Chapter Seventy-Three: Spring Passes, Autumn Comes

Returning to her attic courtyard, shielded by the array she had set, Chu Xiner no longer harbored any worries and resolved to begin retraining with the Drifting Cloud and Falling Rain Sutra. She would remain in seclusion until all her spirit pills were exhausted.

But before that, she entered the adjacent room to give Xiao Wenzi a few instructions, telling him not to leave the attic lightly.

“Don’t worry, Xiner. I won't wander off before you finish your cultivation,” Xiao Wenzi replied reassuringly. After absorbing nearly ten thousand drops of blood from that unfortunate old man in gray, he now possessed over two thousand fifth-tier system coins—enough to exchange for dozens of the newly unlocked Superior Beast Gathering Pills.

The Greenleaf Sect was full of cultivators, many of them at or above the Foundation Establishment stage; he had no desire to recklessly seek trouble.

Thus, both master and servant began a long period of secluded cultivation.

Time passed swiftly, and before long, winter faded and spring blossomed anew.

During this period, Huang Yipeng had already received word that Chu Xiner had set up a formation outside her attic and had not stepped out even once. The disciples he dispatched, being of low cultivation, had no way of discerning her true situation. Still, as long as she remained in seclusion, she would not be able to investigate the matters concerning Zhou Kai and Wang Tao, which gave him some relief.

Yet perhaps because of this lingering anxiety, several months passed without any progress in Huang Yipeng’s cultivation, though his aptitude was originally quite outstanding.

In stark contrast, aided by spirit pills, Chu Xiner and Xiao Wenzi’s cultivation steadily advanced.

A hum of spiritual energy rippled through the attic, mingled with dense demon energy, all surging like myriad streams converging into the small mosquito body at the center.

The Blood Spirit Grand Art was a supreme ancient technique, increasingly difficult to cultivate as one progressed. Fortunately, with the aid of Superior Beast Gathering Pills, after several months, Xiao Wenzi finally broke through the bottleneck at the peak of the Fifth Heaven and entered the sixth tier of Demon Qi.

After another breakthrough, stabilizing his realm in the mid-stage of the sixth tier, his system coins were finally depleted. With Chu Xiner showing no sign of emerging from seclusion, Xiao Wenzi began practicing the Body-Tempering Razor Claw Technique.

The Body-Tempering Razor Claw Technique was a secret art that combined external force and one’s own cultivation, refining the body much like a cultivator tempers a magic treasure to enhance its strength.

External forces could be anything: rare and tough heavenly materials, magma and earth fire, or fierce winds and baleful energies.

For the time being, the only thing of any use in this room was the hard bluestone floor; as for magma or baleful winds, not only were they absent, but even if present, Xiao Wenzi would not have dared to attempt using them for body refinement.

Left with no better option, he could only vent his efforts upon the bluestone.

Again and again, he swung his front claws at the stone, pain shooting through his limbs, yet only shallow marks appeared on the surface.

Xiao Wenzi was not discouraged—body refinement was never so easily accomplished, otherwise cultivators’ fleshly bodies wouldn’t be so feeble in comparison.

If he wished to grow stronger, mastering the Body-Tempering Razor Claw Technique was essential.

And so, from that day on, no matter how much pain or injury the recoil caused, regardless of how close his claws came to breaking, he relentlessly slashed at the bluestone.

Finally, after half a month, his claws struck and shattered a thick slab of bluestone into pieces. By then, he had already left countless claw marks upon it.

Meanwhile, next door, Chu Xiner continued her breathing exercises. It was not uncommon in the cultivation world for a cultivator to switch to a superior technique partway through their training. In fact, within some sects, the majority were wandering cultivators who had joined later and could not keep practicing the inferior techniques they had first obtained, necessitating a switch to the sect’s gifted scriptures.

Both the Drifting Cloud and Falling Rain Sutra and the Greenleaf Sect’s technique that Chu Xiner had practiced were water-based, sharing the same origin. Moreover, the lower one's cultivation, the less disruptive changing techniques would be.

Thus, in just over three months, Chu Xiner had completely converted her spiritual energy to that of the Drifting Cloud and Falling Rain Sutra. After another month of consuming Water Lotus Pills, she broke through again, reaching the mid-stage of the Eleventh Heaven.

She had taken her time, advancing steadily and cautiously; had she, like Xiao Wenzi, simply devoured pills and refined them without restraint, she might have reached the late stage already.

Now that her cultivation was stable, the young woman tapped her storage pouch, took out a small jade bottle, poured out a pale blue Mysterious Essence Pill, and swallowed it in one smooth motion.

Time lost its meaning in cultivation. The formation outside the attic, once activated, had never been deactivated; Chu Xiner had placed a copious amount of spirit stones at each node, allowing her this peace of mind.

Spring gave way to autumn, and another half year passed in silence.

Four mosquitoes, each only slightly larger than a soybean, simultaneously struck the floor with their front claws. Yet only the leftmost bluestone bore deep claw marks—in moments, the other three miniature mosquitoes faded away and vanished.

All over the vast room, cracks marred the floor. Upon closer inspection, each line had been gouged by the razor-sharp claws of some beast.

Yet these marks were so fine that it was difficult to tell which kind of beast might have made them.

Other than Xiao Wenzi, there were no other monsters in the room—there was no doubt that this dense web of claw marks was his handiwork.

He had never expected Chu Xiner’s seclusion to last so long. Had he not broken through to the sixth tier, the brief lifespan of a mosquito would likely have claimed him long before these ten months passed.

Of course, perhaps he would have merely spent some red hearts.

With nothing else to do, Xiao Wenzi could only keep training his Razor Claw Technique. After so long, he had finally achieved minor mastery.

At this stage, his physical strength had not increased dramatically—after all, he lacked true rare materials—but his two front claws, tempered again and again, were now many times tougher and sharper than before.

Xiao Wenzi was confident: if he faced the red-robed man at the verge of Foundation Establishment from before, he could now pierce the man’s skull with a single blow if he caught him off guard.

Yet further progress would be difficult; without heavenly materials or a special environment, it was almost impossible to advance the technique any further.

With idle time on his hands, Xiao Wenzi began to merge the technique with his Shadow Demon Art.

Imagine: if he first approached his enemy using the Concealing Demon Talisman and Invisibility Talisman, then suddenly unleashed the Shadow Demon Art to strike at the back of their head or their heart with all his might—what would be the result?

So long as the opponent was not vastly stronger, victory would be almost guaranteed.