Book 2: The Bloody Image of Cultivation

## Plot

### Becoming a Renegade

Following the Heng You Sect's decimation, the two Ancestors lead the few sect members they still retain to a hidden location to Cultivate for a century in the hopes of breaking through to Nascent Soul. However, fearing for his parents lives, Wang Lin asks for permission to leave temporarily. Unbeknownst to the Ancestors, who grant him that leave, he has no intention of returning. After he gets home, Wang Lin indeed finds that Zhang Kuang has led a vengeful Zhou Peng to his parents home, with intent to refine their souls as a method of locating Wang Lin. Enraged, Wang Lin kills Zhang Kuang and with Situ Nan's guidence transforms Zhou Peng into a puppet, whose sole order is to eliminate anyone else who gets similar ideas in the Xuan Dao Sect. After this, Wang Lin visits his parents for the first time in five years and finds that his father has taken on his childhood playmate Little Six as his apprentice. After dinner with his parents, Wang Lin decides to stay for half a month, knowing that he might in fact never have a chance to see them again.

### Stealing Foundation

Wang Lin settles into a cave for four years to Cultivate to Foundation Establishment. However, he finds that he is unable to break through no matter how hard he tries and decides to leave at the peak of Qi Condensation. He heads for Tian Shui City, as that is the place he would've eventually gone for the state exam if he hadn't become a Cultivator. He runs into the Mighty Escort Service, who offer to take him the rest of the way. However, along the way they find themselves attacked by the Vulture Escort group led by his old friend Zhang Hu. Zhang Hu's master, a disciple of Jimo, Bai Zhan, then tries to kill Wang Lin when it becomes clear the two youths know each other. However Wang Lin is able to kill him using the Core Formation treasure given to him by Heng Yue Sect's Ancestors and he retrieves the man's teleporting flying sword and scabbard in the process. After this, Zhang Hu, now thinking he is free, catches up with Wang Lin and states his intent to seek asylum in the Teng Family City. When they arrive in the city, Wang Lin attempts to refine the sword, but because it is a top class Core Formation Treasure forged by giving up at an attempt to reach Nascent Soul, Wang Lin has no other choice but to rely on Situ Nan's Blood Refining Technique. Through this method, Wang Lin finally makes the sword his own. However, he cannot do so with the Scabbard, because even Situ cannot tell its level. Wang Lin and Zhang Hu then venture into town for a bit. They separate and Wang Lin buys up a basic Basic Formation Manual before heading back to their room. However, before he goes inside, he senses something is amiss and flees. Three men then emerge, their leader, Teng Li, pursues Wang Lin on behalf of Jimo while the other two wait for Zhang Hu's return. After a lengthly chase lasting three days, Wang Lin enters a fog covered forest and runs into a set of baby Blue Line Vines, carniverous vines that react to blood and Qi in an extremely agressive manner. After Wang Lin cautiously leaves the area, Teng Li charges in, his Qi out in full, and is ensnared by the vines, giving Wang Lin a chance to escape further. This weakens Teng Li significantly and the Vine's acid damages his armour Yet five more days later, Wang Lin stumbles upon a zombie corpse with a Green Core residing deeper into the forest. Though the corpse does not attack, it warns him to leave or die. Wang Lin then lures Teng Li into attacking the corpse, provoking it. However,,as Teng Li's sword uses lightning, the corpse realises it cannot win and chooses to explode its Green Core. Teng Li is forced to use up all of his defensive and life saving treasures to combat this attack. Wang Lin then attacks Teng Li in one final gamble, with their two swords flying at each other. He wins, and manages to capture Teng Li in a block of Ice. After this, Wang Lin finds a secluded area and sets about stealing Teng Li's Foundation. Teng Huayuan's avatar senses this and places a curse on Wang Lin for killing his grandson, but Wang Lin finishes the process and goes into closed doors for two more years to finish his breakthrough.

### Corpse Sect

Two years later, Wang Lin emerges as a Foundation Establishment Cultivator. However Situ Nan falls into hibernation after sealing Teng Huayuan's curse.
In order to break through to Core Formation and use a technique of Situ's to reverse Teng Huayuan's curse and steal his Nascent Soul level Cultivation outright, Wang Lin uses the Yin Energy Detection Technique taught to him by Situ Nan to track down Yin Qi so he can Cultivate the Underworld Ascension Method. This leads him to a ruin hidden deep within the forest. Finding that the ruins produce Yin Qi at night, Wang Lin settles in. Over the course of one month, he discovers that the Heaven Defying Bead's dew when cultivated in this place produces Yin Qi instead of Spiritual Energy, thus allowing him to cultivate during the day by entering the dream space. He then realises that the animal corpses nearby have been disturbed and wonders if he's alone. He waits until night again and sees a mysterious blue skinned man emerge to take a few of the animal corpses away. This man however steps into Wang Lin's formation defenses, provoking a fight. After realising however that he cannot kill the man, Wang Lin settles for simply dividing up the ruin between them. The man cannot talk, but he asks for Wang Lin's formation through gestures. In return for this, the man gives Wang Lin a strange stone that is capable of projecting illusions of a powerful Cultivator to intimidate others. After a few more nights, Wang Lin attenpts the first breakthrough in the Underworld Ascension Method. However, he ends up unable to stop and is forced to undergo the second and third breakthroughs. He holds out till morning when the sun rises and the Yin Qi dissipates by constantly attempting and failing at the fourth breakthrough.

Meanwhile, Teng Huayuan tracks Wang Lin to the forest but, just before he can take action a coffin hidden within the woods opens up after a hundred year slumber and he is driven off. The coffin's inhabitant then locates the Zombie and asks it to track down his master, the soul of the body that has now become the Zombie, in exchange for his aiding it to become a demon.

Realising the Yin Qi he's getting is not enough, Wang Lin walks deeper into the ruins. He finds a swamp further in and continues to Cultivate inside its caves, unknowing that he has stepped onto the path of the Ji Realm due to the previous misstep. After making his fourth breakthrough, and thus stepping into the middle stages of Foundation Establishment, Wang Lin wakes to find the mysterious Blue man in front of him, wanting him to follow. The blue man takes him around eight different towers, activating them as he goes, this causes a statue to emerge at the heart of the city. At that time, the Corpse and Zombie arrive, and Wang Lin is forced to flee inside of the statue with the mysterious blue man. Inside of the statue, Wang Lin meets a Corpse Sect Ancestor named Wu Yu, who reveals the blue man's name, Adai and tells Wang Lin his story. He implores Wang Lin to go to the Corpse Sect and find help before he is devoured by his Corpse Puppet, the man from the coffin whom he calls Amu. Although Wang Lin doesn't believe a word of his story, he allows the man to send him and Adai to the Corpse Sect via Transfer Array to escape from the rampaging Corpse.

Upon arriving at the Corpse Sect branch in Zhao, Wang Lin asks to meet Ye Zizai, as per Wu Yu's request. He is taken to Elder Mu Rong, to whom he introduces himself as Wu Yu's Disciple and Adai as his Corpse Puppet. He is then led to the Blue Firelord Flame, through which Ye Zizai communicates. After hearing Wang Lin's story and guessing Wu Yu's intentions, he gives Wang Lin a Jade and accepts him as a Disciple of the sect. He then takes Adai away. In private, however, it's revealed Ye Zizai plans to refine either Wang Lin or Adai into his next body after he loses his own to Lou Sha. He didn't bind their souls solely to hide this from the Corpse Sect register.

Meanwhile, to herald the opening of the Foreign Battleground, the Alliance' representative arrives at the Country of Zhao's Heaven Tower, all Nascent Soul cultivators, including Xuan Dao Sect's Ancestor, Punnan Zi, are called over to greet him.

## Characters

### Renegades

* Wang Lin - Demonic Cultivator, Foundation Establishment
* Zhang Hu - Qi Condensation 2nd Layer

### Heng Yue Sect

* Dao Xu- Elder
* Huang Long - Sect Leader
* Elder Ma - Elder
* Huang Dashan - Disciple, Qi Condensation 5th Layer
* Zhang Dekun "Brother Zhang" - Disciple, Qi Condensation 6th Layer
* Lu Song - Head Disciple, Qi Condensation 8th Layer
* Liu Wenju - Ancestor, Core Formation
* Ancestor Wang - Ancestor, Core Formation
* Shang Guan - Elder, Foundation Establishment
* Song Yu - Elder, Foundation Establishment

### Xuan Dao Sect

* Elder Ouyang - Elder, Qi Condensation
* Zhang Kuang† - Disciple, Qi Condensation 6th Layer
* Zhou Peng† - Head Disciple, Qi Condensation 12th Layer
* Xu Fei - Disciple, Qi Condensation 7th Layer
* Li Hai - Disciple, Qi Condensation 12th Layer
* Liu Feng(Mentioned) - Disciple, Qi Condensation 12th Layer
* Liu Mei(Mentioned) - Disciple, Qi Condensation 12th Layer
* Punnan Zi - Ancestor, Nascent Soul

### Wang Clan†

* Wang Tian Shui† - Mortal, Second Branch, Carpenter, Wang Lin's Father
* Wang Lin's Mother† - Mortal Second Branch

### Tian Shui City

#### Mighty Escort Service

* Liu San - Mortal, Mighty Escort Service Leader
* Yang Sen - Mortal, Mighty Escort Service
* Liu Laowu - Mortal, Mighty Escort Service
* Er Gou - Mortal, Mighty Escort Service
* Mr. Wang - Mortal, Seer

#### Vulture Escort†

* Song Xing† - Mortal, Vulture Escort Leader

### Teng Clan

* Teng Xingsen (Mentioned) - Clan Leader, Minister of Wu Feng Valley, Nascent Soul
* Teng Li - Young Lord, Foundation Establishment Late Stage
* Teng Jia - Disciple, Qi Condensation
* Teng Yi - Disciple, Qi Condensation
* Teng Huayuan - Ancestor, Nascent Soul Early Stage

### Corpse Sect

* Wu Yu - Ancestor of Zhao Country Branch, Nascent Soul Early Stage,
	+ Wu Yu's Zombie - Possesses a Green Core, a corpse that's been abandoned by its host soul and has gained its own soul over time.
* Amu/Lord Zi - Wu Yu's Corpse puppet. Nascent Soul Mid Stage
* Ye Zizai - Ancestor of Zhao Country Branch
	+ Lou Sha - Ye Zizai's Corpse Puppet
* Lin Yi - Disciple, Lu Country Branch
* Mu Rong - Elder, Foundation Establishment Middle Stage

### He Huan Sect

* Chen Huan - Ancestor, Nascent Soul
* Chen Yan - Ancestor, Nascent Soul

### Cultivation Alliance

* Shi Linyi - Messenger for the Country of Zhao.

### Other Affiliation

* Little Six - Mortal, Apprentice Carpenter
* Old Man Jimo (Mentioned) - Core Formation
* Chen Zhong (Mentioned) - Jimo's 1st Disciple
* Bai Zhan† - Jimo's 6th Disciple, Zhang Hu's Master, Qi Condensation 15th Layer
* Adai - Mysterious Blue Skinned Man

## Chapters

1. Chapter 65 - Sect Mourning
2. Chapter 66 - (Untitled)
3. Chapter 67 - (Untitled)
4. Chapter 68 - (Untitled)
5. Chapter 69 - (Untitled)
6. Chapter 70 -  Returning Home
7. Chapter 71 -  Four Years
8. Chapter 72 – Seizing Foundation
9. Chapter 73 – Tian Shui City
10. Chapter 74 – Bloody Disaster
11. Chapter 75 – Encountering the Enemy Again
12. Chapter 76 – The Strange Flying Sword
13. Chapter 77 – Old Man Jimo
14. Chapter 78 – Teng Family City
15. Chapter 79 – Refining The Flying Sword
16. Chapter 80 – Blood Refining Technique
17. Chapter 81 – Stealing Foundation (1)
18. Chapter 82 – Stealing Foundation (2)
19. Chapter 83 – Stealing Foundation (3)
20. Chapter 84 – Stealing Foundation (4)
21. Chapter 85 – Stealing Foundation (5)
22. Chapter 86 – Forest Ruins
23. Chapter 87 – The Abyssal Cold Core
24. Chapter 88 – The Strange Blue Skinned Person
25. Chapter 89 – Bluffing Magic Treasure
26. Chapter 90 – The First Indication
27. Chapter 91 – Extreme Yin Spiritual Energy
28. Chapter 92 – Corpse Yin Sect (1)
29. Chapter 93 – Corpse Yin Sect (2)
30. Chapter 94 – Corpse Yin Sect (3)
31. Chapter 95 – Enter the Sect
32. Chapter 96 – Furnace
33. Chapter 97 – Great Change
34. Chapter 98 – Introduction to the Foreign Battleground
35. Chapter 99 – The Stone Bead Changes
36. Chapter 100 – Refining the Sword Sheath
37. Chapter 101 – Soul Jade
38. Chapter 102 – Calamity Mourning (1)
39. Chapter 103 – Calamity Mourning (2)
40. Chapter 104 – Calamity Mourning (Final)
41. Chapter 105 – Ji Realm of a Past Era
42. Chapter 106 – Rank
43. Chapter 107 – Shining Grain
44. Chapter 108 – Old Friend
45. Chapter 109 – Untitled
46. Chapter 110 – Liu Mei
47. Chapter 111 – Untitled
48. Chapter 112 – Untitled
49. Chapter 113 – Untitled
50. Chapter 114 – Untitled
51. Chapter 115 – Untitled
52. Chapter 116 – Untitled
53. Chapter 117 – Death of Wang Lin
54. Chapter 118 – Foreign Battleground
55. Chapter 119 – Soul Awakens
56. Chapter 120 – Return of Wang Lin
57. Chapter 121 – Acting Recklessly
58. Chapter 122 – Kill Him
59. Chapter 123 – Devil
60. Chapter 124 – Law of the World
61. Chapter 125 – Ji Realm Divine Sense
62. Chapter 126 – Foreign Country
63. Chapter 127 – Closed Door Cultivation at a Volcano
64. Chapter 128 – Burning Gold Mountain Range
65. Chapter 129 – Homemade Devil
66. Chapter 130 – Sudden Arrival of Nascent Soul
67. Chapter 131 – Is He a Fat Sheep?
68. Chapter 132 – Upheaval in Hou Fen (1)
69. Chapter 133 – Upheaval in Hou Fen (2)
70. Chapter 134 – National Migration
71. Chapter 135 – The Wind Changes
72. Chapter 136 – Middle Aged scholar
73. Chapter 137 – Country Sealing Array
74. Chapter 138 – Distant Heaven Pill
75. Chapter 139 -Pseudo Core Formation Stage
76. Chapter 140 – Sea of Devils

## Trivia

* Soul Flags are introduced in this book.
* Wang Lin retrieves the first of the Five Scabbards from Zhang Hu's Master after killing him.