Master of Strange Dao

Yu Ziqing lit the fire before leaving, then nestled himself back in Jinlan Mountain.

The saying goes, transitioning from frugality to extravagance is easy, but the reverse is difficult. Given the recent endeavors he was involved in, leaving home without any protection made him feel insecure.

As the ancient saying rightly points out, even a cornered beast will fight back.

When pushed to the limit, he too was ready to bite someone, and by considering others' perspectives, he concluded that when others are pushed, they can do anything.

Slaying someone like Qing Ziyu from Jinlan Mountain, or capturing and interrogating him, naturally became the most convenient course of action.

Yu Ziqing decided not to leave home anymore, choosing to remain quiet for some time, to let things settle, and even advised Wu Shuangge to refrain from going out for a while.

After all, with the increasing numbers of filth buckets being distributed, delaying the collection by a couple of months or so wasn't going to be a major issue.

Yu Ziqing's intention with these filth buckets was to lower the threshold, allowing Wu Shuangge to gather the world's ghost qi to help his Mixed Yuan Gold Bowl advance a bit faster.

Unfortunately, he somewhat underestimated how different this world was from what he was accustomed to.

Up until now, outside of the wealthy and powerful major forces, only the imperial capitals of places like the Divine Dynasty could achieve comprehensive coverage with the filth buckets.

Even though the residue after the filth buckets absorbed the filth could serve as excellent fertilizer, the advancement rate still fell far short of Yu Ziqing's expectations.

Those major forces, when they have good things, prefer to keep them to themselves.

People from Lihuo Institute wanted to promote it, but they could only really advocate, as they couldn't exactly force everyone to collect their filth, could they?

There's always a gap between ideals and reality.

Even the thoughts and executions from the upper to middle levels would have a significant gap, let alone expecting universal benefits to trickle down to the lowest levels.

In this matter, Yu Ziqing truly had no solution but to take it slowly, as there wasn't any urgency about it.

He had already prepared to take thousands of years to slowly unfold the plan, allowing everyone to gradually get accustomed to it.

Yu Ziqing shrank back in Jinlan Mountain, letting the matter ferment outside.

These cultivators had long lifespans, so unless it was an urgent matter, efficiency was truly low; some things were just a waiting game.

He settled in Jinlan Mountain, practicing cultivation diligently, and compiled the Jinlan Secret Skill.

He also tried to compile the sword dao power he had acquired last time.

Power acquired out of thin air would have a qualitative change upon reaching the Ninth Tier.

Especially after a battle, when there was a leisure moment, he could record some of it on the spot.

This portion of the mystery was the strongest. To ensure accuracy, he only recorded the most critical main ideas and outlines.

Once the power faded, and he revisited the compilation, the recorded content's true intent and mystery were far less impressive.

This portion extended from the main ideas as branches.

As long as the main ideas were correct, the branches growing from them, even if problematic, could be pruned, and cultivation issues wouldn't be directly fatal.

Unfortunately, the alien power covered Jinlan Mountain, and in the parts not covered, the hungry ghost aura was too dense, making qi refinement exceptionally unsuitable.

On top of that, Yang continuously set up large arrays using meteor materials, which had already started showing some effects recently.

Within the confines of Jinlan Mountain, attempting qi refinement was indeed challenging.

For now, Yu Ziqing didn't plan to refine qi.

He only wanted to enrich the foundations of Jinlan Mountain.

In case a highly perceptive sword dao genius emerged within Jinlan Mountain in the future, with his perfected main ideas and main parts, not requiring many branches of true intent, there might just be a chance for a sword dao master to arise.

As for the cultivation of the Hungry Ghost Dao, Yu Ziqing couldn't even compile the foundational Dharma Method.

Each time he activated judgment, it was the Hungry Ghost Dao's power, but the more he did it, the more he felt that the foundational Dharma Method of the First Tier was indeed the hardest.

There were references and existing methods for qi refinement.

But the Hungry Ghost Dao had no direct applications, and even the usual ghost path methods had very limited reference value.

As a result, up to now, Yu Ziqing couldn't draft the outline.

It seemed every expression always fell just a bit short.

He had to temporarily give it up.

The only thing he could confidently boast about was the Hundred Sects Secret Techniques of Jinlan Mountain.

As long as he had rational and logical grounds, theoretically they could be completed; even if the village chief couldn't master them for the time being, they could at least try a little.

During other times, when free, he would contact Song to understand the situation outside.

Recently, Song had revitalized and still remained the biggest mad dog of Daqian.

Yet, when talking to Song, Yu Ziqing could clearly feel that far from being conceited, Song seemed to have grown increasingly cautious, the whole person becoming more humble.

His actions and his persona outside had a distinctly divided feeling, seeming to be two completely separate individuals.

Yu Ziqing even felt tired for him, as when they chatted privately within the ring of the Seventh Floor, he gradually guided him to relax a bit.

If this continued, over time, even if he didn't die, significant problems would arise.

At their routine meeting, Yu Ziqing looked at Song, sighed first, and then asked.

"Found another one?"

"Indeed, there's one. The Langya Incarnation Technique has spread far broader than anyone imagined.

However, the issue is manageable. Now, all the large and small officials of the Divine Dynasty must undergo our scrutiny.

Moreover, the Compass had been borrowed by the Imperial Family's Ancestral Temple for a few days. Presumably, they conducted their internal checks.

Some sects too wanted to borrow the magical treasure.

After the incident at the Infinite Sect, no one could sit still.

Lately, it's been overwhelmingly busy."