Chapter Nineteen: The Secret of the Vengeful Spirit
Backyard.
Liu Heng stood with his hands behind his back, gazing at Liu Ji, who sat cross-legged and completely naked in the wooden tub. Suddenly, he sighed, and a trace of guilt appeared on his face.
He knew all too well the pain one endured when first cultivating the Supreme Heavenly Gang Method—a kind of agony beyond words, truly not something an ordinary person could withstand.
Even he himself had needed several months to gradually adapt to the excruciating torment brought by the Heavenly Gang Qi. Yet, he never imagined that his so-called useless son would fully acclimate to the sharp and fierce power of the Heavenly Gang Qi in just half a month!
Was this boy some sort of monster?!
He found it hard to believe, and even began to doubt whether the person before him was really his son—though, of course, it was just a fleeting thought.
Perhaps his son had experienced sudden enlightenment? Or maybe he was simply a late bloomer?
As Liu Ji continued his cultivation, the dark purple, murky, and slightly viscous liquid in the wooden tub slowly grew clearer.
It was obvious that the medicinal power was being absorbed.
Suddenly, Liu Ji’s eyes snapped open. He jumped out of the tub and hastily dressed. The dullness that had once clouded his gaze was replaced by a fleeting brilliance, and his entire aura was now distinctly different.
Liu Heng asked, “You’ve succeeded?”
Unable to conceal his joy, Liu Ji nodded and replied with a smile, “Yes, I’ve succeeded. All the primary meridians required for cultivating the Supreme Heavenly Gang Method are now open. The Heavenly Gang Qi can no longer harm my meridians.”
He clenched his fist. “More importantly, I feel my physical strength has increased dramatically—several times greater than before!”
“Naturally!” Liu Heng’s face brimmed with pride. “The Supreme Heavenly Gang Method, passed down in the Liu family for generations, is the pinnacle of strength—not only is its offensive power formidable, but it also tempers the body. And with you nourishing yourself every day in that strengthening elixir…”
He gave a dismissive snort. “If your body hadn’t grown stronger, that would have been strange. Do you know how much a tub of that strengthening elixir is worth on the market?”
“How much?” asked Liu Ji.
Liu Heng held up a hand. “At least fifty million coins, and that’s if you can even find it—money alone isn’t enough to buy it!”
Liu Ji couldn’t help but take a sharp breath. He turned, shocked, to look at the wooden tub. That single tub was worth fifty million coins?!
After half a month of cultivation, he’d already used more than seven hundred million coins’ worth?!
Waves of shock crashed through his heart. While he marveled at how costly cultivation could be, he also felt intensely grateful to have been reborn as the heir of the Southern Guardian’s estate.
Had he crossed over into the body of a poor boy, the sheer fortune required for cultivation would have been a headache beyond compare.
Indeed, it was true—without money, one couldn’t play this game at all…
He couldn’t help but ask, “Do we still have enough money left?”
Liu Heng cast him a sidelong glance. “Rest assured, we have enough to support your cultivation for four or five more years. You won’t lack for strengthening elixir.”
Liu Ji let out a long sigh of relief. Good—he had no desire to worry about money during his cultivation. He couldn’t help but sigh again—having money truly is a blessing!
Liu Heng said, “Let me see what you’ve achieved.”
Liu Ji nodded. He extended his right hand, and suddenly a suction force emanated from his palm. Threads of spiritual energy were continuously drawn into his hand.
In his palm, an intensely spinning, razor-sharp ball of energy gradually took form—
A Heavenly Gang Qi Sphere!
With a low shout, Liu Ji struck a large stone nearby with his palm. The rapidly spinning Qi sphere collided with the rock, producing a strange sound—like a knife slashing into stone.
With a bang, the Qi sphere shattered violently.
A backlash sent Liu Ji stumbling back several steps. Focusing on the spot where the Qi sphere struck the stone, he saw several deep grooves, each several inches deep.
Clearly, these marks had been left by the Heavenly Gang Qi Sphere.
He sighed in some disappointment, “Alas, I thought I could shatter the stone in one blow, but it seems I only managed to carve a few grooves.”
Beside him, Liu Heng’s face was lined with exasperation. For your very first attempt at using the Heavenly Gang Qi, leaving several visible marks on solid rock is already impressive, and you expected to reduce it to rubble in one go?!
What are you thinking?!
With a world-weary air, Liu Heng said calmly, “Don’t be discouraged. To achieve this much on your first try is already remarkable. In the future, you need to keep refining your Heavenly Gang Qi. When you temper it to the point of ultimate sharpness and indestructibility, you’ll be able to shatter giant stones as I do.”
Liu Ji nodded.
He understood that the Heavenly Gang Qi he had forged could not yet compare to his father’s. Still, if he struck a person with his Qi—even if he didn’t blow them apart, there would at least be a bloody mess.
“When you’ve completed tempering all the meridians recorded in the book, you’ll be able to refine your internal organs and skin. If you have questions, you can ask me—or Liu Ming. He knows far more than you.”
With that, Liu Heng turned to leave.
“Wait, Father.”
“What is it?”
“I’d like to ask—how can one completely destroy a resentful spirit that has possessed someone? Or… is it simply impossible to kill such a spirit?”
“…When someone is possessed by a resentful spirit, their soul, or rather their consciousness, is devoured by the entity. They become walking corpses, entirely controlled by the spirit.”
“Of course, it’s possible that the host’s soul might struggle against the spirit. In such cases, the possessed individual often behaves in extremely odd and bizarre ways.”
Liu Heng paused, then said, “Killing a person possessed by a resentful spirit is simple—you just need to destroy the body. But to kill the spirit itself, you must sever the head, thereby sealing the spirit within the skull forever!”
How bizarre.
Liu Ji couldn’t help but grumble inwardly. He frowned and asked, “But how can we be sure that after beheading, the spirit is truly sealed inside the head? Or, how do we know whether the spirit resides in the brain, or somewhere else in the body below the neck?”
“I’ve told you time and again to read more books. Now you see the importance of knowledge?” Liu Heng shot him a glance, then continued, “You must understand—the body is controlled by commands from the brain.”
With hands clasped behind his back, he said, “Thus, a resentful spirit possesses the brain to control the body. To kill the spirit, you must kill the possessed person.”
He raised one finger. “First, you must be fast enough to sever the host’s head before the spirit can react, trapping it in the brain forever!”
A second finger. “Second, few can manage this—humans are rarely faster than a spirit escaping a body. Spirits can sense mortal danger; if they realize they’re about to be fatally harmed, they slip out of the brain, and then they can be slain outside the body.”
Liu Ji rubbed his chin, muttering, “So if the spirit doesn’t leave the brain, it will be sealed there forever!”
“Exactly,” Liu Heng nodded. “Also, those possessed by a resentful spirit gain inexplicable strength—though the reason remains a mystery.”
“But the longer the spirit remains in a body, the weaker it becomes upon leaving. That’s the best time to strike!”
After thinking for a moment, he added, “In fact, whether the spirit leaves or not, the longer it stays, the weaker it grows. That’s why, every night, people possessed by resentful spirits hide away to recuperate.”
“…I understand,” Liu Ji replied, brow furrowed as he tried to digest all this new information. After listening to Liu Heng’s lengthy explanation, his mind felt like a muddled paste.
Liu Heng nodded and then turned to leave.
He hadn’t gone far when Xiaoya hurried over. She addressed Liu Ji, “Young Master, Miss Mu requests an audience. She’s been waiting outside for some time.”
Liu Ji’s face showed surprise. What was that girl doing here? Didn’t she dislike him?
“Take me to her,” he said.
…
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PS: First update.
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