Starting Cultivation During a Trip

”Good stuff. This tiger was almost a spirit monster—the moonlight is like medicine, penetrating three inches into the bone. Where did you get it?” Jiang Hu couldn’t help asking.

The fiercer the beast in the mountain, the harder it is to become a spirit, unlike animals like weasels or black rats, which are easy to become spirit monsters.

Back in ancient times, whenever a tiger or leopard became a spirit, it would surely cause disaster in the region. If it achieved demonization through body possession, it would become a true Great Demon, not something ordinary Daoists could handle.

Nowadays, let alone tigers and leopards becoming demons, even common spirit monsters are rarely seen.

”Don’t ask. Anyway, it wasn’t stolen.”

Zhang Fan pictured Hong San in his mind—the merchant from Jiangnan Province Daoist Alliance truly had means beyond imagination, able to get hold of treasures like these, and would just give them away as gifts.

The key was, when he delivered such a precious gift, he did so lightly, as if it were nothing.

Looking back, such poise and ”fire time” were simply not those of an ordinary person.

But as Zhang Fan thought deeper, Hong San had likely given gifts many times before, and certainly not only to Sui Chunsheng.

He did business in the Daoist sect—since ancient times, officials and merchants were always intertwined. The waters there were probably so deep that Zhang Fan couldn’t see the bottom. Given that, he naturally couldn’t go around gossiping.

”Good stuff. I was just about to refine a secret talisman and need materials like this.” Jiang Hu said, voice low and serious.

Ever since he shattered his heart demon at the Shen Family, his Dao Heart was firm and his cultivation in the way of talisman had leapt forward. In secret, he’d refined quite a few powerful talismans.

The way of Refining Talisman was much like Alchemy—both burn money. Setting aside the talismans he carried, just the daily practice consumed a lot of talisman paper, talisman ink, talisman pens, all of which were considerable expenses.

Like the talisman ink Jiang Hu currently used—it was made mainly from vermillion, mixed with a dozen herbs and exotic treasures. Just this talisman ink cost him over twenty thousand a month.

True, Night is not bright produced similar talisman ink substitutes. If Jiang Hu bought from them, he’d get an employee discount, but those substitutes reduced the vermillion content and replaced many ingredients with chemical alternatives—shoddy goods passed off as genuine.

Jiang Hu naturally looked down on that. He preferred to buy outside, and as his cultivation improved, even this talisman ink would gradually fail to meet his needs and would require upgrading.

All of this needed money.

”Alright, then. I’ll give you thirty-five thousand.” Jiang Hu thought for a moment.

Right now, being a loose cultivator, he didn’t have that much spare cash.

”I’ve got two more talismans on hand. After I sell them, I’ll make up another ten thousand—total forty-five thousand.”

Jiang Hu knew that forty-five thousand wasn’t a high price; if Zhang Fan took these to the black market, and met the right buyer, he could get even more.

Like last time—Lin Jianyue paid twelve thousand for two tiger bones. Even if Zhang Fan sold just one, he’d still get fifty thousand.

”Thirty-five thousand it is,” Zhang Fan decided.

The two tiger bones were basically free anyway. Jiang Hu was a close comrade; no need to haggle over every cent.

Back then, when he first joined Night is not bright, they even taught him magic at the level of Northern Emperor Ghost Killing Technique.

”Thanks.”

Jiang Hu didn’t object; he wanted to pay even more, but he was simply too poor.

Beep…

Jiang Hu pulled out his phone and immediately transferred thirty-five thousand to Zhang Fan. Instantly, Zhang Fan received a message.

His bank account balance finally broke six digits, reaching 129683.1. For a recently graduated young man, stuck in a critical situation—mother dead, father missing—having this much saved up was no mean feat.

”How’s Qi Ji doing?” Zhang Fan changed the topic suddenly.

These past days, Jiang Hu had been running to the hospital—partly to watch over Qi Ji, and partly to keep an eye on that greenhorn from Jifeng Pavilion.

After the mishap, Jifeng Pavilion had become withdrawn and taciturn.

”They’re speaking now. The Maoshan side also sent someone over.” Jiang Hu said blandly.

”Maoshan said I can return to the sect.”

When he said that, Zhang Fan’s eyes lit up and he couldn’t help feeling joy for Jiang Hu.

Back then, Jiang Hu was framed by Wu Ma and expelled from the sect. That was his greatest regret.

For years, his biggest wish was to rejoin his sect. Now it was finally fulfilled.

”I turned them down,” Jiang Hu said suddenly.

”Huh? Why?” Zhang Fan froze, puzzled.

”Wouldn’t going back like this be too humiliating?”

A cold glint flashed in Jiang Hu’s eyes; the hand holding his drink showed bulging veins.

”Only when my talismanic magic reaches Great Success and I destroy Wu Ma—otherwise, for the rest of my life, I won’t go back to Maoshan.”

As he spoke, Jiang Hu downed his glass of spirits in one go.

He and Wu Ma had a blood feud—there was no end but death.

”That’s the spirit,” Zhang Fan praised.

He could sense that since Jiang Hu shattered his heart demon, his cultivation had been surging; his strength was now leagues ahead, though still a good way behind Zhang Fan.

”I need to level up too,” Zhang Fan mused.

He was now at High Rank; the next realm was Mahasattva. In ancient times, it was called Feathered Mage. At that realm, the Primordial Spirit reveals its sexual light and can travel the world at will—like feathered flight, traveling from North Sea in the morning to Cangwu in the evening…

Zhang Fan had been at High Rank for just over a month. Advancing again in a short time would not be easy.

”I can only work on my magic then.”

Aside from the Celestial Gifted Divine Techniques, Zhang Fan’s strongest technique was the Fire Dragon Pill Sword. In the early stage, it was formidable—not a massacre, but more than enough to hold his own.

But as the opponents Zhang Fan faced became stronger and stronger, the Fire Dragon Pill Sword was clearly becoming stretched thin.

Skills have ranking; techniques have scale.

Great Techniques are split into Minor Achievement Skill and Great Success Technique.

The Fire Dragon Pill Sword was just a Minor Achievement Skill.

If he could bring the Fire Dragon Pill Sword to the level of Great Success Technique, that night, with one move, he could have killed Fang Changying outright—no chance for escape!

”For spells like the Fire Dragon Pill Sword, making another breakthrough—advancing to Great Success—is insanely difficult,” Zhang Fan reflected.

Apart from Fire Dragon Pill Sword, Zhang Fan had spent a lot of effort on the Northern Emperor Technique. If he could master it completely, it would be as good as a Great Success Technique.

But, Northern Emperor Technique had so many branches. Though Zhang Fan had already mastered Celestial Pig Fang, Celestial Pig Ruler, Celestial Pig Seal, Three Evil Skulls, Six Divine Arms, etc., putting it all together into one complete heroic technique was no easier than pushing the Fire Dragon Pill Sword up a notch.

”Having an incomplete Primordial Spirit is a real disadvantage.” Zhang Fan’s eyes darkened.

The true Divine Demon Holy Embryo—the most fearsome in the world. The Primordial Spirit is unbelievably powerful, able to master any technique instantly, and almost immune to all magic. Its other mysteries are still unknown.

This was why, when Zhang Fan’s Primordial Spirit was revived on Zhenwu Mountain, his cultivation shot up so rapidly, and he could learn any technique in no time.

But in the end, this wasn’t the fully-formed Divine Demon Holy Embryo. He hadn’t fully transcended tribulation. To master techniques like Northern Emperor Technique, he still had to pour in time and effort, progressing slowly.

”I’d better go back and study the Three Corpses Primordial Pill.”

At this thought, Zhang Fan drank the rest of the liquor on the table.

...

Night was deep.

Hongfu Garden. Zhang Fan returned home still carrying the scent of drink, though the True Yang within him circulated through his liver and easily neutralized the alcohol—no sign of drunkenness.

This is the subtlety of cultivation. Even if he partied every night, he wouldn’t need liver supplements.

”Let’s begin.”

Zhang Fan sat cross-legged, entering meditation. His Primordial Spirit dove into the deepest part of the Inner Scenery.

Endless black sky, a long dark night, pierced only by faint glimmers of light. From the deepest part came the sound of heavy chains clashing.

”You came again.”

In the darkness, the massive figure slowly moved, making the chains clash even more piercingly.

”Yes, I’m here again,” Zhang Fan’s Primordial Spirit was utterly resolved.

Every time he explored Three Corpses Daoist’s memories, it felt like gambling. His Primordial Spirit could be shattered any time, lost in the cracks of time.

Only because his Primordial Spirit was so strong did he dare come back again and again, unflinching.

”I hope this time you get what you wish for.”

Crash…

As the voice fell, the massive shadow dissolved, like a flood bursting its banks, an endless tide rushing forth.

Zhang Fan’s Primordial Spirit, remembering last time, held his breath and leapt into the raging torrent, light streaming wildly all around him.

He caught a stream of light and crushed it in his hand; the swirling vortex of chaotic time sucked Zhang Fan’s Primordial Spirit inside.

In that moment, Three Corpses Daoist’s memories began to flow slowly before Zhang Fan’s eyes.