Chapter 89: Soul Crossing Technique

Chapter 89: Chapter 89: Soul Crossing Technique

[Resting Technique: Perfection, 0/10000]

After bringing two Magic skills to Perfection, Liu Chen didn’t continue cultivating. Instead, he turned his attention to several other skills that were close to the same level.

The Purification Technique, Artifact Manipulation Technique, and Lamp Burning Technique were all just a hair away from Perfection. The time saved from mastering the Resting Technique and Body Protection Technique was more than enough for Liu Chen to push these three nearly-complete skills all the way to Perfection.

The first one he perfected was the Purification Technique. Back when it was at the Great Success stage, Liu Chen could already use it to expel impurities from his body, but only shallow ones, like those under the skin. Now, at Perfection, Liu Chen could clearly feel a gentle current of water washing over his entire body.

Casting the Purification Technique once took about the time to drink a cup of tea. But after the cleansing was complete, Liu Chen felt light and refreshed. The scars on his body vanished completely, and even some old, hidden injuries from his time as a mortal were gone.

[Purification Technique: Perfection, 0/10000]

’The Unique level must involve Spiritual Power. The undigested purple remnants left in my Spiritual Power after absorbing the Purple Bamboo Grass are the perfect material for my future Purification Technique cultivation.’

Liu Chen narrowed his eyes. The improvements from perfecting the Purification Technique were within his expectations. But when he looked at his body again, he could clearly see the purple residue remaining within the phantom image of his Body Tempering.

All of this came from absorbing the Purple Bamboo Grass. The Spiritual Power within the grass that could be used for Body Tempering had already been absorbed. What was left—these purple substances—could not be absorbed by the Body Tempering phantom and, under normal circumstances, couldn’t be expelled from his body either.

But Liu Chen had a feeling that if he could expel this purple substance from his body, his Purification Technique would basically evolve to the Unique level.

The improvement to his Artifact Manipulation Technique was straightforward: he could control larger objects from a greater distance. ’For its future evolution,’ Liu Chen mused, ’I’ll focus on developing it to assist with cooking. It’s almost purely a support-type Magic. Using it for combat would be more trouble than it’s worth, so there’s no need to force it into an offensive role.’

The Lamp Burning Technique was the same as ever. He could now ignite objects with less Spiritual Power. It was never intended as an offensive Magic, but Liu Chen could now remotely set an enemy’s clothes on fire—provided they were just ordinary clothes and not a Magic Robe.

’It’s good enough for now. It would be even better if it could ignite Spiritual Power after reaching the Unique level.’

Liu Chen nodded and glanced at the pitch-black night sky. ’I’m quite satisfied with today’s gains. Time to go back and rest.’

「The next morning」

After waking up, Liu Chen began his daily cultivation as planned. He now had only three mastered but not-yet-perfected Magic skills left.

Excluding the Solid Spirit Technique, which was used for preserving Spiritual Cuisine, that left the Soul Crossing Technique and the Flying Flower Skill.

After a moment of silence, Liu Chen decided to use all the time freed up by perfecting his other Magic skills to cultivate the Flying Flower Skill. The Soul Crossing Technique was only effective against wandering Ghost Souls or Evil Cultivators who controlled Evil Ghosts. In terms of cost-effectiveness, the Flying Flower Skill was a bit more valuable.

However, Liu Chen’s intense cultivation of the Flying Flower Skill was a great misfortune for the bamboo leaves in the grove. In just one day, a large patch of the bamboo forest had been thinned out, and the ground was littered with shredded leaves.

Fortunately, on the twenty-sixth of August, Liu Chen only had to cultivate the Flying Flower Skill for a single hour before it reached Perfection. Otherwise, aside from the true Cyan Bamboo, the rest of the grove would have likely been reduced to bare stalks.

[Flying Flower Skill: Perfection, 0/10000]

Previously, the Flying Flower Skill could control several hundred leaves or petals for an attack. At Perfection, that number increased to 999. If he were to form all these leaves and petals entirely out of Spiritual Power, Liu Chen’s current reserves would only be enough to cast the Flying Flower Skill three times.

’Then again, a battle in the Body Tempering Realm probably wouldn’t reach that stage. Besides, I wouldn’t fight someone unless I was absolutely certain of victory.’

"What a shame."

Liu Chen sighed, looking at the carpet of bamboo leaves. If he could have helped it, he wouldn’t have wanted to leave the bamboo grove in this state. But it was unavoidable. The moment of insight during a Magic breakthrough caused his Spiritual Power to circulate uncontrollably, and most of the time, Liu Chen couldn’t stop it.

The Unique evolutions of the Withering Skill and Recovery Technique involved the Spiritual Veins within the human body, or even one’s cultivation foundation, so there was no external change.

The Sword Control Technique focused on Sword Control, not destruction, so its impact wasn’t very significant either.

The other Magic skills he had perfected were all within a controllable range. The Flying Flower Skill, however, either required a massive amount of Spiritual Power or the use of existing materials. And so, the bamboo grove suffered.

After a brief moment of reflection, Liu Chen began cultivating the Soul Crossing Technique. The Solid Spirit Technique was purely for sealing Spiritual Qi; for Liu Chen, it could even be defined as one of the essential Magic skills for a Spirit Chef. The Soul Crossing Technique, however, would help him silence his enemies more effectively.

’A Cultivator might turn into an Evil Cultivator after death, or become a wandering Ghost Soul controlled by one. Aside from dealing with such foes, when I kill an enemy, I prefer a permanent solution. Directly crossing their soul over will undoubtedly save a lot of trouble.’

Liu Chen cultivated the Soul Crossing Technique in his usual manner. Perhaps it was because he practiced it for too long this time, or maybe he had finally accumulated enough Proficiency.

As evening approached, Liu Chen was surprised to see numerous Ghost Souls on Purple Bamboo Peak that could be crossed over.

To call them Ghost Souls wasn’t entirely accurate. Liu Chen could only vaguely see them, and they were much weaker. According to the Soul Crossing Technique’s description, a Ghost Soul formed after a person’s death would normally dissipate within seven days. In this stage, the Ghost Soul was basically no different from when the person was alive.

If it could regain its Spiritual Wisdom within those seven days, it could become a Ghost Cultivator—the most significant branch of Evil Cultivators. If it failed to regain its Spiritual Wisdom, it would most likely become one of the Ghostly Creatures controlled by an Evil Cultivator.

Furthermore, after seven days, a Ghost Soul would turn malevolent and begin to harm people.

Compared to the Ghost Souls his mistress described in her teachings on Magic, the ones Liu Chen could perceive were much tinier. If he had to make a comparison, they were about the size of a normal Ghost Soul’s fingernail.

Although Liu Chen didn’t know what these things were, he had always practiced the Soul Crossing Technique on empty air. ’Now that there’s finally something to cross over,’ he thought, ’who cares what it is? I’ll just do it.’

After crossing over the Ghost Soul closest to him, Liu Chen clearly felt that the bamboo leaf at his feet seemed to have changed in some way.

Liu Chen had a theory about this, but after picking up the leaf, he couldn’t find any difference between it and the other bamboo leaves.

Liu Chen didn’t dwell on it and continued crossing over the Ghost Souls he could "see."

Liu Chen’s strange behavior caught the attention of his two junior sisters. Ji Suyao and Ye Linglong watched quietly as Liu Chen rushed about the bamboo grove, wondering what he was so busy with.

"What’s wrong with Senior Brother?"

Ji Suyao couldn’t help but ask. In the past, whenever their senior brother was cultivating Magic, no matter how much of a commotion he caused, he would always stay in one area and never move around like this.

"I don’t know. It looks like he’s searching for something."

Ye Linglong slowly shook her head. She had no idea what was going on either.