Given that Fang Tianxin’s “possession” episodes had become increasingly frequent, after a night of regulating his breathing, Lian Yunzhi began purifying Fang Tianxin’s spiritual power early the next morning.
The two sat cross-legged on prayer mats facing each other, their palms pressed together. Lian Yunzhi’s spiritual power slowly flowed into Fang Tianxin’s body as he tried to locate the Black Mist within him and capture it for purification.
However, as soon as Lian Yunzhi’s spiritual power touched the Black Mist, something unexpected happened—the Black Mist did not obediently allow itself to be purified as before. Instead, it burrowed into Lian Yunzhi’s body like water snakes in an instant and vanished without a trace!
Lian Yunzhi’s expression turned uglier than ever before.
“What happened?” Fu Qing, who had just returned, immediately asked.
Lian Yunzhi did not answer his question. Instead, he said, “Check on Fang Tianxin.”
Fang Tianxin had already lowered his head and fallen into a deep sleep. Fu Qing nervously probed with his spiritual power and then breathed a sigh of relief. “He’s fine. The spiritual power he absorbed in Xiaoze State has disappeared, but all his previous spiritual power has returned, so his cultivation level hasn’t changed overall.”
“You’re sure?” Lian Yunzhi asked.
“I’m sure,” Fu Qing said with curved eyes. “He struggled for a long time to achieve Drawing Qi into Body back then. The spiritual power up to Qi Refining Layer 3 was all infused by me—I can recognize it.”
Lian Yunzhi nodded. “That’s good.”
Fu Qing glanced at Lian Yunzhi’s expression and asked again, “Are you really okay?”
Lian Yunzhi did not know if he was okay or not. This was the first time he had passively absorbed unpurified Black Mist power, yet his spiritual power neither increased nor decreased. Even when he used Divine Soul Force to inspect his body inwardly, he could not find any trace of the Black Mist.
At the same time, the swelling discomfort in his body inexplicably subsided, as if… as if Mu Cheng had cleared his spiritual power channels for him again.
Thinking of this, Lian Yunzhi’s expression softened slightly. “I’m fine. Didn’t you have something to tell me earlier?”
Fu Qing had looked like he had something to say when he returned, but seeing that Lian Yunzhi and Fang Tianxin had already assumed their positions to purify the spiritual power, he had closed his mouth and stood quietly to the side.
Fu Qing nodded. “Yes, I do have something to tell you.”
“The Sect Leader has announced the matter of the souls of the missing people from the Lost River still being intact. Next, people will come one after another to retrieve the souls from you.” Fu Qing took several Storage Bags from his robes. “And these—these are thanks from Elder Zhen and the others, entrusted to me to pass on to you.”
Lian Yunzhi took them and looked inside. Most of them contained Spirit Stones, along with quite a few rare Magic Artifacts and even several cultivation manuals.
Lian Yunzhi pulled out a Divine Soul-related manual and read it. Unfortunately, the manual was quite rudimentary, with content he had already learned. However, one passage struck him: it stated that Divine Soul Technique would grow with one’s cultivation, but even without changes in cultivation, Divine Soul Technique could be improved through training. If one cultivated Divine Soul Technique to the extreme and performed inner inspection, a cultivator could fully understand their own condition and thus cultivate more effectively.
In other words, the reason he had not found the Black Mist in his body was that his Divine Soul Technique was not cultivated proficiently enough?
Lian Yunzhi closed the book and fell into thought.
Fu Qing handed Lian Yunzhi an identity token. “Because you rescued the souls of many sect disciples, after deliberation, the Sect Leader and others have decided to temporarily grant you the status of Guest Elder in Lin Xian Sect. You can now stay in the sect with peace of mind.”
“Temporarily?” Lian Yunzhi toyed with the identity token and raised his eyes.
Fu Qing touched his nose awkwardly. “They still hope you’ll join the sect through apprenticeship or becoming Dao Companions…”
Lian Yunzhi suddenly asked, “Can a temporary Guest Elder enter your sect’s Scripture Pavilion?”
Fu Qing replied, “Yes. Our sect’s Scripture Pavilion divides books into Heaven, Earth, Mysterious, and Yellow Tiers based on rarity. Aside from Heaven Tier books, you can borrow the others using contribution points. Contribution points can be obtained through sect missions or purchased with Spirit Stones.”
Fu Qing paused and asked, “What book do you want to read?”
Lian Yunzhi said, “Something related to Divine Soul Technique.”
Fu Qing fell silent for a moment, then handed Lian Yunzhi a Storage Bag full of Spirit Stones. He also removed the Spirit Stone Storage Bag from Fang Tianxin’s waist and gave it to him.
Lian Yunzhi did not take it. “I have Spirit Stones, and Elder Zhen and the others just gave me a lot—several million in total.”
Lian Yunzhi had never seen so many Spirit Stones in his life.
Fu Qing gave him a complex look and stuffed the Storage Bag into his hand. “Take it.”
Lian Yunzhi: “…”
A bad premonition suddenly surged in Lian Yunzhi’s heart, and he silently accepted it.
.
Lian Yunzhi’s bad premonition came true the moment he stepped into the Scripture Pavilion with Fu Qing.
Books in the Scripture Pavilion could not be purchased—only borrowed—so the prices were not excessively high. Yellow Tier books cost a few dozen to a few hundred Spirit Stones, Mysterious Tier several thousand to tens of thousands, and Earth Tier even more, requiring tens or hundreds of thousands.
But any tome related to Divine Soul Technique cost over a million each.
Lian Yunzhi stared in silence at the Soul Forging Technique Volume 1 priced at 2.3 million Spirit Stones in front of him.
In the end, he still paid.
High-level cultivators had photographic memory when reading, and Lian Yunzhi, who had cultivated Divine Soul Technique, was even more so.
