Fusion and Mastery

The night was still and deep, and the drizzle had ceased.

Inside his room, Du En was diligently practicing Liver Training.

His accumulation was already sufficient, so the breakthrough came naturally, like water finding its course.

He had fused and comprehended everything, connecting what came before and after. His understanding of every aspect of the Yellow Earth Technique was now comprehensive, systematic, and penetrating, as though he had fully formed his own understanding.

This was fusion and mastery!

The circulation of his magical power quietly began to change.

There was nothing radical about it. He silently tamped down the thick earth, first completing the consolidation of what already existed, then drawing in and refining spiritual energy, transforming it into fresh magical power before continuing to tamp it down.

The ocher-yellow color grew richer and purer, beginning to carry a sense of grandeur. During this circulation, both quantity and quality rapidly rose together, while the power also dispersed to strengthen his flesh and physique, generate strength, and foster robust vitality.

Crack~

The wooden bed beneath him could not help letting out a faint groan.

The weight it bore had simply increased far too much in such a short time.

The current Du En, if he did not restrain himself and allowed his weight to show outwardly, would weigh over a thousand pounds.

Yet to the eye, he looked even leaner than he had before tonight.

"Condensed and compacted earth" was the best way to describe it.

The wooden bed did not actually collapse, because Du En opened his eyes and ended this session of cultivation. With a thought, he reined himself in and returned to his usual state.

A panel appeared in his eyes.

[Age: 19/98]

[Spiritual Root: Low-grade]

[ cultivation: Early Qi Refining (49/100)]

[Method: Yellow Earth Technique (Fusion and Mastery 0/300)]

[Spells: Earth Bullet Technique (Practiced with Ease 18/50), Sand Raising Technique (Minor Accomplishment 81/100), Breath Concealing Technique (Practiced with Ease 43/50)]

[Divine Abilities: None]

[Hundred Arts: Appraisal (Initial Glimpse 0/20), Culinary Arts (Initial Glimpse 10/20)]

"My cultivation method broke through to Fusion and Mastery, adding twelve points to my cultivation accumulation and five years to my lifespan."

"Still Early Qi Refining..."

Although the basic efficiency of his cultivation had risen another ten percent from before, and the number of times he could circulate his power each night had only increased to fifteen due to the time limit, his overall calculation showed that he was nearly forty percent faster than before.

But he was still in Early Qi Refining.

According to his calculations, he would need only a year and a half to break through to Mid-stage Qi Refining. He had only been cultivating for a little over half a year; in other people's eyes, he was merely a tender newcomer. Only among the corpse buriers could he be called an old hand.

But he was still in Early Qi Refining.

"At this rate, I'll break through soon enough."

Du En's mood was calm.

Bang, bang, bang!

The sudden knocking at the door made Du En, who had still wanted to race against time and cultivate once more during the fifth watch, before dawn, turn his head in puzzlement.

He got out of bed, left the room, and opened the courtyard gate.

The person knocking was Xu Ran, the corpse hauler Xu Ran.

His handsome face was pale, his nearly eight-foot frame slightly hunched, and his unexpectedly slender hands trembled nonstop. He looked completely terrified.

Du En glanced behind him but saw no one else, nor anything else.

"So this isn't about burying corpses?"

"No, Du En. It's still about burying corpses."

"Then did you accidentally kill someone and want me to help bury the body and erase the evidence?"

At Du En's calm words, Xu Ran froze. The others, who had just been startled awake and were now poking their heads out, silently withdrew them.

We heard nothing. You bury yours, and we'll bury ours. Whatever the boss says goes for us.

Xu Ran caught sight of this and immediately gave a bitter smile. "Why would I kill someone for no reason?"

"That's hard to say. You corpse haulers can at least eat some leftovers. Fights over unequal shares of the spoils have happened before. More accurately, that's the main reason your numbers get reduced."

"..."

Faced with Du En's bluntness, which was practically stripping off his underwear, Xu Ran was instantly embarrassed. But he soon recovered. "You nearly led me down a completely different path. Still, after you put it that way, my emotions have calmed down quite a bit."

"So what exactly happened?"

"An urgent job!"

Xu Ran's expression was extremely solemn, and his pupils trembled slightly with lingering fear. "Simply put, an Evil Cultivator has struck again. It's not dawn yet, but to guard against any accidents, the overseers don't dare delay. They're reporting to the manager themselves while ordering us to bury the corpses— the faster, the better!"

Thus, Xu Ran, who was acquainted with the leader of the corpse buriers, had been sent to knock on the door and call for them.

No matter how one put it, the corpse-burying work could not be snatched or handled recklessly. That would be an act of overstepping against one's fellow workers!

"You corpse haulers only think of us first at times like this."

"Haha, doesn't that show how professional you are?"

Xu Ran was embarrassed and avoided Du En's gaze.

Du En said nothing more and turned to look over.

The other corpse buriers had already gathered their tools and stood ready to depart.

"Boss, we'll go together and face everything together!"

"That's right! We want to share your burden!"

"You know me, Boss. I'm the most diligent worker on ordinary days. Once I heard about this, my energy immediately surged!"

"Same here!"

"Ahem... Naturally. Let's just say we're heading out a little earlier today."

Faced with this united front, Du En merely nodded lightly without saying much. He went back to change his clothes, then prepared to lead the group out.

Xu Ran watched with deep emotion and envy in his eyes.

There was no such atmosphere among the corpse haulers.

Whenever something happened, they usually liked to shirk responsibility onto one another. If a corpse still had valuables on it, they became even more scheming, and internal conflicts erupted from time to time.

Just as Du En had said, that was basically how the corpse haulers suffered their deaths and injuries.

He was shaking his head and sighing when he saw a figure flash past him.

After lightly shaking his head and coming back to his senses, he found that Wei Ming, who had been at the rear, was locking the door.

"Why are you still standing around here? Either lead the way up front or go back home."

Xu Ran said it casually, then turned and followed after him.

Xu Ran scratched his head. He was not surprised by this and simply turned around to shout, "Come with me. We'll get on at the crossroads. It'll be faster that way."

After saying this, he hurried out, pointing the way as he led them along a shortcut.

They threaded through houses and slipped between gaps, going in a straight line between two points.

Du En and the others carried their tools as they made their way through, arriving directly at the main road.

A corpse-hauling cart was parked there. The Green-skinned Water Buffalo pulling it seemed somewhat agitated, its tail swishing nonstop as though some foreign object had stuck to its body.

But on closer inspection, there was no foreign object at all. It was exceptionally clean.

The sight made their scalps prickle. Their hearts, already raised into their throats, climbed even higher.

But looking more carefully, they saw that there were no corpses on the cart.

Wei Ming and the others immediately breathed a sigh of relief.

Seeing how terrified Xu Ran had looked earlier, they had thought he was hauling the corpse as well.

In this urgent situation, having to ride all the way with a corpse would be terrifying even to imagine!

Although they had acted tough in front of Du En, fear was still fear!