My construction materials are weird

The lights were dim, casting a slightly dull glow in the quiet hall.

Looking around, it was a place similar to a bar, but without the noise and jarring music.

There weren't many people there, only about twenty or thirty.

Some were alone at a table, others were in groups of three or five, chatting amongst themselves.

In a dark corner near the southwest, four people were seated.

It was Wei Zixuan from the Nanshi Town Evil Department, the tall and thin Lü Yuan, Deputy Director Dong Xingbao, and a woman named Sun Xuelian.

"Isn't Dúyǎn coming?"

The tall and thin Lü Yuan shook his head and said, "He said he won't participate. He plans to exchange his points in a few days to go to Qingyun Mountain to sincerely apologize to Xuan Huang and ask him to alleviate the erosion."

"Hmph, that traitor. Xuan Huang is a petty man who holds grudges. Dúyǎn actually wants to be forgiven by him, it's simply foolish. He won't have it good in Xuan Huang's hands."

Wei Zixuan cursed with hatred.

He was angry at Dúyǎn's betrayal. After some time, only the four of them could be considered to have firmly drawn a line with Xuan Huang.

Some were intimidated by Xuan Huang's powerful strength and chose to apologize and make amends, others were still watching. Some saw that their companions had indeed had their erosion alleviated by Xuan Huang and began to prepare contributions and points.

After all, they had only followed along with the trouble, and some hadn't even had contact with Xuan Huang.

No, that's not right, there was contact. It was the day they went to make trouble, and then they were made to stand up under Xuan Huang's control, breaking many bones. The memory was profound.

Originally, Spirit Masters, especially those who had controlled time for a long time and whose souls were eroded, were particularly extreme and stubborn.

They instinctively didn't believe that Xuan Huang would forgive them, even if they had only participated in the commotion as bystanders.

Fortunately, Nanshi still had a Deputy Director, Gao Xiaolan.

This person took the initiative to resolve the situation, actively finding those who hadn't made big mistakes and carefully enlightening them.

Therefore, many people didn't come to this gathering. Those who came were those whom Gao Xiaolan deemed irredeemable.

In fact, one person at the scene was very depressed.

That was Deputy Director Dong Xingbao. He was purely in the "essential characteristic of Spirit Masters" state of being unclear-headed and prone to confused thinking.

Being surrounded by the lackeys left behind by Jia Zhengyi after his death made him forget who he was.

A Spirit Master in his later years was destined to be ominous.

He was a Spirit Master in his later years.

He actually very much hoped that Gao Xiaolan would come to talk to him, so he could take the opportunity to let go and actively apologize, to obtain Xuan Huang's forgiveness.

But Gao Xiaolan didn't come?

This made him overthink. The more he thought, the more extreme he became. Looked down on me, alienated me, then I will go all the way to the dark.

Even if Nanshi can't tolerate me, I can still join a cult.

Sometimes Spirit Masters are just so difficult to understand, a biased group.

"What can a few of us do? Don't forget that although Xuan Huang is insidious, cunning, and does all kinds of evil, his strength is still good.", Sun Xuelian said dejectedly.

"Hmph, there are many who had good strength but died miserably. Is Xuan Huang special?"

Wei Zixuan said, "We are not fighting alone. Don't forget the kill order from several major organizations. I got a message…"

Wei Zixuan smiled sinisterly, like a venomous snake spitting its tongue.

"What message?"

"Minister Jia, no, Palace Master Gou contacted me."

"What?"

The three were shocked.

They all knew that Jia Zhengyi was a Devil Worshipper and the Palace Master of the Demon Puppet Palace.

"Devil Worshipper, this…"

"Isn't this bad?"

Hearing Wei Zixuan's words, Lü Yuan and Sun Xuelian hesitated for a moment.

"Bang!"

Dong Xingbao slammed the table and said, "What time is it now that you still care about this? I now realize that the Devil Worshippers are right. What bullshit is protecting the weak? The weak should be eliminated. We Spirit Masters are the protagonists of the world. Why do we clearly have god-like strength but have to please ordinary people and care about their evaluation? Why?"

"Minister Dong is right, I've also seen it clearly. I don't know if my brain was feverish before, joining the bullshit Town Evil Department to protect ordinary people. Now that I think about it, I regret it immensely. We made a mistake from the start. After risking our lives to control the strange, we didn't live for ourselves but turned around to protect the weak. What bullshit logic is that?"

Wei Zixuan strongly supported Dong Xingbao.

He was very happy that Dong Xingbao had changed so much.

It must be said that the Spirit Master Dong Xingbao in his later years was the strongest among them, with the strength of a peak First Order.

Otherwise, how could he have become the Deputy Director of Nanshi.

It's just that this person's methods were a bit lacking, and he had always been unable to compete with Xu Ru's Second Order strength.

"I can see it clearly. These ordinary people are just fence-sitters. If you are useful to them, they will flatter and support you. Once you are useless to them, they will discard you like weeds. They are typical fence-sitters. They are also easily bewitched and act blindly, and are easily bought off by small profits. Do I owe them anything?"

Dong Xingbao vented his depression.

He sighed that it was difficult to be a good person these days, and the inferiority of ordinary people was too difficult to correct.

Because their horizons are not high and their thinking is not high, they are very easily swayed by rumors, very easily only see what is in front of them, and very easily bought off by petty profits.

It is very difficult to be supported as a hero by such a group.

One small mistake of yours will write off everything before.

"After all, they are the main body, representing the main body's thinking? Minister, standing in a high position, we should use the high position to examine ourselves, instead of putting down our status and using ordinary people's thinking to measure. If so, we might as well be ordinary people, why be heroes. Heroes? They are all very tired."

The tall and thin Lü Yuan reluctantly said.

He felt that something seemed to be deviating. Wasn't this a gathering? Why did Minister Dong and Wei Zixuan start praising cults? This is not good.

"Why can't we be heroes who do as we please? Why should we be evaluated by ordinary people? Why is this standard in their hands? Lao Lü, you are wrong, we were also wrong before. We must now take back the right to define heroes. Anyone who dares to be dissatisfied will be made to disappear."

Wei Zixuan's eyes were bloodshot, filled with dissatisfaction and endless desire.

Ding ding ding—

At this time, the midnight bell rang.

People retreat and monsters come out.

… … … …

Good things take time. Taoist Ma came to find Xuan Huang yesterday afternoon.

After learning that Xuan Huang had transformed the Blood Pool Secret Realm, he returned to seclusion.

Therefore, he did not see him and was told by Sun Tong to come tomorrow morning.

Early in the morning, Taoist Ma was waiting outside Xuan Huang's door.

After a while, Xuan Huang called Taoist Ma into the living room.

"Master Xuan, this humble Taoist has important matters to report."

"Speak!"

Taoist Ma knew that Xuan Huang's time was precious, so he didn't nag and told Xuan Huang the news that his disciple Gao Jue had inquired about yesterday.

In fact, Xuan Huang knew about it, the Three Rat Brothers.

According to the conversation between Spirit Masters that he had heard before, they would arrive in Nanshi today?

"This matter, I have occasionally heard about it before. However, you have put in the effort. Your disciple Gao Jue, please convey my gratitude on my behalf."

"Ah?"

Taoist Ma was stunned. Master Xuan already knew? Was there someone with more accurate information than himself?

Then would it still count as a contribution?

Indeed, Taoist Ma's motive was impure, but for the safety of his disciple, his original intention was not wrong, so it was a good thing with an impure motive.

"Why? Can't I have some intelligence?" Xuan Huang smiled.

"No, no." Taoist Ma knew that he had overreacted.

Will is equivalent to the mind, but stronger than the mind's perception.

At a glance, he could generally know a person's thoughts and actions, so Xuan Huang directly exposed it.

"Tell me, what's the matter? I can try to do what I can."

Taoist Ma bowed and said, "I knew I couldn't hide it from Master Xuan. It's like this…"

As Taoist Ma described, Xuan Huang nodded, so it was this matter.

He had deduced it, had some clues, but didn't have an experimental object, so it was difficult to give a judgment.

Taoist Ma smiled bitterly and said, "My disciple worked hard to collect information, wanting to exchange for the opportunity to be guided by Master Xuan. I didn't expect that Master Xuan already knew."

"It's okay, it's natural to work hard for one's future and exchange the results for remuneration. What he did is right, you should encourage this behavior."

Xuan Huang didn't care about some people's motives, as long as they stick to the bottom line and have self-moral constraints.

"You should know the difficulty of Spirit Masters changing their path?"

Not a single mistake, one song, one shot, one inside, one capacity, one look!

Daoist Ma had studied this for a long time and naturally understood the difficulty.

"This old Daoist knows a little. Because of wielding powerful forces, maintaining a fragile balance, one can only passively follow the changes of the eerie. Self-enhancement can only be achieved by fusing with the eerie, relying on the eerie for the main enhancement. If one enhances oneself without enhancing the eerie, the eerie will become unbalanced."

If a weakling manages to control the eerie, even if it's a difficult success, future progress will require the eerie to be the main focus.

For example, the puzzle eerie, fusing more, and so on.

These are all enhancements of the eerie abilities, and one's own strength can only follow. One must also be careful of the balance after the eerie is enhanced.

"There are three methods. The first is to remove the eerie, which is the simplest, and I can do it. ... The second is to seal the eerie, but not eliminate it for now, and wait until you become stronger to control the eerie in reverse. I can also do this, it's very simple, but it requires growing stronger than the eerie you control, which will take a long time, perhaps a lifetime, and you may never become stronger than the eerie you control."

"The third method is what I deduced before, which can be considered a kind of artifact refinement method. Note that it's the 'artifact' in artifact refinement, not Qi refinement cultivation... But I've only deduced this method, and since no one has experimented with it, the specific situation is unknown, and this method is very dangerous."

After saying that, Xuan Huang stopped talking and waited for Daoist Ma to think for himself.

When Daoist Ma heard that Xuan Huang had three methods, he was immediately delighted. There were so many ways!

He understood the first one, which was that the Xuan Master used great magic power to directly separate the eerie from the person, and then seal or erase the eerie, so that the eerie would completely sink into silence, without having to worry about its revenge.

This was equivalent to depriving the Spirit Master of his abilities, requiring him to start over as an ordinary person.

The second method was the same. The Xuan Master still used great magic power to seal the eerie, and then the person would not be afraid of imbalance caused by his own enhancement.

But this method, as the Xuan Master said, left you with a hope. When your cultivation is stronger than the eerie, you can directly enslave or refine the eerie into an artifact.

It just takes a long time, and you may not even live to see it.

Who can guarantee that their cultivation will improve smoothly and become stronger than the eerie they control?

This has both advantages and disadvantages. The advantage is that there is hope, and you work hard to cultivate, with a cake waiting to be eaten in front of you.

The disadvantage is that, after a long time of cultivation, there is still little progress, and the Dao heart directly collapses.

He didn't understand the third method, which Xuan Huang didn't explain in detail.

"Xuan Master, can you explain the third method? This old Daoist can't make a decision either, and intends to go back and convey it to his disciple, so that he can make his own choice."

Daoist Ma asked.

Xuan Huang actually hoped that Gao Jue would choose the third method more.

He lacked someone to experiment with. If Gao Jue agreed, he would definitely modify him for free, without needing any points or rewards.

Xuan Huang still liked research.

"Simply put, it's a kind of artifact refinement method, and also a kind of body refinement method. If successful, you will directly possess the complete ability of the eerie, and your disciple can also directly achieve the first-order Xuan Transformation."

Xuan Huang started with a tempting opening.

A method to ascend to the heavens in one step.

"It can be considered a kind of body refinement, but this method is not self-cultivation, but entering my furnace, and I will refine him, so that your disciple and the eerie are completely integrated. I guarantee that your disciple's soul will not dissipate..."

Communicating with Daoist Ma, this person was highly intelligent and understood everything with a single hint.

Therefore, after Xuan Huang's simple description, he roughly understood the process.

The process was extremely dangerous. It wasn't artifact refinement through self-cultivation, but being refined by the Xuan Master.

The Daoists had a saying of 'Dao soldiers' and a saying of a Dao soldier pool. He understood this with a single hint.

There were also myths and legends that the monkey was refined by Lord Lao, and there were similar descriptions, which were easy to understand.

The Xuan Master guaranteed that the disciple's soul would not dissipate. During the refining process, the distorted soul of the eerie was erased, reaching a clear and spiritual state, and then the disciple's soul would reside in it, achieving complete control of the eerie.

After all, the eerie had been completely integrated with the disciple's body in the furnace, and it was hard to say who was the eerie.

Both were, and neither were. They had already merged into one.

But!

There was one thing Daoist Ma didn't understand: what about willpower?

In this world, it was difficult to move an inch without willpower. Even if the Xuan Master erased the eerie's soul and made the disciple's soul the only dominant force.

Without the suppression of willpower, the disciple's soul would still be slowly eroded and become the previous eerie.

Daoist Ma thought: Could it be that the disciple can only stay in Qingyun Mountain? Qingyun Mountain has the Jianmu tree suppressing the secrets of heaven, so he wouldn't be afraid of erosion.

Afterwards, slowly enhance his willpower, and go down the mountain after his willpower can suppress his soul?

Therefore, he asked: "Xuan Master, how to cultivate willpower?"

"Heh heh..."

Xuan Huang smiled and said: "Don't worry, it's not what you think... Don't you think that, before willpower suppresses the soul, your disciple can't go down the mountain and can only stay on the mountain?"

"Eh? This old Daoist's cultivation is too low and his vision is too small, so he can only see this point. Please enlighten me, Xuan Master."

Daoist Ma wasn't embarrassed either. His vision was very small compared to the Xuan Master, wasn't that normal?

Xuan Huang said: "Since I'm opening the furnace for refining, I won't leave such a shortcoming. There is a way to solve it."

"The first-order method I'm currently cultivating is the 'Four Poles Twelve Heavenly Pillars Furnace Method', which is a method for cultivating willpower and body refinement for first-order Xuan Transformation.

It's also an advanced method for you to cultivate. Since it's a method of the same lineage, there is also a distinction between fusion and refinement.

When your disciple is in my furnace, he will already be transformed by me... Transformed into a state where his essence, Qi, and spirit are at least at the first-order level because of the fusion with the eerie. This can be considered the first step to ascending to the heavens.

The second is willpower. The hammering and forging in the furnace is equivalent to completely shattering the physical body, and tearing and reorganizing the essence, Qi, and spirit. With me maintaining the soul's immortality, the pain in between needs to be experienced by himself. With such an experience, I am confident that I can forge him to the fourth level of refining intent, which is the level of Jiu Tong, Yan Lai, and Ming Hui.

With the willpower of the fourth level of refining intent, it's very easy to achieve the first-order Xuan Transformation in terms of fusion, and even the second-order Tong Xuan can be supported. This is the second step to ascending to the heavens.

Third, when hammering his body, I will also transform his Qi sea, split open the Yongquan acupoint, and determine the size of the Qi sea according to your disciple's talent and comprehension;

I feel that five or six zhang is enough. Transforming it too much will make it stronger, but future progress will be more difficult. Perhaps transforming it too much will harm him;

The limit of the Qi sea should be ten zhang, and the perfect state is three hundred and sixty zhang. Your disciple starts at five zhang, and the perfect state can reach one hundred and eighty zhang.

Of course, you can also directly start at the ten-zhang limit, and enter the second order with one door and three pillars or two doors and six pillars, without the perfect level of four doors and twelve pillars.

This is also a choice, depending on how he chooses. If he agrees to enter my furnace for hammering, I will inform him in detail and let him make his own decision. This can be considered the third step to ascending to the heavens.

After the hammering in the furnace is completed, I will return to you a disciple with the fourth level of refining intent, the essence, Qi, and spirit of the first-order extraordinary, and the Yongquan acupoint opened in the Qi sea. How about it, not bad...?

It was completely like the devil's temptation.

Daoist Ma even wanted to switch places with him and enter Xuan Huang's furnace for a transformation.

No wonder the Xuan Master said that it was a body refinement method and also an artifact refinement method.

It was simply treating people as artifacts to refine, possessing a strong foundation and body like an artifact, starting at the first-order extraordinary Xuan Transformation.

As for the Xuan Huang's first-order method "Four Poles Twelve Heavenly Pillars Method", he didn't understand it. This was a method that could only be cultivated by first-order Xuan Transformation.

It was the advanced version of what they were currently cultivating.

And when he heard the nouns 'Qi sea opening, Yongquan appearing', he had some understanding.

After all, Chinese characters were too powerful in expressing meaning, and he roughly understood what it meant when he saw it.

It just needed a detailed description.

He could understand, but not completely.

The only difficulty seemed to be that the body was crushed, and the essence, Qi, and spirit were torn apart and recast, which must be very painful.

But compared to the harvest, it was completely acceptable.

He didn't know what his disciple thought, but if it were him, Daoist Ma would definitely accept it.

...