Chapter 212 - 180: This is a Showdown? Dropping the Act?

Chapter 212: Chapter 180: This is a Showdown? Dropping the Act?

Only the diligent Big Smarty was there, taking one oval stone after another and carefully arranging them on the ground.

Some were busy, some were lazy.

Just then.

Two streaks of Escape Light shot across the sky, landing outside his gate a moment later.

Li Changsheng paused for a moment, then shook his head, walked to the courtyard gate, and opened it.

Looking at Tan Hu and Ma Rong, he said with a sigh of resignation, "No need to be so formal, brothers. Just come on in."

Tan Hu and Ma Rong exchanged a glance, grinning slyly without a word.

Li Changsheng shook his head and led the two inside.

At that moment, Big Smarty, who was busy paving a small path, looked up at the visitors. For some reason, its vacant face was suddenly filled with terror. Its body immediately dissolved into a black shadow and shot into the Soul Nourishing Jade in Li Changsheng’s sleeve.

Far from being upset, Tan Hu grinned. "So," he chuckled, "is the little ghost easy to handle?"

Li Changsheng had been wondering about Big Smarty’s reaction. Hearing Tan Hu, he immediately cupped his hands in a gesture of thanks. "Thank you, Senior Brother. The little ghost is extremely useful."

A smug look appeared on Tan Hu’s face at the praise.

The three entered the house and took their seats.

Li Changsheng asked curiously, "Senior Brother, where did you get this ghost?"

Tan Hu replied without hesitation, "I extracted the soul and refined it myself, of course." He paused, then snorted. "I’m only giving it to you because you’re my junior brother. I wouldn’t part with it for anyone else! You have no idea how tedious it is to refine these ghosts. You have to meticulously erase their original Spiritual Wisdom, then break down and reconstitute their soul-body..."

To the stunned expressions of Li Changsheng and Ma Rong,

Tan Hu earnestly explained the advanced applications of the Cyan Yang Sect’s well-known Magic: Soul-Extraction and Blood-Refining.

He described, for instance, how to extract a soul completely intact, how to obtain high-quality souls, how to multiply a ghost’s Evil Qi during its transformation, how to reshape a ghost’s form, and so on...

He even claimed that sooner or later, he would create a Secret Technique manual. He’d already picked out the name: "A Treatise on the 108 Methods of Ghost Cultivation."

As he watched Tan Hu excitedly recounting the origins of the ghost, Li Changsheng’s eye began to twitch.

’Jeez, so you’re not even pretending anymore, are you?’

’You really are the master of the dark arts!’

’As a Cultivator of the Blood Fusion lineage, you don’t even focus on blood refining, but you’ve completely mastered the art of soul extraction.’

It wasn’t just Li Changsheng; Ma Rong’s face had also turned pale as he listened.

Seeing that Tan Hu’s descriptions were getting more and more gruesome...

Li Changsheng quickly cut in, "Senior Brothers, was there something you came to see me for?"

’Any thought of asking him for another little ghost was completely gone.’

’It wasn’t for any other reason; he was just afraid that with too many of Tan Hu’s "little ghosts" around, he might mysteriously turn up dead one day.’

Seeing his chance, Ma Rong’s expression brightened. He quickly spoke up, "Junior Brother, the Jade Bamboo you requested has arrived, along with some other Spirit Plants." With that, he took a storage pouch from his sleeve and handed it to Li Changsheng.

Tan Hu smacked his lips, reluctantly falling silent.

Li Changsheng shot him a speechless glance, took the storage pouch, and channeled his Spiritual Power to open it.

Three jade boxes, each over two meters tall and a meter wide, appeared on the floor.

Confused for a moment, Li Changsheng reached out and opened one. His face showed a hint of surprise when he saw what was inside.

Inside the massive jade box lay a stalk of bamboo, as green as jade, its roots perfectly intact and still caked with soil.

It was a Jade Spiritual Bamboo.

The other two jade boxes also contained Jade Spiritual Bamboos, roots and all.

Ma Rong asked, "Is there anything else you need, Junior Brother?"

Li Changsheng shook his head, smiling. "This is more than enough."

With these three Spirit Plants, the three acres of Concentration Flowers he was cultivating could reach maturity in another half a month. Then, he could use his life essence to ripen them fully.

Ma Rong nodded and said with a smile, "Then we’ll be counting on you for the Concentration Flowers in the Spirit Field, Junior Brother."

"Of course."

Li Changsheng nodded without the slightest hesitation.

With their business concluded, the three began to chat.

Tan Hu kept trying to steer the conversation back to ghosts, but Li Changsheng and Ma Rong refused to take the bait, much to his frustration.

After a bit more small talk, seeing Li Changsheng’s gaze keep drifting to the Jade Spiritual Bamboo, the two visitors tactfully took their leave.

After seeing them off,

Li Changsheng returned to his cabin, looked at the jade boxes on the floor, and summoned Big Smarty from the Soul Nourishing Jade.

It seemed to have forgotten all about Tan Hu, its face devoid of fear.

Li Changsheng gave it a complex look, then ordered it to carry the three jade boxes into the courtyard.

After glancing around,

He had Big Smarty dig three small holes in front of the cabin and plant the Jade Spiritual Bamboos.

Li Changsheng placed a hand on one of the Jade Spiritual Bamboos. A spiritual light flashed between his brows as streams of life essence flowed from his palm and into the plant.

A few breaths later.

Looking at the three Jade Spiritual Bamboos, which were now brimming with vitality, Li Changsheng nodded in satisfaction. He broke off a few branches and headed into the kitchen.

Big Smarty followed him inside like a shadow.

The ingredients for the Concentration Flower fertilizer weren’t actually complex; it only required Jade Spiritual Bamboo and Bright God Flower. The difficult part was harmonizing them with life essence.

The precise ratios and the method of harmonization were the trickiest parts.

After showing Big Smarty how to process the Jade Spiritual Bamboo and Bright God Flower, Li Changsheng took out a sufficient quantity of bamboo branches and flowers and left the ghost to its work. He then took out the jade slip for the Blood Spirit Escape technique and began to study it.

CRUNCH... CRUNCH...

With a series of soft crunching sounds, branch after branch of Jade Bamboo turned to powder in Big Smarty’s hands, and stalk after stalk of Bright God Flower was crushed and dropped into a wooden basin.

Two hours later.

Li Changsheng came back to his senses and discovered that all the Jade Spiritual Bamboo branches and Bright God Flowers had been ground to a powder, filling a basin more than halfway.

"A job well done!"

Li Changsheng praised Big Smarty with satisfaction as it stood quietly and attentively to one side.

Without waiting for a response, he plunged his hand into the basin of powder.

A stream of jade-green light emerged as Li Changsheng closed his eyes and began to stir gently.

Strangely, as he stirred slowly, the two powders in the basin began to blend, gradually emitting a faint, fluorescent glow.

「A Cup of Tea’s Time later.」

Li Changsheng stopped stirring and opened his eyes.

The powder in the basin had transformed into rice-sized granules. Each one was crystal clear, like a tiny piece of green jade, and emitted waves of a fresh, grassy fragrance.

"Not bad."

Li Changsheng stared at the granules. Seeing that they needed to sit for a day, he nodded in satisfaction and left the kitchen.

He plopped down into his reclining chair and resumed reading the Blood Spirit Escape jade slip.

Big Smarty went back to taking smooth, round pebbles and paving the small path in the courtyard.

A gentle breeze swept through, and the crisp tinkling of a wind chime could be heard from a corner of the courtyard.

Time passed in the blink of an eye.

「The next morning.」

Li Changsheng rode Xiaohua out of his courtyard, heading straight for the one belonging to Xu Li and the others.

Arriving before Xu Li’s gate,

Looking at the gloomy wooden cabin and sensing the weak aura within, Li Changsheng called out, "Xu Li, come out for a moment."

A few breaths later.

The cabin door opened and Xu Li rushed out. He opened the courtyard gate and said respectfully, "Greetings, Lord Steward. What can I do for you?"

Li Changsheng frowned as he looked at Xu Li, who had lost a significant amount of weight and appeared listless. With a flick of his hand, he produced three jade boxes and handed them over. "This is the fertilizer I developed for the Concentration Flowers," he said.

He explained the instructions to the bewildered man, then told him to give the other two jade boxes to Yan Shaoyuan and Hao Yuegui.

Noticing his distracted state, Li Changsheng asked, "Did you get all that?"

"Ah!"

Xu Li snapped back to his senses, nodding repeatedly with a placating smile. "Yes, I got it. I got it all."

Li Changsheng nodded slightly. As he was about to have Xiaohua turn and leave, he glanced at Xu Li’s gaunt frame, thought for a moment, and said coolly, "Everything in moderation. Too much can be as bad as not enough. Take care of yourself." With that, he urged Xiaohua away.

At these words, Xu Li’s face went even paler. He gave an awkward laugh and called out, "Take care, Lord Steward!"

After watching Li Changsheng disappear into the distance, he looked down at the jade box in his hands and opened it, still puzzled.

The moment the jade box opened, a rich, fresh, grassy fragrance burst out and washed over him.

Xu Li jolted, his listless expression clearing up considerably.

Inside the box were dozens of grass-green Crystal Stones. Looking closer, he could faintly make out a wisp of colorful mist swirling within each one.

’Just one look told him this was no ordinary treasure!’