Chapter 82

Among the two leather bags, it was fine that they only contained some healing pills and miscellaneous items, but the crimson jade box that the giant tortoise held separately immediately caught Liu Ming's attention.

Curiously, he picked up the jade box and opened the lid. A gust of white, cold air rushed out, causing him to shiver involuntarily.

Inside the jade box was a blue, crystal-like bead that looked extremely cold, and its origin was unknown.

Liu Ming finally understood how the gray-robed man had managed to escape the sea of fire.

This item was likely a rare treasure.

Thinking this, Liu Ming quickly put away the jade box and the other items, looked around, and then released a series of fireballs to destroy all traces of the battle, creating a similar effect to the fire sea. After that, he put away the white bone scorpion and flew off in the direction of the Man Ghost Sect.

...

A few days later, when Liu Ming returned to the Man Ghost Sect, everything was as it had been, with no news of the incident.

Seeing this, Liu Ming first went to the Steward Hall to record his return to the sect, then immediately returned to his residence on Nine-Infant Mountain, where he began taking pills and refining their power daily.

In the blink of an eye, seven or eight days had passed.

But on this day, an outer disciple of Nine-Infant Mountain appeared outside the courtyard and loudly announced that Gui Riquan had summoned him to the mountain.

Hearing this, Liu Ming's heart stirred, and he stopped his cultivation, walking out of the house.

After a meal's time, he appeared in the main hall on the mountaintop.

In the hall, besides Gui Riquan, he also saw the middle-aged Taoist, "Uncle Zhang."

"Indeed, it's this young man!" The middle-aged Taoist smiled upon seeing Liu Ming's face clearly.

Gui Riquan, hearing this, remained unperturbed and asked Liu Ming:

"Did you go to the Wei Prefecture market a few days ago and encounter that vicious dragon on your way back?"

"Yes, disciple did indeed go to the Wei Prefecture market," Liu Ming replied respectfully.

"Do you know that, apart from the two disciples saved by Uncle Zhang, all the others perished? What happened after Uncle Zhang left, and how did you manage to escape?" Gui Riquan asked, a hint of surprise in his expression.

The middle-aged Taoist's face showed a slight embarrassment.

Although it was understandable that he couldn't save Liu Ming at the time, he still felt somewhat uneasy in front of Gui Riquan, who was nominally Liu Ming's master.

"Reporting to Master Gui, apart from Senior Sister Qian and the other, I was probably the only one who remained conscious. So after the flying boat was shattered by the vicious dragon's immense power, I could only take some self-rescue measures..."

Liu Ming did not intend to hide anything and recounted the events that had transpired.

However, he made no mention of the white bone scorpion, the other bee thief who had also escaped and obtained the short sword spirit weapon. He only said that he had purchased a few defensive talismans from the market, which allowed him to escape the sea of fire by chance.

"Is that so? No wonder when I returned to the scene, I couldn't even find the remains of the other disciples. It seems the vicious dragon burned them all with fire. However, Nephew Bai was quite lucky to have bought some defensive talismans at the market. Otherwise, he might not have survived. If I hadn't found your name among the recent returnees in the Steward Hall, I wouldn't have known that any other disciples had survived," the middle-aged Taoist sighed.

"Brother Zhang, there's no need to blame yourself. Who would have thought that a trap meant to lure out a group of minor bee thieves would attract such a vicious dragon? And among the three spirit masters, only Brother Zhang survived, which is already a great fortune in misfortune," Gui Riquan turned and comforted him.

"I also managed to survive because the senior of the Wind Fire Sect, Chiyang, suddenly appeared and scared away the vicious dragon. This vicious dragon is far more dangerous than rumored. Even with severe injuries, it's not something we spirit masters can provoke. Unfortunately, I heard that Senior Chiyang lost track of the dragon after chasing it for two days," the middle-aged Taoist said with a bitter smile.

"This is already a good outcome. In a while, Uncle Yan should be able to come out of seclusion again, and then our sect will have a chance to gain some benefits," Gui Riquan smiled.

"I hope so. By the way, Nephew Bai can return now. Also, you must not mention anything about the vicious dragon or the market to anyone. Violators will be punished according to the sect rules," the middle-aged Taoist nodded and said sternly to Liu Ming.

"Yes, disciple understands," Liu Ming's heart tightened, and he immediately agreed and left.

"Your disciple is quite good. He could remain conscious even in the roar of that vicious dragon, which is not something an ordinary disciple can do," the middle-aged Taoist praised once Liu Ming had truly left the hall.

"Hmm, this young man is excellent in both temperament and intelligence. The only pity is his three-meridian constitution; otherwise, I would have taken him as my personal disciple long ago," Gui Riquan nodded and smiled.

"Only a three-meridian constitution, that's too bad. However, if he can reach the late-stage Spirit Apprentice, he still has a good chance of becoming a core disciple," the middle-aged Taoist also looked somewhat regretful.

"By the way, I haven't congratulated you yet. I heard that Brother Zhu and Sister Zhong went to the Sea Clan market and exchanged for a piece of Deep Sea Cold Light Iron. Tsk tsk, this material is one of the ingredients for forging true flying sword cores. I'm sure the Tianyue Sect will send someone to find you soon," the middle-aged Taoist recalled another matter and congratulated him.

"Hehe, this is Brother Zhu's good fortune. Although this material can be used as a sword core, it can only forge a low-grade flying sword. Besides, we have other important uses for it and don't plan to sell it to the Tianyue Sect," Gui Riquan stroked his beard and said with a hint of joy.

"Ah, I see. That's a pity. The Tianyue Sect is always willing to pay a high price for flying sword core materials," the middle-aged Taoist was slightly stunned, as if he couldn't quite believe it.

"Hehe, Brother will know the truth in the future," Gui Riquan chuckled, seemingly unwilling to discuss it further.

After talking for a while, the middle-aged Taoist bid farewell and left.

Back at his residence, Liu Ming entered the cultivation room and, after a serious contemplation, took out a pill and began to refine it.

For him now, reaching the late-stage Spirit Apprentice was the most important thing.

As he cultivated the third level of the Dark Bone Technique, he could clearly feel his magical power gradually increasing.

Half a month later, while cultivating, Liu Ming suddenly felt his body tremble. His spirit sea began to spin uncontrollably, and two energies, one hot and one cold, rushed out and quickly spread throughout his body, then simultaneously rushed to the top of his head.

With a "boom," Liu Ming felt a dull sound in his head, and the two energies merged in his consciousness, becoming one. His body felt light, as if he were about to float away, and he felt extremely comfortable all over.

"Success! The Dark Bone Technique has reached the late-stage Spirit Apprentice without any bottleneck."

Liu Ming stood up, feeling the sudden increase in his magical power, and was overjoyed.

This way, he no longer had to worry about the next eruption of the bubble.

After a while, Liu Ming calmed down his excitement and decided to stay in seclusion for a while until he could control the overflowing magical power at will.

This way, unless he released his aura in a battle, others would not be able to know his true cultivation level.

After all, reaching the late-stage Spirit Apprentice in such a short time was quite astonishing for someone with a three-meridian constitution.

In the following two months, Liu Ming consumed the remaining pills, and his body even developed some resistance to them. Even if he continued to take them, they would not increase his magical power much. So he began to sit in meditation daily, consolidating his late-stage Spirit Apprentice level.

What puzzled Liu Ming was that, after nearly half a year, the bubble in his body still showed no reaction.

Surprised, he was even more unwilling to undertake sect missions under such circumstances.

But one day, he still went to the secret technique pavilion on Nine-Infant Mountain and found several thick books explaining spirit weapons, which he brought back to his residence.

A few days later, after thoroughly studying a certain technique, he excitedly took out the green short sword, spat out a series of essence energy, and then made a hand seal, casting a series of techniques at it.

With a series of "pu" sounds, the spirit weapon absorbed all the essence energy, and its surface began to show dense green runes, each as small as a grain of rice. After spinning, they suddenly condensed into green patterns, forming layer upon layer of nets around the short sword, with at least a dozen layers visible.

Liu Ming's eyes narrowed as he carefully counted the number of patterns, and after a while, he muttered to himself.

"Sixteen layers of restrictions, a mid-grade spirit weapon! It's considered a top-tier mid-grade spirit weapon, which is quite good."

According to the books he had read, the power and quality of a spirit weapon were generally determined by the number of restrictions it contained.

Generally, a spirit weapon with one to nine layers of restrictions was a low-grade spirit weapon, ten to eighteen layers was a mid-grade spirit weapon, nineteen to twenty-seven layers was a high-grade spirit weapon, and twenty-seven to thirty-six layers was an excellent-grade spirit weapon.

As for those with more than thirty-six layers of restrictions, they were said to possess the power to move mountains and seas, and the books only briefly mentioned them without much detail.

Of course, this method of judging the quality and power of a spirit weapon was not absolute. After all, spirit weapons could also counteract each other, and the effectiveness of a spirit weapon depended on whether its attributes matched the cultivator's cultivation technique. In different hands, the same spirit weapon could exhibit vastly different powers.