“Boss, help me!” Ning Zhuo used the Human Life Thread to send the message.

“Coming.” Sun Lingtong had been hiding in Shuyu Zhai, diligently studying the Water Vortex Array, trying his best to get the Luoshu page as quickly as possible.

Facing Ning Zhuo’s plea, he didn’t hesitate, immediately responding. He used his spiritual eye talent to penetrate the array and see the Luoshu page’s true form.

Although he had been affected by the Dao artifact countless times, Sun Lingtong still couldn’t help but exclaim, “What a powerful Dao artifact this is!”

Through the Human Life Thread, Ning Zhuo’s expression also subtly changed, feeling that he too was under the influence of the Luoshu page.

The bitter ink had already been ground.

The jade slip recording the “Fenzhou Duhun Shu” (Burning Boat Soul Ferrying Technique) lay horizontally on the table.

Beneath the jade slip, a sheet of Xuan paper was spread out.

Ning Zhuo held a Huiyi Pen in his right hand and a wooden awl in his left.

Beside him lay a bundle of hemp rope.

Ning Zhuo mentally commanded, pouring magic power into the hemp rope, which immediately reacted, rising vertically. One end wrapped around his hair, and the other reached towards an infinite beam.

At the same time, the wooden awl in Ning Zhuo’s hand slowly pierced into the inside of his thigh.

Head tied to the beam, awl to the thigh!

With the Luoshu page, the Huiyi Pen, bitter ink, the “head tied to the beam, awl to the thigh” method, and finally, absorbing the surrounding literary aura, Ning Zhuo officially entered a state of learning.

He began to transcribe the “Fenzhou Duhun Shu.”

This spell came from Tianshuang. The jade slip was ancient in style, likely not of this era.

The opening was not the main text but words of caution left by a predecessor.

“Burn his soul, cross the sea of desire, gain myriad skills, steal profound creation. However, what the soul boat carries is not just treasure, but the fallen lives of others. When the boat is consumed and the fire extinguished, the one who fueled it is no longer me, and the one who picks up remnants from the ashes is also not me. Burning the boat to ferry the soul is truly inviting fire upon oneself, sacrificing oneself. Be cautious! Be fearful! Unless you are one who faces death to live, driven by mad obsession, do not touch this taboo!”

Ning Zhuo tried to transcribe this passage, and the result made his eyes light up.

Strands of profound meaning gathered from the pen tip into his spiritual sea.

“This jade slip is indeed an ancient artifact, perhaps even from the founder of this cultivation method?”

After all, the Soul Devouring Sect was a super sect with a long history.

In any case, the jade slip contained an abundant amount of profound meaning. Unlike the cultivation method jade slips Ning Zhuo made himself, which had almost no transcription value.

He began to learn the true content of the “Fenzhou Duhun Shu.”

This spell was divided into four parts.

The first part was “Jiehuo Bengen” (Root of Calamity Fire).

The first sentence was a question: “Offering soul essence to calamity fire, saving the bitter sea with wisdom, how can one who abandons the raft to reach the shore know the raft itself is a skeleton?”

The second part was “Kuhai Guidu” (Ghost Ferry of the Bitter Sea).

Ning Zhuo transcribed the entire passage, and the most memorable line was: “A thousand years of joy and sorrow are but fleeting journeys, myriad worldly desires are all calamities. When the primordial spirit enters the boat, it falls into an endless illusion.”

The third part was “Hai Gui Zhen” (Returning to Truth in the Sea).

After transcribing, Ning Zhuo’s expression became solemn, his gaze fixed on one line: “The end of the ships is not the other shore, only calamity ash engulfing the celestial rafts.”

The fourth part was “Wu’e Chanzhen” (Five Calamities Entangling Truth).

This part listed five types of severe side effects that might arise from cultivating or using the “Fenzhou Duhun Shu.”

They were Mingmo (Loss of Name), Shijin (Consciousness Ashes), Zhouhen (Boat Scars), Yefen (Karma Burning), and Mihang (Lost Course).

Mingmo meant forgetting one’s own name, then others’ names, eventually losing all human connections.

Shijin meant that any divine consciousness produced in the spiritual sea Dantian would spontaneously combust without fire, burning to ashes.

Zhouhen was the manifestation of the “Fenzhou Duhun Shu” eroding the physical body, with scorch marks appearing on the brow, chest, back, etc. Once these scorch marks intersected to form the shape of a lone boat, the cultivator’s soul would also be ignited, as if afflicted by the “Fenzhou Duhun Shu,” eventually burning to oblivion.

Yefen was the ignition of the Red Lotus Karma Fire, scorching the cultivator. In mild cases, green flames would erupt, burning meridians and destroying networks; in severe cases, the five internal organs would be engulfed in flames, self-cooking.

It was evident that this spell violated taboos and severely harmed nature’s harmony.

The last item, Mihang, meant the cultivator would become completely immersed in others’ memories, unable to extricate themselves, with their self-perception severely confused, unregulated, and constantly shifting.

After Ning Zhuo’s first round of study, the Xuan paper was filled with characters.

Every stroke was like an engraving, as Ning Zhuo exerted all his strength to chisel open the profound mysteries.

One of his thighs was already bloody and bruised, his scalp was tight, and his vitality, energy, and spirit were being rapidly consumed under the influence of the Luoshu.

Ning Zhuo achieved initial success, realizing the sharpness of this technique.

“Burning the soul as a boat, forcefully seizing creation. Venturing into danger and falling into an abyss, absorbing a lifetime of others’ cultivation!”

“Marvelous! Marvelous!”

The power of this spell was truly immense, and its extreme nature deeply moved Ning Zhuo.

After a brief喘息, Ning Zhuo began his second round of study.

He started transcribing from the beginning again.

The hemp rope tightened, creaking, and many broken hairs scattered on the floor.

A thin layer of blood had accumulated on the ground. The wooden awl had moved to a different spot, frequently piercing his other leg.

After completing the second round, Ning Zhuo’s understanding of the “Fenzhou Duhun Shu” deepened significantly.

His expression became solemn, and he began to focus on the fourth part, “Wu’e Chanzhen.”

“The ‘Fenzhou Duhun Shu’ is too extreme.”

“I have my innate ‘True Self’ talent, which can counter Mingmo and Mihang. But how do I deal with the remaining Shijin, Zhouhen, and Yefen?”

“This requires careful consideration.”

As he delved deeper, he increasingly felt that the Five Calamities were no trivial matter. Underestimating them would surely lead to heavy costs.

“Can my Buddhist Heart Demon Seal counter Shijin? If divine consciousness cannot be produced for a period of time, that would be very bad.”

Divine consciousness plays an extremely significant辅助 role for cultivators!

Alchemy, artifact refining, manipulating mechanisms, combat—which of these doesn’t require divine consciousness?

“How does the Zhouhen calamity affect the physical body from the soul? This needs more research.”

“The Red Lotus Karma Fire is a calamity caused by accumulated sin, often encountered more by demonic cultivators. When the ‘Fenzhou Duhun Shu’ is cast, it incinerates the soul, which indeed harms nature’s harmony, thus increasing one’s own sin.”

“Therefore, choosing which soul to use for the ‘Fenzhou Duhun Shu’ is very crucial.”

“Additionally, can my accumulated merit counteract this layer of sin?”

Ning Zhuo had his innate True Self talent, which could mitigate two of the Five Calamities, but there were still three others that he needed to face cautiously.

“I still have some strength left; perhaps I can try learning a third time.”

Ning Zhuo carefully assessed his own condition: his soul was weak, his spiritual sea dim, his spirit low, both thighs were bloody and bruised, and he had lost a lot of hair. However, after some treatment, he could still persist.

Ning Zhuo’s previous study of the “Songtao Yangqi Gong” (Pine Wave Qi Nurturing Art) actually had more content than the “Fenzhou Duhun Shu.” But the difficulty of learning it was significantly lower than this time.

“The ‘Songtao Yangqi Gong’ is vast and natural, inherently harmonious. Although it gathers qi and wind, it doesn’t harm the root of spiritual beings, which aligns with my disposition.”

“The ‘Fenzhou Duhun Shu’ is too extreme, burning souls for one’s own use, harming nature’s harmony. It truly lives up to its reputation as a demonic cultivation method from the Celestial Ghost, completely unsuitable for my nature.”

“Alas, I’m only learning it out of necessity,” Ning Zhuo sighed inwardly.

Ning Zhuo continued to persevere, learning for the third time.

His thighs, hastily treated, were again subjected to numerous piercings by the wooden awl, bleeding profusely, the pain relentless.

Nearly half of his hair had broken off, making it noticeably thinner.

His spiritual sea gradually depleted, and the speed at which thoughts arose became increasingly slow. The literary aura was passively triggered, rapidly consumed, transforming into wisps of literary qi, becoming the final crucial factor that allowed Ning Zhuo to persist.

After the arduous third round of study, Ning Zhuo’s eyes went dark. He propped himself up with his hands on the table, enduring intense dizziness, but managed not to fall into a deep sleep.

The incredibly dim Huiyi Pen rolled on the tabletop, finally coming to rest beside the jade slip.

The countless transcribed characters on the Xuan paper had long been soaked by the bitter ink, staining the surrounding blank areas black. Ink splattered on the tabletop, making a mess.

Ning Zhuo frowned deeply, desperately grasping the last insights, fighting with all his will not to slacken at this critical moment.

This was the fruit of his third study. If he allowed himself to faint, even though it would be easy, most of the results would be lost.

“It turns out the true essence of the ‘Fenzhou Duhun Shu’ is to bury myself.”

“By sacrificing oneself, experiencing a thousand flavors of life, one will also turn into nothingness, sinking into the endless abyss, becoming a rare soul material!”

“Using others to make wedding clothes, only to end up making wedding clothes for others oneself.”

“The soul boat is not a boat; it’s a tool to summon and attract souls, to etch away the True Self. Soul ferrying is not ferrying; it’s a shovel for digging graves, digging one’s own grave!”

Having understood the truth, Ning Zhuo couldn’t help but sigh in his heart: “Calamity fire cooks a hundred flavors of souls, only after devouring them all does one realize they are feeding the dust in the cauldron.”

During his first initial study, he only felt that the “Fenzhou Duhun Shu” was extremely powerful, like a sharp divine artifact, skinning shells to retrieve pearls, not noticing the blood and gore, only perceiving the artifact’s sharpness.

During his second study, with a moderate understanding, he focused on the side effects of the “Fenzhou Duhun Shu,” paid attention to the Five Calamities, and secretly grew wary.

By the third round of study, having achieved success, he had a deep understanding of the “Fenzhou Duhun Shu” and realized that this demonic art was created with malicious intent by its founder or subsequent disseminators. It was deliberately spread to entice others to cultivate it, refining their own souls into soul materials. When the time was ripe, the founding cultivator could quietly and easily harvest them.

So, the apparent drawbacks of this demonic art—the Five Calamities Entangling Truth—were not actually a price cultivators had to pay for extreme power. Instead, they were a trap designed by the founder, specifically around these drawbacks, to refine others’ souls!

“Demonic cultivators are truly demonic, so wicked.”

“Even when cultivating a single spell, one must be careful and scrutinize it strictly.”

“Fortunately, my learning ability has greatly increased. Three rounds of study have brought success, allowing me to glimpse this layer of truth.”

“In the future—I must pay more attention and not easily fall into the schemes of demonic cultivators. This is truly insidious.”

Ning Zhuo sighed, then, unable to hold on any longer, made some arrangements and fell into a deep sleep.

He was in the Green Stone Cave Mansion, and within the array space, so he was naturally safe.

When he awoke, he was refreshed and in excellent condition.

The abundant reserves of his physical body and soul once again showed their benefits.

It must be noted that when using Confucian methods, self-harm and arduous study make injuries difficult to heal. Most healing methods would have greatly reduced effectiveness, or even none at all.

Confucian cultivators should have corresponding healing techniques, as it is within their own tradition.

However, external cultivators like Ning Zhuo truly rely on their own recovery abilities.

“What now?”

Ning Zhuo learned soul-searching techniques to deal with Pan Si Niangzi. The issue with Ban Ji might not need to be addressed immediately.

Because Ning Zhuo, putting himself in Ban Ji’s shoes, would certainly go all out in various Xinyun Xiaoshi (minor trials).

But the prerequisite was that Ning Zhuo had to obtain sufficiently accurate information to make such a judgment. Otherwise, it would be irresponsible of him!

And among Tianshuang’s collections, there were numerous methods related to soul-searching techniques.

After all, the Heaven and Earth Twin Ghosts came from the Soul Devouring Sect, which was the organization with the deepest research into souls in the entire cultivation world.

Soul-searching techniques were their specialty.

Ning Zhuo chose the “Fenzhou Duhun Shu” from among them, and its power was indeed the strongest!

But after three rounds of study, Ning Zhuo had a deep understanding of it and discovered that this spell was a trap. It was a conspiracy by the founder or subsequent disseminators to obtain rare soul materials, deliberately spreading it to entice others to refine themselves into materials.

Plans are beautiful, but in practice, various variables always arise.

“I need to learn other soul-searching techniques to see if I can improve the ‘Fenzhou Duhun Shu’.”

Ning Zhuo’s learning tasks had to be temporarily increased significantly.

He wasn’t particularly confident in his ability to improve it, as his realm in this area was vastly different from his Five Elements realm.

Ning Zhuo relied more on his own learning ability.

Tianshuang’s collection of soul-searching spells was truly diverse.

Ning Zhuo had full patience and resilience, learning them one by one.

The “Shuhun Qiansi Shu” (Soul Binding Thread Technique) allowed one’s soul to deform, constrict into threads, and penetrate others’ acupoints, like a fisherman reeling in a line. The affected person’s five senses would feel as if caught in a spiderweb, and all past memories would leak out with the soul threads.

The “Sanhun Fangche Shu” (Three Souls Spinning Wheel Technique) targeted the three souls of the target. The Taiguang soul was spun into brocade (revealing memories), the Shuangling soul was twisted into blood threads (exposing privacy), and the Youjing soul was drawn into poisonous gauze (inducing inner demons). Its original purpose was to create soul materials, and extracting memories was merely an incidental ability.

The “Pozhong Lingtai Shu” (Spirit Fetus of the Soul Seed Technique) directly extracted one of the target’s souls, placing it into one’s own Dantian to cultivate it into a ghost flower. Subsequently, by using the ghost flower, one could control the target, with viewing memories being just one of its powers.

Soul Cicada Exuvia, Human Candle Sacrifice, Soul Mirror Observation, Soul Tracing Scripture, Dream Soul Paste Absorption, Nine Nether Bone Querying Bell, Affectionate Puppet Lure, Marrow Heart Ghost Firefly, Resentful Couple Co-Heart Calamity… Ning Zhuo spent several days learning all related soul-searching methods.

“I never imagined that the first thing I truly dedicated myself to learning would be the soul-searching techniques of demonic cultivators.”

Even a person of Ning Zhuo’s strong will felt exhausted.

His physical body and soul also showed signs of fatigue; frequent intense consumption and recovery led to significantly reduced recovery speed and effectiveness for both.

“Then let’s take a break for now.”

Ning Zhuo deeply understood the principle of balancing work and rest.

With such significant investment, Ning Zhuo achieved remarkable learning outcomes. He now had more than a dozen directions for improving the “Fenzhou Duhun Shu.”

However, limited by his insufficient realm, Ning Zhuo couldn’t clearly perceive which of these dozen directions were correct.

“Using the Luoshu page for deduction should allow me to more quickly deduce the subsequent effects of these dozen improvement routes.”

“But doing so would undoubtedly consume an enormous amount of time, energy, and so on, and would be difficult to estimate.”

“There’s no rush to do this; I have a better sequence for cultivation.”

Thinking this, Ning Zhuo released Pan Si Niangzi, who had been imprisoned for many days.

When Pan Si Niangzi saw Ning Zhuo again, though her eyes were blurry from hunger, she scoffed proudly, “What? Is Young Master Ning Zhuo finally going to be honest? Trying to trick me by saying you’re skilled in soul-searching?”

“Don’t tell me you’re from the righteous path; even if you were from a demonic cultivation family, how old are you? What kind of soul-searching mastery could you possibly have?”

Ning Zhuo was silent for a moment, his tone and expression as calm as ever: “Since you say so, let me show you my righteous path foundation.”