"How is it not the wise choice? That's exactly how Basic Cultivation Assistance should be used. Why are you like this again? And even if you want to do that yourself, why mislead others?"
The shadow wore a resentful expression again and earnestly tried to persuade Feng Buzhi.
Pei Chao glanced at the shadow in confusion. "Boss, I didn't understand what this thing was saying, but it seems to be arguing with you, saying you're wrong."
Feng Buzhi said, "Basic Training Assistance and Extravagant Meal might be decent for ordinary people. Extravagant Meal provides relatively gentle nourishment, so using it to enhance Weird power won't cause any side effects. It lets you safely pass through the end of the Mutation Stage, but the resulting Mutation Organ will only be mediocre."
The shadow immediately objected. "How is that mediocre? This is clearly the safest approach."
Feng Buzhi shook his head. "It is safe, but the Mutation Organ cultivated this way will be nothing but a hothouse flower. It may look robust, but it'll be helpless in the wild.
"By comparison, after using Basic Training Assistance, it's better to directly absorb the Weird from corrupted corpses as nourishment. That will temper the Weird power within us more effectively, making it stronger and more resilient."
The shadow was shocked. "Are you crazy? Directly absorbing the Weird from corpses is suicide if you haven't reached the Clear Mind Realm. You..."
The shadow fell silent. He realized that both Feng Buzhi and Pei Chao had already reached the Subtle Realm.
Besides, Feng Buzhi and Pei Chao had often drunk poison made from decaying corpses before, and lately they'd been drinking it like water.
Considering what Feng Buzhi had said, the shadow suddenly realized that there might be some truth to it.
Could he have been wrong?
If he taught Feng Buzhi his way, wouldn't that waste Feng Buzhi's talent?
Wouldn't that make him a sinner against the Human Race?
The shadow soon fell into self-reproach. In a daze, he followed Pei Chao and Feng Buzhi. By the time he came to his senses, the three of them had already reached the Mist outside town.
Pei Chao, his thick beard framing his face, surveyed the surrounding terrain, then suddenly ran off in one direction. "Boss, this is where I was hunting those Green-skinned Dwarves that day. Then that Tiger Man pounced on me."
Pei Chao searched for traces of the fight and soon found the cleaver the Tiger Man had smashed.
Looking at the remains of the cleaver that had been with him for so long, Pei Chao let out a long sigh. Then he began demonstrating what had happened to Feng Buzhi.
The Tiger Man had pounced first. Pei Chao had hurriedly blocked with his arm and rolled several times across the ground. Then the Tiger Man had produced a spear. At the critical moment, Pei Chao had traded injury for a chance to strike, intending to chop off the Tiger Man's head. But blue flames had erupted from the Tiger Man's left arm. He had first grabbed and smashed Pei Chao's cleaver, then struck him directly in the abdomen.
After that, the Tiger Man had used the Ghost Servant Art on him, his eyes glowing with purple light...
As Pei Chao recounted what had happened, Feng Buzhi activated the title "True: Gazing into the Abyss."
Soon, Feng Buzhi sat cross-legged on the ground, pressed his tongue against the roof of his mouth, and emptied his mind.
A few minutes later, Feng Buzhi once again entered the state he'd experienced at the Fifth Altar. He cut off all his senses: sight, hearing, smell, touch... every perception vanished.
The only thing left was his perception of the Weird.
No strange images appeared in his mind, but the movement and changes of the Weird around him were now impossible to conceal.
Feng Buzhi quickly stood up and picked up a withered leaf nearby, then selected two fragments from Pei Chao's broken cleaver.
The leaf and the two cleaver fragments were all stained with the Tiger Man's blood, though after a whole night, the traces of blood had disappeared.
From the traces of blood on these three fragments, Feng Buzhi sensed a faint trace of the Weird: scorching yet frigid. It was probably the same flame the Tiger Man had used.
Faintly, Feng Buzhi sensed a direction, though it wasn't very clear.
"During the day, the Weird is less active, so I can't sense the exact location yet. But once night falls, I'll be able to find where that Tiger Man is."
Inside a hidden ruin on the eastern edge of town, Tiger-man Theo, who was searching for the other ring, once again felt that ominous unease.
A premonition had surfaced again, warning him to leave as soon as possible.
But Tiger-man Theo had no intention of leaving. If anything, he was becoming more resolute.
He had a fire burning inside him—a drive to rewrite his fate!
"Is this the obstacle I have to overcome to break free from fate? No matter what, no matter how many times you warn me, I'll keep going. I will change my fate!"
The Tiger Man gave an anguished shout. Then he suddenly felt something—he had broken through.
His Clear Mind Realm had advanced!
He had originally been just an ordinary Tiger Man, but when the memories from awakening his Great Prophecy had returned, he had reached the Clear Mind Realm.
Now, he had advanced to the late stage of the Clear Mind Realm. He was just one step away from the Subtle Realm—the same level of spiritual attainment he had reached upon entering the Fourth Rank in the Great Prophecy.
As his spiritual realm improved, the Tiger Man found his left arm easier to control, and his soul had become more solid.
If he were facing Pei Chao now, his Ghost Servant Art would definitely succeed.
"Hahahaha..."
Tiger-man Theo laughed heartily. He wiped away the tears of excitement at the corners of his eyes. At that moment, he seemed to glimpse his own legendary future...
"You said you can find that Tiger Man's location? Is it an ability you gained in the Abyss? And earlier, you condensed the Mist into a sphere. What ability did you gain?"
As soon as the shadow heard Feng Buzhi say he could find the Tiger Man, he immediately questioned him.
Feng Buzhi had no intention of explaining. After all, he had already told the shadow that his spiritual realm had advanced, but the shadow hadn't believed him.
Feng Buzhi sized up the shadow. "Finding the Tiger Man may have to wait until night. That'll be a few hours from now. But I should be able to find your location right now."
The shadow asked in confusion, "My location? I'm right here, aren't I? Oh, you mean you know where I'm bound? But I don't even know where I'm bound. How would you know?"
Whenever night fell, the shadow was forced to a certain spot beneath the town, where he couldn't move. As midnight approached, he would gradually fall asleep, as if he'd passed out.
Then, when daylight came and he regained consciousness, he would already be drifting around town. It had been like that for years...
Before you continue