Invasion Myth: Starting with the Schoolteacher

Chapter 1012 As Expectedly Professional
Xu Xuan remained unfazed and casually made up a story: "This is a Buddhist term, meaning 'heat affliction.' As the saying goes, 'Anger is a fire in the heart that can burn down a forest of merit.' This ailment is caused by external fire igniting internal fire, burning away all vitality and blessings, hence the name."

Hui Ren, who was standing to the side, did not understand the first half of the sentence, but he understood the second half, "Anger is a fire in the heart that can burn down the forest of merit." It was a familiar Buddhist verse.

I assumed this was a more professional way of describing things within the Pure Land School, and secretly praised him, "As expected of Zen Master Fahai, his terminology is quite... sophisticated."

With the foreplay over, it's time for the actual diagnosis.

Xu Xuan's muscles were tense, and Hui Ren stood guard beside him as if facing a formidable enemy. This time, he could finally unleash his "unpredictable" medical skills without any reservations.

Suddenly, a pure and soft golden light shone from his fingertip, and he casually placed it on the ancestral aperture between the eyebrows of the patient's charred forehead.

On the surface, it seems to be both Buddhist teachings and medical practice.

In reality, what operates inside is the authentic art of dream creation and soul searching, a pure white lotus evil technique, and the "Great Compassionate Dharma King's" specialty!

However, with this pure Buddhist light as a disguise, coupled with the dense and impenetrable aura of divine punishment surrounding them interfering with and confusing the heavenly secrets, even a high-ranking Zen monk like Huiren, who was very close by, could not detect anything unusual.

A single point of emptiness, and a dream is created from nothing!

Within that tormented and fully matured body, a faint, dying true spirit was utterly powerless to resist and was uncontrollably drawn into the dream vortex constructed by Xu Xuan's will.

All of his memories, secrets, and even the deepest thoughts in his subconscious were reflected without reservation, allowing Xu Xuan to peruse them.

That's why they say evil methods are shortcuts.
It abandons many of the limitations and concerns of legitimate methods, resulting in extremely high efficiency!

The vast stream of memories is like an extremely long and intricately detailed TV series.

Xu Xuan is the editor who holds the scissors.

With strong willpower and a white lotus-like appearance like a super processor, he began a highly efficient "life is but a dream" style analysis of this flood of memories.

"Let me see who you really are..."

Consciousness travels through the river of memory at hundreds of times the speed, skimming through the pages, yet precisely capturing the key moments.

In just a short while, Xu Xuan had already "seen" almost the entirety of this person's life trajectory.

how to say……

After reading it, I felt that it was no wonder this person ended up like this!

We can call him Xiao Song.

This person's ancestors can be traced back to the royal family of the Shang Dynasty.

To appease the remnants of the Shang dynasty, King Wu of Zhou enfeoffed Wei Zi Qi, the half-brother of King Zhou of Shang, in the former territory of Shangqiu, where he established the State of Song.

After the fall of the State of Song, its royal family members and citizens adopted the name of the state as their surname, becoming known as Song. Xiao Song was a descendant of this branch.

He himself perfectly embodies the classic template of a "fallen man":

He knew perfectly well that his ancestors were great and glorious; but his family was now quite pathetic and had long since declined; and he himself did not have any real talent or ability to govern the country; yet deep down he had inherited or rather nurtured unrealistic ambitions and delusions far beyond his own abilities and status.

However, in the north, in this ancient Central Plains region, the historical heritage is so profound that you could throw a brick anywhere and hit a bunch of descendants of ancient kings, nobles, and generals.

Descendants of merchants, descendants of the Zhou people, and even the closest Han Dynasty Liu royal family, have multiplied countless branches on this land.

Therefore, Xiao Song's status as a "descendant of the Shang royal family" was really nothing to brag about among his clans and relatives in the village.

Instead of earning respect, his unrealistic and impractical approach of constantly talking about "restoring the glory of his ancestors" always drew secret ridicule from those around him, who thought he was impractical.

But Xiao Song disagreed, clinging to the distorted belief that "anyone with a dream is extraordinary."

He continued to do as he pleased, wandering around aimlessly, neither engaging in production nor learning any skills, living up to the image of a typical idle villager.

Therefore, when the extraordinary Master Li approached him and offered to take him as a disciple and guide him into the path of cultivation, Xiao Song agreed almost without hesitation.

Since I have nothing to begin with, what is there to worry about or lose?
After becoming an apprentice, my life instantly transformed from gray and dull to "wonderful".

He practiced a secret technique of the Northern Emperor Sect that was not known to outsiders; his cultivation resources were fully provided by the Liang Prince's Mansion, and he could take whatever he wanted; he lacked nothing in terms of status, position, and wealth; and along with that, he also indulged in all kinds of sensual pleasures and extravagant enjoyment.

The sudden increase in power and authority, coupled with the lack of proper moral guidance, caused the shame and inferiority accumulated deep within him due to his humble origins to quickly distort into an extremely sensitive and vicious desire for revenge.

Relying on his cultivation level and the background of the royal family, he committed many heinous acts, including bullying men and women, seizing people's property, and even taking lives.

His behavior was nothing like that of someone who cultivates righteous techniques; on the contrary, he was more unscrupulous than many demonic and evil people.

Fortunately, both his teacher, Li Gongfeng, and the King of Liang behind him were unusually tolerant of his behavior and never severely disciplined or punished him.

This undoubtedly fueled his arrogance, making him act increasingly recklessly and without restraint.

Every summer, they would be sent to the Ebo Terrace outside the city to cultivate the nameless secret technique in seclusion, and they had to observe the stars at night and record the trajectory changes of the "Great Fire Star".

This was the only serious matter in his spiritual practice that he found somewhat tedious and perplexing, yet dared not disobey.

This observation lasted for ten years.

He finally mastered the nameless secret technique of the Northern Emperor School.

The growth of his power, coupled with the luxurious life provided by the royal palace and the superficial flattery from others, naturally fostered in him the illusion that he was the protagonist of the world and that his luck had turned around, making him increasingly arrogant.

Until one day, his teacher, Li, who had always been "tolerant" of him, told him with a solemn expression that he was going to give him an incredible opportunity.

If one can seize this opportunity, there is hope of shedding one's mortal form and ascending to immortality! However, the process will be somewhat painful; ask him if he is willing.

Blinded by the words "ascend to immortality," how could Xiao Song refuse? He agreed without a second thought.

Then, I felt a numbness all over my body and instantly lost control of my physical body, and my consciousness fell into chaos.

When he came to his senses, he found himself sitting uncontrollably on the Ebo Terrace.

The secret technique was running wildly within his body, and his eyes were uncontrollably fixed on that familiar night sky.

I watched as the "giant spark" in the night sky burst forth with an extraordinary brilliance, as if it carried some kind of will.

The starlight, as if it were tangible, slowly "fell" towards his location!

Immediately afterwards, he felt an indescribable torrent of intense heat, as if it were burning his soul, pour into his body, and everything went black before his eyes, and he completely lost consciousness.

When I woke up again, I was in this dark courtyard and was strictly forbidden from going out.

What terrified him even more was the discovery that his cultivation was almost completely ruined, and his once strong body was riddled with holes, as if it had been scorched by flames.

The most terrifying thing is that a "thing" radiating terrifying heat and a destructive will has been forcibly stuffed into the inner world of the Divine Court, constantly scorching the soul and bringing endless pain.

He was never a morally upright person to begin with, so when faced with such utter betrayal and exploitation, he naturally wouldn't fall into the self-deception of "disbelief," "finding misunderstandings," or "believing his master would come to save him" like those indecisive people. First, he tearfully begged the guards for mercy, hoping to spare his life.

Then, every time the King of Liang came to check, she would grasp at a straw and desperately beg the King of Liang for help.

Finally, when all pleas went unheeded, they completely broke off relations and unleashed the most vicious curses and insults upon Li Gongfeng and Liang Wang.

Anger, fear, regret, curses... the plot is not surprising, but the pain and despair in it are real and intense.

What followed was endless torment.

He began to have a persistent fever, feeling as if his whole body was being roasted on fire, yet he was also weak and powerless, completely limp on the warm jade bed, unable to move.

First, the yang fire rages, burning its meridians; then, the deficiency fire arises, consuming its yin fluids; finally, the fire poison spreads, corroding its flesh, blood, spirit, and soul.

He could only watch helplessly as he gradually "watched" himself, from the outside in, go from "one-tenth cooked" to "two-tenths cooked," "three-tenths cooked," and "four-tenths cooked"...

The pain and despair brought about by this conscious awareness of being slowly "roasted" is probably no different from falling into the legendary Sixth Hell, which is specifically for punishing evildoers.

Now, even the thought of "seeking death" can no longer be formed. Consciousness has long since dissipated and shattered in endless pain, leaving only a broken shell still enduring the scorching heat of divine punishment.

After Xu Xuan "read" about his experiences over the past ten years and his final fate, he understood everything.

"This thing is most likely just a 'container'."

Recalling the previous Lu Pan incident, it was similar to Zhu Erdan's situation.

The difference is that Zhu Erdan carries the separated soul of Lu Pan, while the little Song in front of us probably has special bloodline restrictions.

As a descendant of Qi, the ancestor of the Shang dynasty, his bloodline may have a natural affinity with the power of the "Fire Calendar" or the remaining divinity of Ebo, which is why he was chosen.

This gave Xu Xuan some ideas on how to resolve the matter.

At the same time, he couldn't help but nod with some satisfaction.

"That's it, that's the feeling." He thought to himself, "The victim was kept in the dark from beginning to end, not even knowing the specific name of the cultivation technique they were practicing or what their ultimate goal was. Until they finally fell into the trap, no villain would jump out and proudly explain the details and flaws."

From Xiao Song's memory, all he could see was that this fool had been fooled and had been performing "star-summoning rituals" for ten years without realizing that he had already become a sacrifice.

"Even the many hidden arrangements in the Prince's mansion, as well as the core of the array deep in the backyard, were not revealed to him by Li Gongfeng or Prince Liang."

"Professional, this was handled very professionally."

Xu Xuan even felt a sense of admiration, like that of a fellow "professor".

This is what a conspiracy should look like—clean, efficient, and without any unnecessary words.

However, although I don't recall the specific implementation process, the answer is already right in front of me.

Deep within the inner sanctum of Xiao Song's Divine Court, the terrifying aura that seemed to carry an ancient punitive will felt strangely familiar to Xu Xuan.

The ancestral flame in his arms was now slightly warm, constantly resonating with him!

At this point, even the most foolish person would understand.

It has the most direct connection with the "giant fire" in the sky!
Although Xu Xuan's divine sense did not rashly delve into the area occupied by the core of divine punishment, the terrifying aura that was as imposing as a prison and seemed to confront the laws of heaven and earth was already frightening enough.

"Could it be... that he is drawing star essence into his body, attempting to use a human form to bear the ancient divine nature of the stars?"

"A man-made reincarnation of a star deity"

Hiss~~~ After arriving in the North, even the conspiracies I encountered seemed much more sophisticated, grand, and mysterious.

It truly lives up to its reputation as the heart of a thousand-year-old humane civilization; the games here are far from the "small-scale" games of Jiangnan.

Xu Xuan even broadened his thinking a bit:

"Following this trend, once we reach Luoyang, won't those big shots' conspiracy start by destroying the entire Nine Provinces?"

“Since that’s the case…” He quickly composed himself, “…we still need to consider this matter carefully and proceed with caution.”

Xu Xuan was no fool.

This is the most important area of ​​the Liang Prince's Mansion, the core area of ​​his long-established stronghold.

To openly and honestly tamper with the core of divine punishment here is tantamount to playing with fire next to a powder keg, which is seriously inconsistent with my "cautious and steady" persona.

Of course, it's also possible that... it's related to my current lack of assertiveness.

I can't help but recall the glory days of that "Happy New Year, May You Conquer the Nine Provinces" celebration.

"If I were to be imbued with the divine power of King Yu and the might of the Yangtze River, with boundless magical power like back then... Hmph, I could easily overturn this dilapidated courtyard right now, regardless of your divine punishment core or royal palace restrictions, and then laugh wildly and leave!"

Unfortunately, our current strength doesn't allow it.

"Besides, now that it's been confirmed that this matter is related to the power of the stars, it's not entirely hopeless..."

Xu Xuan's mind started working, "Perhaps I could ask a certain 'female bodhisattva' related to the stars for help? Hehe..."

However, that is all a story for later.

The most pressing issue right now is how to leave the Liang Prince's Mansion, a den of dragons and tigers, unscathed, without alerting anyone and carrying the secrets they have just discovered.

"Bang—!!!"

A loud, unexpected impact suddenly shattered the silence in the courtyard!

The already rickety wooden door was violently pushed open from the outside.

"It's you guys again!!!"

A shout filled with disbelief, astonishment, and boundless rage rang out like a thunderclap at the doorway.

Everyone looked in the direction of the sound and saw Li Gongfeng standing at the door, while an old man who was originally dignified but was now furious was jumping up and down.

From the complex, even distorted, expression on his face, one can clearly discern:

There was utter bewilderment, utter shock, utter absurdity, and the remaining 70% was nothing but uncontrollable rage!
Of this full seventy points of anger, Xu Xuan and Hui Ren and the others only accounted for a small portion.

Li Gongfeng's fiery gaze passed over Xu Xuan and Hui Ren, and precisely landed on Liang Guo's War God, who was standing at the very front and was also startled!

Upon seeing this, Xu Xuan was not surprised but rather pleased:
"The one who helped me escape has arrived!"

(End of this chapter)