Ten Thousand Soul Banner: Deceased, do you have any unfulfilled wishes?
Chapter 74 Cultivation Progression

Chapter 74: Chapter 74 Cultivation Progression

"How are things going between you two?"

Jiang Taoshi asked while munching on some crispy snacks.

"What progress?" Ruan Hongzhuang was somewhat surprised.

Hearing this, Jiang Taoshi asked in amazement, "You mean you haven’t been in touch all day?"

"Well, we chatted a bit this morning," replied Ruan Hongzhuang.

"What about the morning? Noon? Afternoon? Evening?" Jiang Taoshi stopped eating her crispy snacks and stared at Ruan Hongzhuang as if she were looking at some rare creature.

"In the morning, everyone was busy with work, so it didn’t seem appropriate to contact. The same goes for the afternoon. As for lunchtime, I was afraid to disturb his rest, but in the evening, I didn’t contact him either, which probably wasn’t very considerate..."

Ruan Hongzhuang frowned, criticizing herself.

Jiang Taoshi smacked her lips, at a loss for words.

"Is there a problem?"

"Is there a problem? There’s a big problem. Is this how you guys date?" Jiang Taoshi said, somewhat speechless.

"Date, date, it’s only called dating if there’s communication and interaction. You two are each busy with your own things; can that even be considered dating?"

"You make a good point. Let me send him a WeChat message... no, better to give him a call. I wonder if he’s had dinner yet..."

Ruan Hongzhuang said, and took out her phone, ready to call Shen Siyuan.

But she was stopped by Jiang Taoshi, who, with dissatisfaction in her voice, said, "Why doesn’t he take the initiative to call you?"

Ruan Hongzhuang was stunned and then said, "Perhaps he’s afraid of disturbing my work?"

Jiang Taoshi was taken aback. She hadn’t expected someone so decisive and efficient at work to be so clueless in matters of love.

So she said quite speechlessly, "Then don’t call him, so as not to disturb his work."

"But it should be after work by now."

Ruan Hongzhuang looked at the exquisite ladies’ watch on her wrist.

"Right, you know it’s after work? Let’s go... let’s go... we’ll talk about this later..."

Jiang Taoshi pushed Ruan Hongzhuang forward without saying another word.

At this time, they were on their way home for dinner.

Jiang Taoshi used the excuse of Ruan Hongzhuang stealing her "boyfriend" to convince her to treat her to several lavish meals.

Her idea of a lavish meal wasn’t some trendy internet-famous restaurant or a star-rated dining place, but rather the kind of private meals where you invite the chef to your home.

Such private chefs aren’t available at everyone’s beck and call, and Ruan Hongzhuang just happened to know one who was very skilled.

With top-notch culinary skills, Jiang Taoshi was smitten after tasting his cooking just once.

Now that she had the chance, she would not let it slip away.

When the two arrived at Ruan Hongzhuang’s place in Bin Hai, the chef had already brought the ingredients, and the housemaid was helping out.

As for ordering dishes, that was not an option except for some specific dietary restrictions. What the chef cooked, the host ate; it was that characterful, and yet, it still attracted many admirers.

But while waiting for the meal, Ruan Hongzhuang couldn’t resist and made a call to Shen Siyuan.

"Since I initiated the relationship, I should naturally be proactive," Ruan Hongzhuang declared confidently.

Jiang Taoshi was left speechless in response.

Unfortunately, no one answered the phone.

Of course, no one answered; Shen Siyuan was crying in pain at that moment.

Without his skeleton to support him, he probably would have collapsed like a pile of mud on the ground.

At this moment, he looked absolutely miserable, with large patches of his skin cracked, peeling, and falling off.

The intense pain, the sweating as if drenched in water, the floor covered with teeth and blood made him look both pitiful and wretched.

"Sister, is Potato about to die?"

Dou Dou whispered anxiously to Yin Xingyue, who had returned with her at some unknowable time. Upon seeing Shen Siyuan in such a state, Dou Dou was somewhat scared, her tears swirling in her eyes.

"Don’t talk nonsense," Yin Xingyue scolded, unable to hide her concern.

"It’s nothing. I’ll be fine soon."

Shen Siyuan struggled with the pain that racked his body and feebly comforted them. Unfortunately, with all his teeth fallen out, his words came out slurred and indistinct.

But as soon as he finished speaking, the pain vanished, only to be replaced by an intense itching spreading across his entire body.

This itch isn’t just on the surface of the skin, it’s a deep itch that penetrates into the bone marrow.

Shen Siyuan shifted his entire body to alleviate the itch. He shifted from the second stage, third layer, all the way to the second stage, sixth layer.

Then he could no longer continue; the first thread of Merit allowed him to leap from the first stage, first layer, directly to the second stage, second layer—crossing a total of eight stages.

The second thread of Merit was halved, only allowing him to cross four stages.

Even so, he had thoroughly mastered the first and second stages.

It might seem simple, but those who have studied mathematics know that if you continue with this halved benefit each time, the amount of Merit needed to cultivate the ’Great Arhat Eighteen Forms’ to the very last layer of the Eighteen Forms—108 layers in total—is unimaginably massive.

Unless there’s a change from this decreasing multiple later on, it would be impossible to cultivate the ’Great Arhat Eighteen Forms’ to the last layer solely through Merit.

Therefore, it’s still necessary to think of repairing the ’Ten Thousand Soul Banner’, unlock its Storage Space, and retrieve some of the Heaven and Earth Spiritual Objects accumulated over thousands of years by the Jiuyou Demon Lord. With these Spiritual Objects assisting, the cultivation of the ’Great Arhat Eighteen Forms’ will naturally progress bravely and vigorously.

"Brother, are... are you okay?"

Seeing Shen Siyuan’s expression relax and the painful look on his face fade, Yin Xingyue approached tentatively to ask.

Her little face was full of concern, and Dou Dou, who was hiding behind her, clutching the hem of her clothes, had tears brimming in her eyes. Shen Siyuan’s appearance had scared her a bit.

"It’s okay, I’m very good right now, exceptionally good." Shen Siyuan immediately comforted her upon regaining his senses.

He really did feel very good now, not only feeling immensely strong and spirited but also noticing that his teeth, which had fallen out just a moment ago, had regrown. With a mouthful of pearly whites many times better than before, he felt like he could chew through metal and crunch gold.

"But... but just now, you were a bit scary," Yin Xingyue said softly.

Dou Dou was frantically nodding her little head at the side, indicating that Shen Siyuan had indeed scared the baby just now.

"There’s nothing easy about cultivation. Muscle Building and Bone Strengthening, Wash the Marrow, none of it is ever a joyful affair."

Yin Xingyue heard this and seemed to understand though not quite; Dou Dou didn’t understand at all.

"Alright, you go and play. I’m going to take a bath," Shen Siyuan said.

However, before that, he needed to clean up the floor because it looked a bit unsettling, no wonder it scared Dou Dou.

After Shen Siyuan tidied up and took a bath, he felt refreshed all over.

Seeing Yin Xingyue teaching Dou Dou ’Embrace the Wind and Sleep,’ he remembered they were missing in the afternoon.

So he asked, "Where did you go this afternoon?"

"We went to find a dog, we went to look for a dog..."

It turned out Dou Dou noticed a dog and wanted to catch it to keep, but the dog would run away upon seeing Dou Dou and kept its distance from her. Dou Dou knew why and was helpless about it.

Seeing Yin Xingyue return, she couldn’t help but plead with her sister to help her catch the dog.

"What about the dog? Did it get away?"

"The dog has an owner," Yin Xingyue said.

"Wait, are you talking about a living dog or a dead Ghost Dog?"

"It’s a Ghost Dog."

"And it still has an owner?" Shen Siyuan asked in surprise.

Yin Xingyue nodded, "It’s a little girl’s dog. It died but still follows her around every day."

"I see."

Shen Siyuan was not surprised; animals that die, if they have Reincarnation, go straight back to the Underworld.

If not, most dissipate into the earth since they don’t have the same deep attachments and reluctance as humans.

Of course, some continue to exist in the Mortal World in animal form, with dogs being the most frequent, waiting to reunite with their owners.

"Once I gather the fire from my head, I’ll go talk to the little girl and have her lend me the dog for a bit," Dou Dou said from the side.

Yin Xingyue glanced at her and said, "The little girl is older than you; you should call her sister."

"Then you keep trying."

Shen Siyuan casually responded, picked up the phone next to him, and remembered that he seemed to have a missed call.

When he checked, it was from Ruan Hongzhuang, and he realized that he almost forgot he had a "girlfriend" now. Probably because it had been too long since he had a girlfriend, it took him some time to get used to it.

A day had passed, and besides a greeting in the morning, there had been no contact between them, which was not normal.

Other than that, because he received a thread of Merit in the morning, all his thoughts at work today were about how to use this thread of Merit, which was really somewhat inappropriate.

Thinking this, Shen Siyuan quickly composed a message and sent it over.