Young master, why not become a corpse immortal?

Chapter 178 Fake Star
Lin Jiang's gaze lingered on the objects on the ground for a long time, remaining silent.

Liang Huashan misinterpreted his silence and explained:

"When a cultivator at the Star Point Realm falls, the surrounding Qi becomes chaotic, and ordinary items will dissipate along with their aura. Only items rich in spiritual energy can remain, and after being nourished by Qi, they can become secret treasures, the effects of which are mostly related to the methods used by their master in life."

“These newly created objects are not yet sentient, and their effects are unpredictable; this sachet is no exception.”

I looked at the Qiankun bag again:
"This might also be due to good luck. The quality of the General's Qiankun Bag was also quite good this week, and it wasn't completely destroyed by the Qi."

Lin Jiang remained silent, while Liang Huashan smiled and said, "These things are of little use to me. If you want to take them, then take them."

"It's not because of that..."

His gaze remained fixed on the small red ball.
At this moment, Liang Huashan finally noticed the little red thing following Lin Jiang's gaze.

Liang Huashan followed the gaze closely, his brows furrowing slightly.
"This thing... is not right."

“I suspect that the General relied on this thing to forcibly promote Zhou Canjiang to the rank of Point Star.” Lin Jiang said, “I once saw a similar spectacle at Feng'ao Mountain, which caused a sixth-level martial artist to transform into a monster with a flying skull and severed arms.”

"Could you tell me in detail?"

Upon hearing Lin Jiang's words, Liang Huashan couldn't help but feel a surge of curiosity. Lin Jiang didn't hold back and told Liang Huashan everything that had happened at Feng'ao Mountain.

Upon hearing this, Liang Huashan frowned, pondered for a long time, and then said:
"Did that warrior practice the Three Star Pointing Techniques at that time?"

"No." Lin Jiang shook his head.

He was quite certain of that.

Although Bai Zifeng possessed exceptional martial arts skills, he was not seen using the Three Star Pointing Techniques during the battle.

If he could truly transform, he wouldn't have been nearly killed by Lin Jiang's punch back then.

As Liang Huashan pondered, he slowly made his deductions:

"If I'm not mistaken, Bai Zifeng must have gotten a chance after entering the Black Curtain and forcibly broke through the Body Transformation Pass. The strange appearance of having a hundred heads and a hundred arms is actually a mutation of the Body Transformation. The orthodox Body Transformation should be based on the Eight Trigrams of one's own body, but this person reversed the trigrams around his body, resulting in a half-human, half-ghost appearance."

Lin Jiang responded with an "Oh".

But he didn't understand at all.

With this attitude of asking questions when in doubt, Lin Jiang still asked Liang Huashan:

"Master Liang, what exactly is going on with this disguise?"

After hearing Lin Jiang's words, Liang Huashan gave Lin Jiang a strange look.

"The techniques you just displayed, young master, suggest you are a Star-Point cultivator whose skill is no less than mine. Didn't you know that?"

"I'm from the Second Heaven, how would I know?"

Lin Jiang acted as if it were the most natural thing in the world.

Liang Huashan was taken aback upon hearing this, then threw his head back and burst into laughter.

His laughter echoed throughout the valley, making Lin Jiang feel slightly embarrassed.

After a short while, Liang Huashan stopped laughing and began to explain to Lin Jiang in a serious manner:

"The Body Transformation, also known as the Absconding of the Six Calamities, is an essential method for cultivators to break through their shackles. The so-called Six Calamities are being besieged by soldiers, oppressed, drowned, and having one's heart burned. Without breaking through these six calamities, one remains a mortal. Those at the Star Point Realm must also overcome their destined tribulation; without the corresponding method, they will face certain death."

"Most cultivators transform their Qi to avoid disasters and undergo a complete metamorphosis. However, there are also martial arts cultivators like you, who temper their bodies to the point that they are impervious to swords and blades and immune to water and fire, and then firmly guard their spiritual altar to achieve a Vajra body."

Lin Jiang nodded knowingly at this point.

Judging from the fact that he climbed out of the coffin, he had already mastered the transformation technique that was just one step away.

The only thing he still can't deal with is the Mind Disturbance Technique; he's already suffered losses from it several times.

"As for the illusory realm, one must push a certain kind of emotion to the extreme in order to even begin to understand it."

Liang Huashan casually mentioned a key point about the Illusory Realm:

"Whether it's an obsession, a sudden surge of emotion, or a similar situation, one must also hone a certain skill. These conditions must be met before one can awaken to the truth when the time, place, and people are all in harmony."

"Comparatively speaking, this method is indeed the most difficult of the three."

"As for the family's survival skill, it is ultimately the foundation, and one must practice it diligently no matter what."

Lin Jiang secretly compared his own situation to his own.

Given his current state, it will likely take him a very long time to comprehend the Illusionary Realm.

After all, intense passion needs to be based on unwavering conviction, and Lin Jiang believes he currently lacks that.

He suddenly remembered something and pressed for an answer:
"Master Gongxuan once said that this obsession should not be related to the breakthrough of the Star Point?"

“Exactly so.” A playful expression appeared on Liang Huashan’s face. “If one’s obsession is with the Star Pointing Realm, and that obsession is fulfilled when one reaches the Illusionary Realm, then the core will crumble like a sand tower. How can one then break through the Star Pointing Realm?”

Lin Jiang suddenly understood.

The more obsessed one is with pointing at stars, the more it resembles using one's own spear to attack one's own shield, just like imprisoning oneself before the gates of the sixth heaven.

It seems that Gong Xuan is currently in this predicament. "Let's talk about this Crimson Pearl." Liang Huashan waved his brush, and a sandalwood box leaped out of the Xuan paper, taking the crimson pill into it: "Although I don't know its origin, this thing can indeed forcibly stimulate cultivation and help people cross the life barrier to become a Star Point cultivator. As can be seen from our fight just now, that person was definitely not a traditional Star Point cultivator."

Lin Jiang nodded.

Although General Zhou is indeed very powerful, he doesn't know how to use the Illusionary Realm, so he doesn't have much ability to resist when being attacked.

While the technique of forced catalysis may seem powerful, it actually harbors many drawbacks.

"I wonder where the General got these evil things from. I feel that such abuse is not a good thing." Liang Huashan stared at the box in his hand: "After returning to the capital, I will definitely go to the palace to argue with those old geezers. Such matters should be dealt with by someone."

Lin Jiang nodded in agreement.

Once the red bead was in his possession, Lin Jiang finally had time to examine the objects around him.

Aside from the sachet and the Qiankun bag, there was a sandalwood square box left where the breath had been blown earlier. Upon closer inspection, it turned out to be a clever lock that children used to play with, containing a series of mortise and tenon mechanisms.

He tried to probe with his spiritual sense, but the lock remained silent, lying quietly in Lin Jiang's palm.

"This treasure is quite peculiar." After examining it closely, Liang Huashan commented, "It was originally an unborn vessel embryo. After being nurtured by a cultivator who had reached the Star Point stage, it was transformed into a special vessel after the cultivator died and was soaked in his blood essence. Only after the young master's Daoist Qi cleansed away the remaining blood essence did it reveal its true form."

"I see."

Finally, Lin Jiang opened the Qiankun bag.

As it was poured out, a whole box of silver, a small box of gold, some jewelry and a stack of silver notes were revealed, along with several packets of medicinal herbs and incense-making tools, all carefully wrapped in plain silk.

There was even a small booklet, which was obviously quite old, with the words "Luoshan Xu Family Incense" written on it.

Liang Huashan recognized it at a glance:

"The incense-making techniques of the Xu family in Southwest China are now quite popular in the region. They have established themselves on this craft."

"Is it difficult to learn?"

"Actually, it's not too difficult to learn. If you become an apprentice under the Xu family, you can learn some basics. The Xu family members themselves can learn the entire incense-making method, but..."

Liang Huashan paused, seemingly pondering how to explain the power of this technique to Lin Jiang. After thinking for a while, he shook his head slightly, giving up on refining his explanation.

"This method isn't powerful."

"Not impressive?"

"In the past, the Xu family was robbed, and this secret technique was copied and sold cheaply. After studying it, people in the martial arts world discovered that it was just a second-rate skill."

Lin Jiang touched the corner of the booklet.

Although Liang Huashan said that, Lin Jiang could tell that General Zhou cherished this book very much.

He must have been looking at it day and night.

Perhaps this is because this book was the key to his spiritual path.

After calming his mind and putting most of the items into his Qiankun bag, he left the mountain peak.

It's just unknown how long this fragrance lingering over the mountain will last.

……

When Lin Jiang returned to the mountain temple, he heard a noisy commotion outside.

When he arrived at the entrance, he found that the temple gate was open, and a large group of monks surrounded Gong Xuan and his group, asking them a barrage of questions.

Gongxuan coughed as he explained the situation to them, appearing somewhat bewildered.

He only showed a relieved expression when he caught a glimpse of Lin Jiang appearing from the doorway.

The other monks also saw Lin Jiang. They looked at each other and exchanged glances. Then, an old monk who looked quite old stepped forward.

The monk walked up to Lin Jiang and chanted a Buddhist prayer in front of him.

“Benefactor, I am the abbot of this temple, my Dharma name is Xuanyuan. I heard from your companions that our temple was attacked by bandits. It was you who went to defeat the bandits and save our temple.”

"That's it."

"This old monk thanks you, young master." The old monk was very excited, grasped Lin Jiang's arm, and almost choked with tears: "Yesterday, a pilgrim came to our temple and said he wanted to offer some good incense. This old monk did not suspect anything, but I did not expect that someone had malicious intentions. If it were not for you, young master, I really do not know what would have happened to our temple."

"That person was looking for me anyway, I just helped out."

Lin Jiang was telling the truth, but the abbot took it as politeness and immediately offered to treat everyone to a vegetarian meal.

Seeing that it was already past afternoon and there was no chance of getting down the mountain before dark, he agreed.

The vegetarian food in the mountain temple was quite delicious. Although there was no meat, it tasted extremely fragrant.

Lin Jiang searched through the dishes and found a lot of dried mushrooms, which he figured were what added to the flavor.

After a satisfying meal, both host and guests enjoyed themselves immensely. As dusk approached, they decided to find a guest room in the mountain temple to stay in.

There is no rain tonight, only a fragrance carried on the breeze.

(End of this chapter)