“Need me for something?”

Hu Ma was slightly startled. He already knew the true abilities of Bai Putao (White Wine) and Erguotou (a type of strong liquor), so what could she possibly need his help with?

But he still said, “Whatever it is, just name it. If it's within my capabilities, there's no reason for me to refuse.”

During this meeting, she had shown great sincerity, taking on the responsibility of a senior, thoroughly explaining things to him and Di Gua Shao (Sweet Potato Liquor), giving him sincere advice. He was starting to think she was a decent person.

Besides...

...she was highly skilled. Maybe he'd need her help with something life-saving in the future!

“Don't rush.”

But unexpectedly, Miss Bai Putao said, “First, give me the real story. How's your training coming along?”

“Ah?”

Hu Ma was slightly surprised. He was a mysterious expert in Di Gua Shao's eyes, but he couldn't keep up the act in front of Miss Bai Putao. He could only slowly say, “Within the current Red Lantern Society, they only think I've refined one Zang, but actually...”

He paused, then said frankly, “I've already refined two Zang and started refining...”

“Ah?”

Miss Bai Putao was slightly surprised to hear this, and said, “When I first met you in the village, you hadn't even entered the Dao. This speed is quite impressive.”

“Although I know we got a batch of blood food before, so you're not lacking in nourishment, but your Night Watchers' path is known for being steady and solid, from life to death, then from death to life. You can't rush it, and you can't make mistakes.”

“I thought you'd still be at...”

“...”

Hu Ma understood why she thought that way.

She was estimating his speed based on a normal Transcendent, who could use their Natal Idol to see their progress and had ample blood food for nourishment.

But she didn't know that his entire body was already dead.

If other Night Watchers were to cultivate the Five Zang, just the "death" aspect would be a huge undertaking. That was because the Five Zang weren't like the Four Limbs, which could be completely poisoned all at once. It had to be done little by little, slowly. Just the "death" step alone would take a long time.

“This world is dangerous, I can't afford to be lazy...”

Hu Ma sighed and said, “So I cultivate diligently day and night.”

“That's good.”

Miss Bai Putao said, “Actually, progressing too quickly in cultivation isn't a good thing, but before entering the Fu, there's no need to worry.”

“The Ten Surnames are scary, but there are few of them, and they don't have the energy to pay attention to so many people. Erguotou and I only became careful after entering the Fu.”

“The reason I asked you this time is because I thought you hadn't even refined a single Zang yet...”

“...”

Hu Ma was stunned: 'Why didn't you say so earlier?'

'If you had, I wouldn't have refined any...'

“...”

Miss Bai Putao didn't know what he was thinking, and continued, “This task of mine in Ming Prefecture can only be done by you, but at the very least, I need you to have refined three Zang...”

“Of course, it would be best if you could refine all Five Zang, but I estimate that we can’t wait until then. In any case, this matter is of great importance to me. It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that I'm entrusting my life to you.”

“If you're willing, we can agree on this matter first, and you can think about what you need.”

“I'll help you find it as a reward.”

“...”

'So, if I help her with this, she'll agree to any conditions I set?'

Hu Ma was stunned, vaguely realizing that this matter might be truly important to her.

However, if he could do it after refining three Zang, and he'd be even more confident with five, then he wasn't too far off. He immediately said, “You've helped me a lot before, there's no reason for me to refuse.”

“However, what exactly is it that requires you to be so cautious?”

“...”

Miss Bai Putao pondered for a moment, then suddenly said, “Have you ever heard of the Fengzheng Method?”

“Hmm?”

Hu Ma was taken aback, suddenly thinking of something mentioned in the Zhen Sui Book, but he quickly changed his mind and asked in confusion, “What's that?”

“It doesn't seem to be a technique of the Night Watchers.”

“...”

“It's not originally a Night Watcher skill.”

Miss Bai Putao said faintly, “Although the matter is important, we still have to wait until you have the corresponding abilities. Wait until you've refined three Zang...”

“Alright.”

Hu Ma understood that she was gauging him on whether he could refine three Zang.

But suddenly hearing that, Hu Ma couldn't figure out what Miss Bai Putao wanted to do.

Fengzheng? (Sealing and Rectification)

Hu Ma vaguely remembered that the Zhen Sui Book mentioned similar terms, but only used them as basic vocabulary and didn't explain the specific methods.

Now that he understood the relationship between the Zhen Sui Book and the Ghost Walker's path, he understood that there was only one way to figure these things out, and that was to delve into the Ghost Walker's skills and learn.

The Zhen Sui Hu Family was the ancestor of the Ghost Walkers.

To understand it, the Zhen Sui Book was the highest method of the Ghost Walker's path.

But the reason why he had so much trouble understanding the Zhen Sui Book was also clear: it was because he didn't understand the Ghost Walker's path.

There were too many things in the Zhen Sui Book that required him to understand the Ghost Walker's path first.

Of course, he was clearly a Night Watcher, but Miss Bai Putao suddenly asked him about the Fengzheng, which was a bit baffling. Perhaps she had her reasons, but she just needed him to help with some things, and only when his Night Watcher skills reached a certain level could he be of assistance.

“Troublesome...”

Lying on the bed, Hu Ma silently opened his eyes, thinking quietly.

This time, he borrowed the power of the Zhen Sui Book and the Mountain Lord to kill the Qingyi Evil Ghost and injure the Meng Family's man, unexpectedly accomplishing something terrifying.

But only he knew that he had enjoyed saying those harsh words, but when he left Old Yin Mountain and put away his Zhenwu, he was just a small shopkeeper in the Red Lantern Society. He had to switch back to that mindset.

Otherwise, if he encountered danger, he might not even know how he died...

In the end, Miss Bai Putao's explanation of Erguotou's way of doing things was very enlightening for him...

He felt that this time, Miss Bai Putao and Erguotou seemed to be scolding Di Gua Shao, but every word was actually directed at him.

They were telling him that the identity of a Transcendent was very dangerous among the Ten Surnames, and that even a Transcendent shouldn't have a sense of superiority in this world.

Perhaps it was right for him to learn from Erguotou, such as hiding behind Xiao Hongtang, secretly nurturing a Hongtang Goddess, obtaining a few blood food mines, receiving offerings year-round, and then becoming a Dharma Protector or Incense Master by Xiao Hongtang's side?

That was wishful thinking. Erguotou could not rush to cultivate after entering the Fu, and hide behind the evil spirits to live a small life, but he couldn't.

If he didn't refine his entire body, he would always be a dead man, unable to live without blood food...

Moreover, he had been reincarnated into this body and obtained the Hu Family's Zhen Sui Book. Even if he didn't go looking for trouble, trouble would come looking for him.

He couldn't always be in the game without understanding the people in the game. Therefore, paying more attention to the traces left by the Ten Surnames in this world and figuring out what they were really trying to do was also very important to him...

But with his current abilities, wouldn't it be very dangerous to learn about these things?

“Entering the Fu...”

Sighing inwardly, he vaguely understood the current focus.

Whether it was the Mountain Lord's reminder or the words of Erguotou and others, they all showed that he ultimately had to enter the Fu to gain a foothold in this martial world.

However, if he wanted to enter the Fu, there was an even bigger threshold.

That was cultivating the Five Zang.

Without the Five Zang, there would always be a huge barrier between him and entering the Fu.

The Night Watcher's skills were always steady and clear.

To ascend the steps and enter the Fu, to cross the bridge and return home, ascending the steps had three stages: refining the Four Limbs, refining the Five Zang, and refining the Seven Orifices.

Because among the Seven Orifices, the two nostrils could be refined at once, there were six lamps.

Now, he had reached the critical moment of refining the Five Zang.

When the evil began to stir around this village, he had just stood up.

Invisibly,

Now, cultivating...

The old shopkeeper's notes clearly stated that cultivating the heart was extremely important, and the consumption of blood food was also extremely heavy. Unlike Hu Ma, Hu Ma's body was dead, so he had to rely on blood food to support himself, but they could rely on their own vitality to gradually improve their cultivation.

But even so, when cultivating the heart, they had to prepare a large amount of blood food to make up for their own deficiencies.

And for Hu Ma, this consumption would probably be tripled.

“Shopkeeper Wu Hong spent half his life's savings and used ten jin of blood food when cultivating the heart.”

“Then, would I need to use thirty jin?”

“...”

Just thinking about it was a terrifying number. Moreover, the batch of blood food he had obtained earlier had already been almost exhausted, exchanged for the abilities of the first four Zang.

And some of the things in the village had been consumed a lot during the evil disturbances, because the shop assistants and the Ghost Walkers were working very hard, so Hu Ma also used the village's blood food to support them.

So now, where was he going to get another batch?

Hu Ma had to worry about this matter. Thinking about it, it was helpless. Because the Transcendent was afraid of that mysterious person, they had to be doubly careful in the future when collaborating.

Because of being doubly careful, the difficulty of obtaining blood food had increased.

It was all the fault of that mysterious person, but that mysterious person was himself...

If it really didn't work, should he borrow some from Yang Gong?

But after thinking about it, he didn't think it was reliable. Those Red Incense disciples lived for today and didn't care about tomorrow, and they could spend more than him. If they had anything on hand, they would eat and drink it.

But thinking about it this way, he lacked an understanding of the Ghost Walker's path, and he lacked the advanced methods of the Night Watcher's path, and he lacked an understanding of this world, and he lacked this and lacked that, but in the end, what he lacked the most...

...holy crap, was it really blood food?