Chapter 600 - 412: Golden Core 5th Layer (Part 2)

Fang Qingyuan began to speak slowly.

"This Ghost Cultivator was most likely trapped within this array. The remnants of the old array must still have some effect; otherwise, the black soil alone wouldn’t have been enough to hold him. But I have a concern. In all the years this patch of black soil has been here, could it really have trapped only a single Ghost Cultivator?"

Qiqi’s heart skipped a beat. Thinking about Fang Qingyuan’s words, she realized he had a very good point. The Ghost Cultivator had been trapped here for sixty years at most. But according to Fang Qingyuan’s discovery, this array had been active for an unknown number of years. Over such a long time, there was no telling how many other strange beings might have been trapped in this black soil.

"So, what do you want me to do?"

"This is a matter of great importance. I’m afraid I won’t be able to handle it on my own when the time comes, so I’ll need Brother Xiong’s support. You should head back first and do your best to convince your ancestor. I’ll send you a signal when I need his help."

"This... All right, I’ll head back first. I can tell you don’t need me at the moment."

After saying this bluntly to Fang Qingyuan, Qiqi turned and headed back the way she came. Watching her retreating figure, Fang Qingyuan sighed softly. ’I really am better off working alone.’

His sigh finished, Fang Qingyuan looked at the black soil before him, his heart leaping with joy. ’So much spiritual material... If my Immortal Mansion absorbs it all, my Earth Spirit Root aptitude will probably leap straight to Celestial-grade.’

Over the years, the aptitude of all of Fang Qingyuan’s Five Elements Spirit Roots had already reached the Earth-grade. This was especially true when he formed his Golden Core; the massive influx of Spiritual Qi he absorbed in that moment had greatly expanded his Immortal Mansion, and his Spirit Root aptitude had grown right along with it.

Currently, the aptitude values for his Five Elements Spirit Roots were: Metal 46, Wood 47, Earth 46, Fire 45, and Water 44.

Reaching a Spirit Root affinity of fifty meant one had a Celestial-grade Spirit Root. Anything above the Celestial-grade was a closely guarded secret among the major sects.

Over the years, the various materials Fang Qingyuan had collected to enhance his Spirit Roots had become largely useless after his aptitude reached the Earth-grade.

The Spiritual Materials and Objects needed to improve an Earth-grade Spirit Root were all astronomically expensive. Even though Fang Qingyuan could evolve his Spirit Roots by absorbing materials through his Immortal Mansion, the required grade of those materials was frighteningly high.

Now, only Tier Four Spiritual Materials could give Fang Qingyuan’s Spirit Root aptitude any sort of boost.

And Tier Four Spiritual Materials were normally used by Nascent Soul Cultivators; every single piece was incredibly rare. Even with his modest wealth, Fang Qingyuan couldn’t afford to use Tier Four materials as if they were water.

Without a large supply of Tier Four Spiritual Materials, an occasional piece or two couldn’t raise Fang Qingyuan’s aptitude at all. Thus, for the past few years, he hadn’t even considered collecting materials to send into his Immortal Mansion.

But now, this black soil—this immense quantity of heavy clay infused with Spiritual Qi, Demonic Qi, and death qi—was being absorbed by the land in his Immortal Mansion. Incredibly, it was providing Fang Qingyuan with a trace of pure, essential energy. He had a feeling that if this energy increased enough, his Earth Spirit Root aptitude was bound to break through to the next level.

And so, after sending Qiqi away, Fang Qingyuan calmly resumed transporting the black soil into his Immortal Mansion. He savored the wonderful process of slowly but surely improving his aptitude and steadily increasing his own power.

...

「Half a month later.」

Inside the Withered White Bone Prison, the Ghost Cultivator took various bone materials of different shapes and compositions from his storage bag. He fiddled with them in front of himself, gradually constructing a strange Bone Altar.

"Those bones of yours... they don’t look like common items. Care to tell me about them?"

As the Ghost Cultivator worked on the array, Xu Qingxuan spoke, his voice weak. His face sagged beneath his withered, white hair.

Over the past half-month, the two had grown somewhat familiar. Trapped in a Bone Prison barely ten feet across, they could neither cultivate nor sleep. It was only natural that they began to talk to one another.

For sixty years, the Ghost Cultivator had been cut off from the nourishment of external Spiritual Qi. To resist the Power of Heavy Earth, he had exhausted almost all of his energy and was like a lamp running out of oil. If Xu Qingxuan hadn’t fallen in, he likely wouldn’t have lasted much longer.

"These bones? Heh heh, they’re all from my prized collection. Unlike you Cultivators and your craving for Heaven and Earth Spiritual Objects, our pursuits as Ghost Cultivators are quite simple."

"People of this world have a deep misunderstanding of Ghost Cultivators. Think about it: we don’t fight you Cultivators for Spiritual Lands, we don’t consume your Elixir Pills or use your Magical Artifacts, and we certainly don’t fight you for women."

"Depending on our Cultivation Technique, all we need is a place of yin, darkness, gloom, or death. We can sit there for thousands of years without moving. We could live and let live, never getting in the way of Cultivators. So why do you insist on hunting us to extinction?"

Hearing the Ghost Cultivator’s reasoning, Xu Qingxuan retorted unhappily, "Then what about when you turn the dead into Corpse Ghosts? How is that ’living and letting live’?"

The Ghost Cultivator had drained decades of his life, not only turning him into an old man in an instant but also making his recovery in this Land of Heavy Earth excruciatingly slow.

Now that they had reached a simple, cooperative understanding, he felt bold enough to speak his mind.

"You have it backward! It’s precisely because Ghost Cultivators are not tolerated in this world that we’re forced to increase our strength to survive, which leads to such things. If we could coexist peacefully, we would just keep to ourselves. Why would we need to create so many ghostly beings? For decoration?"

Xu Qingxuan shook his head, disagreeing. "And how many Ghost Cultivators in this world are self-disciplined enough for that?"