The first question in front of us is to strengthen the meridians.

  Only after strengthening the meridians can one withstand the Zhong Sun Huo, otherwise, Zu Mo himself would be burned into a pile of ice slag by the extremely cold Zhong Sun Huo. This first problem made Zu Mo call out in distress, and he could only think of the "Jin Gang Wei Yan" among the strengthening methods. The tombstone version of "Jin Gang Wei Yan" now seems to have a good effect, and Zu Mo carefully tries to search for fragments about strengthening the meridians inside it.

  But he soon became disappointed.

  In "Jin Gang Wei Yan", there is not much description about strengthening the meridians. Unwilling to give up, Zuo Mo ran to the library and searched everywhere for a method to strengthen his meridians. He soon found some relevant content from some jade slips used for body refinement, but he was even more disappointed because each slip clearly recorded that strengthening the meridians was an extremely profound subject.

  Tempering the body must first temper the skin and flesh, then the tendons and bones, and finally the meridians.

  Don't even think about it with your limited cultivation in the foundation building period.

  Zuo Mo didn't get discouraged. This wasn't the first time he had encountered such a situation. In the past, the jade slips he had managed to get his hands on were mostly very crude and many places were unclear, which required him to figure them out for himself. If one path didn't work, then change to another path, and he would always be able to find a feasible method.

  If the method of strengthening the meridians does not work, then it means that the idea of refining spiritual energy within the meridians does not work either.

  What about outside? If you refine the spiritual energy outside the meridians, then what is absorbed into the body will be pure spiritual power. Don't get trapped in deep thought. How can spiritual power be refined outside the body? Inside the body, spiritual energy has no form or substance, so how can it be refined?

  Each problem seemed far beyond what he could accomplish, but he had no intention of giving up.

  "This time the sword trial, who will be sent?" Yan Le looked at the gatekeeper Pei Yuanran with curiosity. There were only two of them in the Wu Kong Hall, Xin Yan was closed to refine his equipment, and Shi Fengrong was closed to refine her elixir.

  "Wei Sheng will naturally go. It's just unknown whether he can catch up." The sect leader pondered and said, "Zuo Mo can also go."

  "Haha, that little guy Zuo Mo ran to the Ling Ying Sect and caused a stir, I heard he was very impressive." Yan Le said with a smile. The Ling Ying Sect relied on its wealth and arrogance, usually having an attitude of disdain towards other sects in Dong Fu, many people looked down on them.

  "Ah, Zuo Mo's talent is not bad. It's just a pity that he can't focus on his swordsmanship." The sect leader said with a hint of regret: "He was defeated by Chang Heng, but it can be considered as an honorable defeat."

  Yan Le shrugged indifferently: "He can't focus on the sword, it's good to have someone like Zuo Mo by his side when the time comes."

  The master nodded and didn't say anything. He turned to say: "Luo Li can also go take a look. The last time's matter had a great impact on him, he should have made some progress too."

  "Is it just these three?" Yan Le asked.

  "Alright, just these three then." The sect leader added, "There's no need to rush this matter, the Sword Trial still has some time left."

  Yan Le was excited and rubbed his fists: "I'm quite looking forward to it, if Wei Sheng can catch up, he will surely surprise many people."

  The master smiled lightly, although he didn't say a word, but the glint in his eyes revealed his thoughts.

  The bumper harvest of Red Flower has once again filled up Zuo Mo's wallet. The price of Red Flower has been rising continuously during this period, and it has now risen to two and a half Three Product Crystal Stones per liang. The total harvest from the 80 mu of spiritual field is 22 jin of first-grade Red Flower. In addition, there is also about one jin of second-grade Red Flower. The price of second-grade Red Flower has already risen to sixty Three Product Crystal Stones per liang. After deducting the 60 Three Product Crystal Stones that were prepaid earlier, Zuo Mo's total harvest is 1090 Three Product Crystal Stones.

  This is his largest income so far.

  To prevent the Pú Yāo from making a sneak attack as usual, Zuǒ Mò decided to take the initiative. Judging by his income, Zuǒ Mō is now considered high-income in Dōng Fú, but unfortunately all the crystal stones were taken away by Pú Yāo before he could even warm them up.

  Pú Yāo saw Zuǒ Mò's tense face and couldn't help but sneer: "A mere thousand third-grade crystal stones, or at most two fourth-grade crystal stones, is it worth being so anxious?"

  Zuo Mo was completely unaffected: "Swap things." Then he added a sentence: "I can use it."

  "Didn't you always study the impurities of Lianhua Lingqi recently?"

  "Right! Do you have a way?"

  "Your thinking is actually fine." The Pú Yāo chuckled: "It's just that you understand too little, even with a good thought process, it can't be solved."

  "Let's exchange this one!" Zuo Mo said without hesitation.

  "Heh heh." Pu Yao lightly flicked her sleeve, and a series of crystal stone collision sounds rang out, but this time Zuo Mo didn't feel any pain. He just stared at Pu Yao, waiting for what she would say next.

  "Then I'll explain it to you properly, it's actually very simple content." The Pú Yāo's face returned to its usual carefree expression: "Although your idea is just the most superficial thinking, but with your poor level, being able to think of it, tsk tsk, it's not easy."

  Unconsciously, the carefree expression on Pu Yao's face disappeared, and his voice also became serious.

  "Among the three, cultivators, demons, and devils, the one who has the hardest time acquiring spiritual energy is indeed the cultivator." Seeing Zuo Mo's surprised gaze, Pu Yao chuckled: "You must be wondering why cultivators, who rely on spiritual energy as their foundation, have the most difficulty obtaining it. Whether it's demons or devils, they are born with the ability to communicate with nature. For example, our demon tribe can manipulate the spiritual energy of heaven and earth from birth. As for devils, their bodies automatically absorb the spiritual energy of heaven and earth and naturally filter out impurities, using it to temper their physical bodies. They don't need to do anything; their flesh and blood are already rich in spiritual energy. In terms of innate talent, cultivators can't even compare to us. However, they excel at learning. You've also cultivated many techniques, so you should know what the essence of a technique is."

  "What is it?" Zuo Mo subconsciously replied, his ears perked up in attention.

  "It's a symbol array." The gaze of the Peony Demon suddenly became extremely profound, as if it could penetrate through the ages: "Every kind of heart method is a symbol array. Generally speaking, most heart methods are divided into several parts. First is absorption; if one cannot absorb the spiritual energy of heaven and earth, then this heart method has no use whatsoever. Then comes refinement; if one cannot eliminate impurities, it cannot be used by me, and instead will harm their body. Finally, there is storage; if one cannot store spiritual power, absorbing more and refining more will have no effect."

  Zuo Mo was stunned, no one had ever analyzed the heart method like this before. Pu Yao's words were extremely simple, without a single difficult-to-understand point, Zuo Mo carefully pondered and suddenly felt deeply moved, it was indeed so!

  "A good mental state, absorbing spiritual energy more efficiently, refining and transforming it faster, can store more spiritual power." The Pú Yāo (Gourd Demon) sighed: "You must be curious, why we demons can naturally absorb spiritual energy? It's because our bodies have innate talismans. This is a gift from heaven and earth, but unfortunately, our demonic intelligence is not as good as that of cultivators, who possess precious mountains without realizing it. For thousands of years, we only acted on instinct, without thinking deeply about the mysteries within. Until the rise of cultivators, we began to study, but by then, we had already fallen far behind them, so we could only develop in two other directions."

  "Hmm, these are all digressions." The Pú Yāo suddenly burst into a smile: "Let's go back to your question. Your problem is very easy to solve, once and for all. How about it? Do you want to give it a try?"

  Pao You was originally extraordinary in his beauty, but this one smile seemed to light up the horizon, even Zuo Mo was somewhat dazzled. He couldn't help but suspect that if Pao You were to appear in Dong Fu, then no woman in Dong Fu would be able to resist his charm. However, for a man to grow up looking like this was truly a sin!

  "What method?" Zuo Mo asked hesitantly. Pu Yao's words had to be listened to in reverse, if he said it was easy to solve and a one-time effort, then most likely there would be endless trouble afterwards.

  "You're lucky to have met me." The Pú Yāo resumed its lazy demeanor: "Didn't I just tell you that demons can naturally gather and refine spiritual energy, and it just so happens that this natural talisman array is something I've dabbled in."

  "With something this good, how could those masters possibly let it go?" Zu Mo didn't quite believe it. Cultivators had captured countless demons and monsters, if there were any secrets on the demon's body, they would have been uncovered long ago.

  "Hmph!" The Pú Yāo sneered, "They've been planning to do this for a long time. Unfortunately, the heavens have bestowed this thing upon us, probably because they don't want our kind to become extinct! How about it, want to give it a try?"

  "How much can it improve? Are there any side effects? Does it conflict with the cultivation of heart methods?" Zuo Mo asked a string of questions.

  "Heh heh, how much it can increase depends on your physique, but at the very least it'll be several times what you have now. Side effects? Of course there are, is there anything in this world that's purely good? There's gain and loss, such a simple truth doesn't need me to teach you, right? As for cultivating heart methods, it won't affect it, absolutely no effect."

  Zuo Mo lowered his head and fell into deep thought. Pu Yao didn't urge him, leisurely sitting on the tombstone.

  For some reason, Zu Mo had a feeling that the decision he was about to make would change and affect his entire life. He didn't know why he had this feeling, as there were many things he had learned from Pu Yao, but never had a feeling like today's. But this feeling was so strong, so clear.

  He hesitated for a moment.

  Life has been happy during this period, although he is still worried about Jing Shi, but everything looks so good, making progress bit by bit, every day is very fulfilling. If things go on like this, I won't have to worry about Jing Shi in the future, and I can live a great life, and in the sect, I will also have a pretty good status.

  One can study spiritual plants, one can study alchemy, one can study...

  But that dream, which had been repeated countless times, seemed to be guiding him in a different direction, as if it were his fate. Erasing memories and changing identities, he still carried an unknown cruel past on his body...

  Lu Mo hung his head low, his fists clenched involuntarily, and his whole body trembled slightly.

  What is it that you want for yourself?

  What is it that does not allow oneself to escape?