109: Chapter 108: The Journey of Trials [Extra for Alliance Hierarch Xiao Zhen] 109: Chapter 108: The Journey of Trials [Extra for Alliance Hierarch Xiao Zhen] Hou Niao got what he wanted, but he did not immediately push forward into West Mang Mountain.
Xiang Zhiwen had briefed him, making it clear what his duty was: not to strive for merit but to avoid mistakes.
It wasn’t important whether he could catch the beeswax or not, even if he did, it would inevitably lead to a series of confusing and complicated situations.
The best way to avoid these smoke bombs was to make a show of determination, to exhibit an attitude of relentless pursuit.
In reality, it was about making a presence here, pretending to never give up.
Under such a mission premise, of course, survival was the top priority, never to recklessly place oneself in peril.
Xiang Zhiwen believed that Hou Niao had a better grasp of this balance than Dou Gong.
From the standpoint of the entire Yinling, and even Shan Country, he was a bit far from these big-picture issues and had no desire to get involved.
So, how to use this mission to enhance his cultivation was the real matter at hand.
An anticipated goal was to obtain as many Soul Beads as possible; when he had slain those two Wandering Souls and fierce ghosts, he had obtained two Soul Beads, which finally made him understand the origin of Huang Xiaoxian’s Soul Beads—higher-level Soul Ghosts, but it seemed there was a drop rate?
The combat power of Wandering Souls and fierce ghosts was much stronger than the lowest-level Yin souls and little ghosts.
Aside from their stronger Soul Bodies, their means of attack were no longer limited to tearing, biting, and bumping.
They had begun to use combinations of moves, but of the three Soul Ghosts he had encountered, all used common techniques, more like ordinary mortals’ skills,
He could roughly deduce that these three Soul Ghosts were ordinary soldiers in life, who by some stroke of luck leveled up, but their innate abilities hadn’t improved, and they were still using the standard military set.
This implied two things: the specific abilities of a Soul Ghost were closely related to what kind of person it was in life, and after becoming a Soul Ghost, it was unlikely to have any way to learn; moreover, these three stronger Soul Ghosts did not represent the overall ability level of the Wandering Souls and fierce ghosts in Yinling.
If there was a Soul Ghost who had been a cultivator in life, its methods would be different.
This was something he must be cautious of.
After the rain cleared, the sky was exceptionally pure, the sun shone down, and the gloomy West Mang Mountain also took on a natural aspect.
Under the sunlight, the rising water vapor created a misty ambiance, lending a hazy feeling to the surroundings.
Xiang Zhiwen suggested he enter during the day and exit at night, based on the nature of the task; he did not want to do that.
For him, it was more appropriate to plunge directly into the night because he could discern the levels of the Soul Ghosts under their attacks, determining how deep he could go to encounter more Wandering Souls and fierce ghosts, yet still within his capability range.
Plunging in allowed for a step-by-step progression, which was relatively safer in comparison.
Standing atop a hill, he took out a map of West Mang Mountain, cross-referencing to establish his position; this was crucial, relating to how to escape in case of unexpected events.
Familiarity with the terrain ensured he wouldn’t take wrong turns, a result of years of experience in criminal investigation, just like planning to surround a great thief, one must know the layout of the house, back doors, secret passages, and so on.
After a night of fighting, he had at least learned the limit of his combat ability against ordinary Soul Ghosts and was then ready to gradually up the ante.
This was a large hill on the edge of West Mang Mountain.
Looking at the historical records, it was once an ancient battlefield, where those ordinary warriors without names or legends, would sleep here forever.
All that remained were the cold numbers of victory and defeat, and death.
Of course, there were no tomb chambers or tombstones, as ancient wars were always a matter of burial on the spot, or even exposure of bodies on the field, eventually becoming part of nature.
Now, it seemed to be a wasteland of tall grass, especially desolate when autumn deepened.
It was also one of the rare places on the ground of Yinling with no traces of Demon Clan activity, where two species had tacitly divided their territories, disturbing each other not at all.
Hou Niao found a flat boulder among the wild grass and sat down cross-legged upon it, looking like an ancient general, with the grass below as his soldiers.
Waiting for nightfall.
When Xiang Zhiwen left, he had left behind quite a few items for him.
Hou Niao declined the elixirs, but he kept the Soul Banner and a scroll; the Soul Banner’s function was to help him conceal his whereabouts.
Naturally, this meant playing hide-and-seek from the perception of the Soul Ghosts, not actual invisibility,
The item worked very well because it suppressed many souls within, perfectly hiding a human’s aura.
However, its weakness was quite obvious.
Once the banner was planted and raised, he could no longer move about freely.
He did not passive, waiting-for-a-hare strategy.
Xiang Zhiwen had gotten this item from a friend at the Soul Suppressing Mountain, as they both belonged to the Demon Sect, which made communication somewhat easier.
The scroll was an auxiliary cultivation technique called Natural Technique, designed to help in concealing one’s qi and closing oneself off; in Jin City Quanzhen’s Sword Storage Tower there were many such scrolls, which he had briefly skimmed over at the time and not paid much attention to—a bit hasty in hindsight.
Back then, he hadn’t anticipated that he would find himself in a place like Yinling, where Soul Ghosts ran rampant.
Each technique had its specific use environment, and none were superfluous or useless.
He reminded himself in silence that in his future years of cultivation, he might have to learn many more such auxiliary techniques.
Natural Technique, true to its name, was about merging oneself with nature, blending in with the surrounding flora and terrain.
Perfected, it would render him invisible to Soul Ghosts, unheard and unnoticed.
Of course, at his current level, achieving that was impossible.
But, he could lessen the attention the Soul Ghosts paid him, for instance, greatly reducing the distance at which they could detect him so that they wouldn’t all start chasing him whenever he walked by.
One advantage of the Natural Technique was that it could be used while moving, which he found most valuable.
A sword cultivator unable to move was nothing more than a target.
The entire day, he familiarized himself with Natural Technique.
The skill was not difficult to master, but to improve it further required a deeper understanding of nature, which was another matter altogether.
Before dusk, he had his fill of a warrior’s meal, adhered to his evening routines, fought life-and-death battles within his Soul Realm, then had to face the real Soul Ghosts outside.
He wondered how he had become so deeply entangled with these spectral beings.
The numbers of Soul Ghosts began appearing faintly again, yet after the previous day’s massacre, their numbers had significantly decreased.
Hou Niao activated Natural Technique and quietly descended the mountain.
When he sometimes encountered unavoidable minor ghostly spirits, they met the swift, clean strike of his sword.
That was when the subtle differences in his fighting technique compared to Dou Gong’s became apparent.
If it had been Dou Gong, his Fire Element fluctuations would have undoubtedly attracted more attention from Soul Ghosts; although Fire Element was indeed effective against Soul Ghosts, conversely, they were exceptionally sensitive to Fire Element Power.
His method of killing was much more concealed, even avoiding the release of Qi, silent and stealthy.
Continuing in this stop-and-go manner, he did not encounter any powerful Wandering Souls or fierce ghosts.
Just as he considered climbing over another mountain ridge, a faint light appeared off to the side ahead, along with the low sound of chanting.
…Having carved away the mountain wilds, only the sloping remains are left intact.
Laypeople talk of rain coming from the pool, while monks claim fire origins from demons.
Darkness granted to the Tang fabric, Cai’s inscription artistically flawed.
Before the rocks, one watches the python stone, sensing ever more to question.