Xiuxian: I studied abroad in modern times

Chapter 581 Breaking Free from Barriers, Seeking Merit

Zheng Fa sat cross-legged on the futon, closing his eyes and looking inward at the meridians of his entire body. His three dantian (upper, middle, and lower dantian) were all swollen with spiritual energy. His Yang Shen (Yang Spirit), Dharma Body, and Creation Jade Tablet resonated faintly through the flow of spiritual energy, as if they wanted to merge into one.

After his first sermon, Zheng Fa's spiritual power was much stronger than before, even surpassing that of many who had undergone years of corpse liberation. Now, he was only one step away from achieving the Dao – the ritual.

As for the methods of arranging rituals, he knew a few. There were corresponding records in Lu Yao's "Crimson Jade Book", the two great techniques left by the Great Free Demon Ancestor, and even in the classics of the Heavenly River Sect.

What made Zheng Fa hesitate was that although these rituals were very similar, their main content was that they were witnessed by Heaven and Earth and recognized by all living beings.

However, due to the different methods of practice, the participants, regulations, and even the verses required for the rituals are different.

This raises a question: Since no one has ever practiced the Huangting Jing, wouldn't the rituals required for him to advance to the level of a wandering immortal be unprecedented?
Zheng Fa consulted several rituals he knew and combined them with the great Dao he had heard in Zixiao Palace, and now he had gained some understanding.

However, it is still far from perfect. If the people of the Nine Mountains Sect were to study it, it would probably take a long time. The best way is to consult some powerful figures.

The problem is that the Huangting Jing is unique, and the great master who can guide him in this regard must have opened up his own path, which is very rare in Xuanwei.

He guessed that Venerable Tianhe was one, Venerable Dao might be one too, Buddha Leiyin should be no less, and then there was Lu Yao.

Even regarding the Jade Pool Jellyfish, Zheng Fa doubted whether she possessed the ability.

None of these people were people Zheng Fa could truly consult.

Fortunately, Xuanwei doesn't have such people, but there are far too many in the Nine Luminaries Heaven.

Not counting Hongjun Daoist, there are still six!

Unfortunately, he is currently unable to leave the Five Internal Organs View.

Zheng Fa withdrew his thoughts and slowly honed his spiritual power. Suddenly, a thought struck him, and his divine sense silently spread out, permeating the surrounding void.

There were some thread-like tiny insects in the air, completely transparent, constantly curling and stretching.

They seemed oblivious, carried by the air currents, and drifted to Zheng Fa's nose.

This is a silkworm, which the Nine Mountains Sect has studied for a long time. This worm often lurks in the spine of its host.

Once it parasitizes the spinal nerves, the Gu God can control the host's body with a single thought, rendering it powerless and out of control.

Zheng Fa suppressed his inner resistance and sat calmly on the futon. He seemed not to notice anything unusual and quietly watched the silkworm drift into his nostrils, crawl over the back of his head, down his neck, and into his cervical spine.

At that moment, his body suddenly trembled slightly, and the flesh on both sides of his cheeks twitched uncontrollably.

……

"It's done!" the Gu God exclaimed joyfully.

The White Bone Demon Ancestor's eyes flashed with spiritual fire twice more as he looked at her and whispered, "Are you confident?"

The God of Gu smiled gently and pointed at the Thousand-Eyed Cicada in front of him. The spots on the back of the Thousand-Eyed Cicada scattered into starlight in the air, and the starlight condensed into a light screen. In the light screen, Zheng Fa was sitting on the futon, trembling.

"With his limited cultivation, how could he possibly stop my children?"

The White Bone Demon Ancestor nodded slightly, then asked, "And what about the Painted Skin Moth?"

"The skin-painting moth was planted long ago."

"It's planted?"

"When he first saw this stone, he was struck by my painted skin moth, but the child is still an egg."

"Only Shi Nandang?"

The God of Gu chuckled lightly: "It's a habit."

"..." The White Bone Demon Ancestor remained silent for a long time, looked down at his empty skeleton, seemed to breathe a sigh of relief, and shook his head, saying, "So, all we need to do is wait for Shi Nandang to get the Primordial Purple Qi?"

The Gu God thought for a moment, then frowned and asked, "Do you remember that Creation once said that the seventh futon is extremely difficult to sit on?"

The White Bone Demon Ancestor nodded slightly, then suddenly paused, asking with a surprised expression, "What do you mean?"

"We are not waiting for Shi Nandang to obtain the Primordial Purple Qi, but... to help him obtain the Primordial Purple Qi!"

The White Bone Demon Ancestor paused for a moment before slowly nodding.

……

In the courtyard, Zheng Fa opened his eyes and looked at the thousand-eyed cicada perched on the windowsill.

I have to say, these gadgets from Gu Shen are quite useful; they can even be used for video calls.

This Gu God sounds like a really good person!
Zheng Fa seemed completely unaware, honing his magical power in his small courtyard and studying the content of Hongjun Daoist's first sermon at Zixiao Palace, intending to integrate it into the "Huangting Jing".

Time flowed by like water, and two months later, Mingyue suddenly appeared at the entrance of the courtyard.

"Master Shi!" Zheng Fa looked outside and saw Mingyue waving at him.

Zheng Fa's heart stirred slightly, and he had already guessed what had happened.

"The master has invited you to the temple to discuss matters!"

really!

The Gu God scattered the Thousand-Eyed Cicadas all over the ancient trees in the temple. Although there were some places the Thousand-Eyed Cicadas could not enter, they could see the general movements of the Five Organs Temple.

The Thousand-Eyed Cicada can see it, the Gu God can see it, and of course, Zheng Fa can see it too.

He remained expressionless and followed Mingyue to the main hall of the temple.

Most of the people in the main hall had already arrived. After Zheng Fa, only the White Lotus Monk and the Golden-Winged Roc arrived late.

The group looked at the Daoist of Creation, seemingly wondering what was going on.

"We have all come here for the Primordial Purple Qi." The Creation Daoist didn't beat around the bush and went straight to the point. "I have said before that we are all one family."

The Grand Elder of the Lu Clan glanced at Zheng Fa.

The Golden-Winged Roc showed no respect to the Daoist of Creation: "Your Fellow Daoist Shi doesn't treat you like family."

Daoist Zaohua didn't even look at Zheng Fa, but just smiled and said, "It's very common to have selfish motives, but in the end, we are all Daoist Lu Yao's people, and we can't distinguish between each other."

Upon hearing Lu Yao's name, the Golden-Winged Roc obediently shut its mouth and stopped arguing.

"I have summoned you all here so that you may set aside your past grievances and work together to obtain the Primordial Purple Qi."

Upon hearing this, even the White Lotus Monk was startled, abruptly raising his head and shifting his gaze between Zheng Fa and the Creation Daoist.

The others understood as well.

"Master Creation." The Lu Clan's Grand Elder finally couldn't hold back any longer and actually stood up, asking the Daoist Creation, "Putting aside past grievances, tell me, how should we work together?"

The Creation Daoist said, "Of the fourteen of us, whoever obtains the Primordial Purple Qi, the others should do their best to help."

The Grand Elder of the Lu Clan sneered: "Among us, besides Ancestor and Fellow Daoist Bai Lian, only Shi Nandang is most likely to obtain the Primordial Purple Qi!"

Daoist Zaohua looked at Shi Nandang: "Bai Lian and I have few needs for your help, but Daoist Shi's cultivation is too low."

The Lu Clan's Grand Elder gaped, pointed at Zheng Fa, and uttered a question that seemed to come from the depths of his soul: "You mean, we're going to help this scoundrel obtain the Ancestral Master's treasure together?" Zheng Fa looked at him, his face full of innocence—why are you pointing at me? It's not like I volunteered!
The Daoist of Creation nodded slightly. The eight Nascent Soul cultivators of the Lu Clan seemed unable to accept it, some shaking their heads and others snorting coldly.

"It's not just about helping Fellow Daoist Shi Nandang, but about working together. It's just that Fellow Daoist Shi's cultivation is the shallowest, but his hopes are very high. I hope everyone will not hold any grudges."

The Lu Clan's Grand Elder pursed his lips tightly, seemingly not having heard a word.

"Fellow Daoists of the Lu Clan, is this a sign of unwillingness?"

"We refuse!" the Lu Clan's Grand Elder shouted, his neck stiff. "In the end, aren't you just helping Shi Nandang? We're already sparing his opportunities out of respect for you, the Ancestor of Creation. How can we possibly help him?"

Seeing the Creation Daoist's sullen face, the Lu Clan's Grand Elder said again, "Not to mention us, Creation Saint Ancestor, ask anyone else in this hall if they are willing?"

He pointed at the Golden-Winged Roc, which was still sneering. The White Lotus Monk beside him was also chanting scriptures with his head down. Although he didn't say a word, his attitude was very clear.

A smug smile appeared on the face of the Lu Clan's Grand Elder. He thought to himself that if these two were unwilling, then the Gu God and the White Bone Demon Ancestor, who were allies of his Lu Clan, would naturally not stand on Zheng Fa's side either.

"I promise."

A charming female voice instantly froze the smile on his lips.

The Lu Clan's Grand Elder turned to look at the Gu God, his eyes wide with disbelief—shouldn't the Gu God be on our side?

Before Gu Shenhua finished speaking, the White Bone Demon Ancestor beside him also said, "I agree to this as well."

"..."

This was hard for not only the Lu Clan's Grand Elder and others to accept, but even the White Lotus Monk looked over in surprise, staring at the Gu God and the other two, lost in thought.

"This suggestion was actually put forward by Fellow Daoist Gu God."

Seeing their surprised expressions, the Daoist of Creation chuckled and offered an explanation.

"The Ancestor of the Gu God!"

"The Grand Elder of the Lu Clan shouted."

His tone was full of resentment:

We're on the same side!

Even if the two patriarchs didn't care about the Lu clan, they were still demon ancestors!
Is there really such a helpful demon ancestor?
Is this true?

The Gu God glanced at the few Lu Clan members, his eyes devoid of any warmth, and suddenly said, "They agreed as well."

The Lu Clan's Grand Elder met his gaze, then suddenly reached out and grabbed his own throat, unable to utter a sound. Then, as if he had become a different person, he lowered his head and said in a buzzing voice, "We have no objections."

Zheng Fa's heart skipped a beat. Had the Lu Clan's Grand Elder already been infected with a Gu poison?

"got used to."

The God of Gu said casually.

This habit is not good. The others looked displeased. The other seven members of the Lu clan finally realized that it was not that the Gu God had changed his nature, and no one dared to object anymore.

The Creation Daoist and his companions all looked at the white lotus and the golden-winged roc.

Bai Lian and the Golden-Winged Roc exchanged glances, but remained silent, still hesitant.

Suddenly, the Creation Daoist spoke up: "Fellow Daoist Lu Yao has high hopes for this Primordial Purple Qi."

Bai Lian lowered her head and pondered for a while before speaking, "In that case, we are also willing to do our part, however small."

The Daoist of Creation laughed, nodded slightly, and looked at Zheng Fa, saying, "Fellow Daoist Shi, what do you think?"

"Thank you, Fellow Daoist Creation."

Zheng Fa seemed oblivious to the problem, and his gratitude was exceptionally sincere.

The Creator smiled with satisfaction and said a lot of polite words, which Zheng Fa translated. The gist of it was that this meeting was a meeting of unity and a meeting of victory!

"To obtain the seventh futon, one needs great merit, great enlightenment, and great perseverance." After speaking for a long time, the Creator finally got to the point. "I previously thought that all three had to be present, but now I wonder, what if only one condition is met?"

The people in the hall were taken aback at first, then excitedly said, "Any one of the three is enough?"

"It's possible!"

"That makes things much simpler."

After the discussion among the Daoist of Creation and the others, he said, "I have no clue about great enlightenment and great perseverance, but I have some ideas about great merit. Judging from the name, the word 'merit' is only within my Five Organs Observation, and I'm afraid it will be difficult to obtain."

“Fellow Daoist is right, I’ve thought about that too,” Bai Lian echoed. “I observe that the Nine Luminaries Heaven is filled with fighting and vengeful spirits. If I want to gain great merit, I’m afraid I’ll have to wait until I go outside the temple to find it.”

The Creation Daoist nodded slightly, pointed outside the hall, and said, "There are two major forces in this world vying for the position of overlord of heaven and earth. One is the demon race, and the other is the witch race. The two races are constantly at war, and the evil energy of heaven and earth is spreading. If you want to gain merit, you should probably start with these two races."

The Creation Daoist's words made a lot of sense. The Golden-Winged Roc asked, "If that's the case, how can this merit be obtained?"

"I don't know about that."

The Daoist of Creation sighed: "Otherwise, I would not have called you all here to discuss matters. I also hope that you can find some clues."

"Does Fellow Daoist Zaohua mean that we should all go down the mountain to seek opportunities to gain merit?"

"Exactly!" the Creation Daoist laughed. "If you have gained anything, return to the temple, and we will exchange information."

Everyone was surprised; this Daoist of Creation actually seemed to have a selfless nature.

Even the Golden-Winged Roc's expression softened considerably, and he replied in a low voice, "It's best if everyone depends on their own fate."

“This humble monk already has some ideas,” Bai Lian even said proactively. “The calamity of war is raging in this world, and the souls of the dead have nowhere to go. They are waiting for me to guide them.”

"Fellow Daoist Bai Lian's idea makes sense," praised Daoist Zaohua. "I also have some thoughts. In that case, shall we each descend the mountain?"

The others had no objections.

Zheng Fa walked out of the temple gate, glanced back at the Five Organs Temple, and only then did he feel relieved.

He had a very bad feeling about the Five Organs View, and when he stepped out of the door, he felt like he had escaped from a dead end.

The world outside the mountains has undergone tremendous changes.

He didn't know how time changed in the Five Organs Observation and the Illusion, but at this point, many years must have passed since his first sermon.

Just as the Daoist of Creation said, all eyes in the world were drawn to the Witch Clan and the Demon Clan.

The demon race rules the heavens, and the witch race governs the earth; both are overlord-level forces, practically the protagonists of this world.

When the Daoist of Creation and others went down the mountain to search for merit, their focus seemed to be on these two clans.

But Zheng Fa had a different idea.

If some modern legends are true, then the powerful witch and demon races that are currently so influential in this world will soon become nothing more than smoke in the wind.

There are only a few truly meritorious deeds worthy of being offered a seat on a prayer mat... and none of them are related to the Lich and Demon races!

(End of this chapter)