I am grinding experience in another world

Five days later.

Cloud Summit Palace atop Mist Smoke Mountain.

Liang Yi handed the brand-new Identity Jade to Chen Mu.

On the side with the inscriptions, a few golden characters for 'Scripture Doctorate' had been added.

"For your commentary, the Scripture Transmission Institute has awarded you two thousand Daoist merits."

"Any future purchases will also earn you a fifty percent cut."

Could there really be such a good deal?

I thought I was being strung along before.

Chen Mu accepted the Jade Token with some hesitation.

"What, you thought the Scripture Transmission Institute would just pocket your commentary?" Liang Yi looked at Chen Mu with a slanted eye.

"The head of the institute is Ying Tiance, the senior brother."

"He is the direct disciple of Sect Master Dong Li; who would dare to play tricks under his watch?"

The Sect Master Dong Li really values the Scripture Transmission Institute, huh?

Chen Mu suddenly realized.

Originally, he just wanted an excuse to return to Jade Spring Mountain.

But now that he thought about it, being a Scripture Doctorate didn't seem too bad.

A single commentary can be sold many times, and the Daoist Jade will keep flowing in—this is even more lucrative than the strenuous Alchemy!

Chen Mu couldn't help but glance at the grey wall.

Should I prepare a few more pieces of insight?

Forget it, forget it, I'm still somewhat reluctant to part with them.

After all, with the Condense Aperture Secret Method, he wasn't in a rush to accumulate Daoist merits.

...

After leaving Cloud Summit Palace,

he began preparations to leave Mist Smoke Mountain.

Within a certain Yin River Space,

Chen Mu whispered an incantation, and the ground beneath him swiftly turned into muck.

Clutching a stone box in his arms, he slowly sank into the earth.

Descending more than two thousand meters, Chen Mu found a giant boulder, carved out a hole, and stuffed the stone box that held the gourd Sword Box inside.

"What a pity to bury such a treasure," Chen Mu lamented deeply.

A Flying Sword at the flick of a wrist, taking heads from a thousand miles away.

What an exhilarating act that would be!

And now, with such a dreamy weapon right before his eyes, he had to bury it himself.

"It's all the Sun Family's fault!"

Chen Mu, enduring the pain in his heart, activated Point Ground into Steel, applying another thick layer around the big rock. Read exclusive chapters at My Virtual Library Empire

He also deliberately planted a layer of Hidden Qi Vines around the stone sphere.

"The Sun Family's Condensing Aperture expert didn't discover it before."

"Now that it's buried deep underground, two to three thousand meters wrapped by Hidden Qi Vines, it's even less likely to be discovered," Chen Mu nodded in satisfaction.

He wasn't actually afraid of Sun Chengye's investigation.

Zhang Lang and Li Huan, along with the nameless orange-peel-faced man, had fed the Five Ghosts Bag.

Sun Wuhuan had even been turned to ash.

"As long as I stay calm and don't show any flaws, I won't be discovered."

Once he had accumulated enough Daoist merits, he could exchange them for a copy of the Netherworld Grand Summary, then he could openly Cultivate the Condense Aperture Technique.

After dealing with the gourd Sword Box,

Chen Mu also filled in the secret passage beneath the building.

He then went to the Administrative Affairs Institute to report to Liu Botong.

Three days later, Chen Mu joined a Centipede transport team heading back to Jade Spring Mountain.

...

Jade Spring Mountain, behind the cliffs of the Administrative Affairs Institute's cavern dwellings.

Chen Mu sat on the soft mattress in the Alchemist Chamber and looked out the window.

Having been away for almost half a year, the Administrative Affairs Institute below the cliff had been completely rebuilt.

White-walled and black-tiled houses stretched out in succession. Many Lower Courtyard disciples moved about busily within them.

In the distance was the verdant greenery covering the mountainside.

Through the faint mist above the forest, the spacious and bustling Market District formed a line cutting across east to west.

He had been back at Jade Spring Mountain for seven or eight days.

He had checked in at the Pill Treasure Pavilion and the Scripture Transmission Institute, met with Shang Huan and Old Hao, and even had a meal with He Bai, Feng, and Xue, the three newly-promoted Alchemists. He wasn't completely free until today.

Thinking back on the social obligations of the past few days, Chen Mu couldn't help but shake his head, "Indeed, I still don't enjoy it."

He pulled up the grey wall, gazed at the rows of data, and took a satisfying breath.

"If you talk about comfort and ease, nothing beats staying in and grinding experience."

...

Inside Chen Mu's cavern dwelling, the Alchemist Chamber.

Chen Mu's eyes were closed as the Jade Seed Inner Magical Power surged within him.

A spherical net-like Talisman, resembling human neural structures, was gradually woven and emerged.

With a humming sound from the Talisman, an invisible force spread out in all directions.

And wrapped in mana, it gently collided with the inner wall of the Jade Seed.

The force was gentle, yet persistent, like countless little hands massaging and pushing against the inner wall of the Jade Seed.

The smoke-like mana was also like the waves on the shore, wave after wave lapping and washing over.

The Jade Seed immediately began to swell and grow larger.

A quarter of an hour later, the silver threads that had been the last to coalesce on the spherical talisman shivered and then snapped and dispersed.

The force that had been causing the Jade Seed to expand disappeared, and the Jade Seed shrank accordingly.

But upon careful comparison, one would find that although only by a gap as large as a strand of hair, the Jade Seed had indeed expanded slightly.

Chen Mu opened his eyes and entered the Linglong Daoist field.

Two quarters of an hour later, he had replenished the one-tenth of his mana that he had consumed.

"The Jade Seed is slowly expanding."

"The speed of mana recovery is also accelerating."

"It seems there are even slight changes occurring to my body and spirit."

Chen Mu paid close attention to the changes in his Condensing Aperture.

Then he looked towards the grey wall.

Netherworld Grand Summary: 1775/10000/First Rank;

Expanding the Jade Seed, increasing mana, while also transforming the body.

"No wonder every time I condense a talisman, a portion of mana disappears."

"It's probably all used in these transformations."

Chen Mu had an epiphany.

He couldn't help but think of those who cultivate the Heavenly Demon Reincarnation Technique from various heterodox sects.

Those people could even transform into demons and monsters; the true master from White Tower once turned into an entire black dragon.

This clearly required significant alterations and shaping of the body.

"Humans have limits, so to seek immortality, one must transform in the direction of becoming something other than human, huh..."

Luckily, what I'm cultivating is orthodox Daoism, where the main changes are concentrated in the Jade Seed; otherwise, who knows what kind of demon or monster I might have become.

"Still, the Netherworld Grand Summary is reliable."

"Not like the Five Ghosts Possession, which always comes with black smoke billowing, clearly unorthodox."

"I am an orthodox cultivator, a righteous person; I should be surrounded by white spiritual light, moving elegantly as if a celestial being."

Chen Mu made up his mind.

Once he has mastered the Condensing Aperture Technique, he would exchange for a few orthodox secret techniques to change his style.

Otherwise, people keep saying he's full of evil aura and doesn't look like a good person.

Isn't this slandering me?!

Gurgle, gurgle, gurgle...

A thunderous rumbling sound interrupted Chen Mu's reverie.

"This Condensing Aperture Secret Method is all well and good, except it makes one hungry too quickly."

"But since it involves body transformation, that's inevitable."

"In my previous life, working out to shape the body required extra nutrition; all the more so for such fundamental changes to an individual's life form."

"I must have Shang Huan buy more Exotic Beast Meat."

...

Three days later.

In the dense forests of Jade Spring Mountain.

This was where Chen Mu had previously practiced the Five Ghosts Fleeing Technique.

His ears twitched slightly, picking up all sounds within a ten-mile radius to ensure there was no one around; then, Chen Mu suddenly urged his mana.

"Five Ghosts Possession!"

Weng!

His muscles writhed as if alive, his bones crackling, Chen Mu suddenly transformed into a towering figure over four meters tall, with a body of indigo blue.

At this moment, his hair moved without wind.

His muscles bulged, as if strands of steel wire were twisted together into cables, and his skin was marked with protruding lines.

His eyes narrowed slightly, exuding sharp light, and his forehead glowed brightly with silver luminescence.

Around him, swirling black smoke enveloped him, giving the appearance of shadowy demons or ghosts.

Chen Mu just stood there silently.

Impulses of killing and devouring surged in his mind, yet he remained steady as a rock amidst the sea.

He even managed to observe with interest the origins of these murderous thoughts.

Hiss!

A sound like strong acid eroding material echoed, and as Chen Mu's eyes moved, he saw a wisp of black smoke drift over an unidentified bush's leaf.

Half of the palm-sized green leaf instantaneously turned scorched black, and then crumbled into ash.

The remaining half of the leaf, too, flickered with threads of scarlet light, reminiscent of a burning piece of paper whose edges had been extinguished.

Eight to nine minutes later, Chen Mu released the Five Ghosts Possession and returned to his normal appearance.

"It's indeed different."

He used to manage six or seven minutes with the help of Seven Souls Return to Origin.

Now, relying on himself alone, he could maintain the Five Ghosts Possession for eight to nine minutes.

"The Condensing Aperture is truly extraordinary."

Chen Mu couldn't help but clench his fist.