Chapter 20

"Finally, the wandering soul has been completely consumed, and the ordinary ghost has indeed reached the peak of soul nurturing as I had anticipated. Next, it’s time to change the body."

"The medicinal spirit ghost, although a derivative of the wood attribute soul, does not necessarily require a wood attribute aura during cultivation. A certain amount of medicinal fragrance is sufficient. Of course, if there is no medicinal fragrance, the Spirit Imitation Technique in the *True Explanation of Ghost Dao* can also be used to simulate a medicinal fragrance with some weak souls, achieving the same purpose, but the effect is far inferior to using medicinal herbs."

"However, I only have ten spirit stones in my possession, which are not enough to buy even one spirit herb..."

"Only by the medicinal fragrance entering the soul can the ghost qi, yin qi, and soul power be transformed, merging with the medicinal fragrance to recast the soul and form a medicinal spirit ghost. This step of changing the body is the most critical. If it goes wrong, this ordinary ghost will be considered useless."

Hu Donghan frowned, pondering a solution in his mind.

Suddenly, a flash of inspiration struck Hu Donghan. He clapped his hands and thought, "Right, how could I have forgotten! By the time calculation, today is the beginning of the month, the time when disciples receive their monthly stipend. With my cultivation at the first level of Qi Condensation, I can receive five spirit stones and two small qi-nourishing pills. Adding the ten spirit stones I already have, it should be enough to exchange for a less potent spirit herb. Fortunately, the initial cultivation of a medicinal spirit ghost does not require a high-quality spirit herb. Otherwise, it would indeed be a difficult situation. As long as the body change is completed, the subsequent solidification only requires sufficient wandering souls..."

"However, after three days of ghost cultivation, I am indeed quite exhausted. It’s not too late to rest a bit before proceeding."

With this thought, Hu Donghan sat cross-legged on the bed, closed his eyes, and began meditating.

Once the *Mystic Yin Heart Method* turned yin, Hu Donghan was only in meditation for a few minutes before he opened his eyes in surprise, sensing the situation within his body with disbelief.

"This... This is? Why is the cultivation speed of my *Mystic Yin Heart Method* more than twice as fast as before? Could this be the benefit the ordinary ghost brings me?"

"No! The ordinary ghost is not currently assisting in cultivation; it’s my own cultivation speed that has increased! What’s going on? Could it be..."

Hu Donghan closed his eyes again and recited the *Mystic Yin Heart Method* cultivation technique for the Qi Condensation stage in his mind. He felt that his understanding of the *Mystic Yin Heart Method* seemed to be deeper and more profound than before. Some content that previously seemed ambiguous was now thoroughly understood, and some simpler content gave him new insights.

A deeper understanding of the heart method and these new insights were the main reasons for the increased cultivation speed!

"The *True Explanation of Ghost Dao*! It’s the influence of the *True Explanation of Ghost Dao*! The general principles of ghost techniques described in it have made my understanding of the *Mystic Yin Heart Method* deeper and more thorough! A single general principle can have such a miraculous effect?" Hu Donghan verified all the information in his mind and quickly found the root cause, marveling repeatedly.

After calming his excited heart, Hu Donghan continued to cultivate the *Mystic Yin Heart Method*.

After about an hour, Hu Donghan stopped cultivating. His spirit power was fully restored, and his mental state was much better.

"The cultivation speed of the *Mystic Yin Heart Method* is now twice as fast as before, and the spirit power recovery speed is more than three times faster. Additionally, the purity of the spirit power is much stronger than before. A single general principle can have such a terrifying improvement, truly unimaginable!" Hu Donghan got up and stretched, then thought, "Now, I should first go to the External Affairs Hall to collect this month’s stipend, and then find a way to exchange for a spirit herb."

He opened the door and walked out. As he closed the door, Hu Donghan’s eyes swept over and saw a small fox carved below the four characters "Girl, save me" on the door. Below the small fox, a small knife was also carved.

Seeing the small fox, a gentle look flashed in Hu Donghan’s eyes.

Sure enough, the girl had been here.

This small fox was Hu Meier’s mark. Hu Donghan believed that in the entire Yin Soul Sect, the only person who would draw a fox below the four characters "Girl, save me" was Hu Meier. As for the small knife below the fox, it was probably because of Hu Donghan’s "girl" nickname.

Since childhood, Hu Donghan had lived with Hu Meier and knew her character very well.

Hu Meier, the child bride, although she often "bullied" Hu Donghan, truly cared about him. Now that Hu Donghan had asked for her help, Hu Meier would definitely be keeping a close eye on his surroundings. If Hu Donghan were in danger, Hu Meier would definitely be the first to appear to protect him—just as Hu Donghan would protect Hu Meier.

After tightly closing the door, Hu Donghan strode out of the outer disciples’ courtyard.

He hadn’t walked far when he felt someone was watching him. Turning his head, Hu Donghan’s gaze swept around and saw a figure hiding furtively.

"That damned servant? Humph!" Hu Donghan recognized the figure, sneered, and ignored it.

Soon, Hu Donghan arrived at the External Affairs Hall. He went to the "monthly stipend" area to collect his stipend and didn’t linger, directly leaving the External Affairs Hall. Standing outside, he was thinking about how to obtain a spirit herb when he suddenly saw six cultivators hurrying over from a distance. Two of these six people were familiar to Hu Donghan: Mu Zhengfeng and Wang Linshu!

Among these six people, besides Mu Zhengfeng and Wang Linshu, three wore blue robes, had a whip hanging from their waist, and a metal plaque on the other side, indicating they were enforcement disciples! The last person, though not dressed extravagantly and with an ordinary appearance, exuded a different aura, at least at the late-stage Foundation Establishment level—this person was likely an inner disciple!

"Uncle, it’s him!"

Mu Zhengfeng, seeing Hu Donghan from a distance, squinted his small eyes even more and excitedly pointed at Hu Donghan, shouting, "There! Right there! That guy is Hu Donghan!"

The others, hearing Mu Zhengfeng’s shout, all frowned and instinctively moved away. The three enforcement disciples were even more so—this time, they came because someone reported Hu Donghan for violating the sect rules, and also out of respect for the late-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator. If not for this, they wouldn’t have bothered to come from the main peak to the Stacked Peaks Peak to find trouble with a first-level Qi Condensation cultivator. They could have spent this time in closed cultivation, which would be much better!