Chen Yang stood alone in the wreckage of the courtyard.
In his hand, he held the blue-gray jade slip gifted by Lin Yang. His fingertips could feel its smooth, warm texture and the faint spiritual aura flowing within.
He lowered his head and stared at the seemingly ordinary jade slip, brow furrowed slightly, his heart filled with hesitation and deliberation.
Lin Yang was a man of cunning ways and inscrutable motives.
Why would he gift him such a movement technique?
Was it genuine goodwill, or was there some hidden agenda?
Could there be some hidden danger or trap concealed within this jade slip?
All manner of thoughts churned through Chen Yang's mind.
His relationship with Lin Yang was complicated and difficult to put into words — there was the debt of a life saved, the estrangement born from past events, and an instinctive wariness toward the man's deep scheming.
Holding this jade slip felt like holding a hot potato.
And yet.
His gaze swept over the ruins of the loft — burned to nothing by the golden flame, leaving only a charred foundation and lingering wisps of smoke.
The terrifying scene from yesterday flashed vividly before his eyes once more: Yang Tianming descending like a phantom, striking him with a single palm and sending him flying.
That feeling of utter helplessness in the face of absolute power, that despair of having no control over his own life and death — it was like cold needles stabbing into his nerves, one by one.
Strength!
He needed strength!
He needed greater speed!
He needed greater power!
If he wanted to contend with Yang Tianming in the Personal Disciple Trial three months from now, he had to seize every possible opportunity to improve himself!
"Enough deliberating!"
A flash of resolve crossed Chen Yang's eyes:
"If it's a blessing, it won't harm me; if it's a curse, there's no avoiding it. No matter what, improving my strength is the most pressing matter right now. If there truly is a trap, I'll be on guard against it later!"
He hesitated no longer. Taking a deep breath, he gently pressed the jade slip to his brow and settled his mind, carefully reaching out with his senses.
In a fleeting moment.
A vast and profound torrent of spell techniques surged into his sea of consciousness like a dam bursting open!
This was a movement technique.
An extraordinarily refined movement technique — far beyond anything he had imagined!
It was utterly unlike the common, run-of-the-mill techniques he had seen on the first and second floors of the sect's Cultivation Technique Pavilion.
It was even vastly different from Yang Tianming's domineering and aggressive Roaming Dragon Steps.
The core principle of the movement technique recorded in the jade slip was not active pursuit or evasion — it was a near-instinctive, passive reactive response!
It emphasized the instant an enemy's attack was about to land, the moment killing intent or spiritual energy fluctuations brushed against one's body — at that precise instant, the spiritual energy within would erupt along a specific pathway, driving the body to achieve a displacement that surpassed its own limits, like a conditioned reflex!
Like a bird startled by a bow — before the arrow even arrives, the body has already moved!
This movement technique had no fixed forms, no complex footwork diagrams.
It was more like a reactive mechanism branded into the body's very instincts — pursuing, in the flash of a lightning strike, the smallest movement at the greatest speed to evade the most lethal threat!
"What a wondrous movement technique…"
Chen Yang was deeply shaken.
This philosophy was unlike any cultivation technique he had encountered before.
It did not pursue striking first.
Instead, it spoke of responding after the fact yet arriving first — finding a thread of life within a desperate situation!
Its ingenuity was absolutely on par with Yang Tianming's family secret art, the Roaming Dragon Steps — and in terms of self-preservation and responding to sudden crises, it might even surpass it!
However, the section of the jade slip that recorded this movement technique's name appeared to have been deliberately erased, leaving behind only the pure cultivation method and the circulation pathway.
Chen Yang thought for a moment.
Considering the technique's nature — sensing danger, erupting in an instant, like a startled bird taking sudden flight — an idea came to him:
"Since that's the case, I'll give it a name myself… let it be called the 'Startled Swan Step'!"
A wild goose startled into flight, soaring skyward in an instant, vanishing in the blink of an eye!
It suited the essence of this movement technique perfectly.
He settled his mind and began to fully memorize, comprehend, and absorb the mysteries of the Startled Swan Step.
How spiritual energy would accumulate and erupt in an instant through specific meridians.
How the divine sense would perfectly synchronize with the body's reactions, how to make the most correct displacement choice in the fleeting moment of sensing danger…
Countless profound Runes and diagrams flowed through his sea of consciousness, and he absorbed them greedily.
Time passed — he did not know how much.
Perhaps two hours, perhaps longer.
When Chen Yang had finally imprinted every key point and circulation pathway of the Startled Swan Step deep into his mind, feeling that he had grasped its theoretical essence and needed only diligent future practice to make it his own…
The jade slip pressed against his brow suddenly emitted an extremely faint sound — like ice cracking — crack!
Chen Yang's heart lurched. He quickly pulled the jade slip away from his brow.
He watched as the surface of the blue-gray jade slip visibly erupted with countless spider-web fractures, spreading at a visible pace!
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Immediately after, its spiritual light rapidly dimmed and faded.
The entire jade slip trembled faintly in his hand, then with a soft puff, it crumbled into a small pile of extremely fine, spiritually inert gray powder, which sifted down through his fingers in a cascade.
It scattered on the wind, leaving no trace behind.
"…It self-destructed?"
Chen Yang stared at his empty palm, dumbfounded.
So there had indeed been a restriction set within this jade slip!
Once someone had fully learned and memorized its contents, it would automatically shatter — preventing the contents from leaking out or being learned by a second person!
"Lin Yang… what exactly is he thinking?"
Chen Yang's brow furrowed deeply, the suspicion in his heart growing stronger.
Such a wondrous movement technique, passed on in this one-time-use manner — what was he after?
Could it be that there was some deep, unknown grudge between him and Yang Tianming, and he wanted to use Chen Yang as a weapon against Yang Tianming?
He couldn't figure it out.
He only felt that Lin Yang was like a figure shrouded in layer upon layer of fog — ever more mysterious and unfathomable.
"Forget it, I won't think about it anymore. Whatever the case, this Startled Swan Step is a timely gift in the snow for me. As for Lin Yang's purpose… I'll take it one step at a time."
Chen Yang shook his head and pushed the distracting thoughts aside for now.
The most pressing matter was to improve his cultivation, practice the movement technique, and prepare for the trial three months from now.
But at this moment, there was something even more urgent, something that was making him far more agitated and unsettled, that needed to be resolved immediately…
His ear!
Ever since that shard of the clay bowl had transformed into a dark-red light and bored into his right ear, his right ear had gone completely deaf, leaving only a dull, muffled sensation — as though something had completely blocked it.
Earlier, amid the relentless upheaval and tension, he had been able to temporarily ignore it.
But now that he had calmed down, the stifling, unbalanced feeling of being deaf in one ear became clearer and more unbearable by the moment.
He tried channeling spiritual energy to his fingertip and carefully probing into his ear canal, hoping to use the spiritual energy's sensitivity and faint adhesive force to "hook" the foreign object out.
However.
The moment his spiritual energy touched the blockage deep in his ear canal, the thing recoiled as if startled, suddenly shrinking further inward!
Not only had he failed to hook it out — he had driven it even deeper!
At the same time, Chen Yang clearly sensed that the thing…
Seemed to be alive!
It had squirmed slightly inside his ear canal!
"It's alive?!"
Chen Yang's expression changed, and a wave of revulsion rose in his heart.
Anyone who discovered that a living creature had burrowed into their ear would find it impossible to stay calm.
He dared not stimulate it with spiritual energy again, fearing that if it panicked, it might bore straight through his eardrum — or even into his brain. The consequences would be unthinkable!
Chen Yang looked at the clay bowl lying quietly in his Storage Bag, its rim bearing a single crack, and felt a mixture of regret and anxiety.
He could only wait until evening to try and test whether the clay bowl could still function normally, hoping to find a way to repair it or uncover the origin of that shard.
But right now, he had to deal with the trouble in his ear first!
He tried several other methods.
He found a thin, soft grass stem and tried to gently probe inside, but the thing was hiding so deep that the stem couldn't reach it.
He even tried casting the lowest-level Water Condensation Art toward his ear, drawing out a thin trickle of water, hoping to flush the creature out.
The result: the water entered his ear canal and brought nothing but a cold, uncomfortable sensation. It had no effect whatsoever on the blockage.
In fact, with the moisture of the water, the thing seemed to squirm slightly more actively — making Chen Yang's scalp crawl even more.
After all this effort, Chen Yang was drenched in sweat, his mood growing increasingly frantic, yet he remained completely at a loss.
"Do I really have to go find Lin Yang?"
He recalled what Lin Yang had said when he left.
But the thought of asking for help from that inscrutable schemer made Chen Yang instinctively resistant.
He paced restlessly around the courtyard, his gaze drifting idly over the two intact small rooms beside the ruins of the loft.
Those were the rooms where Liu Yiyi and Xiaochunhua had lived. Fortunately, the golden flame seemed to have targeted only his main loft and had not spread to these two side rooms.
Something stirred in Chen Yang's heart, and as if guided by some inexplicable impulse, he walked toward one of the rooms.
He pushed open the half-ajar door. The room's furnishings were simple, yet neat and tidy, still carrying a faint, gentle fragrance that belonged to Liu Yiyi.
In the corner stood a small, makeshift stove built from stacked stones, with several bottles and jars set beside it.
Those were the seasonings Liu Yiyi used on the occasional whim when she would personally prepare simple, mortal-world dishes for Xiaochunhua — and for him — to enjoy.
Chen Yang's gaze swept over the bottles and jars.
Suddenly.
His eyes fixed on one small, rough ceramic jar. On its body, written in crooked, uneven characters, was a single word: "Salt."
Salt…
Seeing that word, a distant memory suddenly flashed through Chen Yang's mind.
It was from his childhood, when he labored on the country paths and field ridges. Because children had tender skin, leeches from the paddy fields would sometimes latch onto his legs.
Back then, the village elders would teach him: sprinkle a small pinch of salt, and the leech would immediately writhe in pain and fall off…
He didn't know exactly what kind of creature had burrowed into his ear.
But since it was a living thing.
Perhaps…
A similar method could be used to force it out?
A desperate measure for a desperate situation!
Chen Yang hesitated no longer. He stepped forward, picked up the salt jar, and opened the lid to reveal coarse, snow-white salt crystals within.
He channeled his spiritual energy and carefully drew out a small wisp of salt powder from the jar, controlling it like an extremely fine stream of sand — slowly, precisely — guiding it deep into his completely blocked right ear.
Then.
He held his breath.
And waited in silence.
One breath.
Two breaths.
Three breaths…
At first, there was no movement in his ear canal at all.
Just as Chen Yang was beginning to think the method had failed and disappointment was setting in —
He suddenly felt the blockage deep in his ear canal give an extremely faint…
Twitch!
Then, an even more pronounced convulsion followed!
A thread of hope had just begun to rise in Chen Yang's heart…
Suddenly!
"AAAAAHHHHH——!!!"
A sharp, piercing, soul-rending shriek erupted without warning, directly from the depths of his own ear canal!!
The sound did not travel through the air — it resonated and thundered directly within his skull!
Chen Yang felt his head ring with a deafening buzz.
It was as if he had been struck by a heavy hammer. His vision went black for an instant, plunging him into a brief state of deafness. He staggered, nearly knocked unconscious by the terrifying scream erupting from inside his own ear!
He barely managed to brace himself against the nearby wall, preventing himself from collapsing to the ground.
Just as he was reeling with dizziness and nausea, he felt his right ear canal suddenly loosen — and a slippery, soft thing, accompanied by a sticky fluid, fell out of his ear with a wet plop, landing on the ground at his feet.
Chen Yang forced himself to suppress his discomfort and looked down.
The thing was roughly the length of a finger, its entire body a strange, dark red color.
Its body was slick and wet, with no visible bones, writhing and curling in agony on the ground…
In shape, it looked somewhat like an earthworm — enlarged several times over!
Chen Yang was thoroughly disgusted by this grotesque sight. The thought that this thing had just been inside his ear made his stomach turn with revulsion and horror.
Without thinking — almost on pure instinct — he raised his foot and stomped down hard on the still-writhing dark-red "earthworm"!
Splat——!
A teeth-aching, muffled sound, like crushing a ripe berry.
The dark-red "earthworm" was crushed under Chen Yang's foot, its body splitting into several pieces, dark-red viscous fluid splattering across the ground.
Still shaken, Chen Yang panted heavily, staring at the several twitching remnants on the ground, and muttered to himself:
"What in the world… it can actually… talk?!"
But in the next second, something even more bizarre and horrifying happened!
From the crushed remains of the "earthworm," the segment that had been its head suddenly spoke again. The voice was filled with extreme pain and urgency, the words tumbling out at breakneck speed:
"Brother! Stop stomping! We're on the same side! Same side! If you keep stomping I'm going to die! Going to die! I'm really going to die!!"
Chen Yang: "!!!"
Every hair on his body stood on end in that instant!
He leaped back a step, assumed a defensive stance, and stared at the still-talking "earthworm head" on the ground with shock and suspicion, shouting sharply:
"You… what in the world are you?!"
The "earthworm head" seemed to catch its breath. Its voice still carried pain, but it was trying hard to convey "goodwill":
"We… we're family!"
"Family?"
Alarm bells rang in Chen Yang's mind, and he felt even more incredulous and wary:
"Nonsense! How could I possibly have… family like you?!"
The "earthworm head" hastily explained, its tone carrying even a hint of… grievance?
"Do you have fur on your body?"
Chen Yang was taken aback and answered instinctively:
"…No."
The earthworm head asked again:
"Do you have feathers?"
Chen Yang: "…No, I don't."
The earthworm head seemed to have found its evidence, its tone growing more confident:
"Exactly! You have no shell, no scales, no feathers, no fur! Just like me — if we're not family, then who is?!"
Chen Yang was completely baffled by this logic — impeccably "coherent" yet utterly absurd. He stood there frozen, momentarily unable to find a single word of rebuttal.
Seeing that Chen Yang had gone silent, the earthworm head seemed to think he was listening, and appeared ready to say more.
Chen Yang finally snapped out of the overwhelming absurdity of it all. A surge of fury at being made a fool of rose in his chest. He glared at the bizarre creature on the ground still attempting to "claim kinship," and snarled through gritted teeth:
"Where did this wretched worm come from?! Spouting such nonsense here, trying to bewitch and confuse people!"