Wet viviparity

Chapter 767 Scattered Counts, A Fate in the Pavilion
On the riverbank, Zhao Chi groaned and groaned for a long time. Seeing that there was no response, he carefully reconnected his black snake body, which was almost broken in two.

He had plenty of spiritual ointments on hand, as well as the Huangting Palace's special medicine—the Regenerating Muscle Ointment. Therefore, he wasn't worried about his physical injuries. He was only afraid that the evil spirit was secretly toying with him, making him wish for death or life but unable to live or die.

If I hadn't just started cultivating on Moyun Peak and hadn't yet mastered the Three Secrets of Zen, I wouldn't have allowed this evil spirit to run rampant.

That junior brother Jiang is also unable to escape his own demonic nature. Why bother fighting with that monster? That monster has a demonic magic and supernatural power to rely on. What does junior brother Jiang have to rely on? His only advantage is his powerful demonic body.

As Zhao Chi was thinking this, he suddenly smelled a floral fragrance. He looked up and saw a boy riding down on a cloud.

"Boy, boy."

He opened the snake's mouth and shouted to the flying clouds above the gorge.

The cloud slowly descended, and the fire crow boy on the cloud hesitated for a moment when he saw Zhao Chi's disheveled appearance, but still took some pollen from his basket and sprinkled it on Zhao Chi's wounds.

The broken bones on the snake's body healed incredibly quickly upon contact with pollen, leaving only a faint scar in the time it takes to drink a cup of tea.

"I'm only doing this because you're a disciple of the True Spirit Sect, otherwise I wouldn't waste this spirit powder to cure you."

Seeing the boy's relaxed expression, Zhao Chi knew that the monster had probably been subdued. Despite his shock, he asked, "Good boy, did my junior brother Jiang ask you to come and find me?"

Fire Crow Boy paused for a moment, then shifted his gaze to the side and said rather awkwardly, "That's right. Fellow Daoist Jiang and his partner are currently recuperating in the Cold Netherworld Spiritual Mansion. Fellow Daoist, you should also hurry back to your mansion."

How could someone as astute as Zhao Chi not notice the boy's unnatural behavior?

He thought to himself, "My junior brother is so heartless and ungrateful. I came all the way here, poured my heart out to him, and fought against the enemy together, but afterwards he ignored me completely and left me to fend for myself at the bottom of the gorge."

"Fellow Daoist, don't overthink it."

Even if Fire Crow Boy had no eyesight, he could sense Zhao Chi's emotions at this moment and said, "Fellow Daoist Jiang's wife was burned in the center of the battle, and half of her body was burned away. Fellow Daoist Jiang is in slightly better condition. His physical body is not damaged. Although he was refined by true water and true fire, fortunately his internal organs were not damaged."

The two of them are now soaking in the spirit pool inside the mansion to alleviate their injuries.

However, that lady still needs the Ice Soul Treasure to extinguish her internal fire. I must return to Dongji Island first and ask the island lord for help.

Without finishing his sentence, Fire Crow Boy hurriedly rode away on a cloud.

After the boy left, Zhao Chi felt a little better. He took to the air and arrived at the Cold Netherworld Spiritual Mansion. Seeing that the mansion had not turned him away, he was certain that Junior Brother Jiang might really be unable to leave due to his injuries.

Inside the manor, he didn't see Junior Brother Jiang to greet him, and he couldn't go directly to the Chaotic Pool for fear of bumping into someone's private affairs, so he sat down to meditate and regulate his breathing.

After a while, I felt my energy return to normal and my mind clear, but I still couldn't see my junior brother come out, so I could only wander around the main hall and the corridor.

After passing through a covered walkway and flower pavilion, I saw ice plates and cups on the table inside the pavilion, a wooden sword for warding off evil spirits hanging beside it, and half of a flower vine that had been unearthed. Water streams flowed around the eaves like curtains, and the arrangement was quite ingenious. I thought to myself that this must be a place where the owner often came to play.

He had no intention of going inside, but when he caught sight of a booklet with its pages blown open beside the stone chessboard in the pavilion, he was immediately drawn to it.

In an instant, he felt the slight chill and breeze in the mansion stop, and the booklet appeared larger in his field of vision, as if it had a natural attraction for him.

"magic!"

Zhao Chi snapped out of his daze.

Suddenly he shuddered, because he found himself standing in the pavilion, holding a booklet from the table, his fingers even lightly pinching a corner of the cover.

"The Secret Record of Transformation and Mysterious Fiends." Zhao Chi's lips moved slightly as he read out the few seal characters on the cover.

After hesitating for a moment, Zhao Chi still turned to the first page as if possessed. The few lines of small print on the general outline caught his eye and he couldn't put it down. His eyes scanned back and forth over the words, and his breathing became more and more rapid.

"Seize the innate spiritual essence of the demon embryo, use the human and divine as the furnace and the evil energy as the fuel, refine yin and yang, and achieve the transformation of form and spirit."

Zhao Chi murmured to himself, involuntarily continuing to turn the pages, one after another, from the first chapter "Establishing the Altar and Creating the Cave, the Embryo and Egg Connecting with Spirits", to the middle chapter "Water and Fire Refining the Form, the Demon Embryo Initially Formed", and finally the last chapter "The Embryo Talisman Turns to Ashes, Shedding its Materiality and Becoming a Spirit".

The first two chapters contain complete records of cultivation methods, while the last chapter seems to be a nascent work, mostly consisting of profound and unresolved principles.

"I see."

Zhao Chi suddenly realized, thinking to himself, "No wonder that lady said that Ancestor Zhong Chengzi learned about the method created by Hei Xiao and developed a love for talent. This must be the method created by Hei Xiao."

Holding the booklet, Zhao Chi found it hard to believe that a mere junior member of the sect, a young member of the Jiang family, possessed such talent for creating a new method. Suddenly, he remembered something and exclaimed, "It must be because of my junior brother's innate wisdom that he has accumulated the ability to create his own method. That makes sense."

According to the records in the last chapter, once the demon embryo is fully developed, the time is chosen to perform the ritual, refining the demon form into talisman ash. After swallowing the talisman into the body, one can transform into a demon, whose cultivation far surpasses that of other cultivators of the same realm, and who also possesses innate demonic magic.

Once this method is mastered, it truly refines demons into external elixirs. Upon completion, ordinary magical treasures will be difficult to harm one, and one can instantly rise to the upper echelons of society.

Logically speaking, Zhao Chi, as a member of the Zhao clan of the True Spirit Sect and who has been cultivating on Moyun Peak in recent years, should not be attracted to this method. After all, he possesses the righteous method, has achieved success in cultivation, and will surely become a Taiyi Zhengshu in the future. Why should he seek this unorthodox path?

But Zhao Chi was captivated by the immense magical power that could be easily forged within this magic, and he savored its wonders for a long time.

"Within the mountain gate, there are Ji Xuzhou, the Taoist eccentric of the Ji family; Jiang Zhao, the master of the Hunkong Treasure Hand of the Jiang family; Zheng Guang, the Yu Mao Gong of the Zheng family; and Zhao Si Niangzi of my Zhao family. They are all leading figures in the four realms."

Although I appear prominent and glamorous to outsiders, I am actually not outstanding among the Zhao family or among the many disciples of Moyun Peak. My current position is not due to talent, but rather to my cunning and scheming.

Even if one attains enlightenment in the future, one will only be a scattered Taiyi immortal. The difference between them and the like is that they attained enlightenment through righteous cultivation and were included in the Heavenly Court of Immortals. They may seem unrestrained and carefree, but they are not comparable to those who are officially appointed by Heaven and included in the ranks of immortals.

If I master this method, I can progress from unorthodox to sainthood, and then supplement it with the orthodox method, practicing both simultaneously. The future is promising.”

Zhao Chi gripped the booklet tightly, finding it increasingly feasible the more he thought about it.

As for his recent interest in Buddhism, he frankly knows he's not cut out for it, not only because he lacks the necessary conditions, but also because it's difficult to meditate day after day for ten years in order to comprehend the profound and obscure Buddhist teachings.

For him, the minimum requirement is to receive a return for every bit of effort, and it's also normal to receive three times the return for every bit of effort.

However, the basic requirement of Buddhism is to overcome this stinginess and attachment. These are obstacles to severing the three fetters before attaining the first stage of enlightenment, especially the fetter of self-view which requires seeing through attachment.

To be honest, his practice at Moyun Peak almost drove him mad. The deeper he delved into Buddhism, the more it overturned some of his past beliefs and principles, which was more painful than killing himself.

When he saw this book of magic, he felt as if the clouds had parted and the sun had risen. This was the path he had been searching for, the path where one could reap tenfold rewards for one's efforts.

"Senior Brother Zhao, please come into the hall for a chat."

Upon hearing Junior Brother Jiang's telepathic message, Zhao Chi felt a sudden chill run down his spine.

He subconsciously wanted to loosen his grip on the booklet and put it back in its original place, but halfway through, he reluctantly clenched it again. Finally, he gritted his teeth and took the booklet to see Junior Brother Jiang.

"This is an opportunity for Zhao Chi, one that I cannot miss."

(End of this chapter)