After the Immortal Disappeared

Chapter 233: Chapter 232: New Weapon +1

The next morning, Hee Chunhua sent men to transport grain to the northern front.

Zhao Pan’s army was short on food and clothing. While the five thousand *shi* of grain contributed by the Zhan Family wasn’t much, it could at least help them hold on for another ten days.

Military supplies were morale. With this shipment of grain, Zhao Pan could breathe a temporary sigh of relief.

So, the problems facing Hee Chunhua were threefold: raise money and grain for the front lines, recruit soldiers for himself as the Governor of Xiazhou, and assist Zhao Pan in expelling the Xunzhou Army from Xiazhou’s territory.

And at such a critical moment, Hee Lingchuan had gone into seclusion for four straight days.

He hadn’t known it would take this long. He only knew that his recent meditations had given him a sense of impending completion, lacking just that final spark. On this particular day of Cultivation, he finally lost himself in the process, his True Power circulating endlessly throughout his body until, at last, he broke through!

At first, everyone was a little worried. Even Hee Chunhua, despite his packed schedule, had found the time to check on him three times. Fortunately, Lingguang diagnosed that Hee Lingchuan showed no signs of cultivation deviation, so everyone could only let him be.

Only Hee Chunhua found it strange. "With our family’s ancestral Traction Technique, I’ve never heard of a Cultivator showing signs like this."

Lingguang explained, "Cultivation depends on the individual. The Master’s talent is excellent, so naturally, his performance is out of the ordinary."

It had only accepted Hee Lingchuan’s contract and worked only for him. It never mentioned a word about the Master secretly purchasing exorbitantly priced medicinal herbs to aid his Cultivation. Cultivating with elixirs was so common that the Hee Family didn’t find it strange.

A Medicinal Ape of the Chishin School was just that professional.

Even Hee Lingchuan himself felt that this Cultivation session was exceptionally long. The most important result was that the Yin and Yang Serpents he had been painstakingly cultivating had finally convened victoriously in his Dantian. After four days of probing and tangling, they had progressed from mutual disdain and mud-slinging to being as thick as thieves—in other words, a deep fusion.

The process was unexpectedly smooth. Hee Lingchuan had heard from Mr. Manx of Panlong City’s Economic Revitalization Bureau that the Meridian Technique was very picky. Although its Cultivation was fast, powerful, and took a short time, it had requirements for the Cultivator’s constitution. It was fine if one progressed step-by-step, but some people, like Hee Lingchuan, threw a fortune into Alchemy and swallowed priceless herbs like they were free, trying to force their progress. As a result, when their True Power serpents met in their Qi Sea, they would actually burst it open!

That moment of fusion was the most critical. Success meant perfect harmony; failure meant becoming half-crippled, requiring years of slow, patient work to gradually repair the Qi Sea.

Besides his natural talent, Hee Lingchuan’s greatest asset was his chaste body. In the Octopus Demon’s own words, his "qi and blood are full and vigorous, and his Essence is self-sufficient." This allowed him to seal his sea and lock his gates, letting the Yin and Yang Serpents run wild without issue, which had the effect of easily corralling them both.

When this pair of True Power serpents met in the Qi Sea, it meant they had already cleared the twelve Main Meridians. After fusing, they would circulate continuously for several Cycles and then attempt to break through the Eight Extraordinary Meridians.

The difficulty of clearing the Main Meridians and the Extraordinary Meridians wasn’t on the same level. If clearing the Main Meridians was like steering a small boat down a river to scoop up floating leaves and duckweed, then breaking through the Extraordinary Meridians was like dredging a severely blocked river channel where not even a boat could pass, forcing you to dig it out with shovels and bare hands.

Only then did Hee Lingchuan realize that the novels didn’t lie; clearing the Ren and Du Meridians truly was no easy feat. After digging away for two or three days, he hadn’t even broken through the first node.

After a few rounds of trying to clear it—no, a few rounds of *assaulting* it—this True Power would split back into the Yin and Yang Serpents. They would return to their respective territories via the old paths to gather Yin and Yang Qi again, building up strength for the next assault.

Relying on their own power was a bit slow. Within the limits of his financial means, the master should also lend a hand by finding some Extremely Yin or Extreme Yang items to assist. The Taiyang True Flame, available just by looking up, was of course not an option. Hee Lingchuan couldn’t withstand it yet. If he drew even a little into his meridians, they would surely rupture, and he would die by spontaneous combustion.

He could only proceed step-by-step. In the future, as his own power gradually increased, he would also need to absorb more powerful external yin and yang forces.

’When will I be able to just bask in the sun to recharge perfectly?’ Hee Lingchuan wondered wistfully.

Breaking through the first stage of the Meridian Technique elevated the circulation of his True Power to the next level. If it was normally a trickle, it was now a flowing stream. As for his Sixth Sense, it was far broader than it had been four days ago.

Hee Lingchuan stood up, stretched his limbs, and called for someone to prepare a bath for him.

He was only halfway through his bath when the window suddenly opened, and a cold gust of wind blew in.

The Medicine Ape Ling Guang was standing on the windowsill, grinning at him. "You’re out of seclusion!"

"Close the window, I’m freezing to death!" Hee Lingchuan said, noticing it holding one hand behind its back. "What are you hiding? Don’t tell me it’s what I asked you to get..."

Lingguang quickly shook its head and took out a hooked rope from behind its back, tossing it over.

"Li Fubo came by yesterday and told me to give this to you." Lingguang closed the window behind it. "He went with Marquis Songyang to prepare the storefront. He won’t be coming over for the next couple of days."

"Storefront?" Hee Lingchuan was taken aback. "She sealed the deal that quickly?" ’Truly worthy of being Marquis Songyang, a master of business negotiations.’

Lingguang shrugged. It was only the messenger.

Hee Lingchuan slowly unfurled the Hooked Rope in his hand.

This was the new weapon he had commissioned from Li Fubo before his seclusion. The latter had readily agreed, saying he already had a finished set on hand that just needed some minor modifications before delivery.

The main body of the weapon was a rope braided from three types of Spider Silk. The tip was a five-pronged, tiger-headed golden claw that could open and grip like a human hand.

Though it looked simple, it was actually a Magical Artifact. Hee Lingchuan dripped his blood onto the handle, and the item automatically acknowledged him as its master. From then on, he could shoot his... no, shoot the Hooked Rope out like a spider, using it to climb and swing on external objects. The golden tiger-head hook at the tip could also open and close at his will.

He could finally live out his Spider-Man fantasy.

Seeing him having the time of his life playing with it, Lingguang asked, "Is it any good?"

Hee Lingchuan fired the Hooked Rope, and one of its claws crushed a crystal honey peach on the plate, sending sweet juice splashing everywhere.

"..."

Lingguang gave him a reproachful look. ’Fresh peaches aren’t easy to find in winter!’

"My bad!" He gave a dry laugh. He had originally intended to grab the peach for Lingguang. ’Looks like mastering this skill will require grinding a lot of proficiency. There are no shortcuts.’

In the Panlong Dream Realm, two of his teammates, including Willow, were equipped with Hooked Ropes. On missions, they moved like monkeys, their mobility far superior to others’.

The technique was relatively niche on the battlefield but actually very practical. Exchanging for it at the Pengcheng Bureau would cost military merits. Hee Lingchuan had watched them with envy, so they had taught him everything they knew about using the Hooked Rope, holding nothing back.

The stronger the companions, the safer the team.

If he’d had a Hooked Rope when he fell into the spider’s den, he could have easily hooked his way up and wouldn’t have needed to use a dangerous move like Substitution. After all, if the Ghost Shadow Cicada Shell had missed its mark, he would have been turned into meat paste on the spot.

Having played enough, Hee Lingchuan got up and dressed. Lingguang came over, checked his pulse and his qi flow, and nodded repeatedly. "As expected, you’ve risen another level. Your qi and blood are growing more profound. Ten ordinary Support Soldiers would no longer be a match for you."

Hee Lingchuan couldn’t help but think of the Sand Leopard he’d encountered at the bottom of the cliff on the day he arrived. The original Eldest Young Master Hee had more or less been killed by it. ’If it were the current me, killing that Sand Leopard would be a piece of cake, right?’ "By the way, did you manage to buy the Ghost Shadow Cicada Shells?"

Lingguang produced a small cloth pouch from somewhere, untied it, and revealed three cicada shells lying inside.

"This is a rare item. I had to visit seven apothecaries to find them. What medicine are you planning to concoct?"

Hee Lingchuan picked one up and held it to the light. ’That’s it, this is the stuff.’ He had finally managed to get his hands on Ghost Shadow Cicada Shells in the real world. "They’re for casting a technique."

"Thirty taels each."

The cicada shell in his hand suddenly felt scorching hot. Hee Lingchuan gave a bitter smile and took out the silver to reimburse it.

The price of anything even remotely related to Divine Techniques couldn’t be measured by common sense. These three unremarkable cicada shells had cost him more than half a month’s allowance.

’I have to find a way to make money. Make money!’

Lingguang added, "During your seclusion, Sunx Hongye came looking for you twice."

"What happened over the past four days?"

"A lot." Lingguang blinked. "But I can’t say for sure." It only concerned itself with matters within its scope of duty.

Hee Lingchuan patted its head and turned to look at the Broken Blade.

The Sword Mountain, formed from the Golden Mud, seemed to have brightened in color, gradually revealing a pure gold base. It was mixed with various materials like Zhu Gold, and Hee Lingchuan remembered that Zhu Gold was pure black. This meant that the metallic materials in the Golden Mud were being slowly consumed by the Broken Blade.

So far, the repair process for the Broken Blade was proceeding rather smoothly.

Hee Lingchuan was very satisfied. He went outside and had someone find some fruit for Lingguang as a reward for its protection over the past few days. He then went to pay his respects to Madam Ying, exchanged a few words, and returned to his courtyard to practice with his new toy—the Hooked Rope.

This thing was a classic case of "looks easy when others do it, but you fail the moment you try."

Fortunately, Hee Lingchuan had been practicing his throwing relentlessly day and night for the past month. Since both skills involved "throwing," there was some overlap. By sunset, he had started to get the hang of it.

Tonight, neither Hee Chunhua nor Hee Yue would be returning to the residence. Madam Ying was also tired after a day of supervising renovations, so she simply instructed the kitchen to deliver meals to everyone’s individual courtyards so they could eat, bathe, and rest directly.

Hee Lingchuan had just finished shoveling down his meal when a servant came to announce that Sunx Hongye had arrived.

"Have you eaten?" Having not seen him for days, Hee Lingchuan personally welcomed him inside. "Should I have the kitchen make you some dinner?"

"No need, I just had some lamb soup buns earlier this evening." Sunx Hongye looked Hee Lingchuan up and down. "Master, you look radiant. It seems your Cultivation has reached a new level."

"Yes, I just sort of broke through by accident." He was stating a fact.

Sunx Hongye immediately congratulated him.

Hee Lingchuan couldn’t be bothered with pleasantries and cut straight to the point. "You came looking for me twice before. Was it urgent?"

"You picked a bad time for your seclusion. A lot has happened in these four days." Sunx Hongye’s smile vanished, and he held up one finger. "First, Li Rong has been thrown in jail. Mr. Hee didn’t even grant him an extra day of leniency."

"They should have gotten the message when I sent back the gift from Li Shuang." Hee Lingchuan wasn’t surprised in the least. "My old man is just using him to establish his authority."

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