Chapter 62 Part 1

Intelligent Wicked Wraiths had already appeared in the Lifeless Land. The news that followed was sparse, but Wei Mingyi didn’t believe it was an isolated incident.

Still, for this Wicked Wraith to brazenly participate in their Chongyuan Sect’s disciple selection was rather interesting.

After failing several times to enter the mountain gate, the Wicked Wraith was first enraged, but the surging anger was quickly suppressed. It vigilantly surveyed its surroundings and finally made a decision, turning to leave.

“You go,” Wu Chongyun’s gaze turned cold. She flicked her whisk, resting it in the crook of her arm, with no intention of making a move. A Foundation Establishment stage Wicked Wraith, outside the array and without being suppressed by its power, was perfectly suited to hone one’s skills.

Wei Mingyi nodded; she also had no intention of letting this intelligent Wicked Wraith escape.

The Wicked Wraiths had undergone some sort of metamorphosis, making them dangerous to the cultivators traveling with them.

Wei Mingyi’s figure darted, blocking the Wicked Wraith’s path.

The Wicked Wraith raised its eyes and stared expressionlessly at Wei Mingyi. “Fellow Daoist, why are you blocking my way? I no longer intend to enter Chongyuan Great Marsh. Is even that not allowed?”

Wei Mingyi gave a light scoff. “Is it that you have no intention, or that you cannot? Your skill at impersonating a person is still insufficient.”

“What do you mean?” The Wicked Wraith questioned while stepping back.

But since Wei Mingyi had come out, she had no intention of letting this Wicked Wraith leave alive. Although she had recently met with people for discussions, she had not neglected her own cultivation. Following Wu Chongyun’s instructions, she had recultivated her Qi Sea once more and had already begun “condensing Qi.” The Original Pill meant to house the Dan Seed hadn’t yet formed, but her cultivation was showing results; her magical power was growing more mellow, round, and robust.

She had grasped the transformations of magical power and divine abilities, knowing that Daoist True Words, Ink of World Purification, and Six Classics Unrolled could all integrate. However, Wei Mingyi still preferred the style of “overwhelming force crushing all skill,” directly suppressing with raw power. Her Qi meridians were all open, her foundation solid. She raised a hand, and nine golden Dharma Seals manifested, slamming towards the Wicked Wraith from all directions.

The Wicked Wraith’s expression drastically changed. It knew escape was impossible. It had been a cultivator who accepted corruption to become a Wicked Wraith, still retaining a cultivator’s intelligence and cultivation, unlike those mindless monsters. With a flick of its hand, a sword appeared in its palm. It merged body and sword, shooting towards Wei Mingyi.

Wei Mingyi’s expression remained calm and unwavering. Whatever divine ability transformations you had, before absolute power, you could stir up no waves. One after another, Dao Seals pressed forward, colliding with the sword light and emitting crisp sounds. The Wicked Wraith’s form was unsteady, shaken out from the sword light by the force. Facing the Dao Seals falling like a meteor shower from all directions, the Wicked Wraith took a deep breath and shook its body. Around it, small swords also appeared, shooting towards where the Dao Seals were.

This sword energy was the essence of the Wicked Wraith. If even a single strand escaped, the Wicked Wraith’s shattered form could potentially reassemble. Though Wei Mingyi didn’t know what divine ability the other party was using, her intuition told her it was best not to let any escaping sword energy flee. She clicked her tongue, and with a turn of her magical power, ink-black swords shimmering with golden light appeared. Like a fierce storm, they surged in all directions.

Although borrowing the form of a sword, this was not a true sword technique. Using the ink sword array to complement the Dao Seals saved the effort of refining a Sword Box. The ink swords were boundless, dyeing the area ahead in a swath of ink. The sword energy scattered by the Wicked Wraith rampaged left and right within the ink. Shattering one ink sword, another was born, unending. The sword energy also suffered attrition. After clashing several times, it ultimately self-destructed.

The Wicked Wraith’s face grew increasingly grim. Upon reaching the Foundation Establishment stage, one could indeed grasp some divine ability transformations, but they weren’t very profound. This wasn’t only because of the limited Dao manuals one could find, but also due to one’s own insufficient energy. To advance faster, one inevitably had to abandon some things. In the past, its cultivation focused on “one sword transforming into three thousand,” but it hadn’t yet cultivated to the point of “three thousand return to one.” Although this limited its killing power, escaping by itself had always been easy. Yet now, it was trapped within an array. As long as its magical power couldn’t overwhelm and destroy the ink swords, it would be hard to break through.

With a shift of thought, the Wicked Wraith spoke again: “The clans are like a Heaven Lock, binding us. Whether Dao manuals or pills, to get anything decent, one must wait for the clans to bestow them from above. What benefit is there for you, Fellow Daoist, in helping their side? In the past, becoming a Wicked Wraith meant losing self-awareness. But now, things are different. We can turn to the Wild Domain, seek out Dao manuals, and maintain our own selves.”

Wei Mingyi calmly watched the Wicked Wraith as it tried to shake her spirit. The clear light on her robe shimmered, repelling the drifting Primordial Chaos Qi. So this was the reason cultivators turned to the Wicked Wraiths? She said nothing. The wild wind rose on all sides, carrying a whooshing sound like surging ocean waves. Heavy raindrops, the size of beans, pelted down, merging into the floating ink. Wei Mingyi raised her hand and flicked a finger. Ink-black water droplets, imbued with the force of a thousand tons, smashed towards the Wicked Wraith’s chest. Though the Wicked Wraith dodged everywhere, within the wind and rain, how could it completely evade? Before long, it was smashed into a pulp of rotten flesh.

After finishing off the Wicked Wraith, Wei Mingyi returned to the cloud. She was somewhat dissatisfied with her performance; logically, a single set of Dao Seals should have directly killed this Foundation Establishment level creature.

“How was it?” Wu Chongyun asked. Although they had come to watch the Daoists climbing the Heart-Questioning Steps, her eyes hadn’t left the steps for a single moment, fully focused on observing Wei Mingyi.

“Daoist True Words can combine with other techniques to form a Nine Palaces Array. Although the variations are numerous, I always feel the power isn’t quite enough,” Wei Mingyi stated truthfully.

Wu Chongyun nodded, then said gently, “Your application of 【Ink of World Purification】 is a bit crude.” She had heard of this Dao technique—it had myriad transformations, all depending on how the cultivator chose to use it.

“I only grasp the barest surface,” Wei Mingyi sighed. She currently had over a hundred Talent Points and had considered whether to boost the technique with points, but ultimately decided against it. What if she could master it on her own? After thinking for a moment, she smacked her head and said, “After learning the Ink of World Purification, the divine ability I comprehended was ‘One Stroke to Split the Heavens.’ But a vague awareness tells me it’s not yet time to use it.”

“One stroke to split heaven and earth, dividing Yin and Yang?” Wu Chongyun’s gaze flickered. “Six Classics Unrolled… the Six Qi of Heaven and Earth…” Wei Mingyi’s cultivation methods were moving towards the “Law Dao,” and the divine abilities she was subsequently comprehending also aligned with this broad direction. “Have you still only read the first two volumes of Six Classics Unrolled?”

Wei Mingyi’s face flushed, a bit ashamed. Her Shizun could deduce cultivation methods on her own, while she herself still got dizzy and disoriented just reading Dao scriptures. She looked pitifully at Wu Chongyun: “Please, Shizun, instruct me.”

“There are things I cannot teach you,” Wu Chongyun said. Her Dao path was different from Wei Mingyi’s. She could only provide guidance on commonalities. As for how to understand Six Classics Unrolled and when to comprehend the wondrous techniques, that depended on Wei Mingyi herself. “Understanding the Yin Canon and the Yang Canon will aid your comprehension of the divine ability.”

Wei Mingyi blinked and agreed. The Yin Canon and Yang Canon were the fifth and sixth canons, respectively. This meant she had to thoroughly understand the entire 【Six Classics Unrolled】. The understanding of Dao manuals was divided into four levels: Barely Scratch the Surface at entry, then Integration, then Reaching the Summit of Mastery, and finally Skill Approaches Dao. 【Six Classics Unrolled】 was an Earth-tier scripture. Raising it one level required sixteen Talent Points. Maxing out the technique required only forty-eight points, and she currently possessed one hundred and fifty-five.

“Shizun, if I haven’t comprehended it, will it affect forming the Golden Core?” Wei Mingyi pondered for a moment before asking again.

“No,” Wu Chongyun said, lowering her eyelids. “But it is a Dao technique, related to combat skill. The sooner you comprehend it, the better. In major clans, cultivators have commentaries and sub-commentaries from predecessors.” She, like the Grand Elder, cultivated the Dao of the Zither. She could have perfectly followed Wu Weiheng’s footsteps, step by step forward, but following a predecessor’s path wasn’t her own way. During her Foundation Establishment stage, she had spent a great deal of time reading all sorts of Dao manuals, deliberately “slowing” her pace.

Wei Mingyi nodded. “I understand.”

The Heart-Questioning Steps wouldn’t yield results that quickly, and no more Wicked Wraiths existed outside.

After listening to Wu Chongyun’s words, Wei Mingyi also had an idea in her heart. It was she who had insisted on dragging Wu Chongyun to watch the Chongyuan Great Marsh selection, but the first one who wanted to leave was still herself. “Shizun—” Wei Mingyi dragged out her tone, her desire to leave written all over her face.

Wu Chongyun glanced at her and gave a light humph.

Whether they stayed or left was all up to Wei Mingyi.

The moment she returned to the Chongyuan Sect, Wei Mingyi wanted to enter seclusion.

Actually, it wasn’t her first time using the Golden Finger to add points. That feeling of gaining without effort was intoxicating.

But the System couldn’t supply Talent Points infinitely. Wei Mingyi feared she would become immersed in that pleasant, effortless feeling and abandon her own cultivation.

Before adding points, she repeatedly warned herself not to become lazy and indolent just because she could cheat.

The Golden Finger was here to propel her cultivation forward, not to hold her back.

What Daoists needed many years of reading and countless exchanges with others to comprehend, in the System was just a matter of clicking the “+” three times.

By the time it reached the Summit of Mastery, Wei Mingyi found she understood all the Canons of the Six Qi—the four seasons of Heaven, wind, rain, radiance, shadow, Yin, and Yang. When she added points for the final time, raising the skill book to “Skill Approaches Dao,” something not in the original Dao manual appeared: 【Eastern Lord’s Song of Dao Transmission: Heavenly Punishment】.

What was this? It looked like something else she still needed to learn, but there was no further option to add points after this new Dao manual.

Wei Mingyi was inwardly puzzled. She searched for 【Eastern Lord’s Song of Dao Transmission】 in the shop, but there was no result whatsoever.

In her confusion, Wei Mingyi opened 【Eastern Lord’s Song of Dao Transmission】.

It was a separate interface, like a picture scroll, only one-third illuminated.

Was it an invincible Dao manual within the Golden Finger? Three parts in total? So coincidentally, she had only learned three major scriptures. Could all of them, when brought to Skill Approaches Dao via the Golden Finger, do this? The thought that surfaced was instantly suppressed by Wei Mingyi. Even if she truly completed 【Eastern Lord’s Song of Dao Transmission】, she wouldn’t be able to learn it all at once anyway.

Wei Mingyi quickly gathered her scattering thoughts and settled her mind.

【Eastern Lord’s Song of Dao Transmission】 was written in Dao Script. The poetic text recounted an ancient myth: tens of thousands of years ago, a deity called “Eastern Lord” happened to glimpse the primal chaos and desolation of the human world. He came to the human realm, split Heaven and Earth, distinguished Yin and Yang, and ordered the four seasons and the five solar terms, making the world suitable for human survival… The process was no different from the creation myths Wei Mingyi knew.

But she was now a cultivator. Looking at this Dao manual through a cultivator’s eyes, what she saw wasn’t just a creation myth, but a change of celestial phenomena. The “Six Qi” within the Six Classics Unrolled she had already comprehended, and within this finally manifested scripture, there was hidden a lightning technique divine ability of even greater power, called “Heavenly Punishment.”

The Chongyuan Sect also possessed the 【Divine Firmament Lightning Method】, but Wei Mingyi had never learned it. That “Divine Firmament Lightning” was the inheritance of the past Divine Firmament Sect, biased towards one specific aspect. Wei Mingyi tried inputting the character “Lightning” into the shop; “Yin Lightning,” “Wood Lightning,” “Fire Lightning” popped up—thousands of variations—but none were “Punishment Lightning.”