Cultivation Soaring by Leaps and Bounds

High-grade physical ghoul slaves retained complete memories, with intelligence no different from when they were alive. Their most formidable trait was that they could use a small number of spells; in their pure soul state, they could employ one or two Innate Minor Divine Abilities, and they could improve their cultivation by feeding on Yang Energy. They were practically a weakened version of the Soul Departure realm. The Head Steward and the five maidservant ghosts were of this kind. However, they also possessed some of the weaknesses of ghosts; lightning spells and the Golden Light Soul-Shattering Curse happened to restrain them.

Under normal circumstances, ghosts feared the vital blood energy of living people. These physical ghoul slaves completely overcame that weakness while they possessed physical bodies. Even when only their ghosts remained, they could resist living people's vital blood energy to a certain extent depending on their cultivation. With the White Bone Soul-Driving Banner's enhancement, they were not afraid of it at all.

Shi Xuan could not help clicking his tongue in amazement. This Two-Headed Tiger was actually a genius capable of independently creating new refining methods. If it had not encountered him, it might well have accomplished great things in the future.

What followed was still a jumble of cultivation insights and private matters. The Two-Headed Tiger had even created a new dual-cultivation method for its high-grade physical ghoul slaves based on a certain dual-cultivation art in the "Great Method of Ghost Control." It could greatly improve their efficiency in absorbing Yang Energy, though it required the willing cooperation of the other party.

After the Two-Headed Tiger's cultivation reached the major accomplishment of Nourishing Qi and Strengthening Soul, it could transform into human form to a limited extent and began trying to master the White Bone Soul-Driving Banner. Shi Xuan had never expected the White Bone Soul-Driving Banner to be a Seventh Heaven, perfected Dharma Artifact. That meant it possessed sixty-three layers of Earthly Fiend Restrictions, making it an exceptionally high-grade existence among Dharma Artifacts. Even Spirit Soul Stage experts would covet it, after all; without eighty or ninety years of refinement, it was impossible to reach such a level. (For Dharma Artifacts, First Heaven meant the completion of nine layers of restrictions.)

Shi Xuan's heart ached. Such a precious Dharma Artifact had been destroyed by his own hand, and he did not even know whether it could be repaired. Judging by its miserable state, however, there was little hope. That Great Unity Sky Thunder talisman had most likely been drawn by a Golden Core Realm Grandmaster.

The Two-Headed Tiger's mastery of the White Bone Soul-Driving Banner had still been far from sufficient. The notes mentioned that it stopped after mastering only First Heaven's restrictions, then busied itself with the ritual requiring the blood sacrifice of forty-nine living people. In the end, it successfully broke through with that blood sacrifice and reached Soul Departure cultivation.

After breaking through, the Two-Headed Tiger began secluded cultivation to stabilize its realm, and the notes ended there. It seemed that it had fought him before fully stabilizing its cultivation and after refining only First Heaven of the Dharma Artifact. Yet Shi Xuan felt no lingering fear. With the power of that Great Unity Sky Thunder talisman, even if the Two-Headed Tiger had been twice as strong, it would still have died.

Shi Xuan set down the notes and picked up the booklet on refining the White Bone Soul-Driving Banner. A faint excitement stirred in his heart. Only after calming down did he begin reading.

This was a detailed account of the specific process for crafting and refining Dharma Artifacts. Its extraordinarily thorough introduction to Dharma Artifact crafting made Shi Xuan beam with delight, greatly filling the gaps in his knowledge of the subject. If the latter half had not contained only the crafting method for the White Bone Soul-Driving Banner, Shi Xuan would have been even happier.

When crafting Dharma Artifacts, one first prepared the materials, then mainly used various flames to fuse them according to specified steps and methods. Several flames were recorded here, such as Wood Fire, Earth Fire, Samadhi True Fire, Pill Fire, Solar True Fire, Lapis Lazuli True Fire, Star True Fire, Sky Thunder Brilliant Fire, Purple Extreme Heavenly Fire, and so on.

However, in the initial stages, Wood Fire was generally used. Earth Fire was easy to understand. Samadhi True Fire could only be possessed by experts who had achieved Spirit Soul Union, while one could tell from its name alone that Pill Fire was something only Golden Core Grandmasters possessed. As for Solar True Fire, Lapis Lazuli True Fire, Star True Fire, Sky Thunder Brilliant Fire, Purple Extreme Heavenly Fire, and the like, they either could only be gathered above the Golden Core Realm or were things one could encounter only by chance and never seek.

Earth Fire was easy to understand and was also the best choice for Shi Xuan's current stage of Dharma Artifact crafting. Wood Fire, as its name implied, was fire from burning wood; even ordinary wood would do. Yet its temperature was not high enough, nor was it stable. One often needed to set up formations to raise the fire's temperature and stabilize it, and during refinement, one also had to divide one's attention to watch how the wood was burning. Thus, one often got half the result with twice the effort, and it could only be used to craft low-grade Dharma Artifacts.

However, if one could find exceptionally special wood, such as Frostwood, Spirit-Burning Wood, Dutian Wood, and so on, they could produce miraculous results when crafting special Dharma Artifacts. Still, no one would be so wasteful. Such special woods were all materials for certain high-grade Dharma Artifacts.

During the process of fusing materials, one also needed to guide them with special techniques and incantations. Dharma Artifacts with different functions required different techniques and incantations. Once formed, one would refine restrictions into it and nurture the Dharma Artifact according to its function and materials. In addition, some Dharma Artifact restrictions had to be embedded during the crafting process.

The high-grade, middle-grade, and low-grade Dharma Artifacts mentioned above differed from the meaning of Heaven-level restrictions. They referred to Dharma Artifacts that had taken shape but had not yet undergone refinement, and were mainly related to the crafting materials, techniques, incantations, refining flames, and environment.

Low-grade Dharma Artifacts could bear at least only one layer of restrictions and could at most be refined to the completion of Third Heaven; further refinement would exceed their capacity. Middle-grade Dharma Artifacts could be refined to Sixth Heaven. High-grade Dharma Artifacts, meanwhile, could be refined to the completion of the Earthly Fiend level and could endure the conversion of Earthly Fiend Restrictions into Heavenly Dipper Restrictions.

Refining Dharma Artifacts was a process that grew more difficult the further one went. Generally speaking, the first layer of restrictions could be refined in around one shichen, the second required half a day, the third more than a day, and the fourth two to three days. Completing First Heaven took roughly half a year, Second Heaven took more than a year, Third Heaven more than two years, Fourth Heaven around five years, Fifth Heaven around ten years, Sixth Heaven nearly twenty-two years, Seventh Heaven forty-five years, while Eighth Heaven reached the terrifying span of one and a half jiazi—ninety years.

Of course, as one's realm rose and one's grasp of the essence of Daoist magic deepened, the speed of refining Dharma Artifacts would improve to varying degrees. In particular, upon reaching the Golden Core and Primordial Spirit realms, one's refining speed would increase enormously.

In short, for cultivators below the Golden Core Stage, depending on the Dharma Artifact and restrictions, refining a Dharma Artifact to the completion of Eighth Heaven of Earthly Fiend Restrictions, seventy-two layers, required anywhere from one hundred and fifty to three hundred years. This was not something Qi Induction Stage and Spirit Soul Stage Cultivators, whose lifespans were only two hundred and three hundred years respectively, could afford to spend. Aside from those with abundant resources or fortunate encounters, many cultivators did not refine their natal Magic Tools to the completion of the Earthly Fiend level until they reached the Golden Core Stage.

This White Bone Ghost-Control Banner, meanwhile, had only reached the completion of Seventh Heaven through the continuous inheritance and refinement of several generations of Ghost Control Sect cultivators.

Mastering a Dharma Artifact was much faster. As long as one could erase the previous owner's imprint, the time needed to master each layer of restrictions was only a tenth of that required for refinement, or even less. If one were bestowed an Earthly Fiend perfected Dharma Artifact by an elder or obtained one through a fortunate encounter, it would take merely ten or twenty years to master it completely.

After looking through the crafting techniques, incantations, and restrictions in the latter half, Shi Xuan took the White Bone Soul-Driving Banner from his bundle. He tightly gripped both ends of the remaining section of its flagpole with both hands, gathered his mind, and entered a meditative visualization state. Then he directed his Internal Energy into his hands. Through the sensation of the Internal Energy, his soul sensed the deeper aspects of the White Bone Soul-Driving Banner.

The White Bone Soul-Driving Banner was indeed severely damaged. Not only was its banner cloth riddled with holes and its flagpole broken, but the restrictions refined within had also been completely shattered by the Great Unity Sky Thunder. In other words, this was a Dharma Artifact that had just been crafted and was already badly damaged. Fortunately amid misfortune, the banner cloth was large enough, and the hole near its center was rather high up. Shi Xuan could completely use the lower portion to craft a smaller banner anew. The same went for the flagpole.

Since he was not crafting an entirely new Dharma Artifact from scratch, Shi Xuan estimated that Wood Fire would be sufficient. He was eager to give it a try, especially since he had just mastered the basics of Dharma Artifact crafting. However, Shi Xuan was, after all, a calm and cautious person. After considering it, he decided to postpone crafting the Dharma Artifact and focus first on improving his cultivation.

After all, cultivation was Shi Xuan's foundation. Now that he had gained a deeper understanding of the jade piece called the "Treasure Record" through the borrowed stone of the "Great Method of Ghost Control," it was precisely the time to advance with fierce vigor. Furthermore, every bit his cultivation increased would increase his confidence in crafting Dharma Artifacts by the same measure, both in terms of control and endurance.

After thoroughly considering his arrangements for the coming months, Shi Xuan flipped through the "Great Method of Ghost Control" again. Since the Two-Headed Tiger's notes had mentioned medicinal formulas, he wanted to see what they were. Who would have thought that the final pages of the "Great Method of Ghost Control" were missing? The preceding page still listed common medicinal formulas and pill formulas, but there was nothing after it, only obvious signs that pages had been torn out. After searching carefully and failing to find them, Shi Xuan did not dwell on it. He put away the three booklets, rose contentedly, and headed out of the cave, preparing to enjoy a grand tiger-meat feast.

The delicious roast tiger meat and tiger bone soup left Shi Xuan immensely satisfied. What pleased him even more was that he found the final missing pages from the "Great Method of Ghost Control," which contained medicinal formulas and pill formulas, in the kitchen! Presumably, when the Two-Headed Tiger had its servants brew medicinal soup, it had simply torn out those pages and given them to them. As for why it had not copied them down, the only explanation was that the Two-Headed Tiger was, at heart, still a crude beast! Even the village's name fully reflected that style!

Among the medicinal formulas and pill formulas, aside from several exclusive to the Ghost Control Sect that were unsuitable for Shi Xuan, there remained two formulas for tempering and training the body, one formula for replenishing soul depletion, and one Pill Formula for healing wounds and replenishing blood. Unfortunately, Shi Xuan did not know how to concoct pills. The herbs in the cave had been grown from rare medicinal herb seeds the Two-Headed Tiger had obtained by chance. Yet lacking the corresponding medicinal formulas and pill formulas, the Two-Headed Tiger had moved them into the cave, intending to gnaw on them whenever it wished.

Over the next three months, Shi Xuan devoted all his attention to cultivation, and his progress soared by leaps and bounds. Yan Jujian and Ding Mingde prepared his daily meals and medicinal soup. Naturally, Shi Xuan did not treat them poorly either. Of the formulas left behind by the Two-Headed Tiger, Shi Xuan no longer needed the medicinal soup for tempering and training the body, but Yan Jujian and Ding Mingde were extremely satisfied with its effects. At the same time, Ding Mingde learned the most basic martial arts under Yan Jujian's instruction.

After drinking the medicinal soup that replenished soul depletion, Shi Xuan sat cross-legged on his bed, feeling warmth suffuse his body. The medicinal power made his mind increasingly clear, while he circulated his Internal Energy to assist its flow. When the medicinal power reached its peak, Shi Xuan calmed his heart and mind and began visualizing. His Clear Wind and Bright Moon Illuminating Spirit True Method had grown ever more proficient. As clear wind blew over his soul, removing impurities, and bright moonlight shone upon it, nourishing and replenishing it, his soul became ever more crystalline and translucent, ever more distinct.

During this visualization, Shi Xuan discovered that his soul had grown to a limit. No matter how the bright moon transformed Internal Energy to nourish his soul, it could not advance another step. He hurriedly withdrew from the visualization, practiced fist techniques until he had calmed down, then visualized again. He discovered this was good news, because he had begun to touch the threshold of the Soul Departure realm. His powerful soul tugged at the Baihui acupoint atop his head, making it faintly loosen.