I Can Devour Spirits

”Is he dead?”

”Yes, they say he died over half a month ago.”

Duan Rong looked at the desolate dusk, the desolate gaze of Old Qin flashed through his mind...

Though this incident made Duan Rong sigh, he quickly put it behind him...

On this day, Duan Rong sat at the entrance of his cave, looking at the snow-covered valley before him.

Large snowflakes, like goose feathers, were densely falling from the gloomy clouds...

It was snowing.

The heavy snow blocked the mountains!

This was not the first such heavy snow since he entered the mountains!

Time flows unnoticed in the mountains, and without realizing it, he had been in the sect for three years!

And in another three months, it would be the date for their examination to advance to Outer Disciples!

Xiao Yu and Shen Mizi were all intensifying their cultivation, but Duan Rong was not in a hurry. In three years, Duan Rong had already achieved the Great Perfection of the True Qi Realm.

He picked up a withered branch and poked the fire in front of him, noticing the clay pot perched on the fire was beginning to emit a slight white mist, and the faint aroma of wine was drifting into Duan Rong’s nose.

Duan Rong’s nostrils twitched.

Indeed, the pot on the fire was filled with wine.

This was brewed by Ximen Kankan a few months ago using fruits from the mountains.

Though Ximen Kankan didn’t like practicing martial arts, he was always tinkering with various strange things, and had already achieved the Second Level of the True Qi Realm a few months ago.

Xiao Yu and Shen Mizi were obviously more diligent than Ximen Kankan, and Duan Rong often guided them, but from his observations, they were still some distance away from reaching the Second Level of the True Qi Realm.

It has to be said that talent is a significant factor in martial arts.

Xiao Yu and Shen Mizi were also anxious; if they couldn’t achieve the Second Level of the True Qi Realm, progressing to Outer Disciples would be quite risky.

But Ximen Kankan had stopped practicing martial arts months ago because their steward had told them that reaching the Second Level of the True Qi Realm generally posed no problem for advancing to an Outer Disciple.

Once Ximen Kankan was free, he would spend his days playing around with Duan Rong, trying out different things.

Duan Rong didn’t have time for him, but he too had stopped practicing martial arts in the past few months.

In recent months, Duan Rong suddenly became fascinated with the Scripture Repository, not with the secret martial arts manuals inside, but with the Taoist Collection there.

Those were all esoteric texts, covered in dust, rarely read by anyone.

Perhaps Duan Rong, in a past life, had received a good but inconsistent education, constantly skipping classes and failing exams, only to eventually graduate smoothly.

In any event, he gradually found some taste in these things.

Duan Rong lifted the clay pot off the fire and poured himself half a bamboo tube of steaming fruit wine.

While drinking the fruit wine, Duan Rong thought of the content of a Taoist text he read in the Scripture Repository yesterday... Outside the cave, the snow was swirling, and Duan Rong seemed to comprehend something...

In the blink of an eye, it was three months later, the snow had melted, and spring returned to the earth.

And on this day, it was the day Duan Rong and others went to participate in the examination to advance to Outer Disciples.

It was quite a close call.

Being able to participate in this examination was quite a turbulent process for Duan Rong.

Registered disciples needed approval notes from the Lower Courtyard to participate in the examination.

But the approval notes from the Lower Courtyard required an evaluation of the registered disciple’s performance over the past three years by their direct steward, with a signature and seal before the Lower Courtyard could issue the approval note.

Duan Rong’s direct steward was Shang Xiangyu.

But Shang Xiangyu had left the sect more than two years ago without any news, so where was Duan Rong to find his evaluation, let alone get it signed and sealed?

Duan Rong then explained his situation to the steward of the Lower Courtyard.

The steward said that after Old Qin’s death, he had just taken over this responsibility and it was his first time encountering a registered disciple examination.

He didn’t know how to handle such a situation.

At that time, the courtyard was full of people coming to handle approval notes, and the steward dismissed Duan Rong with just a few words.

Duan Rong, in his urgency, had a sudden inspiration and thought of Xia Honghua.

Duan Rong went to Xia Honghua, explained the situation, and Xia Honghua readily wrote the evaluation for him, signed it, and stamped it.

For three years at her place, Duan Rong had kept Xia Honghua’s accounts meticulously clear, allowing her to receive three consecutive years of rewards.

It was because of this that Xia Honghua helped Duan Rong with this matter.

Duan Rong took Xia Honghua’s signed and sealed evaluation, went to the Lower Courtyard, and smoothly got the qualification approval note processed.

On this morning, Duan Rong, Ximen Kankan, Xiao Yu, and Shen Mizi, brought their sect cloud scrolls and approval notes, ready to head from Duan Rong’s mountain peak to the examination site.

The examination consisted of three sections in total.

The first examination site was in a valley, heading south from the rear of the mountain where the Guanglu Institute was located, with signposts along the way, they were told.

They arrived at the iron chain path leading to the Guanglu Institute.

They suddenly noticed that the animal hide bundles inside the stone cave on the cliff wall were all gone.

Normally, the animal hide bundles in this stone cave were abundant and inexhaustible, and there was always a return; the ones they carried over would be brought back on their return.

However, since this was the examination day for registered disciples advancing to Outer Disciples, and the first examination site started from the rear of the mountain at the Guanglu Institute,

it was expected that many people would be going to the Guanglu Institute. As a result, the animal hide bundles were in short supply.

The group searched every corner of the stone cave along the cliff, but only found three animal hide bundles.