"Ah!—"
Facing the piercing blade qi, the woman let out a startled cry, instantly shrinking back into the array disk.
Chen Dengming was just about to split the array disk in half with a single slash, leaving him no choice but to twist the edge of his blade and redirect it. The blade qi violently tore apart the opposite curtains, and a flurry of shattered, fluttering scraps filled the air.
"Come out!"
Chen Dengming frowned and let out a low shout, aiming his blade at the array disk. Facing this ghostly thing that seemed timid yet still hid its true capabilities, he did not dare to approach rashly, leaving him temporarily in a rather awkward predicament.
Since this thing had hidden inside his Spirit Seizing Array Disk, he truly did not dare to directly hack the array disk to pieces.
After all, times were tough right now, and he still did not know whether the second batch of Gu Creatures could be successfully sold to obtain a cut of the profits.
If yet another array disk were smashed to pieces and he had to ask Jiang Qiang to make a new one, it would cost more than a dozen Low-grade Spirit Stones, not to mention delaying his cultivation time.
"F-Fellow, as-as long as you agree to spare this slave, this slave will come out. This slave won't bully you."
Chen Dengming frowned. "Let you out so you can harm me again?"
"S-Slave didn't mean to. It's just that, in, in life, this slave was born with a seductive physique. Even now that I've become an array spirit, it, it still, still carries a slight allure."
"A seductive physique?"
Chen Dengming was startled.
Did such a thing actually exist in the Cultivation World? He had thought it was just something made up in novels.
It seemed that it was not his ability to withstand the temptation of beauty that was failing, but rather that the other party came equipped with a charm buff.
"Since you don't harm people and I won't hurt you, come out. But if you dare harbor the slightest intention of doing me harm, I'll chop you down immediately."
Chen Dengming's tone softened, and he temporarily pulled the Ice Spirit Blade back behind him.
"S-Slave wouldn't dare harbor any ill intentions toward you, Fellow."
The woman emitted a message resembling spiritual fluctuations, and her spiritual body drifted out from the array disk once more.
This time she appeared even more stunning. Her clear, jade-like forehead and tender, jade-like cheeks accompanied delicate, ingot-like ears that glowed translucently under the spiritual light. Clearly she wore no rouge or powder, nor was she overwhelmingly beautiful, but amidst her quiet and refined demeanor lay an extraordinarily alluring aura.
Chen Dengming steadied his mind, telling himself that a man had to be fierce, very fierce, before asking coldly, "You said you're an array spirit? What's going on?"
The woman's figure drifted, her appearance celestial and dazzling as blooming flowers. When her pair of pretty eyes inadvertently locked with Chen Dengming's, he felt as though he understood all of her thoughts, as strange as telepathy.
Such spiritual communication was undoubtedly much simpler and clearer than language.
Chen Dengming quickly learned the woman's origins and current state.
It turned out the other party was once a cultivator who suffered heavy injuries during a spell battle and unfortunately passed away. Her soul did not immediately dissipate, and a Yin Ghost Sect cultivator captured her, refining her into a formation to become an array spirit.
Later on, that Yin Ghost Sect cultivator also died a miserable death, and she completely sank into the Spirit Seizing Array Disk. Her memories of her past life grew increasingly hazy, and now she had truly become a muddled, dazed array spirit.
"So, you've been watching me cultivate for nearly two months?"
Chen Dengming frowned. "Why didn't you reveal yourself sooner?"
The array spirit timidly answered, "S-Slave was afraid."
"Afraid? Do I look that fierce?"
Chen Dengming let out a light snort. On second thought, though, the female cultivator's soul had been captured and refined into an array spirit after death, so she was naturally quite terrified of people, especially cultivators.
However, the fact that her soul could remain undissipated after death suggested her cultivation level in life must have been quite high. What she had just said was still of unverified truth, and it remained unknown whether she was hiding anything.
He decided to continue probing, putting on a fiercer attitude to pressure the female cultivator and see if she would slip up.
"Are you a stutterer?"
"T-Tense sometimes, a-a little."
"Alright, enough talk. Cultivation is what matters! Evil spirit, quickly assist me in my practice!"
The array spirit female cultivator hovered in the air in a daze. "???"
"What are you standing around for? Aren't you an array spirit? Are you brainless? Show me something, activate the formation right now and assist my cultivation!"
Chen Dengming feigned the role of a villain and spoke fiercely.
Did she expect him to shout, Xiao Ai, open immortal cultivation mode?
Why did this array spirit look so dim-witted and foolish?
"Oh, oh—slave understands."
The array spirit woman realized what to do and began to dance. Her dancing posture was graceful and alluring, and even those rather soul-stirring eyes cooperated with her graceful figure and pitiful expression as they darted around, continually gazing toward Chen Dengming.
Chen Dengming froze.
Hiss—
What was this little array spirit doing?
Was she trying to test him, a dignified practitioner of the Qi Cultivation Third Level, with this?
Sure enough, she slipped up the moment he tested her, and she still dared to run wild here!
Just as Chen Dengming was about to turn hostile, his brow suddenly twitched as he noticed something was wrong.
The surrounding formation flags rippled, and streams of metal-attribute spiritual energy were sucked in entirely, just as he desired.
On the contrary, the water, wood, fire, and earth spiritual energies were completely blocked outside the range of the formation flags, without a single shred invading the interior of the formation.
This efficiency, this degree of spirit seizing—
Chen Dengming could not help but be secretly startled. An array spirit truly lived up to its reputation.
Whenever he used the Spirit Seizing Formation previously, it was difficult to achieve such high efficiency.
Even if he could seize a wide range of a single surrounding spiritual energy, other spiritual energies would still seep in to some extent. Wood spiritual energy in particular would still cause some depletion to the metal spiritual energy, making it impossible to reach a state of flawless, zero-loss perfection.
Yet now, the efficiency was improved by far more than just a little bit.
Chen Dengming relaxed slightly, though he still maintained his vigilance as he struck a pose and seized the time to cultivate.
Half an hour later.
Bathed in sweat, he switched to another stance on one leg and let out a low shout.
"Evil spirit! Keep dancing!"
Another half an hour passed.
"Continue, keep dancing!"
"Continue."
"..."
"F-Fellow... slave really can't take it anymore. I've never tried dancing for this long. Please let slave rest for a bit..."
"No!"
"Fellow... p-please spare this slave."
"That's already the limit..."
Chen Dengming looked at his cultivation progress, still unsatisfied, and glanced at the little array spirit's increasingly transparent body. It seemed this bizarre spiritual entity had indeed reached her limit.
Despite his fierce pressure, the other party had not played any more tricks, and it seemed she could be trusted for the time being.
However, a certain book had once said that women, especially beautiful ones, were best at deceiving people with disguises; he still had to remain on guard against her in the future.
"Fine, fine. You rest for a bit, we'll continue tomorrow."
He waved his hand, feeling a sense of listlessness. After dismissing the little array spirit back into the array disk, he went to the adjoining room to boil water and bathe, preparing to wash away the sweat on his body.
Perhaps because the winter air was heavy with moisture, the firewood had grown damp, and after struggling with saltpeter for a long time, he still could not ignite it.
Chen Dengming shook his head, indulging in a moment of extravagance as he executed a Great Fireball Technique, controlling the fireball to ignite the firewood and beginning to boil water with loud bubbling sounds.
Once you become an immortal cultivator, you still have to boil your own water for a bath. Later on, I'll have to see if there are any cleansing spells.
He felt a sentimental sigh inward. Back in the mortal world, he had plenty of maidservants to handle such chores.
In fact, given his current status as Chief Chen of the Golden Character Workshop, it would be quite easy for him to run a tab at Zanhua Tower and summon a few maids over, but after thinking it over, he let the idea drop.
He had only arrived in the Cultivation World not long ago, having barely managed to gain a preliminary foothold at the bottom rungs of the rogue cultivators. Moreover, he was already considering whether to abandon his share of the second batch of Gu Creatures and evacuate before Luo Family and Zhu Family entered into all-out warfare.
It's winter, and the mortals in the gathering place aren't having an easy time either. The demon beasts in the mountains will come out searching for food all the more. Even if I pull out and retreat right now, other than the gathering place, where else could I go?
Pondering this in his heart, Chen Dengming felt a wave of a headache coming on when the courtyard gate outside was suddenly knocked upon.
"Is Immortal Master Chen at home?"
Taken aback, Chen Dengming draped a cloak over his shoulders and walked to the entrance to open the door.
Standing outside was an honest-looking burly man, who respectfully bowed to him and handed over a package.
"Immortal Master Chen, I am a transient resident living at the foot of Lüojia Mountain. Yesterday, Immortal Master Xu of the Luo Family entrusted me to deliver this bundle of clothing to you. Immortal Master Xu said winter is fast approaching, and she specifically instructed me to remind you not to forget to add warm clothes when it gets cold!
"In addition, things haven't been very peaceful lately. Immortal Master Xu said that if you have any matters to discuss with her, you can leave a message at Lüojia Mountain or at my temporary lodging address."
A transient resident meant a black-market dweller with no fixed residence, unable to afford living in the gathering place, drifting from place to place and living from hand to mouth.
"Xu Wei."
Chen Dengming took the clothes, feeling a quiet warmth in his heart. It made him feel that the path of immortality was not lonely, and that the Longevity Path always held colors worth remembering.
As for whether future personnel changes, the fading of youth, and witnessing the departure of friends and family would come to pass, he would leave those scenes to be witnessed when the time came.
All kinds of scenery had to be experienced at least once.
With a smile, he produced a single Spirit Grain, intending to dismiss the man.
The honest hunter hurriedly waved his hands in refusal, stating that Immortal Master Xu had already paid him his reward, before turning around and leaving after a bow.
They were all honest, kind-hearted people, yet they also represented the myriad states of human life, bringing a touch of mortal warmth even to this cold Cultivation World.
Not long after the hunter left.
Wu Chen of the Golden Character Workshop, who had not disturbed him for many days, arrived to inform him that a batch of Gu Creatures over at the Gu-refining grounds seemed to be having problems due to the freezing weather, requiring him to go over and inspect them.
"Something's wrong with the Bamboo Slice Gu?"
Chen Dengming was somewhat surprised.
As for the Bamboo Slice Gu running into trouble, that was indeed quite possible.
He questioned the man further, and after confirming repeatedly that only the Bamboo Slice Gu had issues and the Stone Gu were fine, his inner misgivings diminished slightly.
Even so, he still kept his guard up. After putting away the clothing, he wrapped the Ice Spirit Blade in cloth strips, strapped it to his back, donned a bamboo hat, and slipped out quietly through the back door, heading toward the Gu-refining grounds alongside a few cultivators stationed around to guard him.
Ever since the Iron Forest Hall and the Flower Rain Gate openly and brazenly robbed their goods, he had shut his doors and remained indoors for a long time.
Setting out once more this time, he decided to observe the situation while internally making a resolution to temporarily distance himself from this right-and-wrong-filled place.
(To be continued, there will be another update in the daytime morning!)
Before you continue