Investment

Of course, how many Ghost Servants Lei Dong could control at once still depended on his own strength. It came down to how strong his Mind Power was. Mind Power was also known as divine sense or Spiritual Force—a mysterious power that rarely played a direct role in combat but had many subtle uses. Lei Dong, who was only at the first layer of the Qi Refining Stage, had just begun learning to control his Mind Power. He could hardly call it strong. He was confident he could control three or four ordinary Yin Souls at once, but he probably couldn't handle three or four First-level Ghost Soldiers.

There were many ways to strengthen one's Mind Power. The most important was to improve one's cultivation; once he reached the second layer of the Qi Refining Stage, his Mind Power would certainly increase by a great deal. Next came cultivating specifically to improve Mind Power, tempering and strengthening it without advancing one's cultivation realm. Finally, there were accessories that could amplify and enhance Mind Power.

There were many auxiliary Cultivation Methods for training Mind Power, but according to the Yin Sha Sect's rules, only the first spell was free. The rest had to be exchanged for with Contribution Value. For the time being, Lei Dong could only put the idea out of his mind. He stayed in his Cultivation Chamber and diligently practiced his health-preserving exercises.

Time flew by, and another half month passed. Lei Dong, who had lost a great deal of Essence Blood and vitality in the Blood Sacrifice, had finally made a full recovery. Of course, he had only recovered. Over the past month or so, he had suffered greatly for the sake of this Ghost Servant, while his cultivation had barely advanced at all. Fortunately, he had performed the Blood Sacrifice on a Spirit Ghost, which helped him feel a little better about it.

In the meantime, Chen Ge and Wei Hua had also returned from their mission. When the three of them met up, Lei Dong told Chen Ge about the many difficulties involved in practicing the Ghost Taming Art. Thanks to his excellent luck, it had taken him three months to capture a Spirit Ghost.

The difficulties left Chen Ge looking grave. But when he heard that after the Blood Sacrifice, the Spirit Ghost had become a Ghost Soldier with the combat strength of a first-layer Qi Refiner, Chen Ge and Wei Hua were overjoyed. Their slight dissatisfaction with Lei Dong for missing the mission vanished, and they kept urging him to get plenty of rest. Once he had recovered, they would help him capture another Spirit Ghost.

Of course, they were willing to help because they saw the potential of Lei Dong's Ghost Taming Art. If Lei Dong could take two Ghost Soldiers along on missions, everyone would be much safer. They could learn the Ghost Taming Art themselves if they saved up enough Contribution Value. But after hearing how complicated it was, and that the Blood Sacrifice would delay their cultivation, they decided to hold off for now. It was enough for Lei Dong to be the only one who knew it. They could save their Contribution Value to learn other powerful spells.

As soon as Lei Dong had recovered, Chen Ge formed the three of them into a small team and accepted a mission suited to them. Since it was a team mission, each of them would receive ten Contribution Value upon completion, so it was somewhat difficult. Still, although the Yin Sha Sect was a famous demonic sect, it wasn't the sort of idiotic organization that shoved its disciples into a pit of fire just because it could, sending them off to die.

After all, although new disciples like Chen Ge and Lei Dong had low cultivation, they carried the sect's legacy and might one day grow into its pillars. Killing them off carelessly would only weaken the sect's future strength. The Yin Sha Sect wasn't foolish enough to tear down its own walls and let the righteous sects bully it later.

Thus, although some missions for new disciples were harder than others, they weren't so difficult that the newcomers were likely to die. The goal was to temper them and help them adapt to the sect's Contribution Value system, not simply to get them killed. Besides, many missions had been specially arranged by the sect, with their difficulty carefully assessed.

Chen Ge's mission was to retrieve a Sect Token from a mountain hollow more than three hundred miles north of Myriad Ghost Cave. To temper the disciples, the sect had also set a second-layer Qi Refining Stage Monster Beast to guard it. Three ordinary newcomers at the first layer of the Qi Refining Stage could deal with the specially arranged Monster Beast without much trouble, as long as they had learned some proper spells and worked together. What was more, all three of them had learned powerful spells for their level.

Chen Ge's Netherflame Bullet

was a powerful direct-attack spell, while Wei Hua had learned the powerful defensive spell, Profound Yin Shield. Along with Lei Dong's Ghost Taming Art, these were the signature spells of Yin Sha Sect disciples at the Qi Refining Stage, and almost mandatory studies. However, in the early stages of cultivation, various constraints meant they could only choose some ordinary spells. Lei Dong and the others had each learned one of the three, and together, their power would naturally increase.

They found a large carriage in Myriad Ghost City, and the three of them sat together in its spacious interior as it headed toward the mission site. The carriage moved slowly, and the road grew worse the farther they went. The mere three-hundred-mile journey was expected to take more than two days. On horseback, they could probably have made it in one day at most. But since they would be facing a second-layer Qi Refining Stage Monster Beast, they took the carriage so they could conserve their strength.

Unable to stand the carriage's jolting and slow pace, Wei Hua, who had been accustomed to fine food and fine clothes since childhood, complained bitterly, "If only we all had Flying Magic Tools. Three hundred miles is nothing; we could fly there in just two hours. Senior Brother Chen, I still have some Spirit Stones. Why did you stop me from buying a Flying Magic Tool?"

"Junior Brother Wei, don't let your imagination run wild. We've already asked about the prices. Even the worst Flying Magic Tool costs five or six Spirit Stones. A slightly better one can cost dozens or even hundreds. We don't have many Spirit Stones, so we'd better save them. There'll be plenty of things to spend them on later." Chen Ge was rather frustrated. He had thought that the hundred Spirit Stones he brought when he joined the sect would be enough to cultivate to the Foundation Establishment Realm. He had never imagined that, after the money he'd spent on favors and other expenses, the Spirit Stones he had left would only be enough to buy himself a somewhat decent outfit—and even that would be Low Grade. As for Middle Grade items, he couldn't afford a single one even if he spent every Spirit Stone he had. Poor Chen Ge had been a pampered young master back home, used to spending lavishly. Only now had he learned what it meant to live on a budget.

Lei Dong couldn't help clicking his tongue at the price. Dozens or even hundreds of Spirit Stones for a decent Flying Magic Tool was outrageous. A Low-grade Spirit Ghost, which he had struggled so hard to capture and still hadn't managed to find, was worth only ten Spirit Stones...

"This is all because our talent isn't good enough. I heard Ding Wanyan has won the Ancestor's favor. She's already equipped with a full set of Magic Tools, most of them Middle Grade, and her main Flying Sword is even High Grade. Heavens, some people are just born luckier than others." When Wei Hua spoke of Ding Wanyan, his words were thick with envy.

"Junior Brother Wei, watch what you say. If Senior Sister Ding hears about this, we could be in trouble," Lei Dong said quietly, frowning slightly.

"Junior Brother Lei is right. I heard Senior Sister Ding advanced to the third layer of the Qi Refining Stage a few days ago. She's not someone we can afford to provoke." Chen Ge strongly agreed with Lei Dong. Someone as heaven-defying as Ding Wanyan was best avoided if at all possible.

She hadn't even been in the sect for a year yet—three months short of it—and Ding Wanyan had already advanced to the third layer of the Qi Refining Stage. The news left the three of them silent for a moment. Chen Ge and Wei Hua were both midway through the first layer, while Lei Dong, having spent the past few months busy with the Ghost Taming Art, was still some way from reaching the midpoint. The gap in their talents had been obvious from the very start. Ding Wanyan really had soared into the heavens.

"Senior Brother Chen, Junior Brother Wei, I have a suggestion." Lei Dong thought for a moment before continuing, "You both brought some Spirit Stones with you when you joined the sect. Rather than saving them, you'd be better off exchanging more of them for Pills for Cultivating Origin or pills that help break through bottlenecks, then cultivating in seclusion to raise your cultivation. Advance as far as you can. If you hit a bottleneck or run out of Spirit Stones, then you can slowly start taking missions to build up Contribution Value. By then, you'll have reached the third or fourth layer at least, and missions will be much easier. That'll be more efficient."

Chen Ge pondered Lei Dong's words for a long while, then slowly nodded. "That makes sense. Wei Hua, let's each lend Junior Brother Lei twenty Spirit Stones. If we don't waste them on other things and only exchange them for pills, we should have no problem reaching the fourth layer. Once we finish this mission, we'll go back and cultivate in seclusion instead of wandering around."

"Sure, no problem." Wei Hua was probably even more generous than Chen Ge. He immediately took twenty Spirit Stones from his Storage Belt.

Chen Ge quickly took out twenty Spirit Stones as well and handed them all to Lei Dong. His voice was low and solemn as he said, "Junior Brother Lei, don't refuse. With your intelligence and insight, I'm sure you understand that I'm investing in you and currying favor. I'm not asking you to put me first, but only that you support me as we walk the path of cultivation together. If one day you rise to great heights, don't forget us."