Chapter 219: Three Nights (1)
The saber used to seal up the Devil posed no attraction to Lu Sheng at all . Although there was some Yin Qi on it, it was very, very little—at most a few units' worth of Yin Qi . He had already absorbed them fully when he pulled out the saber .
As for the so-called Divine Weapon or Devil Blade, he had no interest in them at all . Such stuff needed their wielder to serve them with utmost dedication and even perform Ritual Offerings with blood at every fixed interval . It was simply a wicked, evil system .
Lu Sheng retraced his steps on the way back in double time . In just half the amount of time he had taken to get to the room, he was back outside the courtyard, standing in front of Grand Elder .
"Very good . " Grand Elder stared at Lu Sheng in satisfaction . In actual fact, this was not merely a test of Lu Sheng's guts, but also his level of trust in his teacher's words . That was the true test .
And the result satisfied Grand Elder .
"Let's go . " Grand Elder tossed the mask to Lu Sheng . "This item can help speed up your cultivation . Take good care of it . Don't lose it . "
"Yes!" Lu Sheng nodded .
The two of them left the secret arts hall .
Back at their caves, Lu Sheng bade goodbye to Grand Elder and returned to his room alone . Right after shutting his door, he immediately began absorbing the astonishing mass of Yin Qi on the mask .
Seated cross-legged in the room, Lu Sheng scrutinized the red mask in his hands . The human face carved onto it was emotionless . A complicated triangular symbol was embossed on its forehead .
"What a great amount of Yin Qi . . . " Lu Sheng exclaimed . Even the mysterious copper piece he had found earlier did not contain as much Yin Qi as this mask .
'There's two conditions to be met for Yin Qi to be formed .
Firstly, the owner must fix his or her mental energies on the item over a long time . Secondly, the item must accompany the owner till his death, and the owner has got to cast all his mental energy and spirit on it . In that case, it's no longer apt to call it Yin Qi . . . '
Lu Sheng lightly caressed the mask . 'Let's call it Mental Energy .
The nature of Mental Energy should be the remnant of some sort of mental focus and spirit mixed together . Apart from this, there's another sort of energy that can be absorbed by the Modifier . '
Lu Sheng recalled how he had first picked up the stone that belonged to the water ghost right at the beginning .
'Once a ghost is slain, there's a certain probability that it would leave behind some item with Mental Energy stored in it . For example, its remains or some unique artifacts . In other words, Mental Energy may include all forms of highly concentrated thought and mental focus .
As long as the mental activity is highly focused and condensed, it can be absorbed as energy by the Modifier . ' Lu Sheng suddenly figured out the crux of the matter .
'Could it be that most ghosts would leave behind Mental Energy if not for the fact that there's no suitable item to store the Mental Energy?!'
Lu Sheng fell deep in thought for a while . If this was true, then he had a great idea for collecting Mental Energy at the highest rate of efficiency possible .
'Let's not think so much first . I'll first absorb the Mental Energy in this mask . ' Tidying up his thoughts, he pressed his palm against the mask, then opened the pores on the skin of his palm .
"Szzzz . . . "
Like a whale gulping down water, a sea of Mental Energy gushed into his arm and into his torso . Finally, it was consumed by the Modifier .
In a mere dozen breaths' span, all the Mental Energy on the mask had been emptied into him . At a visible rate, the mask lost its luster, as if it had aged significantly compared to before .
'A rough estimate puts it at about a hundred and twenty-odd units of Mental Energy . . . '
Joy was written all over Lu Sheng's face . This was the first time he had seen so much Yin Qi . It went to show how deep a history and background this mask had . Lu Sheng thought of Grand Elder's face as he held on to the mask and guessed that Grand Elder must have treasured this item at some point in the past too .
'I had twenty-odd units of Mental Energy left to begin with . And now I've obtained so much more . Looks like I've got enough to upgrade secret arts . '
Putting the mask aside, Lu Sheng focused on the Modifier screen before him .
'Ghost Face Mantra—the next skill in progression from Karmaless Skill . It's a mid-tier mantra . The cultivation method is in the contents that Grand Elder made memorize . The meditation diagram too . . . Since it's the next level up from Karmaless Skill, perhaps I can upgrade it directly from Karmaless Skill . '
At that thought, he recalled the contents of Ghost Face Mantra and clicked on the 'Modify' button on the screen .
The Modifier shook and entered the Modifiable status .
'Let's upgrade Karmaless Skill by one level and see how it changes first . '
He looked at Karmaless Skill's row and, as expected, found an 'Extrapolate' button .
Lu Sheng focused his mind and pressed hard on it .
"Hoo . . . "
The screen blurred all of a sudden, as if a screen of fog had covered it . The fog persisted for twenty breaths before the screen became clear again .
The skill had completely changed into another secret art mantra .
'Karmaless Ghost Face Mantra: Level One (Advanced Karmaless Skill Secret Art) . Special Effect(s): Extreme Body Strengthening Level One, Devil Will Level One . '
'Extreme Body Strengthening? Devil Will?' Lu Sheng stared at these two special effects . Unlike inner force skills, secret arts cultivation granted wildly different special effects at different levels .
Previously, the Body Strengthening effect at Level Nine boosted his originally already powerful body . Now, this Extreme Body Strengthening effect should be even more potent .
'Apart from by body growing warmer, I don't seem to have changed at all . ' Lu Sheng sensed the situation in his body . It seemed exactly the same as before .
'But except for this Devil Will . . . ' With a command in his mind, a transparent face-shaped air current emerged beside him out of thin air .
"HOWL . . . "
The face-shaped air current encircled Lu Sheng, swimming about as it howled . The bizarre howl it emitted sounded wicked and seemed to carry some sort of effect on others .
Lu Sheng could not control or manipulate it at all . He could only release and keep it .
'Nothing very different from previously . ' He examined the Devil Will closely . Apart from it being bigger than previously, there also seemed to be more of that bizarre mumbling and chanting sound being emitted from it .
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