Chapter 120: Refining the Sea-Gathering Gourd

More than ten days passed, yet this time, Hangdu remained orderly. The low death toll was one reason; another was that under the Buddha’s light, mortals’ consciousnesses were hazy, as if they had merely slept.

During this period, the government appointed a new magistrate, who arrived with a contingent of direct troops and promptly replaced all the county officials. The magistrate’s surname was Qian, a rigid man who immediately took full control of Hangdu’s affairs, leaving no room for the Underworld Records Office to intervene. In his view, many of the recent calamities were largely caused by that very office.

Zhou Bai, however, cared little. He chose to become a detached bystander, no longer involving himself in Hangdu’s matters and focusing all his energy on himself. Luck was on his side when he picked up a head; although it did not yield as many points as a corpse would, combined with the celestial dog’s points, it was just enough for Zhou Bai to advance his two fundamental laws to the sixth tier.

The fifth tier brought little change to his inherent essence, but such progress was cumulative, and the sixth tier promised a leap in power. Before that, though, Zhou Bai planned to fully heal the injuries of Ghost Tree and Salted Fish to avoid any unforeseen issues.

Taking advantage of this downtime, he started practicing his divine brewing technique. He still held the backbone of the Nanshan Great King and the serpent demon, and it would be a waste not to turn them into liquor. There was a suitable recipe for Dragon-Tiger Bone Strengthening Wine that required these two ingredients, and this wine was not merely for tasting.

According to the brewing technique, a spirit wine distilled with the spinal bones of tiger and serpent demons as the catalyst, when consumed over time, would strengthen the bones—an invaluable benefit for a skeletal dharma form.

As Zhou Bai began preparations, a ghostly figure surfaced from the earth. He paid it no mind; it was a peddler from the Underworld Records Office, and this place was remote. Yet this time, the peddler was noticeably more cautious than before.

After confirming no abnormalities nearby, the peddler spat out Zhou Bai’s goods, collected the points, and vanished underground without a trace. With anticipation, Zhou Bai opened the package, finding three items inside: a small, exquisite pouch; a book; and a palm-sized azure gourd.

The pouch was a storage bag. Zhou Bai’s original space was too small—after placing the head inside, there was no room left—so he had simply bought a new one.

This time around, the stars behind his token increased by several hundred, and his contribution points had reached a level where he could spend freely without worry. Since thirty days had not yet passed, he couldn’t visit the Underworld Street himself, so he entrusted Old Rat Li to handle the materials together. The costs in contribution points were high but worth every bit.

The new storage bag’s capacity was more than twice that of the original, inscribed with a point array that prolonged the preservation of food. It contained many spirit materials Zhou Bai would need soon.

His primary focus was the remaining manual and the small azure gourd.

He carefully examined the manual from cover to cover. The system did not give any alerts—disappointing but expected. The manual was not particularly profound, recording only a simple method for crafting a certain magical tool.

Within the Underworld Records Office, magical tools were not strictly graded. In fact, because of his innate power, Zhou Bai rarely relied on tools for combat.

The tool described was called the Sea-Absorbing Gourd, capable of storing water. The name was somewhat exaggerated—it could hold at most the size of a pond.

Still, Zhou Bai was satisfied. His means of offense were already ample, and with Ghost Tree and Salted Fish’s potential, the weapons—a Tang Dao and a butcher’s cleaver—were sufficient. What he wanted was merely a container for liquor.

He requested from Old Rat Li the forging methods for similar tools, and such a simple request was easily fulfilled. Old Rat Li provided over a dozen recipes, among which Zhou Bai chose the Sea-Absorbing Gourd.

To him, wielding a sword across the world felt incomplete without a wine gourd by his side. Other vessels like cups or bowls felt out of place.

Though the tool was simple, the spirit materials were hard to come by. The azure gourd had a notable origin: it belonged to a demon of the Underworld Records Office, whose true spirit was a purple-gold gourd at the True Soul stage. Typically, it took eighty-one days of nurturing to produce one gourd.

Zhou Bai’s ability to acquire it owed much to his abundant contribution points, which he spent generously.

He held the azure gourd in his palm, slowly refining it with demonic energy. His cultivation in the demonic path was limited, so progress was slow and painstaking.

He avoided using yin energy to refine it, fearing it would corrupt the wine’s flavor.

Patiently, three days later, the gourd in his palm shrank to the size of a fingernail. The dregs of the spirit materials had been refined away, leaving only the purest essence.

He then took the remaining spirit materials from the new storage bag and gradually integrated them into the azure gourd.

Relying on his precise control, he used demonic energy to etch a simple formation along the gourd’s inner wall. The array’s purpose was to isolate the internal aura, preventing leakage and catalyzing the wine’s maturation so that it would become more fragrant over time.

After a moment, Zhou Bai breathed a sigh of relief, wiping sweat from his brow. The gourd had transformed into a genuine magical tool.

Its material resembled jade, small as a thumb, exquisitely compact. Being refined with demonic energy, a faint aura swirled within.

Zhou Bai fondled the Sea-Absorbing Gourd with delight and tried infusing some demonic energy. Under his control, the gourd instantly expanded to over a meter in length.

He then slowed the flow of energy, and the gourd gradually shrank until it was slightly larger than a palm. Satisfied, Zhou Bai hung it at his waist.

Next, he filled it with liquor. He stepped quickly outside to the small courtyard, where a dozen or so water jars were neatly arranged.

Though the jars’ mouths were sealed with oiled paper, the scent of alcohol still wafted through the air.

Zhou Bai took down the Sea-Absorbing Gourd and slowly infused it with demonic energy. Suddenly, a suction force arose at the gourd’s mouth.

One by one, the oiled papers on the jars burst open, and the wine inside was drawn in a continuous stream into the gourd.

When all the wine was absorbed, the gourd still showed only a shallow layer at its bottom.

Without hesitation, Zhou Bai sucked in the tiger and serpent bones along with medicinal herbs into the gourd. Then he hurried to the banks of the Qing River, where, amidst the astonished gazes of passersby, a towering column of water surged toward the gourd.

After a full ten minutes, he finally sensed the Sea-Absorbing Gourd nearing capacity. This magical tool lived up to its name—it truly could hold the volume of an entire pond.