Invitation (Bonus Chapter for A Cheng 119)

"Get acquainted with Xiang Yang?"

The Daoist's two disciples looked at each other, unable to make heads or tails of it. Only when they heard about Mangniu Ridge did they nod in understanding. Of course—Master was the sort who would not release the hawk until he saw the rabbit.

"That's right. This time, Six Yin Superior has summoned the Demonic and Unorthodox Paths of Shang Commandery, along with underworld experts, to gather at Mangniu Ridge. He must be plotting something major.

Though the three of us master and disciples usually wield boundless power and fortune, we are ultimately only postnatal martial artists. Before such great figures, we are merely slightly larger ants. We need Xiang Yang as our backing."

As the Daoist spoke, a trace of gloom suddenly appeared on his smooth face. Unless one entered the innate realm, one would remain an ant forever. Yet how could the innate realm be cultivated so easily? That single step had stumped countless experts like him.

Still, it did not matter. Recently, he had faintly sensed something. He felt that the spiritual vitality between heaven and earth had greatly increased. Perhaps the innate realm was no longer beyond reach.

At dusk, after finishing dinner, Xiang Yang returned to the eastern room and sat cross-legged to practice. In his perception, the originally formless and intangible spirit within his Upper Dantian had gradually developed a hazy Humanoid Shadow, roughly the size of an ordinary person.

Innate cultivation lay not in qi, but in the spirit. Condensing one's spirit into a primordial spirit was a threshold. Qiao Zhen of the Blade Demon lineage whom Xiang Yang had encountered should have been an expert who had achieved Great Success in Primordial Spirit.

Unfortunately, time had passed. Possessing the blade sheath had caused his primordial spirit to