Not Just a Tool, But a Poop Scooper

"This old man really thought of everything." Zhou Hao took out the items from the Ring of Holding one by one and laid them on the ground.

There weren't many things—two Jade Slips, three bottles of pills, and a finely crafted longsword. Besides these, there was also a large pile of spirit crystals, which took up most of the Ring of Holding's space.

According to the instructions Du Tianhong left behind, the two Jade Slips were cultivation techniques for him, and the three bottles of pills were the Body-Reforming Pill, the Supreme Rejuvenation Pill, and the Metamorphosis Pill.

All of these were left to lay a solid foundation for Zhou Hao's cultivation.

"Grumble grumble~~"

Zhou Hao's stomach let out a hungry call. He patted his belly and sighed, "They could've left me some food instead!"

He was absolutely starving right now.

"I wonder if these pills can stave off hunger?" Zhou Hao muttered to himself.

He picked up the porcelain bottle, then set it down again, instead grabbing one of the Jade Slips.

"Better follow the old man's instructions. Start with the cultivation technique."

Zhou Hao pressed the Jade Slip against his forehead. In no time, the slip glowed with a yellow light, and a stream of text imprinted itself into his mind.

It wasn't just words—some subtle insights also surfaced in his heart, plunging him into a state of enlightenment.

Time ticked by, minute after minute. Five hours later, Zhou Hao slowly opened his eyes. If you looked closely, you could catch a faint glint of light flashing in his pupils.

By now, he had already stepped onto the path of cultivation, and his cultivation base had reached the Mystic Body Realm.

According to the notes Du Tianhong left behind, the realm divisions on the Sky Dome Continent were: Mortal Body Realm, Mystic Embryo Realm, Mystic Body Realm, Spirit Profound Realm, Spiritual Consciousness Realm, Nascent Domain Realm (Pseudo-Domain Realm), True Domain Realm, Heaven and Earth Realm, and finally the Divine Realm.

Except for the Mystic Body Realm and the Divine Realm, each of these realms had nine minor stages. On the Sky Dome Continent, they were commonly referred to as first through ninth rank.

As for the Mystic Body Realm Zhou Hao was currently in, it only had six minor stages. Each minor stage corresponded to the limbs, the torso, and the head.

These six minor stages had no fixed order—it depended on the cultivator's preference, whichever part they wanted to train first.

Right now, Zhou Hao had already reached the peak of the Mystic Body Realm. He only needed a small opportunity to break through to the Spirit Profound Realm.

"The old man was right. I really am a genius." Zhou Hao stretched his limbs and couldn't help but mutter narcissistically.

But the moment he thought about what this damn technique's description was, he wanted to cripple his cultivation and start over.

What the hell was this? The Spirit-Womb Art. Just seeing the name, Zhou Hao knew it was trouble.

After cultivating it, it really was no good. This technique was completely designed for bearing children. Basically, all the energy cultivated through the Spirit-Womb Art was channeled down to the sperm level, achieving an advanced nurturing state to lay the groundwork for the future Divine Infant.

Du Tianhong managing to create such a technique was truly impressive. After all, for energy to act on the sperm level, it had to be gentle—extremely gentle. Otherwise, it would only kill the sperm.

Du Tianhong had never succeeded on his own. In the end, he only managed it by combining the technique with the Spirit-Womb Ring. In other words, the only two people in the entire universe who could successfully cultivate the Spirit-Womb Art were Zhou Hao and Murong.

So even though the Spirit-Womb Art seemed single-purpose, it was actually the fruit of Du Tianhong's painstaking research over most of his life.

But... no matter how impressive Du Tianhong was, Zhou Hao still wanted to curse him out.

"Go to hell, old man! Did you ever think about how I'd feel? I'm not some tool!"

Zhou Hao shouted helplessly, but unfortunately, Du Tianhong had already ridden the crane west—cursing was useless.

Still, there was a silver lining. At the end of the Jade Slip, Du Tianhong specifically noted that the Spirit-Womb Art didn't conflict with any other techniques.

That meant Zhou Hao could still cultivate other techniques. And Du Tianhong had prepared one for him—the other Jade Slip.

Full of anticipation, Zhou Hao pressed the second Jade Slip to his forehead.

The next moment, the Jade Slip emitted a soft yellow light that dissolved into specks of light and drilled into his brow.

Zhou Hao absorbed it all and fell silent for a long time. This Jade Slip didn't directly set him on the path of cultivation like the Spirit-Womb Art's slip had—not even with enlightenment.

Inside the slip was a technique called the Metamorphosis Incantation. There was a lot of related information, but when Zhou Hao saw the technique's description, he didn't really want to cultivate it.

The Metamorphosis Incantation was a purely supplementary technique, developed entirely to serve spirit beasts.

After cultivating it, Zhou Hao could use the power he built up to help spirit beasts evolve, allowing them to undergo a full transformation.

To put it simply, cultivating this technique meant he'd have to become a diligent poop-scooper in the future.

The most important thing was that once he cultivated the Metamorphosis Incantation, he couldn't cultivate any other techniques—because they'd conflict.

Of course, the Spirit-Womb Art was the exception.

"And I need the Metamorphosis Pill to lay the foundation before I can even cultivate it. This couple really knows how to make things complicated." Zhou Hao curled his lip and complained.

That's right—the Spirit-Womb Art was created by Du Tianhong, while the Metamorphosis Incantation was created by Du Tianhong's wife.

This couple really had a spirit of dedication. The techniques they created weren't meant to strengthen themselves at all. Zhou Hao was already past the point of complaining.

Zhou Hao sank into thought. He was weighing whether to cultivate this technique. Based on the information Du Tianhong left behind, this Metamorphosis Incantation seemed pretty impressive.

But he was already a tool. Did he really have to be a poop-scooper too? That was a hard pill to swallow!

Zhou Hao was caught in a struggle of choice.

Maybe Du Tianhong had wanted him to think it through carefully, which was why he hadn't forced him to cultivate it. Instead, he'd told him all the key information and let him decide for himself.

After thinking it over for a long time, Zhou Hao made his decision. He would cultivate the Metamorphosis Incantation.

Even Du Tianhong said the Metamorphosis Incantation was impressive, so it had to be the real deal. He believed the old man wouldn't lie to him.

Zhou Hao tipped the Metamorphosis Pill into his mouth. His throat bobbed, and the whole pill slid down into his stomach.

Immediately, he sat cross-legged and began cultivating according to the operation method of the Metamorphosis Incantation.

A faint yellow glow radiated from his body as the Metamorphosis Pill dissolved within him, melting into his bloodstream and flowing through every part of his body, taking effect on each and every region.

After the energy completed one full cycle, it began to converge toward Zhou Hao's Dantian, eventually condensing into a green inner core.

This inner core was the joint product of the Metamorphosis Pill and the Metamorphosis Incantation, and it would also serve as the foundation of Zhou Hao's power from now on.

At the same time, Zhou Hao vaguely heard a "crack" as the power within him surged explosively, continuously scouring his body.

Two or three minutes later, the surging energy subsided. At this moment, Zhou Hao had officially crossed from the Mystic Body Realm into the Spirit Mysterious Realm, initially mastering the ability to fly through the air.