ATPnovel Chapter 58: Wealthy and Powerful
Chapter 58: Wealthy and Powerful
He had previously read through these two spell manuals, and now, as he focused on studying them, he found them to be extremely profound and unpredictable, truly deserving of the title of secret arts. What excited him most was that there were no restrictions on the cultivation of either of these spells.
In Du Fan's view, the book "Ghost Curse Techniques" was a kind of curse technique based on ghost magic. According to the descriptions in the spell, one could refine various ghost seeds within the body, and then secretly parasitize a person with a ghost seed, after which one could remotely worship this ghost seed every day.
Depending on the type of ghost, the number of days for remote worship varies. Once the remote worship is completed, the ghost can be activated and will have a corresponding effect on the host.
The terrifying aspect is that the host is completely unaware of the planting of the ghost seed and the remote ritual. They only become aware of it when it takes effect, but by then it is basically too late to take any action.
The most commonly used ghost seed is the one cast by the ghost essence on the ghost eye, called the "life-chasing seed". Once this seed is planted, it must undergo a remote sacrifice for forty-nine days. When the time is up, it can be activated, causing the opponent to die invisibly. It is truly bizarre and extremely vicious.
However, before the Ghost Essence could begin its remote ritual, it unexpectedly perished, and the Ghost Seed that had been secretly parasitized by the Ghost Eye naturally dissipated along with its master's death.
Besides the "Life-Chasing Seed," there are also the "Love-Entwining Seed" that can make the opposite sex fall for you, the "Mad Demon Seed" that can make the other person lose their mind and go completely insane, the "Forgetful Seed" that can make people emotionless and without desire, and even the "Soul-Stealing Seed" that can control people's minds, and so on.
These demonic creatures were all unpredictable and treacherous, with most of them being insidious and vicious. Du Fan was already terrified and chilled to the bone after just one glance. This was undoubtedly a truly evil technique.
However, the "Ghost Curse Technique" is not without its limitations. First, the caster's consciousness must be stronger than that of the person being cursed. Otherwise, the caster will suffer a backlash from the curse, and the effects caused by the ghost seed will be applied back to themselves, with unimaginable consequences.
Secondly, there is the difficulty of cultivation. Although every cultivator can cultivate this technique, the difficulty of cultivation is far greater than that of other spells. If one does not have the talent for cultivation in this area, one may not be able to master it in one's entire life.
Moreover, even after mastering the art of ghost curses, one still needs to refine the corresponding ghost seed. The difficulty of refining the ghost seed is even greater than that of the spell itself. These factors naturally block the path for many people.
Most importantly, this technique is insidious and vicious, contrary to the laws of heaven and humanity, and is intolerable to heaven and earth. Those who practice this technique will not be qualified to reincarnate after death. Their souls will be scattered after experiencing countless cycles of purgatory, and they will never be reborn. This can be considered a kind of constraint under the laws of heaven.
At this moment, Du Fan's hands, which were holding the "Ghost Curse Technique," were trembling slightly. His mind was also in turmoil, and his face had turned pale. For a moment, he hesitated.
"Leaving aside the difficulty of cultivation and what happens after death, just considering the divine sense alone, I cannot rely on this technique to kill Wu Hao!" After a moment's thought, Du Fan realized the crux of the problem. No matter how confident he was, he did not believe that his quasi-Qi Refining stage divine sense would be stronger than the opponent's fourth-level Qi Refining stage divine sense.
Du Fan sighed softly and looked at another book, "The Soul Devouring Technique." He had also thoroughly understood this secret technique and knew its essence.
The main function of this secret technique is to condense one's own soul into a form, allowing it to leave the body in a short time and enter the opponent's primordial spirit space to devour the opponent's soul. After completing this, one's own soul can return to oneself, and then, through corresponding incantations, slowly absorb the divine consciousness within the opponent's soul and transform it into a part of one's own divine consciousness.
The Soul Devouring Technique is divided into ten levels. Once the first level is mastered, this secret technique can be used. However, after the spell is successfully cast, only one-tenth of the opponent's total spiritual consciousness can be absorbed for one's own use. Similarly, only after the secret technique is mastered to the tenth level can one absorb all of the opponent's spiritual consciousness for one's own use.
This secret technique reminded Du Fan of a small book from his previous life, which contained a martial art called "Star Absorbing Technique," a secret manual that absorbed people's essence and internal energy, while "Spirit Devouring Technique" was a secret technique that absorbed people's consciousness.
Although they are different, they are both based on the same principle and origin, and are a technique for seizing human life.
This secret technique has a limitation similar to that of the "Ghost Curse Technique," which lies in the aspect of spiritual consciousness. However, there are also differences. The caster's spiritual consciousness does not need to be higher than that of the other party, but it also cannot be too much lower. Moreover, the higher the level of cultivation, the smaller this limitation becomes.
Du Fan frowned. The description here was vague, with no concept of "more" or "less," making it impossible for anyone to grasp the precise meaning. The safest approach would be to cast the spell on a cultivator whose spiritual sense was weaker than his own. In that case, some of the descriptions in this technique would seem like nonsense.
The most crucial aspect of casting this spell is that the target must be unconscious at the time of casting. This is basically ineffective against those whose cultivation level is higher than one's own.
Looking at the two cultivation manuals, Du Fan fell silent.
Before long, Du Fan's eyes flashed, and he checked all the techniques again.
"None of these techniques are the ones Han Mang used that day. They must be the spells recorded in the 'Burial of Ghosts Scripture,' but unfortunately they were destroyed in the Land of Scattered Souls." Du Fan longed for the 'Burial of Ghosts Scripture,' but he was helpless.
"Regardless, let's practice these two secret techniques first and give them a try." Du Fan finally made his decision. He chose the "Spirit Devouring Technique" first, as he thought it was more likely to be useful.
Du Fan silently recited it once, and after confirming that there were no problems, he closed his eyes and began to cultivate according to the description in the book.
Several hours later, the sky outside gradually brightened, but the sun had not yet risen.
Du Fan opened his eyes, and a dark light flashed in his eyes for a moment before disappearing.
"This technique isn't too difficult to cultivate; I've already mastered the first level!" Du Fan murmured to himself, slightly surprised.
"It's not entirely useless. At least my spiritual sense is stronger than before. Although it's not obvious, it's still an increase of about 10%. I imagine that as I become more proficient in this technique, the increase will be even greater." After examining himself, he finally showed a hint of joy.
"However, it still won't be of much use to Wu Hao. As for the Plant Control Technique, it might be of some help against cultivators at the first or second level of the Qi Refining stage, but the opponent is at the fourth level of the Qi Refining stage..."
Gui Yuan once mentioned that the mutants I possess are not complete, but rather half-finished. I can try to cultivate them in the future, but it's impossible to do so in the short term.
Then he looked somewhat worried, pondered for a long time, let out a long sigh, and walked out of the room.
……
Half an hour later, Du Fan appeared in the storeroom inside the gate, by which time it was fully light.
Du Fan felt relieved to see that the storeroom was already open and stepped inside.
"Eh? And who are you?" The speaker was a thin young man, about eighteen or nineteen years old, with delicate features, dressed in the clothes of an inner sect servant.
Du Fan naturally had no recollection of this person, since the former handyman in charge of managing the general store had already perished in the Land of Scattered Souls. Presumably, this person was a newly recruited inner disciple handyman.
"I am Du Fan, a handyman at the Spirit Garden. May I ask your name?" Du Fan asked casually, without changing his expression.
"You must be Du Fan, one of the only two remaining servants in the Dispersed Lands! Oh, Brother Du, my name is Yan Wei. I was originally an outer sect servant, but I was recently promoted to an inner sect servant. I hope you will give me your guidance in the future."
Yan Wei was taken aback upon hearing this. Realizing he had lost his composure, he showed a hint of embarrassment and then clasped his hands in greeting before introducing himself in a very polite manner.
"Sure, we'll take care of each other from now on," Du Fan replied with a slight smile, equally polite.
"Brother Du, have you come to buy something?" Yan Wei was naturally delighted upon seeing this and asked with a smile.
"Brother Yan, you are wise. I have come here to purchase some low- to mid-level talismans. Do you have detailed information about the different types of talismans?" Du Fan nodded and stated his purpose directly.
"Of course, Brother Du, please wait a moment." Yan Wei wasn't too surprised. He quickly walked to a bookshelf, took out a classic book, and handed it to Du Fan.
Du Fan didn't stand on ceremony and took it to look through it.
"Brother Yan, what are the prices of mid-level offensive and defensive talismans and low-level basic talismans?" After a long while, Du Fan finally spoke again, tentatively asking.
"A typical mid-level talisman costs eight spirit stones, while a low-level talisman costs two spirit stones," Yan Wei replied without hesitation.
"Ten of each of the fire and wood attribute attack talismans, ten of each of the metal and earth attribute defense talismans, twenty speed talismans, twenty power talismans, and twenty earth escape talismans. Brother Yan, could you please fetch them for me?"
Du Fan spoke quickly and calmly, but his heart skipped a beat. This price was for inner disciples and core disciples. If it were a former handyman encountering Du Fan, the price would definitely be doubled...
If not now, when?
"What?" Yan Kuan was stunned and didn't react for a long time.
"Thank you for your help, Brother Yan." Du Fan smiled shyly and spoke again.
"Alright, Brother Du, please wait a moment..." After a while, Yan Kuan took a deep breath, his eyes still filled with shock and excitement. He thought to himself that inner sect servants were indeed different from outer sect servants, and perhaps he could be just as wealthy and powerful in the future.
Before long, Yan Kuan placed a large stack of colorful talismans in front of Du Fan.
After a quick check and finding no problems, Du Fan, without saying a word, patted his storage bag at his waist and took out exactly two hundred and eighty spirit stones, placing them on the table.
Although Yan Kuan had expected it, he still couldn't help but feel thirsty when he suddenly saw so many spirit stones. When he glanced at the storage bag at Du Fan's waist, his pupils shrank again.
"Brother Yan, you should check it too." Seeing the other person's shocked and envious complex expression, Du Fan realized that he had been a bit too flamboyant and decided that he should be more careful in certain situations in the future.
After a moment, both of them felt there was no problem. Du Fan put away all the talismans, and Yan Wei took out a bag and put a bunch of spirit stones into it.
"I hope that I can receive Brother Du's guidance in the future!" Yan Kuan's gaze toward Du Fan was already burning with fervor, and at this moment he actually clasped his hands and bowed.
"Ahem... It's alright, I have other matters to attend to, so I'll take my leave now." Brother Du was a little embarrassed, so he coughed lightly and left.