away from becoming an Imperial Artifact."

Shen Lang shook his head.

Nanfeng Yao wiped sweat from his brow and nodded. "So that’s how it is. I understand now."

Shen Lang continued, "This Evil Qi is just too terrifying. They use it for cultivation, but they don’t dare to go too far, fearing their minds would be completely controlled by it in the end. That’s why they came up with this move, refining their physical bodies into Outer Path Demon Statues."

"However... although the Puppet is controlled by the owner’s Divine Thought, Evil Qi is a terrifying substance that can even corrode Divine Thought! If one’s Divine Thought remains on the Puppet for an extended period, soon even the controller’s Primordial Spirit will be tainted. At that point, it’s not just a matter of one’s mind being affected—they would likely devolve completely into a mindless Demon!"

Nanfeng Yao was even more confused. "Isn’t that a contradiction? If they have to defend against the Evil Qi while using it to cultivate, how can they use it to become stronger?"

Shen Lang took out the Seven Evils Celestial Net from his Sumeru Ring and said, "The key lies here."

"They use the physical body to absorb Evil Qi, strengthening it while simultaneously using an item like this to store the Evil Qi that has been refined by the body. When they need to use it, they can then introduce the Evil Qi from the Seven Evils Celestial Net into their own bodies."

"Once the Evil Qi from this Seven Evils Celestial Net is introduced into the body, with Sister Hong Yu’s current cultivation, even the Feather Flower Purple Copper Mirror wouldn’t be able to control her. Furthermore, with the protections Sister Hong Yu currently has, she would never be able to withstand the assault of this Evil Qi."

"If, at that time, Shui Tianji hadn’t been so terrified by that sword strike that her soul scattered, if she hadn’t seen the Feather Flower Purple Copper Mirror, and had instead immediately introduced the Evil Qi into her body for a desperate, final struggle..."

Hearing Shen Lang’s last words, sweat poured down Nanfeng Yao’s face as he finally understood the danger Shen Lang was talking about.

"I will return to the Imperial Dragon Sect at once and report to the Elder Ancestor! I’ll have the Sect dispatch a King Martial Realm expert to garrison Celestial Phoenix City! As long as a King Martial Realm expert takes action and properly controls the Grand Array set up by the ancestors back then, if anyone from Blood Evil Island dares to come again, we’ll make sure it’s a one-way trip!"

"Also, Young Master Shen Lang, you must be extra careful. That Shui Tianji first had her clone killed by you, and now her physical body is destroyed, leaving only her Primordial Spirit. I’m afraid she will find other ways to gather information about you and track you down at the Profound Dao Sect!"

Shen Lang nodded. "Senior, you can just call me Xiaolang. I don’t deserve the title ’Young Master.’ Shui Tianji’s physical body has been destroyed, and only her Primordial Spirit remains. She can’t hurt me, so don’t worry. As for matters in Celestial Phoenix City, I’ll be counting on the Imperial Dragon Sect. Thank you."

Nanfeng Yao exchanged a few more pleasantries, then turned, flew into the air, and disappeared into the distance.

Shen Lang looked at the Seven Evils Celestial Net in his hand and muttered to himself, ’Using one’s own physical body as a Puppet to absorb Evil Qi for cultivation... that means the clone becomes the backup body, or perhaps, the real body. No wonder that demoness was so uncontrollably furious and came back to Celestial Phoenix City after I killed her clone!’

’Since that demoness was so desperate, risking a confrontation with an expert from the Imperial Dragon Sect just to kill me... it’s very likely she only had that one clone. Otherwise, she wouldn’t have rushed back so impatiently in such a short time.’

’Now that both her physical body and her clone have been destroyed, with her Primordial Spirit in such a weakened state, her cultivation will surely drop drastically even if she undergoes Possession for a Rebirth. In the short term, she’ll likely fall to the Xuanwu Realm. If she’s only at the Xuanwu Realm, she’s not a threat.’

’But... this all seems a bit too coincidental! Elder Gu Feng said I would face a killing calamity and that I would know in five days. And today happens to be the fifth day!’

Originally, Elder Gu Feng’s mystical muttering and nonsensical talk about Shen Lang facing a killing calamity seemed like a fortune teller grabbing someone off the street and telling them they were doomed—it couldn’t be taken seriously.

But the piece of paper that old man left behind when he departed had shocked Shen Lang to his core.

Its original owner, Shark’s Kiss, definitely didn’t know about the matter of the Immortal Celestial Saber; otherwise, he would have surely told him.

Whether it was because Shark’s Kiss’s cultivation was too powerful, causing the thing inside the Immortal Celestial Saber to not dare make a move, or for some other reason, Shen Lang didn’t know.

But for someone with Shen Lang’s intellect, coupled with his Silver Eyes of Truth, to have only recently discovered the anomaly within the Immortal Celestial Saber... it just went to show how powerful the thing inside was!

And for a strange old man he’d met only once to know about the Immortal Celestial Saber...

It was truly difficult to determine if he was telling the truth or just spouting nonsense.

However, now Nanfeng Yao had found him here... on the fifth day.

Connecting all these events, Elder Gu Feng’s words now seemed about eighty percent credible.

’In that case, if he said there’s a killing calamity, it’s highly likely to come from Shui Tianji.’

’If it is from Shui Tianji, then either her cultivation will still be at the King Martial Realm or higher after she undergoes Possession for her Rebirth, or she has another clone, or she has found other King Martial Realm experts to help her...’

At this thought, a sense of lingering fear rose in Shen Lang’s heart.

It wasn’t that he was afraid he couldn’t deal with Shui Tianji, but he was afraid for his family in Celestial Phoenix City.

If he hadn’t given the Feather Flower Purple Copper Mirror to Hong Yu, if Shui Tianji hadn’t been scared to the point of Soul Scattering by the Netherworld King’s Three Extremes Sword, this incident could very well have ended in a way that would have brought Shen Lang unbearable pain!

’Many things are hard to predict. You always have to prepare for the worst.’

Shen Lang waved his hand, striking a nearby boulder with his palm, shattering it and causing it to crumble.

His figure shot into the sky, speeding towards the Profound Dao Sect.

For the matter of the Profound Dao Sect entering the Yumu Cave Blessed Land, Shen Lang could only forcibly suppress his cultivation at the Peak of the Spirit Martial Realm. It would be impossible for him to attempt a breakthrough to the Xuanwu Realm in the short term.

In that case, if he wanted to get stronger to face the possible killing calamity, his only option was to desperately cultivate his physical body and awaken the Ten Divine Beast Particles!

As long as his physical body became powerful enough, strong to a certain degree, he could even fight a King Martial Realm expert!

’Blood Evil Island... what a Blood Evil Island! You never should have messed with me, Shen Lang!’

Facing the possibility of a King Martial Realm expert showing up at any moment, Shen Lang was fearless.

On the contrary, this time, the killing intent radiating from him was almost tangible, and his Battle Intent surged...