Chapter 74

What is to come will inevitably arrive. Buli did not find Luo Qingquan's attitude strange, but the various clan leaders behind him were stunned. Could this young man named Buli have risen to such heights in one step? How could there be such a lucky young man? Before this "Great Trial of the Remnant Clans," who would have thought that Buli, an unknown nobody, would enter the Henshan Sect?

More people were paying attention to Luo Qingquan's attitude. Could it be that the Sect Master of Henshan Sect really brought this young man of the Bai Ling Clan into the sect because he admired him? Or was there another reason?

Envious, jealous, and resentful gazes stabbed at Buli like little knives. If looks could kill, Buli would have been torn to pieces by now.

Cai Xiaoxian, hiding in Buli's arms, blinked her big eyes at Luo Qingquan, her long eyelashes still wet with tears, looking pitifully charming.

Buli nodded and asked, "Should I come over later?"

Although Buli did not have a good impression of Luo Qingquan, Yu Ze had told him not to be arrogant and domineering, so Buli tried to remain calm.

"Fine, I'll send someone to pick you up when the time comes. How long do you need to prepare?" Luo Qingquan did not put on any airs, though he spoke from a position of authority, his tone was extremely gentle.

"Three days should be enough. I need to pack up; I don't know when I'll be back," Buli said with a smile, tilting his head.

Luo Qingquan nodded, satisfied with the arrangement, and returned to his light carriage, setting off for Henshan Sect.

With so many people around, it was not worth it to get close to Buli. Once he arrived at Henshan Sect, would there not be plenty of opportunities? Luo Qingquan suddenly found that a near-disaster had turned into a good thing, and he was in high spirits, humming a tune as he went.

Buli put Cai Xiaoxian down and, holding her hand, walked to Hu Wu, smiling slightly without saying a word.

"Unscathed, and seemingly improved. Not bad," Hu Wu said with a gloomy expression. From his expression, it did not seem like anything good at all, as if Buli had made some mistake.

Why was this old man always so gloomy? Buli still felt a sense of familiarity. This time, he had narrowly escaped death, almost reborn. It was far from what Hu Wu said, "unscathed." Seeing Hu Wu and hearing his gloomy words, Buli suddenly felt warm. He held Cai Xiaoxian's hand and stepped forward, hugging Hu Wu with his other arm.

Hu Wu was clearly not used to Buli's affection and moved like a fish, slipping away from Buli's broad shoulders and standing far away, his face under the black hood looking rather unpleasant.

After saying goodbye to Wan Liqun and others, Buli took Cai Xiaoxian and Dahu, and set off on the road back to Bai Ling Town.

There was nothing much to do in Bai Ling Town, but Buli wanted to ask Hu Wu about what had happened in the God-Abandoned Mountains. There were some things, especially the skeleton he saw in the meditation room in the ground fissure, that he needed to understand.

The journey was uneventful, and they quickly returned to Bai Ling Town. Buli had almost wiped out the Bai family, and the once-dominant Bai family in Bai Ling Town had completely fallen. There were no complications. After a brief word with Bai Xu, Buli went to the ancestral hall and entered Hu Wu's residence with him.

This place, where Buli used to come several times a year, sometimes to bring the freshest meat from a rare wild beast, snatched from Dahu's mouth, or sometimes to give Hu Wu a soft fur, as the winter in Xishan was still too cold, and Hu Wu, with his thin frame, made Buli a bit worried.

Sometimes, when Hu Wu was in a good mood, he would chat with Buli for a few minutes. Sometimes, he would not say a word. Buli was familiar and felt a sense of warmth here. As soon as he entered the small, dark room, his whole body felt as if it had been drained of energy, and he fell onto Hu Wu's small bed. The black, dirty fur, which seemed to have been from the first fierce big cat he had hunted seven or eight years ago, had not been taken out to air for all these years.

Cai Xiaoxian and Dahu, though not as fearful of Hu Wu as before, were still unwilling to enter his small, dark room and stayed outside. Cai Xiaoxian twisted Dahu's ear, asking all sorts of questions, curious about why this gluttonous and lazy creature could now speak.

"I'm exhausted," Buli said lazily. In this small, dark room, Buli could truly relax. The little bit of laziness and mischief in his nature came out without restraint.

"You've made quite a bit of progress. Let me see," Hu Wu said, sitting at the dirty table and lighting a dim oil lamp. The light was like a bean, and Hu Wu's face, hidden under the black hood, was completely invisible, like a ghost, and it was hard to tell if he was even there.

"I've reached the second level. Just as I said, you need to experience life and death. What's that ring on your finger? It's a bit strange," Hu Wu said, looking at Buli's finger.

"There are many strange things, and I have a lot of things I don't understand. You explain them to me first. I'm going to Henshan Sect in a few days, and I need to figure things out," Buli said. "The first thing is, I think I found the complete version of the three pages you gave me. But there are some differences, and I'm a bit confused."

Hu Wu did not show any excitement or enthusiasm, just sitting at the dim table, looking at Buli coldly. The three pages? It seemed to have no appeal to Hu Wu, as if it had nothing to do with him.

Buli confirmed something and continued, "I fell into the ground fissure and unexpectedly found a meditation room with a skeleton inside. The words carved on the mantle stone behind the skeleton were similar to the three pages you gave me, but there were still some differences."

"What's so strange about that?" Hu Wu said indifferently, not taking it seriously at all, as if it were the most common "Introduction to Soul Techniques" in all of Soul澜 Continent, and even if there were some differences, it was not worth making a fuss over.

Buli felt that he was a little ruffian facing Hu Wu, an old rogue, and there was nothing he could do. The situation was what it was, and the reason... well, he would just have to bear it.

"Let me tell you the origin of these three pages. You should know. I can't always be around to explain all this nonsense to you," Hu Wu said. "A few thousand years ago, during the last human-demon war, some small demon clans defected and came to Soul澜 Continent. In the first few hundred years, the elders who had experienced the human-demon war were still alive, and the original inhabitants of Soul澜 Continent and these demon clans, including your Xishan Remnant Clans, got along well. The demon clans had unique physical traits and their own understanding of Soul澜 Continent's soul techniques."

Buli sat up, cross-legged on the small bed, his ears almost perking up, not wanting to miss a single word. Hu Wu, however, treated it as if it were just a story unrelated to him.

"At that time, the demon clans were thriving, and there was a trend of surpassing the original inhabitants. Each demon clan had its own method of cultivating soul techniques. Although the ten strongest summarized the general principles, there were still subtle differences. What clan are you from? Let me think... The Bai Ling Clan has never produced any great cultivators, so there are no precedents to learn from. I gave you the general principles, and now, I think, few people on the entire Soul澜 Continent know them. What you saw underground was the remains of a great cultivator from some clan, so it's natural that there would be differences. What's so strange about that!"

So that's how it is, Buli thought and asked, "What should I do in the future?"

"Simple, find all the general principles, and you'll be the first great cultivator of your clan. Create your own cultivation method. If others can do it, I don't think you're that stupid," Hu Wu said matter-of-factly, showing no pressure at all about creating something new. It seemed to him that things should be that way, and if Buli couldn't do it, he should commit suicide to atone for his failure.

Buli was speechless. Even if everything was laid out before him, whether he could learn it or not was uncertain. Although he was good at all exams in his previous life, he had little confidence in this kind of spiritual cultivation.

"Probably just a pattern hunter. You're quite lucky. This ring is more powerful than you imagine, or rather, more powerful than the strong souls of Soul澜 Continent see in the mirage. What words are engraved on the ring?" Hu Wu asked, as if he knew everything.

"Use it not, and let your heart be undivided."

"Hmm," Hu Wu nodded slightly and said, "I can sense the soul's desire sealed within the ring. You don't have the ability to use it yet. I'll help you conceal its aura so that some shortsighted people won't get any ideas and cause me trouble."

A dark aura fell on Buli's left index finger, and the originally not very shiny ring became even less noticeable. Buli never cared about aesthetics, and if it could be as Hu Wu said, it would be a great blessing.

"Also, I got this." Buli unfastened the storage bag from his chest and threw it to Hu Wu.

Hu Wu glanced at it, sneered, and threw it back to Buli.

"I find it very suitable," Buli said.

"The space is too small. You'll have better ones in the future, but for now, this is enough for you to start."

"Take a look at this. What is it?" Buli handed over the longbow and lightly plucked the string, producing a faint dragon's cry.

Hu Wu glanced at it, his fingers lightly brushing the string, and a dark soul energy appeared on his fingers. The string of the longbow immediately became quiet, as if it, like Dahu and Cai Xiaoxian, was afraid of Hu Wu's aura.

"It's nothing, just the tendon of a second-rank wild beast. The method of preparation is a bit special, allowing it to retain soul energy. You're still too weak to use it."

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**Note:** The last part of the original text seems to be cut off, so the translation ends here.