Chapter 163: End of the Sacrificial Ritual

The Bamboo Tree of Life penetrated into the fierce ghost’s body. The ghost was panic stricken and terrified when he realized what was going on.

“Absorb!”

said Mu Yi doing some hand seals and condensing mind strength.

Suddenly, the Bamboo Tree of Life became dazzling and completely absorbed the fierce ghost who kept emitting horrible shrieks and plaintive cries. Then the Bamboo Tree of Life absorbed the lights.

“Come back.” said Mu Yi waving, then the Bamboo Tree of Life went back into his hand.

Mu Yi held the Bamboo Tree of Life and put his mind strength inside. Nian Nuer was awake already. She put her small hand on the fierce ghost’s head and her Qi increased.

When Mu Yi saw that, he wasn’t surprised at all, he smiled happily.

“Leave, don’t get close until I allow you.” said Mu Yi opening his eyes and looking at the old men who looked completely petrified. Xue Wu didn’t look serene either.

Everybody looked stunned, they struggled to get back up on their feet, they left without saying anything.

After everybody left, Mu Yi sat down on the altar.

He wasn’t worried about someone coming to disturb. The villagers weren’t brave enough. And now Big Slave who had been hiding in the darkness came out and stood next to Mu Yi.

At that moment, Mu Yi put his mind strength in the Bamboo Tree of Life. He cut his finger, blood dripped on the Bamboo Tree of Life. The Bamboo Tree of Life which was originally emerald green started changing colors: green, black, red. The three colors started intertwining.

And Nian Nuer was still inside, her Qi was still increasing.

The fierce ghost was gradually losing his ability to resist. His energies were slowly being drained by Nian Nuer and the Bamboo Tree of Life.

Without the Bamboo Tree of Life, Nian Nuer could have absorbed the fierce ghost but the Bamboo Tree of Life was a spiritual being, it could absorb the strength of the earth and the sky, which included ghost Qi.

For the sacrificial ritual to succeed, Mu Yi needed to do it for forty-nine days. He had been doing it for around half that time. If he had continued normally, he would have needed to continue for another twenty days, but after the Bamboo Tree of Life had absorbed Shi Gu’s strength, it had become much more powerful, and now with the fierce ghost’s strength, it was even better.

And Mu Yi sacrificed essence blood to speed up the process even more. He wanted to start the last phase.

After the Bamboo Tree of Life absorbed the blood, the connection between the Bamboo Tree of Life and Mu Yi was even deeper. It wasn’t the first time that Mu Yi had the impression he made one with the Bamboo Tree of Life, as if it had become part of his body. He could now make the Bamboo Tree of Life move as if he had moved his finger, with the power of his mind.

Suddenly, Mu Yi bit the tip of his tongue and spat out some blood. When good fortune comes, the mind works well.

The Bamboo Tree of Life became even more dazzling, but this time, it was completely red, bright red like Mu Yi’s essence blood and determination.

“Condense!”

said Mu Yi staring at the Bamboo Tree of Life. He released mind strength, it looked like a hammer and he struck the Bamboo Tree of Life.

Gradually, a symbol appeared on the Bamboo Tree of Life.

At the same time, the Bamboo Tree of Life absorbed lights. It didn’t look glittering and translucent like before. It looked darker, calmer, simpler, more natural, as something which would have regained a natural state.

Only Mu Yi knew that though. He had made such great efforts to carry out the sacrificial ritual and now he was done, the Bamboo Tree of Life had become a so-called religious tool! As long as Mu Yi’s imprints were inside, even if someone stole it, they wouldn’t be able to do anything with it.

And with the imprint inside the tree, Mu Yi could also sense what the tree sensed.

But now the Bamboo Tree of Life was a spiritual being and a religious tool, if Mu Yi continued modifying it, maybe that it would become much more powerful.

“Since you’re ready, you can level up.” said Mu Yi suddenly.

Then, Nian Nuer came out of the Bamboo Tree of Life.

She didn’t look like a cute little girl at that moment, like a little doll carved out of jade and powdered with white face powder, therefore, she hadn’t come out for a while until Mu Yi asked her.

Even though she looked scary when she was green-faced and long-toothed, for Mu Yi, it didn’t matter, no matter how she looked, for Mu Yi, she was still that cute little girl.

And her Qi was becoming extremely powerful.

“Boom!”

Nuer was halfway up in the air, the bright moonlight shone upon her, Mu Yi raised his head and looked at her, he had the impression he was looking at an epic painting.

Nian Nuer leveled up easily with no major obstacle. When conditions are ripe, success is naturally achieved. She had listened to Mu Yi’s advice and focused on making her cultivation stable.

Right after she leveled up, her Qi was much more powerful than the fierce ghost’s Qi of the temple. If they had fought, Nian Nuer would have crushed him.

In the past, she always jumped onto Mu Yi’s shoulders and chatted with him but this time, she didn’t even glance a him because of her appearance so she went back inside the Bamboo Tree of Life.

Even though she had already leveled up, her Qi wasn’t stable yet. Therefore, she couldn’t turn back into her little girl’s appearance, and she didn’t want Mu Yi to see her like that.

Mu Yi shook his head. He understood how she felt.

“I destroyed the ghost. You can leave, reincarnate or wander around. Just don’t perpetrate outrages. If you do, you will have to pay the price for it.” said Mu Yi looking at the calm and tranquil temple. Then he left with the Bamboo Tree of Life.

Big Slave closely followed Mu Yi. When Mu Yi and Big Slave disappeared, a strong wind started blowing in the temple. A silhouette appeared at the gate.

But that had nothing to do with Mu Yi anymore. He had achieved what he wanted. Not only had he managed to finish the Bamboo Tree of Life’s sacrificial ritual but he had also managed to make Nian Nuer level up. He had consumed lots of blood in the whole process but it had been worth it.

“Master!”

Mu Yi hadn’t even had time to arrive on the Kang Clan’s territory that Xue Wu came out of the dark. Mu Yi had already noticed him actually.

“Officer Xue, it’s so late and you’re still here, is there anything I can help you with?” asked Mu Yi to Xue Wu.

He didn’t feel any animosity towards Xue Wu but he didn’t appreciate him either. Xue Wu was just a passenger in his life.

“Sorry, I’m taking the liberty to disturb you. Please forgive me, Master.” said Xue Wu to Mu Yi politely.

“So, tell me, how may I help you?” said Mu Yi leaning forwards. He was in a good mood, otherwise he wouldn’t have been willing to waste time talking to Xue Wu.

“Please take me as a disciple.” said Xue Wu kneeling down before Mu Yi.

When Mu Yi heard that, he burst into laughter, he laughed to tears. He would have never thought Xue Wu would ask him to recruit him as a disciple.

Xue Wu seemed to be thirty-forty years old. He maybe could have been Mu Yi’s father and now he wanted to become his disciple.

Age wasn’t really important when it came to studying or teaching but Mu Yi wasn’t interested in having disciples, or actually, the sad truth was that Xue Wu wasn’t qualified to be Mu Yi’s disciple.

He was already too old, the best age for cultivators was before that. Even though there were many examples of people in history who had become incredible talents but who had matured slowly, they were rare. And becoming a celestial being from one day to another was extremely difficult, of course, “celestial” here doesn’t refer to gods or supernatural beings, it refers to a certain cultivation level..

But from what Mu Yi could see, Xue Wu wasn’t a grand talent who had matured slowly. Xue Wu was just an ordinary traveler. And grand talents who matured slowly were extremely rare. There was maybe one every hundred years.

“Stand up. I don’t recruit disciples.” said Mu Yi shaking his head and walking past Xue Wu.

“I beg you, Master. Give me one chance. I can become your footman. I will just follow you.” begged Xue Wu. Actually, that was his real goal. He knew from the beginning that Mu Yi wouldn’t recruit him as a disciple.

But that way, he increased his chances of success. He had started by asking him to become his disciple and now he had proposed to become his servant, that was logical and well-reasoned.

“Footman? “I’m not interested.” said Mu Yi shaking his head and then he walked away.

Xue Wu wanted to say something but he looked disappointed and he felt under pressure. Big Slave looked at him with his big eyes.

Xue Wu felt even more under pressure, his heart twitched. He found it difficult to breathe.

Even though he had never seen Big Slave fight, he could imagine that Big Slave could make his head explode by slapping it.

Big Slave didn’t intend to attack though. He just wanted to scare him away. He didn’t give him time to react though, he turned around and left.

When Big Slave left, Xue Wu took a deep breath. He used his sleeve to wipe the cold sweat off his forehead.

After that, he finally breathed normally again. He was still on his knees, he stood up, turned around and left.

Xue Wu hadn’t spent much time with Mu Yi but he understood him quite well already. He knew what he had done to the second young master, he had seen him with the housekeeper and he had seen him kill the old woman. He knew that Mu Yi was cruel and determined and that he would never be interested in recruiting someone like him as a disciple.

He was initially sure his strategy would work, he had thought that even if Mu Yi didn’t agree to recruit him as a disciple, he would have accepted him as a footman but Mu Yi had refused so he was really sad. He had collapsed after a single setback.