Although Song Shuhang didn’t know where True Monarch Yellow Mountain was right now, he knew for sure that he was on Baijing Street… and perhaps he was even peeping at them.

　　As such, it was possible that he had seen Daoist Priest Cloudy Mist when the latter put on that self-important look, starting to recite poetry.

　　Daoist Priest Cloudy Mist… was seeking death big time this time around!

　　The nearby young monster hunter also blinked his eyes.

　　Wait a moment… ‘it’s time to sweep stupid Yellow Mountain’s house clean’? Is it possible that this ‘stupid Yellow Mountain’ refers to True Monarch Yellow Mountain?

　　Just as the young monster hunter was in deep thought, Daoist Priest Cloudy Mist stretched out his hand and took out a letter, handing it over to Song Shuhang. “Little friend, in this letter are noted down some interesting things that are related to you and your family. You can consider it the remuneration for letting me practice next to you.”

　　Inside the letter was recorded that matter concerning the spider puppet that had quietly sneaked into Song Shuhang’s house some time ago. Afterward, Daoist Priest Cloudy Mist had cut off its eight legs and left the legless spider attached to the hanging lamp.

　　He believed that Song Shuhang would be very interested in this piece of news.

　　“It’s related to me and my family?” Song Shuhang took the letter and opened it, glancing at the content. Immediately after, he raised his head and looked toward the hanging lamp on the ceiling.

　　Sure enough, there was a button-sized small spider there. The spider had lost its legs and could only stand in place, unable to move in the slightest.

　　Song Shuhang gently jumped and stretched out his hand, grabbing the spider puppet.

　　At this time, the spider puppet was seemingly deactivated and wasn’t moving in the slightest.

　　Song Shuhang sighed.

　　After becoming a cultivator, he had been worrying about his family possibly getting involved in some cultivation-related disaster.

　　Therefore, he was planning to look for some haven of peace and move his family there once the level of his strength was high enough.

　　But little did he expect that people would extend their evil clutches to his family so soon.

　　Still, who was the master of this spider puppet?

　　I will hand over this thing to Senior Yellow Mountain in a while. Perhaps he can find some clues from it and track down the owner of the spider, Song Shuhang thought to himself.

　　Song Shuhang already had a suspect in mind… if he had to think of someone that was capable of doing something similar and knew the address of his house, the first person that came to his mind was Young Master Hai of the Limitless Demon Sect.

　　“Thank you, Daoist Priest Cloudy Mist,” Song Shuhang said gratefully after landing back in the living room.

　　Daoist Priest Cloudy Mist sipped his tea with a smile, and said, “You are welcome. It was just your remuneration, it’s a fair deal this way.”

　　Song Shuhang put the spider puppet away. The value of this remuneration from Daoist Priest Cloudy Mist was very high. From a certain point of view, it was the same as saving his family once.

　　Song Shuhang gazed at Daoist Priest Cloudy Mist, who was about to ‘do something big’, and then thought about the fact that True Monarch Yellow Mountain was already in Wenzhou City… his heart ached a little.

　　Perhaps he should remind Daoist Priest Cloudy Mist a little, and tell him not to seek death too much?

　　“Daoist Priest Cloudy Mist, isn’t there any chance of peacefully settling this dispute between you and Senior Yellow Mountain?” Song Shuhang said. “If you are really intending to head to Senior Yellow Mountain’s place and sweep it clean… the consequences might be unimaginable if Senior Yellow Mountain were to discover you.”

　　“Ahahaha.” Daoist Priest Cloudy Mist laughed loudly, and asked in reply, “Little friend Shuhang, you know about mosquitos, right?”

　　“What does this matter have to do with mosquitos…?” Song Shuhang was unable to follow Daoist Priest Cloudy Mist’s train of thought. The members of the death-seeking league had a maze-like circuit with eighteen turns in their heads. Even if the ‘Car God Takumi Fujiwara’ from Initial D were to personally drive the vehicle, he might still end up in an accident and overturn his ride.

　　Daoist Priest Cloudy Mist sighed with emotion, and said, “Let me tell you about mosquitos! The bravest and most heroic way for a mosquito to die is to lie on someone’s face and start sucking their blood… as long as they can make that person ruthlessly slap themselves in the face, the sacrifice of the mosquito would have been completely worth it!”

　　“…” Song Shuhang.

　　Don’t try to deceive me just because I don’t know too many jokes! I’ve been taking private lessons about jokes recently; isn’t this joke a super old one? At least a dozen or so years old!

　　“I’m the same.” A firm expression appeared in Daoist Priest Cloudy Mist’s eyes. “As long as I can make stupid Yellow Mountain ruthlessly slap himself in the face, I don’t mind getting sealed up for a few years. It would have been completely worth it anyway!”

　　“…” Song Shuhang.

　　Worth your sister!

　　We are simply unable to communicate with each other!

　　At this point, it can’t simply be a problem of generational gap… it’s as if we have completely different values, beliefs, and way of seeing the things in the world!

　　Daoist Priest Cloudy Mist stood up, and said, “As such, we don’t have much time left. How about starting to practice immediately?”

　　He had already waited for more than one month and a half, and he now wanted to make every minute and second count. He didn’t want to waste even a second and practice wholeheartedly.

　　The current him needed only a small push to break through the bottleneck and advance a small realm.

　　“Senior, don’t be impatient. Actually, I’m leaving for the Jiangnan area today. If Senior really wants to practice together with me, how about following me to the Jiangnan area?” Song Shuhang asked.

　　“No… it’s better if you follow me as I close up first. I’m confident in breaking through this small realm in less than half a day,” Daoist Priest Cloudy Mist said.

　　Just in this fashion, the dumbfounded Song Shuhang was dragged away by Daoist Priest Cloudy Mist, who was planning to go into secluded meditation… Afterward, Senior Sister Ye Si brought Guoguo, Shi, and Zhu along, also following Daoist Priest Cloudy Mist to the place he was going to close up into.

　　Only the young monster hunter was left behind, and now sat in the living room with a confused expression on his face.

　　Wait a moment… why did Senior Cloudy Mist drag ‘Stressed by a Mountain of Books’ along when he went into secluded meditation? Is it possible that they are going to use some type of dual cultivation method? the young monster hunter thought to himself, puzzled.

　　But if it was just dual cultivation, why has Miss Ye Si also gone with them while carrying those three disobedient children along? Is it some kind of group cultivation?

　　No, that shouldn’t be… perhaps Stressed by a Mountain of Books’ cultivation technique is rather special and can influence other cultivators, speeding up their practice speed?

　　The young monster hunter was very curious, and he would have also liked to tag along.

　　However, one’s practice session was something personal, and he wasn’t too familiar with that Daoist Priest Cloudy Mist. As such, there was a chance that misunderstandings might arise if he were to tag along. After pondering for a moment, the young monster hunter suppressed the curiosity in his heart and decided not to join in the fun.

　　❄️❄️❄️

　　Next door, in Daoist Priest Cloudy Mist’s house.

　　After buying the house and taking care of the matter related to the ownership transfer, Daoist Priest Cloudy Mist had thoroughly transformed the place. He had created a new room in the house, designed especially for practicing. Due to the amount of spiritual qi being rather average on Baijing Street, he had to make use of spirit stones when practicing.

　　“Senior Cloudy Mist, how long are you planning to practice?” Song Shuhang asked.

　　Daoist Priest Cloudy Mist laughed and said, “Less than half a day, six hours at most! If everything proceeds smoothly, probably even less. During this one month and a half, I’ve already polished the Golden Core inside my body. Now, as long as I can get a little bit of inspiration and put the finishing touch on the composition of my Golden Core, I will be able to make my Golden Core advance to the second small realm—the ‘Purple Golden Core’ realm. At that time, I will be able to use my ‘Emptying Miracle Hands’ to display a super forbidden technique. The day I sweep Stupid Yellow Mountain’s treasure house clean is just around the corner!”

　　After advancing to the Fifth Stage Realm, cultivators would condense a Golden Core in their dantian, building the foundation that would make them step on the Great Way. In ancient times, the Fifth Stage was also called Golden Core Realm, and it was considered the threshold that would put one in contact with the Great Way.

　　When condensing the Golden Core, there was no room for regret. After all, once the Golden Core was formed, the number of dragon patterns on it would forever stay the same… and the number of the dragon patterns was closely related to the future of the cultivator. As such, there was this very famous saying in ancient times, ‘One Golden Core to decide the Great Way’.

　　Anyway, the Fifth Stage Spiritual Emperor Realm was divided into three small realms.

　　Right after condensing their Golden Core, the cultivator would find themself in the first small realm, which was also known as the [Solid Golden Core] realm. After the ‘Solid Golden Core’ realm, the cultivator would need to draw a picture on their Golden Core while following the desire in their heart. This step took the name of ‘Golden Core Composition’. The heart of each cultivator was different, and even if two cultivators practiced the same cultivation technique, the pictures they would draw were going to be completely different. The strength the Golden Core would have in the future was also going to be somewhat different depending on the picture. As such, the Golden Core Realm was a stage that put a lot of emphasis on cultivating one’s state of mind.

　　Anyway, after finishing the ‘Golden Core Composition’, the ‘Solid Golden Core’ inside one’s body would be further polished, becoming even sturdier. At that point, the color of the Golden Core would also change, becoming purplish golden. This stage was known as the second small realm of the Fifth Stage—the [Purple Golden Core] realm.

　　After starting to draw the ‘Golden Core Composition’, there was no room for regret, either—especially when it came to adding the finishing touch that would complete the composition and bring the work of art to life. A lot of cultivators would get stuck when they had to add the finishing touch to the composition on their Golden Core. It wasn’t that they didn’t want to draw… the problem was that they didn’t know where to start. They lacked that final piece of inspiration and enlightenment to complete the work.

　　Daoist Priest Cloudy Mist was also in a similar situation at the moment.

　　However, he was very confident when it came to his ‘Golden Core Composition’. Now, he was only waiting to borrow the strength of the enlightenment stone and increase his comprehension and get some inspiration, which would allow him to add the finishing touch that would bring the picture on his Golden Core to life and make it perfect!

　　After the [Purple Golden Core] realm was the third small realm, the [Lustrous Golden Core] realm—this small realm was also the final checkpoint and bottleneck one had to breach in order to advance to the Sixth Stage True Monarch Realm.

　　A lot of Fifth Stage Spiritual Emperors that didn’t have a sufficient number of dragon patterns on their Golden Cores would be stranded in the Lustrous Golden Core realm for all their lives, unable to advance even a little bit.

　　There was still some distance between Daoist Priest Cloudy Mist and this realm, and there was no need to worry about it for the time being.

　　❄️❄️❄️

　　After getting in the room, Song Shuhang and Daoist Priest Cloudy Mist sat side by side.

　　“I think we can start with the practice immediately. In addition, I request little friend to take out the enlightenment stone and give me a helping hand,” Daoist Priest Cloudy Mist said.

　　Song Shuhang took out the enlightenment stone—as well as the green but with a tinge of red Lady Onion growing on it—from his size-reducing purse. At this time, Lady Onion had curled up and was silently playing the role of a green onion.

　　Although Daoist Priest Cloudy Mist was curious as to why there was a green onion growing above the enlightenment stone, it wasn’t something that concerned him. As long as the enlightenment stone was the same and its effect hadn’t weakened, there was no problem.

　　In the adjacent room.

　　Senior Sister Ye Si had brought the three disobedient children along, but she didn’t bring them to the room Daoist Priest Cloudy Mist was practicing in. One’s practice session was something personal, and there was no cultivator that would like strangers to be present when they were practicing.

　　Therefore, Senior Sister Ye Si decided to bring the three disobedient children to the adjacent room.

　　There, the three disobedient children could likewise leech off the power of the enlightenment stone and increase their comprehension, condensing their qi and blood energy and practicing more efficiently.

　　❄️❄️❄️

　　Three hours later.

　　Daoist Priest Cloudy Mist suddenly opened his eyes, and the corner of his mouth rose.

　　Thanks to the enlightenment stone, he had finished putting the finishing touch on the composition of the Golden Core in one go.

　　At this time, the Golden Core inside his body had been polished even further, and the spiritual energy in his body was operating even more efficiently. The color of the Golden Core had also become purplish golden.

　　“Success!” Daoist Priest Cloudy Mist said happily.