Volume One: The Soul-Capturing Gourd and the Soul-Igniting Lantern Chapter 102: Digging Deep and Stockpiling Abundantly (Part Two)

“What on earth? I can’t understand a word of it!”

Xiao Yulou curled his lips and smiled lightly, as calm as a gentle breeze.

“No accumulation of small streams, no rivers or seas. No accumulation of steps, no journey of a thousand miles!”

Gu Mo nodded, half understanding.

“So, Brother Xiao means I should accumulate ghost energy?”

At these words, Xiao Yulou beamed with satisfaction and nodded firmly.

“Exactly!”

Then, swaying his head slightly, Xiao Yulou continued.

“Brother Gu, do you remember the difference between ‘Qi’ and ‘Qi’?”

With this, Gu Mo furrowed his brow and pondered for a moment, then nodded.

Seeing this, Xiao Yulou looked straight into Gu Mo’s eyes and said,

“Next, this humble Taoist will teach Brother Gu how to accumulate strength to advance to the stage of ‘transforming form with Qi’!”

At this point, Xiao Yulou took out the turtle shell shield from his bosom and handed it to Li Hetang for safekeeping.

Chanting quietly the Three Pure Ones’ secret technique, Xiao Yulou closed his eyes briefly.

In a flash of lightning and fire, golden light began to gather around Xiao Yulou’s entire body, gradually forming a pale golden sphere.

Suddenly, Xiao Yulou snapped his eyes open, arrogantly fixed his gaze on Li Hetang, and said,

“Brother Hetang, I’ll trouble you!”

Hearing this, Li Hetang immediately understood Xiao Yulou's intention.

Wearing his polar combat suit, ‘King of Soldiers’ adjusted his helmet, lowered the orange visor, and stood up with a swoosh.

The special dagger in Li Hetang’s hand glimmered coldly.

Taking a deep breath, Li Hetang gripped the dagger tightly.

Crackling sounds rang out as Li Hetang mustered all his strength and thrust the dagger fiercely at the golden shield on Xiao Yulou’s body.

Clang!

The special dagger broke cleanly in half upon contact with the golden shield.

Whoosh!

The half of the sturdy dagger flew past Gu Mo’s scalp, several long strands of black hair slowly drifting down.

Clang!

The hard half-dagger struck the equally hard cave wall, scattering brilliant sparks.

Except for the sly Taoist Xiao Yulou who laughed heartily, everyone else stood dumbfounded.

The next moment, Gu Mo’s face turned pale as wax, his features contorted, sweat beaded like soybeans on his brow, and he muttered angrily under his breath.

(After all, the children nearby were still sleeping. Making noise on their territory wasn’t quite right.)

“You idiot, are you stupid? Why am I always the one who gets hurt?”

Unfazed and unconcerned with trivialities, Xiao Yulou waved his hand lightly.

“Brother Gu, shouldn’t you be focusing your attention elsewhere?”

Just then, Li Hetang, still holding the broken dagger, chimed in.

“Master Xiao, isn’t your shield a little too tough?”

Receiving the compliment, Xiao Yulou smiled faintly, forming a Taoist seal as he began to show off.

“My Taoist arts haven’t fully recovered yet, otherwise, it would surely leave you all questioning your sanity!”

Gu Mo scoffed and curled his lips disdainfully.

“Cut it out—I think your skin’s just itching again!”

Unbothered by Gu Mo’s jibe, Xiao Yulou grinned broadly.

“Brother Gu currently lacks the training methods to condense ghost energy. Once you can condense ghost energy, forming a shield will be as easy as snapping your fingers!”

At these words, Gu Mo, sitting cross-legged, suddenly understood.

“Could this be another form of ghost fire?”

Hearing this, Min Wenhua frowned and looked at the boy named Huo Tao beside him.

“Huo Tao, you can go to sleep now. No duty tonight!”

Upon hearing Min Wenhua’s order, Huo Tao didn’t argue but obediently headed toward the hammock.

After Huo Tao left, Gu Mo looked at Xiao Yulou and asked again.

“Brother Xiao, how exactly should I accumulate ghost energy? And what does it feel like to transform form with Qi?”

At this, Xiao Yulou hesitated somewhat.

After all, this Taoist, with his ethereal demeanor, had just come down from the mountains and had been ambushed. Sometimes his Taoist skills faltered, making it difficult to express all the knowledge in his mind.

Li Hetang suddenly interrupted.

“Brother Xiao, did you mean to accumulate, condense, compress, and then give the ghost energy form?”

Hearing this, everyone present was stunned.

Ahem—

Xiao Yulou first cleared his throat twice, then gave Li Hetang a thumbs-up.

“Brother Hetang’s words are absolutely correct; he hit the key point.”

But the next moment, Li Hetang disdainfully curled his lips.

“Don’t you think this is just like a spirit energy bomb?”

At this, Gu Mo suddenly felt enlightened and said excitedly,

“Then what are we waiting for? Let’s try it right away!”

If Gu Mo didn’t improve his strength, he might lose control again next time!

With that, Gu Mo took a deep breath, closed his eyes tightly, and focused on sensing the ghost energy within his body.

Instantly, an icy chill spread throughout Gu Mo.

With a loud boom, Gu Mo, sitting cross-legged, was completely enveloped in dense green ghost flames.

For a moment, the green ghost flames dispelled the darkness inside the cave.

At this point, Gu Mo gritted his teeth and summoned all his ghost energy again.

The surrounding ghost energy surged even more fiercely.

Ha—

As Gu Mo opened his mouth, a breath of icy cold air blasted out.

Seeing this, Xiao Yulou nodded with satisfaction and said loudly,

“Brother Gu, please begin your performance!”

Frozen and shivering, Gu Mo’s face was covered in dark lines that could knit an entire sweater and pants set.

“What performance? What do you mean?”

With a series of questions, Xiao Yulou frowned and gave Gu Mo a look like he was an alien.

“Didn’t Brother Hetang just say it clearly? Accumulate, condense, compress, then give form!”

Hearing this, Gu Mo’s lips trembled, and his mind went blank.

“How do I accumulate? To what degree should I condense? Will compression cause an explosion? What kind of form should I give it?”

Gu Mo’s barrage of questions left the three others completely baffled!

After a long moment, Xiao Yulou frowned and smiled awkwardly.

“Brother Gu, try compressing the ghost energy first! As for accumulation, I have a bold idea.”

Hearing this, Gu Mo suppressed his curiosity, stretched out his hand, and examined the raging green ghost flames on it.

“Damn it—here goes nothing!”

Muttering softly, Gu Mo suddenly glared fiercely, exerting every ounce of strength until the veins on his forehead bulged.

With his breathing, the ghost flames on Gu Mo’s body roared like a bellows, emitting a piercing cold sound.

The bone-chilling cold caused a fine layer of frost to form all over Gu Mo’s body.

Seeing this, Xiao Yulou, Li Hetang, and Min Wenhua all instinctively moved their seats back, fearing the cold might harm them.

Then, Gu Mo exerted even more effort.

Suddenly, pfft!

A foul fart inflated the patient’s gown.

In an instant, Gu Mo was mortified, his face flushed red.

Those nearby covered their mouths, trying not to laugh.

After a moment, Xiao Yulou flicked his robe sleeve and said calmly,

“It’s normal to use force incorrectly; Brother Gu needn’t worry.”

Then, Xiao Yulou extended his hand and gathered the golden light from his whole body onto his fingertips.

In an instant, the concentrated golden light gleamed brilliantly.

Seeing this, Gu Mo imitated him.

Closing his eyes tightly, taking a deep breath, Gu Mo focused on the bone-chilling cold inside him.

Gradually, Gu Mo truly sensed the ghost energy outside his body burning like flames.

It turned out that the ghost energy on Gu Mo’s body was merely in flame form and not true ghost fire.

No wonder this chilling ghost energy couldn’t be extinguished by water.

With this realization, Gu Mo settled his mind and began to adjust the form of the ghost energy using his consciousness...

After a painstaking effort, the ghost energy outside Gu Mo’s body was compressed into a green sphere.

Although rough and irregular in appearance, Gu Mo had finally learned to compress ghost energy.

Looking up, Gu Mo saw the ghost energy in his hands growing denser, feeling vastly different from before.

Yet, questions still flooded his mind.

“Um... Brother Xiao, what comes after compressing ghost energy?”

Xiao Yulou smiled faintly, curling his lips.

“Since Brother Gu has learned to compress ghost energy, naturally, we proceed to the next step.”

With that, Xiao Yulou suddenly sprang up and, with lightning speed, continuously struck Gu Mo’s acupoints with his sword fingertip.

Everyone was stunned, not knowing what trick Xiao Yulou was up to.

After a while, Xiao Yulou, looking down on Gu Mo, clasped his hands behind his back. A layer of frost had formed on his middle and index fingers responsible for acupoint striking.

Li Hetang and Min Wenhua watched closely.

Then, Xiao Yulou maintained his composure and said calmly,

“This humble Taoist has already infused Brother Gu’s meridian points with Qi. These heavenly Qi can guide Brother Gu’s breathing.”

Pausing deliberately, Xiao Yulou said proudly,

“What Brother Gu must do now is to feel the ghost energy within his body and gradually control its condensation at various parts.”

Gu Mo was dumbfounded.

“Ah? What’s the point of condensing ghost energy at various parts... Is it useful?”

Hearing this, Xiao Yulou gave Gu Mo a cold glare.

“Why wouldn’t it be? Condensing ghost energy on your fingertips grants strength; in your eyes, it lets you see the unseen; forming a shield over your body protects you. Such effects require Brother Gu to explore on his own...”

After this simple explanation, Gu Mo finally understood.

“Oh, I see!”

With that, Xiao Yulou took a deep breath, condensed the Taoist Qi in his body onto his fingertips, and slashed the ground beneath.

A sharp, piercing sound echoed as a thin scratch appeared before the four.

Gu Mo, Li Hetang, and Min Wenhua were astonished, mouths agape.

“Holy hell! You can do that? Is this Brother Xiao’s trump card?”

Xiao Yulou first grinned slyly, then said leisurely,

“This is merely the first step of transforming form with Qi—not a trump card at all!”

Hearing this, the three felt utterly humbled, sensing that the sly Taoist Xiao Yulou was unfathomable indeed.

…