Chương 83: Disorienting Ghost Canyon (3)
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Ja Sun moved quickly, avoiding those who could be avoided and injuring a few pestering spirit beasts that are quick in escaping and love to harass their prey. One-kilometer mark meant that he was already inside the inner section of the forest.
Although the road would widen, it still remained a relatively straight road, and still, Ja Sun spread his mental energy out in pulses like sonar and made sure not to leave any possible cave created way back. His figure flashed around, sometimes stepping on the completely hidden rocky protrusion on the side of the wall and sometimes stepping on the strikes of the physical spirit beasts enjoying the ambiance of the Ghost Canyon.
After reaching the golden realm of Fiery Golden Pupils, Ja Sun's eyes could see further into the mist naturally. Excellent vision reduced his need of consuming mental energy to scout ahead and he soon covered another four kilometers. He was already nearing the most dangerous section of the canyon.
His eyes remained sharp and with a twist of his body, he evaded the spiraling energy slash sent at his back. Without looking at the Spirit Beast, Ja Sun continued. After all, he had long noticed the 19000-year-old Rock Face Spirit Beast but since it cannot move and destroying it was also tricky and time-consuming, he simply moved ahead.
To completely explore the Ghost Canyon, Ja Sun would at least need to reach the end of the Canyon which also meant the end of the Core Region. But all spirit beasts in the core region be it physical or ghostly were tricky. Nothing that Ja Sun couldn't solve with his Astral Combatant and Heaven's Descent since any spirit beast's greatest confidence in this environment would naturally be their spirit energy. But instead of slowly clearing out the region to cultivate his spirit souls, he wanted to reach the edges of the canyon.
Still, only two hours had passed and he didn't wish to travel in the core region with an inpatient train of thought. Some spirit beasts would be needed to be dealt with or he might end up getting besieged himself.
By now, the mist covering the ground came up till his waist, completely submerging half his body. This entire time, Ja Sun only used his fourth spirit ring occasionally. This was a hard one to find variant uses of since the basic condition was to come into a physical contact with the opponent. The only thing Ja Sun could do was decrease or increase the intensity of poison sent by the spirit ability based on the spirit energy consumed but since it is a one-time consumption technique, Ja Sun would also feel a decrease in his spirit energy if he uses this technique numerous times.
His pace now slow, Ja Sun scouted with much quicker Astral Combatant since it wouldn't leak any hint of mental energy like the sonar technique he used prior to this. Not only that, Astral Combatant can sneak up for chances and destroy the opponent at once.
The deeper he went, the more intense the feeling of the rot within the mist grew.
Due to the intense rot, even the mental toxin of Astral Combatant slowly changed from neurotic poison to a more rotten kind that pervaded one's sense of being itself.
Sharing his senses with Astral Combatant, Ja Sun then began to explore the core region slightly before stepping in too ahead.
Within a few minutes, he found the first spirit beast silently attached to the ground like a sheet of parchment. Dark grey surface and a thin, long tail silently stretched out. As it continued to lie down, Ja Sun observed it through Astral Combatant and found that this was none other than Poison Mist Stingray. An aerial spirit beast that utilizes poisonous mists to cover its tracks and in here, it was a menace. Even its weaker variants managed to get everyone except for Bibi Dong and himself. Though everyone was somewhat resistant to poison, in this world, nobody can truly be immune to poisons.
Cautiously, the form of astral combatant merged with the rotten mist and slowly made its way towards the stingray.
*Swish*
It instantly rushed into Stingray's body, causing its languid body to stiffen and instantly limp once again. A pitch-black ring rose out of the Stingray's body. Compared to a few spirit beasts found in the inner region, of the canyon, this one was dangerous due to its stealth and not its high cultivation. Taking care of it and increasing the cultivation of both his spirit souls by 200 years, Ja Sun continued forward. Occasionally attacking but most of the time avoiding as many spirit beasts as he can.
---
13 hours later.
Slightly parched, Ja Sun silently stayed within a crevice. In terms of spirit beasts cultivation, 80000-90000-year-old beasts could be considered at the same level as a Titled Douluo. The fact taught in various academies that only a 100000-year-old spirit beast is comparable to a titled douluo is a red herring. After all, most recently ascended Titled Douluos won't easily face a beast of such level for the cultivation is just one of the milestones of great strength. Exotic techniques unknown to spirit masters can still threaten a person's life.
If it was a 70000-year-old spirit beast, Ja Sun wouldn't act so timidly but being headstrong and foolish are two different concepts.
Within the world of mist no longer differentiating between the sky and earth hovered a single 60 centimeters long bone-like spirit beast vertically. A spear made out of a single smooth bone with the base of the white blade of the spear surrounded by eight bright blue gems inlaid flickering with a ghosty light that was intense enough to bask the surrounding with soft blue light.
An 80000-yead-old Specter Scepter. A real tongue twister, sure, but a real gut disemboweler, too. Ja Sun didn't have any intentions of meeting this fearsome beast in a battle without any mission underway at that. A spirit beast that can turn phantom and physical menace at will and with the attacking capability probably raised to its peak due to the favorable environment. It was cautious, too. The blue light of it meant that the strangely shaped spirit beast was conducting a survey of its surroundings at every moment.
To Ja Sun, however, its spirit rings weren't truly sought after. The attributes of this spirit beast, as far as noted in Bibi Dong's reading material was Yin, Poison, and Spirit. To Ja Sun's martial soul, it would be more harmful to its eventual evolution than better.
He didn't lose his hope about the evolution of martial souls. If Ah Yin's can evolve. So can his and possibly others'. For a moment, Tang Yuehua's figure flashed in front of Ja Sun as he recalled her talents. On the other hand, the Astral Combatant sneaked past the ghostly spear, revealing why the mission couldn't reach the realm of S-rank because, with the assistance of Astral Combatant, it was certainly easier to explore tha Canyon.
'Oh? There's a trap here?' The Astral Combatant phased into the thin ground and entered the extremely large pit filled with soul-devouring maggots completely saturating the pit to a brim. His figure instantly flashed out once again with narrowed eyes.
'Every maggot inside was at the very least... 10000-year-old...'
Ja Sun's eyes flashed and he continued forward. His body trembled momentarily with excitement. This place was a supreme treasure for him. Others won't act against the maggots because attacking one arm-lengthed ugly worm would make the attacker the prey to every single maggot within but for Ja Sun... only one maggot didn't matter. But a large untouched pit of it was truly a treasure. Their combined strength would make a Titled Douluo shiver in fright, and no one would be willing to spend a lot of time in coming with ways to deal with the pit because it's simply not beneficial. But for Ja Sun, it was.
Soul devouring maggots, a strange form of spirit attributed spirit beasts with mental attacks that devour other's mental energy and make them unable to even move due to the rotten aspect of their attacks that can stun one's mind and body.
Astral Combatant, ordinarily a great mental technique that encompasses various usage of mental energy but mutated with the rotten and poisonous aspects of the canyon and passively enhanced and defended by Fiery Golden Pupils, Ja Sun couldn't predict the result of this contest.
But, while the Astral Combatant could use the skull bone's ability when it is within Ja Sun's mental scape, it cannot do the same outside of his body. Skull Bones are not godly to be able to be possessed by the mind and the body. They are equipped to one's body itself.
The Astral Combatant continued to float ahead. The entirety of the Canyon was almost explored. Aside from the pit of Soul Devouring Maggots and the Specter Scepter, there really was nothing ahead. A long and wide stretch of empty mist formed from powerful but rotten mental energy that passively nourished Ja Sun's Astral Combatant.
However, the situation changes once Ja Sun found a single dark red bone shaped in a claw sticking out at the end of the canyon.
Aside from this bony claw, there really was nothing else. While Ja Sun first felt that he found an amazing treasure, he was slapped by reality when an hour-long observation made him conclude that it was a plain bone without a hint of spirit or mental energy within. Ja Sun then thought that this might be a good cultivation resource, or something similar to the yellow gem that Luo San Pao dropped after he killed that martial soul.
Once again, his suspicions were disapproved. It was truly an ordinary bone. There wasn't even a proper body but just this claw bone piercing the ground with the claw itself sticking out as wide as a meter.
This allowed Ja Sun to suspect that while this bone may have been a treasure, most likely, its benefits were utilized. Specifically, the canyon itself was the product of this claw bone. He had other thoughts, too.
Of course, these were mere speculations. One thing was for sure, however, that under the control of Spirit Hall and visited by its member, only eldritch benefits such as the Pit of Soul Devouring Maggots could survive. Any other treasure would be long absorbed.
As expected. The moment Ja Sun fully explored the rest of the canyon, the space between his brows flashed and a parchment soon appeared in front of him.
Another blueprint of an array.
Ja Sun constantly realized that the value of arrays didn't settle with smithing itself. As a profession, Array manipulates spirit energy to bring change in the nature of the environment and targetted materials. It may even be set as a trap. But, of course, proper research on the subject matter would be needed. The time required will be quite a bit and Ja Sun himself wasn't willing to spend more time on it unless he had enough strength to whether any change.
For him, that didn't mean the strength of Titled Douluo. He wasn't delusional in thinking that Titled Douluo can be reached within a year or two.
But the level of Spirit Sage.
That can be reached by him despite all the changes brought by cultivation that slows the speed of a Spirit Master in the accumulation of energy.
With his objective reached, Ja Sun retreated soon enough, using the extra time to deal with a few more spirit beasts that were only technical to be dealt with and not truly strong.
---
Ja Sun's return marked the end of the first month of the group within the Disorienting Ghost Canyon. Bibi Dong had already revealed that if it wasn't for an all round tempering, then the group would have stayed here for an entire year instead of three months.
Silently, along with the increase of his Spirit Soul's cultivation, Ja Sun's own cultivation rose by a rank, matching Liu Erlong in cultivation but he himself didn't focus on cultivation actively. Instead, he began to focus on his fourth spirit skill wholeheartedly alongside his Storm Steps. With many forms of knowledge imparted to them, Ah Yin and Ja Sun did receive a movement technique from Qian Daoliu but its quality was only slightly lower than Storm Steps. Without any form of improvement, Ja Sun only used his entire combat knowledge to finally focus on the possible weaknesses.
During the second month, the group only live out of their dungeons. Returning when someone was too tired to continue or was immobilized by an injury.
At the beginning of the second month, Liu Erlong reached rank 49. Unlike Ja Sun's silent breakthrough, Liu Erlong's breakthrough was accompanied by a burst of fire that threatened to burn her clothes into ashes and a deep draconic growl that pressured Xie Xan into improving.
By the third month, the six of them were divided into teams of two.
Hu Lana and Xie Xan.
Liu Erlong and Ah Yin.
Bibi Dong and Ja Sun.
With Hu Lana's more spiritual nature, she could find spirit beasts before Xie Xan and Xie Xan was more than motivated to protect Hu Lana, increasing their efficiency and growth exponentially in the last month.
It could be said that Bibi Dong carefully grasped the nature of her students.
While she wasn't the least bit cautious in teeming the couple together, she didn't dare let Ja Sun and Ah Yin together in fear that their progress would be slowed down. Especially for Ah Yin.
Ja Sun's tongue was sharper than Xie Xan's moon blade. If his words unintentionally ended up affecting Ah Yin's steady progress in almost comprehending the control of her spirit energy, Bibi Dong would regret this misjudgment for the rest of her life.
It isn't easy to find the active competition of such a nature.
Instead, roused by Liu Erlong's natural development in such a state of comprehension, Ah Yin's progress, too grew.
But that meant Bibi Dong ending with Ja Sun.
If Bibi Dong could be said to have grasped a great control of the students' natures then Ja Sun's grasp was better and it was because of this he proposed to Bibi Dong that even if they team up, they should keep adequate distance to not affect each other's progress since she, too, was in a delicate situation right now.
This allowed Bibi Dong to progress steadily, not as fast as others since she was a lot more stronger than them. Meanwhile, Ja Sun steadily increased the quality of his spirit souls but now...
He could only use his fourth spirit ring and nothing else. After all, the growth his spirit souls gained from the pit of soul-devouring maggots was too great! Not only that, his body was a simple push away from finally achieving the qualitative change after he continued to stab himself with the Jinx Serpent's dagger that also earned him quite a few poisonous materials from his trait. All low-leveled but the quantity was definitely astonishing.
His final result would shock anyone.
But much to everyone's surprise, Xie Xan's growth was the quickest by being next to Hu Lana.
Three days prior to the end of their training, he broke into rank 50, ready to absorb his fifth spirit ring.
When they finally exited the Disorienting Ghost Canyon, Qian Daoliu's figure was already resting on a wide branch of a tree a little further from the ghostly mouth of the cave. He only took one glance towards the group before his eyes brightened.
***
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