Chapter 40

"Turns out this is what it means to have a minor mastery in a spell! No wonder when I was practicing the Wind Blade spell, I suddenly felt enlightened, not only did the release speed increase, but the power also grew by a third. However, this kind of spell practice is entirely dependent on repeated, focused practice to become proficient. Since there is a minor mastery, there should also be a major mastery. But above this, even the Nine Spirit Vein disciples probably don't have much of an advantage over the Three Spirit Vein disciples. It's my talent for multitasking that gives me a significant edge in this area." Liu Ming muttered to himself, his face showing a mix of confusion and excitement.

Among the many senior disciples today, although some have achieved minor mastery in spells, there are certainly no more than ten, and most of these are the simplest spells like Wind Blade and Fireball.

Slightly higher-level spells like Ice Spike and Flame Serpent have not been mastered to the minor level by anyone.

This is not surprising!

Higher-level spells are generally more complex to cast and require far more mana than lower-level spells, making them much more difficult to practice.

Of course, the most important thing is that most disciples spend their time cultivating their own techniques and mana, with few placing much emphasis on spell practice itself.

After all, only by advancing in cultivation can one become a Spirit Master like a scholar, thereby greatly increasing one's lifespan and having more possibilities.

For Liu Ming, if he didn't have the talent for multitasking, he would probably have made the same choice. But now that he knows his talent gives him a significant advantage in this area, he naturally has a different inclination.

While more complex and higher-level spells are hard to say, at least for simple spells like Wind Blade, he plans to practice more in the future to see if there are any other gains.

After standing in the courtyard and pondering for a while, Liu Ming finally entered the cultivation room and sat down cross-legged.

He hesitated slightly, then took out a new Tranquility Incense from his sleeve, lit it with a flick of his finger, and placed it nearby.

As a wisp of green smoke rose, a peculiar fragrance immediately filled the entire room.

Liu Ming took a deep breath, then closed his eyes and entered a meditative state.

At this moment, rows of gray characters appeared in his mind, the cultivation method of the "Soul Chain."

Although the scroll containing the cultivation method had long been returned to the scripture hall, the content was deeply imprinted in his mind, not a single word forgotten.

He had hastily comprehended some of it before, but after seeing the requirement of being at the initial Spirit Disciple stage, he immediately gave up and did not study further.

Now, with the help of the Tranquility Incense, he planned to thoroughly comprehend this secret technique in one go.

Days passed, and Liu Ming stayed in the room for five days and five nights without stepping out.

On the morning of the sixth day, he finally opened his eyes, but his face was full of fatigue.

"Turns out to cultivate the Soul Chain, one must use a living soul to refine it on the spot to succeed. If I remember correctly, there is a 'Soul Pond' within the sect where one can capture souls by paying a certain number of contribution points. Additionally, there is a 'Gray Market' within the sect where disciples can trade various items, and there might be someone selling souls. Given that I have no contribution points, I will naturally choose the latter method."

After quickly thinking it through, Liu Ming made his decision, but before that, he needed a good rest.

The next morning, Liu Ming hurriedly left his residence and flew to another place according to the map Li Zong had given him.

At the edge of the mountain range where the Savage Ghost Sect was located, there was a small bamboo grove that was not at all conspicuous, situated between two peaks.

Occasionally, some inner disciples would fly up and land in a large open area in the center of the bamboo grove.

After Liu Ming landed in the bamboo grove, he looked around curiously.

He saw that around the open area, there were various makeshift stalls of different sizes, with Savage Ghost Sect disciples sitting cross-legged behind them, most of whom were inner disciples, but some were outer disciples.

Some people would walk up to these stalls, pick up one or two items to examine, or haggle with the stall owners, giving Liu Ming the illusion of being back in a market in the secular world.

After calming his mind, Liu Ming slowly walked past the stalls, occasionally picking up an item to examine.

The items on these stalls ranged from elixirs and talismans to materials and magical artifacts, a wide variety of everything.

But there were also many strange and unusual items that he had never heard of, such as "Blood Corpse Bee Stingers," "Carrion Vulture Feathers," and "Centennial Fish Demon Essence."

As for the souls he was looking for, which were a common material, he saw them for sale at several stalls, but the prices left him speechless.

A low-quality soul cost ten spirit stones, a common-quality soul cost thirty, and as for high-quality souls, there were none for sale, with some stall owners even offering to buy them for over a hundred spirit stones each.

Although Liu Ming was short on funds, he managed to get a good look at what a "soul" looked like and learned some related information.

These souls were mostly stored in porcelain bottles sealed with special talismans. Once the bottle cap was opened, they would emerge as a black mist and could transform into various shapes like tigers, leopards, or ghost faces.

The attack methods of souls, besides the bone-chilling cold they carried, also included simple illusions that could directly affect a person's mind at close range.

In summary, souls were not truly ghostly beings but rather entities born from yin energy with no active consciousness. Even their attacks were often passive and instinctive.

Therefore, capturing common-quality souls was not too difficult.

However, for high-quality souls, the situation was vastly different.

First, such high-quality souls were extremely rare, with only one out of a hundred being born, and they mostly lurked in areas with dense yin energy, making them hard to find.

Second, high-quality souls, in addition to the two attack methods, could split and escape in times of danger, making them even harder to capture alive.

There were also rumors of supreme-quality souls, but this was just a rumor, and no one had ever seen one.

Of course, all these souls were captured by inner disciples from the Soul Pond using contribution points, which is why they were sold at such high prices.

After asking around, Liu Ming quickly learned about these matters and, after some hesitation, spent ten spirit stones to buy a low-quality soul to try out.

Just as he was about to leave, he was suddenly stopped by a pleasant female voice from behind.

"Hey, isn't that Junior Brother Bai!"

Liu Ming was naturally taken aback and turned to look. Behind him stood a man and a woman.

The man was a young man in his early twenties, wearing a blue robe, with high eyebrows and a cold expression. The woman was a young woman of about the same age, wearing a white dress, with a beautiful face and a smile, clearly the Mu Xianyun he had met at the Spirit Opening Ceremony.

"Senior Sister Mu, this junior greets you." Although surprised, Liu Ming still bowed and greeted her.

"Junior Brother Bai, you promised to visit me. It's been half a year, and I haven't seen you come by." Mu Xianyun said with a smile.

"Ah... Senior Sister Mu, please don't blame me. After entering the sect, I and my fellow junior brothers have been ordered to cultivate in the mountains, leaving no time for other things. Who is this senior brother?" Liu Ming replied vaguely and then looked at the cold young man beside her.

"Du Hai from Yinsha Mountain." The young man replied briefly, his face expressionless.

"Senior Brother from the Yinsha lineage." Liu Ming's face changed slightly upon hearing this.

Among the many branches of the Nine-Headed Serpent Sect, the Yinsha lineage was one of the top three powerful forces, and its disciples did not have a good relationship with the Nine-Headed Serpent Mountain.

"Junior Brother Bai, don't worry. Senior Brother Du is a good friend of mine, and he won't let the relationship between the lineages affect our interactions. By the way, what are you buying at the 'Gray Market' this time? I have some good friends who might be able to help you." Mu Xianyun explained and then asked with a smile.

"Thank you, Senior Sister Mu, but I have already bought what I needed. I don't want to trouble you." Liu Ming quickly thought and politely declined.

"Since that's the case, I won't force you. By the way, do you need contribution points recently?" Mu Xianyun was initially surprised but then asked normally.

"Contribution points?" Liu Ming's heart stirred upon hearing this.

"Exactly. Recently, I, Senior Brother Du, and a few other friends are planning to take on an important mission, but we are short of two people. If you are interested, you can join us." Mu Xianyun said without hesitation.

"Since it's an important mission, I have only been in the sect for half a year and may not be much help. Also, how will the contribution points be distributed?" Liu Ming's eyes flickered as he slowly replied.

"Junior Brother, don't worry. This mission is special and doesn't require much cultivation. We just need more people to ensure success. As for the contribution points, since we are taking the mission together, they will be evenly divided." The young woman saw Liu Ming's interest and explained in detail.

"Alright, since it's not dangerous and doesn't require much cultivation, I'll join." After some thought, Liu Ming agreed, thinking it would be a good opportunity to see what a contribution point mission was like.

"Junior Brother, this is a wise decision. Such group missions are perfect for new disciples like you. In three days, come to the second floor of the Affairs Hall, and we will gather there to take on the mission." Mu Xianyun smiled charmingly.

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