"Hahahahaha!"
The wild laughter echoed with the morning breeze, and the Knife Grinding Old Man, who had just gotten out of bed, immediately frowned.
The lineage of Du Ke's martial arts cultivation emphasized noble and aloof characters that did not conform to the mundane world.
Why did such an eccentric come out of it?
"It's fate!"
The Knife Grinding Old Man shook his head and went out to prepare breakfast.
Although he could buy breakfast from the streets, he was used to frugal living and his own cooking.
Rather than going out to buy food, it was better to cook at home.
At the same time, Du Ke's loud laughter on the roof also slowly died down.
He did not expect that provoking the spiritual aura of the elixirs would make them explode. But this gave him a nice surprise.
The best time to collect Solar Essence is at sunrise.
As the old saying goes, the plan for the day lies in the morning. At sunrise, when all things come alive again, the Solar Essence overflows with vitality, which is very beneficial for cultivation.
The Solar Essence at noon is too explosive, while that at dusk is gloomy. Neither is good for cultivation.
However, after discovering that provoking the spiritual aura of the Solar Pill and Lunar Pill made them explode, it opened up new ideas for Du Ke.
Who said pills must be consumed!
After all, there are all kinds of pills, including deadly ones that rot flesh and bones, and poisonous ones that corrode organs and endanger lives.
There are also aphrodisiac pills that you can crush and sprinkle on yourself to attract attention with their fragrance.
In addition, there are many pills with different effects and methods of use.
But now, the explosion caused by provoking the spiritual aura of Solar and Lunar pills opened up a new possibility for Du ke - pills used purely for attack and fighting!
The Lunar Pill is fine - provoking its aura makes it explode, but the effect is nothing compared to directly consuming it for cultivation.
But the Solar Pill is different.
The sun itself represents the ultimate Yang. The Solar Essence manifests the ultimate Yang of the sun.
As mentioned before, the Solar Essence at noon is too explosive for cultivation.
But that doesn't mean it can't be used for killing!
The Solar Pill comes from sunlight, which shines every day, inexhaustible.
Du Ke can provoke the spiritual aura of the Solar Pill and make it explode.
The Solar Pill refined from the sunlight just minutes after sunrise was enough to make Du Ke's whiskers curl and hair turn black.
Then how about the Solar Pill refined at noon?
Its effect should be comparable to the hand grenades he heard about in his past life!
After double refining, a bean-sized pill could probably blow up a house.
That's why the explosion of the Solar Pill delighted Du Ke and cleared his mind, allowing new ideas to flow.
The excited Du Ke wanted to experiment with the Solar Pill right away.
But morning lessons were not done yet, and noon was not here. So Du Ke suppressed his excitement for the moment, swallowed a mix of the first Solar Pill, Lunar Pill, Blood Food Pill and Quenching Bone Pill, and started cultivating in the Tiger-Leopard Stance.
As the medicinal effect kicked in, Du Ke's mind visualized demonic images while his body displayed the Tiger-Leopard Stance, integrating inner and outer cultivation as one.
In the yard, the Knife Grinding Old Man, having just eaten, carried a bowl of dog food to the front hall to feed Little Ha and open the door.
Hearing the noise from the roof, the old man looked up and murmured, "Ambitious, cultivating martial arts, mystic arts and feline arts together, but no fundamental method - his path ends even before formally entering the Dao!"
"Still, it's rare to see such a diligent and aspiring cat. Although eccentric, with some meticulous grooming, I might be able to help him and pass on that..."
The old man's eyes lit up but soon dimmed again.
"But I'm just a condemned man, how can I..."
"Sigh!"
Unable to give voice to the bitterness in his heart, he could only force it down and silently endure.
As the old man entered the front hall, the fluttering door curtain signified his inner turmoil.
Oblivious on the roof, Du Ke remained immersed in his cultivation.
Gradually, after midday, Du Ke finally stopped.
Breathing out hot air, his fur steaming, his eyes gleaming vibrantly.
"Almost a small accomplishment in Quenching Bone!"
Du Ke twisted his neck, popped two Blood Food Pills in his mouth, then frowned at the less than ten pills left.
"Running out of Blood Food Pills, where to find more blood food!"
But this problem was soon forgotten as experimenting with his idea took priority.
Looking up at the blistering sun, Du Ke split his mouth in a grin.
"Although not yet noon, let's start refining first!"
Bathed in sunlight, as if gilded in gold leaf, the warm Du Ke refined Solar Pills while perfecting his idea.
Time trickled by until dusk.
The setting sun resembled blood as Du Ke got up from the roof and jumped down.
Entering the front hall, Du Ke saw an aunt settling the bill with the Knife Grinding Old Man.
Noticing Du Ke, as she neatly arranged ten copper coins in a line, she marveled, "Old Li, when did you get such a handsome cat?"
"The kitten Thousand-Year-Old brought back some time ago."
The Knife Grinding Old Man pocketed the coins into a nearby jar, wrapped up the aunt's cleaver, and crossed her name off his ledger.
"Oh my, could it be Thousand-Year-Old's kitten?"
Hearing this, not only did the Knife Grinding Old Man froze, even Du Ke eyed the aunt unpleasantly.
How dare you scold me!
"No way. With her temperament, Thousand-Year-Old would never obediently give birth!"
The Knife Grinding Old Man shook his head. The aunt nodded in agreement, "True. Thousand-Year-Old won top prize at the previous years' Spirit Cat Festival, which tomcat could catch her eye!"
"Descendants have their own fortune, just let her be."
The Knife Grinding Old Man tidied everything up. Sensing his hint, the aunt chatted a bit more before leaving with her basket.
Squatting on the water tank containing the goldfish beside Little Ha's doghouse, Du Ke glanced at the fish then the pedestrian traffic outside.
"So your surname is Li!"
Having retracted his gaze, Du Ke looked towards the Knife Grinding Old Man who was clearing up and asked.
"Yes, but nowadays I'm known as Old Li."
Old Li smiled lightly, "Names are just symbols anyway. As long as people remember you, that's enough - no need to fuss over it."
"You're quite open-minded!"
Du Ke glanced at his own chained collar and said, "Speaking of which, haven't seen Thousand-Year-Old for a day?"
"She went out to handle some things."
"Went out?" Du Ke's eyes lit up. Wasn't this a chance?
"Yes," The old man took down a long blade from the shelf. The chipped and blood-rusty edge showed heavy use.
"But not far, just around Mao City."
Hearing this, the light in Du Ke's eyes dimmed. What's the difference between Thousand-Year-Old roaming outside the city versus inside the city?
Noticing Du Ke's reaction, Old Li jabbed, "What, wanna run?"
"How's that possible!" Du Ke smiled wryly, "I'm still coveting this place, how could I leave?"
"Good to hear. Because sometimes, Thousand-Year-Old can be...quite temperamental." Old Li flicked the blade, making it tremble violently.
"Tsk!" Du Ke clicked his tongue. Looks like he couldn't take this chance to escape after all.
"Speaking of which, what did you need from Thousand-Year-Old? I thought you didn't like her much?"
"I just wanted her to take me to that rat-infested underground burrow she brought me to last time!"
"If you want to go, you can just go by yourself. You have already embarked on cultivation. Following the perception of spiritual rhyme and the pull of your spiritual nature, you will be able to find the place yourself," Old Li said before pausing for a moment.
"But don't go too deep. If you accidentally enter the tempering path, Qian Sui and I will have to fish you out later!"
"How could that happen? I'm not the kind of person who would recklessly run around randomly!" Du ke replied while unleashing the dog's collar.
"Anyway, I'm taking the dog out for a walk. Don't keep dinner for us tonight!"
After he finished speaking, the white cat had already ridden little Ha out of the shop, disappearing into the crowd.
Seeing the cat and dog leave, Old Li shook his head with a wry smile. "You're talking as if you've ever eaten dinner at home before."
............
After a stick of incense,
"The foot of the city wall, the foot of the city wall!"
Riding little Ha, Du ke brought the dog to the foot of the city wall. Having been chained up for two or three days, little Ha was finally able to go out and vent his energy. It only took a stick of incense from the time they left Old Li's shop to get here.
"Found it!"
Du ke saw the drainage ditch they had crawled through last time and directly drove the dog to squeeze inside.
According to Du ke's arrangement, the dog crawled into the interior of the drainage ditch. Du ke also perceived the surrounding spiritual rhymes.
"Old Li said that following the perception of spiritual rhyme and the pull of my spiritual nature, I would be able to find the underground valley, but how..."
Before he could finish speaking, Du ke's spiritual rhyme stirred as he looked towards the bend that Qian Sui had led him through previously.
"Oh, so that's how it is."
As Du ke muttered to himself, he also drove Shi San to crawl in.
Under Du ke's urging, Shi San twisted and turned as he advanced through the narrow path, arriving at the steep slope where Qian Sui had dumped him in the valley.
Riding little Ha and arriving before the steep slope, Du ke looked down over the entire valley from above.
His mood this time was completely different from last time. Last time, he had felt apprehensive when facing the unknown path ahead. But this time, he was filled with excitement, passion, and impatience.
Looking at the large rats scurrying around and burrowing in the pit below, Du ke's mind sank into the Black Cauldron Space and took out a Sun Essence Pill.
"Hehehe, the winds of fortune have turned, now it's your turn to suffer misfortune!"
As he spoke, Du ke tossed the Sun Essence Pill in his paw up and down.