Chapter 142: The Nine Heavens of Astral Energy

Hu San planned to take the True Essence Flower the moment he broke free from the vortex of Nether Spirit City, thereby advancing his Azure Wood Astral Qi to the ninth realm. He believed that by then, even if he were to face a formidable Dharma-Gathering Sixth-Layer expert like Elder Yu head-on, and even without the Black Wind Formation, he would still be able to secure his own safety and avoid being reduced to ashes at the very first encounter.

In the rainy outskirts of Nether Spirit City, although it was still early, the place was already bustling with people. Strolling through the fine drizzle, Hu San did not have to wait long before the merchant leader and his entourage, having finished their purchases in the city, arrived at the prearranged meeting spot.

Although only three days had passed, everyone felt a sense of lingering emotion upon reuniting. Naturally, this emotion was directed at the Yu Family Manor of Nether Spirit City. No one could have imagined that a terrifying clan whose strength rivaled that of the city lord himself would be completely wiped out overnight. Such was the treacherous nature of the martial world.

The group chattered and sighed endlessly, showing some initial interest in Yu Ning, who followed quietly behind Hu San. However, upon hearing that she was a redeemed courtesan from a pleasure house, they quickly changed the subject. In any era and in any place, there always seemed to be a certain kind of people who were looked down upon.

At a shout from the leader, the horse-drawn carriage loaded with Nether Spirit Grass began to rumble forward. Even while sitting atop the carriage and moving further and further away from Nether Spirit City, the group's conversation for quite a long time still revolved around the fallen Yu Family, as well as the hidden truth behind the top-grade Nether Spirit Grass and the Thirteen Manors Treasure-Seizing Convention.

The object of their discussion the most was Elder Yu. Naturally, Yu Ning, who had played a crucial role in the affair, could not escape mention either. Little did they know that on a carriage not far from them, this former young mistress of the Yu Family Manor sat quietly, uttering not a single word.

Deep in the Liu Family Manor by the Curly Wood River, near midnight, in a room located in the corner of an ordinary courtyard, a youth with rustic facial features slowly exhaled a breath. A dense white vapor surged out from his mouth, gradually and completely enshrouding his figure.

At the exact moment when the youth was completely obscured, a crisp sound echoed in the room. A emerald-green light abruptly shattered the white mist, leaping out from the youth's body, and instantly formed a bronze-bell-like shape that completely dispersed the white vapor.

His eyebrows twitching slightly, the youth suddenly opened his eyes. A flash of green light instantly swept across the dim room, quickly fading into the corners of his eyes.

With a somewhat complex expression, he raised his hand to examine his arm. As the youth's arm trembled, the layer of emerald-green brilliance attached to it gradually materialized, eventually condensing into a semi-illusory suit of armor, upon the surface of which profound and unusual patterns constantly rippled.

However, in the end, no matter how hard the youth tried, these patterns refused to transform into true armor. Judging by the appearance, it seemed that condensing them into actual armor was still a very distant goal.

Needless to say, this youth was none other than Hu San!

Ever since leaving Nether Spirit City, the caravan had traveled in stops and starts. After the leader sold off all the Nether Spirit Grass collected this time, the group finally crossed out of the Nether Spirit Kingdom, arriving at Curly Wood River after spending more than a month on the road.

From the intermittent news gathered along the way, Hu San learned that the affair involving the Yu Family Manor seemed to have ended in an anticlimax, failing to develop as imagined. It appeared that some reputable senior figure in the martial world had stepped in to intervene, causing countless experts rushing toward Nether Spirit City to withdraw.

Of course, this explanation applied only to mortals. Someone like Hu San, who was aware of the existence of the immortal cultivation world, would never believe it.

However, one thing was certain: neither the monarch of the Nether Spirit Kingdom nor the upper echelons of the Dark Spirit Sect showed any intention of pursuing the matter further.

Although this was extremely strange, it was far beyond what Hu San could investigate at his current stage. Besides, deep down he was more than glad to have it this way, so he simply put the matter completely out of mind and began his arduous journey of cultivation.

During this month and more, Hu San's practice of the Water-Cloud Art had not progressed much, and the number of Dark Spirit Pills remained at thirty-two.

All his energy during these days had been spent on refining the True Essence Flower and condensing the Azure Wood Astral Qi, leaving no time whatsoever to attend to the Water-Cloud Art. Naturally, the ingestion of the Dark Spirit Pills had also been suspended.

Although Hu San was able to decompose the True Essence Flower to convert it into warm currents, actually transforming the medicinal potency of the True Essence Flower entirely into warm currents and using them to advance his mastery of the Azure Wood Astral Qi was by no means an easy task.

Hu San had spent nearly twenty days to completely absorb the medicinal properties of the True Essence Flower, and another dozen days utilizing its boosting effects to finally push his astral qi cultivation to the ninth realm.

Yet, Hu San's ninth-realm astral qi was different from that of others. His ninth-realm astral qi vaguely showed a tendency toward armor-formation, unlike ordinary martial artists whose astral qi merely increased in density without any fundamental change in nature.

In Hu San's perception, as long as his astral qi completely formed into armor, his Azure Wood Scripture would be thoroughly accomplished. Once accomplished, the explosive power it could unleash would likely be unimaginable.

Even now, Hu San could clearly sense the formidable power of this semi-armored astral qi. Had he possessed his current level of cultivation back then, to say nothing of fighting Elder Yu head-on, at least Hu San would have been confident of keeping Geng Yulou's split soul behind at the very last moment.

How could this ninth-realm astral qi be merely thirty percent stronger than the eighth-realm?

In addition, upon breaking through to the ninth realm of astral qi, Hu San's physical strength—which had not seen significant growth for a long time—underwent a noticeable transformation, directly increasing by the strength of two men to reach a terrifying eighteen-man strength!

With the ninth-realm Azure Wood Astral Qi, combined with his Fish Steps and Bird Strikes, unleashed through a terrifying physical body possessing the strength of eighteen men, Hu San had sufficient reason to believe that, even without relying on the Water-Cloud Art and magical tools, he was now fully capable of dealing with cultivators at the fifth layer of Dharma-Gathering and below.

Of course, if the opponent possessed top-grade magical tools or formations, that would be another matter.

However, Hu San was no ordinary sorcerer. What distinguished him from ordinary sorcerers was not only his terrifying physical strength—far surpassing theirs at the same stage—but more importantly, he was also an immortal cultivator at the middle stage of the third layer of Dharma-Gathering.

Furthermore, this cultivator was no half-baked amateur with empty hands. At this moment, he possessed a middle-grade offensive magical tool, a low-grade enemy-trapping magical tool, and even a middle-grade bronze tripod elixir furnace. Such net worth could be considered quite remarkable even among cultivators at the fifth or sixth layer of Dharma-Gathering.

Once the powers of the sorcerer and the cultivator merged into one, the resulting effect was far greater than one plus one. Although Hu San still lacked the confidence to contend with a sixth-layer powerhouse like Elder Yu, he had some certainty in facing an ordinary sixth-layer powerhouse.

Gently clenching his fist and feeling the exhilarating sensation that seemed capable of crushing space itself with a single grasp, Hu San narrowed his eyes slightly. From now on, his astral qi cultivation would come to a temporary pause!

During this cultivation process, Hu San clearly perceived that the higher one went, the greater the difficulty of the Azure Wood Scripture became. Without the assistance of a terrifying heavenly treasure like the True Essence Flower, he estimated it would take him at least two years to advance from the eighth realm of astral qi to the ninth realm.

And that was calculated on the basis of him possessing abundant vital blood to continuously refine into warm currents. One could only imagine just how immense the difficulty of advancement became toward the end of the Azure Wood Scripture!

After the Azure Wood Astral Qi reached the ninth realm, Hu San felt that converting any further warm currents into Azure Wood Astral Qi seemed to have no effect whatsoever, as if pouring rain into the vast ocean, failing to produce the slightest ripple.

Of course, it was not to say it was completely useless, but without the existence of a second treasure comparable to the True Essence Flower, the warm currents converted from ordinary food were truly a drop in the bucket for the ninth-realm Azure Wood Astral Qi.

Since Hu San could not possibly abandon the cultivation of his physical body and the Water-Cloud Art, he had to temporarily shelve the cultivation of the Azure Wood Scripture and devote all his energy to the Water-Cloud Art, striving to push it to the peak of the fourth realm or the fifth realm before finishing these last thirty-two Dark Spirit Pills.

By then, the power he could unleash by wielding his middle-grade magical tool, the Black Ruler, and his low-grade magical tool, the Myriad Ghost Banner, would surely undergo a earth-shattering transformation.

Judging from various signs, Hu San deduced that the reason the Azure Wood Scripture had undergone such changes and its cultivation difficulty had increased so drastically was likely due to the inherent constraints of the scripture itself, seeing as it was merely a foundational technique of the sorcerer's path.

Only by acquiring a genuine sorcerer cultivation technique as soon as possible could his stagnating astral qi cultivation and physical strength be improved swiftly, and all of this would have to be pinned on the upcoming trip to the Black Tibet Kingdom.

Palms unfolding, Hu San retrieved a Dark Spirit Pill from the jade bottle, tossed it straight into his mouth to dissolve it into a warm current, and slowly integrated it with the magic power of the Water-Cloud Art. Just as he wanted to sit quietly and digest this surging energy tide, Hu San's brow abruptly furrowed.

Immediately afterward, a chorus of clamorous noises erupted from outside the small courtyard.

Rising from the bed, Hu San waved his hand slightly, and the oil lamp on the table instantly flared to life, illuminating the scene in the room bit by bit. He saw Yu Ning with her cascade of raven-black hair drooping, slumped over the table with her eyes closed in meditation, looking for all the world as if she were asleep.

Yet anyone who knew the truth would never think so, because living corpses had no need for sleep.

"Really, bad habits die hard. I've never heard of spirit corpses needing sleep either. It seems supreme natal spirit corpses don't come without their flaws!"

Hu San curled his lips, paying no mind to the spirit corpse pretending to sleep on the table. He stood up, walked to the door in a few strides, and pushed it open to step outside.

Over the past month or so, Hu San had finally completed the most arduous first step in refining a natal spirit corpse, refining Yu Ning into a first-layer Dharma-Gathering spirit corpse. Although it did not produce the Dark-Yin Corpse Qi as he had imagined, based solely on Yu Ning's residual combat instincts, she already possessed formidable combat prowess.

As for the rest, it was purely a matter of time and effort. Without obtaining the Dark-Yin Corpse-Refining Great Art of the Dark Spirit Sect, Hu San could at most refine Yu Ning to the fourth layer of Dharma-Gathering.

Therefore, Yu Ning's help to Hu San was currently limited, and she was even somewhat of a burden. Yet for the time being, he had no other choice; he could hardly just abandon a supreme spirit corpse that only appeared once in countless ages, could he?

Not long after Hu San stepped out of his room, the doors of the other rooms in the courtyard opened one after another, and the caravan leader along with his brothers successively flashed into view.