The girl laughed and cried at the same time, and readily admitted that she had deliberately pushed him just now. Her straightforward temperament made Brian Carter feel even more fond of her, and he couldn't help but smile and say, "My master's name is not convenient to mention. It's just that I've only been cultivating for a few days, and my powers are truly shallow, making myself a laughingstock before Miss Foster." With Emily Foster steering the conversation away like this, Brian Carter hesitated slightly, but his curiosity about the power of the Five Yin Pouch was piqued, so he casually put it away.

Emily Foster said softly, "Heshan Dao is one of the three most powerful sects in the Hundred Thousand Mountains of Miaojiang. Their magical artifacts are all refined using the living souls and flesh of humans and beasts. The Huntian Banner requires the souls of six hundred and sixty-six pairs of male and female beasts, or virgin boys and girls, to be refined. The Five Yin Pouch, on the other hand, is forged from the blood and filth of living beings. If these two magical artifacts are fully refined, any ordinary cultivator's artifact that comes into contact with them will be instantly defiled, unless one has cultivated the energy of Gangsha to protect their own artifact. My cultivation is still lacking; if it weren't for my painstakingly practiced Xun Wind Whip technique, which is flexible and ever-changing, preventing the black energy of the Huntian Banner from touching me, I could at most withstand a dozen strikes before my hard-earned White Scale Whip would be destroyed."

Brian Carter had heard his master Mr. Lane talk about the various sects' methods of refining magical artifacts. It seemed that Mr. Lane most admired the artifact-refining skills of the Great Wilderness Sect, and didn't think much of the others. The name Heshan Dao had never been mentioned to Brian Carter by Mr. Lane, so he didn't know how powerful these two magical artifacts were.

After listening to Emily Foster's explanation, Brian Carter secretly channeled a stream of energy cultivated from the Black Water True Art into the Five Yin Pouch. There was a faint crackling sound, and a mass of black energy spun, forming a vortex the size of a fist in front of him. Within this black vortex, there seemed to be a hidden entrance. Brian Carter peered inside and found that, apart from a few Taoist robes, there were some gold and silver items, a fire striker, rope, a face-covering scarf, a pouch of flatbread, and other miscellaneous things.

The corpse of the iron-backed gray wolf monster was wrapped in a mass of black energy, as if it were being digested. In just a short while, the black energy had already digested two or three tenths of the wolf's body. Judging by the look of it, in at most half an hour, this monster that had cultivated for three hundred years would be reduced to a mass of essence blood, nourishing the Five Yin Pouch.

Brian Carter thought to himself, "This Five Yin Pouch is truly strange. It's actually like a monster, able to swallow flesh and blood and absorb and digest it. I'll have to ask Master about the origins of this Heshan Dao."

Emily Foster was startled to see Brian Carter so casually release the black energy from the Five Yin Pouch, and became even more unable to fathom his background.

Heshan Dao was a major sect in Miaojiang, and their magical artifacts were extremely bizarre. Emily Foster had to carefully refine the Huntian Banner before she could barely use it, and that was only because she had, by chance, obtained a bit of Heshan Dao's refining incantations. Otherwise, she would never have been able to wield the Huntian Banner. But Brian Carter, who didn't seem to have much power, could use the Five Yin Pouch with ease, as if it were his own refined artifact.

Brian Carter himself was unaware of anything unusual. He casually put away the Five Yin Pouch and, seeing that Emily Foster was still occasionally glancing at the magical duel on Suzaku Avenue, thought for a moment and then took his leave again.

Brian Carter said, "Miss Foster, I don't think George Young is someone you or I can handle. Why don't I go back and ask my master to see if he would be willing to help? That would give us a much better chance of rescuing your sister than you following him in secret, waiting for an opportunity."

At this moment, the magical duel on the reed mats had reached its climax, with more than a dozen people being summoned into the imperial palace in succession. The number of strange and talented individuals taking the stage was increasing, and the spells being used were becoming ever more bizarre. Yet that wicked beggar George Young still stood by with folded arms, not taking the stage, clearly holding himself in high regard and not considering any of those summoned into the palace worthy of his attention.

But by now, Brian Carter was no longer interested in watching the spectacle. He had come to understand that these so-called strange and talented individuals, having no hope of immortality and no path to the Dao, sought only worldly glory and wealth. Even though some among them possessed considerable power, their pursuit of immortality and true methods had already reached a dead end.

These people were not on the same path as him. Although Brian Carter had only been apprenticed to Mr. Lane for just over a month, he had already seen that his master was not of the same ilk as these so-called strange talents summoned by an imperial edict from the Li family emperor.

Therefore, he was confident that as long as his master was willing, he could certainly help Emily Foster rescue her sister.

Emily Foster's lips parted slightly, clearly moved by Brian Carter's words. She was different from a young man like Brian Carter who had just entered the path of cultivation; she and her sister were both snake spirits from the Hundred Thousand Mountains of Miaojiang. That was why she had said she was neighbors with the iron-backed gray wolf monster king. But the Emily Foster sisters only sought immortality and the Dao, never harming humans or animals, nor were they willing to join any of the Miaojiang sects.

The sects in Miaojiang, including Heshan Dao, either practiced sinister arts or were known for their witchcraft and sorcery. It was impossible to succeed in these arts without harming countless living beings.

When she first met Brian Carter on Suzaku Avenue, she knew this young man was far from ordinary, but she couldn't discern his origins, so she deliberately gave him a push. Otherwise, with Emily Foster's cultivation, how could she not have managed to get a few bricks?

Chapter Two: Black Water True Art (Seven)

"Then I must thank you, young master!"