Form Stabilization

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

After withdrawing his spiritual power, Hu Donghan looked once more at the Medicine Spirit Ghost absorbing yin qi and ghost qi within the Soul-Forming Ground, silently sighing to himself:

What a pity. I still have no Soul Body to command. Right now, even a single Mortal Ghost would do. As long as I could draw upon a small amount of a Mortal Ghost's soul power, my use of these Wandering Souls would not be so crude. Wandering Souls are merely shattered, and the yin qi and ghost qi within them have yet to be refined into their purest form. The yin qi and ghost qi absorbed this way will inevitably contain quite a few impurities. When I command the Medicine Spirit Ghost in the future, 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 forever...

After getting up and stretching a little, Hu Donghan looked out the window and realized that night had fallen again without his noticing.

He opened the door and instructed a servant to bring him food. After eating, a sudden knock sounded outside.

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

After only a brief thought, Hu Donghan guessed that the pouch contained that "Senior Brother Wu."

Taking the head from the storage pouch and giving it a look, Hu Donghan finally recognized this "Senior Brother Wu."

Senior Brother Wu was the son of a military officer from the same city as Hu Donghan and Hu Meier. No wonder this man had known their relationship so clearly.

Aside from Senior Brother Wu's head, the storage pouch also contained a letter from Hu Meier. Naturally, the letter explained in detail how she had investigated Senior Brother Wu.

After returning to Bloodbone Peak, Hu Meier had directly used her authority to investigate all Qi Refining Stage disciples of Jade Finger Peak, quickly locking onto the one surnamed Wu. Today, she had then gone to Jade Finger Peak and visited the outer sect disciples' courtyard, claiming that she wished to catch up with outer sect disciples from the same batch. She had even deliberately sat beside Senior Brother Wu. Lin Pushong had designs on Hu Meier, and upon hearing that she had come, he immediately went to keep her company. The moment Lin Pushong arrived, Hu Meier pretended to leave in anger. When Lin Pushong followed to ask what was wrong, she feigned anger again and claimed that the Wu beside her had tried to grope 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 afterward. The stated reason 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 real reason behind it, no one knew.

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

After reading the letter, Hu Donghan saw off the law enforcement disciple and returned to his room. After meditating and cultivating for a while, he checked the Soul-Forming Ground again. Only after confirming that nothing was wrong did he drift off to sleep.

Early the next morning, Hu Donghan woke and immediately inspected the Soul-Forming Ground again. After estimating the amount of ghost qi and yin qi within, as well as the Medicine Spirit Ghost's rate of absorption, he thought to himself, It seems the consumption rate of ghost qi and yin qi is more or less exactly what 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 form-solidifying step, I only need to add Wandering Souls at regular intervals. I should not waste the extra time. Hunting ghosts would certainly be a good choice, but if anything unusual happens to the Soul-Forming Ground, that would be troublesome. 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 rather good choice.

As Hu Donghan pondered this, 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 only have Qi Refining First Layer cultivation after all. Even though I now possess two Soul Lists, at most I can suppress two Ghost Wraiths. If I directly cultivate two Ghost Wraiths now, the danger would be too great. I can only wait until the Medicine Spirit Ghost has been fully cultivated, raise my cultivation a little, and 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 be cultivated into Medicine Spirit Ghosts! With two Medicine Spirit Ghosts in the early stages, not only would I have the confidence that comes with increased strength, but the immense benefits brought by the Medicine Spirit Ghosts could also be exchanged for other necessities...

So at this stage, I should 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 inside the Soul-Forming Ground. If they were running low, he added some Wandering Souls. Then he circulated the Profound Yin Heart Method and cultivated with all his focus. Apart from going to the latrine each day and getting food from the servant disciples, the only other time Hu Donghan stood at the door was when Lang Tianya came to deliver Wandering Souls, and even then, he only chatted with him briefly.

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

On this day, as Hu Donghan looked at the Medicine Spirit Ghost within the Soul-Forming Ground, an involuntary look of delight 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 nearly the same height as Hu Donghan. Its Soul Body was solid, dense yin qi circulated within it, and from time to time, it could even independently draw in ghost qi and yin qi from the air for its own use. There was no longer any need to worry that it would dissipate.

Sure enough, the month is up, and this Medicine Spirit Ghost has been fully cultivated! Moreover, this Medicine Spirit Ghost has absorbed enough yin qi and ghost qi that its grade seems to have risen somewhat. The green light of Ghost-Spirit Light within its body is also much richer than before. Hu Donghan narrowed his eyes and swept out a hand, drawing the Medicine Spirit Ghost into his Soul List.

For an entire month, I only cultivated normally each day, and my strength has improved slightly. But without sufficient resources, and with my Spirit Stones still having their uses, the two Lesser Qi-Nourishing Pills did not accomplish much. At my current rate, I will need at least another five months to reach Qi Refining Second Layer!

But now that the Medicine Spirit Ghost is complete, I naturally cannot continue cultivating in seclusion like some ascetic. I should instead bring the Medicine Spirit Ghost's effects fully into play.

After thinking it over, Hu Donghan decided to visit the Outer Affairs Hall first. Another month had passed, so he should collect his monthly stipend. Of course, as a law enforcement disciple, he should also receive a substantial monthly stipend at Bloodbone Peak. However, Hu Donghan had no intention of collecting that one! Hu Meier had definitely arranged for people to keep watch over his movements long ago. If he dared to collect it, Hu Meier would dare to provide him with all the pills he needed to cultivate from the Qi Refining Stage all the way to the Foundation Establishment Realm in one go!