Chapter 30: The Scroll of the Nine-Child Ghost Mother

The three of them returned to the monk's quarters where they had previously been kept by the tall, thin monk's fierce spirit.

Under the pretext of needing to use the latrine, Chu Danqing slipped out to open the grievance mother's treasure chest.

[You have opened: Treasure Chest (Excellent Grade), and obtained: Scroll of the Nine-Child Ghost Mother, Paradise Points ×2900, Paradise Points ×2900]

"Why did the Paradise Points glitch out?" Chu Danqing wondered to himself. Upon closer inspection, however, there was no glitch; he had simply received an additional 5,800 Paradise Points.

"The single-item limit for Paradise Points from an Excellent Grade chest is 2,900, so it generated another one for me?"

After glancing at the points, Chu Danqing turned his attention to the equipment: the Scroll of the Nine-Child Ghost Mother.

[Scroll of the Nine-Child Ghost Mother]
[Type: Equipment · Accessory]
[Quality: Excellent]
[Durability: 100/100]
[Energy Value +100]
[Infant's Grievance (Active): Consume 90 points of Energy Value to summon 9 ghost grievance infants to fight for you. While active, 1 point of Energy Value per minute must be paid for each ghost grievance infant to maintain them, until maintenance energy is depleted, they die in battle, or the skill is canceled. Their numbers can be partially replenished, up to a maximum of 9 active at once.]
[Mother's Hatred (Active): When 9 ghost grievance infants are present on the field, consume 100 points of Energy Value to summon 1 ghost grievance mother to fight for you. While active, consume 10 + (number of ghost grievance infants) points of Energy Value per minute, until maintenance energy is depleted, she dies in battle, or the skill is canceled. Cannot be summoned repeatedly.]
[Equipment Requirement: Spirit 10, Constitution 10]

"This... I simply can't use it at all." While Chu Danqing was thrilled to acquire a summoning-type piece of equipment, he thought, "It seems this really was downgraded from a Rare grade."

The regret was that he was completely unable to equip or use it.

Setting aside the stat requirements, the energy consumption alone was an astronomical figure.

Summoning all of them required 190 points of energy, followed by a continuous drain of 28 energy points per minute.

Even combining Chu Danqing's own maximum energy value with the bonus provided by the scroll, it still wouldn't be enough to sustain this mother-and-children pair.

This wasn't a standard spell; it was an effect bound to the equipment, meaning it could not be split up or used piecemeal.

"It will have to go into storage for now." Chu Danqing rubbed his temples. Not only did he need to raise his energy pool and attributes, but he also had to gather the True Spirit Awakening fees for the scroll.

Fortunately, he wouldn't need to consider this until after his next trial was completed.

After stowing the Scroll of the Nine-Child Ghost Mother into his storage space, Chu Danqing stood up and headed back.

Guo Ming was lying on the bed, chatting and teasing Dabao, though Dabao's responses were somewhat halting and clumsy.

As soon as Chu Danqing returned, Guo Ming smoothly steered the conversation toward him.

"Brother Chu, where on earth did you learn your unorthodox heterodox arts? Why are they so incomplete and fragmented?"

"You have the methods for spirit-taming and summoning, yet lack the foundation for Qi-refining and cultivation?" Guo Ming asked curiously.

Previously, he hadn't been aware of this anomaly, especially since Chu Danqing used energy links and life links so fluently, alongside various other supernatural techniques.

"As the saying goes, it's just a set of heterodox arts, so how could it be complete?" Chu Danqing replied, then joked, "What, are you thinking of gifting me a proper lineage?"

"It's not entirely out of the question, but the Dao is not easily imparted lightly," Guo Ming explained. "The cultivation methods in my family all belong to my father; I would need to write a letter home."

"Besides, I don't know which method suits you best, so my father would need to choose one for you."

Hearing this, the smile on Chu Danqing's face gradually faded.

He didn't think the other man was joking.

"That's far too precious," Chu Danqing said seriously.

The faction store only had a single quota for a technique manual, and it cost a staggering ten thousand faction contribution points.

Ji Xun of the Ji family had risked his life and invited the Three Corpses into his body just to obtain such a heritage, yet Guo Ming could apparently secure one just by casually mentioning it.

To Guo Ming, it might not be a big deal, but to Chu Danqing, it meant everything.

"Nothing has been settled yet, so what is Brother Chu worrying about?" Guo Ming said with a smile. "Even if I'm willing, my father might not necessarily agree."

"I reckon the chances of this happening are slim to none; I was just tossing the idea out there."

Chu Danqing shook his head and refused: "My advice is not to even mention it."

He wanted it, indeed, but there was no need to put Guo Ming in an awkward position caught in the middle.

The more Chu Danqing acted this way, the more Guo Ming felt determined to ask his old man to pick out a decent cultivation method for him.

For the Ji family, a heritage manual was indeed precious, but for Guo Ming's family, as long as they didn't hand over their core ancestral techniques, anything else was negotiable.

Since Chu Danqing had put it that way, Guo Ming found it difficult to press the matter further. Instead, he changed the subject, chatted idly for a while longer, and then both fell asleep.

They woke up at dawn, had breakfast, and then discussed the matter of descending to the bottom of the well.

The previous night's conversation was thus glossed over and left behind.

"Going down is easy, but getting back up won't be so simple," Chu Danqing said, looking down into the well opening. Having been previously wrecked by the grievance mother, the tools and setups originally suited for going up and down had been completely destroyed.

And this well was by no means shallow.

"With Dabao here, getting you and me up and down won't be a problem," Guo Ming said dismissively, unconcerned.

"I'm worried that if there's any danger down there, we won't have time to retreat." Chu Danqing had been down once before, but he hadn't seen anything unusual at the time.

Even though the grievance mother was dead, it was always better to be safe than sorry.

"Let's have the repeating crossbow soldiers go down and scout the path first," Chu Danqing thought of a solution.

If there was no danger, it wouldn't be too late for them to descend afterward.

Guo Ming immediately agreed upon hearing this. Knowing the capabilities of the repeating crossbow soldiers, he realized they were indeed the perfect fit for the task.

Chu Danqing linked five energy cords to Dabao, and then summoned the repeating crossbow soldiers.

Dabao carried the crossbow soldiers and descended into the bottom of the well.

Next came the waiting game. Throughout the process, Chu Danqing kept his eyes fixed on the status panel of the repeating crossbow soldiers.

Their health points remained in a completely stable state.

After about nine minutes, the figures of the repeating crossbow soldiers reappeared at the bottom of the well.

This was timed precisely for their return trip to signal safety to Chu Danqing.

Shortly after, their forms vanished as their summoned duration expired.

"It seems there are no issues. Let's go down," Chu Danqing said.

To be honest, he wasn't very keen on bringing Guo Ming along, but since Guo Ming insisted, he couldn't talk him out of it and reluctantly agreed.

Bringing Guo Ming had several distinct advantages, especially given the young man's extensive knowledge and background, which had repeatedly proven immensely helpful.

Using its four limbs as cushions against the well walls, Dabao carried the two of them down to the bottom of the well.

Reaching the depths once more, Chu Danqing did not feel the biting, bone-chilling cold he had experienced before. It was still cold, certainly, but devoid of the mental discomfort.

Clearly, just as Guo Ming had said, the lingering resentment at the bottom of the well had dispersed.

Chu Danqing knew for a fact that lingering in an environment saturated with grievance for too long would inevitably damage the body.

The darkness not far ahead remained as thick and impenetrable as ever.

Chu Danqing pulled out a high-intensity tactical flashlight, cutting a clear path straight through the gloom with its blinding beam.

Unlike last time, his descent was smooth, and he encountered no anomalies whatsoever.

"Such an ingenious device," Guo Ming's eyes lit up. "It will certainly make traveling at night much more convenient."

"I'll gift you one later, complete with a lighter," Chu Danqing replied naturally.