Chapter 403: Friends Come from Afar
“Xing An?”
Qin Mu showed a confused expression, thought carefully, then asked Ling Yuxiu and the others, lowering his voice: “Have you ever heard the name Xing An?”
The girls all quickly shook their heads, saying: “Never heard of it. The surname Xing is quite rare.”
Si Yunxiang said: “Cowherd, ask him which Divine Physician Qin he’s looking for. Maybe we know him.”
Qin Mu agreed and said to Xing An: “My junior sister asked me to ask you which Divine Physician Qin you’re looking for.”
Xing An smiled: “This man is very famous, the most renowned young divine physician in the capital. His surname is Qin, given name Mu. He was originally the Demon Cult Leader, but also has a reputation as a divine physician. My own medical skills are not bad, but because this is a terminal condition, after all these years of treatment, something always feels off. The more I treat it, the more wrong it becomes. The bodies reject each other, unable to coexist. Not long ago, I happened to meet the Great Venerable of the Loulan Golden Palace, an old friend of mine. He recommended one person, speaking of this Divine Physician Qin, saying his medical skills are divine, so I came to find him.”
Qin Mu was furious inside: “That bastard Bungongcuo again! That guy always causes trouble for me! The National Teacher leveled the Loulan Golden Palace, why didn’t he kill him? Instead, he slipped away ahead of time!”
“So it’s the Demon Celestial Leader.”
Qin Mu suddenly understood, saying: “I’ve heard of his reputation. Quite extraordinary.”
Xing An glanced at him with a smile: “I’ve heard the Demon Celestial Leader has many methods, helping the Yan Kang National Teacher rebuild the great tower ships, wiping out the grasslands in one go, subduing the Khan, and leveling the Golden Palace. He also helped Yan Feng Emperor forge a divine cannon, killing even a god from the heavens with one shot. Truly remarkable. Such a dangerous person, yet I have no choice but to come find him, because the Jade-Faced Poison King is even more dangerous than him.”
He smiled slightly: “After all, this Demon Celestial Leader’s cultivation is only at the Six Harmonies realm, easy to control. But the Jade-Faced Poison King is ruthless and hard to deal with. By the way, they call you Cowherd. Is your surname Niu?”
Qin Mu quickly smiled: “No. I used to be a cowherd, so my senior and junior sisters jokingly call me Cowherd.”
“I see.”
Xing An looked around, saying: “There was once a god-slaying battle here. I heard the Demon Celestial Leader was also present at that time, so I came here to find him. I ate your fruits, so I can’t not give you something in return. Rise!”
He pointed a finger, and the fruit pits he had just buried in the soil immediately took root and sprouted, growing rapidly. In a moment, they grew into a large tree, blossoming and bearing fruit, the branches laden with fruit.
“Creation Art!” Si Yunxiang exclaimed softly.
Xing An glanced at her, waved his hand, and one by one the fruits fell to the ground, rolling everywhere. These fruits took root, sprouted, and branched out. After a while, the entire mountain was covered with fruit trees, blooming brilliantly. Then the flowers withered, green fruits grew rapidly, and soon the trees were full of fruit.
“Try them. Do they taste the same?” Xing An laughed.
Yan Jingjing was about to pick a fruit to taste, but Qin Mu shook his head: “Crystal Sister, don’t pick it. This fruit doesn’t taste good.”
Yan Jingjing put down the fruit, blinked her eyes, and looked carefully. The fruits were red and plump, exactly the same as the ones they had picked, with nothing special about them.
“Cowherd is extraordinary. You noticed.”
Xing An smiled: “Creation Art can change the growth process of fruit trees, alter the taste of fruits, even make them poisonous, change their structure, change their species, and even use the fruits to control a person’s every move.”
He reached out and picked a red fruit. The fruit then unfolded, turning into a small red snake coiled around his wrist, its flat head raised in his palm, hissing and flicking its tongue.
Everyone was startled. At that moment, hissing sounds came from all directions. The tens of thousands of fruits hanging on the trees all over the mountain unfolded, turning into small red snakes, their bodies suspended, staring fixedly at them!
“The Demon Celestial Sect’s Creation Art isn’t bad, is it?”
Xing An smiled: “I learned it from the Great Venerable of the Golden Palace. Unfortunately, even the Great Venerable himself couldn’t grasp the essence of this technique, which is disappointing. And the Demon Celestial Sect is even more disappointing, with no one able to understand the mysteries of this art. But this girl is quite good, recognizing the technique. And Celestial Master Qin is also extraordinary, seeing that I used Creation Art to change the species’ form.”
Si Yunxiang exclaimed: “You recognized us?”
Xing An smiled: “I didn’t recognize you. But the Great Venerable drew a picture for me, a portrait of Celestial Master Qin, afraid I might mistake him.”
Qin Mu looked at the mountain covered with red snakes, his expression changing. He knew the Creation Art in the Great Nurturing Demon Celestial Scripture was extraordinary. He had tried using the Earth Origin Art to grow trees and ripen fruit, once growing a tree full of yellow pears. But Xing An had cultivated Creation Art to the point of changing species—that was far beyond his reach!
“The Young Ancestor cultivated Creation Art. I wonder if he could reach this level.”
His eyelids twitched. Although the Young Ancestor was very strong, he might not have this ability. This Xing An was like an omnipotent deity!
Planting trees, trees bearing fruit, fruit turning into venomous snakes—this was the power of a god creating life!
The red snakes swayed their flat triangular heads on the trees, moving in rhythm as if dancing to music, perfectly synchronized. How could these venomous snakes move as one?
Xing An had said earlier that eating those “fruits” could control a person. That was probably not an empty threat!
This scene was hair-raising!
Qin Mu took a deep breath and said in a deep voice: “Brother Xing An, why must you find me to help you?”
Xing An sighed, raised his hand, and looked at it repeatedly, sighing: “Because sometimes these bodies don’t want to obey me, sometimes they even reject me. I know you have many experts around you. I recognize some of the old fellows by your side, like the Sword God. He poses some threat to me, though not a strong one. Still, the old man’s skills are not weak. Fortunately, he has already left for the Great Thunderclap Temple. It’s laughable…”
Qin Mu’s heart sank. This Xing An was harder to deal with than imagined. Going to find Ma Ye was just a decoy. His real goal was to lure the tiger away from the mountain, to get Village Chief and the others to go to the Great Thunderclap Temple.
He didn’t need Ma Ye’s arm at all. He must have already obtained a divine arm!
His only target was Qin Mu!
“It’s laughable that a person unknowingly sheds dead skin, changes bones, hair, and flesh. In just seven years, every organ in the body is replaced.”
Xing An’s gaze was eerie, his pupils emitting a divine light, with nine rings forming in his eyes—that was the Nine Heavens!
The Blind Man’s divine eye.
“That means the you from seven years ago and the you now are completely different people. Have the thoughts and thinking of the you from seven years ago changed compared to the you now? You think you’re still yourself, but you don’t know that over these seven years, you’ve subtly become another you.”
Xing An smiled: “So why not actively change? Attach other people’s bodies to your own? Actively replace your weaker body with stronger parts from others. What’s the difference from the seven-year transformation? So I tried. I wanted to transform into a god!”
His divine eyes showed a fervent, fanatical light: “I began studying the method of body swapping, and soon achieved some success. My master was also a top-tier existence back then. When he wasn’t paying attention, I cut off his head and attached my head to his body. I succeeded. But my master was still too weak, not enough to satisfy me. So I started looking for other experts. Over the years…”
He put down the large box on his back and opened it. Qin Mu, Yan Jingjing, Ling Yuxiu, and the others knew what was inside, but they couldn’t help looking into the box.
The girls’ faces turned pale, and they turned away to vomit. Hu Ling’er, hiding in the tree watching, also vomited messily.
The box was made of Taotie bones, covered with Taotie skin on the outside. The space inside was large, a hundred zhang in both length and width. Inside the box were shelves, and on the shelves were enshrined various human body parts!
There were over a dozen arms alone!
There were also hearts, eyes, bones, legs and feet, and even heads!
Besides that, there were all kinds of blood, human skin, and various other organs from the human body. He had even collected countless types of hair!
Xing An looked at the box, showing a fanatical obsession: “Look, how many exquisite works of art have I collected? I treat my body as a replaceable work of art, freely swapping parts, creating various different versions of myself. I’ve even swapped my brain! But…”
He showed a puzzled expression: “I still notice that these bodies sometimes don’t get along, even reject each other. My medical skills can no longer solve this problem. The Sword God thought my goal was the Tathagata’s divine fist, but he didn’t know I don’t need it at all. I have several arms here that are no less than the Tathagata’s divine fist. I just need someone who can help me solve the body rejection problem. And that person is Celestial Master Qin. I spread the word that I was looking for the Tathagata, just to lure away the experts by your side.”
He snapped the box shut, still carrying it on his back, turned around, and looked down the mountain, smiling slightly: “The human body changes every seven years, and thoughts and consciousness are completely different from seven years ago. So why are you so fixated on finding your divine eye, Gun God?”
Qin Mu quickly looked in that direction. The Blind Man stood there, a black dragon skeleton circling and flying around him, emitting low growls.
“Nothing special.”
The Blind Man said calmly: “When friends come from afar, even from a distance, they must be eliminated. Xing An, I’ve been looking for you for a long time.”
Xing An smiled and walked down the mountain, saying: “Celestial Master Qin, wait a moment. I’ll go meet an old friend.”
Qin Mu’s eyes flickered, and he signaled Ling Yuxiu and the others with a glance, indicating they should follow. He himself activated the Dragon Subduing Art, awakening the dozen or so flood dragons.
At the same time, the Deaf Man, who was cultivating his spirit in the hall, took a deep breath, spread out a stack of white paper with a swoosh, and picked up his brush to paint!
In the next hall, the Lame Man pushed his wheelchair out of the hall with both hands. In another hall, Granny Si looked stern and said coldly: “Husband, it’s your turn!”
One by one, the experts walked out of the halls, forming a battle formation.
Suddenly, a booming voice came: “Minister Qin, I’m here! Where is my precious daughter? Minister Qin, hurry up and roll out here. I want to cut off your head!”