Searching for Spoils of War

Shi Xuan packed the incense and candles, small banner, cloth, token, and the black banner's fabric, flagpole, and fragments into his bag. He planned to explore the two-headed tiger's cave after resting and recovering his energy. Once his search was complete, he would see if he could find methods and materials to repair the Magic Tool.

After storing his items, Shi Xuan noticed the dark clouds that had filled the sky, plunging the entire manor into darkness, had disappeared. The Bright Moon hung like a wheel, casting a cold, clear radiance. The courtyard, after the great battle, seemed dreamlike and illusory, making the imminent danger from before feel like a hallucination.

Bathed in the bright moonlight, Shi Xuan recalled the dark clouds. They had indeed appeared strangely. Now that he thought about it, they were likely caused by some sort of formation, though it hadn't been aggressive.

Snapping back to reality, he saw the two people from the large pit had emerged. One was holding several chunks of meat. Seeing Shi Xuan look over, Ding Mingde said with a hint of regret, "Celestial Master, I didn't expect that despite its size, there isn't much left after removing the completely charred parts of this monster."

Shi Xuan smiled and nodded. He thought that with the immense power of the lightning, it was remarkable that any meat remained uncharred. He could only say the two-headed tiger was quite resilient. Initially, Shi Xuan hadn't expected any leftover tiger meat; he had only hoped to salvage some bones. Tiger bone soup and tiger bone wine were valuable items, especially from a tiger spirit that had lived for who knew how many years. The effects would likely be even better.

"Celestial Master, I... I don't have much meat here, but I thought tiger bones were good things, so I picked up a few that weren't completely ruined." Unbeknownst to them, Yan Jujian and Shi Xuan shared the same idea.

"Excellent, excellent. The tiger meat itself is a bit charred, so we can just roast it tomorrow. Half of the tiger bones can be used for soup, and the other half you two can take back to soak in wine. It's great for strengthening the body and has miraculous effects on ailments like rheumatism. Hmm, right, tomorrow we'll catch a few animals to test it on. This tiger has become a spirit, so its meat might be poisonous." Shi Xuan genuinely displayed his foodie nature.

Yan Jujian tore half of a screen from a room, and then the three of them placed the meat and bones inside. Ding Mingde placed his last piece and asked the other two, "Celestial Master, this piece of meat is quite good, not charred at all. But where is it from?" He showed the remaining piece of meat in his hand to the other two.

"Haha, this is a good thing. Even though only half of it is left, haven't you heard of tiger penis?" Shi Xuan couldn't help but laugh when he saw this half-piece. Yan Jujian also chuckled twice.

Ding Mingde made a small gaffe and quickly wrapped the screen, carrying the tiger meat, bones, and penis into the room to store them. None of them considered that it was midsummer and the meat would likely spoil the next day. They probably all assumed that the meat of such a fierce tiger spirit wouldn't spoil for several days at least.

After tidying up, Shi Xuan and the other two piled the corpses of the ghostly creatures from outside and inside the room, along with the charred parts of the tiger spirit, in the center of the courtyard. Shi Xuan used a Fire Summoning Art talisman to ignite them and cremate them. Since Shi Xuan planned to search the manor after recovering his energy in the morning, he didn't want to smell the stench of decay all night.

"Although the tiger spirit has been vanquished, there might still be some lesser ghostly creatures wandering around. You two should sleep in my room tonight. If anything unexpected happens, I can look after you both." After finishing the cleanup, Shi Xuan called the two over to his room.

Yan Jujian understood that Shi Xuan was right. Before entering the manor, he had been an arrogant and unruly martial arts expert, but now he was completely obedient to Shi Xuan. "Celestial Master, what you say is very true. Then I, I'll go get the blankets; we can just make do on the floor."

"Me too, me too." Ding Mingde felt it was good enough to have the Celestial Master's protection; he didn't dare hope for a bed.

"Alright, we've been through hardship together, so don't keep calling me Celestial Master. You can call me Brother Zi'ang, Brother Shi, or Daoist Priest. Also, Mingde, you sleep in the bed later. Brother Yan and I will be meditating and circulating our energy, so we won't need the bed." Shi Xuan looked at Yan Jujian.

"Yes, tomorrow we still need to search the entire manor. I and the Celestial Master... Brother Shi still need to meditate and circulate our energy to fully recover our strength. After all, there might be unknown dangers in the manor." Yan Jujian was a little curious if the Celestial Master also needed to meditate and circulate energy like he did when practicing martial arts. Was cultivation all like this?

After Ding Mingde's repeated refusals, seeing their firm attitude, he finally got into bed to rest. Shi Xuan had Yan Jujian meditate on a chair in the corner, while he moved a chair and sat by the bed.

After organizing his talismans and making emergency preparations, Shi Xuan began to sit cross-legged with his five senses directed upwards. After all, he was still in the manor, and he couldn't afford to be careless. Shi Xuan didn't want to capsize in the gutter at the last moment.

After circulating his energy through a Minor Heavenly Cycle, Shi Xuan slowly calmed his mind and entered a state of Visualization. He had expected to be very tired after the great battle and that entering Visualization would be slow. However, to his surprise, he entered the Visualization state more easily than before. Even when using the secret technique to restrain his thoughts, it was easier than usual.

As he visualized the Clear Wind and Bright Moon, Shi Xuan's soul cultivation, which had a slight bottleneck, began to strengthen again. After completing the entire Visualization, he felt refreshed, as if he had taken a hot spring bath after being exhausted.

Shi Xuan guessed that it was because, at the critical moment of life and death, he was able to suppress his fears and calmly cast spells, allowing him to gain further control over his soul, thus improving his Soul Realm. That's why he experienced so many pleasant surprises during Visualization.

The "Treasury Records" clearly stated in its opening that the core of this set of cultivation methods was control, or mastery. Mastery over one's physical body, mastery over one's Internal Energy, mastery over one's soul, and mastery over one's spirit. Only by understanding oneself and mastering oneself could one talk about how to cultivate the Dao.

However, Shi Xuan did not fully understand the concept of control and mastery. This was mainly due to his low cultivation level; he hadn't encountered many problems, and he also lacked guidance and interaction. This further strengthened Shi Xuan's resolve to seek out the Daoist sects.

Although Shi Xuan worried that stray ghostly creatures might attack at night, the entire night was peaceful. There wasn't even the sound of insects or birds. Thus, the night passed without incident until dawn.

Shi Xuan had recovered his energy through Visualization. Seeing the rising sun outside, its gentle warmth, and smelling the fresh air, he couldn't help but stretch, feeling that life was so wonderful and should be cherished.

Shi Xuan's movement woke Yan Jujian. He had meditated and circulated his energy until midnight, but he couldn't bear the physical and mental exhaustion. He had found a few stools and made a makeshift bed to sleep on. "Brother Shi is up very early. You seem to have recovered your energy well."

"Perhaps the Daoist methods of circulating energy are better for recuperation. Let's wake Brother Mingde, and we can go have a look around. We'll come back around noon to eat the tiger meat." Now that Shi Xuan had recovered his energy, he was filled with curiosity about what was in the two-headed tiger's lair, especially any information about the black banner Magic Tool.

"I came here this time to find an old friend, and now it seems highly likely he's met a grim fate." Yan Jujian looked somewhat dejected. "I hope we can find his belongings later, perhaps to erect a cenotaph for him."

"Alright, at least we've avenged him. There's no use saying more now. Let's get ready to go." Shi Xuan could only say this.

After waking Ding Mingde, who dared not stay alone in the courtyard, he readily agreed to follow Shi Xuan to search the manor. Then, Shi Xuan led the two of them in the direction from which the two-headed tiger had come last night.

The houses in the manor all carried a musty smell. Except for a few rooms containing daily necessities like blankets, the rest of the rooms clearly hadn't been used for many years and contained nothing of value.

As they went further, the fishy smell in the air grew stronger, very similar to the smell of the two-headed tiger from last night. It seemed they were heading in the right direction. Following the source of the smell, Shi Xuan adjusted his direction slightly. After passing through a house, the area suddenly opened up, revealing an untamed patch of land before them. It was sparsely planted with some trees, and surrounded by numerous white bones, skulls, and incomplete corpses. Some of the corpses even looked like they had died only a few days ago.

Yan Jujian signaled to Shi Xuan that he wanted to search the bones for his friend. Shi Xuan naturally wouldn't refuse. However, seeing the dark, gaping hole at the foot of the mountain cliff at the end of the clearing, his heart couldn't help but stir. He recalled that he hadn't seen any ghostly creatures with his heavenly eye along the way, so he nodded and said, "Then Brother Yan, you carefully examine these bones. I've opened my heavenly eye just now, and these are not ghostly creatures, so there's no danger. I'll go and investigate that mountain cave first. If you encounter danger, Brother Yan, retreat towards the cave."

"I understand. Given the state of the ghostly creatures last night, unless it was the final tiger-headed monster, I should be able to handle it from the cave entrance." Yan Jujian was quite confident in his Lightness Skill. While not a top-tier expert in the Jianghu, he was far superior to those ghostly creatures whose movements were like ordinary people or even slow.

Seeing that Yan Jujian had no objections, Shi Xuan prepared to head towards the cave. Ding Mingde, seeing the dark cave and remembering the terrifying tiger-headed monster from last night, voluntarily stayed behind to help Yan Jujian search for remains.

Following a faint path, Shi Xuan reached the entrance of the mountain cave. Even standing there, he could smell the fishy odor, the smell of blood, the smell of decay, and even a common animalistic stench. Shi Xuan had to endure this mixed stench and entered the cave.

The cave was not dark inside. Torches were lit along the way, and there were no forks. Apart from accidentally kicking some white bones, Shi Xuan smoothly reached the innermost part of the cave. It was a circular space with only a flat stone inside, resembling a crude table.

On the table were three books placed haphazardly, and a large bowl containing some black liquid, which looked like Medicinal Soup. Besides the table, a pile of items was covered with straw in a corner. Through the gaps in the straw, Shi Xuan saw that they were herbs, the same kind planted outside the manor. The entire scene suggested that the two-headed tiger had left in a hurry last night, not even bothering to tidy up its books.