Invasion Myth: Starting with the Schoolteacher

Chapter 861 Take the initiative
"This green snake has been struck by three 'Blazing Sun Soul-Severing Scales,' which need to be removed."

"No problem." The shopkeeper knew what was going on with just a glance. It was an old trick, easy to solve.

"I need to equip Xiaoqing and Xiaobai with a set of top-tier magic weapons."

"No problem." The old fox was determined to bleed this time, and was even willing to do so himself. He wouldn't feel secure collecting those illicit goods without paying a hefty price. That Xu kid was no pushover.

"I need a magical artifact that an ordinary person can use, one that is powerful enough to withstand any cost."

"No problem." Since the cost is not a concern, it can certainly be crafted. Especially the Bone of Birch, which can perfectly complement an old item.

"Can you help me kill the Imperial Advisor?" Xu Xuan suddenly quickened his pace.

"Impossible." The shop owner replied without hesitation.

Ok?
That was a quick reaction.

Xu Xuan felt a little disappointed; foxes are just not easy to fool.

The shop owner was very pleased with himself. If he hadn't been so greedy, he wouldn't have let this brat manipulate him before.

How dare they instigate me to fight with those ruthless troublemakers from the outside world? Absolutely not.

Xu Xuan was not discouraged when his plan failed. Instead, he continued to ask with great interest: "Do you know what kind of evil cultivation method the Taiyin True Scripture is? It has such a powerful name, how can the way of practicing it be so evil?"

The shop owner took a deep drag on his pipe, the bluish smoke swirling around the fox's mouth.

He glanced at Xiaoqing and Xiaobai who had suddenly come over, and a meaningful smile appeared on his lips.

If I can't afford to offend the demon, surely I can at least afford to offend you two little snakes.

"The Taiyin True Scripture..." she exhaled a smoke ring, "It's a name that was changed later, otherwise how could such an evil skill be associated with Taiyin?"

"What was it called before, something like Devouring Something? It wasn't exactly the righteous path." With a sneer, the fox tail swayed gently.

Xu Xuan nodded thoughtfully: "So this cultivation technique..."

“You can practice this technique on your own, but it’s just ordinary.” The shopkeeper interrupted him, twirling his pipe in his palm. “It’s just that its characteristics are rather special, just like the hairpin on the White Snake’s head, which can absorb magical power from those of the same lineage.”

She squinted and recalled, "In the early years, there were quite a few ups and downs, and the cultivation world was also calling for a fight. After all..." She gave the two snake demons a meaningful look, "No one wants their hard-earned magical power to benefit someone else."

Xiaoqing's snake eyes suddenly contracted, and her fingers unconsciously clenched the hem of her clothes.

"Later we discovered that this required cultivating fellow practitioners from the same sect," the sect leader continued, his tone laced with sarcasm. "And fellow practitioners aren't fools. Mutual devouring would only lead to the extinction of the sect, and then no one would bother with it."

She suddenly lowered her voice: "It seems only one snake clan is cultivating and making offerings..." She stopped abruptly, then gave a meaningful laugh, "Hehehe..."

The two snakes' faces turned deathly pale instantly.

They exchanged a glance, both seeing shock and unease in each other's eyes.

"What the shop owner means is..." Xiaobai couldn't help but interrupt.

“I didn’t say anything.” The shopkeeper immediately raised her pipe and made a snorting gesture. “However…” she winked slyly, “it’s not difficult to find out about such things if you really want to.”

Xiaoqing suddenly stood up, her snake tail faintly visible: "Impossible! Master, she..." but stopped abruptly halfway through her sentence.

Thinking of those fellow disciples who mysteriously disappeared, thinking of how Master would always summon certain disciples alone and then never see them again...

But she still couldn't believe that this ugly fox and this smelly man were both unreliable.

Xiao Bai's expression changed slightly. Although she had only been with Xu Xuan for a short time, she had experienced a great deal of emotional journey, so she believed him only halfway.

Xu Xuan nodded in satisfaction. What kind of cultivation method involves absorbing the power of one's own sect? That's too evil.

and so……

"Can I cultivate?"

"What?!" Xiaoqing jumped up suddenly, her snake eyes instantly shrinking to thin lines.

First he was furious, then his face lit up with wild joy. He turned to Xiaobai and shouted, "Xiaobai, look! He wants to cultivate evil arts too!"

Xiaoqing eagerly hoped to see a disappointed or angry expression.

however……

Xiao Bai stood there gently, her eyes full of trust: "Xiao Qing, we are also cultivating." She added softly, "And Xu Xuan must have his reasons."

"You!" Xiaoqing, the loser, was so angry that she trembled all over, wishing she could turn into her original form and roll on the ground.

"Even in this state, you're still defending him? Have you even regained your memories, Xiaobai?!"

The shop owner ignored the farce. She smoked her pipe and slowly circled Xu Xuan, her tail swaying rhythmically.

“Theoretically, you can cultivate…” She exhaled a smoke ring, squinting as she sized up Xu Xuan, “However, you’re too old, your acupoints are closed, and your meridians haven’t been tempered…”

Just as Xiaoqing was showing a gloating expression, the shopkeeper suddenly changed the subject: "...Okay."

"Huh?!" Xiaoqing almost threw out her back, staring at the shop owner in disbelief.

No, are there any normal people left in Baoqingfang?

The shop owner slowly exhaled a smoke ring, giving a convincing reason.

“You look like someone who’s suited to practicing evil arts.”

Xiaoqing felt relieved; it made sense.

Xiao Bai nodded slightly, "That makes sense."

Dudou: Woof.

"Nonsense!" Xu Xuan immediately straightened his face and retorted righteously, "I am an upright person!" He straightened his back and looked dignified, "It's just that time waits for no one, and in order to fight against the Grand Preceptor, we have to take a shortcut."

The shop owner curled his lip, his face saying, "I don't believe you for a second."

However, out of respect for our major client, we kindly reminded him: "The Taiyin True Scripture is not a particularly advanced technique. While absorbing the essence of magical power, it also absorbs the memories and emotions of the person who provides it."

She shook her pipe, her expression unusually serious: "Therefore, even high-level cultivators cannot absorb every day, much less rashly absorb from cultivators of similar cultivation levels. Otherwise..." She made an explosion gesture, "...it would damage their soul and drive them mad." The shopkeeper continued, "I don't want to see you fall into that state."

She said this, but what she was really thinking was: Xu Xuan is already terrifying enough when he's not crazy, but if he were, this small Yongzhou city wouldn't be enough for him to play with.

After hearing all the information, a glint of light flashed in Xu Xuan's eyes, and his brain started working at lightning speed.

A moment later, a slight smile appeared on his lips. A pretty good plan was gradually taking shape.

The first step, of course, is to eliminate the hidden dangers posed by Xiaoqing.

The sect leader could have used various methods to remove the Soul-Severing Scales from the blazing sun, but for the sake of saving time and effort, and out of a certain wicked sense of humor, she chose the simplest and most direct method.

"Let the White Snake do it." The shopkeeper stretched out his claws, a sly glint in his eyes. "It'll be a good opportunity to test the power of this Taiyin True Scripture."

Xu Xuan crossed his arms and peered closer with great interest: This technique is connected to the feud between the Imperial Preceptor and the Snake Clan. I want to see if it's really that powerful.

It would be good if it were really that evil.

Xiao Bai hesitated for a moment, but under Xu Xuan's encouraging gaze, she was willing to give it a try.

She doesn't know the technique for absorbing other people's power, but she can do it through the jade hairpin.

The jade hairpin suddenly emitted a deep blue light, which poured down on Xiaoqing like flowing water.

Tiny runes could be faintly seen flowing within the light, emanating an eerie yet powerful suction force.

"Ah!" Xiaoqing groaned, her body involuntarily stiffening.

Three crimson scales gradually appeared on the back of her neck, slowly peeling away under the pull of the eerie blue light.

The whole process took only a moment; the three scales were completely extracted and floated in the air, emitting a dangerous red light.

"Watch out!" The shopkeeper reacted quickly, throwing a straw doll out of his sleeve.

The straw man grew taller in the wind, just in time to catch the flying scales. As soon as the scales touched the straw man, they immediately burrowed into it as if they were alive, and the straw man instantly turned bright red, with patterns exactly the same as those on Xiao Qing's body appearing on its surface.

"Not bad, too bad you ran into me." The shopkeeper wagged his tail smugly, lightly tapped the straw doll with his paw, and sealed it in a crystal box.

He turned and tossed the box to Xu Xuan: "Here, how you use it is up to you."

Xu Xuan took the box, feeling the restless energy within, and was very satisfied.

Turning around, I saw Xiaoqing sitting dejectedly on the ground, and I knew that another round of psychological counseling was needed.

He coughed lightly, squatted down in front of Xiaoqing, and put on a sincere expression:

“Maybe your master is a good person?” He blinked. “She might have cultivated this technique for… uh…”

He scratched his head halfway through his sentence and changed the subject: "Okay, maybe she's always cultivated her magical power on her own. The Imperial Preceptor is the villain who used evil magic to harm people?"

These words were less of a consolation and more of rubbing salt into the wound with a sarcastic tone.

Xiaoqing suddenly looked up, glared at him fiercely, and her snake eyes flashed with a dangerous light.

"Stop talking nonsense!" She stood up through gritted teeth, dusting off her clothes. "I'm not the kind of person who's easily fooled like Xiaobai!"

Xu Xuan spread his hands, looking innocent: "I'm just making excuses for you."

"No need!" Xiao Qing snorted coldly, her tail flicking involuntarily. "I, Xiao Qing, have been wandering the martial world for hundreds of years. What haven't I seen?"

She straightened her back, deliberately avoiding looking at Xiaobai's worried eyes.

But Xu Xuan keenly noticed that her clenched fist was trembling slightly, a last act of defiance before her faith collapsed.

Just one final push is all it takes to move it to the other side.

Then let me be the driving force.

Just as Xiaoqing needed an outlet for her anger, so they handed her a perfect target.

"The Grand Preceptor's disciples are making preparations ahead of time." He lowered his voice, his eyes gleaming with righteous light. "Go and capture a few guards from the Grand Preceptor's residence, and then..."

He pointed to the location of the Dragon Tower, "Lead them here."

The plan is simple, but the results will be fantastic.

Ambushing the Grand Tutor's right and left arms weakens the enemy's fighting strength.

The Taiyin True Scripture was used to absorb the opponent's power and infuse it into Xu Xuan, allowing this "mortal" to temporarily possess the ability to fight against cultivators.

They shifted the blame for the theft from the underground palace of the Huilong Pagoda to the Imperial Preceptor's Mansion, making them take the fall.

This diverted the Grand Tutor's attention, leaving him no time to attend to the snake-catching village, and completely muddied the waters.

Killing several birds with one stone, a sure-fire way to make a profit.

Upon hearing this, the workshop owner's fox ears twitched, and without saying a word, he turned and left, muttering, "I'm going to forge iron."

She felt that her pure heart, which had been cleansed for hundreds of years, could not be corrupted any further. If she continued to listen, she feared she would be completely corrupted by the demons.

Xiao Bai still looked at Xu Xuan with adoration, as if he hadn't just been plotting a conspiracy, but was telling a story of a hero saving the world.

And Xiaoqing...

She stared at Xu Xuan, her vigilance tinged with a hint of fear.

This man is too dangerous.

But she has no other choice right now.

"Fine." She replied coldly, her figure transforming into a streak of blue light and instantly disappearing into the night.

The Justice Squad's operation has officially begun.

(End of this chapter)