Just when Song Shuhang turned toward Senior White to ask for help, the energy of the ‘Five Elements Spirit Contracting Altar’ was used up.

Without the formation to bind it, the ghost spirit was finally out of its difficult situation!

Originally, the ghost spirit should have returned inside the spirit-binding ice bead once the saliva of ghost dragon was depleted. But now, after undergoing a strange mutation, it was able to maintain its form even without the support of the saliva of ghost dragon!

After breaking through the formation, the ghost spirit howled. Afterward, it charged toward Song Shuhang! It remembered that it was this man that had tortured itself with the aid of the formation. Therefore, it wanted to shred him into pieces!

When facing the ghost spirit that was dashing toward him, Song Shuhang kept his cool. He clenched his right hand into a fist and welcomed the ghost spirit with an explosive punch, "Basic Fist Number One!"

The ghost spirit howled. It welcomed the fist head-on without any fear.

"Boom!" The two of them collided!

Song Shuhang was shaken and had to take seven or eight steps back before stabilizing himself. On the other hand, the ghost spirit was only slightly pushed back. The difference between the two was very big.

Song Shuhang rubbed his fists and carefully looked at the ghost spirit.

"Roar!" The ghost spirit cried out once again. It shot like an arrow and clawed at Song Shuhang with its ghastly claws that were emitting a cold light.

At this time, Venerable White made his move. He gently raised his finger and said, "Go."

The small sword made of spiritual qi hovering over Song Shuhang’s head slightly moved. A streak of sword qi shot toward the ghost spirit.

The dashing ghost spirit was surprised. It immediately raised its small golden shield to defend against the sword qi.

"Rip!" The sword qi pierced into the shield!

That sturdy small shield was pierced like paper, and the strength of the sword qi didn’t diminish in the slightest. Afterward, it struck the body of the ghost spirit and sent it flying.

The ghost spirit called out pitifully while in midair and cracks started to appear on its body.

It had been severely injured!

Venerable White had kept the power of the sword qi to the minimum. Otherwise, one of his casual attacks would have completely destroyed the ghost spirit.

After falling onto the ground, the ghost spirit emitted a panic-stricken and painful howl.

Then, it looked at Venerable White as if looking at a monster. From this attack, it had understood how strong the other party was. Therefore, it chose to run away—it rolled on the floor and got up, and afterward, it dashed toward the window.

Venerable White faintly smiled.

Then, he detonated the remnants of sword qi left inside the body of the ghost spirit.

Just when it was two steps away from the window, the ghost spirit crashed on the ground once again. This time, it didn’t even have the strength to get up.

The ghost spirit had a terrified expression. It tried to restore its damaged body and suppress the injuries caused by the sword qi.

While trying to restore its damaged body, its spiritual body started to get smaller and smaller—this was because it didn’t have enough energy. Therefore, it could only melt its spiritual body and use it to restore the injuries caused by the sword.

After restoring its injuries… the size of the ghost spirit was comparable to that of a fist.

***

"Ah?" Venerable White cried out in surprise. Even after receiving a large wound, a ghost spirit of the middle-rank wouldn’t shrink till becoming fist-sized.

Did it undergo a mutation after absorbing the energy of the dying green-robed loose cultivator?

Impossible! A ghost spirit couldn’t transform so easily.

There must be some other reason that he wasn’t aware of!

Venerable White took a step forward. Then, he stretched out his hand toward the fist-sized ghost spirit.

The ghost spirit wanted to run away. However, Venerable White’s slender hand seemed capable of covering heaven and earth; it easily caught it.

At the same time, he used his mental energy to inspect it, sweeping its body from head to toe.

After having swept it with his mental energy, Senior White opened his eyes, his expression strange.

The ghost spirit in his hand was originally of the middle rank. But now, it had lost a rank and transformed into a ‘low-rank ghost spirit’!

The rank of a ghost spirit was decided upon its birth, and without fortuitous encounters, it wouldn’t change for the rest of its life.

But now, the rank of this ghost spirit had decreased… just how did it happen?

Song Shuhang asked, "Senior White, is something the matter?"

"This ghost spirit… changed into a low-ranked one!" Venerable White grabbed the fist-sized ghost spirit and carefully scrutinized it. At the same time, he tried to look into his thousands of years of experience to check if there was a similar case.

"It became a low-ranked ghost spirit?" Song Shuhang opened his eyes wide.

Even if the difference between a low-rank and a middle-rank ghost spirit was of only one rank, there was a huge difference between the two. A low-ranked ghost spirit didn’t have intelligence, and it could only act as an extra reserve of energy for the owner. Moreover, it could reach the Third Stage Acquired Realm at best.

On the other hand, the intelligence of a middle-ranked ghost spirit was much higher, and it could even share its mind and energy with the owner. Furthermore, it could even help the latter purify the energy contained within their body and assist in their cultivation, strengthening their energy. Last but not least, it could reach the Sixth Stage Realm!

Therefore, a low-ranked ghost spirit could only be considered as a ‘supplementary magical equipment’ at best.

While a middle-rank ghost spirit was a real ‘add-on’.

Was his character this bad? After failing only once, even the rank of his ghost spirit had decreased. Soft Feather failed so many times in a row, and nothing happened...

The good deeds I did back then were all for naught? Song Shuhang thought.

Just as he was at a loss, Venerable White discovered that this ghost spirit was somewhat unusual.

"Very strange… it didn’t actually decrease in rank!" Venerable White carefully looked at the fist-sized ghost spirit, staring at it for a while. Then, he said with a smile, "So, it was like this! Little Friend Shuhang, your luck isn’t half bad!"

Song Shuhang asked, "Senior, what happened?"

Venerable White raised the ‘low-ranked ghost spirit’ in his hand and pointed toward its center. In that place, there was a magic rune revolving slowly—it was the core of the ghost spirit.

"Can you see it? It’s a core! Low- and middle-ranked ghost spirits don’t have a core. Only high-ranked ones can have it."

"Your ghost spirit underwent a mutation due to various circumstances; however, it didn’t succeed in becoming a high-rank ghost spirit. Rather than that, it used its remaining energy to condense this ‘core’. But, due to the excessive consumption of energy, it regressed to a low-rank ghost spirit. Nevertheless, this is only a temporary thing. In due time, when it has recovered its energy, it will return once again to being a middle-rank ghost spirit, and it will even have the opportunity to become a high-rank ghost spirit in the future. If you train it well, you might even obtain a high-rank ghost spirit!" Venerable White said with a smile.

"It can transform into a high-rank ghost spirit?" Song Shuhang was moved—having a middle-rank ghost spirit was equivalent to an ordinary cultivator helping you practice. However, having a high-rank ghost spirit was comparable to a very talented cultivator helping you practice day and night!

"Little Friend Shuhang, you still have some mental energy left, right? If so, you should use the ‘Five Elements Spirit Contracting Altar’ once again and make a contract with it while it’s still weak," Venerable White said with a smile.

"If I have some mental energy left? Even if I hadn’t, I would still try!" Song Shuhang gritted his teeth. Even if he had to squeeze out every bit of mental energy, he would do it!

***

Inside the Nine Provinces Number One Group, several seniors were discussing.

Medicine Master: "I discovered why those four fellow daoists that entered the mysterious island lost their memories. It wasn’t because their brains suffered damage or because someone erased their memories. Moreover, they weren’t confused by an illusory art either."

"Then, what is the cause? 🤔" True Monarch Yellow Mountain asked.

"While very strange, this is the result we obtained with joint collaboration. The reason is—those two fellow daoists and their dao children signed on own initiative a ‘contract’ with a powerful being. Therefore, they sealed their memories on their own! 😅" Medicine Master replied with a bitter smile.

When he came to this conclusion, even Medicine Master was taken aback—however, there was no mistake about it. Those two fellow daoists used a special method and sealed their own memories. The technique used to seal their memories left behind the traces of a ‘contract’… and once the conditions of the contract were satisfied, they would become the key to untie the seal.

But now, Daoist Priest Kun Yi and Daoist Nun Xuan Xuan didn’t remember anything about what had happened on the ‘mysterious island’ or about things pertaining the seal. Therefore, they had no idea what were the conditions of the contract.

They had no idea from where to start from to untie this seal.

"Even two Fifth Stage Spiritual Emperors were able to leave that island only after willingly sealing their memories. Just what kind of secret is hidden there? And what level has reached that powerful being? 😯" Scholar Drunken Moon sighed with emotion.

Medicine Master replied, "This aside, the powerful existence dwelling on the mysterious island has no bad intentions. Isn’t this a lucky thing? Thrice Reckless and the others have been on the island for so many days. I wonder how they’re doing…"

True Monarch Yellow Mountain sighed, "I hope they’ll be alright and return with good results."

At this instant, the group turned quiet.

Medicine Master asked, "Right, is Senior White already familiar with the modern world? Song Shuhang isn’t online. How is he doing?"

He had finished dealing with the memory problem of those fellow daoists. Therefore, he wanted to know if Song Shuhang’s task to welcome True Monarch White was already finished. If it was, he would return to complete the formula of the simplified version of the body tempering liquid.

When Song Shuhang and Venerable White were mentioned, True Monarch Yellow Mountain rubbed his chin and thought: I didn’t tell little friend Song Shuhang to pay attention to Venerable White’s mysterious luck!

When he called him the last time, he wanted to tell him; however, True Monarch White was also there. Therefore, he couldn’t say anything.

Venerable White didn't only have an incredible charm. He would also get distracted and suddenly stumble, and last but not least, he had a heaven-defying luck!

How should one describe this luck...? For those that accompanied him, this luck would bring along certain dangers. For example, back in the days, True Monarch Yellow Mountain also went to receive True Monarch White with the intention to make him familiar with the new world.

They were just walking when a huge meteorite fell beside him and True Monarch White! True Monarch Yellow Mountain was less than twenty meters away from the hole left behind by the meteorite!

If his luck wasn’t good, he would have been crushed to death by it!

At the time, True Monarch White thoughtlessly broke down the meteorite and obtained pole star dawn steel, starry iron, pure-gold stone, and many other materials that could be used by cultivators.

And after he finished collecting the materials, he gave him almost half of them, saying it was the first meeting gift!

He thought that this was only a coincidence.

However, after following behind True Monarch White for several days, he experienced many strange phenomena.

When casually walking, strange things would appear on the ground. Lightning would casually strike old trees, giving birth to the precious lightning-struck wood. When passing by a mountain, there would be a random landslide that would make raw medicine materials like ginseng resurface.

The danger was everywhere, and you would face innumerable crises, but True Monarch White was able to obtain the maximum benefit every time.

Speaking of which, except for the continuous mortal danger, the benefits weren’t half bad, right?

Hm… anyway, it’ll be better to tell little friend Song Shuhang to pay attention to his security!

Then, True Monarch Yellow Mountain immediately dialed Song Shuhang’s number…