Wild cultivation begins with wielding the Taiyin talisman.

Zhong Hongyao quickly wrote down the required medicinal herbs, filling a dense page. Ning Che took a look and found that many of them were unfamiliar to him.

The original owner of this body really had limited knowledge; now she couldn't even read, and was practically illiterate.

Ning Che casually tossed the page onto the table and pondered for a moment.

But you can't blame the original owner. Living in a small village, even he might not be able to recognize many words.

He secretly vowed to himself that he would read more books in the future. His expression remained calm, and he said in a composed tone, "Let's rest first, so we'll have the energy to work tomorrow. I'll keep watch."

After a bumpy journey, everyone was naturally exhausted and went upstairs to sleep as instructed. As they were leaving, Zhong Hongyao turned back and glanced at him, her expression unreadable.

Ning Che was unaware of her gaze.

Since he couldn't practice his meditation tonight, he first familiarized himself with the environment of the outpost.

He walked back and forth on the first floor twice, examining the wooden table in the main room, the five chairs, and the few deflated burlap sacks in the corner.

Then he went to the surrounding huts, which contained a kitchen, outhouse, storage room, and an empty room with a futon placed there. Ning Che's gaze lingered on the futon for a moment, then he slammed the door shut and went straight out.

The moonlight outside is very bright.

He climbed over the mound and headed toward the bubbling swamp. The dry, cracked sand dunes crunched under his feet. The moonlight illuminated his silhouette and the sparse, leafless trees around him.

Suddenly, he stopped in his tracks.

It wasn't because of any sudden attack, but because of his own hand. His hand had somehow found itself gripping the hilt of his sword, clenching it tightly, as if yearning for a kill.

He looked down at the hand as if it were something he didn't recognize.

He already knew it was a trap, and he fully understood that this journey would be fraught with difficulties and dangers. He was not a coward who liked to complain or bully the weak.

How could he suddenly have such a bizarre idea as to vent his resentment at not being able to cultivate himself by killing living beings?

In a moment, as if waking from a dream, the Taoist talisman emitted a clear light.

He closed his eyes, and a flash of clear light condensed into a physical form within his marrow sea.

Several shadows lurked in the darkness, some cursing, others wailing.

"Damn Mu Qingming, damn miasma, damn rat demon..."

"Why can't I cultivate? Why—"

They saw Ning Che, their mouths still moving, their faces swirling with darkness, forming distinct arcs, as if they were laughing.

Ning Che glared at him coldly, chanting an incantation: "Ice Soul's Essence, Frost's Spirit, soaring through the clouds, dispelling the stubborn darkness..."

The incantation echoed, and in an instant, a burst of clear light surged, covering the ground with frost wherever it passed. All the shadows melted away, leaving only the marrow sea space opened up by Ning Che, as pure as crystal.

The marrow sea, which was originally only a small square inch in size, expanded slightly, reaching about twice its previous volume.

His magical power increased accordingly, almost doubling.

He dispersed his physical form from his marrow sea, and when he opened his eyes again, he felt that the world was different.

Everything was clearer than ever before, and his thinking seemed much more agile, with some subtle colors, but he couldn't quite put his finger on what they were.

Jieming... So that's what it means?

Ning Che sensed something; he believed he had just passed through a tribulation and was therefore able to "see." Although he didn't know what use it would be, he figured it was a good thing.

This should be the meaning of "Jie Ming," but for some reason, it is not recorded in the cultivation method.

The problem is that this was exactly what Mu Qingming expected. He chose the Calamity Frost Flower Technique and sent him here precisely to trigger this change.

This was still beyond Mu Qingming's expectations. He did all this just to make himself impulsive and bloodthirsty, but there were some changes in this technique that he was unaware of.

There is too little information to confirm.

Let's test it out. Ning Che has never been afraid to use actions to verify his conjectures.

Moreover, the danger shouldn't be too great, as long as they show signs of being influenced by the rat swamp and becoming increasingly bloodthirsty. Then, based on Mu Qingming's reaction, we can determine which situation it is.

Ning Che looked at the swamp, a glint of light flashing in his eyes before disappearing.

He still headed towards the rat swamp.

If you're going to put on an act, you have to go all the way. Besides, he's just made a breakthrough, so he really should test the limits of his abilities.

His cultivation level is only at the eighth and a half rank. When he fights against a true eighth-rank cultivator, he will not only be at a disadvantage when fighting head-on, but his endurance will also be much worse.

Fortunately, reality is not like in the storybooks, where two people fight to a standstill for a long time, enough to fill ten chapters.

Generally speaking, as long as you seize an opponent's weakness and immediately pursue it relentlessly, the outcome can be decided in an instant. If it comes to a close encounter and a life-or-death struggle, it will be even faster, with life and death decided in just a few moves or even a single move.

However, this doesn't mean that having abundant magical power is useless. Dealing with wave after wave of monsters during a beast tide is a typical war of attrition. Once magical power is exhausted, one naturally becomes a large mortal, completely at the mercy of the monsters.

As I was pondering this, the ground beneath my feet had already become muddy.

Ning Che drew his sword.

The moon seemed to grow even brighter, its gentle light unfairly illuminating the boy, making his silhouette stand out prominently, becoming the only bright spot amidst the swampy landscape.

Before him, millions of eerie green eyes opened.

The next moment, the blade flashed like snowflakes, disappearing into the mud and blooming into tiny red plum blossoms.

Enraged, the rat demons attacked together, determined to kill the arrogant youth and teach him whose territory this was.

But the Taoist talisman's warning made all sneak attacks seem ridiculous.

Ning Che fought for a quarter of an hour, killing over a hundred water rats and two ninth-rank rat demons. After shaking off the rose-colored ice shards that stained his blade, he once again saw the water rats receding like the tide.

They were afraid.

Even though Ning Che deliberately controlled his energy consumption, his mana was almost depleted, but perhaps because of the Moon Rabbit Breathing Technique, his body did not feel any fatigue.

That's something worth developing...

Ning Che sorted out the spoils of the battle and then returned to the outpost.

The consumed mana will recover on its own over time, usually by about 70-80% overnight. Of course, if you actively replenish it by circulating your cultivation technique, the efficiency will be even higher, requiring only about two hours to recover to full strength.

However, due to the demonic energy and miasma here, Ning Che is still unable to circulate his cultivation technique.

He decided to practice his soldier's fist technique again inside the house. This fist technique could only be considered a mortal martial art, not a high-level one, and it didn't consume any magical power. Moreover, the fist technique was powerful and swift, which suited his aesthetic taste quite well, so he treated it as a pastime for the night.

When the moon was high in the sky, Ning Che had been gone for a long time, and the water rat swam back.

The leader was enormous, about the size of a farm dog, and had four eyes, making him look terrifying.

All four eyes turned toward the outpost, their light flashing with a chilling glint.