Chapter 205: A Cultivation Speed that Transcends the Ordinary

On the body of Perfected Man Hulu, Qin Haoxuan found another small jade vial filled with a large number of ghosts. These were the souls that Hulu had intended to use as a substitute for the Bifang’s soul, so there were quite a few of them.

Seeing this small jade vial, Xing’s eyes lit up. He said, “According to the Advent of the Ghost God, the stronger one’s spiritual sense, the more fierce ghosts one can control. With the strength of your spiritual sense, controlling one ghost is a piece of cake. Try refining another one. You might be able to control a few more.”

The ghost soldier he had sealed was currently at the strength of a Twenty-Fifth-Leaf cultivator, and it would be very difficult to improve it further. If he could refine another one of equivalent strength, his ability to protect himself would be much greater.

Following the method of the Advent of the Ghost God, Qin Haoxuan put all the ghosts together and, using the art’s technique, infused a stream of spiritual energy mixed with yin qi into the small jade vial, inciting them to kill and devour each other.

Before long, a victor had emerged from the ghosts in the vial. It was also a low-level ghost soldier, equivalent in strength to the Twenty-Fifth-Leaf of the Spirit Sprout Realm. Its appearance was similar to the first one, but its aura was much weaker. After all, the previous ghost soldier had later devoured many more souls and a great deal of heavenly and earthly yin energy, and was just one step away from another breakthrough.

After the ghost soldier was refined, Qin Haoxuan released it from the vial. Its first reaction was the same as the first one’s. It looked around and then lunged fiercely at him, trying to seize control of his body. Qin Haoxuan just smiled faintly, completely unfazed by the charging fierce ghost. He quickly condensed his spiritual sense in his mind, forming it into a great rod, and then swung it, slamming it down on the ghost.

The fierce ghost let out a tragic cry, a clear look of fear in its eyes. But the temptation of possession was too great, and it quickly regrouped and charged again. Qin Haoxuan unceremoniously continued to swing his spiritual sense rod. After a few rounds, the fierce ghost was beaten into submission. Its eyes were filled with fear as it looked at him, and it stood there, not daring to move a muscle, terrified that he would strike it again.

After taming it, Qin Haoxuan used the ghost-sealing method of the Advent of the Ghost God and sealed it into his left arm. He then sent a strand of his spiritual sense into the ghost’s body, so that in the future, it would receive his commands with a single thought.

The second low-level ghost soldier was successfully refined. With his experience in ghost refining and the backing of his powerful spiritual sense, it was normal for the process to go so smoothly.

“I wonder if it will be too difficult to control two ghost soldiers at the same time,” Qin Haoxuan thought. He decided to test it. He rolled up his sleeves. On both his left and right arms, there was a tattoo of a green-faced, sharp-fanged fierce ghost.

“Come out!” With a thought, he used the method of the Advent of the Ghost God to activate the two ghost soldiers in his arms and broke the seals. The two of them, both equivalent in strength to the Twenty-Fifth-Leaf, emerged with utter obedience. Without a command from his spiritual sense, the two fierce ghosts stood motionless, clearly terrified of his spiritual sense attacks.

After they appeared, a yin wind swirled through the large tent, and the temperature plummeted. Although they made no sound, a faint ghostly howl seemed to emanate from their bodies. Their green faces and sharp fangs, and the powerful resentful energy that naturally radiated from them, would be enough to scare the soul out of an ordinary person with a single glance.

Qin Haoxuan looked at his two ghost slaves with satisfaction and then had them fight each other, controlling them both simultaneously with his spiritual sense. It was just as Xing had predicted. With his powerful spiritual sense as a crutch, although it was a bit strenuous to control two fierce ghosts at the same time, it was not too difficult. He roughly estimated that with his current spiritual sense, controlling four fierce ghosts was his limit. Any more, and he would likely suffer a backlash.

“Alright, go back,” he said, resealing the two ghosts in his arms.

After refining the second fierce ghost, he now had only a few souls left. Weighing the small jade vial in his hand, a thought occurred to him. “The four cultivators from the two rebel armies we’ve encountered all had these small jade vials for collecting ghosts. Does that mean that every rebel army has a cultivator in its camp? I feel like this war was deliberately started by rogue cultivators.”

After putting the vial away, he thought for a long time and then looked at Xing with curiosity. “What purpose do you think they have in starting this war? Is it just to collect ghosts? Or is there some other motive?”

Xing shook his head. “I don’t know.”

…

After the enemy cultivator, Perfected Man Hulu, was killed, they shut their camp gates and did not dare to come out. Su Wu, following Qin Haoxuan’s instructions, surrounded the enemy army but did not attack, and he prevented them from sending out any messages.

After besieging the enemy for ten-odd days, Su Wu could no longer hold back. With an uneasy heart, he came to Qin Haoxuan’s tent to request an audience, but he was refused.

At this moment, Qin Haoxuan was living a carefree life. The killing aura of the army could conceal his own aura, so Master Chi Lian could not find him. With no immediate threat to his life, he naturally devoted his entire body and mind to cultivation. After all, he couldn’t hide forever; diligently increasing his own strength was the only true way.

After this period of madly absorbing the spiritual energy of heaven and earth, Qin Haoxuan could also feel that he had reached the peak of the Fourth-Leaf of the Spirit Sprout Realm and could break through to the Fifth-Leaf at any moment.

One evening, as he was absorbing spiritual energy, a giant black hole appeared in the sky above his tent. Spiritual energy poured into his body at a staggering rate. Suddenly, an unusual fluctuation of spiritual energy came from his body. The spiritual energy that was madly pouring into him seemed to have reached a limit. The vast power washed over his body, and the large tent was filled with a dense spiritual energy. Ripples of spiritual power emanated from him.

This was the sign of a breakthrough.

After a good while, the spiritual energy gradually dissipated. On the immortal seedling in his dantian, another leaf had finally grown.

“Whew… I’ve finally reached the Fifth-Leaf,” Qin Haoxuan said, opening his eyes and feeling the much more abundant spiritual energy within him. He then began to inspect the new leaf. It was the same as the second and third leaves, with a clear seven veins. At the same time, he also noticed a problem. Although this leaf was a seven-veined leaf, its color was black, and he could faintly feel a connection to the two fierce ghosts sealed in his arms.

He pondered this for a long time but came to no conclusion and had to put the doubt aside. Stranger things had happened than this black, seven-veined leaf; for example, his first leaf was still golden.

During this time, besides his qi cultivation, his orthodox Daoist art, the Sea-Gathering Art, had also broken through the second level and reached the third. When he circulated his energy with it, he could feel the spiritual power in his body surging like a tsunami, and it had even incorporated a trace of comprehension of nature. In addition, with few other offensive methods, he had also been practicing the Heaven-Cleaving Slash. It had originally been at the third level, but in this half a month, he had cultivated it to the fourth. When he condensed his qi into a blade, a faint yin energy could be seen on the edge, and with a casual swing, he could hear a sharp sound of breaking air. Its power was more than double that of the third level.

In order to deal with Master Chi Lian, he had also been practicing setting up infusion arrays according to the fragmented beast talisman manual. Although he had some foundation in it, it still required a great deal of hard practice. And setting up an infusion array consumed spirit stones, of which he did not have many. Still, after half a month, he had become quite proficient. It could be said that in this half a month, he had made a bountiful harvest.

After he broke through to the Fifth-Leaf, Xing, who had been standing guard for him, said with a grin, “Congratulations, congratulations! You’ve finally reached the Fifth-Leaf.”

Qin Haoxuan smiled faintly, a hint of worry in his eyes. Although breaking through was a joyous occasion, in front of a Spirit Tree Realm expert like Master Chi Lian, what difference was there between the Fourth-Leaf and the Fifth-Leaf?

Xing, of course, knew what he was worried about. He said in a tempting tone, “Do you feel your cultivation speed is slow? I have a way to help you speed it up. Do you want to know?”

Qin Haoxuan looked at him warily. This fellow had a wicked look on his face; he was surely up to no good.

“The Dao Heart Seed Demon Art you’re cultivating, you can’t understand it at all. It’s like reading a book from heaven. If you don’t even understand the art you’re cultivating, how can you cultivate quickly? As long as you tell me all the incantations, I can explain them to you in detail. At that time, your cultivation speed will greatly increase,” Xing said with an air of righteousness. “I am a genius demon from the Netherworld. For you to have such a good teacher and not ask for guidance is truly foolish, foolish.”

Seeing him puffing out his chest, Qin Haoxuan couldn’t help but laugh. He had to admit that in terms of cultivation, this fellow was far superior to him. He might really be able to understand those obscure incantations. But the Dao Heart Seed Demon Art was so important; just a couple of lines from it was one of the seven great protective arts of the Netherworld, the Dragon Demon Golden Body. One could imagine how powerful the complete version was.

But the complete art required an orthodox Daoist art as its true core to be cultivated perfectly. If Xing were to obtain the entire art but had no orthodox art to use as a foundation, he would probably lose his reason and become a mad demon in a short time.

It seems that next time I return to the Taichu Sect, I will have to tell my Master the truth about Xing, he secretly planned. I cannot pass on the Nature Hall’s orthodox art to him; that would be a violation of the sect’s rules. But if my Master approves, he can personally teach him. Then I can give him the Dao Heart Seed Demon Art.

Seeing that Qin Haoxuan was not speaking, Xing thought he had a chance. “Well, well? Have you considered it? Don’t you trust me? The two lines you asked me about last time, I explained them to you in great detail. I dare say that not even the Sect Master of your Taichu Sect understands them as thoroughly as I do!”

Seeing his eager expression, Qin Haoxuan sighed and patted his shoulder. “Do you know? To truly cultivate the Dao Heart Seed Demon Art, one must have a supplementary orthodox Daoist art. Without one, you will lose your reason and become a mad demon in a short time… Do you have an orthodox Daoist art?”

Xing was momentarily stunned. He could tell from Qin Haoxuan’s expression that he was not lying. But an orthodox Daoist art… Although he was a peerless scholar, how could he possibly have one?