fairy family

Chapter 177 Ancient Techniques and Original Texts

Yu Que traveled day and night, and in just a few days, he arrived at Huangshan County.

After entering the city, he rode in a ghost-drawn carriage, just like before, winding his way towards the Seventh Market.

Along the way, the fireworks displays in the county town were as lively as ever.

When he arrived at the Seventh Market, it was already evening, but there were still many pedestrians on the road. Some were carrying baskets on their backs, and some were carrying grass carp. Men, women, and children came and went in an endless stream.

This scene, witnessed by Yu Que, evoked many emotions within him.

For the past few months, he had been holed up in the Huangshan military camp, where he saw almost only strong and capable men every day, a stark contrast to the scene in the city.

Therefore, although he had not been in the army for long, he always felt as if several years had passed.

Soon, he passed by the Yu family's territory by car.

Yu Que felt apprehensive about returning home, and coupled with the numerous troubles he was facing, he dared not go back directly.

He only glanced at it from afar, and after confirming that the nameplate on the gate of the house had not been changed, he had the coachman take him to the Refining Master Guild.

The jingling sound echoed as he swayed, and when the bell on the rickshaw stopped, he had arrived at his destination.

After paying, Yu Que headed straight for the guild's gate.

He kept his head slightly lowered and concealed his aura, appearing extremely low-key.

Before the guild members finished work, he completed the formalities with several apprentices, rented a quiet room, and then discreetly entered the room to wait patiently.

As soon as he entered the Seventh Market, he sent a message via flying talisman, informing the old leader that he would be returning to the city to visit him today.

When he entered the guild gate, he used his own identity token to rent a quiet room. Given the old guild leader's methods, he should have been able to easily detect that he had returned.

Sure enough, before he had even finished drinking a cup of tea, a talisman flew straight to him and slowly unfolded:

"Come."

There is only one simple word on it.

Upon seeing these words, Yu Que was overjoyed. He immediately bowed respectfully to the talisman, then pushed open the door and strode towards the old leader's quiet room.

Before long, he arrived at the meeting hall of the leader. Without him having to push the door open, the door opened by itself.

Upon entering, he saw the old leader lying on his side on the couch, scratching himself with a ruyi scepter.

"You're back." The old leader was languid, his eyes still sleepy, it was hard to tell whether he had just woken up or was about to fall asleep.

Yu Que quickly greeted the man, saying, "Yu Que greets the old leader."

The old leader immediately waved his hand: "Alright, alright, there are no outsiders here, just sit down."

After speaking, the other party didn't wait for Yu Que to sit down before speaking again:
"You wouldn't come here without a reason. Tell me, what trouble did you encounter in the army this time?"

Upon hearing this, Yu Que, who was about to sit down, immediately stood up again, a sheepish smile on his face:

"There's nothing to worry about. I just missed you, so I came back to visit you."

"Oh."

Upon hearing this, the old leader immediately stretched out his hand: "Since you've come to see me, where is the gift?"

Upon hearing this, Yu Que was stunned and secretly regretted that he should have bought some gifts on his way back.

A thought suddenly occurred to Yu Que: should he casually take some dry food and pastries from his pouch as a gift?

But then he changed his mind and said with a wry smile, "Unfortunately, I recently squandered all my money, and I had to borrow the little money I have for the journey from the stables."

After speaking for a while, he noticed the disdain on the old leader's face, and immediately added, "However, may I borrow your paper and pen, old leader? I happen to have a small gift for you, but I don't know if it will suit your taste."

The old leader was curious and wanted to see what Yu Que was up to.

With a casual gesture, writing brushes, ink, paper, and inkstones flew out from the side and landed in front of Yu Que.

Immediately, Yu Que lowered his head, recalling the pictographs and incantations he had seen in the cave, and quickly drew out the strange runes and incantations.

At first, the old leader propped himself up and glanced sideways at the scene.

When Yu Que had written one-third of the text, the man sat up straight.

After Yu Que had written two-thirds of it, the other person stood up from the couch and reached out to look at the contents in Yu Que's hand.

When Yu Que finished reciting all the pictures and text from memory, the old leader was already standing beside him, staring intently at the contents of the white paper, his face showing no signs of sleepiness.

With a snap, the man snatched the paper from Yu Que's hand and quickly examined it.

As he looked him over, the old leader stroked his chin and pinched his precious few whiskers.

The man clicked his tongue and said, "What an excellent blood refining technique from ancient times! If I'm not mistaken, you obtained it from a tomb?"

Yu Que respectfully cupped his hands and flattered him at the opportune moment: "You truly have a discerning eye. This item was obtained from an ancient tomb, a tomb that still contains spiritual energy, ancient souls, and various other spiritual creatures."

Hearing this, the old leader became even more interested.

The man muttered to himself, "I was wondering why I'd heard from the other folks that a secret realm had appeared near Huangshan. Turns out it wasn't just talk."

The old leader looked intently at Yu Que and urged, "Tell me quickly, what exactly is the shape of that tomb chamber, and what did you encounter inside it?"

Immediately, Yu Que recounted in detail his experiences excavating the tomb and exploring the secret realm.

However, he only briefly mentioned the matter of Jun Baifeng's condensation of evil spirits, saying that the two of them seized the opportunity to cultivate diligently on the hanging coffin.

Upon hearing these words, especially the situation of the old ghost who had undergone corpse dissection, the old leader frowned and his eyes flickered.

"The reappearance of secret realms, the dissolution of corpses into immortals, spiritual energy... Could it be that this round of spiritual energy revival has already erupted without anyone realizing it!?"

The other person felt the same suspicion as Yu Que.

After pondering for a moment, the old leader came to his senses and began to doubt whether Yu Que was deceiving him. However, what Yu Que took out was not fake.

This is a genuine ancient incantation.

Just then, Yu Que saw the old leader staring intently at the incantation and interrupted his reverie: "May I ask, leader, what is the meaning of the Blood Refining Technique you mentioned? Is it a technique for refining treasures with essence blood? Could you please explain it to me?"

The old leader came to his senses, exhaled, and thought to himself, "So be it. Whether the spiritual energy revival comes or not, what does it have to do with me? Let's just wait and see."

He flicked the scribbles on the white paper in his hand and said:
"Not only that, this technique not only allows one to use their essence and blood to subdue magical artifacts, but it can also gather essence and blood to temper the artifacts."

In short, this method is both righteous and evil. It allows one to use one's own life essence to nourish treasures, but it also allows one to kill and extract blood, using the life essence of others for nourishment. If it is arranged into an array according to the instructions, then within the array's range, for every person who dies, their life essence and soul will be drained and transformed into nourishment for the artifact.

Upon hearing this, Yu Que suddenly realized why the hanging coffins in the secret realm were covered with strange runes; it turned out that this was their purpose.

After thinking for a moment, Yu Que immediately took out the tattered pouch from his waist. He looked at the old leader with anticipation and asked:
"Can this ancient blood refining technique be used on this pouch?"

The old leader looked at the pouch in Yu Que's hand with surprise, quite astonished that Yu Que, a mere eighth or ninth-grade immortal, actually possessed a magic treasure. Even though the treasure looked terrible, the spirits inside were probably already on their last legs.

"Wait a minute, this kid! He's already broken through to the ninth rank and become a genuine eighth-rank immortal?"

The old leader, belatedly realizing what was happening, suddenly stepped forward, grabbed Yu Que's arm, and channeled a powerful aura into Yu Que's body.

Yu Que was startled by the other party's action.

When he realized that the other party meant no harm and seemed to want to examine his body, Yu Que hesitated for a moment, but still used his true energy to push back the old leader's external true energy.

The transferred true energy was expelled by Yu Que. The old leader was not angry at all. Instead, he immediately nodded and said, "Not bad. The true energy is complete. You kid, you have indeed completed all the cultivation of the ninth grade and have advanced to the eighth grade."

Judging from the quality of your true energy, you must have strictly followed the methods involved in the lineage transmission, using the five internal organs to collect the household spirits, and then refining the household spirits of the five internal organs to return them to one.

Yu Que bowed deeply in admiration: "Elder Chief Huo Yan, my situation is indeed as described."

As soon as he finished speaking, he steered the conversation back to the pouch in his hand.

Seeing how much attention he paid to the item, the elder brother smiled and then pointed it out:
"This method can indeed be used on this thing. If you can draw the runes on the incantation in detail, then this magic weapon will also have the effect of refining blood, or you can use essence blood to repair itself and increase its power."

However, this item is a magical artifact; no matter how much its power is enhanced, it can never surpass its original grade—that's a given.

Upon hearing this, Yu Que's face lit up, and he blurted out, "As long as the power can be restored, that's fine."

He remembered that Fei Wu's pouch was good at swallowing living creatures and turning them into blood.

Now that we have obtained this Blood Refining Technique, the two are not exactly a match made in heaven, but they complement each other perfectly.

Yu Que was overjoyed. He had never expected that he would find a way to repair his pouch without the old leader's help as soon as he came to see him.

However, drawing the Blood Refining Technique on the pouch is not a simple task.

The elder council leader studied the Blood Refining Technique carefully and immediately explained several specific points to Yu Que.

After a good half hour, the other party finally said, his mouth dry, "That's it. As for the rest, go back and find some pigskin and donkey hide, practice on them a lot, and when you're more than 90% sure, then try it on the magic weapon."

This technique is from ancient times, and differs greatly from modern immortal techniques. Furthermore, it consumes a great deal of energy. If you fail five or six times, not only will the magic weapon itself be damaged, but you yourself will be bankrupt first.

Yu Que immediately replied, "Yes, junior will remember."

Then, the old leader flicked the strings again and said happily:
"You didn't come empty-handed this time. With this gift, I'll remember this favor and allow you to come back for my help next time."

Clearly, the ancient technique that Yu Que recorded from the secret cave may be of considerable use to the old leader himself.

After speaking, the old leader shrank back onto the couch, lowered his head, and squinted his eyes, looking as if he wanted to study the technique more carefully.

The other party's attitude suggests they want to see you out.

However, Yu Que stood in front of the other party, showing no intention of leaving whatsoever.

When the old leader looked up again, he smiled shyly and said:

"There's no time like the present. I have something I'd like to ask for your help with."

Before the other party could refuse, he explained his current situation.

"What? You don't want to join the army anymore, and you want to come and get a position in my Alchemist Guild?" The old guild leader asked in a strange tone.

Yu Que quickly replied:

"Indeed, please transfer my register from the soldiers of Huangshan County. If you cannot transfer it, please assign me to the county town first."

"I plan to cultivate in seclusion within the city to prepare for the next Daoist examination."

The old leader muttered, "There are still several months until the Dao Palace examination, and you're back now. Did you do something wrong in the army and are afraid that Bai Feng will catch you and punish you..."

This person was indeed experienced and shrewd; he guessed Yu Que's purpose immediately.

Yu Que felt ashamed and could only make excuses. He dared not mention that he had offended Jun Baifeng, nor could he make up a reason.

Seeing that Yu Que was truly persistent, the old leader narrowed his eyes and spoke:
"In that case, I will send a letter first. If Bai Feng agrees to transfer you back to the city, it will only be a matter of a few words."

If she doesn't budge, I'll swallow my pride and force you to stay in the guild. After all, the guild, the county soldiers, and the government are all on our side.”

Upon hearing this, Yu Que's face lit up with joy, and he said sincerely:
"Thank you for your help, Chief."

The old guild leader waved his hand and said, "It's alright. With your potential, you can stay in the guild to prepare for the exam. Who knows, next year you might bring great honor to our guild."

After speaking, the man gave Yu Que some more instructions, telling him not to leave the guild for the next few days, and preferably not even to leave the guildhouse.

To avoid Jun Baifeng coming to their door and secretly kidnapping them, which would be difficult to handle later.

Yu Que kept these words in mind.
However, what followed was not just a few days; he secluded himself in the guild's quiet room for a full month.

Even when he asked someone to buy materials, he never left the quiet room.

During this time, he also copied the Blood Refining Technique onto his pouch and used his essence blood to refine it again.

This object, having been inhabited by his thoughts and blessed with his essence and blood, became even more in harmony with his will.

He also learned the incantations for controlling the bag from the ghost inside, and also learned that the item was called the "Five-Passage Bag".

As Yu Que patiently repaired the magic weapon, it was finally completed. The space inside was restored to the size of a carriage, and it could emit bursts of dark light.

Finally, news arrived from the old leader, urging him to come out of seclusion for a gathering.

(End of this chapter)