Small Yin Sha Cave

Not only that, a bone-piercing chill of Yin Sha Qi streamed out from the depths of the cave. Even the faintest trace made Lei Dong's bones ache with cold. He hurriedly circulated his Profound Yin True Qi throughout his body, and only then did he feel a little better. Yet the chill that seemed to rise from the depths of his very soul still refused to leave him. After steadying himself, Lei Dong continued step by step into the depths of Small Yin Sha Cave.

Yin Sha was a kind of Baleful Intent so closely associated with the Yin Sha Sect that it had lent the sect its name. Naturally gloomy and mysterious, it eroded a person's blood, meridians, and soul. Yet this Yin Sha Qi, so dangerous to ordinary people, was an excellent cultivation resource for the Yin Sha Sect. Many of the sect's signature arts were related to Yin Sha.

The Yin Sha Sect stood in a corner of the Yin Sha Mountain Range and naturally enjoyed many unique resources. Small Yin Sha Cave, near Myriad Ghost Cave, was a well-known Yin Sha Land. The cave mouth was still relatively mild, but the deeper one went, the denser the Baleful Intent grew.

After walking only about a mile in, Lei Dong was already struggling to bear it. Even with Profound Yin True Qi circulating throughout his body, he could barely withstand the increasingly frigid Yin Sha Qi invading him. This Small Yin Sha Cave was very different from the scattered Yin Sha Lands in the wild ravines outside; its power seemed far greater. But despite the pain, Lei Dong steeled himself and pressed farther into the cave.

He walked another seven or eight miles before he could endure no more. Only then did he settle in a small cave hollowed out by some unknown person in the cliff wall. He didn't dare let the Profound Yin True Qi circulating through his body stop even for an instant. Fortunately, Profound Yin True Qi was itself of a cold nature, so it could just barely counter the Yin Sha that chilled him to the bone and keep it from eroding his flesh and soul.

Lei Dong knew, however, that the moment he stopped circulating his true qi, his body would soon be in trouble. If too much Yin Sha contaminated his blood and soul, the consequences would be dire. In truth, being punished with a year of confinement in Small Yin Sha Cave was certainly excruciating. Yet in a sense, it was also a trial meant to temper the punished disciple.

He had to struggle against the Yin Sha every moment, and endure its bone-piercing cold without pause. This was tremendously beneficial, both for strengthening his will and for honing his control over the flow of true qi. Even so, it was certainly not something an ordinary person could safely endure.

After a mere three days, Lei Dong was already finding it hard to suppress the urge to flee. Even while sheltering in the cave hollow, his blood had nearly frozen solid, and his whole body was stiff. Even moving was extremely difficult.

On top of that, Lei Dong had to keep meditating and cultivating qi to restore his true qi. Otherwise, under this constant drain, once his Profound Yin True Qi was exhausted, the Yin Sha would seize the opportunity to invade his unprotected body, and he would die in agony from the cold.

As for the three Ghost Soldiers, they seemed to love the dense Yin Sha that flowed through the cave after he released them. They darted about gleefully, like fish in a great river.

Before long, one Spirit Stone was completely used up. Lei Dong then struggled to take out another. After recovering a little true qi, he didn't dare sit cross-legged for long. He got up and forced himself to move around for a while, then continued meditating. Still, this Yin Sha Cave wasn't without its benefits, despite the endless Yin Sha Qi that blew in from who knew where.

There was a reason Myriad Ghost Cave had been built where it was. In fact, the entire cave complex lay atop a Spirit Vein. It had been constructed underground simply to be closer to the vein. To Lei Dong's surprise, the spiritual energy deep inside this Yin Sha Cave was even a little denser than that in the cultivation chambers of Personal Disciples.

In theory, as long as one could endure the hardship, cultivating here could actually be better than cultivating in a disciple's chamber.

This was one of the important reasons Lei Dong stayed and cultivated obediently, despite his immense suffering and his fierce desire to leave the cave.

Moreover, after just a few days, Lei Dong thought he could vaguely feel that the newly restored Profound Yin True Qi in his dantian was a little purer than it had been days ago. Evidently, his cultivation had advanced.

Day after day, word soon spread through Myriad Ghost Cave that Lei Dong had offended the Ancestor and been punished with a year of confinement in Small Yin Sha Cave. To be honest, many of Lei Dong's fellow disciples at Myriad Ghost Cave envied him because he had the Ancestor's favor. By contrast, few were jealous of Ding Wanyan. The reasons were simple. For one, Lei Dong had started as an ordinary disciple and only earned the Ancestor's attention by distinguishing himself. For another, he wasn't yet as formidable as Ding Wanyan, who inspired nothing but admiration from afar. In particular, those who had already reached the fifth level of the Qi Refining Stage thought their talent was no worse than Lei Dong's; they believed he had only gotten ahead of them because he was a Personal Disciple.

Usually, Lei Dong's status as a Personal Disciple and his formidable fighting ability kept them from showing their resentment to his face. Now that he had been punished, many began to wonder: if Lei Dong had fallen out of favor, what could they do to win the Ancestor's heart and take his place?

It wasn't that no one had visited Lei Dong, who had supposedly been punished for offending the Ancestor. He was somewhat touched that Chen Ge and Wei Hua didn't let his status as a punished disciple deter them in the slightest. Braving the bone-chilling Yin Sha, they made their way deep into the cave to visit him, bringing plenty of delicious food and offering him words of comfort. They said that with Lei Dong's talent, he would still be among the best even without the benefits of being a Personal Disciple.

Lei Dong knew, however, that the two had grown up wealthy and possessed an investment savvy few could match. They knew that the greatest risk in investing in someone was a lack of conviction—letting outside circumstances make them regret their decision at any moment. The two of them, by contrast, were willing to follow their chosen path to the bitter end. Even if Lei Dong had fallen into despair and lost favor, they were still willing to befriend him closely, despite the risk of angering the Ancestor.

From them, Lei Dong also learned how his fellow disciples had been acting. Those who used to shower him with flattery were all indignant on his behalf, but he didn't care in the slightest. What did their feelings about him matter, good or bad? Only Lei Dong knew that he hadn't fallen out of favor. Because he had used a cunning scheme to kill Ghost Fiend's son without a trace, he had actually won even more of the Ancestor's favor.

By punishing Lei Dong with a year of confinement in Small Yin Sha Cave, the Ancestor was clearly protecting him in a roundabout way. It would keep him from flaunting himself recklessly in public and possibly arousing Ghost Fiend's suspicions, which would bring Lei Dong no end of trouble. Rather than risk exposing him outside, the Ancestor would be better off keeping him tucked away in Small Yin Sha Cave for a year. That would let him lie low, and the Ancestor also genuinely wanted to temper him. After all, as long as he could endure the hardship, cultivation in Small Yin Sha Cave was quite effective.

But if Lei Dong couldn't bear the hardship, Myriad Ghost Ancestor would surely be very disappointed in him. The path of immortal cultivation was a defiance of heaven itself. There were hardships a hundred times worse than those of Small Yin Sha Cave, and no one could count them all. If someone couldn't endure even this little hardship and loneliness, what could he possibly say about cultivating immortality?

That day, Chen Ge and Wei Hua once again brought fine wine and food to visit Lei Dong, braving the Yin Sha. They drank to keep warm, ate the delicious food—still piping hot after being taken from a Storage Belt—and chatted about recent gossip. In a place this cold to the bone, such a visit was quite an enjoyable treat.

"Lei Dong, that Ghost Fiend is getting more and more irritating," Chen Ge said with a laugh after taking a hearty swig. "For a while there, he kept his eyes on our Senior Sister Ding. He seemed convinced she was the one who killed his son. The Ancestor finally got fed up and went to raise a ruckus at Ghost Fiend Mansion before he backed off. But lately he's set his sights on Dongfang Fu, the top disciple in our year. Don't you think that old lecher has ulterior motives? First he was eyeing our Senior Sister Ding's..."

"Ahem!" Lei Dong's face twisted. He hurriedly coughed twice to stop the boy, then stood and solemnly addressed the cave entrance. "Senior Sister Ding, what brings you here?"

Chen Ge whirled around in alarm, only to find no one at the cave entrance. He let out a heavy sigh of relief, then shot Lei Dong an annoyed look. "Come on, you can't mess with me like that. You scared me half to death."