Chapter 162: Chapter 161: I Want to Improve So Badly

Wu Chen said nonchalantly, "I forgot too."

"What? How can a young kid like you be even more forgetful than me?"

Upon hearing this reply, the old man sitting cross-legged on Wu Chen’s shoulder raised his voice considerably.

Then he glanced at the girl across from them, who was watching him with curiosity, and nodded.

"A rare beauty indeed, but..."

He turned back to Wu Chen and whispered, "But no matter how fine her looks, you need to exercise some restraint! You’re so young, you can’t be wasting your energy on this kind of thing!"

Wu Chen grinned. "I mean, the last thing you said to me last time, Senior, was ’I forgot too.’"

"Your own name, Senior, and the reason you couldn’t give me any Divine Weapons, blades, Martial Arts, or Cultivation Techniques... you said you forgot it all."

"Oh~"

The old man feigned a look of sudden realization. "So that’s what you meant."

His tone changed in an instant:

"Although I forgot last time..."

As he spoke, he lowered his head and fell into contemplation, looking as if he were trying to recall something.

Seeing the old man like this, Wu Chen’s heart leaped with anticipation, hoping he would remember something.

But after a moment, he said:

"I didn’t remember it this time either."

Wu Chen: "..."

’Forget it. It’s probably easier to just go exchange for the Martial Arts from those other sects.’

Wu Chen no longer had any intention of lingering. He planned to finish the fish in his hand, plunder all the Treasure Fish and medicinal herbs from these ruins, and then do one more thorough search to make sure he hadn’t missed anything.

’That should add up to tens of thousands of Contribution Points, maybe even more.’

After that, the next step was naturally to pay a personal visit to the other three sects and exchange for Organ Refining Realm Martial Arts.

Even though there was a risk that those sects might discover something amiss.

But by the time they reacted, he would have already entered the Blood Coagulation realm. Then he would have nothing to fear from such trivial matters, and he could also deal with the Blood Palace Seal on Xue Hongling.

"Don’t be so hasty, little one."

Perhaps seeing the disappointment on Wu Chen’s face, the old man raised a hand to stroke his beard and offered some comfort.

"After all, I’m just a remnant soul. It’s only normal that I can’t remember many things."

"So your current state is a remnant soul, Senior? Can remnant souls eat?"

Wu Chen tore off a small piece of fish and handed it to Xue Hongling, then looked at the old man’s transparent body on his shoulder and asked with some curiosity.

"It’s just a craving for taste."

The old man waved his hand. "Fortunately, these Treasure Fish are plump and delicious. They do help a bit."

Wu Chen nodded and then asked bluntly:

"Senior, since you’re a remnant soul, are you just stalling for time, preparing to use your soul-form to possess one of us?"

"Nonsense! How can you slander people out of thin air, you brat! I am, at the very least, a leader of the righteous path! Go on, ask around about my name... wait, what was my name again?"

The old man on his shoulder felt deeply wronged by the baseless accusation and leaped to his feet, stomping in frustration on Wu Chen’s shoulder.

His salt-and-pepper beard trembled wildly as he spoke animatedly, only to fall silent when he reached the point of proving his identity.

After all, without a name to give, he couldn’t prove a thing.

Finally, the old man sat down cross-legged again in resignation, looking quite dejected. After a long while, he spoke:

"Although I’ve temporarily forgotten my name and can’t prove whether or not I intend to possess you..."

"...the act of possession is not as simple as you think."

Wu Chen’s brows twitched. ’So possession is actually real?’

"Those of the demonic and heretical paths are most skilled in this art of possession, but even so, the success rate is less than one in ten thousand."

The old man didn’t elaborate much on the subject, instead falling into a contemplative silence, as if trying to remember who he was.

Wu Chen didn’t press him. He looked at the pensive old man on his shoulder, then glanced at the barrier of gray mist in the distance, and an idea struck him.

’The Celestial Star Sect looks like this... it was most likely destroyed by the monsters in that gray mist, wasn’t it?’

’If that’s the case, I wonder if the crystal stone left behind by killing one of those monsters from the mist will jog the old man’s memory?’

With this in mind, Wu Chen’s hand swept over the storage pouch at his waist and took out a black, ox-eye-sized Crystal Stone.

"Senior, do you recognize this?"

He placed the Crystal Stone in front of the old man on his shoulder.

The old man looked up at the sound of Wu Chen’s voice. When he saw the jet-black stone before him, his eyes flew wide open.

The light in his eyes flickered between confusion and clarity. His already transparent form grew even more faint, as if he might dissipate on the wind at any moment.

After a long time, he stammered, "How do you have an Anomalous Demon Stone?"

’So those monsters are called Alien Demons, and this Crystal Stone is an Anomalous Demon Stone.’

Wu Chen nodded to himself. He pointed toward the distant gray mist and said, "Senior, I came from that gray mist. The Alien Demons you speak of are in there."

The old man looked in the direction he was pointing, growing more and more confused. It seemed his vision was limited and he couldn’t see the gray mist, but he still shouted loudly:

"I remember! I remember now!"

"It was those sons-of-bitches Alien Demons that wiped out the Celestial Star Sect!"

The old man’s voice was filled with rage, but it had no effect. In fact, due to his emotional agitation, his form became even more ethereal.

Before he could say much more, his form could no longer hold. He transformed into a streak of light and shot into the bronze statue in the main hall.

"The Celestial Star Sect?"

Watching the old man vanish as a streak of light, Wu Chen wasn’t overly concerned. He was more focused on pondering the useful information the old man had just let slip.

’If what the old man said is true, where is this blasted Celestial Star Sect, and when was it beaten into this state by the Alien Demons?’

’But those Alien Demons didn’t seem that powerful!’

’Or maybe the Alien Demon attack the Celestial Star Sect faced was far more powerful than the one I just encountered.’

Wu Chen shook his head, not dwelling on it too much, and murmured:

"The Celestial Star Sect? I don’t know where that is. It sounds like a major power."

After all, only a school that reaches a certain level can be considered a true Sect.

He then turned his gaze to Xue Hongling.

Although this girl came from a Demon Sect, every sect, regardless of its alignment, has a deep foundation and access to a vast network of information.

Compared to him, a wanderer who only knew what he’d overheard on the road, she was bound to know much more.

So he asked:

"Miss Hanyan, have you ever seen any information about the Celestial Star Sect in the records of the Blood Slaughter Sect?"

Xue Hongling: "..."

Xue Hongling shook her head. "I’ve never heard of that Sect. There are many records within my sect that I don’t have access to."

Wu Chen nodded in understanding.

Having failed to get any useful information, he turned his attention back to the roasted fish before him and focused on eating.

After eating his fill and waiting idly for a long time, he finally heard that familiar, aged voice ring out by his ear again:

"Being a remnant soul is such a pain. Can’t die properly, can’t live properly either!"

Wu Chen turned to look at the old man on his shoulder—who was like a phone that charged for hours for just a moment’s talk—and said resignedly:

"Did you remember something else, Senior?"

"Sigh—"

The old man let out a long sigh. It seemed the black Crystal Stone had brought back some unpleasant memories for him.

He seemed unwilling to speak of the past, instead saying to himself:

"I just so happened to remember a few Organ Refining Realm Martial Arts. I’m not sure if they’ll be of any use to you at your current realm."

Wu Chen’s eyes lit up slightly. ’Of use? They’re more than of use!’

He watched as the old man on his shoulder flicked his sleeve. A jade slip flew out from his robe, growing as it cut through the air, finally hovering before Wu Chen.

This jade slip was like a bamboo slip, just made of a different material, its body a pure, milky white.

Wu Chen caught it. The jade slip was cool to the touch, and it cleared his mind.

He didn’t pay much attention to these miraculous properties, instead quickly unrolling the jade slip and looking at the fine text inscribed upon it.

’Calm Heart Qi Cultivation Skill’

It was an Organ Refining method for the heart orifice.

Wu Chen wasted no time and immediately began studying it, word by word, line by line.

After creating the jade slip, the old man on his shoulder had become noticeably faint, like mist, but his mouth certainly didn’t stop moving:

"I had originally wanted to imprint this inside a jade cocoon, allowing you to manifest a world of your own to practice in. That would have made learning the technique twice as effective with half the effort."

"A pity, a true pity. My spiritual soul power is insufficient, so I can only use this ordinary method."

"But even so, don’t look down on the Organ Refining method recorded in this jade slip."

"...Damn you! Slow down! It’s not like anyone’s trying to snatch it from you!"

The old man was speaking patiently, shaking his head as if imparting great wisdom, about to explain the difficult points of the ’Calm Heart Qi Cultivation Skill’ to Wu Chen.

But when he glanced over and saw Wu Chen’s eyes scanning the jade slip at a pace that could only be described as skimming, he suddenly grew anxious.

The old man immediately stood up on Wu Chen’s shoulder and tugged at his ear, trying to signal him to slow down.

But with his faint form, he couldn’t pull with any force. He could only watch as Wu Chen finished reading the jade slip at lightning speed, rolled it up, and handed it back to him.

"Senior, could you please give me the next Organ Refining method?"

"Damn you! Skimming through it once is one thing, but have you even learned this one before you’re asking for the next?!"

The old man stomped his feet in anger. "What’s your hurry?!"

Wu Chen sighed. "Senior, I’m just too eager to improve!"

The old man’s form was practically flickering away from rage, but then his eyes suddenly lit up.

"Wait, you have a photographic memory, don’t you, brat?"

"I’ve really struck gold!"

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