Chapter 51

When Liu Ming heard these words, he was naturally taken aback. He responded with a single word, pushed the door open, and walked out of the room, entering the small courtyard.

At a glance, he saw Shi Chuan standing outside the courtyard gate, along with the red-haired youth "Yu Cheng" beside him.

When Yu Cheng saw Liu Ming come out, his gaze showed a somewhat complicated expression.

"Senior Brother Shi, is Master Gui looking for me?" Liu Ming asked as he walked over.

"Not just Master Gui, Senior Uncle Zhu and Senior Aunt Zhong are also waiting for you and Junior Brother Yu at the main hall on the mountaintop. Oh... Junior Brother Bai, you've advanced to the middle stage of the Spirit Disciple realm!" Shi Chuan said with a smile, but after taking a closer look at Liu Ming, his expression suddenly changed as he asked.

At this moment, Liu Ming, having just advanced not long ago, was still unable to control his own magical power freely, and was immediately seen through by this "Senior Brother Shi."

"Senior Brother indeed has keen eyes. I did indeed advance to the middle stage of the Spirit Disciple realm a few days ago," Liu Ming admitted frankly, without any intention to hide it.

Upon hearing this, even though Shi Chuan was usually very composed, he could not help but show an expression of disbelief.

As for Yu Cheng, he was somewhat dumbfounded upon hearing these words.

"Junior Brother is truly a prodigy in cultivation. To reach the middle stage of the Spirit Disciple realm in just a year, this speed of cultivation is probably no less than that of Junior Brother Xiao Feng," Shi Chuan said with a hint of a bitter smile after a while, his shock somewhat subsided.

"Junior Brother is far from being a prodigy. I merely relied on some external aids to advance to the middle stage of the Spirit Disciple realm by chance," Liu Ming replied calmly.

"Junior Brother Bai is too modest. Even if you did consume some pills that increase magical power, the middle stage of the Spirit Disciple realm is vastly different from the initial stage. The initial stage can be easily reached by anyone once they have enough magical power, but the middle stage begins to have bottlenecks. As far as I know, many disciples with three spirit veins are stuck at the initial stage for years without making any progress. However, relying on pills to increase magical power is not a wise move. Magical power should be cultivated gradually to be pure, and the resistance when encountering bottlenecks will be less," Shi Chuan said with a look of realization, but then shook his head and added meaningfully.

Upon hearing this, Yu Cheng's face also showed an expression of "I see."

Shi Chuan clearly thought that Liu Ming's rapid increase in cultivation was due to some pills that increase magical power.

In the Man Ghost Sect, there were indeed a few pills that could increase magical power, but they were only effective for Spirit Disciple disciples and required a significant amount of contribution points to obtain. Most inner disciples were reluctant to exchange for them.

After all, for most disciples, as long as they didn't encounter bottlenecks, they could gradually increase their magical power with time. If they did encounter bottlenecks, taking such pills would be like throwing meat buns to a dog, with no effect. Therefore, the precious contribution points within the sect were mostly reserved for other uses.

Of course, the magical power gained from pills, as Shi Chuan said, was far less pure than that cultivated on one's own.

The magical power Liu Ming had gained from consuming the blood and flesh of the giant rats did not have this drawback.

After all, the magical power in the blood and flesh of these demonic beasts was cultivated by the beasts themselves, and the magical power that remained in their bodies after death was the essence of their entire life's cultivation.

However, relying solely on the blood and flesh of demonic beasts to increase magical power was even less reliable than using pills.

After all, only consuming the blood and flesh of demonic beasts of a higher realm than oneself would have the effect of increasing magical power. But when facing such a powerful demonic beast, it was uncertain who would end up eating whom. Moreover, consuming too much demonic beast flesh could also have other adverse effects.

Furthermore, even if someone were willing to try, demonic beasts in the Great Xuan Kingdom were extremely rare, and high-level demonic beasts at the Spirit Master level were even rarer.

Liu Ming, having read some ancient texts, naturally knew all this, but seeing Shi Chuan and Yu Cheng misunderstand him, he simply smiled and did not bother to explain further.

The blood and flesh of the green-furred giant rats were already in his stomach, and it was too late for others in the sect to do anything about it. It was better to avoid unnecessary trouble.

"Thank you for your guidance, Senior Brother. I will keep it in mind. By the way, I wonder why Master Gui has summoned me and Junior Brother Yu. Can you tell me more about it?" Liu Ming responded vaguely, then asked curiously.

"I'm not quite sure myself, but I know it has something to do with Nine Apertures Mountain. Besides you two, Junior Brother Xiao Feng has also been called over," Shi Chuan replied hesitantly.

"Nine Apertures Mountain?" Liu Ming was greatly surprised upon hearing this.

Nine Apertures Mountain was one of the five major sects in the Great Xuan Kingdom, ranking higher than the Man Ghost Sect in terms of strength. Apart from knowing that this sect was particularly skilled in puppetry and mechanical arts, he knew nothing else about it.

Still somewhat surprised, Liu Ming followed the three of them as they flew to the mountaintop.

A short while later, Liu Ming, Yu Cheng, and Xiao Feng all appeared in the main hall.

Not far from them, Master Gui Ruchuan and two other Spirit Masters were seated in chairs.

However, the scholar, upon seeing Liu Ming, who had unexpectedly advanced to the middle stage of the Spirit Disciple realm, frowned and, after a moment, shook his head and said:

"You have shortened your cultivation time by relying on pills, which disappoints me. However, this is a pleasant surprise for the matter I am about to tell you. So I won't say more about it. Junior Brother Zhu, tell them everything."

At this moment, Senior Aunt Zhong's gaze also showed a hint of disappointment.

Among the three Spirit Masters from Nine Infants Mountain, only Senior Aunt Zhong had taken a particular interest in Liu Ming. After mistakenly thinking he had advanced to the middle stage of the Spirit Disciple realm by taking pills, she naturally felt a sense of disappointment.

"This time we have called you three because we once made an agreement with two fellow Daoists from the Nine Apertures Sect, Dashang and Dazhi..." Zhu Chi, hearing the scholar's words, began to narrate.

It turned out that about seven or eight years ago, Zhu Chi and Senior Aunt Zhong had been invited by two Spirit Masters from the Nine Apertures Sect to explore a dangerous place. Inside, they discovered a tree bearing unknown spirit fruits. However, these fruits had only just begun to form and were far from maturity. Therefore, they made an agreement with the other party that once the fruits matured, they would share them equally. However, a few days ago, they received a letter from a disciple of the Nine Apertures Sect, stating that the soon-to-mature fruits would be decided through a competition among new disciples.

After negotiations with the other party by the scholar and others, it was finally decided to hold three matches.

Liu Ming and the others were the disciples chosen by the scholar and others to participate in the competition.

"Although this competition is not a life-or-death battle, since it involves spirit items, the struggle will not be easily abandoned. Therefore, there is a certain risk to your lives. If any of you are unwilling to participate, you can speak up now, and we will not force you. Additionally, since we are asking for your effort, there will be rewards for you. After carefully researching the ancient texts, we discovered that these fruits are the legendary Heavenly Jade Fruits. Using these fruits as the main ingredient to refine a spirit liquid can be very beneficial for low-level cultivators, with the astonishing effect of purifying the body and enhancing one's constitution. If you participate in the competition and win the fruits, you will all be rewarded with this spirit liquid. Of course, the winner will receive a larger share," Zhu Chi concluded.

"I am willing to participate in this competition!" As soon as Zhu Chi finished speaking, Xiao Feng said without hesitation.

Having just advanced to the middle stage of the Spirit Disciple realm, he was already confident in his strength and believed he would not be inferior to any other disciples of the same level.

"I am also willing to contribute to our lineage!" Yu Cheng also looked eager to try.

Liu Ming, of course, would not say anything like "unwilling." After a moment's thought, he also expressed his willingness to participate.

"Very good. You three are the most outstanding among the new disciples. However, the disciples sent by Nine Apertures Mountain will not be simple. Therefore, for the next month, you will stay on the mountaintop and familiarize yourselves with the methods of fighting against puppets. We three will personally guide you, which will increase your chances of winning by a bit," Master Gui Ruchuan said, very satisfied.

Liu Ming and the others, upon hearing this, naturally nodded in agreement.

Thus, for the next month, Liu Ming and the others stayed in a training ground on the mountaintop, engaging in daily combat practice with some low-level puppets.

Although Master Gui Ruchuan and the others did not have deep expertise in puppetry, they could easily manipulate some low-level mechanical puppets to simulate the conventional attacks of puppetry.

The various attack methods of low-level puppets and the diverse attack styles of puppetry cultivators greatly broadened the horizons of Liu Ming and the others.

Of course, in these practices, Liu Ming did not use all his means. He performed averagely among the three, neither drawing too much attention from Master Gui Ruchuan and the others nor disappointing them.

A month passed in the blink of an eye.

On this day, Liu Ming and the others, along with the scholar and others, all gathered in the square.

After Zhu Chi said a few words of farewell to the scholar, he took out a light yellow talisman from his body, made a hand seal, and threw it forward.

A white mist appeared, and a green wooden boat about seven or eight zhang long immediately appeared before everyone.

The boat was long and green, with strange light silver patterns engraved inside and outside, giving it an exceptionally mysterious feel.

"Hehe, with Junior Brother Zhu's Green Spirit Flying Boat, the round trip will not take too much time," Master Gui Ruchuan said, stroking his beard upon seeing the green wooden boat.

"Yes, if it weren't for Senior Brother Zhu's accidental discovery of a thousand-year-old Green Spirit Wood and the great effort to have Master Yu spend three years refining it, how could we have obtained this flying spirit tool? With this spirit tool, as long as we don't encounter a few powerful enemies skilled in escape techniques, we can easily escape even if we can't win," Senior Aunt Zhong also said with a smile.

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