Chapter 00232: New Weapon +1
# New Weapon +1
Chapter 232
Novel: After the Immortals Disappeared
Chapter 232: New Weapon +1
The next morning, He Chunhua sent someone to transport grain to the northern front.
Zhao Pan's army was lacking in clothing and food; although the five thousand stones contributed by the Zhan family were not much, they would at least allow them to hold on for another ten days.
Military supplies equated to morale, and with this batch of grain, Zhao Pan could temporarily breathe a sigh of relief.
Thus, He Chunhua's immediate challenges were threefold: raising funds and supplies for the front line, recruiting soldiers for himself as the governor of Xiazhou, and assisting Zhao Pan in expelling the Xunzhou army from within Xiazhou's borders.
At such a critical moment, He Lingchuan unexpectedly entered closed-door cultivation for four days.
He himself was not clear about it beforehand; he only knew that he had been feeling a sense of impending completion during his recent meditative adjustments, just lacking that final bit of timing.
On this day, during his cultivation, he finally forgot both himself and the world, with true power circulating endlessly throughout his body, and he finally broke through!
Everyone began to worry; even He Chunhua took time out of his busy schedule to check on him three times.
Fortunately, Lingguang diagnosed that He Lingchuan showed no signs of going astray in his cultivation, so everyone had no choice but to let him be.
Only He Chunhua found it strange: "The 'Guiding Technique' passed down in my family has never been said to show such signs in cultivators."
Lingguang explained, "Cultivation depends on the individual. The master has excellent talent, so his performance is naturally different from others."
It only accepted He Lingchuan's employment and worked solely for him, never mentioning the matter of the master privately purchasing expensive herbs to assist in his cultivation.
Taking pills for cultivation was too common, and the He family members did not find it strange.
The medicinal ape, Lingguang, adhered to such professional ethics.
Even He Lingchuan himself felt that this round of cultivation was exceptionally long.
The most important outcome was that the Yin and Yang Twin Serpents he had been painstakingly nurturing finally met triumphantly in his dantian, and after four days of probing and entanglement, they evolved from mutual disdain and throwing mud at each other to a deep fusion, akin to being inseparable.
This process was unexpectedly smooth.
He Lingchuan had heard Mr. Man from the Panlong City Boosting Office say that the 'Ziwu Technique' was very selective; although the cultivation process was fast, powerful, and short in duration, it had requirements for the cultivator's physique.
If one took it step by step, it would be fine, but some people, like He Lingchuan, who spent heavily on alchemy and swallowed expensive herbs as if they were free, would forcefully accelerate the process, leading to the true power of the twin serpents bursting the qi sea!
That moment of fusion was crucial; if one could pass through, it would be like honey mixed with oil, but if one could not, they would become half-disabled and would need several more years of painstaking effort to slowly restore the qi sea.
Aside from talent, He Lingchuan's greatest asset was still his youthful body.
In the words of the octopus demon, "The qi and blood are abundant and vigorous, and the essence is full," allowing him to seal the sea and lock the gates, letting the Yin and Yang Twin Serpents play around freely, thus having a kind of dual benefit.
This meant that when the true power twin serpents met in the qi sea, they had opened up the twelve meridians, and after merging, they would continuously cycle through several circulations before attempting to impact the eight extraordinary meridians.
The difficulty of opening the regular meridians and the extraordinary meridians was not on the same level.
Opening the regular meridians was like using a small boat to scoop floating leaves and pluck duckweed on a river, while impacting the extraordinary meridians was like a severely blocked river channel, where even a boat could not pass, and one could only use a shovel to dredge it.
He Lingchuan then realized that novels did not deceive; opening the "Ren and Du Meridians" was indeed not an easy task.
After digging for two or three days, he had not even opened the first node.
After attempting to clear several rounds—no, it was after attempting to impact several rounds—this true power would then separate back into the Yin and Yang Twin Serpents, each returning to their own territory to reabsorb the Yin and Yang energies, storing power for the next impact.
Relying solely on their own strength was a bit slow; within the limits of his financial resources, the master should also lend a hand, trying to obtain some extremely Yin or extremely Yang items to assist in the transformation.
The sunlight's true fire was certainly out of the question; He Lingchuan could not bear it at the moment.
As long as he guided a little into the meridians, it could very well lead to the meridians exploding and self-igniting.
He could only proceed step by step, and as his own strength gradually increased, he would also need to draw in more powerful external Yin and Yang forces.
When would he be able to bask in the sun for perfect energy replenishment? He Lingchuan was filled with anticipation.
The first stage breakthrough of the Ziwu Technique allowed his true power to operate at a higher level; if it had seemed like a trickling stream before, now it was a flowing river.
As for his six senses, they were much broader than four days ago.
He Lingchuan stood up, stretched his limbs, and then called for someone to prepare water for him to bathe.
However, he had only washed halfway when the window suddenly opened, and a gust of cold wind blew in.
The medicinal ape, Lingguang, stood on the windowsill, grinning at him: "You've come out of seclusion!"
"Close the window, or I'll freeze to death!" He Lingchuan looked at it with one hand behind his back, "What are you hiding? It wouldn't be what I asked you to fetch, would it..."
Lingguang quickly shook its head and tossed a grappling hook over.
"Li Fubo came yesterday and instructed me to pass this to you."
Lingguang closed the window with a swift motion, "He went with Marquis Songyang to prepare the shop and won't be coming over these days."
"Shop?" He Lingchuan was taken aback, "Did she finalize it so quickly?" Truly worthy of Marquis Songyang, a master at negotiating business.
Lingguang shrugged; it was only delivering the message.
He Lingchuan slowly unfolded the grappling hook in his hand.
This was the new weapon that he had entrusted Li Fubo to forge before entering closed-door cultivation.
The latter had readily agreed and said he already had a complete set on hand, which could be delivered with slight modifications.
The main body of this weapon was a rope twisted from three types of spider silk, with the tip shaped like a five-clawed tiger's paw, capable of opening and grasping like a human hand.
Although it looked simple, it was actually a magical artifact.
When He Lingchuan dripped his blood onto the rope handle, it would automatically recognize its master.
From then on, he could shoot out his... no, he could shoot out the grappling hook like a spider, using external objects to climb and swing, and the tiger's paw hook at the end could also open and close freely at his will.
He could also indulge in a bit of spider-man fun.
Lingguang watched him play with it happily: "Is it useful?"
He Lingchuan shot out the grappling hook, crushing a crystal peach on the plate with one claw, sweet juice splattering everywhere.
"..."
Lingguang looked at him with a mournful expression.
Was it easy to buy fresh peaches in winter?
"Misfire!" He chuckled awkwardly; he had intended to grab the peach for Lingguang.
It seemed he would need to practice this skill more to master it; there were no shortcuts to take.
In the Panlong Dreamscape, including Liu Tiao, both teammates were equipped with grappling hooks, moving like monkeys during missions, far more agile than others.
This technique was relatively niche on the battlefield but was actually very practical; if he were to exchange for it at the Pengcheng Office, it would cost military merit.
He Lingchuan was envious, and they generously shared the usage methods of the grappling hook without holding back.
The stronger the companions, the safer the team.
If he had a grappling hook when falling into a spider's lair, he could easily hook himself up without needing to use the dangerous tactic of using Li to replace the peach.
After all, if the Ghost Shadow Cicada Molt was not thrown accurately, he would turn into meat paste on the spot.
Having played enough, He Lingchuan got up and dressed.
Lingguang came over to check his pulse and qi flow, nodding repeatedly: "Indeed, you've advanced another level; your qi and blood are becoming more and more robust. Ordinary ten strategists are no longer your match."
He Lingchuan couldn't help but recall the sand leopard he encountered at the bottom of the cliff on the day he descended; the original He Shao was essentially killed by it.
If it were the current him, killing that sand leopard should be a piece of cake, right? "By the way, did you buy the Ghost Shadow Cicada Molt?"
Lingguang pulled out a small cloth bag from somewhere, untied it, revealing three cicada molts inside.
"This is a rare item; I ran to seven pharmacies before I found it. What medicine do you want to refine?"
He Lingchuan picked one up to examine in the light; yes, this was the item.
Finally, he had obtained the Ghost Shadow Cicada Molt in reality: "For spellcasting."
"Thirty taels each."
The cicada molt in his hand suddenly felt extremely hot.
He Lingchuan smiled bitterly and took out silver to reimburse it.
Anything related to divine abilities could not be measured by common sense.
Just these three inconspicuous cicada molts cost him more than half a month's allowance.
He needed to find a way to make money, make money!
Lingguang added, "During your closed-door cultivation, Sun Hongye looked for you twice."
"What happened in these four days?"
"A lot."
Lingguang blinked, "But I can't explain it clearly."
It only handled matters within its scope of responsibility.
He Lingchuan patted its head and turned to look at the broken knife.
The knife mountain, shaped from golden clay, seemed to have brightened in color, gradually revealing its pure gold base.
It was mixed with various materials, and He Lingchuan remembered that the black gold was pure black, which meant that the metallic materials in the golden clay were slowly being absorbed by the broken knife.
So far, the repair process of the broken knife had been relatively smooth.
He Lingchuan was very satisfied, went out to find some fruits to reward Lingguang for its protection over the past few days, then went to check on Madam Ying, exchanged a few words, and returned to the courtyard to practice with his newly acquired toy—the grappling hook.
This thing was a typical case of seeming easy for others to use, while oneself would look at it and think it was simple, only to fail miserably when trying to learn.
Fortunately, He Lingchuan had been practicing throwing day and night for the past month; since it involved the word "throw," there was a certain similarity.
By the time the sun set, he had developed a bit of a feel for it.
Tonight, neither He Chunhua nor He Yue would return to the residence, and Madam Ying, supervising the renovations, was also tired after a day’s work, only instructing the kitchen to serve meals in each person's courtyard, allowing them to eat and then bathe and rest directly.
He Lingchuan had just finished his meal when a servant came to announce: Sun Hongye had arrived.
"Have you eaten?" After not seeing him for several days, He Lingchuan personally welcomed him inside, "Shall I have the kitchen prepare you a dinner?"
"No need, I just had lamb soup buns for dinner."
Sun Hongye looked He Lingchuan up and down, "Master, you look radiant; it seems your cultivation has advanced another level."
"Yes, I accidentally broke through."
He was stating a fact.
Sun Hongye immediately congratulated him.
He Lingchuan was too lazy for pleasantries and cut straight to the point: "You looked for me twice before; is there something urgent?"
"You chose a bad time for your closed-door cultivation; a lot has happened in these four days."
Sun Hongye's smile faded, raising a finger, "The first thing is, Li Rong has been imprisoned; Lord He didn't even give him an extra day of leniency."
"When I sent back the gifts from Li Shuang, they should have had an inkling."
He Lingchuan felt no surprise, "Father is going to use him to establish authority."
(End of Chapter)