Chapter 25

“Yes, Martial Uncle!” This time, Liu Ming answered easily.

“Good. I’ll help you a bit more, here are two secret techniques that are from the Ghost Spirit Method. Why don’t you go and practice them. This way, when you fight against someone, they won’t question your Cultivation Method.” Seeing Liu Ming who was answering much quicker now, the old man smiled. Taking two scrolls from his pockets, he threw them at Liu Ming.

“Thank you very much, Martial Uncle!” After catching the scrolls, Liu Ming bowed as he thanked the old man.

“According to the Sect rules, all disciples that take Cultivation Methods and Secret Techniques from the Scripture Pavilion must swear upon the natural order that they won’t teach or give their methods and techniques to another person. The punishment for violating this rule ranges from having your Fa Li wiped out and having you imprisoned for the rest of your life to certain death. This is our Sect’s Natural Order Contract, swear upon it.” The old man nodded and seriously took out a sheet of paper that had black fog swirling around it. In addition, the words on the paper were written in a blood red color.

With a slight hesitation, Liu Ming agreed.

“First put a drop of blood onto it and then repeat what I say.” The old man said as he threw the page forward and muttered a curse at it.

Slowly, the page turned into a blob of dark fog that floated in the air. From it, sounds of ghostly wails and wolf howls could be heard while a bloody scent, that would make one want to vomit, was scattered from it….

After the time it took to drink a cup of tea (10-15 minutes), Liu Ming and the old man appeared in front of Shi Chuan and the other two disciples.

“Ruan Martial Uncle, sorry to bother you.” Seeing this, Shi Chuan smiled as he thanked the old man.

“Since I am in charge of the Scripture Pavilion, it is my duty to give you young ones some guidance. Alright, now that everything is done, leave. I still need to sleep.” The old man expressed irritation as he waved his hand and disappeared with a flash of white light.

“Let’s go. Ruan Martial Uncle’s Cultivation Method is a little weird in that Ruan Martial Uncle needs to be sleeping for most of the year.” Shi Chuan wasn’t surprised in the slightest as he brought the trio out of the small room.

At this time, the sky outside had already darkened.

Shi Chuan once again cast a spell to generate the dark cloud and brought the new disciples to the Nine Infant Mountain.

On the way, Liu Ming found out that Wan Xiaoqing’s Cultivation Method was the other Cultivation Method that fitted the Nine Infant Faction, Dark Sunflower Method. With the discovery came a bitter smile.

It looked like the situation Liu Ming had encountered was a little special and could be either good or bad for him.

However, under those conditions, Liu Ming had no other choice.

This “Ruan Martial Uncle” was basically shoving the Dark Bone Method onto him. If Liu Ming had declined, Ruan Martial Uncle probably would have grown angry and forced Liu Ming to practice this Cultivation Method.

Ruan Martial Uncle was a Spirit Master with an extremely high position in the Sect while Liu Ming was only an ordinary disciple. If Ruan Martial Uncle wanted Liu Ming to do something, Liu Ming had no choice but to accept.

In comparison to making Ruan Martial Uncle force Liu Ming to practice the Dark Bone Method, it was much smarter to just agree on practicing the Method.

However, no matter what intentions Ruan Martial Uncle had for making Liu Ming practice the Dark Bone Method, as long as the effects described were actually manifested, practicing the Dark Bone Method might be a good decision.

As for the possible consequences, it was too early to tell, and Liu Ming could only choose the best path available.

…..

When Shi Chuan and the other disciples asked Liu Ming about what Cultivation Method he had chosen, Liu Ming’s answer was naturally “Ghost Spirit Method”.

This made everyone else surprised, but Liu Ming pushed the blame to the old man.

He said that Ruan Martial Uncle saw that his mental energy was quite strong and thus had said that the Ghost Spirit Method was more suited for him.

Shi Chuan definitely knew how mental energy was essential when practicing the Ghost Spirit Method, and thus, although he was a little confused, he could understand the reasoning of Ruan Martial Uncle.

Xue Shan and Wan Xiaoqing showed jealousy after hearing about Liu Ming’s possibly quicker training speed. However, when they heard Shi Chuan talk about the deficiencies of practicing such a method, they felt much more balanced.

The two choices were: to be able to train faster but having to worry about later Cultivation Methods versus to be training at normal speed but not needing to worry about succeeding Cultivation Methods. Thi was indeed a tough choice.

“It’s unfortunate that Shi Di didn’t go to the Corpse Refinery Faction. There Shi Di wouldn’t need to worry about such a problem .” Shi Chuan said regretfully.

“It’s alright. If it really comes to it, I’ll save some Contribution Points and exchange for a succeeding Cultivation Method.” Liu Ming confidently said.

“That might be your only choice. As long as it’s not the unique Cultivation Method that’s special to the Corpse Refinery Faction, you should be able to obtain it.” Shi Chuan slightly nodded as he spoke.

Like this, they all returned to the Nine Infant Mountain and were sent back to their respective dwellings by Shi Chuan.

After returning to his courtyard, Liu Ming organized a couple things before feeling hunger. He took out the dry rations and, after eating them, fell asleep on his bed.

After experiencing the Opening Spirit Ceremony earlier in the day and then choosing a Cultivation Method, Liu Ming was exhausted and thus it was not weird for him to fall asleep so quickly.

Liu Ming didn’t know how long he slept for, but when he opened his eyes again, the sun outside his window was already at the top of the sky.

With a lazy yawn, Liu Ming walked out of the room and into the courtyard.

In the courtyard was a well that a previous disciple had dug out.

Using a wooden bucket to fetch the water, Liu Ming used his hands to drink a few gulps. Unlike any water that he had tasted before, this water was extremely sweet and had a refreshing cold that went down to the stomach.

After quenching his thirst, Liu Ming dunked his head in the bucket and washed his face. Afterwards, he went back to his room and sat before a yellow wooden desk.

After a slight pondering, Liu Ming took out the two scrolls that the old man had given him yesterday. Placing them on the desk and unrolling them, Liu Ming started to read them.

They contained the techniques “Soul Shackling Chain” and “Spirit Communication Technique”.

Soul Shackling Chain involved extracting the souls of demons and ghosts and refining them into chains to act as weapons. Spirit Communication Technique was meant to allow the user to communicate with demons and ghosts in order to enslave them.

As Liu Ming was reading, a thought popped up into his head: “These two Secret Techniques really do match the Ghost Spirit Method.”

However, when he saw the requirements for the two techniques, his brow furrowed.

The two techniques required for Liu Ming to be at the Beginning Spirit Apostle and Middle Spirit Apostle level respectively to learn. Until Liu Ming passed the first and second level of the Dark Bone Method, he had no way of practicing these two methods.

With some depression, Liu Ming started to silently memorize the two techniques.

With a strong mental energy and the talent to do two things at once, this was naturally not a hard task.

After four hours, Liu Ming had memorized both techniques, and as long as he silently rehearsed them in his head once in awhile, he could be sure of remembering both.

Taking a deep breath, Liu Ming returned the two scrolls to his pockets, took out the book for the Dark Bone Method, and flipped open to the first page.

However, before Liu Ming could start reading, he heard knocking sounds from his door while Xue Shan’s rough and careless voice sounded:

“Bai Senior, are you inside? Wan Shi Mei and I have come.”

Pausing for a moment, Liu Ming returned the book to his pockets and left the room.

Beyond the half-closed door of the courtyard were three people.

Besides Xue Shan and Wan Xiaoqing, there was one other person that was about forty years in age and male. His hair was only a couple of inches long while he wore the clothing of outer sect disciples.

“Xue Shi Di, Wan Shi Mei, why did you come? Also, who is….”

Walking up and pulling the door open, Liu Ming said with some confusion.

“Haha, let me introduce you all. This is my cousin Xue Yuanhai who has been an Outer Sect Disciple since twenty years ago.” Xue Shan smiled as he pointed to the man behind him.

“Oh so it’s brother Xue. Sorry for my confusion earlier.” After a slight pause, Liu Ming brought his hands up and cupped them.

“No! Once a person becomes a Spirit Apostle, all outer sect disciples must call him or her Senior. In the future, I will need to rely on you all here.” Xue Yuanshan quickly returned the gesture and said with a smile.

“Yuanhai cousin, you are my older cousin. I can’t let you call me Senior. However, for Bai Senior and Wan Shi Mei, you guys can use any pronunciation you feel fit.” Xue Shan quickly said.

“Haha, since Brother Xue is older than Xue Shi Di, then me and Wan Shi Mei can’t mess up the order. How about this, me and Wan Shi Mei will call you ‘Brother Xue’.” Liu Ming said with a smile.

TL: Brother in this context means someone who is older

To the side, Wan Xiaoqing also agreed.

“Since it’s like this, then I will call you guys ‘Wan Shi Mei’ and ‘Bai Senior’.” After another few courtesies, Xue Yuanhai agreed.

“Bai Senior, my cousin is an outer disciple under the Nine Infant Faction and understands a lot of inner-workings of the sect. Yesterday, although Shi Senior explained quite a few things to us, the time was too short and thus there are still a lot of things that we don’t know. Therefore, I thought that cousin Xue could help us gain a better understanding of the Sect and help us avoid common mistakes that neophytes, like us, make.” Xue Shan said with a smile.

“Oh, I see. Brother Xue, why don’t you come on in.” Liu Ming quickly moved aside as he invited three inside.

After a few seconds, the four people were seated besides the table in one of the rooms.

….

After about four hours, Xue Shan and Wan Xiaoqing left with heavy expressions.

Liu Ming had a smile on his face as he sent his guests out but once he returned to his room, his smile also disappeared.

“Wow. I never knew that the difference between a Recorded Disciple and a Personal Disciple was so huge. Also, the fight to become a Core Disciple is also quite scary with the possibility of death. Looks like the amount of work necessary to survive in this sect isn’t small at all. In order to get enough resources, I must become a core Disciple.” Liu Ming muttered to himself before sinking into deep thought.

“Whatever. I’ll first practice the Dark Bone Method until I achieve the first two levels. In order to have a chance at becoming a Core Disciple, I must have the strength of a Middle Spirit Apostle. Once I have strength, I’ll also find surviving in the sect to be much easier.” After a while, Liu Ming let out a deep breath as he came to his conclusion.

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