Begin your practice with the crane-shaped stance.

Xia Dong arrived at Huangni Village, dusty and tired from his journey.

Huangni Village is not large, nestled against the mountains and beside the water, and was originally a rather peaceful village.

With his respectable status as a tribute student and his medical skills, Xia Dong quickly became one of the local villagers.

After several rounds of indirect communication, Xia Dong finally figured out the source of the haunting in Huangni Village—it was a mass grave ten miles outside the village.

According to the village elders, Pingyang County experienced a major flood a few years ago. After the floodwaters receded, an epidemic broke out, killing many people. To prevent the spread of the disease, the government hastily buried the unclaimed bodies in that wasteland. Over time, the area became a notorious mass grave for the surrounding area due to the accumulation of yin energy.

At night, villagers often saw ghostly figures in the distance and even heard faint cries.

Even after learning the source, Xia Dong still adhered to the principle of caution and did not rush into it.

He would stay in the village during the day, and only at night would he calm his fiery temper and quietly lie in wait on the outskirts of the mass grave to observe.

After guarding the site for three consecutive nights, Xia Dong discovered that whenever the Yin energy was at its strongest at midnight, many large and small ghostly green flames would float up above the mass grave.

These will-o'-the-wisps swayed in the wind, round and plump, their shapes resembling green lanterns floating in mid-air.

Through his powerful spiritual perception, Xia Dong finally made an accurate assessment of the ghosts and spirits in the mass grave—they were weak.

They're incredibly weak.

These vengeful spirits, which he named "Lantern Ghosts," were actually the lingering obsessions and resentments of the people who died from plague and floods.

They don't even have a complete consciousness; they can only wander aimlessly in this mass grave, driven by instinct, and they don't even have the ability to leave the mass grave and harm people.

"Although the Yin energy of these lantern ghosts is weak, the quantity is large," Xia Dong thought to himself.

Having figured out the details, Xia Dong no longer hesitated.

On the fourth night, Xia Dong stepped into the mass grave, released a bit of his vital energy, and lured the ghosts closer to him.

Then the ancient bronze bell in his mind rang.

The dazed lantern ghosts had never seen anything like this before. They didn't even have the instinct to run away before they were all pulled into the bronze bell by its invisible suction force.

After a hard and intense battle of demon slaying, Xia Dong searched back and forth in the mass grave until he felt a very faint sense of stagnation in his mind.

On the bronze bell, scarlet characters slowly emerged.

He successfully refined ten Yin Sha Pills!

However, when he tried to continue absorbing the remaining lantern ghosts, the bronze bell became completely silent.

Xia Dong immediately realized that the spiritual power of the spirit stones that the bronze bell had absorbed had been completely exhausted.

"Ten Yin Sha Pills is quite a gain." Xia Dong wasn't too greedy and carefully put them away.

However, looking at the few lantern ghosts still wandering in the mass grave, Xia Dong suddenly had an idea. These lantern ghosts were very weak. He could try using them to cultivate the Profound Yin Refining Spirit Technique and see how significant the side effects were.

Xia Dong locked onto the dimmest lantern ghost, which was almost gone, and forcibly activated the refining technique of the "Mysterious Yin Scripture".

A faint trace of Yin energy was drawn into his sea of ​​consciousness.

Refined in an instant!

Although he felt a slight improvement in his spiritual energy, it was accompanied by an extremely uncomfortable feeling.

The feeling was like a particularly disgusting drop of ink staining a pure white sheet of rice paper.

Xia Dong felt a wave of unease.

"It just didn't work!"

Xia Dong immediately stopped the flow of his cultivation technique and quickly retreated from the mass grave.

Even though the lantern ghost was such a weak spirit, it made him very uncomfortable to use it to cultivate the Profound Yin Refining Spirit Technique.

It seems that he really has no choice but to rely on the Yin Sha Pill to cultivate the Profound Yin Refining Spirit Technique.

Fortunately, the lantern ghost's grade was too low, so the impact it caused was very limited.

The following day, during the daytime, happened to be the Dragon Boat Festival.

The yang energy between heaven and earth has reached its most intense peak of the year.

Xia Dong arrived at a sunny spot outside the village, facing the blazing sun, with his legs slightly bent, and assumed the stance of a crane-shaped stance.

At the same time, the "Dragon-Capturing Skill" was fully activated within his body, and his spine, like a great dragon, locked and compressed the blood and qi throughout his body. Then, guided by the Crane-Shaped Stance, the qi and blood surged and turbulently through his meridians like the Yangtze River.

Taking advantage of the intense yang energy of the Dragon Boat Festival, and supplemented by the cleansing effect of one's own vigorous and domineering qi and blood.

Soon after, Xia Dong let out a long breath.

The slight discomfort, like an ink stain, in his mind was completely dispelled, and his soul regained its clarity and transparency.

"A close call, but no real danger."

Xia Dong opened his eyes and felt the ten hard-won Yin Sha Pills in his arms. A reassuring smile appeared on his lips.

With the Yin Sha Pill, his spiritual cultivation could finally continue to improve.

He then quietly returned to the city.

These past few days, Xia Dong has been providing free medical consultations to the villagers during the daytime, which has earned them considerable gratitude. If he were to say goodbye, there would inevitably be some arguments, easily leading to complications.

It would be better to leave after accomplishing one's task, concealing one's merits and fame.

It took the villagers of Huangni Village several days to realize that Xia Dong had left. At first, they thought Xia Dong had encountered danger. Some villagers remembered that Xia Dong had been to a mass grave and even organized a group of people to go and check.

However, no trace of Xia Dong was found.

Later, they consulted the village head and inquired in the city, only to find out that Doctor Xia had already returned to the city.

Only then did everyone feel at ease.

After all, Doctor Xia was still a scholar.

If something happens in Huangni Village, officials will inevitably be dispatched to the village.

When government officials go to the countryside, it's no different from being attacked by bandits.

Everyone is afraid that this kind of thing will happen.

Of course, everyone was also grateful to Dr. Xia for his free clinic; he was truly a kind person.

These days, there are actually scholars who aren't ruthless!

The old folks in the village have really seen it all.

The villagers' views are still very simple and straightforward, and through word of mouth, they have gained some good reputation for Xia Dong.

However, the ghosts and spirits in the mass grave had a very poor opinion of Xia Dong.

Even if they have no consciousness.

But Xia Dong's methods were far too cruel.

Therefore, the lantern ghosts in the mass graves have instinctively become afraid of people dressed as scholars. Some of the slightly more intelligent ones are so frightened by the sight of scholars that they dare not come out.

In their shallow understanding, scholars are more terrifying than evil spirits!

...

...

Changchun Medical Clinic.

After returning home, Xia Dong washed up and began preparing to take the Yin Sha Pill.

He dared not keep the Yin Sha Pill in his possession for too long, and he could only consume it himself.

After calming his mind, Xia Dong began to take the first Yin Sha Pill.

Then the Mysterious Yin Refining Spirit Technique was activated.

In the days that followed, Xia Dong never went out, devoting all her energy to refining the Yin Sha Pill.

With the help of the Yin Sha Pill, the Xuan Yin Refining Spirit Technique improved day by day.

Finally, Xia Dong reached a threshold.

"Am I about to develop divine consciousness?"

Xia Dong's heart stirred, and he immediately felt all the blood and energy in his body rushing to his brow.

He seemed to be about to fly away, ethereal and blissful.