Hermit in the Mountains

Wang Bing'er was the most troublesome one among the disciples chosen by Gu Changsheng. She had no physical body, but was a soul that had died tragically and was filled with resentment. Her soul had also unexpectedly gained a few strands of ghostly luck.

Although the matter is troublesome, if successful, one can take in a disciple with a pure Yin spirit body, whose cultivation aptitude is excellent, which will also enhance his cultivation.

Wang Bing'er gritted her teeth, enduring the pain caused by the burning of her soul by the pure yang power. She muttered the method of calming the mind and spirit taught by Gu Changsheng, and visualized the Jade Rabbit Gazing at the Moon in her mind.

"Embrace your spirit and focus on the One, contemplate the scene."

"A mind as still as water, untouched by any thoughts..."

As the yang energy burned, wisps of black smoke rose from Wang Bing'er's soul. Her soul grew fainter and fainter and began to float into the sky.

Seeing this, Gu Changsheng had a thought, and his divine sense seemed to transform into a palm to press Wang Bing'er's soul back to its original position.

Wang Bing'er's soul was so weak that it could disappear at any moment. The effect was also very obvious: no more black smoke was coming out of her soul, and the supreme yang power in the powder was also exhausted.

Gu Changsheng stretched out his left hand toward the wooden box on the table in front of him. He gently flicked his left fingers upwards, and a clump of dark, damp soil floated up into the air.

This lump of soil was created by Gu Changsheng by mixing rootless water with yin soil that had been stored for over a hundred years.

Gu Changsheng made a sword-finger gesture with his right hand and slashed the mud ball left and right a few times. A flash of sword light passed by, and the mud ball was neatly cut into seven pieces.

He pointed his sword at the five fingers and brought them together, then swung them at the seven mud lumps. The mud lumps flew towards Wang Bing'er and entered her seven orifices.

Gu Changsheng opened a jade bottle on the table and poured out a Soul Nourishing Pill that he had prepared beforehand.

[The Soul-Nourishing Pill, a first-grade elixir, is made from thousand-year-old submerged wood, pearl powder, toad venom, cinnabar, and pure yang chicken blood. After its completion, it is nourished by the power of moonlight for three days and three nights.]

He tossed the Soul Nourishing Pill towards Wang Bing'er's brow, using his mind to control the pill to float in mid-air, guiding its effects into Wang Bing'er's soul.

As the Soul Nourishing Pill shrank, the burn marks on Wang Bing'er's soul body slowly healed. Her soul body was still very weak, but it recovered from being covered in burns to a porcelain doll-like state.

After Wang Bing'er's soul was restored to its original state, a change occurred; her soul slowly inflated like a balloon being inflated.

She felt completely suffocated, and no matter how hard she tried or struggled, it was all in vain.

Wang Bing'er's spirit body doubled in size, and the Yin Earth sealed in her seven orifices emitted a faint "buzzing" electrical sound.

It turned out that the turbid yin energy in her soul was leaking out, and her soul was evolving into a pure yin soul.

Gu Changsheng rubbed his hands together in a yin-yang tai chi pattern, slowly bringing them closer together.

At the same time, Wang Bing'er's soul was slowly shrinking, and the crackling sound of electricity was getting louder and louder, like a balloon deflating.

Gu Changsheng clasped his hands together, and Wang Bing'er's soul returned to its original size. The Yin Earth energy sealed in her seven orifices was exhausted, turning into dust and falling to the floor.

He transmitted his thoughts to Wang Bing'er, "You have passed the first two trials, and the most dangerous third trial is about to begin."

Gu Changsheng glanced outside and warned, "You only have two hours. If you don't pass the third trial before sunrise, you will be reduced to ashes under the sunlight and your life will be extinguished."

"In the third trial, only your pure spirit form will be left; everything else will be discarded."

Upon hearing the reminder, Wang Bing'er closed her eyes, her small mouth opening and closing as she uttered a vow from her soul, bidding farewell to her past self.

"I, Wang Bing'er... voluntarily relinquish my obsessions from my past life, forsake the protection of my ghostly destiny, and relinquish my own virtuous deeds in the mortal realm;"

"The karma I accumulated in this life is left for me to settle in this new life."

"I swear by my true spirit to Heaven and Earth that, in my next life, I will take Gu Changsheng as my teacher and follow his orders in all things."

"If anyone disobeys, their soul will be scattered, their body will perish, and they will be subject to reincarnation."

After Wang Bing'er made the vow, her soul emitted wisps of green flames that enveloped her. Her unwillingness to accept her tragic death and her obsession with dying turned into yin flames, wanting to perish together with her.

The instinctive reaction of the ghostly path behind the ghostly fortune is as if it is looked down upon by tiny ants and has given up the grace it bestowed.

After the ghostly fortune disappeared, nine wisps of gray energy remained, rampaging through Wang Bing'er's soul.

"ah--"

Wang Bing'er finally couldn't bear the pain any longer, so she forcefully spread her arms to the sides and roared to the sky.

The Earthly Virtue is a reward bestowed by Heaven and Earth. It originally belonged to Wang Bing'er personally, and even though it was abandoned, it still exerted its final power.

The earthly virtue offset the backlash of eight strands of ghostly fortune, and the remaining strand, along with the yin fire, began to burn Wang Bing'er's soul.

Gu Changsheng sensed the chaotic ghostly energy and yin fire, and stretched out his right hand with his five fingers spread, as if placing it on Wang Bing'er's head.

A layer of grayish-brown light rose around Wang Bing'er, blocking all the energy that was about to erupt; otherwise, the terrifying energy shockwave would have overturned the wooden house.

The green yin fire instantly lost power upon contact with the grayish-brown aura. The aura was permeated with a dense "power of decay," and the yin fire was eroded by its annihilating properties upon contact, losing all its energy.

At some point, Wang Bing'er opened her eyes, her eyes filled with resentment and disappointment. She raised her hands and looked around.

She watched helplessly as her feet and hands were slowly consumed by the eerie flames, and could only watch herself die.

With the last bit of time left, her eyes hardened, and she looked up at Gu Changsheng. "Peak Master, I can't hold on any longer. I'm sorry to disappoint you."

"I really wanted to call you Master, but unfortunately I no longer have the chance."

After she finished speaking, tears streamed down her face, and her pitiful appearance was heartbreaking to see.

When Wang Bing'er felt that only her mind remained, she smiled with relief, slowly closed her eyes, and silently called out the name she had always longed for in her heart.

Goodbye, Master.

Her consciousness went into complete darkness, she slowly lost her perception of the outside world, and finally lost consciousness.

Wang Bing'er's soul disappeared, but the green Yin Fire did not.

Seeing Wang Bing'er's soul disappear the instant it vanished, Gu Changsheng's lips curled into a satisfied smile.

"Coo coo.............Oh—"

A loud rooster crowed from the mountaintop.

A pale purple hue emerged from the eastern horizon, piercing the night sky. As yin and yang transitioned, wisps of nascent purple energy were born between heaven and earth.

The loud, red crowing sound seemed to have a pair of eyes; the sound wave, filled with the energy of the sun, directly shattered the Yin Fire. The green Yin Fire was instantly wiped out, leaving behind a gray seed the size of a glass bead.

Gu Changsheng used his divine sense to create a net and scooped up a patch of the nascent purple aura.

He cast his net and caught ninety strands of the primordial purple energy at once, pulling them all into his body to refine.

He separated nine strands of primordial purple energy and injected them into the gray seed floating in front of him. With a wave of his right hand, the gray seed floated into his hand.

He placed the gray seed in his left palm and, before closing his eyes, telepathically told his two spirit pets and second disciple, "Relax your guard and go cultivate."

He calmed his mind and began to meditate and refine the primordial 'purple energy'.