Chapter 69

After a long while, the boiling blood finally cooled down. Wei Shizheng felt a bit out of sorts, hastily took the demon core, collected the wolf corpses, and washed the blood off his body in the mountain stream. He quietly recalled the battle just now.

One against six, defeating them one by one, a complete victory. However, he was not yet strong enough. These six iron-backed blue wolves, though they had developed intelligence and formed cores, had not yet cultivated any demon techniques. They couldn't even spit out their demon cores for a last-ditch attack, far inferior to the most common human-faced pigeons in the Ghost Gate Abyss. The creatures in Jietian Ridge were only this level, stronger and more cunning than ordinary beasts, but that was all. On the other hand, Jietian Ridge became a hunting ground for the Kunlun sect's disciples to hone their combat skills and obtain demon cores and beast bones, while in the Ghost Gate Abyss, the creatures would hunt the cultivators.

From the map's markings, there were no particularly dangerous entities in the northern hunting area of Xiandu Sect, except for the white snake spirit. Wei Shizheng estimated that if he spent more time and avoided being surrounded, he could slaughter most of the creatures. However, what was "not particularly dangerous" to him would be a tough challenge for Duan Wenhuan and Chen Suzhen; just the six iron-backed wolf demons would be enough to give them a hard time.

For some reason, he felt dispirited and somewhat nostalgic for the Ghost Gate Abyss.

After absorbing the cores of four iron-backed wolf demons, the Penglai Bag was stuffed to the brim. On the second half of his return journey, Wei Shizheng avoided areas where creatures roamed and safely returned to Huzigou.

Huzigou was deserted; the cultivators from the three sects were all hunting in Jietian Ridge, and even Cao Jinren was nowhere to be found. Wei Shizheng was delighted to have some peace. He took out a piece of leg meat from the Penglai Bag, started a fire, and cooked the meat. He ate until he was full, then lay down and had a solid sleep.

He slept for two days and one night. When he woke up and opened his eyes, the wind was gentle, and the sky was full of stars.

Well-fed and well-rested, Wei Shizheng was radiant. He took out two pieces of beast skin, spread them out, and carefully examined them to ensure nothing was missed. He then sat cross-legged and began the first step of cultivating the Dao embryo, merging the primordial energy from the twelve acquired acupoints into one, compressing it into a single acupoint.

He chose the "Dazhui" acupoint, where the three yang meridians of the hands and feet converge on the Governor Vessel, as the breakthrough point.

This was an extremely difficult attempt. The acupoint could only hold a limited amount of primordial energy. Forcing it in bit by bit was like inflating a swollen bladder. The first cultivation session lasted only a short while. The pain was bearable, but the Dazhui acupoint and nearby meridians could not withstand the immense pressure and were at risk of collapsing. Wei Shizheng had to stop and wait for the Earth Qi to slowly repair the meridians.

After resting for half a day, Wei Shizheng ate a few pieces of demon flesh to replenish his consumed primordial energy and tried compressing the energy again.

Cultivating the Dao embryo was different from opening acquired acupoints. Only demon flesh containing Earth Qi or Moon Essence could replenish the primordial energy. If the five elements were not compatible, it would consume the internal primordial energy, and he would have to discard it.

The following days were painful and monotonous. Wei Shizheng danced on the edge of a knife, constantly testing the limits. The meridians and acupoints repeatedly neared collapse and were then repaired by the Earth Qi, becoming more resilient. Sometimes he felt he had developed an obsessive-compulsive disorder, feeling uncomfortable unless he pushed the meridians and acupoints to the brink of collapse.

The time required to repair the acupoints and meridians grew longer, and the amount of Earth Qi consumed increased. At the same time, the cultivation results were significant. The Dazhui acupoint could now withstand three times the pressure of primordial energy, indicating that his approach was correct.

A month later, the demon flesh in the Penglai Bag was exhausted. Wei Shizheng picked out all the demon cores containing Earth Qi and Moon Essence and refined them one by one using the *He Qi Zhi Xuan Jing*. The primordial energy in the demon cores was far purer than that in the demon flesh, making it more beneficial for cultivation. After using the last demon core, he packed his belongings and went back into the mountains.

By then, the Dazhui acupoint could hold seven times the primordial energy.

On this hunting trip, Wei Shizheng learned from past experiences and targeted earth-type creatures. He avoided creatures of other elements unless absolutely necessary to avoid wasting time. Jietian Ridge was teeming with creatures and was suppressed by the Howling Moon Technique, making it the best place for his cultivation. Missing this opportunity, he didn't know when he could form the Dao embryo.

When Wei Shizheng returned to Huzigou for the second time, he found someone had arrived before him. He hesitated for a moment, picked out the demon cores he needed, and selected a few of the largest fire-type demon cores, temporarily storing them in the Penglai Bag.

The fire-type demon cores were for Qin Zhen, who had also been taught the *He Qi Zhi Xuan Jing* by Xun Ye.

Sure enough, the one who returned to Huzigou first was Wei Rongniang.

Wei Shizheng greeted his aunt and poured out all the collected demon cores and beast bones. There were dozens of demon cores, the largest being the size of a thumb, taken from a golden earth bear, and the smallest being the size of a broad bean, but there were many of them.

"Good harvest, worthy of being Master's disciple!" Wei Rongniang smiled, very satisfied with his achievements. She glanced at the properties of the demon cores and thought, "Master must have taught him the *He Qi Zhi Xuan Jing*. No wonder his cultivation has improved so quickly despite his innate acupoint."

She didn't say anything and collected all the demon cores and beast bones, saying, "You've done a great job in this winter hunt. After we return to the sect and tally everything, you can go to the Penglai Hall to exchange for a few bottles of elixirs. You can probably get one bottle of Yin Xu Dan and ten Ping Fu Dan."

Wei Shizheng's heart stirred, and he asked, "Would it be enough to exchange for a storage bag?"

Wei Rongniang shook her head, "There are quite a few demon cores, but their quality varies. If they were all the size of a thumb, it would be enough to exchange for a storage bag."

"Then what about the Soul Capturing Technique?"

Wei Rongniang looked at him, a bit puzzled, "You want to practice the Soul Capturing Technique? I heard from Master that the Soul Capturing Technique in the Penglai Hall is incomplete, only the outer volume, which contains some side techniques. It is widely spread, and practicing such techniques would distract you and slow down your cultivation. If you really want to exchange for it, these demon cores are not enough, but they are close."

Wei Shizheng understood. He rested in Huzigou for a few days, bid farewell to Wei Rongniang, and went back to Jietian Ridge.