The Demon Soldier from the Governor’s Office was contained in a square, black-lacquered wooden box.
Upon opening it, the first thing he saw was a bamboo slip. Beneath the slip lay an object wrapped in an off-white silk cloth.
’The bamboo slip must be the "instruction manual,"’ Wang Ping thought. He picked it up, then lifted the silk cloth. Beneath it was a gray leather bracer. However, when viewed with Spiritual Qi, the very space for about an inch around it seed to be collapsing.
"What strange energy. It’s peaceful, but then it suddenly goes wild." As Yu Lian’s voice rang out in Wang Ping’s Spirit Sea, she draped herself over his shoulder, curiously examining the bracer in the box.
Wang Ping was just as mystified and could only pick up the "instruction manual" to read it.
This Demon Soldier was called "Void Jaunt." It allowed the user to teleport a short distance, with a maximum range of ten zhang. The price for using it was a large amount of Spiritual Qi imbued with life force.
The thod of use was simple: just pour Spiritual Qi into the Demon Soldier, and one could teleport with a single thought.
For Wang Ping, this was an incredibly simple price to pay. After all, ever since he began cultivating Wood Spirit Qi, every wisp of his Spiritual Qi was imbued with life force.
’This also ans that there is soone in the Governor’s Office who knows the truth about Qianmu Temple!’
"Quick, try it!"
Yu Lian urged.
Wang Ping was also intrigued. He fastened the bracer to his left wrist, and Yu Lian shrank down to wrap herself around it. Then, he walked over to the pagoda tree and, through its consciousness, gathered a stream of Wood Spirit Qi and poured it into the bracer...
The bracer absorbed all the Spiritual Qi like a sponge. Afterward, a ring of dark green patterns appeared on its surface.
’That should do it...’
Wang Ping gave Yu Lian a heads-up, and she imdiately tightened her grip on his arm. With a single thought, his vision distorted, and a mont later, he reappeared five zhang away beside a Spirit Wood tree.
"How magical! It’s like traveling through ti and space!"
"It’s not ’like’ it. We *did* travel through space..."
Wang Ping’s face was filled with amazent. He found it incredible that such a tiny object could actually carry him through space.
He used his Wood Spirit True Essence to probe the bracer’s interior. What he received in return was a complex pattern. He tried to observe this pattern in its entirety, because based on past experience, as long as he could fully comprehend the pattern, his light-screen panel would definitely react.
But this set of patterns seed endless. As his Spiritual Qi delved deeper, it was like entering a bottomless pit.
Before long, Wang Ping felt exhausted and hastily withdrew his Spiritual Power at once.
"Was this thing ford naturally?"
Wang Ping began to question his reality. ’What kind of world is this?’
He was in no position to figure this out at the mont. Carrying this question with him, Wang Ping continued his ascetic training...
For a long ti after that, no one else visited the small courtyard on the mountain peak, except for Liu Shuang and Yang Zhiping, who would return for a short stay during the Spring Festival each year.
「In the blink of an eye, it was the fifteenth year of Wang Ping’s Foundation Establishnt.」 His Qi-gathering progress had reached (75/100), and he had perfected his cultivation of both the "Divine Soul Art" and the Wood Spirit Skill.
Wang Ping could now have his divine soul leave his body, though it could not yet detach completely.
The benefits of using his divine soul to cast Magic were obvious. First, the speed of his hand seals was much faster than before. Second, it consud only one-third of the Spiritual Qi it used to!
As for the benefits of his constitution transforming into a Wood Spirit Vein, they were even more apparent. Empowered by a potent life force, his body could heal non-fatal injuries in the blink of an eye, and he was now also able to cultivate Wood Spirit-related Magic.
Yu Cheng Taoist had taught him two Magic skills in total. The first was the "Cyan Wood Technique." This skill was incredibly simple; Wang Ping didn’t even need the light-screen panel’s help and could cast it with a re thought. Its effects were healing injuries and neutralizing poisons.
The second Magic skill was a bit more difficult. It was called "Grass and Trees are Soldiers." It relied on Wood Spirit Qi to awaken plants and turn them into soldiers to fight for him. The light-screen panel’s guide stated:
[Grass and Trees are Soldiers Technique: A Basic Magic of the Wood Spirit. Communicate with plants and nature to establish a connection, making them fight for you. Understand the life force of plants, sense their thoughts, patterns, and characteristics, and grasp their essence. Then, attempt to use Wood Spirit Qi to grant them temporary life. You may attempt this a maximum of 5 tis per day. You might grasp the essence within two years. (Progress: 2/100, Today’s Progress: 0/5).]
[Note: Read carefully. You may only attempt this 5 tis per day. When you are not yet proficient, the process of animating life is extrely painful. Too many attempts will cause the Wood Spirit to rember you.]
This ti, the panel’s guide had added the word "might," aning that if he perford poorly, it would take longer, but conversely, it could also take less ti.
At this very mont, Wang Ping was by a small creek in the forest behind Qianmu Mountain, using his Wood Spirit Qi to communicate with the plants and attempt to establish a connection.
The process wasn’t complicated. Possessing a Wood Spirit Vein, Wang Ping only needed to quiet his mind to sense them. For the most part, the plants were simple-minded; as long as he released his Wood Spirit Qi, their consciousnesses would follow his thoughts.
Right now, Wang Ping was communicating with a vine. As he concentrated, Yu Lian, who was in the nearby creek, grew quiet. Her head poked out of the water, her eyes fixed on Wang Ping. She held a river shrimp in her mouth, not daring to swallow for fear of making a sound that might disturb him.
"Form!"
Suddenly, Wang Ping ford a hand seal, channeling the Wood Spirit to grant the vine life.
CRACK!
The vine suddenly ca to life, its coiled tendrils lashing out like a leather whip. But it imdiately snapped apart, section by section, failing to complete the binding motion.
Wang Ping let out a breath and walked over to inspect it. anwhile, Yu Lian imdiately swallowed the river shrimp in her mouth.
"Too much Wood Spirit Qi. It basically exploded and died..."
"I think you should practice controlling your Wood Spirit Qi first, or just use your divine soul to cast it," Yu Lian said, using Tengyun to circle around Wang Ping.
"I tried that yesterday. It couldn’t even manage a single lash. It exploded the mont I poured in the Spiritual Qi..."
"Uh, well, you take your ti figuring it out. I’m going to go catch so more shrimp. Want any?"
"If you could cook them..."
"Never mind!"
His chat with Yu Lian improved his mood, and Wang Ping quickly made his second attempt. The result was still not very good.
Then, in less than a quarter of an hour, he had used up all five of his daily chances.
"Let’s go ho!"
"Okay..."
Obediently, Yu Lian shot out of the creek. Using Tengyun, she landed on Wang Ping, shrinking to a foot in length as she did, and wrapped herself around his wrist. She then started chatting with Wang Ping about her shrimp-catching adventure.
Back at the temple, everything was as usual.
"It’s been so quiet lately..."
Wang Ping remarked to himself. Amidst the respectful greetings of other disciples, he headed for the summit. From a distance, he saw a disciple wearing Inner Sect robes waiting respectfully at the garden gate.
’Did I just jinx it?’
As he got closer, the disciple waiting at the gate quickly bowed and said, "Martial Uncle, this is a letter for you."
Wang Ping took it and saw that it was actually from Lishui Prefecture. Moreover, it was an urgent letter delivered by an Immortal Crane from the Daoist Scripture Hall.
’Lishui Prefecture?’
The only person Wang Ping could think of was Xia Yao.
Opening the letter, he saw it was indeed from Xia Yao. She started with the usual pleasantries before getting to the main point: the ’chess piece’ left behind from the demon extermination in Shu County had made a move.
This referred to Shen Dong, the forr County Magistrate of Shu County and now the Assistant Governor of Sanhe Prefecture. A month ago, a series of murders had taken place in Sanhe Prefecture. The Prefect, the city defense commander, a Money Shop Owner, and the Chief of the Manufacturing Bureau had all been murdered, one after another, in their own bedrooms.
Xia Yao’s informant in Sanhe Prefecture reported that this series of murders was closely related to Shen Dong. She hoped Wang Ping could send soone to Sanhe Prefecture to assist with the investigation and uncover the truth behind it.
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