I Can Devour Spirits

Aside from the Divine Soul Needle, there’s a new Divine Soul Technique.

This technique is called Ying Huo, a form of Divine Soul Illusion Technique.

The practice of this technique is quite complex; the practitioner needs to form an Illusion Realm, using it to attack the Divine Sense of their target. The attacked one will become lost within the Illusion Realm.

This technique also has different tiers, and even though Duan Rong has mastered the Eleventh Layer of the Fetal Concealment Scripture, he can only practice the initial tier and Tier Two of Ying Huo.

Duan Rong plans to study the initial tier of Ying Huo after completing the formation of the Divine Soul Needle.

Duan Rong practiced deep into the night in the dense forest before returning to the cave to sleep. The next morning, he visited Xia Honghua at the Medicine Pavilion.

Duan Rong hadn’t appeared for two days; Xia Honghua worried he might repeat his old ways and delay another ten days. Unexpectedly, he came over early today, and Xia Honghua warmly greeted Duan Rong.

After working on the accounts at Xia Honghua’s place for two hours, Duan Rong returned to Shang Xiangyu’s hilltop.

He first spent some time in the dense forest researching the initial tier of Ying Huo.

The complexity of practicing this technique exceeded Duan Rong’s expectations.

Just forming the Illusion Realm gave Duan Rong a serious headache.

As for how to use the Illusion Realm to attack Divine Sense, Duan Rong pondered over the vague texts in the scripture, his brow furrowing tightly, finding it hard to grasp its mysteries.

Given the difficulty of this technique, Duan Rong decided not to rush and take his time to master it. He felt that the reason he couldn’t understand the part on using Illusion Realm to attack Divine Sense was because he hadn’t yet formed the Illusion Realm and was unfamiliar with its properties.

Once he resolves the issue of forming the Illusion Realm, the subsequent problems might be readily solved.

Duan Rong dedicated only two hours each day to researching the initial tier of Ying Huo; the rest of his time was spent refining Yang Pills and cultivating True Qi.

He estimated that six bottles of Yang Pills would be enough for him to achieve True Qi Realm First Level, and he wanted to reach it in the fastest time possible.

Because, for Martial Artists, the Martial Arts Realm is fundamental, while other techniques are merely supplementary.

One shouldn’t pursue trivial skills at the cost of losing sight of the essence!

From then on, besides spending two hours daily at Xia Honghua’s accounting, Duan Rong would undergo rigorous cultivation in the mountain.

This morning, he rose, carried a wooden basin, and walked out of the cave to the mountain spring for washing.

Halfway there, he saw a figure approaching from the direction of the cableway.

Duan Rong immediately guessed who it was and stood there waiting for a while.

Soon, the figure neared, revealing it was the worried-looking old man Qin.

Duan Rong calculated that if dating back from Pan Yong’s departure on May 19, around fifteen or sixteen days had passed, yet Pan Yong hadn’t returned to check in with old man Qin, no wonder the old man was anxious!

Old man Qin coughed a few times before looking at Duan Rong, asking, ”Has Pan Yong not returned yet?”

Yawning, Duan Rong nonchalantly replied, ”Don’t know. Haven’t seen him around.”

Old man Qin sighed, ”What’s he up to? He said ten days.”

Shang Xiangyu was absent, leaving Pan Yong a permission slip, which was a breach of the sect’s rules. If he stirred up trouble, old Qin would also bear responsibility.

Thinking for a moment, old man Qin asked, ”Did Pan Yong leave you with any instructions before he left?”

With a lazy gaze, Duan Rong replied, ”Just handed me Master Shang’s cabinet keys and told me to guard the premises carefully. Didn’t say much else.”

”Did he say where he was going or when he would return?” old man Qin asked.

Duan Rong replied, ”He mentioned going to Divine Cloud Prefecture but didn’t specify a return date.”

”Oh...” old man Qin nodded thoughtfully. ”If he returns, have him report to me immediately for check-in.”

Duan Rong nodded and agreed.

After instructing, old man Qin turned to leave, coughing as he walked away.

Watching old man Qin hobble away, Duan Rong’s lazy gaze sharpened instantly.

If his speculations were correct, if Pan Yong doesn’t show up in the coming days, old man Qin would report this to the sect, prompting an investigation.

Duan Rong was almost certain that the investigators would find no clues.

Pan Yong had vanished from the world, and how he disappeared remained unknown.

All traces and clues had been handled by Duan Rong.

Duan Rong continued to wash at the mountain spring as usual, then went over to Xia Honghua’s place for accounting.

That day, Duan Rong sat cross-legged in the dense forest on a large green stone, refining Yang Pills and cultivating True Qi.

His mind was focused within his Dantian Meridian when suddenly the sound of ”whoosh” came from above.

Duan Rong’s heart skipped; he thought someone had ambushed him and immediately leaped from the stone.

As he leapt away, a green wild fruit landed at his previous spot.

Then, an odd cawing sound echoed from the treetop nearby.

Frowning, Duan Rong looked towards the treetop, seeing the baboon he encountered in the Lower Courtyard standing on a sturdy branch, glaring at him.

That day, during their mountain expedition, Duan Rong had snatched Xiao Yu’s bundle back from the baboon, clearly inciting its grudge.

For some reason, it wandered here today, recognized Duan Rong meditating on the green stone, and immediately plucked a hard, unripe wild fruit, hurling it towards Duan Rong.

Seeing Duan Rong swiftly dodge its first throw, the baboon angrily shouted, hurling yet another unripe wild fruit at Duan Rong.