The Neighboring Village's Bull

"Qing'er, how was your cultivation this time?"

In the grand hall on the platform resembling a lingzhi mushroom, Qiu Jin'er's soul flew in and entered the body of a young girl sitting cross-legged. A beautiful woman smiled and said, "Bathing in lightning to refine the soul is the ultimate technique of the Leihu Clan. I worked hard to steal it. Refining the soul this way makes the soul incredibly tough. You are an Innate Wood Spirit, naturally unified in soul. If you can be tempered by lightning, your future achievements will not be inferior to the Four Great Young Powerhouses of Sword Gate."

Qiu Jin'er opened her eyes and said, "Mother, I saw a Senior Brother in the lightning layer who was also refining his soul there. His soul was hidden within a Soul Weapon. I chatted with him for a bit."

The woman said nervously, "Could it be a Qi Refiner from the Leihu Clan? If they discover I stole their ultimate technique, I'll be quite embarrassed..."

Qiu Jin'er quickly replied, "It's not from the Leihu Clan. This Senior Brother said he is from the Zhongshan Clan and his name is Zhong Yue."

The woman breathed a sigh of relief and wondered, "Which great clan is the Zhongshan Clan? I've never heard of them. Could it be that the Zhongshan Clan also stole the lightning soul refining technique from the Leihu Clan?"

"Senior Brother Zhong is also a thief?" Qiu Jin'er asked in surprise.

The beautiful woman gave her a look. "What do you mean thief? We are eager to learn; we can't be called thieves, it sounds so bad! I'll go to the Sect Master another day and steal Sword Gate's most profound ultimate technique, the Great Freedom Sword Qi, and you can practice it."

Qiu Jin'er stuck out her tongue.

Zhong Yue's soul returned to his body, and he couldn't help but exclaim in surprise. His Sea of Consciousness had actually shrunk!

His Sea of Consciousness was originally three thousand mu in size, and it was still expanding as his cultivation deepened. Now, it had shrunk significantly, reducing to a mere thousand mu, a decrease of two-thirds!

"What's going on? Did my cultivation drop by two-thirds all of a sudden?"

Xin Huo also leaped out of the Dragon Scale Sword. Hearing this, he shook his head. "This is the marvel of lightning tempering. Your spirit was not strong enough. Although your Sea of Consciousness was vast, your Spiritual Power was not potent. This time, by borrowing the lightning to temper it, the impurities in your Spiritual Power have been refined. Although your Spiritual Power has shrunk considerably, it is more refined and tougher! Look, there are lightning sparks in your Sea of Consciousness; this is a sign of powerful Spiritual Power."

Zhong Yue's soul looked around and saw faint electrical currents surging in his Sea of Consciousness, like golden serpents hidden beneath the sea.

"Your Spiritual Power is still not strong enough. If it were strong enough, it would turn your Sea of Consciousness into a Thunder Pool, a Thunder Sea! Your Spiritual Power would become Thunder Plasma, Thunder Liquid. That kind of Spiritual Power would be countless times superior to that kid Shui Qinghe's!" Xin Huo continued.

"Thunder Pool, Thunder Sea? Thunder Plasma, Thunder Liquid?"

Zhong Yue's eyes widened, and he couldn't help but yearn for it, murmuring, "When will I be able to reach that stage?"

"Haven't you noticed that your soul has also shrunk?"

Xin Huo said proudly, "Now, let your soul egress and look at your soul."

Zhong Yue quickly let his soul egress. The surrounding scenery became incredibly vast. Xin Huo, that tiny flame, floated before him, appearing more than ten times larger than him!

His soul was as small as a grain of rice, while Xin Huo was incredibly mighty. Zhong Yue turned to look at his own body and was horrified. His body appeared like a colossal giant, as if a god or demon, unimaginably tall!

Originally, his soul was about the same size as Xin Huo's, but now it was pitifully small.

"Your soul has also shrunk after being tempered by lightning, refining out the impurities. Rest well, take a few more Feather Spirit Pills, use your Spiritual Power to temper your physical body, and continue cultivating tomorrow."

Xin Huo smiled. "When your body is strong enough, we'll take your body into the lightning layer for tempering too, but it's still far from enough now."

"My body struck by lightning? Won't it get charred?"

Zhong Yue calmed himself, took out the Feather Spirit Pills as instructed, and consumed three. He then meditated on the Flood Dragon Totem to temper his body. Instantly, he felt the medicinal power of the Feather Spirit Pills being consumed at an astonishing rate. After the time it takes an incense stick to burn, the medicinal power of the three pills was depleted. He had to consume another three Feather Spirit Pills.

"When I was refining my body with the Flood Dragon Totem before, my body couldn't improve further. Now that my Spiritual Power has become stronger, I can improve my body again!"

Zhong Yue was both surprised and delighted. He continued to cultivate, and overnight, he unconsciously consumed sixty Feather Spirit Pills!

"At this consumption rate, I'll probably have to gnaw on dirt to fill my stomach in the future..."

At dawn, Zhong Yue opened his eyes, feeling a mix of amusement and helplessness. Consuming sixty Feather Spirit Pills overnight was more than the cultivation required during life-or-death battles. He now had only a little over two hundred and fifty Feather Spirit Pills left, which, by his calculations, would only last for about four or five days.

However, the cultivation from this one night had yielded immense rewards. His body had improved, and he now felt an explosive power within him. Every move he made was like lightning!

Every muscle in his body contained terrifying explosive power, and every major tendon twanged like a taut bowstring. The speed of nerve transmission was incredibly swift!

"I wonder what my strength will reach in five days, and if I'll be able to compare with Shui Qinghe?"

Zhong Yue performed a Soul Sacrifice, drew his Dragon Scale Sword, and its sword light shot straight into the sky. He returned to the lightning layer to undergo tempering. Before long, Qiu Jin'er flew over. They chatted for a bit and then cultivated separately.

"Cultivating together, male and female, isn't tiring."

Xin Huo sat on Zhong Yue's shoulder and thought, "Young Yue is seeing such a tiny little girl as a Qi Refiner and is channeling that pressure into motivation, cultivating desperately. He just doesn't know that innate spiritual bodies are different from ordinary people. Innate spiritual bodies are naturally unified in soul and are naturally Qi Refiners, not through cultivation... Hmm, should I tell him? Or not? It's better to let the young man have some drive!"

In the following days, Zhong Yue and Qiu Jin'er seemed to have an unspoken agreement. They both cultivated in the same place until they could no longer persist before leaving.

Five days later, Zhong Yue's Sea of Consciousness had been refined to only five hundred mu in size, and his soul had shrunk to a tiny speck, even smaller than an ant. If he hadn't continuously consumed Feather Spirit Pills to cultivate during these days, his Sea of Consciousness would likely be even smaller, and his soul might be too small to even be seen!

Although his Sea of Consciousness and soul had shrunk, he felt that both his Sea of Consciousness, his soul, and his physical body were much stronger than before. Especially his Sea of Consciousness, where lightning rippled, transforming into golden serpents that roamed within. With a mere thought, the golden serpents danced wildly, a terrifying sight!

However, Zhong Yue had finally exhausted all his Feather Spirit Pills and could no longer continue cultivating.

"Upper Court disciples receive ten Feather Spirit Pills each month, which is merely a drop in the bucket for me; it's not even enough for an hour of cultivation."

He couldn't help but feel a headache coming on, pondering, "If I could, I would go to the Sword Gate Demonic Ruins to accumulate some merit. But now that the Demonic Ruins are closed, I have to find another way. I wonder if I can find other methods to earn Feather Spirit Pills..."

Just as he was about to get up, he suddenly heard a clear, bell-like female voice from outside the courtyard. "Junior Brother Zhong! Zhongshan Clan's Junior Brother Zhong Yue!"

"It's Senior Sister Ting's voice!"

Zhong Yue's heart stirred. He quickly got up and went outside the courtyard, opening the gate. He thought, "Why is Senior Sister Ting looking for me?"

As the courtyard gate opened, Zhong Yue couldn't help but be startled. His small courtyard was now a riot of colors. Over thirty female disciples from the Upper Court were looking around curiously. Leading them were Ting Lanyue, Yu Feiyan in black, and Tao Daier in red. He didn't recognize the other women.

With so many girls gathered together, the air was filled with the scent of young women and the fragrance of rouge and powder, likely made by these girls themselves from collected flower pollen, which gave their skin a more dewy and fragrant appearance.

In the distance, male disciples from the Men's Court in their courtyards poked their heads out to watch. Seeing so many female disciples appearing in the Men's Court, these male disciples were also startled and looked at Zhong Yue with envious eyes.

"Why have all you Senior Sisters come to my place?"

Zhong Yue asked, puzzled. "Senior Sisters, please come in. I'll make some tea for you."

"I won't be sitting at your place anymore."

Ting Lanyue said with a giggle, "Junior Brother Zhong, we plan to descend the mountain for training and head to Beast God Ridge to warm up for the Unrestricted Duel. The fierce beasts near Beast God Ridge are becoming more numerous, and several nearby tribal clans have been harassed. Many villages have been completely devoured. We'll go to Beast God Ridge to quell the beastly disaster, earn some merit, and exchange it for some spirit pills or soul weapons."

Tao Daier chuckled from the side, "Originally, we didn't plan to bring a stinky man along. Senior Sister Yu said you're capable and could bring you. Plus, I've smelled you, and you don't stink at all, so we decided to bring you along."

Zhong Yue's heart stirred slightly. The Dragon Blood Sword Box flew over and landed at his feet. He chuckled, "Thank you for the opportunity, Senior Sister Tao."

Yu Feiyan said rather coldly, "No need for pleasantries. Let's depart immediately. We might be able to reach Beast God Ridge by nightfall."

Tao Daier quickly took out a small cloth bag and said with a smile, "Beast God Ridge is quite far. Walking there would take two or three days. I borrowed a bag of clouds from a Qi Refiner of my Taolin Clan. If we travel by cloud, we can reach it before sunset today."

The cloth bag was opened, and colorful cloud vapor gurgled out. In just a moment, Zhong Yue and the women were standing amidst the clouds, feeling a force lifting them upwards.

Zhong Yue marveled, and Tao Daier laughed, "These clouds are a soul weapon refined by the Qi Refiners of my Taolin Clan, named Cloud Canvas. It has no offensive power, it's just for travel. I'll control the direction, and the other sisters will take turns using their spiritual power to propel it. Those whose spiritual power is depleted will come down and be replaced, taking turns to rest and conserve their strength, so they won't be without spiritual power upon reaching Beast God Ridge."

In the Men's Court, hundreds of male disciples stared blankly as the colorful cloud, carrying dozens of maiden-like girls and Zhong Yue, flew into the sky, each looking utterly dejected.

"There's a bull in our neighboring village, so strong. Every first and fifteenth of the month, villagers from ten miles around would bring their cows for breeding. Over a dozen cows would line up, waiting, while other bulls could only watch enviously."

Someone looked up at the cloud and murmured, "We call that bull the Great Stud Bull..."

"Brother, why are you talking about that?" a nearby male disciple asked curiously.

In the distance, a burly man's eyes grew brighter as he stared at the colorful cloud flying out of Sword Gate Mountain. He chuckled, "They're finally going out... Prepare the Thunder King Boat. Our Leihu Clan disciples are also heading to Beast God Ridge. I want to face this Zhong Yue personally!"

Over twenty elite disciples of the Leihu Clan roared in assent. They dragged out a large boat about ten zhang long. In the center stood a statue, the likeness of the Thunder God, adorned with various thunder patterns. The disciples boarded the Thunder King Boat, and the vessel ascended into the sky, heading towards Beast God Ridge.

At the same time, in the Women's Court, Li Xiuniang of the Lishan Clan summoned Lishan Clan disciples and conjured a large leaf. This leaf was the lotus leaf of a Demon God Flower, immensely vast. The disciples stood on the leaf and also flew towards Beast God Ridge.

"Zhongshan Clan, I hope you won't disappoint me..." Li Xiuniang whispered.