The Three Pure Ones' Secret: Expressing Spirit

I touched the Three Lives Stone again, but after a while there was still no reaction. Just as I was about to open my eyes and move my hand away, I suddenly saw a blurry white image.

A woman's legs appeared in the screen, legs that were incredibly long, and I was stunned. What was going on? Were they going to show me something inappropriate for children? Just as I was lost in thought, a small white dog ran up to the woman's legs in the distance, its mouth open and tongue lolling out, looking quite happy.

A white dog circled affectionately around the woman's legs; the woman was probably the dog's owner. She pulled her skirt tighter, squatted down, and stroked the dog's head. Then, while playing with the dog at her feet, she slowly walked away into the distance. As the figures of the woman and the dog receded into the distance, the surroundings turned into a white expanse, returning to their original state.

I continued to wait expectantly for what else would appear, but after a very long time, nothing more was shown, leaving me completely bewildered. Slowly opening my eyes, I saw Fan Biao still waiting for me. Seeing me open my eyes, he asked, "How was it? What did you see? You didn't see anything after all this time, did you?"

I shook my head, then, full of doubt, told Fan Biao what I had just seen. When I told him I'd seen a small white dog and a woman, Fan Biao was also very surprised, but he didn't understand either. So he said to me, "Brother, I don't know either. After all, I've never touched this stone before, and I've never encountered anything like it!"

Seeing me hesitating, he said to me, "Forget it, if you can't see it, you can't see it. Seeing it wouldn't do you any good anyway, let's keep going!"

I nodded, looking at the Three Lives Stone as I left, utterly bewildered. The stone displayed a particularly perplexing scene, which seemed completely inexplicable to me at the time. Many years later, I finally understood why that scene had appeared, but that was a very long time later. Back then, I didn't think much about it; I just didn't understand it.

Fan Biao seemed very familiar with this place. Instead of leading me back the way we came, he took a different path down the mountain. Seeing his intimate knowledge of Fengdu City, I asked him curiously, "Hey, Old Fan, you're amazing! How do you even know these little paths? Are geomancers really that skilled?"

Fan Biao smiled smugly: "It's alright, but this profession is also divided into different levels. No one dares to stop someone like me."

I didn't understand what he meant by "like him," so I asked him, "Why? How do you divide it?"

Seeing that I was actually interested, Fan Biao explained to me in detail: "The Taoist Three Pure Ones have given rise to many schools from ancient times to the present, but now there are very few orthodox masters. What I have learned is the first volume of the orthodox Taoist Three Pure Ones, the Three Pure Ones Exorcising God Technique. The Exorcising God Technique is not something that ordinary people can learn. The first strict condition is that the person who learns the Three Pure Ones Exorcising God Technique must be a monk."

"Born with a special destiny? What's that?!" I didn't understand what he meant. Seeing my confusion, he explained, "From a human perspective, there's no difference between someone born with a special destiny and a normal person. If they don't cultivate Taoist magic, they'll be blessed with good fortune, making everything easier for them than for others. Learning Taoist magic is extremely easy for them, as they possess an comprehension that others don't have. Perhaps an ordinary person might spend their entire life studying Taoist magic and only gain a superficial understanding, but for someone born with a special destiny, it's much easier; they basically learn it in no time."

I think I understand what he means. So this guy is a person who has been born before. But what is the Three Pure Ones God-Slaying Technique?

Curious, I asked him, and Fan Biao told me about the origins of the Three Pure Ones Manual. The Three Pure Ones Manual isn't just a simple technique for slaying gods; it's a complete system of books, divided into two volumes. The lower volume includes the Three Pure Ones Appendix Heavenly Book, the Three Pure Ones Commoner Heavenly Book, and the Three Pure Ones Qimen Heavenly Book. These three books are relatively easy to learn; anyone with innate wisdom and a righteous heart can study them.

The appendix of the Three Pure Ones is adept at using talismans and incantations, borrowing the power of the Five Elements of Heaven to activate the talismans and use the power of the Five Elements as an attack aid, which can subdue demons and monsters and break through demonic obstacles.

The Three Pure Ones' Heavenly Book in Plain Clothes is skilled in divination and fortune-telling, enabling people to foresee future events, avoid misfortune, and prevent calamities from befalling them. The first volume of the Three Pure Ones' Heavenly Book was re-emerged precisely because of it.

The Three Pure Ones' Qimen is skilled in the Five Elements and Eight Trigrams, determining directions, observing feng shui, and setting up formations. They can alter the surrounding Five Elements energy for their own use, obtaining extremely powerful formations that can trap demons and monsters from which they cannot escape.

It is already very impressive for an ordinary person to learn the lower volume of the Three Pure Ones, but the Three Pure Ones Mantra in the upper volume is even more powerful. However, it is not easy to learn the Three Pure Ones Mantra. The most basic condition is that the person who learns the Three Pure Ones Mantra must be a person who has broken through tribulations and been reborn.

Such a person, who breaks through tribulation and is reborn, is extremely rare in the world. This is because such a person must have endured a great calamity, traveled through the underworld, and then come back to life. Once in the underworld, they become ghosts, destined for reincarnation. They have no chance to escape and live like a normal person. Even if they did escape, they would be captured and taken back to the underworld by the Black and White Impermanence, Ox-Head and Horse-Face, and other guardian deities. If captured, they would not only be cast into the eighteen levels of hell, suffering complete annihilation, but they would also have no chance to learn the Three Pure Ones' Secrets.

The Three Pure Ones' Secret is the first volume of the Book of Three Pure Ones. Fan Biao is a "Master" with extraordinary luck, so he doesn't need the setting of breaking through tribulations and being reborn. Therefore, he easily learned the Three Pure Ones' God-Slaying Secret from the first volume of the Book of Three Pure Ones.

As its name suggests, the Three Pure Ones' God-Slaying Technique not only utilizes the Five Elements attributes from the appendix of the Three Pure Ones' techniques, but also allows one to borrow the power of the Five Elements to possess their abilities and directly use them as a means of attack.

The other two are called the Three Pure Ones Transmitting the Divine Technique and the Three Pure Ones Conferring the Divine Technique. However, the Transmitting the Divine Technique has long been lost due to the turmoil of the world, and the Three Pure Ones Conferring the Divine Technique has little information about it from ancient times to the present, and its whereabouts are unknown. Legend has it that the Three Pure Ones Conferring the Divine Technique has long been gone from the human world and was taken away by the gods. As for its ability, it should be a sealing ability.

The Three Pure Ones' Divine Transmission Technique is a book without offensive intent, yet it is incredibly powerful. It can command wandering immortals and deities with spiritual cultivation in the vicinity. Those who hear the Three Pure Ones' Divine Transmission Technique's commands must obey them. Those who disobey the commands can have their messages relayed to the Heavenly Dao, and those who disobey the commands will be severely punished.

I think all six books are pretty awesome, but Fan Biao's "Three Pure Ones Exorcising Gods" seems to be the most practical one. No wonder this guy can roam freely in the underworld; it turns out no one can beat him.

I looked at him; he was all muscle and incredibly burly. I figured that with his build, hardly anyone could hold him down. Plus, he'd learned the Three Pure Ones' God-Slaying Technique, so who would dare mess with him? Luckily, we didn't encounter any governing ghosts from the underworld along the way, otherwise, I doubt even Fan Biao could have defeated those real governing ghosts.

Fortunately, we didn't run into each other along the way. Fan Biao explained a lot to me, and he answered almost every question I asked in detail. As we got to know each other better, I felt an increasing sense of familiarity with him. He didn't seem like a random young man with a dark complexion who had appeared out of nowhere; he felt like an old friend I had known for a long time. I don't know why I felt this way, so I asked him for his address and hobbies.

I initially thought he might be different from me, but as we chatted, I discovered that this guy also liked to play online games. When he said that, I was completely baffled.

Because he wasn't talking to me about those mundane single-player games, but rather massively multiplayer online games—all popular, mainstream titles. My friend was speechless with astonishment. This guy was clearly a hardcore gamer, but why would he become a fortune teller? And what is he really like in real life?

It's a pity I can't get his contact information now, otherwise I would have added him as a friend right away and we could start playing online together as soon as we got back.

But he told me, "There's nothing I can do. I can only give you my address and my phone number. If you want to find me when you get back, you have to memorize them now. If you don't remember them here, it will be very difficult to find me when you get back. I'll probably be busy for a long time after I finish what I'm doing here before I can find time to come find you. So please remember my number, and we'll contact each other by phone later!"

Fan Biao then gave me his address and phone number, which I memorized as we walked together. I wrote them down countless times until I had completely etched his contact information into my mind. Once we got back, I went straight to find him.

After descending the mountain, the buildings around us gradually increased. We walked among the bustling crowds, and before long, Fan Biao and I arrived at the entrance of a mansion. I glanced at it and saw the words "Wuchang Mansion" written on it, with couplets on either side of the gate. They contained something about "black and white," but I wasn't interested in figuring out their meaning.

I saw Fan Biao walk to the entrance of the Impermanence Mansion. It seemed he was going in. Could this be the place he meant when he said he was going to get something? The name itself tells you what kind of place this is. It must be the lair of the Black and White Impermanence, Fan Wujiu and Xie Bi'an. In folk tales, these two are capricious, greedy, and lustful. I wonder if they'll catch me sneaking in with Old Fan. What if they tie us up and throw us into the eighteenth level of hell in boiling oil or something?

Fan Biao and I sneaked in, and thankfully nothing happened. The streets outside were clean, but once inside the mansion, it was like entering a garbage dump, with broken wine jars and horrifying paper effigies of cows, horses, and children everywhere.

But the paper-mache cows, horses, and children couldn't make a sound. They seemed alive, constantly watching me and Fan Biao as we moved, but their eyes were empty.

I initially thought these frightening paper effigies would just stand by and stare at us, but as we approached the main hall of the mansion, they actually began to slowly float towards us. I was completely terrified by this and quickly tugged at Fan Biao, saying, "They're coming, brother!"

Fan Biao glanced back indifferently, then told me to go first. He kicked a paper effigy of a child that was floating by, sending it flying far away. "Ignore them, go inside."

He then pushed the door open, making a creaking, screeching sound. I quickly crawled inside, and Fan Biao followed behind, hurriedly closing the door behind me. The paper figures were quickly kept outside: "Ignore those broken paper figures, they're harmless, just for show. Let's grab our things and make a run for it."

I nodded, then, unsure where to go next, asked him to lead the way. Fan Biao seemed very familiar with the place, heading straight for a side room. I followed him to a room filled with things. He went straight to a cabinet, which I noticed was carved with antique-like carvings. He opened the cabinet, revealing three items: a white, jade-like stick about a meter long; a large, black iron chain in the middle; and a long knife on the far right, only twenty or thirty centimeters shorter than the stick.

I looked at it, but I couldn't understand why the Black and White Impermanence put these three things here. Could they be some kind of treasure? I could understand if the stick and knife were treasures, but was the broken iron chain in the middle also a treasure? Were they just junk collectors?

Without much hesitation, Fan Biao picked up the stick and handed it to me. Then he picked up the iron chain and hung it on his shoulder. But the black long knife, which had been gleaming with a cold light, disappeared when he picked it up, leaving only the hilt in his hand. He then put it directly into his pocket.

I was stunned by the transformation of the longsword, so I asked Fan Biao, "Hey, Lao Fan, how did you do that? How did it turn into a hilt?"

Fan Biao shook his head: "I didn't use any special methods. This knife is from the mortal realm. It disappears when it encounters yin energy because we are currently in a state of spirits, belonging to the ghost realm. Humans belong to yang, and ghosts belong to yin."

I stood there dumbfounded: "Does that knife have yang energy?"

Fan Biao smiled and shook his head: "No, but it requires the Three Pure Ones Mantra to activate. Without the Three Pure Ones Mantra, it won't work for anyone else, and it's not even as powerful as a fire poker."

I nodded in agreement, half-understanding, and then looked more closely at the fire poker he gave me—no, it was a white jade poker. I didn't know what material it was. It was quite heavy in my hand, not like a stone, but it looked crystal clear, not like iron either.

I noticed this stick looked quite smooth and fine, but I wondered what it was for: "What's this stick for? What's its purpose?"

Fan Biao smiled and said, "Here's a gift for you to keep, take it and play with it!"

Seeing him joking with me, I shook my head and said, "Uh, well..."

Seeing that I looked a bit confused, Fan Biao said to me, "Hold this for me first. I still have an iron chain here. You can give it to me when we get back. You can use it as a weapon for self-defense!"

I was speechless for a moment. Oh well, I'll just take it. It's not heavy anyway.

I followed behind Fan Biao. He opened the door and kicked two paper effigies stuck to the door, sending them flying far away. Then he told me to go ahead while he dealt with the paper effigies behind me.