Chapter 34: Solidification

Solidifying Form (Second Update, Please Bookmark and Recommend)

After circulating his cultivation method, Hu Donghan waited until his spiritual power had fully recovered, then examined the condition within his body again. He felt that his spiritual power had increased somewhat. When he circulated his cultivation method, his cultivation speed doubled from before. Hu Donghan's talent now was not necessarily much worse than that of someone with superior-grade three-spirit roots.

After reining in his spiritual power, Hu Donghan looked once more at the Medicine Spirit Ghost absorbing yin qi and ghost qi within the Soul-Forming Ground. He sighed inwardly.

"What a pity. I still have no Soul Body to command. Right now, even if I only had a Mortal Ghost, as long as I could draw upon a small amount of its soul power, my methods of handling these Wandering Souls would not be so crude. Wandering Souls are merely shattered, and the yin qi and ghost qi within them still have not transformed into their purest form. The yin qi and ghost qi absorbed this way will inevitably contain quite a few impurities. Later, when commanding the Medicine Spirit Ghost, I will have to find an opportunity to strip away all those impurities. Otherwise, with those impurities present, this Medicine Spirit Ghost will likely remain at its current grade..."

He rose and stretched, then Hu Donghan looked out the window, only to discover that the sky had darkened again without his noticing.

He opened the door and went outside, and Hu Donghan ordered the servants to bring him food. After eating, a knock suddenly sounded outside his door.

When he opened the door, he found a law enforcement disciple standing there. The disciple first bowed to Hu Donghan, then handed him a storage pouch, saying that Hu Meier had sent him to deliver it.

After only a moment's thought, Hu Donghan realized that the storage pouch should contain that "Senior Brother Wu."

He took a head out of the storage pouch and glanced at it. Only then did Hu Donghan finally recognize Senior Brother Wu.

Senior Brother Wu was the son of a military official from the same city as Hu Donghan and Hu Meier. No wonder he had known so clearly about the relationship between Hu Donghan and Hu Meier.

Apart from Senior Brother Wu's head, the storage pouch also contained a letter from Hu Meier. Naturally, the letter laid out the process by which she had investigated Senior Brother Wu.

After Hu Meier returned to Bloodbone Peak, she immediately used her authority to investigate all Qi Refining Stage disciples of Jadefinger Peak and quickly identified the one surnamed Wu. Then, she went to Jadefinger Peak that day before heading to the outer sect disciples' residence, claiming that she wished to catch up with outer sect disciples from the same batch. She even deliberately sat beside Senior Brother Wu. Lin Pusong had feelings for Hu Meier, so upon hearing that she had come, he immediately went over to keep her company. The moment Hu Meier saw Lin Pusong arrive, she pretended to leave in anger. When Lin Pusong followed to ask what was wrong, she feigned anger again and said that the Wu fellow sitting beside her had tried to get handsy with her, and so on...

With that, Senior Brother Wu's fate was easy to imagine.

Hu Meier had only just returned to Bloodbone Peak when Senior Brother Wu's head was delivered right after. The reason given was that Senior Brother Wu had suddenly attacked a fellow disciple within the sect and had been slain by law enforcement disciples! As for the true reason behind it all, no one knew.

At the end of her letter, Hu Meier reminded Hu Donghan to cultivate diligently and said that she would come see him when she had time.

After reading the letter, Hu Donghan saw off the law enforcement disciple and returned to his room. He meditated and cultivated for a while, then checked the Soul-Forming Ground again. Only after confirming that there were no problems did he drift off to sleep.

Early the next morning, Hu Donghan awoke and immediately checked the Soul-Forming Ground again. After estimating the amount of ghost qi and yin qi inside, as well as the Medicine Spirit Ghost's absorption rate, he thought to himself, "It seems the consumption rate of ghost qi and yin qi is more or less the same as I estimated. As long as I can supply one hundred and eighty Wandering Souls every three days, the ghost qi and yin qi inside should be enough."

"For the Medicine Spirit Ghost's solidification process, I only need to add Wandering Souls at regular intervals. I should not waste the remaining time. Hunting ghosts would certainly be a good choice, but if anything unusual happens in the Soul-Forming Ground, it would be hard to deal with. For this month, I can only remain in my room without taking a single step away. Thinking it over carefully, focusing on secluded cultivation for this month seems like a good choice."

As Hu Donghan thought this over, another thought suddenly occurred to him. "Of course, the best plan would be to cultivate as many Ghost Wraiths as possible during this month. But I am only at the Qi Refining First Layer after all. Even though I now have two Soul Lists, I can suppress at most two Ghost Wraiths. If I cultivate two Ghost Wraiths right now, the danger would be too great. I should wait until the Medicine Spirit Ghost has finished developing, raise my cultivation somewhat, and only then cultivate a second Ghost Wraith."

"Moreover, in the early stages, the best cultivation plan would be for the first Ghost Wraith on both Soul Lists to become Medicine Spirit Ghosts! Having two Medicine Spirit Ghosts early on would not only give me the foundation to improve my own strength, but the enormous benefits brought by the Medicine Spirit Ghosts could also be exchanged for other necessities..."

"So at this stage, I should just honestly get through this month first."

Over the next month, Hu Donghan's life became very regular.

Every morning after getting up, he first checked the yin qi and ghost qi in the Soul-Forming Ground. If there was too little, he added some Wandering Souls. Then he circulated the Profound Yin Heart Method and cultivated with full concentration. Aside from going to the latrine each day and getting food from the servant disciples, Hu Donghan only stood at the door to chat briefly with Lang Tianya whenever he came to deliver Wandering Souls.

In the blink of an eye, a month had passed.

That day, as Hu Donghan looked at the Medicine Spirit Ghost within the Soul-Forming Ground, a trace of joy unconsciously appeared on his face.

After a full month of nurturing, the Medicine Spirit Ghost no longer looked as small as a child, as it had when it first formed. Now, it was roughly the same height as Hu Donghan. Its Soul Body was solid, yin qi flowed densely within it, and from time to time, it could even independently absorb some ghost qi and yin qi from the air for its own use. There was no longer any need to worry that it would simply dissipate.

"Sure enough, the month is up. This Medicine Spirit Ghost has been completely cultivated! Moreover, it absorbed enough yin qi and ghost qi that its grade seems to have risen somewhat. The green of the Ghost-Spirit Light in its body is much richer than before." Hu Donghan narrowed his eyes, waved a hand, and took the Medicine Spirit Ghost into his Soul List.

"For an entire month, I only cultivated normally each day, and my strength improved slightly. But without sufficient resources, and with my Spirit Stones still needed for other purposes, the two Lesser Qi-Nourishing Pills were of little use. At this rate, reaching the Qi Refining Second Layer will take at least another five months!"

"But now that the Medicine Spirit Ghost is complete, I naturally cannot continue cultivating in seclusion like some ascetic. I should fully put the Medicine Spirit Ghost's effects to use."

After thinking it over, Hu Donghan decided to make a trip to the Outer Affairs Hall first. Another month had passed, so it was time to collect his monthly stipend. Of course, as a law enforcement disciple, he should also have a substantial monthly stipend waiting for him at Bloodbone Peak according to the rules. However, Hu Donghan had no intention of collecting that stipend! Hu Meier had surely arranged for someone to watch Hu Donghan's movements from the very beginning. If he dared to collect it, Hu Meier would dare to provide him, in one go, with all the pills needed to cultivate from the Qi Refining Stage to the Foundation Establishment Realm!

(End of Chapter)