Yin Yang Soul Searcher

"An investigation is definitely necessary, but it's beyond our level of cultivation. The Vice Hall Master said he would investigate personally."

Li Zhengshan then told Bai Jueming about the deputy hall master's and his own speculations: "The deputy hall master once speculated that it was the work of the Grand Preceptor of Beichen..."

This is way too complicated! There's the soul lamp involved, and the fact that a rogue cultivator couldn't secretly advance to the fifth rank without the knowledge of other factions. In the end, Bai Jueming had a real headache, wondering what he had done to deserve this.

"Don't worry too much about this," Li Zhengshan comforted Bai Jueming, seeing him clutching his head. "The Vice Hall Master trusts you; otherwise, I wouldn't have given you the Breakthrough Pill. The Vice Hall Master will investigate this personally, so you just need to focus on your cultivation."

Finally, Bai Jueming nodded helplessly; that was all he knew. It seemed that since the mysterious Yin-Yang Master had brought him into the cultivation world, he hadn't asked him to do anything else, nor had he done anything detrimental to him. He resolved to cling tightly to the imperial court and cultivate diligently; the Vice Hall Master would protect his precious disciple.

The reason I'm improving my cultivation as quickly as possible is to prevent that Onmyoji from finding me again someday. If I'm strong enough, I can fight him. What if he tries to harm me?

Thinking of this, Bai Jueming became a little anxious: "Brother Shan, how can an Yin-Yang Master improve their cultivation? I used to figure out how to cultivate on my own, without any method." Now that the imperial court is backing us, we should make good use of it.

Li Zhengshan found it somewhat amusing: "You're feeling pressured, kid? A rogue cultivator has been in the Yin-Yang Palace for so many days and hasn't asked how to cultivate or improve his strength."

Don't wrong me. I try to improve my cultivation level every day, but I just haven't taken any action...

Li Zhengshan took a sip of tea, then said unhurriedly, "With the emergence of a wisp of soul power within the body and further guidance from an Onmyoji, one can become a ninth-rank Onmyoji. As long as there is enough soul power and a little more time is spent, one can naturally break through the shackles within the body and reach the eighth rank."

"Eighth rank is your current cultivation level, and advancing is quite easy. You need to circulate your soul power throughout your body. Once you have enough soul power, you can try to use it to invade a cultivator of the same rank, forcing them into a deep sleep. If they can be forced to sleep for three breaths, you can advance to seventh rank!"

"However, there is a drawback to forcing someone to fall asleep: you will also fall asleep for three breaths yourself."

"You can fall asleep on your own? That's so useless." Bai Jueming was speechless. What kind of nonsense is it for two people to rest for three seconds during a battle? Moreover, it's obvious that he's at a disadvantage in this situation, as he also has to expend his soul power.

Li Zhengshan shrugged helplessly: "There's nothing we can do about it. At least before the fifth rank, Yin-Yang Masters aren't very offensive; they're mainly there to support others. Otherwise, the Yin-Yang Palace wouldn't have allowed you to recruit warriors to protect yourselves."

"But don't underestimate those three breaths. Think about it, if two martial artists are fighting each other on the battlefield, and you quietly put the other martial artist to sleep, those three breaths are enough time for one martial artist to kill the other."

"Moreover, this is against a cultivator of the same rank. If the opponent is one rank lower, the unconscious period will be longer, and the cultivator will not fall into a deep sleep. This gives the cultivator enough time to make a choice between killing or fleeing."

"This is pretty good." Bai Jueming nodded. With this ability, wouldn't it be a guaranteed instant kill against enemies with lower cultivation levels? But it seems like all cultivation systems can do this...

No, that's not right. A martial artist can almost instantly kill a low-ranking opponent, but I'm only an eighth-rank Onmyoji against a ninth-rank, and I'd have to be wielding a sword and reach the enemy within three breaths to kill them. If the enemy wakes up during that time, and I'm too close, given how fragile an Onmyoji is (like an AD carry), it's practically suicide...

Bai Jueming then asked, "Then how does one advance to the sixth rank?"

"To advance to the sixth rank, you need to advance to the seventh rank first." Li Zhengshan said irritably, "Don't be so ambitious, kid. Advance to the seventh rank first! Do you know how difficult it is to force someone to fall asleep for three breaths? I was stuck at this bottleneck for a full six months before I broke through."

Then Li Zhengshan lowered his voice and whispered, "It's said that the Imperial Preceptor, a Yin-Yang Master with extraordinary talent, broke through the eighth-rank bottleneck in just seven days. And the effect on those who fell into a deep sleep wasn't just three breaths, but a full seven. Just imagine how terrifying the Imperial Preceptor's strength is!"

Seven days! I thought the Imperial Advisor was some kind of genius. Watch me break through in a day! Of course, Bai Jueming only dared to think this to himself... Then he asked, "Can the duration of the coma be extended?"

"That's natural." Li Zhengshan leaned back in his chair and explained, "The more abundant the soul power accumulated at the eighth rank, the longer the person can remain unconscious..."

Bai Jueming nodded. After Li Zhengshan's comprehensive explanation, he had a better understanding of the Yin-Yang Master system. The benefits of having the imperial court's backing were soon becoming apparent. If he had relied solely on his own exploration and struggles in the black market, he didn't know how long it would have taken to achieve such breakthroughs.

"And that Barrier-Breaking Pill." Li Zhengshan raised his two black, maggot-like eyebrows, his expression turning serious. "Although I've given you the Barrier-Breaking Pill, how you choose to take it is up to you."

"But I still suggest you don't take this kind of thing at the eighth grade. Firstly, you are still young and have plenty of time to hone your skills and break through on your own. If you fail, just try a few more times and you will eventually succeed."

"Secondly, this kind of pill is extremely precious. An Onmyoji can only consume two in their lifetime. Other cultivation systems can only consume one in their entire life. Moreover, it can only help you reach the third rank at most. The higher your cultivation level, the more cost-effective it is to use pills, because the later bottlenecks will only become more difficult!"

"Don't worry, Brother Shan. If I need this pill to break through to the eighth rank, then my cultivation path won't be long at all." Bai Jueming patted his chest, indicating that he could rest assured.

I, Bai, have a cheat code! What's this Barrier-Breaking Pill? Deep Blue, show me where your limits are!

Li Zhengshan nodded with satisfaction: "Good, it's good that you understand this principle."

Bai Jueming clasped his hands in a fist salute and turned to walk out. Suddenly, he stopped in his tracks, realizing he had almost forgotten about this matter.

He turned his head and rubbed his hands together. A little embarrassed, he said, "Brother Shan, there's something I want to tell you."

Li Zhengshan made a nasal sound: "Hmm?" Why do you have so many things to do?

"I ran into Jia Qingshan when I was patrolling the streets a couple of days ago. He told me he wanted to join our Yin Yang Hall as a martial artist. He wanted me to put in a good word for him with you and see if it would work out." Bai Jueming spoke simply, without any personal emotion in his words.

Seeing Bai Jueming's hesitant manner, Li Zhengshan chuckled in exasperation: "Did he promise you some benefits?"

"Uh..." Bai Jueming didn't know what to say. There was nothing he could do about it. As soon as he opened his mouth, his superiors could easily guess what he meant, unless they were idiots.

"Businessmen just love bribing people, but who cares if they have money? They take it, they take it. Just don't get yourself into trouble." Li Zhengshan waved his hand, showing no interest in the benefits promised by Jia Qingshan.

That's my good leader! The rules of the Yin-Yang Palace forbid taking things, but Brother Shan says he doesn't care. Wait a minute, did Jia Qingshan just make empty promises? I haven't even received anything yet! Good morning, I'm still inexperienced. I should have asked for interest first!

After thinking for a moment, Li Zhengshan said, "If I'm not mistaken, Jia Qingshan asked you to tell me this so that he could influence you, let me know, and let the Vice Hall Master and the Imperial Preceptor know."

"Because you are incapable of handling this matter, you can only consult me. The Imperial Preceptor personally ordered him to stay in the capital, not in the Yin-Yang Hall. His matter concerns the Imperial Preceptor. I cannot make decisions for the Imperial Preceptor. I can only consult the Deputy Hall Master and report it up the chain of command."

Damn it, this scoundrel is so cunning! Bai Jueming's face darkened, feeling like he'd been tricked. He'd thought it was just a casual mention and wouldn't have any impact! Now he hadn't gotten any benefits and had even done such a big thing for him!

"By the time I learned of this, I had no choice but to report it to the Imperial Advisor. Jia Qingshan wanted to join the Yin-Yang Palace, representing the Jia family of Shangzhou. He wanted to prove that the Jia family was loyal to the Great Xia and the Imperial Advisor, and that they were upright and honorable."

Brother Shan is quite shrewd; his guess was exactly the same as what Jia Qingshan had told him.

"If I listen to your report and then refuse to report back to the Grand Preceptor, I would be cutting off the Jia family's communication with the Grand Preceptor. This would prevent the Grand Preceptor from knowing the Jia family's choice, causing unnecessary misunderstandings between the two factions!"

"Brother Shan, I don't understand." Bai Jueming frowned and said, "Why does this kind of thing have to go through us? Doesn't the Jia family have any other way to communicate with the Imperial Advisor?" Bai Jueming instinctively felt that Brother Shan was overthinking things.

"There should be other channels, right? Maybe they're afraid the Grand Preceptor won't believe them if they use other channels? Or is it unsafe? So they have to have Jia Qingshan contact them personally? I can't guess."

Li Zhengshan shook his head and sighed helplessly: "But I'd better report this matter to my superiors, otherwise I won't be able to bear the consequences if the Grand Preceptor blames me."

"Alright, Brother Shan, this is all my fault. I've dragged you into this." Bai Jueming sighed, like a deflated balloon.

Li Zhengshan smiled and said, "Even without you, the Jia family would have found other ways. But if the Imperial Advisor agrees to let him join the Yin-Yang Palace, wouldn't you have done a great service?"

"Would the Imperial Advisor agree? He could have kept Jia Qingshan by his side, but he didn't." Bai Jueming asked, voicing the doubts in the letter.

There was still a question in his mind: His Majesty used this incident to reprimand the Jia family back then, and now that he knows Jia Qingshan wants to join the Yin-Yang Palace, will he think that the Jia family is cooperating with the Imperial Advisor and opposing the imperial power? Bai Jueming dared not ask this question.

Li Zhengshan said with a serious expression, "No one can know what the Imperial Advisor is thinking. Don't say such things again."

"Yes." Bai Jueming clasped his hands in farewell and said, "Then I'll go cultivate, Brother Shan."