Start practicing from Mr. Fox

Chapter 146 The Jade Demon in the Stone
"That quarry was originally developed by the village, but later, for some reason, it became haunted by demons and ghosts."

“Every night you can hear the clanging and banging of the quarrying, and when you go back during the day, the stones in the mine will be as brittle as bean curd.”

"At first, the villagers thought it was a problem with the stones, but they discovered the problem after they stayed inside to sleep."

"After that, no one dared to go there to collect stones."

into the night.

Muramasa personally led Chen Ji and his group to the abandoned quarry, and along the way, he talked about the quarry in detail.

Chen Ji listened with some confusion.

In this day and age, ghost stories are common, but why didn't the villagers ask anyone to check them out?
"I have."

Muramasa sighed, his face showing helplessness.

"I don't know if the monks and Taoists we found were incompetent or just unlucky. They didn't notice the problem when they came, but they continued as soon as they left."

"But this demon doesn't harm people; it seems it just wants to drive people away and prevent them from mining there."

"After a few times, the villagers stopped going there and found other jobs, or went to work in mines in other places."

“Is that so…”

Chen Ji nodded, somewhat understanding.

Having dealt with demons and ghosts a lot lately, I've started to guess what kind of demons and ghosts they are.

It's roughly similar to the Iron Pot Demon; it's something that has become a spirit in the mine and has some feelings for people, so it won't hurt them.

However, they lacked the abilities of the Iron Pot Demon and could not leave the quarry, so they sent people away for the sake of cultivation.

However, there's no need to explain this to them yet.

Knowing is not good; maintaining a sense of awe is just right.

Muramasa smiled slightly and cupped his hands in greeting.

"If you can resolve this matter, Daoist, you will be able to solve a major problem for the village. We will certainly not dare to neglect you then."

"Go and have a look first."

Chen Ji did not readily agree to anything.

The village seemed fine when we arrived.

Having experienced the events of the bronze toad demon and the stone mill demon before, he no longer believed whatever the demons and ghosts in the village said.

Let's wait until we see the demons and monsters in the quarry before making any decisions.

"Thank you for your trouble, Daoist Master!"

Muramasa bowed in thanks and continued on his way, but stopped less than a hundred paces away, his face hesitant.

"Master, this is as far as we dare to go. We're afraid we'll have to go further..."

Chen Ji smiled and bowed.

"It's alright, I've already memorized the way. You can all go back first, or if you want to stay here and watch, that's fine too. We can go back together when we come out."

"Then we'll head back first. Staying here might interfere with the Taoist priest's spellcasting."

The villagers exchanged glances, then bowed and took their leave.

After everyone had left, the foxes pursed their lips.

"What a coward!"

“A group of people, when they encounter a weaker ghost, their yang energy can be overwhelmed and they are killed, yet they are still afraid.”

"Exactly, they're not even as brave as us foxes."

Chen Ji, who was listening nearby, burst out laughing.

"I don't know who it was that saw the fox clan's instructor a few days ago and shouted that there was a ghost. They even said on the mountain that the instructor praised you for your good physique and that you are good fox spirits."

"Sir, you..."

The four foxes froze, their faces instantly turning red. After a long while, they suddenly realized something.

"No, isn't this what we encountered in our dream? We didn't say anything, sir. How did you know?"

“You were talking in your sleep that day, we heard it all.”

"really?"

"Otherwise, how would we know?"

"How utterly shameful!"

Upon hearing this, Sihu covered his face, too embarrassed to look at Chen Ji any longer. After a while, he secretly peeked out from between his fingers.

"Sir, do not tell anyone about this, or you will lose all face."

Have you heard anyone else mention it?

"Not really."

"That's it."

"Thank you, sir!"

The four foxes thanked him repeatedly, and Chen Ji breathed a sigh of relief, secretly deciding to tell Miss Bai about it as soon as he got back.

How could I have forgotten that this was a dream, and I let it slip?

However, I doubt the four foxes will remember this incident; they might forget about it after a while.

So he said nothing more and continued walking forward.

What surprised Chen Ji was that he did not see any demonic or ghostly aura here using his Qi Observation Technique.

Instead, it exudes a pure and ethereal aura.

The four foxes also noticed the situation and all looked at Chen Ji.

"Don't look at me. I've come here today to show you whether you can deal with demons and ghosts."

"what?"

"Surprised, but it's no use."

Chen Ji shook his head.

"You are, after all, foxes who cultivate. It is already inappropriate for you to be afraid of dogs in ordinary times, let alone when discussing demons and ghosts. It is truly unacceptable."

"If you're still like this after joining the Fox Academy, you'll probably become a laughing stock among the other foxes. You can't just spend your whole life thinking about building roads, can you?"

This was something Chen Ji had mentioned to Miss Bai during their previous conversation.

The four foxes were already extremely skilled in the art of road repair, but they were always like this, using magic in vain, which was a mistake.

Miss Bai had previously mentioned that she wanted to train them, and now that was a good opportunity, she let them investigate the problems here on their own.

"You guys deal with stones a lot when you're repairing roads, so you're quite familiar with this place. Just call me if you encounter any danger."

"I will follow your instructions, sir."

The four foxes sighed, knowing that Chen Ji was doing it for their own good, and didn't argue further. They responded and then looked at the quarry in front of them with a puff of breath.

"Let's go."

"Then let's go."

Having decided to go in, the Four Foxes' behavior was no longer like when they were following Chen Ji.

Take the initiative to step forward.

Bai Qi led the way, Bai Ershisan brought up the rear, Bai Ba provided support in the middle, and Bai Shiliu simply slipped into a rock beside him.

"I'll go in from the inside and scout ahead."

The four foxes walked ahead, with Chen Ji following behind, nodding secretly.

It seems he was indeed lacking an opportunity before, but now that he's taking charge on his own, he's quite capable.

However, Chen Ji was not completely at ease. He still kept an eye on his left and right with his Qi Observation Technique, on guard against any sudden appearances of demons or ghosts.

"Click."

A sound like crushing a twisted dough stick rang out.

The three foxes on the ground all looked on nervously.

Bai Qi moved his foot away, and a pile of pebbles appeared on the ground, all turned to powder.

"Strange!"

Bai Qi frowned.

"I clearly saw it was a stone just now, how could it have shattered like this?"

“I’ve seen a lot of stones these days, but none of them are like this.”

"Let me look at something else."

Bai Ershisan picked up a piece, but instead of stepping on it, he squeezed it with his fist, and it crumbled like a piece of yellow earth, leaving behind a pile of stone dust.

"It must be because you're too strong. Let me do it."

Bai Ba picked up a piece from the side, even transforming back into his fox form, and squeezed it, but it remained the same.

"That's strange!"

"Why don't we ask Sixteen? Is there anything wrong with the stone?"

After discussing it, the three foxes hurriedly went to the stone wall and tapped it several times with a secret code to call out to Bai Shiliu.

After a while.

A coughing sound rang out, and Bai Shiliu, covered in soot, emerged from the side of the stone wall. Before he could even speak, cracks appeared on the stone wall, indicating that it was about to collapse.

"careful!"

Just as Bai Shiliu was about to fall, Chen Ji reached out and summoned wind.

A gust of wind swept through, catching Bai Shiliu just in time. Bai Shiliu was a fox, so he raised his paw to rub the pebbles off his face, spat out the dregs in his mouth a few times, coughed several times, and then complained.

"Oh dear, you guys weren't inside, you have no idea how annoying these rocks are."

"When I went in, the rocks were normal, but after a short walk, they turned into these tiny, broken pieces of rock. I swallowed a mouthful, and I couldn't spit it out."

"If I hadn't heard you calling me, I don't know how long I would have had to hold it in. Who knew that it would have been the same as coming out."

"Is it like this inside too?"

The three foxes asked in confusion.

Bai Shiliu thought for a moment and nodded seriously.

"That's right, at least one part is like that."

"It must be the work of demons and ghosts!"

The three foxes said with certainty.

“We’ve never encountered anything like this before when we were repairing roads and looking at stones. How could the stones be turned like this?”

"Seventh Brother, Sixteenth Brother, your cultivation is closest to that of the stone, do you know why?"

"It seems to have lost its stony nature."

Bai Qi hesitated for a long time before slowly speaking.

“Stones have inherent stone properties that make them hard and strong. These stones look unchanged on the outside, but they have lost their inherent stone properties, which is why they have become like this.”

"Sir, am I right?"

After Bai Qi finished speaking, he was still somewhat uncertain, so he looked at Chen Ji.

"Indeed."

Chen Ji nodded.

He had already learned the Fossilization Technique, so he could naturally sense that these stones did not contain any stone-like properties. However, it was not easy for Bai Qi, who only knew the Wall-Opening Technique, to have such an understanding.

Bai Qi breathed a sigh of relief and continued his analysis with the three foxes.

"There aren't many spells that can extract the stone element, unless one practices earth-based spells or is a stone demon."

"However, the villagers say that strange things happen here occasionally, and they dare not show themselves in front of people. It must be a stone demon. We can look for it inside."

He then looked at Bai Shiliu.

"It might be in the spot you just encountered inside."

"Then I'll go take a look."

"Not urgent."

Bai Qi shook his head and called out to Bai Shiliu.

“Only you and the stone demon know this technique inside. There’s nothing we can do. Let me dig there first.”

"We also need to repair the road in the village, so we can't use these stones anymore and we'll get new ones."

"Alright."

The three foxes exchanged a glance and nodded in agreement.

Bai Qi then used his magic to begin cutting stones along the rock face.

The process is roughly similar to the previous road construction and quarrying procedures, except that there is an additional step of judging the properties of the stone.

Chen Ji, watching from the side, also raised his eyebrows.

He had seen more than Bai Qi. The stone's natural properties had indeed disappeared completely. It would be difficult to do this if one were to cultivate earth-based magic. They must have been demons or ghosts that were naturally born in the quarry.

only……

"Ding!"

A crisp sound came from the stone wall.

Chen Ji looked up and saw stone powder scattered like snow on the stone wall, revealing a piece of green stone that was warm and smooth, and did not look like an ordinary object.

"Is this jade? It's a huge piece!"

Bai Qi exclaimed in surprise.

Chen Ji knew what he was marveling at.

The jade stone in front of us, judging by its appearance, has a protruding part that is at least a foot high, and the whole piece is at least half a person's height when it is dug out.

Moreover, according to the Qi Observation Technique, the aura emanating from this jade stone was basically the same as that felt in the quarry.

The anomalies in this quarry are likely caused by this jade.

Just as he was thinking this, Bai Qi spoke up and asked a question.

"What kind of demon are you? Do you have a name? We are foxes who cultivate on Mount Sendai. We came here to collect stones because we heard that there were demons causing trouble, so we came to investigate."

"Boom!"

A muffled sound came from inside the stone wall.

The jade stone slowly moved, squeezing out from the original crack in the wall, and formed facial features on the stone.

With her delicate features and clear, melodious voice, she resembled a woman.

However, the cultivation of plants is inherently formless and depends entirely on one's own preferences, so Chen Ji did not make a judgment easily, but only watched Bai Qi and the others negotiate.

"So it's you, fellow Daoist. I am a jade spirit cultivating here, and I haven't yet taken human form, so it's inconvenient for me to greet you from afar."

"It's alright, it's already very good that you were able to meet us, fellow Daoist."

Bai Ba cupped his hands, stood up, and looked at the Jade Demon.

"Fellow Daoist, you have been cultivating here. May I ask when you attained enlightenment?"

"I don't remember it very clearly. There was nothing to refer to back then. I only remember that a stone fell from the sky here, and suddenly I knew something."

"To think it attained enlightenment through a meteorite! Fellow Daoist, you are indeed very lucky!"

Bai Ba was quite envious.

Demons can be enlightened, but the methods of enlightenment differ, and there are varying degrees of effectiveness.

The most reliable and abundant way to gain wisdom is through diligent study like that of Senior Huai, while for demons like foxes who have a master, although it is better, it only saves them the effort.

However, the Sendai Mountain God attained enlightenment after receiving a cup of wine from an immortal, while this jade demon attained enlightenment after receiving a meteorite from outer space.

They are all extraordinary beings, and they will all achieve great things in their future cultivation.

"There's no such thing as good luck..."

The jade demon's facial features swayed, producing a muffled sound as if it were squeezing rocks, much like the voice it used when speaking to the Sendai Mountain God.

“I used to need to absorb the stone element to cultivate, but there is too little stone element here. I almost dared not cultivate, for fear that someone would find out and I would not be able to get it to be dug up and made into jade carvings, which would be a waste.”

"Fortunately, the earth dragon gained a lot of stone essence after it turned over some time ago, which is why I have magic and can protect myself."

"So, were the stone quarrymen in the village also scared away by you, fellow Daoist?"

Bai Ba asked.

The jade demon responded.

"That's right. At that time, I had just finished my cultivation and found that people outside were already quarrying stones and were about to quarry the stones to my place of residence."

"Not daring to harm human lives, yet wanting to protect themselves, the only way I could think of was to absorb the stone's energy from the surrounding area, making them think that this place was haunted by demons and ghosts, so naturally they wouldn't dare to come again."

"Then why couldn't the people who came be found?"

Bai Qi asked curiously.

“Fellow Daoist, I am a stone. If I do not cultivate, I will remain a stone even if I am left here. Didn’t you notice this before?”

"Too."

Bai Qi thought about it and realized it was true.

But now that she was here, she didn't know what to do, so she looked at Chen Ji.

"Sir, what should we do next?"

“We are demons, and this Fellow Daoist Jade Stone is also a demon. We haven’t done anything wrong, so we can’t just exorcise demons and catch ghosts like those Taoist priests, can we?”

"Exorcism?"

The jade demon's expression changed instantly, and he looked nervously at Bai Qi and the others.

"You foxes are so unreasonable! I think you are also demons, which is why you dare to show yourselves. Why do you want a Taoist priest to take me to be sealed off!"

"Fellow Taoist misunderstood."

Seeing this, Chen Ji knew that if he didn't come out and explain, there would be a problem.

So he revealed his underworld seal.

"I am a wandering god of the underworld. Because I have a past relationship with the elders of their clan, I teach them. They respectfully call me 'Master,' but I do not do anything to you, fellow Daoist."

"They said that simply to find a good place for you, fellow Daoist."

"Don't go."

The jade demon shook his head decisively.

“I’m used to this place and don’t want to go anywhere else. Besides, we’ve only just met, and you’re already advising me to change places. I don’t know what your intentions are.”

The foxes exchanged glances, realizing that the jade demon's words made sense, but since their master had asked them to deal with the jade demon, it wouldn't be right to end things like this.

Just as they were about to think of a way to persuade him, they heard Chen Ji speak.

"It is understandable that you are reluctant to leave your old homeland, but this place will not be so peaceful in the future. I hope you will be careful."

"What do you mean?"

The jade demon's eyes flickered, and despite some hesitation, it still asked the question.

(End of this chapter)