Chapter 180: Heart Ghost, Spirit Ghost; the Method is for Human Use

"Boring."

In the backyard of Sanyin Temple, Chen Ci subconsciously rubbed his five fingers together; the five little ones were spinning at his fingertips like five yo-yos, spinning with true expertise.

It didn't matter that he had failed to refine the Nourishing Qi Green Ganoderma Pill over the past half-month; the path of alchemy was inherently high-investment and high-return, so eight stalks of Corpse Ganoderma were just a way to warm up his hands.

But he had clearly maxed out the secret technique of transportation, only to be met with a "choose one of two" scenario—was there any justice in this? Was there any law?

Master Chen hummed twice and tapped open his Gold Finger panel.

Then, before the panel could react, he quickly tapped on both Heart Ghost and Spirit Ghost at the same time; as a Side Door Cultivator, one should be flexible—what if, just what if it worked?

After waiting for a long while, there were no major changes on the panel. Chen Ci sighed, released the five little ones, and smiled very gently: "Hongzhong, all of you kneel down. Master is begging you for something: between this Heart Ghost and Spirit Ghost, which one should Master choose?"

The five little ones collapsed into a heap on the ground, eyes brimming with hot tears; their master was truly too gentle, he had actually used the word "beg"!

Hongzhong summoned the courage of a head of the household, shrank its head, and shook it, indicating that it didn't know either.

"Sigh."

Chen Ci rubbed his chin. In his cultivation process, he had basically never used the Five Ghosts Transportation Method to do evil. However, it seemed he had failed to completely subdue the "Heart Ghost," which was why the panel had handed the choice to him after he maxed out the Five Ghosts Transportation Method.

Chen Ci was silent for a moment, sighed softly, and directly tapped the "Heart Ghost" option on the panel.

Chen Ci sighed; there was no help for it, it seemed he would have to analyze it himself.

"When I was previously practicing the Five Ghosts Transportation Method, the annotation provided by the panel was 'Subdue the Heart Ghost, and the Spirit Ghost will naturally be born.' If read with normal comprehension, the Spirit Ghost should be superior to the Heart Ghost."

Master/Heart Ghost: Five Ghosts Five Viscera Body

Master/Spirit Ghost: Spirit Ghost Nether Escape Method

Chen Ci vaguely felt that the choice between these two strange arts would affect his path of Dao and his cultivation of the Five Ghosts Possession Method and the Five Aggregates Yin Demon Art.

Chen Ci shook his head. Perhaps it was because he hadn't completely stabilized the Five Ghosts Transportation Method yet, but there were no further explanations after the translucent "Heart Ghost" and "Spirit Ghost." He estimated that, just like with the Five Ghosts Possession Method, the annotations would only update when he reached a certain state.

However, whether it was the "Heart-Descending Five Ghosts" after reaching Great Success in the Five Ghosts Transportation Method, the "Five Ghosts Piercing Body" and "Devouring Essence Qi" after reaching Perfected, or the "Heart Ghost/Spirit Ghost" at the Master realm, they could all be called strange arts—new abilities extended after practicing the transportation technique to a certain level.

He glanced at the five silly, cute ghosts sitting in a row to the side; they were truly not to be relied upon at all. After pondering for a moment, Chen Ci could only keep his gaze fixed on the panel, remaining silent for a long time.

Why did it have to force him to make a choice? Clearly, a man surnamed Chen should have both!

"Five Ghosts Transportation Method, Heart Ghost, Five Ghosts Five Viscera Body."

Chen Ci stared fixedly at his Gold Finger. On the line for the Five Ghosts Transportation Method, the status display began to change slowly, from "Master (Heart Ghost/Spirit Ghost, choose one of two)" to "Master/Heart Ghost," while the phantom line of "Master/Spirit Ghost" behind it slowly faded and disappeared.

As the only Daoist technique Chen Ci had practiced to the limit over these years, the Five Ghosts Transportation Method was significantly different from the Basic Sword Technique.

But could one conversely infer that the relationship between the "Heart Ghost" and the "Five Ghosts Possession Method" was closer?

"If only I could know a bit more information."

Choosing one of two is truly difficult.

After the Basic Sword Technique reached the Master realm, it only gave him the annotation of Master/Clear Insight, and the meaning of "Clear Insight" was more like a state of mind rather than a strange art.

As for the reason he failed to subdue the "Heart Ghost," it likely had something to do with his practice of the "Five Ghosts Possession Method" and the "Golden Scale Wonderful Method."

"Five Ghosts Possession Method, Yin Demon, Yin Demon Body—theoretically, the Spirit Ghost has a higher status, but no matter how I look at it, the Heart Ghost seems more compatible."

Although his reason told him he should choose "Spirit Ghost," both "Five Ghosts Transportation" and "Five Ghosts Possession" were merely auxiliary minor arts. The fundamental method still lay in the Five Aggregates Yin Demon Art, so this path of the "Heart Ghost" should... be more useful, right?

Five Ghosts Transportation Method: Master/Heart Ghost/Five Ghosts Five Viscera Body (Five ghosts devour the five viscera, five ghosts replace the five viscera; remove the five elements to obtain pure Yin, lose the five emotions to become a Heart Ghost)

Sure enough, after making the choice, a new annotation entry appeared after Master/Heart Ghost.

Chen Ci frowned; why did the words above feel a bit wrong?

"Heh heh, hee hee, heh heh heh."

Suddenly, a gust of Yin wind blew by. Chen Ci shivered violently. He turned his head and saw the five little ones, who had just been sitting there silly and cute, acting as if they had been possessed or had their bodies stolen; they began to laugh "heh heh heh." Although they were just balls of gray mist and Yin spirits, they inexplicably revealed changing expressions of "anger, joy, thought, sorrow, and fear," surrounding their master with ill intent.

Rebellion, rebellion, the five ghosts were devouring their master!

Just as this thought arose in Chen Ci's mind, the five little ones lunged at him, ghost energy surging. Chen Ci subconsciously channeled his Nether Yin True Qi and struck out; with the strength of these five little losers, it should have been enough to knock them back to their senses.

But unexpectedly, the five little ones ignored their master's methods and lunged into Chen Ci's body. The next instant, a piercing pain came from his five viscera. Chen Ci was shocked and angry, but he discovered that his emotions were rapidly fading, as if he were inexplicably losing some of his instincts as a human.

Heart Ghost!

Chen Ci suddenly understood: this Heart Ghost strange art was meant to have the five ghosts replace the practitioner's five viscera, five elements, and five senses, completely changing the body into a state adapted for practicing the Five Ghosts Possession Method. If the art were completed, as long as there was enough Essence Refining to support it, the Five Ghosts Possession Method would likely advance by leaps and bounds, and it would also be of great benefit to the Five Aggregates Yin Demon Art.

With five emotions missing, it would be absurd if he couldn't master it.

But Chen Ci estimated he wouldn't be able to remain human either.

"Soul Fixing Talisman!"

Chen Ci flipped his hand, and over twenty Refined Soul-Fixing Talismans were already stuck to his chest and abdomen. A fierce force from the Soul Fixing Talismans washed through his five viscera and six bowels. He spat out a mouthful of black blood, and the five little ones stopped their devouring, pinned firmly inside his body: "Spirit Ghost, Spirit Ghost, damn it, I choose Spirit Ghost!"

One breath, two breaths, three breaths.

On the Gold Finger panel, the status of the Five Ghosts Transportation Method, which had been slowly changing, seemed to freeze inexplicably. Whether it was the effect of the Soul Fixing Talismans or because Chen Ci's choice was more important, the "Master/Heart Ghost" on it trembled slightly and finally emerged as "Master/Spirit Ghost," stabilizing there.

Five Ghosts Transportation Method: Master/Spirit Ghost/Spirit Ghost Nether Escape Method (Spirit Ghost possession, can obtain Nether Escape, formless in form, shadowless in shadow)

"Ugh!"

Chen Ci dry-heaved a few times, and the five little ones were spat out from his mouth, looking like five slightly bloody jellies. They plopped onto the ground, staring at their master in confusion.

Chen Ci pressed his chest, his face looking terrible. In just this short while, his five viscera felt as if they had aged more than ten years. Fortunately, the ball of Force Path Essence Yuan in his lower abdomen was continuously transporting essence energy to make up for the deficiency in his five viscera, though the effect was not yet very obvious.

"A huge loss, but it should be recoverable; otherwise, I'll suffer greatly when I get old."

Chen Ci stared fixedly at his five ghosts, watching until they were sweating and trembling, before coldly withdrawing his gaze.

This Five Ghosts Method was indeed sinister. Whether it was Five Ghosts Transportation or Five Ghosts Possession, he always felt it was different from the usual path of ghost-path cultivators.

By the way, what was the realm of Lin Laohu's Five Ghosts Transportation Method?

Did he walk the path of the Heart Ghost, or the path of the Spirit Ghost?

Or perhaps he hadn't cultivated this method to this realm at all, but had simply succeeded directly thanks to the heaven-sent five ghosts, cultivating the Five Ghosts Possession and the Five Aggregates Yin Demon?

"Spirit Ghost possession, can obtain Nether Escape, formless in form, shadowless in shadow."

He took out a health-preserving pill and swallowed it. Chen Ci regulated his breathing for a moment before he had the chance to examine the changes on his panel.

"It sounds a bit mysterious; it's hard to say what the specific effect is, but it doesn't seem to be of any help to the cultivation of the Five Ghosts Possession Method."

Chen Ci smacked his lips, pondering the intent behind these words; he felt a little disappointed, but at least this strange art was normal. No matter how heterodox, niche, or evil a great technique in this world might be, it should be "the technique used by the person," not "the person used by the technique." This was one of the fundamentals of a cultivator seeking the Dao; one must never invert the primary and the secondary.

"I'll regulate my breath for a while longer, then go try out this Spirit Ghost Ghostly Escape; I hope it doesn't disappoint me."

"Bang, bang, bang~"

Suddenly, a knocking sound from the backyard interrupted Chen Ci's contemplation of the Spirit Ghost escape technique.

His Daoist boy Qingfeng reported cautiously from outside: "Master, the master of the Ma Family from Due Palace has sent someone with a message, saying that a guest from the mountains has arrived and hopes to meet with you, Master."

Someone from the Ma Family has arrived?

Chen Ci instinctively touched his White Bone Heart-Lock Hammer, then chuckled softly; as long as it wasn't the Ma Family Ancestor himself, what did he have to fear? He then replied: "Mm, I understand. Tell them to return and say that."

(End of this chapter)