Longzang

Chapter 221 Today is auspicious...

"The weather is fine and sunny today, perfect for fishing."

There was only this one sentence on the jade paper, without any beginning or end, and then nothing more.

Wei Yuan looked at it over and over for a long time, then looked around, but there was no sign of his Grandmaster Zhu anywhere. He couldn't find anyone to ask.

If Zhu Yuanjin didn't want to be discovered, Wei Yuan's senses would have made it difficult for him to detect. However, Wei Yuan has now figured it out: this grandmaster uncle is clearly a follower of the ancient school, who likes to use cryptic language, leaving nine parts unsaid, and setting up riddles for his disciples to figure out on their own.

While Wei Yuan was still giving intensive instruction, the Reformists and the Antiquityists were locked in a fierce battle, exchanging sharp words and being extremely rude to each other every day.

For example, one teacher openly declared in class that there's nothing you can't write down, only things you can't understand. If you can write a coherent and clear article, you must have thought it through very clearly.

Conversely, those who use cryptic language, don't speak completely, reveal only a fraction of what they know, or elevate the past while belittling the present, are simply those who haven't truly understood the subject and are afraid others will see through their ignorance. They deliberately speak in obscure and difficult-to-understand language, leaving others to figure it out themselves. Even if others do understand it, it usually has little to do with the writer.

Since arriving in Qingming, Zhang Sheng has improved his manners considerably, and Wei Yuan hasn't had any contact with an elder like Zhu Yuanjin in a long time.

Fishing? How do you fish, and what do you catch?
Wei Yuan knows how to fish, especially skilled in using his Qi to fish. Now that he has the formation and the bait, the question is what to fish for and what bait to use. Wei Yuan has a lot of bait, but some of it, once released, won't be fishing anymore; it'll be fishing for the heavens and earth, a perfect example of reckless suicide for future generations.

Although he deeply resented the digging of the pit and the playing of riddles, Wei Yuan had no choice but to continue playing this game. He carefully counted the bait in his hand.

Forget about the laurel branch; it was originally something the immortal lord used to fish for in the Western Regions, and it wasn't even alive then. Now that the branch has come to life, it's more likely to be used to fish for the immortal lord instead.

A girl with yin and yang? Wei Yuan shuddered and quickly dismissed the dangerous thought.

Both of the two *Solanum nigrum* plants are mutated and of good quality. They could be useful when they grow up, but not now.

Xu Wenwu? That seems like a good one...

After reviewing everything, Wei Yuan discovered something special: Netherworld Soil, a rare find in this realm, was dug up from the Netherworld. This item could be exchanged in the Primordial Palace Merit System, and its price was quite high.

Wei Yuan took out the array plate, materialized a bit of Netherworld Soil and placed it in the center, then inputted Dao power to activate it. This array plate was a gift from the Immortal Lord that day. After the Immortal Lord's magic power was used up, it lost its status, but the material was still quite good.

The Netherworld itself is of a high enough level, and Wei Yuan has added a layer of advanced azure energy, so this enhancement should have an effect.

After doing all this, Wei Yuan had just put away the array plate when he suddenly sensed something. Looking up, he saw a dark red tinged with black appear in the void, and then a thick, damp mist fell towards Wei Yuan.

As soon as the red mist appeared, Wei Yuan smelled a foul, fishy stench, like food and corpses piled together and left to rot for days—a smell filled with decay, decay, chaos, and madness. Dozens of faces vaguely emerged from the red mist, and Wei Yuan immediately recognized them as soldiers of Song Chao's troops, with one of the distorted faces being Song Chao himself.

With a thought, Wei Yuan and his horse instantly moved ten zhang apart. But the red mist remained above his head and continued to fall, as if Wei Yuan had never moved at all.

Wei Yuan's mind raced. This black, corrosive mist seemed to be his birthplace, as if it were naturally meant to be with him. This feeling was different from the blood curse of the Witch Clan. Blood curses had a clear locking mechanism, whether it was based on cause and effect, luck, or simply location. But this blood mist had no locking mechanism at all; it just appeared above his head, which was quite unreasonable. The last similar situation was a gift from heaven and earth.

Wei Yuan did not dodge any further, letting the blood mist engulf him. Instantly, he felt his body become heavier, and both his physical body and primordial spirit showed signs of aging. The blood mist entered his sea of ​​consciousness, transforming into hundreds of vengeful spirits that flew around in all directions.

What is this? A lingering ghost?

Wei Yuan was not one to be at the mercy of fate; the Taichu Palace had plenty of methods to deal with vengeful ghosts and remnant souls. Just as he was searching his memories, preparing to choose a few methods to annihilate the vengeful spirits, all the vengeful spirits seemed to have suddenly found their target, flying into Jade Mountain and throwing themselves into the Black Pool.

A ripple appeared in the black pool, then calmed down. All the damage to Wei Yuan's body and primordial spirit was completely healed, as if it had never happened.

The shadow in the moonlight shifted slightly, releasing a wisp of advanced black energy that hovered in front of Wei Yuan.

Despite receiving extraordinary fortune once again, Wei Yuan couldn't feel happy for some reason. The last time he received such fortune was by sacrificing the remnant soul of the Xu family's Dharma Image. This time, it was the lingering vengeful spirits of Song Chao and others that clung to Wei Yuan, only to be absorbed by the Black Pool within Jade Mountain. The Black Pool was formed from the convergence of the remnant souls of tens of thousands of Wu Clan warriors.

Wei Yuan is now certain that the Black Pool and the Shadow in the Moon are inextricably linked.

When studying the theories of Heaven and Earth and Qi and Destiny at Taichu Palace, the teacher repeatedly warned them not to touch the realm of the soul until they reached the Yujing realm, and not to dabble in things like soul binding or reincarnation. The teacher spoke solemnly, but did not explain why, only saying that they would naturally understand when their cultivation level reached that point.

Wei Yuan felt a little heavy-hearted, vaguely sensing that he had touched something he shouldn't have.

However, this was not something he could control, so he could only put it aside for the time being and return to the realm first.

With this batch of military rations in hand, it should last until the new harvest is ready. However, Wei Yuan doesn't intend to stop there; he plans to buy a few more batches and see if he can acquire anything else. After all, he still has some immortal silver left over from Xu Jingfeng's father's secret vault, so stockpiling more rations is always a good idea.

In their first transaction, Yue Qilin would undoubtedly have more resources at his disposal, and wouldn't release them all on the first try. If Wei Yuan stopped there, their relationship would gradually fade. Therefore, Wei Yuan planned to conduct several small-batch transactions, gradually deepening their relationship. This is what is meant by "making many entanglements."

At this moment, thousands of miles away, several cultivators were walking in the deep mountains and forests. They were dressed in peculiar ways, each carrying a wooden box on their back and different tools in their hands.

They caught insects and flies, picked grass and trees, and occasionally collected mud and stream water as they walked.

The leading cultivator suddenly stopped and took out an array plate from his robes. The array plate had a peculiar shape, resembling a white jade bowl, with a tiny, black figure about the size of a finger inside, making incoherent noises and pointing continuously towards the northwest.

The cultivator was taken aback at first, then overjoyed: "I never expected that there would be Netherworld Land in the Western Regions, and in such large quantities! This is truly heaven's help!"

One of the cultivators said, "Where there is Netherworld, there must be danger. Should we inform our senior brothers from the Heavenly Craft Hall and go explore together?"

The leading cultivator waved his hand and said, "No need! The feng shui is excellent today; it's best to enjoy this alone!"

(End of this chapter)