Jiang Liu meditated on the tree until dawn, finally refining all the vital energy within the Dark Fragrance Fruit.
Feeling the growing Primal Qi Liquid within his body, Jiang Liu stretched out his hand, and a surge of primordial energy flowed out, condensing into a large sword, which he then slashed at a nearby tree.
With a "whoosh," the Yuan Qi Greatsword flashed by, leaving a slanted blade on a nearby tree, which was then severed in half and fell to the side.
Jiang Liu was fairly satisfied with the power of this materialized primordial energy. He then stood up and conjured an Ice Blade in each of his hands.
With a push of his feet, he leaped into the air, flicked his hands, and Ice Blade flying straight down to a large tree. Just as they were about to reach the tree, the two Ice Blade suddenly changed direction and shot towards another large tree.
It turned out that Jiang Liu had just had a sudden inspiration: could the Ice Blade suddenly change direction under the control of his Divine Sense? This would catch the enemy off guard, and unexpectedly, he succeeded on the first try.
Next, I tested whether the two Ice Blades could turn independently. I could swing the left Ice Blade and turn, accelerate, and stop at will in the air. I could also do the same with the right Ice Blade.
When I try to control the Ice Blade with both hands at the same time, I can't do it as freely as before. It turns out that my mind is not yet able to do two things at once with fine precision.
Jiang Liu wasn't in a hurry; this was just a spur-of-the-moment idea, since Ice Blade nowadays mostly use single blades and are left-handed.
Then he practiced the Demon Suppression Blade Technique and Exploding Fist again, venting his frustrations as if he had released all the pent-up emotions from the previous night. Only then did Jiang Liu leave, leaving behind an Earth Wolf trees leaning and broken, as if a great battle had just taken place there.
Jiang Liu continued to hunt and cultivate in the Ten Thousand Mountains. With the resources keeping up, the Primal Qi Liquid in his body gradually grew stronger, and the very center of the Primal Qi Liquid began to show signs of solidification.
Now, the refined Essence Particles turn into liquid very quickly once they enter the body, unlike before when they had to be ground and refined.
Jiang Liu cultivated deep in the mountains for ten days before he finished refining all the Dark Fragrance Fruit. Looking at the Yuan Primal Qi Liquid in his body, which was larger than when he first entered the ninth rank, he felt very satisfied.
He needed to go out more often to speed up his cultivation. He then set off into the deeper parts of the mountains.
As the Jiang Liu flowed forward, a group of people were setting up an altar in the middle of the woods. They cleared a large area of the forest, and everyone was dressed in white robes and white hats with disheveled hair. Soon, a simple altar was set up.
As night fell, I drifted along the Jiang Liu, casually finding a large tree to sit and rest under for the night. I habitually spread my Divine Sense, preparing to be on guard.
Suddenly, a strange movement stirred in Jiang Liu's Divine Sense. His eyes narrowed. Was it a human or Exotic Beast? He hadn't encountered any humans along the way, so it must be Exotic Beast.
The Jiang Liu flows Elusive Shadows, gliding past the trees.
Expanding his Divine Sense to its limit, he advanced a hundred or two meters and saw clearly what was going on. There was actually a group of people here, which was quite strange.
And what's with the altar in the middle? There's nothing there, so what are they worshipping? What are these people, who clearly aren't normal, doing here?
Jiang Liu was filled with questions, but his wariness of the unknown danger made Jiang Liu quickly retreat. He retreated for several miles before stopping.
Not long after Jiang Liu left this place, a figure descended from the sky. It was Gui Shan, who had been chasing Jiang Liu that night. Gui Shan landed on the altar.
The crowd below immediately knelt down, "Greetings, Vice Sect Leader!"
Gui Shan waved his hand, and the crowd below the stage stood up.
"White Protector, are you ready?" Gui Shan asked.
White Protector clasped his hands in a fist salute and replied, "Reporting to the Vice Sect Leader, everything is ready. We are just waiting for the appointed time to begin!"
"Very good. If this soul-summoning can improve your skills, then our sect's efforts in training you will not have been in vain!" Gui Shan said with satisfaction.
Then he instructed everyone below the stage to stand in their respective positions, and distributed specially made soul-guiding incense, igniters, and most importantly, a Soul Absorption Fruit to each person.
Gui Shan stood alone on the altar, where he would serve as the main catalyst to attract the souls of Beast Soul and earth.
Time quickly passed, and it was almost midnight. Gui Shan gestured with his hand, and the members of the Ghost School hurriedly lit the soul-guiding incense in their hands and sat cross-legged in front of the Soul Absorption Fruit.
Gui Shan lit the largest soul-guiding incense stick in the center of the altar, then used his inner energy to condense his vital energy and spread the incense around. Immediately, a strange smell wafted out and drifted in all directions.
When the Ghost School members finished doing all this, it was exactly midnight.
At this moment, Jiang Liu also began to Soul Refining Technique. At first, he was able to absorb spiritual particles into his spiritual sea, but as time went by, he gradually could not absorb any spiritual particles at all.
Jiang Liu was puzzled. Why was tonight so strange? Was it because of the wrong position? But it had always been this position! And he could absorb it at the beginning! What was going on? Jiang Liu couldn't figure it out.
At first, the spiritual particles gathered among the Ghost School members were not many, but as time went by, they gradually increased and began to take on various shapes, including animal, human, and object shapes.
Once it took shape, it roared and pounced on the people from the Ghost School. Of course, this was silent. The people from the Ghost School were not alarmed. They dispersed the beast shape with a palm and then began to absorb spiritual particles.
Instantly, the various transformed spiritual particles around the altar were dispersed and absorbed by the members of the Ghost School.
It transformed into human form and initially appeared quite normal, as if it were talking to someone. However, after a while, when it received no response, it gradually changed shape, revealing a vicious appearance, and lunged at the people in the Ghost School.
The people from the Ghost School ignored all of this and focused on absorbing spiritual particles to cultivate. The Soul Absorption Fruit in front of them was spinning rapidly, as if releasing threads that were pulling spiritual particles inward.
It turns out that the Soul Absorption Fruit is used to store spiritual particles, because the Soul-Summoning Ceremony is not held frequently, firstly because the location is hard to find, and secondly because the Soul-Inducing Incense is difficult to make.
It's only held a few times a year, and each time it's a different group of people. This is how the Ghost School trains its core members. Only those with sufficient merit and talent have the opportunity to participate.
Soon, powerful auras erupted from the Ghost School members surrounding the altar. This was the aura emanating from the Ghost School members during their cultivation.
Gui Shan, on the other hand, was dealing with an even more powerful storm of spiritual particles. The spiritual particles attacking Gui Shan were more numerous and stronger. Gui Shan directly activated his inner energy technique, forming a large maw as if it were devouring everything in its path.
After filtering the spiritual particles on the altar, they were scattered among the people in the Ghost School surrounding the altar.
The mental particle storm continued until midnight, when it gradually subsided.
Looking at the crowd below the stage, Gui Shan was greatly satisfied to see that everyone's strength had increased. It seemed that the Ghost School would soon have several more grandmasters.
Jiang Liu stared blankly at the sky, wondering if he had offended someone. Why was he not only unable to absorb spiritual particles, but he was also almost dragged out the spiritual particles in his sea of consciousness?
Fortunately, Jiang Liu was alert in time and guarded his mental sea, preventing such a thing from happening. However, the occurrence of such a strange event made Jiang Liu even more vigilant. This world is very mysterious.
P. S.: Just a heads-up, the Grandmaster Battle is tomorrow!