I Can Devour Spirits

Duan Rong handed the chestnut horse to the old man, and after paying a piece of broken silver, he entered Wild Boar Mountain that night.

Although the bright moon hung high, the ancient woods were shadowy and the dense branches and leaves formed a canopy, blocking out the moonlight.

In the old forest, it was still pitch black, with only a few strands of moonlight occasionally filtering through the gaps in the leaves, casting faint shadows on small patches...

Duan Rong did not leap through the darkness of the woods beneath the trees. After all, it was the dead of night, the forest was too dimly lit, visibility was poor. He wasn’t afraid of wild beasts, but the snakes, insects, and scorpions were a bit bothersome...

Duan Rong performed the master-level Cloud Serpent Step, leaping back and forth among the branches of a century-old camphor tree. In just two breaths, he was standing atop a branch at the tree’s crown. As the night wind swept by, causing the branch to sway, Duan Rong balanced his body, gently adjusting in harmony with the branch’s movements...

Once he stood atop the tree, his view suddenly broadened...

Duan Rong gazed into the distance. The moonlight, like water, spilled over the forest sea. With the sound of the night wind rustling, the forest sea rose and fell like waves, and the moonlight shifted. The bright moon atop the distant mountains seemed as if it rose from between the mountains and sea...

Such an extreme spectacle caused Duan Rong’s heart to tremble. ”The world has great beauty that is silent! Mountains and seas giving birth to the bright moon, what a scene of moonlight and forest sea!”

Even with such beauty before him, Duan Rong had no time to linger and admire. He had set himself the target of devouring tree spirits.

Before the intern escort master’s assessment, he had to return to the Escort Agency, and also replenish the area of the Tree Spirit Light Sea within his Sea of Consciousness with tree spirits.

This meant he had to devour seventy-nine tree spirits within three days.

He knew that last time, when devouring eighty-one tree spirits within Wild Boar Mountain, it took him a full six days.

However, Duan Rong estimated that last time, he could only devour Tier One tree spirits, and it was difficult to distinguish between Tier One and Tier Two tree spirits just by appearance, which caused him to spend time reading the Artifact Spirit, only to have to pass by nearly half of the tree spirits that could not be devoured.

But this time, his spiritual power had already increased by one level.

Both Tier One and Tier Two tree spirits could be devoured, and with the experience from last time, Duan Rong felt that devouring eighty-one tree spirits in three days should be feasible!

Standing on the branch, Duan Rong placed his hand on the tree top and silently chanted, ”Read Artifact Spirit!”

Artifact: Ancient Camphor Tree (123 years)

Artifact Spirit Tier: Tier Two

Devouring Requirements: Host’s Spiritual Power Level 2 (Met)

Devouring Effect: Basic Spirit Intelligence (Can marginally increase host’s spiritual power)

Duan Rong glanced at the data floating before him and whispered, ”Devour!”

With the words ’devour’ leaving Duan Rong’s lips, the data panel before him shimmered and then disappeared.

Duan Rong pressed his foot down, and his form leaped into the air...

His silhouette, like a dark dot, flickered and bobbed within the waves of moonlight upon the forest sea, like a boat weaving through the water...

Three days later, at dusk, at the bustling East City Gate, a person, covered in dust, rode a horse into the city.

It was none other than Duan Rong, who had returned from Wild Boar Mountain after devouring seventy-nine tree spirits.

Duan Rong was covered with a layer of dust, his lips cracked and peeling from dryness, exhaustion etched on his face.

Duan Rong first rode to the carriage house to return the horse, then went to a roadside beef soup stall, downing two large bowls of beef soup and eating his fill of three large pancakes with oil and spicy sauce.

He belched contentedly, feeling the fatigue greatly diminished, wiped the grease from his mouth, stood up, and with slow steps headed towards the Yuan Shun Escort Agency.

It wasn’t that he didn’t want to walk faster, but he was simply too full to move quickly.

By the time Duan Rong walked back to the Yuan Shun Escort Agency, night had already fallen, the street lamps just beginning to light. He returned to his residence at Liu’s House, stripped off his clothes, and stood beside the large water jar at the kitchen door.

Duan Rong thoroughly washed himself inside and out with water and soapberries, then, still damp, he walked into the hall. He found a towel, dried himself off, then lay down for a moment on the bed in the inner room to rest briefly.

However, after only the time it takes an incense stick to burn, Duan Rong struggled to sit up from the bed. Although these three days in the old forest of Wild Boar Mountain had left him little time to rest, despite his exhaustion, he was eager to swiftly achieve the second layer of the Fetal Concealment Scripture.

Achieving the second layer of the Fetal Concealment Scripture would not only enhance spiritual power but also possess exceptional aspects.

Otherwise, why would the term ”Divine Soul Technique” even exist?

Completely naked, Duan Rong carried a wooden basin to the large water jar in the courtyard. In the pitch-black night, with willow branches swaying, Duan Rong filled the basin with clear water and returned to the inner bedroom.

Placing the basin of water in the room’s corner, he took out the green porcelain bottle containing Dragon Flame Fat and poured the remaining contents into the water.

Duan Rong knew that when entering the Sea of Consciousness, the high concentration of Dragon Flame Fat, when applied, would cause intense pain, and during meditation and sealing, his body would endure an unbearable itch. However, because the intervention of the Tree Spirit Light Sea allowed the practice of the Fetal Concealment Scripture to progress far faster than a normal person, the consumption of Dragon Flame Fat was equally rapid. Last time, while practicing the Fetal Concealment Scripture, he had to exit the Sea of Consciousness midway to replenish Dragon Flame Fat, and he did not want a repeat of such an inefficiency this time.

It was too disruptive to efficiency.

From the cabinet beside the bed, Duan Rong retrieved four Mountain and River Maps. Using a candle, he revealed the concealed images of the Four Great Kings, and then affixed them to the prepared surroundings.

After which, Duan Rong went to the corner of the room where the Dragon Flame Fat, now completely dissolved in the water, tinted the water in the basin a purplish red, with a slight aura of purple-black.

Duan Rong knew this was due to the high concentration of Dragon Flame Fat. Squatting by the basin, he began to apply it to his body...

A burning sensation emanated from where he applied it...

Duan Rong poured the last bit of liquid from the basin onto the back of his neck... A peeling-like pain radiated throughout his body...

Quickly, he darted to the center of the surrounded area, sat cross-legged on the meditation mat, chanting and sealing...

With Duan Rong’s chanting and sealing, his entire body felt as if bitten by a swarm of ants, the itch unbearable. He clenched his teeth, a muscle on his right cheek twitching continuously, but he forcibly endured it, sitting there without moving.

As waves of something seemed to surge towards the back of his head, the itching gradually receded from his pores...

With the itch dulling, Duan Rong finally could concentrate his spiritual power. In vision, he attempted to connect his breath with that elusive point.

On his second try, he succeeded. After a momentary blur of consciousness, he returned to his Sea of Consciousness.

The land and sky within the Sea of Consciousness remained as they were three days ago when he exited. Despite this, as Duan Rong gazed at the sky dome, under the shroud of thin, rolling mist, at the luminescent star body and the bizarre crimson Blood Cocoon beside it, his heart trembled slightly.

When achieving and practicing the first layer of the Fetal Concealment Scripture, that luminous star body gave him a sense of sanctity, especially due to the weak spiritual link he had with that star body, making him feel the star’s tranquil harmony.

But with this second layer of the Fetal Concealment Scripture, since the Blood Cocoon had just formed, gazing at it caused a sense of eerie agitation to arise within him...

However, Duan Rong also understood that he wasn’t yet able to fathom the many wondrous aspects of the Fetal Concealment Scripture, and it was best not to speculate wildly. He should practice according to the cultivation technique...

Since the Fetal Concealment Scripture was the supreme treasure of the Taiyi Sect, the cultivation technique had been verified by generations of masters...

As long as he practiced as instructed, there wouldn’t be any problems.

And since Duan Rong entered the Sea of Consciousness, the thin mist swirling between heaven and earth slowly turned from light red to deep red. Soon, the crimson mist densely filled the space between heaven and earth...

The swirling mist was permeated with the densely transformed Dragon Flame Fat into red threads.

With his sights shifting, Duan Rong moved toward the southeast direction of the Tree Spirit Light Sea on the land...