After testing was complete.

  Xia Li was very satisfied with this technique and decided to take it.

  The figure sensed Xia Li's intention, broke free from Xia Li's control, walked away from behind him, and moved to stand before him.

  Then...

  It bowed to Xia Li.

  And dissolved into points of light that drilled into Xia Li's forehead.

  【Heaven-grade unranked technique: Ethereal Spirit Dharma Body recorded】

  【The spirit entity left a message: Thank you for your choice】

  【Spirit entity uploaded a memory segment. Read it?】

  "Read."

  Xia Li nodded.

  Then...

  Came the scattered fragments this clumsy spirit entity could remember.

  From the moment it was born here, few had ever approached it. Occasionally someone came, but seeing it take several seconds to replicate a single motion, they all shook their heads in disappointment and left.

  Of course, among them were people of great perseverance who learned the technique it passed down. But those people never came back to the Strange Grounds to infuse it with spirit energy.

  The relationship between Strange Grounds and inheritors was mutual.

  Strange Grounds gave the inheritance; inheritors who grew strong would repay what they'd learned to the Dao Art Spirit.

  This way, the Dao Art Spirit could persist in the world, and the technique it bore might even have a chance to advance.

  But if no one chose it for too long, and no one repaid it, the Dao Art Spirit would also vanish from losing its power.

  Lingxu Cave Heaven's Strange Grounds also had cruel laws. Not every technique could be promoted and passed down—only those enduringly strong paths could persist.

  Only by withstanding the test of time did one earn the right to remain in the Strange Grounds, becoming Lingxu Cave Heaven's prestigious face.

  And its creator could gain fortune because of this.

  At first, this Dao Art Spirit's trial had been learning to change moves.

  Later it was learning to chain moves.

  Then replicating a single move.

  Finally...

  Just stepping into its domain counted as passing the trial and qualifying to receive its teaching. It kept lowering its standards in hopes of being chosen by an inheritor.

  But when it approached Xia Li, it sensed Xia Li's curiosity—Xia Li was full of anticipation for the technique it passed down.

  As it gradually revealed its mysteries, Xia Li's joy and satisfaction made it reluctant to immediately pass down the teaching.

  These several hours of transmission were the most joyful time since its birth. Now its task was complete, its spirituality exhausted—it couldn't wait for Xia Li to repay it.

  So it gave the inheritance along with itself entirely to Xia Li.

  It was its creator's child. It remembered its creator's instructions.

  To spread this path...

  "It... has vanished?"

  Xia Li watched the clearing rapidly losing its spirituality. Even the withered leaves began disappearing. Other Strange Grounds nearby started encroaching on this space.

  In just a moment.

  Xia Li found himself already standing in a lightning-flickering Strange Ground.

  When the technique spirit perished, the inheritance ended!

  From now on, Lingxu Cave Heaven no longer had this path.

  【Its existence was similar to an artifact spirit. It has indeed perished.】

  "I actually feel sadness for a Dao Art Spirit. What's wrong with me?"

  Xia Li felt somewhat empty inside. What was most compatible with him turned out to be a Dao Art Spirit that had reached its end.

  【But it wasn't sad】

  "True... what would it know anyway? If I master this technique in the future, perhaps I could consider opening a new inheritance in the Strange Grounds."

  Xia Li turned and left the lightning space, walking back onto the winding path. Personally witnessing the technique spirit's demise had moved him deeply.

  By now it was already dark.

  He'd practiced the Ethereal Spirit Dharma Body here until late night, completely absorbed. When he walked out of the Strange Grounds, he found the tagalong Lin Ge was actually still waiting at the stone stele.

  And had grown quite impatient from waiting.

  "You finally deigned to come out? So what technique did you comprehend?"

  "Ethereal Spirit Dharma Body."

  "What? You went in for so long and just picked the most useless technique?"

  Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  "Useless?"

  "According to my information, only about a dozen disciples ever learned Ethereal Spirit Dharma Body, and they all couldn't display much combat power—too slow and clunky."

  "Three disciples apparently learned it to a profound level and had considerable combat power. But they couldn't sustain it at all. According to those three, this technique consumes too much mental energy. Unless you had two brains, they wouldn't recommend anyone learn it."

  Lin Ge knew the evaluations of various techniques in the Strange Grounds, so she'd already started patting Xia Li's shoulder and sighing.

  "What a shame this time. Next time you get another chance to enter the Strange Grounds, you'd better listen to my advice on choosing a technique."

  "But I think Ethereal Spirit Dharma Body is pretty good."

  Xia Li genuinely thought this technique was excellent—truly too suited to him.

  No—suited to Earth cultivators!

  This technique greatly required multitasking, a talent very few possessed. Post-natal practice also required enormous time investment.

  But Heaven Chip's multi-core processing was perfect for handling multi-threaded tasks.

  If he brought this back to Earth to sell, it would at least appreciate tenfold, right?

  "Stop being stubborn. Predecessors have all said that to skillfully apply this technique, you'd need two brains. So do you have two brains?"

  "Well actually..."

  He did have two.

  Heaven Chip's other name was the second brain—Spirit Brain!

  "Alright, let's head back then. Going to your place or mine?"

  "What's this about your place or mine? Obviously we each go back to our own. You want to spend the night with me or something?"

  "Why not? Hurry up and resolve my constitution problem. Once it's resolved I can enter the sect competition—I've never participated before!"

  Lin Ge's grandfather, to prevent Lin Ge from getting hurt, wouldn't let her participate in a single competition.

  "It can't be resolved quickly. Stop overthinking and let's each go back to cultivate."

  Xia Li didn't even know what Mech-Corpse modification specifically was—how could he resolve it?

  "Then let's have an all-night heart-to-heart to get closer!"

  "I don't want to have feelings with you. If this problem can't be resolved you'll die. If you die won't I have wasted my feelings? We'll talk after I fix you up."

  Xia Li was being very much the dense steel-man here, because his acceptance of Lin Ge only extended to friendship. He had no plans for any relationship beyond that.

  Xia Li was a lazy person when it came to emotions, preferring avoidance strategies.

  Too lazy to respond to others' feelings, too lazy to invest his own. For him, interacting with the opposite sex was exhausting.

  So following the principle of minding his own business—he wouldn't torment her, and she shouldn't torment him either.

  "This... this blunt? Is my problem really that serious?"

  Lin Ge hadn't expected her bloodline issue could be fatal. Though death of the body didn't necessarily mean death of the soul, losing her original body would essentially mean her cultivation path had reached its end.

  "Your grandfather looked after you well. If you frequently got injured, it might activate your constitution. Anyway, let's leave it at that for now. I'm going back to cultivate."

  "Fine. Speaking of which, having this constitution problem does make intimacy impossible. If the mood ever struck between us, and I'm someone who likes trying new things."

  "When you're reaching for the clouds, and I suddenly crystallize into blades inside—you'd probably strangle me."

  At these words, even the open-minded Xia Li couldn't quite handle it.

  Was this something you could just say? So bold?

  "Do you not understand what modesty is?"

  "What use is modesty? I only know seizing pleasure while I can. If I like something, I go for it. If I want to do something, I do it."

  "As you said, since I might die, or even if I survive I'll lose my body, naturally I'm curious about that kind of thing. Isn't that just human nature?"

  "Anyway, wait until your problem is resolved."

  Even if Xia Li had lustful thoughts, he didn't have that kind of courage. Besides, he didn't even have lustful thoughts.

  Lin Ge's wounds caused blood to rapidly crystallize into sharp crystal-iron. He believed that no matter how lustful someone was, they couldn't possibly challenge a grinder.