Chapter 32
"Creatures like Hushan are what real cultivators should be."
Lin Bai sighed quietly, then firmed up his resolve. "Hushan only had one self-created body refining technique, yet he gave up the immortality so many people desperately chase, all for the sake of freedom. Compared to him, I have far better conditions — if I don't work hard, what excuse would I have?"
His gaze sharpened as he silently encouraged himself.
With that, the Mountain God Seal was recalled into his spiritual space. Cupid's Arrow hovered quietly to the side, as if standing watch.
In a good mood after picking up a new golden finger, Lin Bai went to a nearby restaurant for a good meal. Before leaving, he packed some food for the little maid, which ended up costing thirty gold soul coins.
When he returned to the academy, Xiao Wu immediately caught the scent in the air. She practically floated over, her fair and delicate face so charming it made people want to take a bite. Unfortunately, the moment she opened her mouth, the atmosphere shattered.
She raised a finger, poked Lin Bai on the arm, and muttered in a pouty voice, "You went out eating without me again. I could smell the braised pork from halfway across the campus. What kind of master forgets about his cute, hungry little maid?"
Knowing she couldn't beat Lin Bai in a fight, she'd picked up how to act pitiful on her own. Problem was, Lin Bai was terribly weak to that kind of thing.
"Alright, alright. I brought you some," he said, deliberately stalling to satisfy his petty amusement. Only after she whined a little more did he take out the packed meal from his storage ring and hand it over.
"Hehe, nice!" Xiao Wu happily took the wooden box, glanced around, and darted over to a bench outside the dormitory to eat.
Lin Bai didn't mind her attitude. He knew her personality well enough by now. He planned to head back and study the Mountain God Seal further.
But just as he took a few steps, a sudden thought struck him like lightning. The Mountain God can control the beasts within a mountain using the Mountain God Seal as proof of his position. In that case… could it also conceal Xiao Wu's identity as a transformed soul beast?
Lin Bai figured it was worth a try. Of course, something like this wasn't going to be given away for free. Whether she'd get to benefit from it would depend on her future performance.
He hummed a tune, hands clasped behind his back, and made his way to the back garden. Students along the way naturally avoided him. When he reached a quiet grove, Lin Bai took out the Mountain God Seal and attempted to connect with the underground earth veins.
Earth veins naturally ran deep underground, especially beneath mountains. In fact, it was precisely because of the rich concentration of earth vein energy that mountains formed in the first place.
Lin Bai sent his spiritual power through the Mountain God Seal, feeling for the dense pulse of earth vein energy far below. He could sense it faintly, but actually controlling it was another matter — that required a proper earth god's authority.
"Still… maybe I can borrow its power to move underground," Lin Bai mused. He remembered how Tang San once escaped by hiding underground after Qian Renxue became a god. With the Mountain God Seal, perhaps he could do the same — a handy escape move. If only he'd had this earlier, he wouldn't have needed to burn so much soul power using Cupid's Arrow.
Lin Bai gave it a try. The moment his feet touched the earth, his soul power poured out like floodwater. In less than a second, nearly one-tenth of his total soul power vanished. He quickly pulled his legs out.
"Damn… without a god to maintain the earth veins, I have to supply all the energy myself. No wonder this thing's sealed away — it's useless for now."
Losing interest, Lin Bai stashed the Mountain God Seal and left Notting City again. This time, he didn't go far. He found a mountain nearby and began extracting the evil energy contained within the rocks.
"The Tiger Body Refining Technique uses the corrupted, impure earth vein energy to temper blood and flesh, refining the body to increase strength. The trick lies in the word 'evil' — it's both earth vein energy and impurity. Only by enduring the torment of the refining process can one absorb it to strengthen the body."
His second soul ring was fused with a millennium soul beast, and without cultivating the Silkworm Dragon soul, Lin Bai's physical strength wouldn't rise on its own. The disadvantages of twin martial souls had to be made up for with pure bodily strength. That meant practicing physical cultivation techniques was no longer optional.
Yu Xiaogang's training method could boost his fitness, but breaking the body's limit again and again only dragged out the suffering. Long-term pain wasn't as good as short, decisive agony.
It's better to torture yourself than to wait for someone else to do it.
At the top of the mountain, Lin Bai sat cross-legged on a bare rock with the Mountain God Seal resting on his lap. If the Mountain God were still in charge here, mobilizing the earth veins would be effortless. But with no deity present, even an artifact like this couldn't draw energy without a price.
Following the technique's instructions, he summoned evil energy from the earth below. A light brown mist rose from the cracks in the rocks, seeping into his legs. The pain came instantly — a sharp, sour ache that made his muscles spasm uncontrollably.
A low growl escaped his throat. Lin Bai clenched his teeth, cursing in his heart. Is this the pain Hushan was talking about?
It was enough to make him almost pass out.
No ordinary person could endure this.
After ten minutes, Lin Bai stopped cultivating. He was drenched in sweat and collapsed on the ground, his gray clothes soaked through in irregular patches.
But the most difficult first step was done. Now that a trace of earth vein evil energy was integrated into his body, there was an opening. From here on out, the rest was just steady grinding — either practicing in a damp cave, slowly absorbing the impurities, or throwing caution to the wind and doing this every day.
Lin Bai wiped his face with his sleeve, exhausted. "I'm really not cut out for this stuff. If only cultivating the body could be as easy as refining soul power."
Then a thought occurred to him. Wait — Xiao Wu still has that grudge for her mother's death. It'd actually be good for her to practice this technique. With her absorbing the earth vein's evil energy, I could piggyback on her gains through dual cultivation. No need for her to absorb too much either. I'll just take a five-point cut. Generous of me, honestly. If I were the boss, I'd charge her double.
Lin Bai stripped off his sweat-soaked shirt, stretched out on the warm rock, and stared up at the sky. The faint heat of the ground mixed with the scent of sunbaked stone. The evil energy lay deeper in the mountain now, harder to extract during the day.
I need a way to store this stuff.
He thought about it. Jade's a type of rock too — it should be able to hold the earth vein's evil energy. If I put it in a storage ring, it might last even longer.
Lin Bai felt a bit smug. Damn, I'm a genius sometimes.
After a short rest, he hurried back to Notting City before the gates closed, headed straight to the Chamber of Commerce, and ordered ten jade bottles. Even if the idea didn't work, they could always be used for something else.
The next day, Lin Bai went out again. Using the Mountain God Seal, he gathered earth vein evil energy and sealed it inside a jade bottle. The results surprised him. The evil energy dissipated much slower in sunlight and barely at all once placed in the storage ring.
Satisfied, Lin Bai smiled. Things were finally starting to fall into place.
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