Longzang

Chapter 226 The Immortal Lord's Handiwork
"You old devil, I will never forgive you! Ouch, be gentle, be gentle! Nephew Sun, you're too rough!" Master Chuhe was lying on the bed in the thatched hut, his face bruised and swollen, his body covered in injuries.

He had three deep knife wounds on his back, reaching the bone, and several ribs were mostly cut open. At this moment, Sun Yu was treating his wounds, his movements swift and brutal.

While scolding Shengxin, the True Man told Sun Yu to be gentle, and Sun Yu repeatedly agreed. However, he couldn't change the habits that Xuanming Palace had cultivated over the years.

For example, he would pull a severed tendon from the old Taoist's wound, stretch it out, tie it to another severed tendon, apply some ointment that would make the old Taoist's voice rise eight octaves, and finally mark it with Taoist power.

It is said that this is the standard procedure of Xuanming Palace, which connects the important tendons and ligaments together. The ointment can regenerate the severed flesh and blood. Then, the Taoist mark is to tell the patient that after the tendons and ligaments have healed, there is some excess tissue in this area, which can be cleaned up by the patient himself.

Although the old Taoist looked miserable, his cries were full of energy, and his exposed muscles kept writhing, even sprouting green shoots from within. All his wounds were healing rapidly, and after Sun Yu's treatment, it seemed he would be lively and energetic again in less than three days.

Things happened so fast that by the time Wei Yuan flew out of the Hall of Merit, the battle outside the boundary had already ended.

After Chuhe Zhenren broke out of the realm, he directly pulled out a hidden great witch from the void. However, this great witch was Shengxin, whom Wei Yuan had met once in the Netherworld.

After Master Chuhe revealed his eight immortal swords, he discovered that all of them were dim and lacked luster, their power reduced to only two or three tenths. Before he could even finish his bewildered surprise, the Holy Heart's sorcery had already rained down upon him.

Saint Heart is a rare Daoist sorcerer, and a fierce person who can escape even when flying flies. He defeated the old Daoist whose immortal sword was destroyed in an instant, leaving the old Daoist with a face full of flowers and his body covered in wounds.

Seeing the situation was dire, the old Taoist broke through the overwhelming magic and turned to flee back to the realm. Just as he was about to rush into the realm, Shengxin suddenly stopped, ignoring the cat and snake at the edge of the realm, and instead glanced at the center before turning and disappearing.

Master Chuhe was holding a large, golden pill in his hand, ready to swallow it. He was quite surprised to see that Shengxin had not followed him in. He put the pill away and returned to his thatched hut with the help of his disciple.

Wei Yuan arrived just in time and quickly summoned Sun Yu to treat the True Person's injuries. At the same time, the entire realm was relaxed on the outside but tense on the inside, preparing to meet the possible surprise attack from the Sacred Heart.

However, after being on guard for a long time, the Wu Clan did not make any move. Wei Yuan stood at the edge of the boundary for a moment and felt something extremely subtle constantly passing by his body. If Wei Yuan had not had a keen sense of perception, he would have missed it.

Wei Yuan pretended not to know anything, waited a while longer, and then returned to the center of the realm to check on the injuries of Master Chuhe.

The True Man of the Hoeing Fields possessed an exceptionally strong physical body. Although it appeared as if he had been torn to pieces, it was actually just a matter of flesh and skin injuries. The bruises on his face were caused by the power of the Sacred Heart Witchcraft. While the injuries themselves were not severe, the witchcraft power within them was extremely troublesome. The bruises would not subside until this witchcraft power was gradually worn away.

Saint Heart is a Daoist sorcerer with a very high level of magical power, roughly equivalent to Ji Liuli and Bao Yun, but a level higher than Old Daoist Chuhe. Therefore, it won't be easy for Old Daoist Chuhe to eliminate the sorcerer's power; those dark circles under his eyes will take at least three or four days to disappear.

The real person was so angry that he cursed loudly, no longer caring about the dignity of a high-ranking cultivator.

After cursing for a while, the old Taoist priest finally realized that the main reason he was beaten was that the eight immortal swords had suddenly malfunctioned. Being a man of great experience, he immediately guessed the truth: "Has this place altered the heavens and earth, sealing away the immortal swords?"

“Yes,” Wei Yuan replied.

The old Taoist priest was furious: "Why didn't anyone tell me?"

"You just arrived, and I haven't had a chance to say anything yet. Besides, I thought guarding was my job, and you were just here to rent a few plots of land. I didn't expect you to be so righteous and rush out right away." Wei Yuan really didn't intend to drag the old Taoist into his fold; he just wanted to hold more gatherings and form a small, ill-fated relationship.

The True Man of the Hoeing Fields was speechless upon hearing this.

He had originally planned to make a good impression on the disciples and followers of the Burning Sea, letting them know just how formidable the Jianmu Palace's farmers and pig farmers were. Instead, he ran headlong into a Daoist sorcerer, a figure rarely seen even once in eight hundred years, and his immortal sword was even banned! Such luck could only be described as a run of bad fortune.

Feeling frustrated, Master Chuhe summoned his two spirit pets back. A cat and a snake instantly appeared beside his bed, looking at the old Taoist's dark circles with some curiosity.

The old Taoist priest was furious and was about to punish the two rebellious creatures, but when he saw that the black cat was missing several pieces of fur and one of its claws could not be straightened, and that the snake was missing a whole piece of scales and its skin was bleeding, the old Taoist priest hesitated to strike.

The old Taoist sighed and said to Wei Yuan, "These two little creatures have been with me for many years. They are very intelligent and no less so than cultivators. They are also considered half of my disciples. You should get to know them so that you can look after each other if anything happens."

These two spirit pets didn't look very big, but they had actually both achieved the Dharma Form stage. Wei Yuan stood up and bowed, then, seeing that the black cat was very well-behaved and cute, he wondered if he should shake hands with it.

The black cat suddenly howled, arched its back, and its fur stood on end. It stared at Wei Yuan, took two steps back, and then suddenly turned and slipped into the old Taoist's sleeve, disappearing from sight. The snake, meanwhile, silently hid in the old Taoist's pocket.

This unexpected turn of events caught both the old Taoist priest and Wei Yuan off guard. The old Taoist priest looked at Wei Yuan with suspicion and asked, "What were you trying to do to them just now?"

Wei Yuan was also baffled. He had only wanted to shake hands with the black cat and hadn't even planned to pet it yet, so why was it so afraid? Besides, would two Dharma Aspect level spirit beasts be afraid of him, a mere early Foundation Establishment cultivator?
The old Taoist communicated with the two spirit beasts for a while, and when he looked at Wei Yuan again, his expression was much more serious. He said, "The black jade can communicate with yin and yang and know good and bad fortune. It saw death energy on you. It seems that you are being watched by something."

"Not the power of eternal silence in the underworld?"

Master Chuhe shook his head. “Eternal Silence is one of the primordial energies of heaven and earth. Black Jade looks at fortune, and you are likely to face a great calamity soon.”

Wei Yuan understood and said, "This junior understands."

Master Chuhe seemed to be thinking, and said, "It seems you were prepared, that's good."

As Wei Yuan was about to leave, Master Chuhe got out of bed, but the movement caused him to hiss in pain. He cursed Sun Yu as he pulled out a carrot-like object and handed it to Wei Yuan, saying, "Plant this in front of your house; it will bring you good fortune." Wei Yuan was taken aback. Such a spiritual plant existed?

Master Chuhe said, "You ignorant brat, the feng shui plants of my Jianmu Hall have always been the main source of our income. If it weren't for the emergence of Master Yanshi from the Tianji Hall, my Jianmu Hall would have been the undisputed leader in the field of feng shui."

Wei Yuan was surprised again; the relationships between the various halls within the Taichu Palace were so complex, with their domains overlapping. He took the carrot and asked, "What is this spiritual plant called? What's special about it? What should I pay attention to when planting it?"

"It's called the 'Lucky Radish,' and it can absorb the surrounding negative energy and bad luck, protecting you from disasters. But don't expect too much; it can only ward off minor illnesses and misfortunes, and make your luck a little bit better."

Wei Yuan thanked him and then said, "Actually, I still have some Netherworld Soil left, which should be enough to open up three more plots of land."

Master Chuhe's eyes lit up, and he said, "Go and cultivate them quickly! With six plots of land, won't my speed of cultivating new immortal plants double? This matter concerns my path to immortality, so I must not slack off!"

Wei Yuan silently thought to himself, "There's only one Xu Wenwu, so even if we open up sixty more plots of land, the one that will mutate will still be the same one, and the speed won't be any faster." Of course, he couldn't tell the True Person this, as the True Person was still seriously injured and he didn't want to affect his mood.

After bidding farewell to the immortal, Wei Yuan returned to his residence and planted a radish in front of his window. He had never planted a luck-changing spiritual plant before, so he was quite curious. However, Wei Yuan didn't have high hopes, mainly because he had made a huge mess. Even if he brought all the sentient radishes in the world, let alone a single radish, he probably wouldn't be able to change his luck.

However, the radish came at just the right time. Wei Yuan had set up an array around his house, but hadn't had time to place the spiritual objects yet, and the radish just happened to occupy a spot.

Now that he had the radish, Wei Yuan arranged spiritual objects in the other locations as well. Then, he dripped a drop of platinum laurel sap into the array plate on the table and activated the array.

This is also a formation for fishing with luck, and the bait is the drop of sap from the immortal tree in the center.

Although Wei Yuan didn't know Sheng Xin's name, he wouldn't mistake his magical aura. This Daoist sorcerer, who should have been active in the Netherworld, had suddenly appeared outside the realm, clearly targeting Wei Yuan.

The boundary wasn't indestructible, nor was it airtight; rather, it was leaky on all sides, and a powerful sorcerer with any skill could easily riddle him with holes. For example, that sorceress could come and go as she pleased. Therefore, Wei Yuan had prepared multiple backup plans, and this Qi Luck Array was just one of them.

After the formation was activated, the formation plate gradually disappeared, and all the spiritual objects that had set up the formation also disappeared without leaving a trace. Only a simple wooden house remained on the spot, completely undefended.

Wei Yuan entered the Hall of Merit again and began searching for the advanced Dao techniques he hadn't finished reading during the day. He quickly found what he was looking for.

This Daoist technique is called Water Blade Storm, and its original template is the most basic Daoist technique, Water Blade Technique. It provides additional bonuses to water and wood-type Daoist techniques in the Witch Domain, and also offers a slight boost to metal-type techniques. Wei Yuan was comfortable using Water Blade Technique in the past, so he chose this advanced Daoist technique.

The advanced Water Blade Storm is marked as Xuan-level. The Dao techniques of the Primordial Palace are divided into four levels according to their power and function: Heaven, Earth, Xuan, and Yellow. Water Blade Technique is not considered a high-level technique, while Water Blade Storm, as an advanced Dao technique, is classified as Xuan-level, which is neither high nor low. It can be used by both Dao Foundation and Dharma Form, but it is mainly used by Dharma Form.

However, the author of Water Blade Storm is quite famous: Pei Tinghai.

Wei Yuan thought to himself, "So the Immortal Lord also modified Taoist arts in his early years and made his fortune based on it."

Once this advanced Dao technique enters the Hall of Merit, if someone redeems it, the Taichu Palace will share a portion with the original author. Although it's not much, it's a steady stream of income.

This Xuan-level advanced Dao technique should be an early work of Immortal Lord Tinghai, and it should have accumulated merit over a thousand years. As long as the original author lives, the Taichu Palace will continue to distribute the merit; if the original author dies, his descendants can receive it for another three hundred years. Therefore, since this system was implemented, countless cultivators have devoted themselves to improving Dao techniques. Once a widely circulated Dao technique is developed, it truly benefits future generations.

Wei Yuan estimated that even without hearing about Immortal Lord Hai's ascension to immortality, the number of people exchanging for Ice Blade Storm likely increased significantly starting from the time he became True Lord Yu Jing. Everyone had similar thoughts; they all wanted to glean some secrets of ascension from the Immortal Lord's early works.

Actually, there are five or six other Daoist techniques similar to Ice Blade Storm, but the other authors only have one True Lord, the rest are Dharma Forms, and one has already passed away. After comparing the authors, Wei Yuan still chose to exchange for Water Blade Storm.

At this moment, Wei Yuan was filled with good fortune and had a vague feeling that this Daoist manual might not be as simple as it seemed on the surface, and that it might contain some secrets.

As a Xuan-level Dao technique, Water Blade Storm only requires two thousand merit points, which is actually ten percent cheaper than similar Dao techniques. Wei Yuan thought that perhaps the Immortal Lord was concerned about saving face and was embarrassed to price it too high, so he had to make it cheaper than others to appear to be giving back to the people.

While marveling at the Immortal Lord's character, Wei Yuan chose to exchange for the book, and a thin book appeared in his hand.

The booklets recording Taoist arts are all very similar, consisting of just a single page of jade paper. However, Taoist arts that have reached a certain grade are given a cover and back cover and bound into a booklet to show their solemnity.

Having grasped the Daoist techniques, Wei Yuan opened the book and began to read it carefully. The Water Blade Storm was actually quite simple, containing only a few thousand words, written concisely and succinctly. Wei Yuan read it from beginning to end in just half a cup of tea's time, only to find that he hadn't understood it.

Wei Yuan recognized each character and understood the meaning of each sentence, but when put together, he couldn't understand it.

The amazing thing is that although he didn't understand the book, he could already use the Water Blade Storm. Wei Yuan was a little confused.

This feeling is like when I listened to the teacher of the theory of heaven and earth explain the orbits of major stars. I only knew the answer, but I didn't understand the process at all.

Fortunately, there is a short passage at the end of the book: If there are any questions, you can exchange it for my book "The Principles of Water Blade Technique".

In fact, Wei Yuan can already use Water Blade Storm, but that's just copying what he's learned. How can one only have a superficial understanding on the path to immortality?
Wei Yuan remained expressionless as he offered a handful of Netherworld Soil in exchange for "The Principles of Water Blade Technique." This time, as the fruit split open, five books fell out at once, and Wei Yuan immediately felt a sense of foreboding.

(End of this chapter)