Chapter 104: Chapter 102: A Fulfilling Cultivation Life, Solitary Self-Contentment

Song Ciwan had no idea what was happening on Xie Yunxiang’s end, nor did she know that her new friend was practically going mad looking for her.

She simply fell into her own rhythm, living a stable life: home, work, and back home again to cultivate.

Throughout this peaceful routine, she constantly switched between her two aliases, Mu Dalang and Song Xun. But changing personas was merely for the sake of secrecy; Song Ciwan had no intention of stirring up trouble or looking for it.

She had many of her own things to focus on now. First, for instance, was honing her culinary skills.

The rules of the Heaven and Earth Scale always seemed to give preferential treatment to gourmet food. Song Ciwan had reached this firm conclusion after numerous experiments.

She had even managed to trade for a Profound Iron Wok once, but various inconveniences in the past had meant the wok was rarely used.

Now that her life had stabilized, Song Ciwan decided to make good use of the wok, learning to manage her resources for the long haul.

Second, Song Ciwan wanted to learn the art of Talisman Making.

Although she could often obtain various Talismans from the Heaven and Earth Scale through trade, their types were often bizarre and far too unpredictable.

Song Ciwan still wanted to learn Talisman Making herself in order to diversify her arsenal of techniques.

She had bought a copy of the *Basic Talisman Collection* back in Su Yang City, and now that she was settled, she was determined to study it properly.

Third, Song Ciwan needed to diligently cultivate the Thunder Fire Body Devouring Technique.

This Body Refining Technique had been obtained by trading the human desires of the Demon-slaying General, Tian Junhong. Song Ciwan already possessed the complete cultivation methods for the First and Second Layers.

She planned to train hard. She wasn’t aiming to achieve sainthood through Body Refining, but at the very least, she didn’t want to be a glass cannon who would shatter at the slightest touch.

Cultivating the Thunder Fire Body Devouring Technique was no easy feat. It required tempering her body with lightning and fire, and also demanded vast resources for supplements.

Fortunately, Song Ciwan knew both Palm Thunder and the Blazing Flame Technique, and she had over a hundred pounds of Dragon Blood stored in the Heaven and Earth Scale. For the time being, she wasn’t lacking resources to cultivate the Thunder Fire Body Devouring Technique.

Thus, she had even less reason to go out looking for trouble.

’There’s barely enough time for Cultivation as it is. It’s best if no one disturbs me.’

Fourth, Song Ciwan needed to place her Death Replacement Puppets.

On the eve of her departure from Su Yang City, concerned that the city might be destroyed, Song Ciwan had retrieved all the Peach Wood Puppets she had previously hidden in various locations.

She possessed a total of three pairs of Puppets made from Peach and Li Woods. The Li Wood Puppets allowed her to cheat death three times, and the Peach Wood Puppets allowed her to teleport three times.

It wasn’t that Song Ciwan didn’t want to create more Puppets and give herself extra lives; the main issue was that such heaven-defying items had their limits.

Three is a number of great transformation, and three pairs was her current limit.

To break this limit, she would have to cultivate the First Layer of the Substitution Skill to its absolute peak and obtain the incantation for the Second Layer. Only then could she potentially possess six pairs of Puppets, or even nine, or more...

However, cultivating the Substitution technique required actual combat experience—a cycle of death, substitution, and teleportation—to see any improvement.

Without a compelling reason, Song Ciwan truly couldn’t bring herself to cultivate this Magic by "dying."

’Perhaps in the future... one day I might be able to. But for now, I definitely won’t.’

First, she needed to properly place the three pairs of Puppets she already had.

She kept the Li Wood Puppets on her person. As for the Peach Wood Puppets, she buried one of them in a pit under her bedroom floor.

After observing for a few days, she found suitable hiding places for the other two as well.

Fifth, Song Ciwan had a plethora of other skills to practice, including various forms of Magic, Divine Techniques, and even Martial Techniques. These included the Void Illusion Demon Sword, Blazing Flame Technique, Palm Thunder, Ganlin Spell, and Wind Manipulation Technique—too many to list individually.

In short, Song Ciwan’s days were incredibly full.

Though she lived in a bustling city, she seemed to be isolated from the world.

Though isolated, she had naturally reconciled herself with the solitude.

Of course, she wasn’t truly lonely; she had the Big White Goose for company.

In the lulls between her daily Cultivation, feeding and teasing the goose became Song Ciwan’s pastime. Fed on the insects from her Five Poison Jar, the Big White Goose grew ever more sleek and glossy. Its Qi Blood was vigorous, and it radiated a ferocious aura.

Using her Spiritual Sense, Song Ciwan felt it was constantly on the verge of some kind of transformation.

She often took the opportunity to pluck feathers from the Big White Goose. Whenever she collected a small amount, she would sell them. In exchange, she received Iron Feather Talismans, some of which she used directly on the Big White Goose, while others she stored in the Heaven and Earth Scale.

More than ten days passed in this manner. Song Ciwan’s life grew increasingly tranquil, yet her Cultivation progressed without a single day’s pause.

Over the next few days, she made it a daily routine to sell off a portion of Wang Yi’s "human desires." All the accelerated cultivation time she received in return was spent on the Thunder Fire Body Devouring Technique.

Thunder Fire Body Devouring Technique (First Layer: Beginner 120/1000)

(First Layer: Beginner 579/1000)

(First Layer: Beginner 968/1000)

...

Before she knew it, Song Ciwan’s Thunder Fire Body Devouring Technique broke through to the next stage.

Thunder Fire Body Devouring Technique (First Layer: Skilled 2231/10000)

Having progressed from the Beginner to the Skilled Stage, Song Ciwan could feel that the damage she sustained when striking herself with Palm Thunder was steadily decreasing.

Her skin and bones appeared no different from an ordinary person’s. In fact, her skin felt exceptionally soft and smooth to the touch. In essence, however, the resilience of her body had already reached an Extraordinary level.

The only issue was that the Dragon Blood was being consumed with incredible speed. Previously, Song Ciwan had used Fuyuan Pills to aid her Cultivation. But once the Thunder Fire Body Devouring Technique entered the Skilled Stage and her body’s tolerance increased dramatically, she switched to using Red Sun Pills to replenish her energy.

The Red Sun Pill was a Three-star Elixir, and one pound of Dragon Blood could be traded for ten of them.

Each time she finished an accelerated Cultivation session, she felt utterly drained and would consume at least five Red Sun Pills.

Wang Yi’s "human desires" were completely exhausted on the sixth day.

After that, Song Ciwan no longer had access to accelerated Cultivation time. Her main focus thus shifted from practicing her Cultivation Techniques to drawing Talismans.

During this period, Song Ciwan learned to create several simple Talismans, ranging from Unworthy to One-star Level.

These included Light Body Talismans, Exorcism Talismans, Armor Talismans, Dust-avoiding Talismans, Bright Light Talismans, and Blood-Stop Talismans, among others.

It was worth noting that she acquired a large amount of Malice from the Washing Room each day. As a result, her once severely depleted Lifespan had gradually started to replenish.

There was just one problem: perhaps due to her Cultivation breakthrough, the Malice she absorbed was now categorized by Level.

If it was Malice from an ordinary, Unworthy Little Demon, absorbing one tael of it would now only grant her one year of Lifespan.

A far cry from before, when one tael of Malice could be traded for ten years of Lifespan!

Only Malice from a Demon at the Spirit Communication Stage or higher could maintain the old exchange rate of one tael for ten years, or one pound for a hundred years.

In these ten-odd days, by trading Malice, Song Ciwan had increased her Lifespan to five hundred and twelve years!

And so, with the end of the year suddenly approaching, Song Ciwan grew restless after her long period of quiet and decided it was time for a trip to the Wangjiang Cave Mansion.