Chapter 232: Petrification Technique

With such great kindness, the other elders would have no objections to him staying on the mountain, not just for a short visit, but even permanently.

People are like that; circumstances change. In the morning, he was the wicked disciple they were eager to expel, but by evening, he had become the sect's esteemed guest.

The sudden shift in attitude was so quick that even the high-ranking officials of Wu Kang Mountain themselves found it hard to adjust.

Not to mention the disciples of the Disciplinary Hall.

Bian Weiying summoned someone to arrange suitable accommodation for Shi Chun, but Shi Chun politely declined, saying he was used to staying in the Disciplinary Hall and preferred to remain there.

Consequently, Pang Tiansheng, who was busy giving orders in the Disciplinary Hall, was dumbfounded once more. He then emptied his best room again.

Afterward, he ran to find Bian Weiying again, desperate to understand what was going on. He felt very uncertain and scared; who could endure being beaten all the time?

After greeting some old acquaintances in the Disciplinary Hall, Shi Chun set his eyes on the extra-large stone mill in the middle of the courtyard and walked around it several times.

The large stone mill was made from material sourced directly from Wu Kang Mountain, specifically cut from the enormous "tree stump."

Other courtyards also had similar locally sourced items, with some houses even carved directly into the "tree stump." However, he wasn't very familiar with those places. He felt this stone mill wasn't particularly useful where it was, but it could be put to good use by him. This was also the main reason he wanted to stay here.

Not long after, Pang Tiansheng returned. He had probably figured out what was going on: his Sect Leader junior sister had ordered that Shi Chun be treated as an honored guest. He could only comply. In this matter, others might not support his junior sister, but he had to support her wholeheartedly.

Even if he had no chance of becoming his junior sister's husband, he still had to support her. After all, his master was Bian Jixiong, and he was inherently aligned with Bian Weiying.

Shi Chun, who was sitting under the eaves chatting with a group of acquaintances, saw him return, stood up, and beckoned him over. He led Pang Tiansheng to the large stone mill and asked, "Don't you find such a huge thing sitting here an eyesore?"

Pang Tiansheng immediately bellowed at those lounging under the eaves, "Are you all deaf? Hurry up and move this eyesore away!"

A group of people immediately came over, intending to lift the stone mill away.

"Wait, what?" Shi Chun, realizing, quickly called out for them to stop. He explained, "I wasn't saying it should be moved away. I was asking if it would be more suitable to reshape it?"

Pang Tiansheng immediately grinned ingratiatingly and asked, "Brother Chun, how do you want to reshape it?"

Well, Shi Chun could see that this fatty would agree to anything, so there was no need to beat around the bush. Pointing at the large stone mill, he said, "Gourds. Don't you think it would look better carved into gourds? Such a huge thing should yield quite a few gourds."

Seeing that Pang Tiansheng was a bit confused, he simply spoke more directly, "I want to make some gourds to store things. This stone mill looks quite suitable. Would you mind helping me with that, Brother Pang?"

"Leave it to me!" Pang Tiansheng immediately patted his chest, then asked, "How big should the gourds be?"

Shi Chun gestured at the stone mill. "Make them according to this thickness. Produce as many as you can cut."

Understanding, Pang Tiansheng immediately yelled at everyone, "Get to work, get to work, all of you get to work!"

Shi Chun left them to it, returned to his room, closed the door, and continued refining the demonic flame within him. His cultivation had been restricted while imprisoned, wasting many days.

The quality and quantity of demonic flame absorbed this time far exceeded what Sun Shigang had refined over nearly forty days. He truly didn't know how long it would take to complete the refinement.

"Making gourds? And staying indoors to cultivate?"

After hearing Pang Tiansheng's report, Bian Weiying felt quite puzzled.

The "tree stump" on Wu Kang Mountain was as hard as metal. The group from the Disciplinary Hall put in a lot of effort for this, with a group of cultivators working for a day and a half to finally transform the entire stone mill into twelve large gourds.

Each gourd was slightly shorter than the sitting height of an adult's upper body, with a height roughly equivalent to the original thickness of the stone mill. The inside of the gourds was polished very smoothly, and the outside was even smoother, coated with a layer of glossy lacquer. The original rusty color took on a unique texture and looked quite good.

Clearly, a lot of effort had gone into them.

Shi Chun, repeatedly opening the gourds and examining them, praised continuously, "Excellent, excellent, Brother Pang, thank you very much."

Pang Tiansheng beamed with delight, "No problem. Just tell me if you need anything else."

After the fatty left and closed the door, Shi Chun took out the sub-mother talisman he used to contact Bian Weiying.

He directly sent a request: "Give me a basket of discarded talisman paper scraps that you don't need from talisman refining."

Without beating around the bush and showing no signs of politeness, it was a direct demand.

He went to great lengths to help Bian Weiying ascend to power and solidify her position, not hesitating to use up one of Wei Mo's promises. This wasn't solely due to romantic feelings.

Just as he had told Young Master Nan, "I wouldn't have gone through all that trouble in Wu Kang Mountain for nothing!"

What he wanted now was not just the secret spell refining method, but the entire Wu Kang Mountain!

Of course, his demand wasn't so direct. Rather, he wanted it to be available for his use when needed.

The devil path's plans had, in a way, been hijacked by him.

Bian Weiying gave no response and ignored him.

But that evening, Pang Tiansheng stealthily knocked on Shi Chun's door, threw a large package to him, and then ran off as if he had done something unspeakable.

Shi Chun smiled when he saw the package. He opened it and, sure enough, it was a large bundle of discarded talisman paper.

With the items arrived, he had work to do. He carefully and meticulously applied several layers of the discarded talisman paper to the inside of the gourds using spells.

Without the talisman paper, it was useless. He had observed and verified that although the "tree stump" material from Wu Kang Mountain could hold the sky-descended faint-blue substance, it couldn't preserve it for long. Over time, the faint-blue substance would vanish into thin air; only when sealed within talisman paper could it be preserved.

He even meticulously lined the inside of the gourd stoppers.

In the following days, he stayed secluded indoors, cultivating in seclusion and refining demonic flames to increase his cultivation.

Until the evening of his fifth day back on Wu Kang Mountain, the resounding "dong dong dong" of the bell finally echoed through the night sky once again.

The entire Wu Kang Mountain became busy.

Listening to the commotion outside, Shi Chun, meditating cross-legged, showed no reaction and continued to seize the time to refine his demonic flame.

About two or three hours later, when the sounds of the Indigo Bamboo being collected came from outside, he finally opened his eyes and took out the sub-mother talisman. He sent another direct request to Bian Weiying: "Keep a small bottle of the potion for treating talisman paper for me."

Bian Weiying likewise ignored him, giving no response.

He waited until the busy commotion outside completely ceased, only then activating his right eye's ability and walking out with a large gourd in hand.

The spread-out Indigo Bamboo had all been collected, but he could still see large amounts of faint-blue substance remaining in various corners.

He knew very well that no matter how the Indigo Bamboo was flipped, only a thin layer could adhere to its surface. In other words, the vast majority of the faint-blue substance was what remained on the ground, far exceeding what Wu Kang Mountain collected using the Indigo Bamboo.

He opened the gourd's mouth, secretly casting spells along the way, sweeping the substance into his gourd.

After filling it, he found a hidden corner, quickly threw it into his Qiankun bracelet, and took out an empty one to continue.

Even if someone was secretly watching, they wouldn't discern anything unusual.

Not until all twelve gourds were filled did he return to the Disciplinary Hall with the one in his hand and go back into his room to continue meditating and refining demonic flames.

After midnight, a knock on the door sounded again. Pang Tiansheng stealthily slipped in, put down a small porcelain bottle, and left.

Shi Chun, finishing his cultivation, took the porcelain bottle, opened it, and sniffed. He indeed smelled the scent of some potion. Activating his right eye, he observed the red substance floating in the liquid. His suspicion was confirmed, and he couldn't help but secretly marvel, "Bian Weiying truly succeeded in cultivating it."

Afterwards, he opened the mouth of one of the large gourds, poured in a few drops of the potion, and quickly sealed the gourd's opening.

He knew what this meant: the faint-blue substance transformed by the potion could no longer come into contact with the external environment. Upon contact, it would immediately undergo a drastic change, the kind of change seen in immobilization talismans.

Therefore, the gourd's opening could no longer be easily opened. When opening it, he had to use a spell to seal it, preventing the faint-blue substance inside from contacting the outside environment. Otherwise, all the substance inside the gourd, existing between illusion and reality, would be rendered useless, effectively becoming a single-use immobilization talisman.

After sealing the gourd's opening, he immediately brought it close and used his right eye's ability to carefully observe the changes inside. He found that, just like in the earlier experiment at Bian Weiying's residence, the red substance in the potion was rapidly infecting and breaking down the surface of the faint-blue substance, transforming it into the mutated faint-blue substance found in immobilization talismans.

After the complete transformation, he used a spell to seal the gourd's opening, then used another spell to extract a small wrapped cluster from inside. He resealed the opening and then applied that small cluster to himself.

Without any surprise, it was indeed the effect of an immobilization talisman, immobilizing him solidly.

Immediately, he cast a spell to break the restraint. After his body regained freedom, he murmured with a slight smile, "Immobilization spell..."

Confirming its effectiveness, he no longer hesitated. He immediately took out all twelve large gourds and arranged them in a row.

Opening the mouth of one gourd and dropping in a few drops of potion, he immediately closed it tightly and sealed it securely.

After successfully transforming all the faint-blue substance in the twelve gourds in this manner, he stored them all within his Qiankun bracelet.

Afterwards, he continued to meditate and cultivate.

Not until the morning light shone upon Wu Kang Mountain and the sounds of a new day's chores, with buckets and poles, echoed in the Disciplinary Hall, did Shi Chun finish his cultivation and open his eyes. He took out the sub-mother talisman used to contact Bian Weiying and sent a message: "I'm leaving. We'll meet again if fate allows."

"Brother Chun."

"Good morning, Brother Chun."

"Brother Chun, did we disturb you?"

Stepping out the door, Shi Chun saw a group of people greeting him. He nodded slightly in return and greeted them, "Morning. Time to work again?"

Someone sighed, "Yes, the old rules can't change."

Shi Chun smiled subtly, walked into the courtyard, and with a flick of his hand, revealed the Wind Scales artifact in his palm, releasing a multitude of swirling scales under everyone's envious gaze.

Inside the main hall of Wu Kang Mountain, Bian Weiying, clad in a long black dress, quickly walked out and stood on the steps. She looked towards the Disciplinary Hall and saw a flash of light, illuminated by the morning sun, rise from the mountain and gradually fade into a distant stream of light.

She knew he had truly left this time. Her face filled with a sense of loss, she remained motionless for a long time.

Above the main gate behind her, a newly crafted, brightly painted plaque, with the four characters "Immovable as a Mountain," shone brightly in the rising sun.

(End of Volume Two. Volume Three Preview: Who Dares to Contend!)