Chapter 144: One-Inch Golden Ghost Bone Pill
Chu Liang's solo journey through the fog to get back to the main party could truly be described as fraught with peril.
The journey back to the main party would merely be a bit challenging for Luo Yao and Pushan, who were at the Golden Core Realm. However, Chu Liang was only at the Spiritual Awareness Realm, so his mental defenses were much weaker than theirs.
As Chu Liang walked through the fog with the bone torch in hand, the fog seemed to get heavier, pressing down on his shoulders.
Enticing voices called out to him constantly, "Come..."
More and more illusions appeared around Chu Liang. He saw mountains of gold and seas of silver on either side of him... He also saw hillsides with an abundance of blooming celestial and spirit herbs. Chu Liang even saw Jiang Yuebai waving to him nearby.
"I can't go on like this."
Chu Liang bit his tongue resolutely, stimulating his divine sense to keep a clear mind.
Even without having to fight the Sickle Ghosts, it was likely that he would get lured away by these lingering spirits and be forced to remain in this place forever if things were to continue like this.
After thinking for a moment, Chu Liang took out his Green Leaf and activated its Treasure Leaf Lamp form.
Whoosh.
Divine flames burst out from the gem in the center of the lamp.
"Aaaaaaaaaaaaah!!!"
Blood-curdling screams suddenly rang out all around Chu Liang.
There were indeed countless lingering spirits hiding in the fog, trying to lure away Chu Liang's soul and possess his body. Apprehension washed over Chu Liang.
Fortunately, the divine fire was a natural deterrent against ghosts, so it was able to force the lingering spirits to retreat. The Crimson Lotus Bead's divine fire wasn't that effective for dispersing the fog, as its radiance could only illuminate and disperse fog within a two-chi radius around Chu Liang. Nevertheless, it had an amazing effect on the lingering spirits.
Chu Liang pondered for a moment and decided to hold the Treasure Leaf Lamp in one hand and the bone torch in the other. With the bright lights from the lamp and the torch, he could walk forward calmly and in peace.
Evil forces, stay away!
"Aaaaaaah!!"
Nonetheless, just a while later, another Sickle Ghost suddenly pounced over from the side. It appeared that it wanted to strike while both of Chu Liang's hands were occupied, thinking that he wouldn't be able to defend himself in time.
A cold gleam flashed in Chu Liang's eyes. The divine fire in the lamp instantly grew in length, forming a condensed beam of divine light.
Shiiing.
The divine light had transformed into a sword. In just one stroke, the sword sliced through the incredibly solid Sickle Ghost, splitting it in two at the waist!
The Sickle Ghost's broken bones clattered to the ground, and Chu Liang nodded in satisfaction.
Ultimately, the Ghost-Slaying Sword of Divine Light is still the best weapon for killing ghosts!
However, four more ghostly figures suddenly appeared behind the slain Sickle Ghost... It turned out to be a small group of Sickle Ghosts!
Chu Liang tensed up. He wanted to retreat, but it wasn't easy to do so in the fog. In the blink of an eye, he found himself surrounded by the Sickle Ghosts. They leaped high into the air as they approached!
Moving at a lightning-fast speed, the Sickle Ghosts were about to devour Chu Liang!
Chu Liang roared as he wielded the Ghost-Slaying Sword of Divine Light as if in dance, forming an impenetrable barrier of divine light!
Shiiing, shiiing, shiiing.
The deadly lamp-sword hacked the four Sickle Ghosts into pieces before they even got close to Chu Liang. They turned into a big pile of broken bones on the ground.
Chu Liang finally breathed a sigh of relief. "Phew..."
Then he thought, I'm sorry, Junior Brother Wen. You were right.
After experiencing all that on his way back to the main party alone, Chu Liang appeared to be in a poor state when he finally met up with the Guider and was able to deceive him perfectly.
When Chu Liang regrouped with Luo Yao and Monk Pushan later, they showered him with praise. They complimented his exceptional wits that allowed them to be free of the Guiders' suspicion. They also commended him for making it through the fog alone, especially since they'd experienced it themselves and knew just how difficult a feat it was.
This further solidified their impression that Chu Liang was an amazing person. They definitely could not treat this disciple of the Mount Shu Sect as an ordinary third-realm cultivator!
...
Walking at the rear of the main party, Chu Liang finally found a sense of calm.
He withdrew his divine sense and examined the jade slip that had fallen from the Fiend. Upon probing it with his divine sense, he saw lines of words suspended in midair.
This was a cultivation technique called the Great Blood-Refinement Art: Divine Slaughter.
Previously, when the Fiend stepped onto the Forbidden Ground, he'd exploded his blood to block the attacks from Chu Liang's group. After that, he'd dealt a counter that almost killed them and seized the opportunity to escape. He'd done all of that by relying on his blood, which was filled with powerful spiritual energy.
Chu Liang initially thought the Fiend had fortified his blood and bone when he broke through to the Realm of the Five Elements, but it turned out that he hadn't done that through ordinary cultivation. The Fiend had a special blood-refining cultivation technique!
Chu Liang carefully studied the cultivation manual once through. He discovered that to use the Great Blood-Refinement Art: Divine Slaughter, a cultivator needed to kill a demonic beast and absorb a bit of its soul's blood essence at the time of death. The cultivator would then have to extract the spiritual energy from the blood essence and use it to refine their blood.
The human body contained many secrets, all of which could be used for cultivation. The incorporeal inner parts of a human body like vitality, qi, and spirit were what cultivators cultivated the most to advance through the cultivation realms. The corporeal outer parts like the bones, muscles, and skin were what martial artists—physical cultivators—focused on.
Blood circulated through blood vessels, so it was related to both the incorporeal and corporeal parts of the human body. However, few cultivators would give spiritual energy to just their blood. It was precisely that train of thought that led to the invention of this cultivation technique.
The cultivation technique consisted of nine revolution stages, corresponding to the nine cultivation realms. The first stage only required the blood essence of some ordinary demonic beasts, but the requirements would become increasingly harder to fulfill with each new stage. The cultivator would need to acquire the blood essence of celestial beasts if they wanted to advance to the seventh and eighth stages. However, to get to the final stage, the ninth stage, the cultivator would have to obtain the blood essence of a beast deity that had reached the ninth realm, the Profound Realm!
This is truly the stuff of dreams... Chu Liang thought in annoyance.
That Fiend had most likely cultivated this technique to the fifth or sixth stage at most since it didn't seem like he'd be capable of killing a seventh-realm celestial beast.
Thinking about the prowess that the Fiend had displayed, Chu Liang thought that this cultivation technique was definitely worth cultivating. Nevertheless, he couldn't do so at this time, so he retracted his divine sense and let his consciousness sink into his mental space.
Chu Liang had just slain a few Sickle Ghosts, but he hadn't collected his rewards. So, he decided to take advantage of this moment of calm and have a look at what the rewards were.
Upon entering the White Pagoda, Chu Liang saw a phantom of the grotesque Sickle Ghost floating about in one of the iron cages. He approached and pressed "Refine" without hesitation.
Boom.
A sphere of white light floated out of the cage. The familiar shape of the light made Chu Liang a little excited.
Is it another pill?
The time when the White Pagoda gave him the Tiger Essence Nourishing Pill left a deep impression on him. The pill's effects appeared to be long-lasting, as he still possessed the Power of Ten Tigers. He wondered what amazing effects the pill produced from a Sickle Ghost would have.
[One-Inch Golden Ghost Bone Pill: Taking this pill allows you to select one inch of your skeleton to be fortified. That part of your skeleton will become as solid as gold and stone.]
"Eh?"
Chu Liang mulled over the pill's effect. He could fortify one inch of his skeleton and make it as solid as gold and stone... Unfortunately, it could only fortify bone. The parts that Chu Liang wanted to fortify the most had no bones. He was thinking of his internal organs.
Cultivators generally only cultivated the incorporeal inner parts and corporeal outer parts of their bodies, so the corporeal inner parts of the body, the internal organs, had always been a weakness for them. There were specialized practices to fortify a person's internal organs, but they would only have a significant impact on an ordinary person.
For a cultivator, their internal organs would still be considered a fatal weakness, especially in comparison to the other parts of their body. If Chu Liang were able to fortify his internal organs, he would become a lot stronger overall, but the One-Inch Golden Ghost Bone Pill could only reinforce bone.
Chu Liang had killed six Sickle Ghosts, so he could obtain six pills. One inch was around three centimeters.
He did a quick calculation.
It's just right.
The parts of his skeleton that he intended to reinforce were exactly six inches long in total—two of his fingers. Fingers were the most dexterous and versatile part of the skeleton, so he should get the greatest benefit by reinforcing them.
Chu Liang took one One-Inch Golden Ghost Bone Pill and immediately felt a surge of heat circulating in his body. He used his divine intent to guide the heat to the tip of his index finger. Soon after, his index finger was fortified up to the first joint[1].
Flexing his index finger, he felt as though nothing had changed, but he did sense a weak stream of spiritual energy circulating through his index finger. The pill had taken effect.
As always, the White Pagoda did not disappoint Chu Liang.
The next step was to repeat this process and reinforce all six sections of his index and middle fingers.
Once he was done, Chu Liang grinned. He now possessed a literal pair of extraordinary golden fingers!
1. distal phalanx ☜
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