Chapter 144: The Foundation-Building Rats

Su Che’s mental communication with Old Black lasted only a moment, so it didn’t delay him from listening to the Ghost Princess’s explanation.
The Ghost Princess continued, “The Desert God Rats aren’t very powerful, yet they can enter and exit the Wind and Thunder Desolate Land at will. This is because the spiritual energy fluctuations on their bodies match those of a certain force in the desolate land. As a result, the wind and thunder forces within the land completely ignore them.”
Hearing this, Su Che immediately understood that the Ghost Princess wanted him to mimic the spiritual energy fluctuations of the Desert God Rats to enter the desolate land and obtain that treasure. Yet, he still had many doubts.
He asked, “Elder, what are those small wooden houses outside the Wind and Thunder Desolate Land? I’m worried that if I enter and succeed in getting that treasure, I might be trapped by them when I try to leave…”
The Ghost Princess explained, “The Desert God Valley is unclaimed territory. Those people aren’t guardians here; they just want to obtain some precious treasures from the Wind and Thunder Desolate Land, so they stay here all year round. But they are only Golden Core cultivators and don’t dare go too deep. They can only explore the outer areas gradually.”
Su Che immediately replied telepathically, “That’s exactly why I’m worried. If I manage to get out alive, they might keep me here as a slave who keeps searching for treasures, never allowing me to be free again.”
The Ghost Princess smiled faintly. “Don’t worry. I’ll ensure your safety. They won’t dare trouble you.”
“Alright then,” Su Che nodded, though he thought to himself, “How can I trust you? Once you get the item, will you even care about my life?”
Still, given the situation, he had no choice but to comply. Not entering the desolate land meant certain death; entering it might even lead to another path and a chance of survival…
Seeing that Su Che agreed, the Ghost Princess then said telepathically, “What you’re looking for is a ‘Black Domain Immortal Lotus,’ also known as the ‘Calamity-Transforming Immortal Lotus.’ It should look like this…”
As she spoke, she took out an illustrated guide showing a black lotus with only nine petals. The lotus pod at its center also had nine holes, meaning it contained only nine lotus seeds…
“The Black Domain Immortal Lotus!”
Su Che repeated it in his mind. He knew that in the cultivation world, the use of the word “immortal” was extremely precise. Since one was cultivating to become an immortal, they would surely revere this term and not casually apply it to an object.
Unless that treasure truly had unparalleled effects, or unless that species truly originated from the immortal realm, it wouldn’t deserve the title of “immortal.”

Next, Ghost Lady explained in detail the precautions and various taboos to follow after entering the Desolate Land. Su Che listened carefully and remembered everything in his heart.
Finally, Su Che asked, “Senior, since we need to simulate the spiritual energy fluctuations of the Desert God Rats, I need you to help me capture one of these rats of varying strengths.”
There was no need to be too explicit; Ghost Lady understood his meaning and nodded, “That’s easy.”
So, Ghost Lady took Su Che to a cave in the Desert God Valley. In just fifteen minutes, they easily captured over a dozen Desert God Rats of different sizes, including a plump rat king over five feet long.
This was the strength of a cultivator in the later stage of the Golden Core phase. Ghost Lady didn’t even have to get her hands dirty—she simply sent two Ghost Kings and a group of Ghost Generals into the rat holes while waiting outside.
If Su Che had to do this, even with the Four Members of the Immortal Prison Team, it would take him more than an hour to complete the task.
This made Su Che admire his master, Venerable Mysterious Truth, even more sincerely. Ghost Lady was so powerful yet still a defeated opponent of his master…
As for these Desert God Rats, their fur was yellow-brown, with only a long strip of silver-gray hair on their backs. The stronger the rat, the denser the silver-gray fur. The rat king’s back was almost entirely silver-gray.
“This is a demonic beast rat of level two, equivalent to the Foundation Establishment stage in humans,” Su Che thought. “Old Black, I can already imagine that after merging with this rat, gray fur will grow on the back of your head and spine too… Congratulations, you’ll look even uglier then.”
“It’s okay, master,” Old Black replied calmly. “Extreme ugliness is also a kind of unique beauty. I’m looking forward to it deeply…”
“You’re really fearless, even when faced with danger,” Su Che said, speechless.
Although he loved teasing Old Black, Su Che was also extremely grateful to him. Thanks to Old Black, he no longer felt lonely or sad, allowing him to maintain an optimistic attitude toward everything. Even in such difficult times, he could find joy in life.
Sharing one’s burdens with another—perhaps this was a rare kind of happiness in life.
After the jokes, it was time to get serious. Su Che thought that simulating the spiritual energy fluctuations of the Desert God Rats should be possible, but he couldn’t let Ghost Lady see this process. In other words, he couldn’t capture the Desert God Rats and bring them into the Immortal Prison in front of her.

“What excuse should I use?” Su Che began to ponder… It wasn’t until the Ghost Lady couldn’t hold back and urged him that Su Che replied, “Senior, I can indeed simulate the spiritual energy fluctuations of the Wasteland God Rats.” “Is that so?” The Ghost Lady’s voice showed clear delight as she urged again, “Then start right away.” “However, among these Wasteland God Rats, I only need to simulate one randomly. Could I have all the rest given to me?” Su Che deliberately put on an opportunistic expression. “It’s up to you, just hurry up.” The Ghost Lady didn’t care about these rats at all; for her, only life was precious, and everything else was utterly useless. So, Su Che took out two fake death coffins from his Qiankun Bag, placed the unconscious Rat King and another higher-ranked Wasteland God Rat inside them, and then put them back into the Qiankun Bag. Even with the fake death coffins as cover, Su Che still didn’t dare move them into the Immortal Prison in front of the Ghost Lady. Such a thing couldn’t be done carelessly. After that, Su Che looked troubled again and said to the Ghost Lady, “Senior, the process of simulating spiritual energy fluctuations is my personal privacy. So, I think…” The Ghost Lady understood his meaning immediately and cheerfully handed over a spiritual talisman. Su Che caught it and immediately realized it was a barrier talisman that could create a temporary isolation barrier, completely blocking vision, hearing, smell, and spiritual detection—also an essential auxiliary tool for cultivators. Su Che immediately activated the talisman, and soon he was surrounded by a circular barrier nearly five zhang in diameter. Then, Su Che and the Wasteland God Rats disappeared. This showed that the talisman given by the Ghost Lady was not only an isolation barrier but also an invisibility barrier. Even a high-level cultivator in the later stages of the Golden Core phase would only use top-quality items. Old Black confirmed, “Master, this barrier is excellent. Even my detection abilities can’t penetrate it, let alone that old witch’s spiritual senses. We can move the fake death coffins in now.” With a thought, Su Che instantly moved the two fake death coffins from the Qiankun Bag into the Immortal Prison. In fact, all these cover-ups were merely to conceal this brief action. As for the other Wasteland God Rats, Su Che killed them all with a palm strike, turned them into corpses, and put them into the Qiankun Bag—this was the final cover-up. With the two Wasteland God Rats, including the Rat King, captured in the Immortal Prison, Su Che could now simulate their spiritual energy fluctuations.

It’s only necessary to simulate the fluctuations of spiritual energy; it’s impossible to turn Su Che into a rat with four paws on the ground and a long tail… Besides, Su Che had also considered that the reason the Ghost Lady hadn’t forced him to reveal the method of altering spiritual energy fluctuations wasn’t because she was kind-hearted, but because even if he learned this method, she still wouldn’t have the courage to enter the Stormy Desolation. “That old witch is extremely afraid of death; no matter what, she wouldn’t dare take the risk herself,” Su Che thought to himself while discussing it with Lao Hei. “That’s why she forces me to enter the desolation and take the risk for her.” Lao Hei added, “Moreover, even if you obtain the Black Domain Immortal Lotus, she probably won’t keep her promise. Not only will she not give you any benefits, but she might also use soul-searching techniques to take away all your secrets.” “Hmm, in any case, I can’t trust her,” Su Che thought to himself. Su Che deliberately delayed for a long time before activating the barrier and appearing before the Ghost Lady. The so-called method of altering spiritual energy fluctuations couldn’t be made to seem too easy to accomplish. “It really worked!” The moment she saw Su Che, the Ghost Lady recognized that his spiritual energy fluctuations were indeed identical to those of the Wild God Rat. At this moment, if she closed her eyes and sealed her consciousness, relying solely on a cultivator’s basic spiritual senses to sense him, he would appear to be a genuine Wild God Rat. For a human to be able to simulate the spiritual energy fluctuations of a monstrous beast was undoubtedly an extremely rare and extraordinary ability in the cultivation world. Unable to resist, the Ghost Lady asked, “Is this ability a skill or a talent?” Hearing her question, Su Che was slightly stunned, because the more she asked, the more it proved that she was merely out of curiosity and likely hadn’t even intended to use soul-searching techniques to uncover the truth later. Nevertheless, Su Che remained extremely cautious around her; he couldn’t trust such a murderous cultist. So, he pretended to answer proudly, “It’s a special talent I was born with. Even my parents and siblings don’t possess this ability.” “You’re quite lucky then.” The Ghost Lady nodded, believing seven-tenths of Su Che’s claim. Because if such magical skills existed in the cultivation world, they wouldn’t remain unknown—even someone like her, who was already at the late Golden Core stage, wouldn’t know anything about them. Only those innate personal talents, hereditary talents, or racial talents could give rise to some strange and extremely rare special abilities.

But no matter what kind of talent it is, it is an inalienable ability bestowed by heaven. Even if you kill him, devour him, or cut him to pieces, you cannot take away a person’s innate abilities. Since it is a talent, only heaven can take it back!