Dao Cheng Gui Xian

Chapter 56 Scholar Wu Talks About Immortals and Gods
Continue along West Street of Zhengcheng

As she approached the Three Immortals Pavilion, Wu Qinghe turned into the alley diagonally opposite the pavilion.

Li Wushou knew this alley because it had a beautiful name: Cuiwei.

With its blue tiles and white walls, the alleyway is paved with stone slabs and dotted with a few clumps of moss. It is ancient and quiet!
"Kid, didn't you become a high priest? Who told you to wander around the streets like that?" Wu Zhuangyuan suddenly asked through gritted teeth.

Wu Zhuangyuan's voice was very low, but his snarling and baring manner was very similar to Chen Gou'er's! Li Wushou was also speechless. What's wrong with this father and daughter?
If it weren't for the fact that I owed them money and the creditors were people I couldn't afford to offend!
"Being a high priest isn't like selling yourself, and you can't live in a city god temple, can you? I go home after get off work!"

Huh? Wu Zhuangyuan was taken aback and looked Li Wushou up and down. Something was wrong! This kid wasn't practicing the Yin Refining Technique of a high priest, was he? This tone of voice didn't have that obsequious, sycophantic air of a high priest.

After staring intently for a moment, the boy's explanation was vague and confusing. Just as he was about to ask again, he heard his daughter's voice.

"arrive!"

Wu Zhuangyuan composed himself, put on a fawning smile, and hurriedly walked past Li Wushou, responding as he went.

"Okay, Qinghe, I'll open the door."

The courtyard is small but very quiet, quite different from the one in the southern part of the city; it is very tidy.

After welcoming his daughter into the courtyard, Wu Zhuangyuan glanced at Li Wushou, who was carrying large and small bags, and his nameless anger inexplicably rose again, so he couldn't help but snort coldly.

Li Wushou exclaimed in disbelief, "Wow! This Scholar Wu shouldn't be telling stories, he should be doing face-changing!"

Unable to afford to offend him, Li Wushou carried the food inside.

A little spotted dog was whimpering around Wu Zhuangyuan and Wu Qinghe's feet, expressing its welcome!

This was the same one that the Three Immortals Pavilion had previously kept. Wu Qinghe liked it, so Li Wushou sent it to the Wu family. Who would have thought that after a few good days, the Wu family would betray them?

At that moment, the dog also saw Li Wushou. It was startled at first, then quickly tucked its tail between its legs and went back into the house, never daring to come out again.

It never wanted to live through the miserable days at the Three Immortals Pavilion again!
Being hungry is one thing, after all, a dog doesn't mind a poor home, but it's unbearable that the other person keeps staring at it and drooling.

The dog's behavior left Li Wushou speechless once again. Wu Zhuangyuan really had some skill; even his dog had learned to change its expression.
The May weather is warm and inviting!
The group did not go inside, but sat around the stone table in the courtyard.

Beside the stone table was an ancient tree with a round hole carved out by the previous tenant. Wu Qinghe took an oil lamp from inside the house and placed it in the tree hole, which just illuminated the area around the stone table.

Wu Zhuangyuan took the food boxes from Li Wushou and opened them one by one. Soon, an entire stone table was filled with food! This was only because Li Wushou was afraid that the old beggar and Chen Gou'er would go hungry, so he only took his own portion!

This made Scholar Wu grin from ear to ear! "Is the food at the City God Temple always this good?"

"The taste is alright, but it's not very filling!"

Wu Zhuangyuan rolled his eyes, took out a wine gourd from his waist, intending to pour some for Li Wushou, but then put the gourd away and took a sullen sip. Then he saw his daughter tear off a chicken leg and put it in Li Wushou's bowl.

Li Wushou reluctantly thanked him, then began to chew slowly. In fact, he had originally intended to eat a whole chicken.

"I heard that you bullied an orphan and a widow on the Cherry Blossom Bridge?"

Upon hearing Wu Zhuangyuan's sudden remark, Li Wushou nearly choked on his chicken leg! "What the hell?"

After a moment of stunned silence, Li Wushou finally reacted and asked somewhat angrily, "Where did these rumors come from?"

“Those are clearly Qiao Ji and Xi Nang, two evil spirits!” Wu Qinghe took a bite of a pastry and asked softly, “You got rid of them?”

If anyone else asked, Li Wushou would probably just laugh it off, but as for his former rival Wu Qinghe? High Priest Li Wushou had to make her see his transformation!

With a flick of his neck, Li Wushou swallowed the chicken leg! "That's right! I'm a high priest, two mere evil spirits are nothing to me!"

Wu Zhuangyuan and Wu Qinghe exchanged a glance. How long has Li Wushou been cultivating since he became the High Priest? How could he have exorcised evil spirits? Even if there was some boasting involved, he still had some skill.

What's more, the Bridge Princess and the Creek Nang actually appeared together? This City God is definitely in trouble!
Wu Zhuangyuan took a sip of wine and asked rather solemnly, "Are you sure you're practicing the Divine Official's Yin Refining Technique?"

Upon hearing this, Wu Qinghe put down the pastries in her hand. Li Wushou suddenly thought of his previous guess: the father and daughter had been probing him in a roundabout way many times, and he finally couldn't help but ask.
He nodded slowly, then answered frankly, "It is indeed the Yin-refining technique practiced by a high priest. Is there something wrong with this technique?"

Upon hearing this, both the Wu father and daughter frowned. There was nothing wrong with the question itself, but if someone who had practiced the Yin Refining Technique of a High Priest asked it, it would be a big problem.

This shows that Li Wushou has no god in his heart!
A high priest who has practiced divine arts and absorbed qi, yet has no god in his heart! Either the City God is dead, or there is something strange about this Li Wushou that even the City God cannot detect!

Does this kid have such abilities? Although Wu Zhuangyuan thought the kid was crazy and very strange, he couldn't see anything extraordinary about Li Wushou with his discerning eye!
But that's even stranger!
Wu Zhuangyuan tore off another chicken leg, took a bite, and said to Li Wushou.

"You know I'm a storyteller. I once read a storybook about the gods and deities of the world."

"Although gods are divided into treacherous gods and righteous gods, they are essentially no different. The difference is that righteous gods can openly accept offerings, while treacherous gods can only secretly develop their own followers!"

"The City God is a righteous deity. In the Five Directions City, she represents the law. However, the divine arts she passed down have flaws. Anyone who cultivates these arts will unconsciously have a god reside in their heart—the City God. You will unconsciously be very respectful and even devout to her! At crucial moments, the City God can even drain your Yin energy, causing your cultivation to be completely lost!"

Upon hearing this, Li Wushou thought to himself, "Just as I thought!"
Li Wushou had already guessed based on the previous strategy of forming alliances. He wanted to ask the old beggar for confirmation, but unexpectedly, Wu Zhuangyuan confirmed it! Because he was prepared, Li Wushou was not flustered.

Looking at Li Wushou's calm and collected demeanor, Wu Zhuangyuan and Wu Qinghe couldn't help but mutter, "He really is fearless!"

Neither of them had any intention of pressing the issue further. Wu Qinghe breathed a sigh of relief, but Wu Zhuangyuan was somewhat disappointed!
"But I have no God in my heart!"

Li Wushou came to his senses and voiced his doubts.

Wu Zhuangyuan was also unaware of this, and could only ultimately attribute it to the fact that Li Wushou might have a special constitution.

But Li Wushou did not give up this opportunity and took the chance to ask Wu Zhuangyuan what a god is and what an immortal is.
Wu Zhuangyuan was reluctant to say more, but after hearing Wu Qinghe cough a few times, he reluctantly began to speak.

"Most gods cultivate their souls, which are divided into countless forms. Their physical bodies are like cicadas shedding their skins, and their clothing comes in many varieties. However, based on their strength, they can be roughly divided into Earthly Gods, Heavenly Gods, and so on."

"For example, the City God of Wufang City is an earth god. He is powerful within the five directions, but his power diminishes greatly outside the five directions. If he takes another step forward, his soul will transform from yin to yang, ascending to heaven in one step. Then he becomes a celestial god, who can govern a larger area."

"But now that the immortal sects are in control of the world, even if a god has the ability to ascend to heaven, it is extremely difficult for him to do so. For example, the Dragon God in the 800-mile-long Hengyang River is even inferior to ordinary gods, but he is still waiting for an opportunity!"

"This involves another existence: immortals! Immortal cultivators gather great power within themselves, cultivating the Dao to form a physical body, living freely and unrestrained by incense offerings or geographical limitations! Therefore, when the immortal sects controlled the basic followers of the divine path, the divine path had no choice but to submit to the immortal sects! It's just that over the years, no one has truly cultivated into a real immortal!"

"."

They talked for a long time until the moon was high in the sky. Li Wushou listened intently. When Wu Zhuangyuan talked about stories, he always had a way of captivating people, which made Li Wushou want to stay overnight!
While the two were having a lively conversation, he brought up his idea, only to be ruthlessly rejected by Wu Zhuangyuan and kicked out of the courtyard!

Li Wushou retracted his praise; this Wu Zhuangyuan was indeed good at changing his expression!

He changes his mind faster than turning the pages of a book!
(End of this chapter)