"I've really struck it rich this time!"
Du ke excitedly stared at the piece of crystalline white bone in front of him. Although he didn't know what creature this bone came from, there was no doubt that he had made a fortune.
Under normal circumstances, even with ample medicinal supplements, it would take over three months for an ordinary person to temper their bones.
Those gifted with exceptional talent and wisdom could accomplish it within a month.
But with this bone, along with the help of the Black Cauldron, Du ke believed he could complete bone tempering within three days, possibly even faster.
"What a treasure, a real treasure!"
Du ke raised his paw to caress the bone, stroking it a few times before storing it away in his Black Cauldron's pocket space.
It’s best to safely tuck away good things!
With this bone, he would be able to quickly advance to the Organ Refinement Realm.
However, he still needed to figure out how to obtain the Extreme Realm pills required for quenching his marrow and blood into silver.
He also wondered how his little girl was doing. Judging by Lady Qian Sui’s attitude, it seemed she had no intention of letting him leave Mao City any time soon.
Unless he could demonstrate sufficient strength to convince her.
Tsk, getting tangled up with such a proud and aloof cat elder really was both a blessing and a torment!
As this thought flashed through Du ke's mind, his gaze turned back to the pile of objects in front of him.
The huanghuali cabinet was stuffed full with at least eighty, if not a hundred, items resonating with spiritual qi. Right now, what he needed to focus on first was cultivating his spiritual perception.
He could resume martial arts cultivation tomorrow.
Du ke picked up the red rope, inadvertently catching sight of the tiger head hat.
Seeing the hat, Du ke blinked and couldn't help smiling.
"Ah, recently I have been rather neglecting the dog."
Putting down the red rope, Du ke grabbed the tiger head hat and walked out of the storage room.
Although cultivation was urgent, he couldn't neglect those close to him.
Even if Shi San was just a dog!
Leaving the storage room, Du ke headed straight for the front hall. Shi San, curled up in his dog bed, perked up his ears as Du ke entered.
"Silly mutt!"
The white cat affectionately approached the dog bed. Shi San immediately leapt out, knocked the cat over, and smothered him with nuzzles and licks, showing boundless affection.
"Alright, enough!"
Du ke laughed as he fended off the dog and sat up, taking out the tiger head hat.
"Look what I brought for you!"
After Du ke presented the tiger head hat, Shi San tilted his head and instinctively moved to rip and tear it with his teeth.
But Du ke blocked him with a swat of his paw. Restraining Shi San, the cat then stood on his hind legs, putting the tiger head hat on the dog's head.
Expertly crafted, the lifelike hat resembled a tiger cub, appearing especially cute and silly.
The two tiger ears were hollow, fitting Shi San's own ears perfectly.
Tasseled cords with embroidered tiger cubs dangled cutely on both sides.
It took Du ke some effort to situate the tiger head hat on Shi San, adjusting it so his eyes weren't covered. Once properly outfitted, it suited the dog very well.
"Hmm.....let me take a look!"
Du ke stepped back to regard Shi San in the tiger hat, nodding emphatically in approval. "Ah, nothing less expected from my Shi San. He looks so handsome in this tiger hat!"
Hearing Du ke’s praise, Shi San's eyes crinkled happily as he bounded over to nuzzle the cat.
After playing with Shi San for a bit, Du ke left the front hall, letting the dog lounge around in his bed.
As the cat went off to cultivate, Shi San settled back in his dog bed, resting his head outside as he gazed at the front hall and rear courtyard gates.
After staring at the entrances for a while, he lifted his paw to pat the tiger hat on his head, an involuntary silly grin spreading across his face.
Hehe, the cat lord still loves this pup!
That black cat definitely doesn't have one!
Thinking this, Shi San patted his tiger hat again and chuckled to himself twice more.
That black cat definitely doesn't!
......
Inside the storage room, Du ke sat amidst a pile of spiritually resonating objects, the red rope laid out before him.
After a deep breath, the white cat focused his mind, silently reciting the Heavenly Mechanism Spirit Awareness mantra. At the same time, golden light emanated from his eyes.
The golden beams dispersed from Du ke's eyes, morphing into faint, cloud-like aura traces that drifted aimlessly.
"Inhale!"
Facing the red rope, Du ke forcefully sucked in a breath. A strand of qi was extracted from the red rope and sucked directly into his nose and mouth, vanishing without a trace.
As the qi entered his body, Du ke's soul immediately absorbed the spiritual resonance.
The very instant his soul assimilated the qi, his body shuddered involuntarily. Yet he didn’t dare relax one bit, guiding the qi into his Sea of Spiritual Reception.
The qi quickly flowed into the one chi square space of Du ke’s pure white Sea of Spiritual Reception. Trembling suddenly, it soon stabilized with the addition of the drifting strand of qi.
The Heavenly Mechanism Spirit Awareness mantra emitted a faint glow, gathering and harnessing the qi into an illusory clump.
Once condensed, the qi rapidly plummeted, drilling into the “earth” below the Sea of Spiritual Reception.
As that strand of qi burrowed into the earth, Du ke opened his eyes, completing his first cultivation session.
The qi had transformed into a primeval, nascent form of a Core of Spiritual Resonance - known as a Spirit Seed.
By continuously absorbing more qi, filling and perfecting this Spirit Seed, he could complete the first phase of cultivation.
Incubating and maturing the Spirit Core would be the second phase, followed by the third phase of developing his Body of Spiritual Resonance.
Du ke couldn’t see what lay ahead on this mystical path of spiritual cultivation. It was as if the way forward was abruptly cut off after this initial foundation as a Spirit Cat.
But these were not concerns requiring his attention at the moment. Having just embarked, he would take it slowly, cultivating step-by-step!
Opening his eyes, Du ke regarded the pile of red ashes before him and idly stirred them with his paw.
These were the remains of the disintegrated red rope after its qi had been extracted.
"Even the finest things in this world are ephemeral!"
Casually brushing the dust aside, Du ke proceeded to extract qi from the next spiritually resonant object to continue his cultivation.
He cultivated steadily throughout the night this way before finally halting at dawn.
By now, he had depleted seven or eight tenths of the spiritually attuned items he had gotten from Mo Hu Lu. Only a few odd pieces remained, which he tossed into his Black Cauldron's pocket space.
Exhaling heavily, Du ke expelled the stale air from his lungs. After scattering the ashes around him, he twisted his neck and stretched his limbs, joints cracking and popping as his body relaxed. Letting out a satisfied moan, he left the storage room and headed straight up to the roof to await sunrise.
As he waited for dawn, Du ke sorted through and consolidated everything he had gained from last night’s cultivation.
Already half filled, his Spirit Seed just needed a bit more qi to fully form. Then he could incubate and perfect it.
Although still lacking an actual Body of Spiritual Resonance, he was now attuned enough to the primordial qi suffusing heaven and earth to sense and utilize it in various ways.
For instance, he could convey thoughts and feelings by harnessing qi as a medium, stir qi into action, communicate with sentient beings through qi, and perceive qi in extraordinary ways.
In the inky predawn darkness, Du ke’s eyes flashed with bright golden light as he murmured while facing east, “Although I’ve gained initial insight into utilizing qi, I can't neglect advancing my martial arts cultivation.”
“Over the next few days, by making use of those bones, I should aim to swiftly push my martial realm to a completed Bone Tempering stage. As for Extreme Realm pills, I’ll have to think of another way to get them. I might also be able to gain entry into Sealing Devil Visualization by relying on those bones.”
Thinking of this, his mind settled, Du ke couldn't help recalling thoughts of his little girl. He wondered if she would feel lost without him by her side, properly eating and not getting bullied.
"Sigh, once my abilities are strong enough, I must find a way to leave Mao City!"
Just as Du ke finished speaking, the cock's crow pierced the pre-dawn tranquility within the city walls. Their strident cries were taken up by others, cascading through the darkness to rouse all of Mao City.
In the distant east, a beam of golden sunlight burst through, sweeping aside the clouds and dispelling the darkness.
Sunrise!
Centering his focus, Du ke drew in that first ray of sunlight while also guiding it into his Black Cauldron to begin refining.
In almost no time at all, a Sundrop pill emerged from which he retrieved the required elixirs. He was just about to ingest them when his expression froze.
Leaving aside Ling Bone Pill and Blood Food Pill, the two types of pills Day Essence and Moon Blossom actually contained spiritual rhythms. These rhythms were hidden inside and could be hooked and mobilized by Du ke.
"It looks like I might have another method to extract spiritual rhythms." Du ke said while extracting the spiritual rhythm from Moon Blossom Pill to try.
There were many Moon Blossom Pills, taking a few to extract spiritual rhythms would not matter.
Day Essence Pill was much more precious.
Du ke never expected that right after he mobilized the spiritual rhythm within the Moon Blossom Pill, the Moon Blossom Pill that was originally like a night pearl exploded with a "pa" sound the next second.
When the moonlight and essence dispersed, Du ke's face was also covered by a layer of moonlight.
Although the moonlight was soon dispelled by the sunlight, Du ke stood still for a long time without moving.
After a while, Du ke put the pills into the black cauldron space, gazed at the rising sun, and started refining Day Essence Pills again.
Soon, several Day Essence Pills were refined by Du ke, who also took out one and held it in his hand.
These later refined Day Essence Pills did not collect the first ray of sunlight for refining like the one with purple veins imprinted on its surface, but looked like a golden pearl instead.
Du ke looked at the Day Essence Pill in his claw and tried to mobilize the spiritual rhythm within the pill.
The next second,
"Pa!" A firecracker exploding sound spread in all directions from the roof, attracting the attention of cats and pedestrians.
With blackened face, curled beard, but bright eyes, Du ke spat out a mouthful of black stuff.
"Damn, it really caught me off guard with the explosion!"
"But, nice explosion, really nice explosion!"
"It completely blew my mind open in one go!"
"Hahahahaha!!!!"
orn and Humiliation】【Forced Love】 In his past life, Lin Ran was betrayed and murdered by his girlfriend and family, while the yandere female aristocrat, who had treated him as a mere plaything, avenged him by doing in his enemies. Upon seeing the yandere female aristocrat lying in the same coffin, ready to die with him, Lin Ran realized how profoundly mistaken he had been. Reborn, he abandoned the fickle campus beauty and wholeheartedly embraced the yandere female aristocrat's arms. "Ran! If I dig out your eyes and turn them into a specimen, you'll only be able to look at me!" Lin Ran: "Darling, kiss me!" "Ran! If I break your legs, you won't run away anymore, right?" Lin Ran: "Love, hold me tight!" "Ran! If..." Lin Ran: "Hush now! Love me more!" Luo Yao: ... Seeing his scumbag dad: "Take him out!" Seeing his stepmother: "Get rid of her!" Seeing his brother: "Eliminate him!" Seeing his white moonlight: "Send that to Southeast Asia!"
nd fell into a coma while saving his younger sister from an out-of-control car. He became a vegetable. No one knew that his consciousness had crossed into a world of cultivation. Over the course of sixty years, he began as the lowest kind of mine slave, struggling to survive amid mountains of corpses and seas of blood. By sheer chance, he eventually obtained the complete memories of a fallen Immortal King. Alchemy, medicine, formations, feng shui, physiognomy, artifact forging… Every great inheritance of the cultivation world was now his. But when he opened his eyes again, he discovered that ten full years had passed in the modern world. To pay for his treatment, his father had sold the family’s shop and house, leaving himself covered in lasting injuries and illness. His mother had cared for him day and night, and more than half of her hair had already turned white. His younger sister, who had been only fifteen back then, was now twenty-five. To help repay the family’s debts, she had been forced to lower her head and put on a smiling face in places of glittering lights and endless revelry. Only then did Chen Xuan understand that what he had lost was not merely ten years. He had lost the life his entire family was meant to have. The good news was that he had brought back the memories of an Immortal King’s entire lifetime. The bad news was that his soul had returned alone—his cultivation had not come with him. Spiritual energy was scarce, resources were depleted, and the modern world still had firearms, surveillance, capital, and laws. If he wanted to protect his family, break free from everyone’s control, and become truly invincible beneath the heavens, he would have to start all over again.
e bizarre and supernatural had descended. The previous emperor was a thoroughgoing tyrant; no longer satisfied with human women, he had set his sights on a stunningly beautiful supernatural entity. He met his end in his bedchamber, drained of all his vital essence. As the legitimate eldest son and crown prince, Wang Hao was thus hastily enthroned, becoming the young emperor of the Great Zhou Dynasty. No sooner had he awakened the "Imperial Sign-In Intelligence System" than he was assassinated by a Son of Destiny—a classic villain's opening. The Great Zhou, ravaged by the former emperor's excesses, was in national decline. The great families within its borders harbored their own treacherous schemes, martial sects began to defy the imperial court's decrees, and border armies, their pay and provisions in arrears, grumbled incessantly against the central government. Fortunately, the central capital was still held secure by the half-million Imperial Guards and fifty thousand Imperial Forest Army who obeyed the court's orders, along with the royal family's hidden reserves of power, barely managing to suppress the realm. As the Great Zhou's finances worsened and supernatural activities grew ever more frequent, the court sat atop a volcano. Ambitious plotters everywhere dreamed of overthrowing the dynasty, and even some reclusive ancient powers emerged, attempting to sway the tides of the world. At the first grand court assembly, the civil and military officials nearly came to blows, fighting tooth and nail over the allocation of fifty million taels of silver from the summer tax revenues. The spectacle opened Wang Hao's eyes—the Great Zhou's bureaucracy was not only corrupt but also martially proficient, a cabinet of all-rounders. Some officials even had the audacity to suggest the emperor release funds from the imperial privy purse to address the emergency. Wang Hao suddenly felt weary. Let it all burn.
ions, keeping it grounded and realistic】 After quitting his job, office worker Su Yang accidentally binds with the "Enjoy Life System." As the name suggests, simply by indulging in life's pleasures, he can earn random rewards from the system—no need to spend money on beautiful women or grovel before anyone. Just enjoy, and the money follows, making it all about effortless fun. The system comes with a scanning feature, allowing him to establish a favorability bond with women rated 85 points or above. Every 20-point increase in favorability unlocks additional rewards. After suffering through over twenty years of hardship, Su Yang trembles with excitement, his dull eyes suddenly gleaming with newfound hope. "Enjoy life? How hard could that be?"
