Inheritance (1/2)

"I'll take this one." Wei Wushang reached out and grabbed a jade slip.

"Nightmare Summoning... Are you sure?" Xu Hanmo frowned. He hadn't expected the boy to choose this particular technique.

"Yes, this is the one," Wei Wushang said firmly, without a hint of hesitation.

Xu Hanmo's frown deepened further. He tried to reason with him, "Think carefully. This technique has exceptional offensive power and versatility, but it is very difficult to master. You've never been in a fight, so you might not understand. Activating this technique requires intense concentration. In a life-and-death battle, you won't have the luxury to activate it without being attacked. And even if you somehow manage to succeed in activating it, do you know how troublesome it will be to maneuver all the Nightmare Crows you summon?"

He slightly regretted offering this particular technique. Although he could outright refuse to give it to Wei Wushang, he wouldn't.

As a demonic path cultivator, he adamantly believed in letting people make their own choices, even if those choices led to regret later in life.

Wei Wushang noticed the worry in Xu Hanmo's voice but merely smiled. "Elder, I appreciate your advice. But I am determined. Besides, there's another reason."

Wei Wushang was clearly aware of the difficulties in mastering the Nightmare Summoning technique, but he had his Myriad Thoughts martial spirit. With such a martial spirit, he had no worries about the technique being difficult to learn or activate in battle.

To him, whether a technique had a five-star or one-star complexity rating was of little consequence. He placed more importance on the other aspects of a technique's rating.

The only real disadvantage in this situation would be the consumption of spiritual essence to produce more thoughts.

But Wei Wushang was fine with paying this price, as his martial spirit could generate a little over a hundred thoughts for just 1% of the spiritual essence in his dantian. That's to say if his Myriad Thoughts martial spirit were a technique, it would have a five-star rating in the essence consumption aspect.

"And what might that be?" Xu Hanmo snorted in displeasure.

Although he didn't believe the boy could offer a valid reason to change his mind, he was still curious about why Wei Wushang had made this choice.

Wei Wushang toyed with the jade slip in his hand as he answered, "It's because my martial spirit tells me to."

"Your martial spirit?" Xu Hanmo's interest was piqued.

Wei Wushang replied without looking away from the jade slip, "My martial spirit is of the intuition type. It helps me to make decisions that will provide the optimal outcome."

That was a big fat lie. His Myriad Thought martial spirit had but one ability: to conjure thoughts.

Xu Hanmo was taken aback by this revelation. He mulled over it silently, 'An Intuition type martial spirit is indeed rare. But even with such a martial spirit, does it always guarantee a good outcome?' He had his doubts but also understood Wei Wushang's choice better.

Wei Wushang suddenly turned to the Zhang siblings, a cold glint in his eye. "Do you remember when we were surrounded by wolves? I first called out to sister Mei, not you, brother Hao. Do you know why?"

The siblings exchanged uncertain glances but ultimately shrugged. Wei Wushang smiled faintly. "It was because my martial spirit advised me do so. If not for that, we might have been dinner for the wolves by now."

Lie. It was merely a coincidence.

Zhang Hao slapped his thigh, "Now that I think about it, you never mentioned what your martial spirit was, even during the wolf attack."

Zhang Mei also looked equally convinced.

Wei Wushang hid his satisfaction behind a bitter smile. "It seems you understand. Then can you figure out why I did what I did to Li Zhihua?"

Both Zhang Hao and Zhang Mei looked taken aback, as if coming to a realization.

"Don't tell me, was it your martial spirit that...?" Zhang Mei started.

"But even so, pushing her to her death is just..." Zhang Hao's expression was conflicted.

Wei Wushang stared at him deeply. "Yes, I killed her. But if I hadn't, you and your sister would have died too."

Zhang Hao opened his mouth but couldn't find the words to refute. While Zhang Mei lowered her gaze and chose not to speak.

Wei Wushang continued to stare at them for a few moments before turning away and focusing on the jade slip.

Just as the siblings thought this difficult conversation was over, Wei Wushang spoke again. "You might not remember this, but it was me who dragged that girl into your prison barrier. If it hadn't been for me, she would have died much earlier." Then he fell silent.

The Zhang siblings were now even more troubled, especially Zhang Hao. He felt more conflicted than ever, staring intently at Wei Wushang's back while clenching his fists.

This was exactly what Wei Wushang wanted to achieve. For them to have any chance of cooperating until they reached the sect, this conversation was necessary. If not for that, he wouldn't have bothered wasting his breath on them.

"Enough with the delay. Choose your techniques now," Xu Hanmo ordered impatiently. But from thier exchange, he also confirmed that Wei Wushang was speaking the truth regarding his martial spirit.

"Yes, yes," the Zhang siblings responded, quickly selecting a jade slip each.

Once everyone had selected a technique, Xu Hanmo stored the remaining jade slip. "I don't have the necessary materials for the techniques. You'll need to obtain them on your own once you arrive at the sect. Don't worry, these materials are not difficult to find. Now, turn around."

The three of them nodded and turned around. Behind them stood a massive boulder.