Beichen Sword Sect's Headmaster's Secret Records

Chapter 419 Demonic Way
Tie Dan opened his eyes, looked at the stone wall in front of him, noticed the dust on his robe, and then reached out to touch his face.

Still.

So he stood up, walked out of the empty mountain room, looked up at the verdant Jiuyin peaks, and fell silent for a moment.

"Oh, Senior Brother? You've emerged from seclusion?"

The reeds were still the same, leaping down from the tree with a peach in their mouths.

Tie Dan looked at her.

Jianjia felt a little uncomfortable under his gaze, so she quickly handed him the peach.
"Uh, I came to help you, but I missed it... Want some? It's really sweet."

Tie Dan thought for a moment,
"I've been in seclusion for a few days."

Fortunately, the question was simple, Jianjia quickly answered.
"Seventy days. I heard you went into seclusion after taking over Benshan. It's been exactly seventy days."

Seventy days, huh?

In that case, the defeat of Taixu Palace in this battle was similar to the one with the wild boar of Hengshan, where a single sword strike took away ten of his lives before he could escape.

"Senior brother, what's wrong? Is something on your mind? Why don't you tell me?"

Seeing a good opportunity, Jianjia immediately expressed her concern.

Ferritin then glanced at her.
"You're just going to eat peaches here?"

Jianjia pouted.

"If Lord Yuan can eat it, why can't I eat it..."

Tie Dan was too lazy to waste words with her.

"You're lazy and good-for-nothing. Instead of wasting your time, go practice your swordsmanship. I'm punishing you by banishing you from the mountains for seventy years."

Jianjia: "...Yes, Sect Leader."

With a flick of his sleeve, Tie Dan transformed into a rainbow sword and vanished.

Where to go? Of course, the same old place.

"Uh, True Lord Xuantian? What brings you here? Are you asking for pills? These Vajra Pills are for livestock..."

Just as the sword rainbow came crashing down, Tie Dan silently ran over and sat down in front of him, leaving Ling Xuzi, who was refining pills there, completely bewildered.

Tie Dan asked as soon as he opened his mouth,
"Has Dao Lord ever seen the Great Void Heavenly Demon?"

Ling Xuzi had a real headache.
"...I know you're very direct, but could you please not be so direct?"
With the cause and effect set out like this, at least we should have some background information, right?

Tie Dan nodded.
"As it should be, Xuan Tian pays respects to the Chief Daoist Lord."

Ling Xuzi narrowed his eyes...

Sure enough, Tie Dan's next sentence was,
Have you ever seen the Great Void Demon?

"Ugh……"

Ling Xuzi sighed and unconsciously pressed his Jingming acupoint.
"Even if we've met a few times..."

Tie Dan's eyes immediately sharpened.

"I've seen so many before! And they're still alive! No wonder you're the head of the Xuanmen sect! Do you have any methods to exorcise demons?"

Ling Xuzi chuckled, conjured a teacup with a flick of his wrist, took a sip of water to calm himself down, and
"The Heavenly Demon is not a thing of Taiji. It is strange and grotesque, formless and intangible. There is no way to destroy it. It is simply a matter of responding to its moves and turning it into ashes if possible, breaking it into pieces if possible, and if all else fails, finding a corner to suppress it and slowly wearing it down to death."

This statement sounded suspicious, but Tie Dan didn't care about his accusations and pressed on relentlessly.

"Then I wonder when and where you encountered what kind of celestial demon, and where you suppressed it. What kind of demonic art or supernatural power did it use?"

Since we have nothing else to do, why don't we discuss this in detail and devise a method for slaying demons and protecting the righteous path?

"Who's going to waste time with you? Can't you see I'm busy right now..."

Ling Xuzi impatiently fanned the alchemy furnace, but after thinking for a moment, he tentatively asked,

"But why is Sect Leader Xuantian so worried? Could it be... that one of your friends was harmed by a demon during his seclusion and his body was possessed?"

Iron egg straight ball,

I have no other friends.

Ling Xuzi nearly tumbled over when his shoulder slumped; he never imagined talking to this kid would be so exhausting.
"Mysterious Heaven True Lord, what exactly are you trying to do? Don't tell me about some celestial demon descending to the mortal realm. I am an enlightened being, and if something were to happen, how could I not have sensed it at all?"

Tie Dan thought about it and realized, "Oh right, although this guy is a coward, he is still a Heavenly King under the Thunder Ancestor, a Dao Child who appears only once in a thousand years, the head of the Nine Great Mystic Sects, and a Dao Lord who has comprehended the laws of Heaven..."

"What enlightenment have you attained? Show me."

Ling Xuzi rolled his eyes.

Iron Egg,

"Don't be stingy, I'll show you my sword too."

"Stop, stop, this is getting out of hand."

Ling Xuzi was also exasperated, unable to bear the boy's annoyance any longer. He made a hand seal to make the fan move on its own, then stood up and said...

"Let's pretend you want to ask about the Taixu Heavenly Demon. Come with me, and I'll take you to see the person who knows the most about the Taixu Heavenly Demon..."

Tie Dan quickly shook his head.

"No need, there's no need to see Grand Master Xuandu."

"Huh??? What are you doing..."

Even someone as accomplished as Lingxuzi couldn't hide his surprise for a moment, his eyes flashing with a strange light. But after calculating with his fingers and pondering for a while, he still shook his head and said...

"The Grand Master's cultivation is indeed unfathomable, and his supernatural powers are unmatched in the world. Over the years, he has dealt with at least eight hundred, if not a thousand, heavenly demons. He must be extremely proficient in this art."

However, I don't know his whereabouts, so how can I lead you to him? I'll take you to see an old friend. Years ago, he was possessed by a demon, but he was later cured. He lived and ate with the demon for many years, so in terms of expertise, probably no one is more knowledgeable than him.”

Tie Dan was also surprised and quickly followed.

"Is this true? Can possession by a demon be cured?"

Ling Xuzi arrived at the entrance, casually summoned a crane, and paid a starting fare of one pill to ride it.

"Actually, it can't be considered a cure. It's just that I gave him a jade pendant beforehand and performed a ritual to entrust a part of his soul to it. This allowed me to arrive in time before he was devoured by the Heavenly Demon and save his life."

Fortunately, the demon king had only come to the mortal realm for fun, so he wasn't given any trouble. He enjoyed decades of worldly riches and pleasures, and once he was done, he returned home on his own.

Tie Dan asked in surprise,
"The Dao Lord is truly prescient, able to foresee the descent of the Heavenly Demon?"

Lingxuzi shrugged.

"That wasn't something I predicted. It's just that his family is descended from dukes and marquises, a family that enjoys great wealth and power. It's common for them to be coveted. The Heavenly Demon especially likes to target the wealthy and powerful; ordinary people wouldn't even look at them."

To be honest, it all started when his ancestor committed murder, arson, massacre, and confiscation of property. After learning that I was the greatest Taoist in the world, he began sending money to my Qingcheng Mountain every year, offering rare and precious treasures as tribute. He even gilded the ground in front of the mountain gate. All this filial piety was just to pray for the safety of his children and grandchildren, hoping that a Taoist seed would be born in the family so that he could enter the mountain to seek the Tao and protect his descendants. Later, I took the opportunity to visit his family. The boy's aptitude was quite good, and he was a prodigy with a photographic memory. His understanding of Taoism was also top-notch. He was from a wealthy family with a vast fortune, and becoming a high-ranking official would be a piece of cake for him.

Unfortunately, I could see that his family was too lenient and spoiled. His children and grandchildren were all lazy and unruly, and all of them were fair-skinned, chubby, and gentle. They had no resemblance to their ancestors at all.

That boy was pampered by his parents and grandparents, which fostered his gentle and sweet nature. He spoke in classical Chinese and was a kind and compassionate young nobleman. From a young age, he mingled in the boudoirs of girls, studying music, chess, calligraphy, painting, and the arts. At sixteen, he had never even killed a chicken. He would cry when a potted plant died. It was clear that the wealth his family had gained through war was probably not going to last.

Chaos has arrived, and one day the world will fall. Such a fat sheep is bound to meet with disaster sooner or later. So I gave them a piece of jade to settle this karmic debt beforehand, and sure enough, I encountered it.

Tie Dan nodded.

"To be worshipped and to save a life, so that's how it is."

Lingxuzi laughed.

"Who said I saved his life? Didn't I say I only protected his soul so that it wouldn't dissipate and his true spirit wouldn't sleep? Now that kid only has a remnant soul left, which is stored in the jade; the rest has been eaten by the Heavenly Demon."

Tie Dan frowned. "Eaten it?"

Ling Xuzi nodded.

"They were all eaten up. The entire family was played to death and eaten by the Heavenly Demon. Fortunately, there were a few illegitimate children of the female relatives who were raised outside the mansion and escaped the calamity. Now they have ended up serving customers on the pleasure boats of the brothel. As long as they are guaranteed to never have offspring, that's fine."

Tie Dan glanced sideways at Ling Xuzi.

"...He even dressed your family's land in gold robes. Is this how you repay people, Daoist Lord?"

Lingxuzi chuckled.
"You want to talk to me, a mountain folk, about cause and effect and retribution? Haha, fine, I'll tell you about the principles I've come to understand."

What ancestors did, their descendants will suffer; what masters did, their disciples will inherit. This is called cause and effect.

No matter how much benefit or wealth one gains from the world, sooner or later one's fortunes will decline and one will have to pay it all back; this is called retribution.

You can seize all the treasures of the world, including gold, silver, and pearls, by force, because the strong prey on the weak. This is your skill, and it is also the rule of the world.

But one day, whether one attains enlightenment or dies, one will be taken away by heaven and buried in the earth. What one has gained must eventually be scattered back into the world. This is the principle of nature.

If you only take in and never give out, only accept and never reciprocate, you will exhaust all the ways of heaven and earth, take all the destiny of the universe, and enjoy all the benefits of the mortal world.

When people encounter you, they will only suffer losses, not gains. No one can get anything good out of you. Everything in the world will fall into your hands, and the natural cycle will end with you.

This is what it means to be possessed by a demon; the whole world will turn against you.

Tie Dan was taken aback, then seemed to understand.

"Wow! What a profound truth! No wonder it's the insight of the First Dao Lord!"

The subordinates fawned over him.

Lingxuzi smiled and gave it another pill.

The crane immediately shut its mouth, descended from the clouds, and arrived at the bronze gate of a treasure vault. It then bent down and invited the two people to dismount.

Tie Dan glanced at the crane; it seemed vaguely familiar. But then again, aren't all birds pretty much the same? He ignored it and simply said...
"That's not the demon I'm asking about."

Lingxuzi smiled and led Tiedan into the treasure vault.

“Young friend Xuantian, there are very few Dao materials in the world that I can approve of, and you are the best among them.”

I see that you've just reached the Nascent Soul stage, and without any elders to guide you, you're cultivating the inner sect's primordial spirit method all by yourself. You've probably gotten a little carried away.

In retrospect, I do bear some responsibility for this matter. But as your senior, I'll offer you a few words of guidance.

I advise you not to delve too deeply into the so-called Taixu Heavenly Demon.

Nine out of ten of the tales of celestial demons circulating in this world are lies.

Tie Dan frowned, "A lie?"

"Indeed, there are some messy things outside the Void Abyss, but the Void Abyss is so vast. Even if you offer sacrifices every day, how easy is it for you to guide them? Why would the Heavenly Demons wait for you to summon them all day long if they have nothing better to do?"

Although Taiji Heaven will eventually come to an end, it still has at least two thousand years of destiny left. How could the extraterrestrial demons descend to the mortal realm so easily? Even if they were lucky enough to obtain a demonic fetus, how could they be a match for us cultivators under the suppression of the Great Dao?

Therefore, what my Xuanmen calls possession by heavenly demons and going astray in cultivation are actually all inner demons.

Most of the time, the inner sect's Yuan Shen techniques were cut too much, involving sect rules and regulations. The elders of the sect, for various reasons, kept it hidden and refused to explain in detail, causing disciples to fumble around on their own, practicing incorrectly and ruining their cultivation.

Lingxuzi pointed to his head.
"The head is the leader of the six yang. We mountain people cultivate the Tao and become immortals, with countless supernatural powers and the ability to transform in thousands of ways. But no matter what shape it is, it always has to change its head and grow a face. This is because our deduction of the primordial spirit of the leader is indeed not as sophisticated as that of the Divine Sect."

I have seen many senior Taoist practitioners who spend their days sitting in the mountains, obsessively practicing their skills until they go astray and their minds are damaged. They exhibit all sorts of symptoms.

Some people damage their right brain and suddenly become blind to their left side, unable to see or see anything, and even trip over things when walking, which becomes a lifelong flaw.

Some people who injured their foreheads felt as if their souls had scattered, their bodies had died, and they had become empty shells, like walking corpses.

Some people suffer from severe delusions, unable to distinguish the faces of their fellow practitioners and friends, always believing that they have been impersonated or replaced.

There are also those who are completely opposite, believing that everyone they see around them has the same face, is always there, and is stalking and plotting against them.

All of these are strange, varied, and numerous.

So what exactly is going on with your friend? Why don't you tell me so I can have some ideas? Maybe I really have met him.

Tie Dan fell silent for a moment.

In fact, he had considered that the heavens beyond heavens, the dreams, and even the Kun he had seen were all hallucinations caused by his brain, and that his brain had been damaged by practicing qigong.

After all, the Shi family really does have this disease...

However, to avoid that one in ten thousand possibility of directly ruining the file and wasting another ten days, Tie Dan ultimately didn't reveal the matter of the Faceless Immortal. He only said...
"My friend isn't mentally ill..."

Lingxuzi smiled.
"Don't shy away from medical help. If it's really just a brain problem, that's alright. It's not incurable. I can prescribe some calming and nourishing pills and some soul-soothing talismans to help you recover."

On the contrary, if what you are asking about is indeed that Taixu Heavenly Demon, then I am truly helpless.

As I said before, there's a reason why disciples aren't allowed to cultivate the primordial spirit method indiscriminately. The nascent souls refined by the Xuanmen are highly nourishing for many demon gods. Find a secluded place, conceal the secrets of heaven, and try eating one yourself to experience its wonders.

Therefore, for the nascent soul to leave the body and wander in the vast void is like traveling in fine clothes at night; if something unexpected happens, the physical body, thousands of miles away, will have no chance of returning. To actively provoke any demons of the vast void is simply placing oneself in peril and courting death.

Having said all he could say, Lingxuzi stopped rambling on and on, took a stone box from the treasure vault, removed the seal, and handed over a jade pendant.

Tie Dan thanked him and accepted the pendant. Upon closer inspection, he saw that it was a "Fortune and Longevity Pendant," shaped like a bat. The character "蝠" (bat) is a homophone for "福" (fortune), and the character "兽" (beast) is a homophone for "寿" (longevity), making it a talisman for children. The jade was Kunlun cold jade, with a texture like solidified fat and a color like the blue sky, a mixture of blue and white, like frozen mist and frost, and it felt cool to the touch.

The jade pendant has an inscription of eight characters on the front, engraved in the center: "Without attachment or defilement, the mind of the Way will forever be clear."

On the back are three lines of small characters, finely drawn in intaglio: "First, break free from the mortal world; second, sever the root of delusion; third, prove immortality."

"My old friend has been lingering in the world of jade for a long time, unable to see clearly, let go, or move on."

I hope my young friend can make a clean break and rid himself of his inner demons as soon as possible.

When Tie Dan looked up, Ling Xuzi had already waved his sleeve and drifted away to refine pills for the working oxen and horses.

(End of this chapter)