Preparing for a Temporary Stay

Shi Xuan carefully inspected the surroundings. Only after finding no problems did he walk over to the table and examine the books again. Once he had confirmed that there were no curses, poisons, or the like on them, he picked up one volume and began to read.

The cover of this book was pure black, dotted with tiny white bone skulls that encircled four large characters: "Great Method of Ghost Control." It looked sinister and evil.

Shi Xuan read through it carefully. This was a fairly decent method of wicked-path cultivation. Though it could go no further after reaching the Spirit Soul Stage, and its creator had evidently not reached the Golden Core Stage, in this world where true cultivation methods were hard to find, it still counted as a fine technique. Shi Xuan's own cultivation might indeed not have been high, but he possessed one supreme great method and one superior method that pointed directly to the Golden Core Stage. He had the discernment and knowledge to judge the quality of a cultivation method.

Most of the contents of the "Great Method of Ghost Control" were of no use to Shi Xuan, who had already chosen his cultivation method. For instance, sacrificing forty-nine living people born at particular hours in exchange for a greater chance of breaking through to the realm of Soul Departure, along with other methods of cultivating spells and divine abilities using living people. Such things produced quick results, but their aftereffects were severe.

What did benefit Shi Xuan greatly were the sections of the "Great Method of Ghost Control" concerning ghosts. After all, this was a cultivation method named for controlling ghosts; its various explanations and applications regarding ghosts opened Shi Xuan's eyes. It was not that Shi Xuan liked these methods of controlling ghosts, but rather that within these discussions of ghosts, he saw insights into the soul. Ghosts were ultimately transformed from human souls, which was precisely what Shi Xuan most needed to understand at this stage.

It was not that the Treasure Record lacked such content. It had it, but it was simply far too abstruse and difficult to understand. Even with the Returning to Truth Scripture for comparison, Shi Xuan, without the guidance of a famous master, found comprehending it agonizingly difficult. If he misunderstood even the slightest part of it, that would be quite a spectacle—dying from Qi Deviation was absolutely no distant possibility.

Now that he had a cultivation method that approached the soul from another angle, even if it was rather superficial, it was precisely that superficiality that made Shi Xuan suddenly see the light. Many things in the Treasure Record that he had not understood now received answers one by one. His heart itched with impatience; if the time and place had not been wrong, he truly would have wanted to sit down immediately and cultivate properly to verify them.

Forcing down the impulse in his heart, Shi Xuan continued reading the portions of the "Great Method of Ghost Control" concerning ghosts, so engrossed that he forgot food and sleep. Only when a sound of footsteps approached did he suddenly awaken.

Yan Jujian and Ding Mingde cautiously made their way deeper into the cave, glancing left and right. Both were covered in cold sweat. Only when they saw Shi Xuan did they let out long breaths, their faces relaxing.

Seeing their appearance, Shi Xuan asked curiously, "Brother Yan, Brother Mingde, what is this?"

Ding Mingde wiped away a streak of cold sweat with his sleeve. "Brother Zi'ang, when we saw that you had not come out after nearly an hour, we feared something had changed inside, so we came in trembling with fear to take a look." In truth, neither of them had dared enter at first. They had even considered fleeing, but then they thought that if even Shi Xuan had met his end, they would not be able to run very far anyway. Better to come in and gamble everything.

"Ha, this humble taoist was delighted upon seeing something worth studying. Once I picked up this book, I forgot the time." Only then did Shi Xuan realize that he had been so absorbed in reading that he had not noticed time passing at all.

Yan Jujian and Ding Mingde looked at the book on the stone, both opening their mouths at the same time, yet neither spoke. Shi Xuan understood their curiosity and yearning for Daoist magic, but this cultivation method was not suitable for spreading. As for methods suitable for spreading, it was best to let the two ask for them themselves. Only then would they understand how precious Daoist magic was and the principle that methods could not be lightly bestowed. Thus, he changed the subject. "Brother Yan, did you find your friend?"

Yan Jujian took out a belt. "This belonged to that friend of mine. He was quite skilled with hidden weapons, so he had someone ask Tang Tianqing of the Tang Sect to specially make this belt for him. Since he provided all the materials himself, and there were quite a few rare items among them, this belt should be one of a kind. Alas, Brother Liu was proud and unyielding all his life. When we last met, he even said that once his bitter cultivation was complete, he would challenge the Five Great Grandmasters one by one. Who would have thought that he would become food in a monster's belly? Tragic, truly tragic."

After pausing for a moment, Yan Jujian continued, "Those bones were all mixed together and could no longer be distinguished. Brother Mingde and I buried them together and raised a large grave. I will take this belt back to Brother Liu's old residence and erect an empty tomb for him."

"Brother Zi'ang, Brother Yan and I also found a place that looked like both a kitchen and a prison just now. Unfortunately, there were no living people inside, though there were quite a few medicinal herbs and food ingredients in the kitchen." Ding Mingde suddenly recalled their final discovery.

Shi Xuan thought of the medicinal herbs outside the manor. He could not take them with him, so he might as well cultivate here for a time. Besides, he had just gained a deeper understanding of the Treasure Record's contents and needed a quiet place to cultivate and verify them. Thus, he said to the two, "After this great battle, this humble taoist has gained some further insights regarding cultivation. I wish to focus on cultivation within this manor for a while. If either of you has urgent matters, you may leave."

Yan Jujian and Ding Mingde exchanged glances. Yan Jujian spoke first. "I am merely a drifting wanderer of the Jianghu. Apart from seeking old friends, I have no other business at hand. Why not remain at this manor for a while and handle some trivial matters for Brother Shi, so that Brother Shi may cultivate wholeheartedly? It would also repay the grace of saving my life. Brother Shi, do not stop me from repaying this kindness."

Seeing that Yan Jujian intended to stay, Ding Mingde immediately stated his position as well. "I—I do not even have travel money to return home anymore. No, that is not what I meant. I mean, why not stay at the manor for some time? It would not make this journey in vain."

Whenever Ding Mingde grew anxious, his speech became jumbled, his words failing to connect with one another. Shi Xuan held back his laughter and nodded in agreement. Having someone help prepare meals while he cultivated was truly a good thing. Of course, that did not mean he would always keep people around to cook for him in the future. If he encountered such comfort, he would enjoy it; if not, he would do it himself. To enjoy without becoming addicted—such was Shi Xuan's mindset in cultivation.

Seeing Shi Xuan nod, Yan Jujian thought for a moment before saying, "Brother Shi, the ingredients we saw in the kitchen were mainly live sheep, live cattle, and live pigs. I took a look; there is enough for the three of us to eat for a month. The only problem is that there are no ingredients for vegetables, which is somewhat troublesome."

"These Demonic Beasts and ghosts eat Blood Food. They do not eat vegetables. Brother Yan, I will have to trouble you to go out and purchase some vegetables and fruit when the time comes. Eating only meat is not good for the body." It also became tiresome easily, Shi Xuan silently added. Though for him, a body tempered through cultivation would have no problem subsisting on meat alone.

"Oh, Brother Yan, here is money for the purchases." Shi Xuan took some silver from his robes.

Yan Jujian refused it. "Brother Shi, there is something you may not know. When we were searching for the bones just now, we found quite a lot of gold, silver, jade, and gemstones on the corpses. I estimate it amounted to over ten thousand taels."

"O-over ten thousand taels! Brother Yan, then why did I not see it?" Ding Mingde was stunned.

"Brother Mingde, when you first saw those corpses, you were so nauseated that you did not dare approach them. You only came over at the end, when we were digging the pit together." Yan Jujian glanced at Shi Xuan. Seeing that Shi Xuan had little interest in money, he continued speaking to Ding Mingde. "Do not worry. I will set aside travel money for you. Heh heh, I will set aside money for a wife as well." The other two, who had never seen Yan Jujian joke since they met him, were somewhat unable to react. Still, it was understandable that Yan Jujian would relax after avenging his great enmity.

After saying this, Yan Jujian and Ding Mingde took their leave to prepare a delicious tiger-meat meal for noon, allowing Shi Xuan to cultivate here in peace.

Since he had been interrupted anyway, Shi Xuan put down the "Great Method of Ghost Control" and picked up another book. This volume looked quite new, but it was filthy, stained with grease and blood. There were no words on the cover. When he opened it, he found that it was actually the cultivation journal of the Two-Headed Tiger!

According to the Two-Headed Tiger itself, it had been born with two heads. Its mother had died, and it did not know where its father had gone. Yet it had been clever from childhood. When it secretly came to Li Family Village to hunt livestock, it had listened in on lessons at the village school and unexpectedly learned to read. Later, it had acquired two secret Daoist manuals and a long banner from the corpse of an old daoist deep in the mountains. One manual was the "Great Method of Ghost Control," while the other contained the methods for refining and sacrificing the Dharma Artifact that accompanied the great method, the "White Bone Soul-Driving Banner." That long banner was naturally the White Bone Soul-Driving Banner.

The Two-Headed Tiger had naturally begun cultivating as though it had found a priceless treasure. Yet it soon discovered that it had a major problem: its two heads often quarreled, even causing issues with its memories. It would occasionally forget its insights into Daoist magic. Later, however, it secretly learned how to keep notes from the teacher at Li Family Village's village school, gradually reducing the impact of this problem to a minimum.

After learning to keep notes, the Two-Headed Tiger also fell in love with writing journals. It often recorded its private matters as a tiger, allowing Shi Xuan to learn certain things through its notes.

Seeing this, Shi Xuan no longer felt quite so embarrassed. A monster that knew how to keep notes was ultimately only an exceptional case. As he continued reading, the later pages contained some of the Two-Headed Tiger's cultivation insights. Compared against the "Great Method of Ghost Control," they were still somewhat helpful to Shi Xuan. Further on, the Two-Headed Tiger described how, after its cultivation had initially succeeded, it had bathed Li Family Village in blood and seized this place.

The journal mentioned that those ghosts Shi Xuan had never seen before were Physical Ghoul Slaves. The Two-Headed Tiger had created them by combining its innate ability to transform ghouls with the corpse-slave refining methods from the "Great Method of Ghost Control" and certain functions of the White Bone Soul-Driving Banner. Some of Li Family Village's villagers had been eaten by the Two-Headed Tiger, some had been eaten after failing the refining process, and a small portion had become these Physical Ghoul Slaves.

These Physical Ghoul Slaves consumed Blood Food, did not fear weak sunlight, possessed bodies as hard as iron and strength like oxen, and also had the ability of ghosts to absorb Yang Energy. Based on how completely their intelligence was preserved after successful refinement, they were divided into superior, middle, and inferior grades. Those farmer and farmer-wife ghosts were inferior-grade Physical Ghoul Slaves. Their intelligence was relatively low; they could only accept simple commands and moved sluggishly. Only after the Two-Headed Tiger later learned to grow medicinal herbs to meet the requirements of its formulas did these inferior-grade Physical Ghoul Slaves become useful.

Middle-grade Physical Ghoul Slaves retained their complete memories from before death. Their intelligence was inferior to what it had been in life, but they could carry out ordinary tasks without issue. Because the Two-Headed Tiger cultivated a wicked-path great method, it often needed living people as Blood Food or materials. Therefore, these middle-grade Physical Ghoul Slaves were dispatched to various places to contact human traffickers and purchase living people for delivery to the mountain. When they encountered suitable targets, they would often personally go forth to trick them into coming up the mountain.