Chapter 91

Chapter 90

Ding Hao really wanted the Monkey Tail Sword! He wanted it so much! Therefore, he had a sudden idea and asked Xu Yuan Kun to make a trip to the native city.

Although five spirit stones were a huge sum, Ding Hao believed that Xu Yuan Kun and the others would not run away just for five spirit stones.

Xu Yuan Kun and the others were deeply moved when they received the spirit stones, never expecting that the genius Ding Hao trusted them so much! Five spirit stones, and they were allowed to go shopping with them!

After finishing the meat, Xu Yuan Kun and another young officer rode the horned horses to the native city.

The remaining young officer escorted Ding Hao back to Wuzhou City.

Xu Yuan Kun and the others returned to Wuzhou City just as Ding Hao arrived, handing over the Monkey Tail Sword to him.

Ding Hao finally obtained the weapon he had long desired, and he was overjoyed. Of course, he couldn't resist practicing with it.

The weather was clear, and a gentle breeze blew.

In the backyard of the wooden sculpture Ding family's residence on South Garden Rear Street.

"Master, you are truly amazing!"

"Here, here..."

"Here!"

"Master, look!"

Several maids of various sizes held different fruits and vegetables. They surrounded a young man who held a round handle in his hand. The handle was connected to an elastic monkey tail, and the other end of the monkey tail was attached to a flying sword.

Under the young man's control, the flying sword darted up and down, reflecting dazzling light in the sunlight. The maids laughed and threw the fresh fruits in their hands, and the young man controlled the Monkey Tail Sword to slash them. The sword was sharp and swift, often slicing the fruits several times in mid-air, giving it a bit of a feel of slicing fruits in another world.

Although the Monkey Tail Sword was good, it required practice. Only by mastering it could it be effective in battle.

In the crisp autumn air, among the flowers and trees, the Monkey Tail Sword slashed back and forth. Eventually, it could even cut bees and butterflies in half as they flew by. Ding Hao was thoroughly enjoying himself.

Finally, Jiu Nu said, "Alright, these are just minor skills. Hurry up and refine the Iron Encircling Mountain, or you won't finish it before the imperial examination, which will greatly affect your strength."

"Alright," Ding Hao reluctantly put away the Monkey Tail Sword and entered the meditation room, officially beginning his seclusion.

In the meditation room, Ding Hao sat cross-legged, and with a thought, he entered a perfect state of tranquility, his mind entering the Star Absorption Stone.

Red clouds billowed, and Jiu Nu's shadow, with fluttering sleeves, appeared in the red clouds.

He said, "The spiritual energy of the Gangti Bao Lian is extraordinary. You will understand this when you enter the greater world. There are many types of spiritual energy, and even the spirit stones used by everyone come in various colors. The colorless spirit stone you currently possess is the most basic and also the lowest-grade spirit stone."

"So, spirit stones also have different grades," Ding Hao nodded and asked, "What kind of spiritual energy is in the Gangti Bao Lian?"

Jiu Nu said, "The spiritual energy in the Gangti Bao Lian is called Primordial Gangti Spiritual Energy. It is a type of spiritual energy as hard as metal, the most solid type of wood attribute spiritual energy."

"The most solid type of wood attribute spiritual energy," Ding Hao nodded.

Jiu Nu continued, "I will teach you now! This is a relatively basic cultivation technique. Since your mental power is sufficient, you can start practicing it early."

"After absorbing the Primordial Gangti Spiritual Energy, incorporate it into your qi sea, then use the method I taught you to control and move this spiritual energy. Absolutely do not let it fall into the qi sea!"

"After some time, it will gradually settle and form a spiritual energy crystal. You need to guide it to the edge of the qi sea. As the quantity increases, it will form a mountain of crystals, eventually creating the Iron Encircling Mountain."

"Alright, I'll try to cultivate it."

Ding Hao withdrew his mind from the Star Absorption Stone and began to cultivate according to Jiu Nu's method.

Taking out the seed of the Gangti Bao Lian, Ding Hao thought, "Star Absorption Technique, Absorb!"

"Indeed, this spiritual energy is very strong and hard!" Ding Hao was shocked. This was indeed different.

This spiritual energy, when absorbed into the meridians, felt like a sharp blade. As it passed through his meridians, it was as if a layer of his meridians was being scraped off, causing unbearable pain.

"This cultivation is so painful!" Ding Hao endured it silently.

Jiu Nu's voice came from his ear, "Endure it. Although the Primordial Gangti Spiritual Energy damages the meridians, it is worth it! In the future, I will have a way to help you repair your meridians!"

Since Jiu Nu said so, Ding Hao continued to endure the pain in his meridians and began to absorb the spiritual energy.

Soon, a large amount of Primordial Gangti Spiritual Energy entered the qi sea.

"As Jiu Nu said, I must not let this spiritual energy sink into the qi sea! Otherwise, it will be assimilated and wasted!"

Ding Hao, of course, could not allow it to be assimilated. He immediately used his mental power to control the spiritual energy, preventing it from falling into the qi sea.

"Indeed, it is floating!" Ding Hao was pleasantly surprised, but he also felt that his mental power was being consumed at an alarming rate.

"This cultivation relies entirely on mental power. Fortunately, I ate a Divine Essence Fruit earlier, which has made the cultivation process much faster," Ding Hao thought, realizing that Jiu Nu had indeed anticipated this.

He then used his mental power to guide the spiritual energy to the edge of the qi sea. After a while, he saw the Primordial Gangti Spiritual Energy begin to form transparent and hard crystals.

The blue-ice-like crystals grew larger and larger, eventually becoming a large block that fell from the air.

Splash! The crystal landed on the edge of the qi sea, forming the first shore.

"Success, this is how it should be!" Ding Hao was overjoyed. Building the Iron Encircling Mountain required continuous refinement, transforming the spiritual energy in the seed into large crystal blocks to encase the central qi sea.

This was not a difficult task, just time-consuming.

While Ding Hao was focused on refining the Iron Encircling Mountain, the Tang Family Business was in a state of turmoil.

...

Tang Family Business, Meeting Hall.

In the large hall, several people were sitting cross-legged.

In the center sat the Great Elder of the Tang Family, a late-stage Qi Cultivation expert. Beside him sat the white-haired and bearded Chief Manager Tang Kongming, along with other high-ranking members of the business.

"I hear that the merchants are doing a booming business recently," a female elder spoke first. "Our Tang Family's Eye-Washing Tree Spring has a problem, but we never expected them to launch a substitute product, the Eye-Washing Spirit Water. They are now aggressively promoting and selling it, and all the disciples from various states have been snatched away by them!"

Her words were met with complaints from the other elders.

It was important to note that when the Tang Family's Eye-Washing Spirit Liquid had a problem, the first to be affected were the elders. Their contributions were reduced. In other words, if the business couldn't make money, everyone's salaries would naturally be cut.

The Great Elder's face was dark as he asked, "Kongming, what's the deal with this Eye-Washing Spirit Water?"

Chief Manager Tang Kongming quickly replied, "Elders, I have already purchased some Eye-Washing Spirit Water and found that it is almost identical to our Eye-Washing Spirit Liquid, except that it lacks spiritual energy."

"Can't you analyze what kind of spirit wood it is extracted from?" the Great Elder asked sternly.

"We can't analyze it," Tang Kongming said, looking embarrassed.

"Who provided this to the merchants?" another elder asked angrily.

A female elder speculated, "If I'm not mistaken, it should be some spirit wood tribes from outside the domain, led by demon daoists. Only they have knowledge of various spirit woods."

Although many agreed with this elder, Tang Kongming still said, "I have a feeling that this Eye-Washing Spirit Water still comes from our Eye-Washing Tree Spring!"

"How so?" the Great Elder turned to him.

Tang Kongming said, "According to reports from our spies in the merchant's camp, the person selling these powders is a mysterious black-clothed man. When selling, he also sold 83 bottles of Eye-Washing Spirit Liquid, all in small gourds like ours, and the quantity matches the batch we lost last time."

The Great Elder frowned and asked, "What are you trying to say?"

Tang Kongming said decisively, "I suspect that this black-clothed man who sold the powders is the culprit who destroyed our Eye-Washing Tree Spring! And the batch of Eye-Washing Spirit Liquid we lost was also taken by this person!"

"What audacity!"

All the elders present were furious. One of them said, "Finding this person and killing him won't satisfy my anger! He should be flayed alive, and then his soul should be refined in public. His entire family should be killed in front of his soul to avenge this!"

This person was so angry that he even thought of such cruel ideas.

The Great Elder's eyes flashed, and he asked, "Has the big yellow dog been investigated?"

Tang Kongming stood up and replied, "Elders, when I saw the big yellow dog, I had some suspicions, and I have recently conducted an investigation."

Everyone was silent, and Tang Kongming continued, "We recently made an enemy named Ding Hao. According to my knowledge, he keeps a big yellow dog, so I specifically investigated Ding Hao."

"I found that at the time of the incident, he was participating in the Wuzhou Autumn Hunt in the nearby Lianyun Mountains. I also inquired about the participants in the Autumn Hunt, and everyone said that Ding Hao was missing for three days. Therefore, I have sufficient reason to suspect Ding Hao. He used these three days to infiltrate our secret base, destroy the Eye-Washing Tree Spring, and steal the Eye-Washing Spirit Liquid!"

"Ding Hao? Who is Ding Hao?" Most of the elders present had never heard of this name.

The Great Elder, who had also never heard of him, coldly snorted, "If that's the case, this person is indeed suspicious. However, I don't know why our Tang Family has a grudge against him, and what is his cultivation level?"

The Chief Manager said, "He is at the late-stage of the innate realm, and the reason for the grudge..."

He began to explain the entire situation, but before he could finish, the Great Elder suddenly flew into a rage and slapped Tang Kongming across the face.

The Great Elder's slap knocked Tang Kongming to the ground, shocking everyone present.

The Great Elder stood alone and scolded, "Tang Yingyu is young, but you, at your age, don't understand? We are merchants, and harmony brings wealth. Why did you offend this person for no reason? Tang Yingyu was not a key figure in the family! You offended this person for Tang Yingyu, and it was not worth it. It turns out that you, this beast, brought this disaster upon us!"