HBWnovel Chapter 336 Restrictions
Chapter 336 Restrictions
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Determined to cultivate the Netherworld Grand Summary.
In the days that followed, Chen Mu deliberately adjusted his routine.
He reduced the number of alchemy sessions and decreased the frequency of practicing the Fire Cloud Curse to ensure his energy remained abundant.
He even specially prepared some light meals, listening daily to the sounds of the wind and the birds to calm his spirit.
Several days later, in the evening.
After eating a dinner that was seventy percent vegetarian and thirty percent meat, leaving him satisfactorily full, Chen Mu washed and bathed, changed into a loose and dry robe, and entered the underground secret chamber.
Sitting on a soft low couch, in the fragrance of Calming Pills, Chen Mu solemnly opened the Jade Slip of the Netherworld Grand Summary.
The thin jade tablet, only two fingers wide and as long as a forearm, was bound at both ends with exotic beasts forming a scroll.
The first nine jade panels were inscribed with golden characters, giving a general overview of the Netherworld Condensation Aperture Technique.
The last sixty-three jade panels had no characters but were fully covered in patterns of silver threads and stars.
Chen Mu placed his right index finger on the first blank jade panel, slowly closed his eyes, and with a thought, a thread of mana surged into it.
The next moment, a gentle force entered the Jade Seed.
The originally slow-drifting mana, like a sea under a storm, was suddenly stirred violently, scrambling to congregate around the Primordial Talisman.
In an instant, starting from the Primordial Talisman, a hollow net-like sphere was formed.
"Such a complex talisman," Chen Mu's heart skipped a beat.
The most intricate Five Ghosts Moving Mountain Curse Talisman he had practiced before was only the size of a sesame seed, yet the one before him was as large as a quail egg.
And there were a total of sixty-three talismans like this one.Nôv(el)B\\jnn
Just the thought of this task made Chen Mu's scalp tingle.
Sixty-three of them...
"I guess I'll just have to incorporate it into my daily tasks and chip away at it slowly."
A momentary distraction was met with a deep hum.
The hollow sphere vibrated, and its structure, already somewhat ephemeral, suddenly dissipated, turning into mana mist.
However, the mana that should have filled the Jade Seed was now a tenth less.
Chen Mu's eyelids twitched.
If every practice session would result in a tenth of his mana lost, wasn't this consumption... a bit too much?
Suddenly, he thought of Sun Wuhuan's debate forum.
"Was Sun Wuhuan's desperate collection of wealth all to cultivate the Condensing Aperture Technique?"
Thinking about future expenses, Chen Mu felt overwhelmed.
"I must continue to refine the Parasite Expelling Pill."
...
Halfway up Mist Smoke Mountain.
A small building in a corner of the former Yanxia Sect's martial arts training ground square.
Sun Chengye sat at a table by the window on the second floor.
"My brother is a genius of the Sun Family, with no shortage of resources for secret techniques. That he would covet treasures and defy Elder Liu's orders to search for them in the forest—this, I don't believe."
Across the table sat a man in his thirties, dressed in the black clothes of a Patrolling Inspector from the Inspection Courtyard.
"Does Brother Sun mean to suggest that someone is plotting against the deputy prefect?"
"The position of deputy prefect in the Administrative Affairs Institute is highly coveted," Sun Chengye scoffed coldly.
The black-clothed Prefect Li Guangfu's body stiffened, and he sipped his tea without responding.
The current deputy prefect was a relative of Elder Liu Ling. Li wouldn't dare to meddle in the power struggles of Jilong Road's two major families.
"If the first one goes to waste, what use will the rest be?!" Chen Mu suddenly felt overwhelmed.
The jade slip was originally sufficient for mastering the basics.
But the one in Chen Mu's hands had been used by Sun Wuhuan, with ninety percent of its power already consumed.
"I've been careless!"
With that thought, Chen Mu immediately inspected each one.
Out of sixty-three jade tablets, fifty-one had their luster dimmed.
Only the last twelve shone as if brand new.
Chen Mu frowned at the unchanged gray wall.
Should I take a chance and try to master the technique before the tablets become ineffective?
"No! If I fail, this volume of Netherworld Grand Summary would have been in vain!"
He didn't dare to bet.
...
Several days later.
Bai Xiuwen walked into the storeroom's Alchemist Chamber carrying a wooden box filled with the Essence of the Five Grains.
He looked up to see Chen Mu sitting cross-legged on a soft couch, writing something.
"Brother Chen, I have some bad news," Bai Xiuwen said softly as he approached the couch.
"Go ahead," Chen Mu said without lifting his head, his writing as dynamic as a dragon or snake, copying the ghostly hieroglyphs.
"The brothers at Hundred Workshops Hall have fixed the storeroom's protection restriction."
"The price of Fasting Pills has dropped."
"It was a matter of time." Chen Mu was unconcerned.
Even with them working faster, a lot of Yellow Bud Rice was still spoiled.
The best solution, of course, was to quickly repair the storeroom's protective restrictions.
"Does the affiliate institute want us from Jade Spring Mountain?" Chen Mu asked nonchalantly as he continued to trace the silken star points with his brush.
"It's hard to say." Bai Xiuwen frowned, hesitant, "Another batch of upper court brothers has arrived on the mountain."
"Mist Smoke Mountain could end up becoming another Lower Courtyard."
"We might leave, or we might stay."
"Then when you have time, ask around and let me know if there's news," said Chen Mu indifferently.
Mist Smoke Mountain, with its Mountain Protection Restriction and the second-best expert of Jilong Road stationed there, was not less secure than Jade Spring Mountain.
Now that he had the Condense Aperture Secret Method, he could cultivate anywhere.
He waved Bai Xiuwen off with a gesture.
Chen Mu carefully compared the string of hieroglyphs he just copied.
"It still lacks a bit of essence."
Chen Mu summoned the gray wall.
Written: 1762/10000/Third Rank;
Writing the Netherworld Grand Summary in hieroglyphs was the solution Chen Mu came up with.
Unfortunately, proficiency at the Third Rank only allowed him to understand hieroglyphs, not to write them.
To increase his writing proficiency, he had been copying and transcribing for five continuous days, neglecting even to refine Fasting Pills.
The quota he handed in was still made from previous stock.
"Better keep practicing." He casually collected the used brown papers into the Five Ghosts Bag and unfolded a new piece of paper.
As long as he hadn't transcribed the Netherworld Grand Summary, he would never feel at ease.
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