Three days later, in the underground secret chamber of the Low Hill Courtyard.
Around the ceiling circled a ring of transparent crystal conduits, with tiny branches connecting them to the center, where a watermelon-sized crystal lay.
The glowing algae languidly flowed within, their warm and lustrous white light illuminating the entire underground secret chamber as if it were broad daylight.
In the depths of the secret chamber, there was a plush couch, with a low square table in the middle, and a fist-sized bronze incense burner sitting at the center, wisps of nearly imperceptible smoke drifting upwards.
Chen Mu sat cross-legged to the left of the low table, hands cradling a white jade disk, murmuring incantations.
After a good while, Chen Mu suddenly stopped reciting the spell.
Hum!
A layer of glowing white light suddenly appeared at the surface of Chen Mu’s body.
It was as though he had donned a set of light-emitting, gossamer-thin clothes.
Chen Mu opened his eyes and looked at the layer of light covering his palm.
With a thought, the layer of light swiftly expanded, inflating like a balloon.
In the blink of an eye, it became a light sphere two meters in diameter.
“I did it!”
With a shift of his mind, a grey wall appeared.
Hundred Intentions Spirit Light Technique: Limit;
…
Behind Low Hill, in a small valley.
Chen Mu reached out to lift a stone as large as a millstone and flung it into the sky with a whoosh.
Then he looked up, eyes trained on the stone as it rapidly ascended, shrinking as it climbed higher, until it reached its zenith.
Then, it began to fall slowly, its speed increasing as it descended.
Chen Mu sidestepped, positioning himself directly under the stone’s falling path.
Bang!
The pearly white spiritual light and black smoke appeared almost simultaneously.
The stone three meters above his head was instantly shattered.
Chen Mu couldn’t help but scratch his head.
“Which actually shattered the stone, the spiritual light or the Spirit Armor’s black smoke?”
After several more throws, Chen Mu discovered something interesting.
If he actively paid attention to the stone, the spiritual light appeared first.
But if he tossed the stone and then ignored it, allowing it to free fall while he crouched down and counted ants, the Spirit Armor’s black smoke would manifest first.
“No matter what, I’ve gained a defensive skill that can be both actively invoked and passively triggered,” Chen Mu nodded in satisfaction.
Most importantly, he had cultivated the Perceptive Spirit Light.
“It wasn’t easy…” Chen Mu sighed.
From encountering the Shape Cultivation Technique to now having cultivated the Perceptive Spirit Light, it had taken him five or six years!
“And this is just the beginning.”
Compared to the unknown path of pursuing the Dao, he had only just set out.
“I really envy those naturally gifted with Daoist Bone!” Chen Mu felt a pang of jealousy.
Those individuals never went through the phases of Shape Cultivation, Shell Soul, or Jade Seed. They could directly cultivate Spiritual Light, winning at the starting line.
He was of average talent, not particularly gifted. Five or six years of hard training had truly consumed a great deal of his energy and brought much hardship.
“Luckily, I’ve caught up to the starting line,” Chen Mu thought with relief.
Among the thousands of disciples in the Lower Courtyard, very few succeeded in cultivating the Spiritual Light.
Over the past two years, openly there had been only Mo Wuzhou who had done so.
The rest could only continue to while away their days, enduring the grind of relentless practice.
“Thank goodness I was diligent enough!” Chen Mu felt fortunate.
To have reached this day, he believed the one he should thank the most was himself!
“So then… shall I head to Red Sleeve Square?”
“Absolutely!”
…
The Ling Boat.
Chen Mu walked out of the Imperial Goods Pavilion.
Twenty bottles of Calming Pills sold for twenty-four White Jade Coins.
Medicine prices continued to climb.
Even though the Lower Courtyard was recovering and a portion of the medicinal fields had resumed normal production, it still required time to mature and harvest.
In the areas outside Jilong Road, conditions were similar.
And the plight of Golden Needle Night Moth pests persisted. Even with the capability to cultivate and produce, for the foreseeable future, medicinal plants like the nightshade would remain scarce.
“Should I rent a plot of medicinal land?” Chen Mu was somewhat tempted.
With the methods he possessed now, he could cultivate nightshade and needn’t fear disturbances from exotic beasts.
If he managed it well, who knows…
“Forget it, what if I come across Mo Wuzhou?” Chen Mu shook his head.
The other was located in the medicinal field area, and he had indeed witnessed the Five Ghosts Yin Spirit.
…
Red Sleeve Square.
As usual, Chen Mu chose a small private booth to sit down.
He carefully released the Five Ghosts Paper Man, having it hide under the couch in the next booth to eavesdrop.
After the incident with Mo Wuzhou, Chen Mu realized that the invisibility of the Five Ghosts Yin Spirit wasn’t infallible.
He waited a moment, and seeing that no one nearby was causing trouble, Chen Mu breathed a sigh of relief.
He began to watch the show on the hemisphere above him with peace of mind.
“Tsk tsk… Is this the kind of stuff Jilong Road has?” A disdainful and robust voice from the compartment to the right caught Chen Mu’s attention.
“Looks fine, but useless!”
“That’s normal.” Another middle-aged voice joined in the conversation, “There aren’t many here who cultivate the Heavenly Demon Reincarnation Technique.”
“These are just the appearances of those who have taken the Heavenly Demon Pill. They can’t maintain their human shape.”
“They also lack inheritance, at most they can cultivate into Spiritual Armor.”
“To become a true Daoist master, that would require their ancestors’ graves to smoke green for it to happen.”
The man with the robust voice sighed, “How did the peaceful Zhongshan Path become so chaotic?”
“Although the advanced Heavenly Demon Pill is expensive, we can still buy it where we come from.”
“Here, you can’t find a place to buy it even with money!”
The other person also sighed, “We can only try our luck at the Heavenly River Water Mansion.”
…
These two aren’t from around Jilong Road?
Chen Mu’s eyes narrowed slightly.
Zhongshan Path? Is that a force similar to Jilong Road?
“It’s not peaceful outside either.” Chen Mu sighed, “I wonder if it will spread to Jilong Road.”
However, Spiritual Armor?
Is that the Spiritual Armor I know of? Chen Mu’s heart skipped a beat.
It was the first time he had heard information about the Spirit Armor Technique.
Chen Mu had cultivated Spiritual Armor in a rather confused state and didn’t know if there was any problem with it.
“I need to inquire about the Heavenly Demon Reincarnation Technique.”
Afterward, Chen Mu ate and watched the dance while eavesdropping on conversations around him.
Unfortunately, most people came here for leisure.
Getting one or two pieces of useful information would be good enough.
Chen Mu wasn’t disappointed, he had his fill of food and enjoyable sights. Then he leisurely left the Ling Boat and returned to Low Mountain.
…
“Zhongshan Path? What made you think of inquiring about that?” Shang Huan asked while gnawing on a fire-feather chicken wing.
“Didn’t you hear that place has become chaotic? I hope it doesn’t spread to us,” Chen Mu said casually as he tossed a crispy peanut into his mouth.
“They say it’s the chaos caused by Exotic Beasts,” Old Hao added.
“You know about it?” Shang Huan looked at Old Hao in surprise.
“Little Mo told me,” Old Hao put down his chopsticks and lit his smoking pipe.
“There was a problem with the soil over there. The Yellow Bud Rice won’t grow.”
“On top of that, with Exotic Beasts stirring in the deep mountains, they’re attacking many of Zhongshan Path’s Lower Courtyards.”
“Zhongshan Path had to retract its influence and abandon several productive planting and breeding Lower Courtyards.”
“Wild Cultivators depending on the Lower Courtyards dispersed, and of course, it became chaotic.”
Chen Mu’s brow immediately furrowed, “Aren’t we having an Exotic Beast disaster here too?”
Is it going to be chaotic here as well?
“It shouldn’t come to that. What we’re experiencing is just an aftermath.”
“Little Mo said that the defense enchantment nodes of the Lower Courtyard are still stable.”
“The Upper Court has dispatched experts to clear the mountains. It won’t be long until we’re safe again.”
Chen Mu let out a sigh of relief.
He had been living comfortably here and didn’t want this tranquility to be disturbed.
…
“I heard that the secret technique practiced by Zhongshan Path is different from ours?” Chen Mu probed nonchalantly.
That was what he was actually interested in.
“That’s just a minor, deviant method, not worth mentioning,” Shang Huan said dismissively as he snubbed the idea.
How could it not be worth mentioning?
Your face got beaten up by that ‘not worth mentioning’ thing!
Chen Mu glanced at Shang Huan and silently continued to eat.
“Don’t listen to his nonsense,” Old Hao exhaled a puff of smoke.
“They cultivate the Heavenly Demon Reincarnation Technique over there, which is different from ours.”
“It’s said that as long as you keep taking the pills, your strength can rise swiftly. Their cultivation speed is much faster than ours,” Old Hao said with envy.
“Then why don’t you go?” Shang Huan teased cheerfully.
Old Hao rolled his eyes, “I don’t want to turn into something weird and grotesque.”
Weird and grotesque?
“You know the exotic folks at Red Sleeve Square on the Ling Boat?” Shang Huan chuckled slyly, “Those are the good-looking transformations.”
“But if the people who practice Heavenly Demon Reincarnation Technique mess up, even turning into something with green faces and fanged teeth would be considered normal.”
“Many end up as a blob of rotting flesh, losing their human form and nature, no different from wild beasts.”
Chen Mu’s heart jumped.
That dangerous?!