Even hybrid monsters have their day

Xiao Bai lazily lay on the table, its gaze meeting that of Geng Miaowan, who was looking down at it. "Generally speaking, infection with demonic energy can be divided into direct infection and indirect infection. Direct infection means that a person is directly harmed by a demon or something attached to demonic energy, and the possibility of infection is very high in this case. Indirect infection occurs when a person is around demonic energy or demonic creatures and inhales demonic energy for a long time, causing their body to be invaded by demonic energy. This depends on individual conditions; some people are more susceptible to demonic energy infection, while others are not. There is another type, which is inner demons. During cultivation, due to some reason, a demonic obstacle is generated in the mind, and this is the most dangerous."

"Then... how do you think that thousand-year-old sand crawler demon became tainted by demonic energy?" Geng Miaowan already had an answer in her heart, but that answer was too terrifying.

That thousand-year-old sand-crawling demon was a being that had cultivated for a thousand years in Buzhou Mountain, where the spiritual energy was purest. It seems unlikely that it only recently fell into demonic possession. And what kind of powerful demon could injure it and allow it to be corrupted by demonic energy? Most terrifyingly, if it did so because it had absorbed demonic energy for a long time, then could it be that Buzhou Mountain…

Xiao Bai thought for a moment, then suddenly widened her eyes and stood up. She then shook her head, let out two soft breaths through her nose, and said, "It shouldn't be..."

As a sacred mountain, Mount Buzhou would have terrible consequences if it were to produce a powerful demon or be tainted by demonic energy. Mount Buzhou is the spiritual root of the entire continent; if even Mount Buzhou were to be tainted by demonic energy, the consequences for this continent would be unimaginable.

Their eyes met again, both startled by the guess in their hearts.

Then, Xiaobai stood on the table and shook his body, pretending not to care, and said, "Actually, you don't need to worry. You've already completed your mission this time. After you break through to the mid-stage of Qi Refining, when you return to the Underworld, this place is a mess and has nothing to do with you or me. Besides, there's a destiny in this world, and it's not something that two people like ants like you and me can control."

The words may be rough, but the principle is sound. Although Xiaobai's words seem rather harsh, they are indeed true. Geng Miaowan sighed deeply, "I hope it's as you say."

After that, there was a long silence between the man and the dog.

This incident didn't bother Geng Miaowan for long, because, as Xiaobai said, everyone has their own fate, and she couldn't control it. That evening, she told the junior disciple who brought her meals that he didn't need to bring them anymore starting tomorrow.

After eating, she left Xiaobai in the room to watch over her while she sat down on the stone bed. After glancing one last time at the things she needed to pay attention to in the book, she entered meditation. She only realized after reading the book that her consciousness entering that pure white world to examine the meridians of her entire body was meditation entering the sea of ​​consciousness.

Geng Miaowan closed her eyes and slowly focused her consciousness. Soon, she was back in that pure white world. This time, the spiritual energy circulating around her was more pronounced than before. It was swirling around her in a specific pattern.

She used her consciousness to reach them and led them toward the water mist not far away.

Her vision gradually cleared, and Geng Miaowan saw the wisp of water vapor in her dantian floating up and down. Tiny specks of grayish-white spiritual energy, mixed with the blood in her meridians, were gathering towards her dantian. At the edges of her meridians, small specks of spiritual energy were also gathering in twos and threes. The book said that this spiritual energy was protecting her meridians, increasing their resilience and laying the foundation for future cultivation advancement.

Geng Miaowan stared intently at the spiritual energy in her dantian, circulating the incantation to compress all the spiritual energy in her body towards it. This step required special care, as she had to gather the energy into the dantian in a sealed, circular shape. If even one spot was not sealed tightly, the spiritual energy would leak out. The success of this step greatly affected her future capacity to hold spiritual energy, making it crucial.

Although the success or failure of advancement between the early, middle, and late stages is not as stagnant as advancement in realm, she still dared not be careless for a moment, preferring to proceed slowly but surely. Therefore, what would normally take a few days to improve took her more than ten days.

Bored, Little White lay on the ground watching Geng Miaowan. Fifteen days had passed, and she remained motionless and unresponsive. What was wrong? It remembered that advancing from the early to the middle stage of Qi Refining shouldn't take this long. Could something have gone wrong?

However, seeing that her complexion was normal, he thought that nothing should happen.

Another day passed, and Geng Miaowan finally managed to push the water mist in her dantian about one centimeter deeper into the center. Before she could even feel happy, she suddenly became worried. The book only said that compressing spiritual energy would improve her strength, but it didn't say to what extent. As she thought this, she squeezed her spiritual energy again until she couldn't squeeze any further.

Suddenly, the spiritual energy that had been compressed burst forth in all directions, radiating outwards. Geng Miaowan's heart skipped a beat. Oh no, was this the legendary "air leak"...?

She quickly channeled her remaining spiritual energy into her dantian, attempting to block the demons, but to no avail. The spreading spiritual energy entered her meridians and circulated throughout her body.

Geng Miaowan panicked a little. She didn't know what was happening and wanted to call for help, but after entering meditation, she couldn't connect with Xiaobai on a mental level. Luan Hao, who was in the purple mist, lay there motionless, acting like a quiet, handsome young man. Gradually, she realized that she wasn't immediately ejected from meditation like she would have been if she had failed an advancement attempt, so she calmed down a bit.

After circulating throughout her body for several weeks, the spiritual energy that had entered her meridians slowly converged towards her dantian. Geng Miaowan noticed that a thin, white, almost transparent film had formed on the walls of her meridians as it flowed through them.

Beside her dantian, a faint purple mist still floated. When the spiritual energy radiated out just now, it seemed that a little bit of it had entered the purple mist. Zi Cai seemed to move very slightly, so slightly that Geng Miaowan did not even notice it.

After all the spiritual energy returned to the dantian, the previously scattered spiritual energy concentrated. It seemed as if there was an invisible layer surrounding the spiritual energy, preventing it from overflowing, yet the spiritual energy outside could still enter.

As Geng Miaowan was still reeling from what she was seeing, Xiaobai's voice suddenly broke into her mind, "Little girl, little girl? Are you done yet? We have to run for our lives!"

"Run for your life?" She opened her eyes abruptly. "Why?"