Chapter 75

After such a long period of contemplation, he finally came up with a temporary solution to deal with the mysterious bubble.

The first method was naturally to mimic the lucky escape he had this time, hoping to once again rely on the Yin energy of the White Bone Scorpion to get through.

However, this method was extremely dangerous, and a single slip could very well turn him into a ghostly creature.

Moreover, even if he was willing to take such a risk, there were too many uncertain factors.

For example, how could he be sure that there would be a large amount of Yin energy nearby when the bubble burst? Otherwise, the small amount of Yin energy in the soul-nourishing bag would definitely not be enough.

Furthermore, how could he be certain that the White Bone Scorpion would again burst out with that strange ghostly face, absorb Yin energy, and successfully transfer it to him...

All these considerations led Liu Ming to only consider this method as a last resort after a brief deliberation.

After much thought, he still believed that the most fundamental and stable method was to do everything possible to improve his cultivation realm.

After all, each time his realm was enhanced, his magical power would increase several times.

If he could advance to the late-stage Spirit Disciple realm by the next time the bubble burst, the magical power in his body should be sufficient for the next absorption.

And as long as the bubble had enough magical power to absorb, it would not strip his lifespan and would even allow him to enter the mysterious space, giving him ample time to practice various magical techniques and secret arts.

However, advancing to the late-stage Spirit Disciple realm was not so easy.

Even though his magical power had become more refined due to the misfortune-turned-blessing, it would still take nearly two years to advance to the next realm.

The interval between the two appearances of the mysterious bubble was only about half a year, which was far too short.

In that case, he could only start by considering the idea of using pills that could enhance his magical power.

Although the magical power gained through external means was generally unstable and could affect his future advancement, the bubble itself had a purifying effect on magical power, so he didn't need to worry too much about this.

Therefore, the only remaining issue was how to obtain the pills that could increase his magical power.

Using contribution points alone would not be enough, and even if he occasionally exchanged for pills from the sect, it would be too conspicuous and likely to bring significant trouble.

In that case, he could only go to other places outside the sect to purchase the pills or learn alchemy himself.

The former could solve his immediate needs, while the latter was a long-term strategy.

Liu Ming couldn't help but grimace a few times when he thought about the cost of spirit stones for the former and the difficulty of learning the latter.

Especially the latter, given the rarity of alchemists, even if he wanted to learn, he had no way to do so.

But this was a matter of life and death, and even though it was extremely difficult, he had to face it head-on.

With this in mind, Liu Ming naturally did not continue to cultivate in his room but headed straight for the top of Nine-Headed Mountain.

For him now, the fastest way to obtain spirit stones was still to complete sect missions.

Before that, he planned to learn a few new spells and then re-refine a better-quality soul-binding chain.

After all, if he wanted to earn more spirit stones, he would have to take on some more dangerous sect missions and needed to be better prepared.

An hour later, when Liu Ming left the mountain top, he had already obtained the manuals for three spells: "Spider Silk Technique," "Ice Spike Technique," and "Mud Sand Technique."

However, he did not return to his residence but flew directly to the main peak of the sect.

Not long after, he found himself in a dark, black hall, standing in front of a gray magical array, having just received his badge back from a tall, thin man.

"Remember, you only paid twenty contribution points, so you can only stay in the Soul Pond for four hours. If you don't come out on time, the cost will double," the tall, thin man said coldly, shaking a ghost-head token in his hand toward the adjacent array.

Immediately, the entire array rumbled, and several black mists shot out.

Without a word, Liu Ming took large steps into the array.

As the runes around the array appeared, his figure vanished in a ripple.

The next moment, when Liu Ming opened his eyes, he found himself in a huge cave.

The cave was about a hundred acres in size, with a black water pond about ten zhang in diameter at its center, from which black mists continuously rose.

Liu Ming took a deep breath and immediately felt a familiar scent in the air.

Without hesitation, he walked a few steps to the edge of the Soul Pond, glanced at the ink-black water, and took out a fist-sized, dark stone from his body. He wrapped it tightly with a crystal thread and then threw it into the pond, holding the iron ring at the other end of the thread and sitting cross-legged in silence.

...

Several hours later, Liu Ming reappeared in the gray array with a satisfied look on his face. He immediately flew back to his residence without stopping.

Seven days later, when he left his residence again, he had not only mastered several new spells but also replaced his soul-binding chain with a thicker, darker, and shinier one.

He drove a cloud straight to the Steward Hall, stayed in front of the mission crystal monument for a while, and then went to the stone platform to take on three sect missions with substantial spirit stone rewards. He then left alone.

Half a month later, when Liu Ming returned to the Steward Hall with a tired look, he had successfully completed all three missions and received dozens of contribution points and hundreds of spirit stones as rewards.

This immediately caused a small commotion among the other disciples present.

However, Liu Ming paid no attention to this. After returning to his residence and sleeping for two days and two nights, he appeared at the Steward Hall again, full of energy, and took on several high-reward spirit stone missions before flying away from the sect.

Thus, day by day, five months passed in the blink of an eye.

During this period, Liu Ming almost completely abandoned cultivation and swept through various medium-difficulty missions on the crystal monument with astonishing efficiency. His accumulated contribution points and spirit stones increased at a terrifying rate, reaching nearly six to seven hundred contribution points and over three thousand spirit stones.

Although he encountered several dangerous situations, he managed to escape each time.

The White Bone Scorpion and his fully cultivated Wind Blade Technique were his greatest reliance.

Liu Ming also never worked with anyone else, always completing these missions alone. Therefore, while the entire sect knew that he had a powerful ghostly creature, others, though surprised by his astonishing speed in completing missions, could not gauge his true strength.

Of course, many people looked at this newly famous "mission maniac" with a mocking eye.

In their view, a new disciple not diligently cultivating but spending most of his time on missions was a foolish and shortsighted approach.

Liu Ming paid no attention to all this. Apart from using most of his contribution points to exchange for several pills to increase his magical power to make up for the lack of cultivation, he did not use any of the spirit stones.

But on this day, Liu Ming did not continue with missions. Instead, he flew straight out of his residence toward the mountain gate.

A short while later, when he quietly landed on a small hill, he found that over a dozen male and female disciples were already waiting there.

Most of them were new disciples under twenty years old, some whispering to each other, some looking around excitedly, and two of them caught Liu Ming's attention.

They were Lei Zhen and the petite girl from the Tian Ji Mountain lineage.

The two were having a low conversation, clearly not noticing Liu Ming's arrival.

Seeing this, Liu Ming did not take the initiative to greet them but quietly moved to the side and waited.

After a while, a clear cry came from the distant sky, and a black giant eagle flew over, landing on the hilltop a moment later with a gust of foul wind. Two women, one in blue and one in green, jumped off its back.

"Hey, it's not Master Zhang... Isn't that Senior Sister Qian, ranked fifth on the Taiyin Monument!" The crowd on the hilltop immediately stirred when they saw the faces of the two women. Many showed a look of surprise, but some older disciples of the Malignant Ghost Sect immediately recognized the blue-robed woman and were even more astonished.

Liu Ming also perked up at the mention of the "Taiyin Monument" and looked at the two women.

The older blue-robed woman was tall and slender, with a delicate oval face and a rather beautiful appearance. She carried a white longsword on her back. The green-robed woman was only about sixteen or seventeen years old, with a round face and braids all over her head, looking very cute, but she held a heavy-looking rectangular package in her hand.

"Master Zhang has other important matters and cannot lead the team this time. The sect has entrusted this mission to the Wei Prefecture market to me. All of you have already paid contribution points at the Steward Hall, so you can join this team. If anyone has second thoughts now, you can get half of your contribution points back. If not, we can set off."

Clearly, this was Senior Sister Qian.

The crowd looked at each other, and no one really stood up.

"Since there are no objections, let's set off now. Cui'er, release the fog boat!"

"Okay, Senior Sister."

The green-robed girl immediately responded, placed the package on the ground, and took out a light yellow scroll from her sleeve. She unfolded it and laid it flat on the ground.

Liu Ming focused his gaze and saw that the scroll depicted a blurry yellow giant boat surrounded by mist, making it impossible to see clearly.