Mortal Bones

After pouring a large gulp of wine into his mouth with a "glug glug" sound, the old man suddenly grinned.

"Born as a human, you must cultivate yourself, guide others, be like water, dwelling in the abyss and doing good... Well said," he muttered to himself.

After saying this, he took another sip of wine, wiping the corner of his mouth with his ragged sleeve, then continued muttering, "I never expected, after all these years, to hear these words from the mouth of a nameless outer disciple. How laughable, truly laughable!"

Finishing his words, he yawned as he leaned his head on his hand and turned his gaze toward the direction of the Qingzhu Residence. His tone suddenly became cold and sharp, "If this is your Dao heart, then show me your means of protecting your path. I, Jian Jiu, despise those who speak wildly!"

...

Nine days later, in the evening.

At the Yanglu Mountain, in the Purple Bamboo Forest.

"Bang!"

Xu Taiping, using the technique "Green Bull Charging the Mountain," sent a demon wolf flying that had pounced on him.

However, soon two more demon wolves pounced from behind him.

"My vital energy is almost exhausted. Looks like it's time to go back," Xu Taiping muttered in reluctance, glancing toward the depths of the bamboo forest.

There, in the distance, he saw a decaying corpse ghost, holding a large axe, vigorously chopping at a rock on the ground.

Under this rock was the spring that fed the water source for Qingzhu Residence. If the rock blocking the spring could be split open and sealed, the water flow to Qingzhu Residence would be cut off. Not only would the spiritual herbs in the garden wither, but even the barrier around Qingzhu Residence could fail.

"Bang!"

At that moment, the corpse ghost struck the rock with another heavy blow. The impact sent a wave of spiritual energy ripples and numerous stone fragments flying.

With this strike, the rock, inscribed with runes, cracked open further.

"Little one, it's not too late to regret now!" the corpse ghost said with a sinister grin, turning to look at Xu Taiping.

Without a doubt, this corpse ghost was the new body possessed by the ghost servant.

"The fate of the deer has not yet been decided!" Xu Taiping said, activating his internal vital energy and executing the "Charging Bull into the Army" technique.

With a roar like that of a bull, several punch shadows suddenly appeared and slammed into the demon wolves charging toward him, sending them flying while howling in pain.

"Swish!"

Taking advantage of the opportunity when the demon wolves were pushed back, Xu Taiping nimbly grabbed a purple bamboo stalk, using its elasticity to leap out of the demon wolves' encirclement.

"To think that you can't even deal with a few demon wolves, yet you want to stop me from severing the water source? Keep hiding, keep hiding. In a few days, I'll see where you can hide!" the ghost servant said with a stiff grin, watching Xu Taiping escape.

Since discovering that the water source spring was in the Purple Bamboo Forest, Xu Taiping had come here repeatedly over the last nine days to thwart the ghost servant. But every time, he was defeated, which only made the ghost servant more and more smug.

...

Back at Qingzhu Residence.

"Whoosh..."

Xu Taiping poured a bowl of cold water from the water tank and splashed it all over his body, washing away all the sweat and grime.

Afterward, he quickly dried himself, changed into a clean set of clothes, and sat down at a simple desk he had made himself.

"This is the fifth time I've failed to ambush the ghost servant. I used about 60% of my strength this time, a bit less than last time, but the ghost servant didn't notice anything unusual. I've figured out the weaknesses of the three demon wolves. The one with a scar near its eye has an injury on its back leg, and I can kill it from behind. The smallest one has an injured eye, and it's slower than the others..." Xu Taiping wrote down the insights he gained from the latest failed ambush.

In the last two attempts, he had actually had a chance to kill the three demon wolves. However, to confuse the ghost servant and to avoid getting injured before their final battle, he had deliberately held back.

"I've already tested my strength five times. The ghost servant should think this is all I can do. Now, I just need to focus on improving my cultivation, hopefully getting the Residual Glow Technique to the Ice Phase," Xu Taiping muttered to himself, putting down the pen and silently reflecting for a moment before sitting down on his bed.

Once he broke through to the Ice Phase, the defensive power of his Residual Glow protective energy would be greatly enhanced, and he would be able to condense his spiritual energy into ice.

"If I reach the Ice Phase, I can seal those jars of wine I bought in ice. That way, the ghost servant won't discover them." He glanced at the jars of strong liquor placed on his bedside table.

Although the people from the Xifeng Pavilion turned a blind eye to the ghost servant, whenever Xu Taiping wanted to buy something, they would send spirit birds. Unfortunately, none of the spirit birds sent recently were White Rainbows, and they were all extremely cold and indifferent. Otherwise, he could have asked them for help.

"Don't always think about relying on others. Didn't Linglong sister say it? As an outer disciple with no name, the only one you can rely on in this mountain is yourself," Xu Taiping shook his head, regaining his focus.

He tossed a Yellow Bean Spiritual Crystal into his mouth, preparing to push his Residual Glow Technique to the Ice Phase.

...

Three days passed in the blink of an eye.

During these days, Xu Taiping barely ate or drank, focusing entirely on cultivating the Residual Glow Technique. Even when the water supply to the garden was cut off, he remained unfazed, seemingly immersed in a state of oblivion.

"Little one, come out and die!"

In the afternoon of the third day, the ghost servant, along with the three demon wolves, once again arrived at the gate of Qingzhu Residence.

Although Xu Taiping's interference had delayed the ghost servant for a few days, the ghost servant had finally sealed the spring in the Purple Bamboo Forest today.

"Bang!"

When no one responded inside, the ghost servant jumped off the demon wolf and swung his sword, emitting a ghostly aura that cut through the gate of Qingzhu Residence.

"Boom!"

Although the barrier surrounding Qingzhu Residence had not completely dissipated, its power had weakened significantly, no longer enough to harm the ghost servant.

"The barrier is indeed weakening," the ghost servant grinned wickedly.

"Little one, I will stay here tonight. When the barrier is completely gone, it will be your death. At that time, you will experience what it means to beg for death but be unable to die!" he laughed loudly from outside the gate.

Just then, inside his bedroom, Xu Taiping, who had been cultivating for several days, slowly opened his eyes.

The moment his eyes opened, the gray-white mist surrounding him suddenly condensed into ice. Even the bed beneath him froze, forming a large patch of ice.

"Condensing energy into ice, I've broken through to the Ice Phase!" Xu Taiping exclaimed, looking at the ice crystals swirling around his body, his face full of excitement.

After breaking through to the Ice Phase in the Residual Glow Technique, he was now qualified to attempt the next phase: the Open Door Stage.

More importantly, with the ice-enforced Residual Glow protective energy, his chances of defeating the ghost servant had increased even further.

4o