Void Escape (Please Keep Reading, Please Bookmark)

The demon weapon sent by the Governor-General's Yamen came in a Square Black Lacquered Wooden Box.

When he opened it, the first thing he saw was a Bamboo Slip. Beneath the Bamboo Slip was a grayish-white Silk Scarf wrapping something.

The Bamboo Slip was presumably an "instruction manual." Wang Ping picked it up, then lifted the Silk Scarf to reveal a Gray Leather Bracer. Yet in this World of Spiritual Energy, the space within roughly an inch around it seemed to be collapsing.

"What Strange Energy. It's calm, yet it occasionally suddenly goes mad." As Yulian's voice sounded in Wang Ping's Spirit Sea, she crawled onto his shoulder and curiously examined the bracer inside the box.

Wang Ping was equally baffled, so he could only pick up the "instruction manual" and read it...

This demon weapon was called Void Escape. It could let a person teleport a certain distance, with a limit of Ten Zhang. The price of using it was a large amount of spiritual energy containing Life Aura.

The method was simple. He only needed to pour spiritual energy into the demon weapon, then teleport with a thought.

This price could not have been easier for Wang Ping. After cultivating Wood Spirit Qi, every strand of his spiritual energy contained Life Aura.

This also showed that someone in the Governor-General's Yamen knew Thousand Wood Temple's foundations!

"Try it quickly!"

Yulian urged him.

Wang Ping was interested as well. He put the bracer on his Left Hand. After Yulian shrank down, she could wrap herself around it perfectly. Then he walked before the Huai Tree and gathered a stream of Wood Spirit Qi through the Huai Tree's consciousness, pouring it into the bracer...

The bracer absorbed all the spiritual energy like a sponge. Then, a ring of Dark Green Pattern surfaced across its exterior.

"It should work now..."

Wang Ping reminded Yulian. She immediately wrapped around his arm. Then, as Wang Ping's thoughts stirred, his vision twisted for a moment. The next instant, he appeared beside a Spirit Wood Five Zhang away.

"How miraculous. It's like traversing time and space!"

"Not like it. We really did traverse space..."

Wang Ping's face was full of amazement. He found it unbelievable that such a tiny thing could carry him through space.

He used Wood Spirit True Essence to probe the inside of the bracer, and what returned to him was a complicated pattern. He tried to observe it, because based on past experience, as long as he could thoroughly see this pattern clearly, the Light Screen Panel would definitely react.

But the pattern seemed endless, a Bottomless Pit stretching beneath his spiritual energy.

Before long, Wang Ping felt exhausted and hurriedly withdrew his spiritual power at once.

"Did this thing form naturally?"

Wang Ping was beginning to Doubt Life. "What kind of world is this?"

At this moment, he was destined to be unable to figure out that question. Carrying that doubt with him, Wang Ping continued his bitter cultivation...

For a long time afterward, no one came to visit the Mountain Top Courtyard, aside from Liu Shuang and Yang Ziping returning each Spring Festival to stay for a while.

In the blink of an eye, it was the fifteenth year since Wang Ping's Foundation Establishment. His Qi Gathering progress had reached (75/100), while both Divine Soul Technique and Wood Spirit Art had been cultivated to completion.

Wang Ping could already make his Divine Soul leave his body, but he could not completely separate from it.

The benefits of using his Divine Soul to cast spells were obvious. First, forming magic seals was faster than before. Second, it consumed only one-third as much spiritual energy as before!

The benefits of transforming his Spiritual Root into a Wood Spirit Spiritual Meridian were even more obvious. Empowered by powerful vitality, nearly any nonfatal External Injury on his body could heal in a Blink of an Eye. At the same time, he could now cultivate Wood Spirit spells.

Daoist Yucheng had taught him two spells in total. The first was the Green Wood Art. This spell was incredibly simple. Wang Ping did not even need the Light Screen Panel's help; with a thought, he could cast it. Its effect was to heal injuries and eliminate poison.

The second spell was somewhat more difficult. It was called All Soldiers Are Grass and Trees. It relied on Wood Spirit Qi to awaken plants and turn them into soldiers to fight for him. The Light Screen Panel's guide was:

[All Soldiers Are Grass and Trees Art: Basic Wood Spirit Spell. Establish connections with plants and nature through communication, making them fight for you. Understand the Life Spiritual Power of plants, sense their thoughts, patterns, and traits, grasp their essence, then attempt to use Wood Spirit Qi to grant them Temporary Life. You may attempt this at most 5 times per day. You may perhaps master its essence within two years. (Progress 2/100, today's progress 0/5).]

[Note: Read carefully. You may attempt this at most 5 times per day. When you are not yet proficient, the process of Enlighten Life is extremely painful. Too many attempts will make the Wood Spirit remember you.]

This time, the panel's guide had added the two words "perhaps." In other words, if he did poorly, it would take even longer; conversely, it was also possible for him to need less time.

At this very moment...

Wang Ping was beside a small stream in the forest behind Thousand Wood Mountain, using Wood Spirit Qi to communicate with the forest's plants and attempting to establish a connection with them.

The process was not complicated. With his Wood Spirit Spiritual Meridian, Wang Ping only needed to calm his mind to sense them. Moreover, most of them were Simpletons. As long as he released Wood Spirit Qi, their consciousness would follow Wang Ping's thoughts.

The plant Wang Ping was communicating with now was a vine. As he concentrated, Yulian beside the stream also quieted down. Her head rose above the water, her eyes fixed motionlessly on Wang Ping. She even dared not swallow the River Shrimp in her mouth, afraid of making a sound and disturbing him.

"Shape!"

Suddenly, Wang Ping formed a magic seal with his hands, communicating with the Wood Spirit and granting the vine life.

Crack!

The vine suddenly came alive. Its bent Branches lashed out like a whip, but then they broke apart layer by layer, failing to continue with the subsequent binding.

Wang Ping let out a breath and walked over to inspect it. Yulian, meanwhile, immediately swallowed the River Shrimp in her mouth.

"Too much Wood Spirit Qi. It directly exploded and died..."

"I think you should first practice your Control of Wood Spirit Qi, or just cast it directly with your Divine Soul." Yulian rode the clouds and circled around Wang Ping.

"I tried that yesterday. That way, I can't even crack a whip. The moment spiritual energy enters it, it explodes..."

"Uh, then think about it slowly. I'll go catch some more shrimp. Do you want any?"

"If you can roast them..."

"Forget I asked!"

After communicating with Yulian and adjusting his mood, Wang Ping quickly made his second attempt. The result was still not very good.

Then, in less than a Quarter Hour, he had used up all five of his daily chances.

"Let's go home!"

"Alright..."

Yulian obediently shot out of the stream. When she rode the clouds and landed on Wang Ping, she transformed to one chi long and wrapped around his wrist. Then she began chatting with Wang Ping about how she had caught shrimp earlier.

Upon returning to the temple...

Everything was as usual.

"It's been really quiet lately..."

Wang Ping sighed. Amid the disciples' greetings, he walked toward the mountaintop. From afar, he saw an Inner Sect Disciple dressed in Inner Sect robes waiting respectfully at the Main Gate of the garden.

"Don't tell me I jinxed it?"

When he drew near, the Disciple waiting at the Main Gate hurriedly saluted him. "Martial Uncle, this is your letter."

Wang Ping took it and saw that it had actually been sent from Linshui Prefecture. It was an urgent letter transported by the Daoist Scripture Hall's immortal crane.

Linshui Prefecture?

The only person Wang Ping thought of was Xia Yao.

When he opened the letter, it really was from Xia Yao. She first offered her usual greetings, then moved on to Serious Matter: the Chess Piece left behind after the demon extermination in Shu County had made a move.

That was Shen Dong, the former Shu County Deputy Magistrate and now the Prefectural Judge of Sanhe Prefecture. A month ago, a Serial Murder Case had occurred in Sanhe Prefecture. The Prefect of Sanhe Prefecture, the garrison commander, a Money House Owner, and the Manufacturing Bureau Director had been killed one after another in their own bedrooms.

The Undercover Agent Xia Yao had left in Sanhe Prefecture reported that this Serial Murder Case was closely connected to Shen Dong. She hoped Wang Ping could send someone to Sanhe Prefecture to assist with the investigation and uncover the truth behind it.