Journey to the West: Starting with becoming an apprentice of the Nine Heavens Demon-Subduing Patriar

After Black Mane left, a tiger's roar, like muffled thunder, echoed all night in the mossy cave deepest in Yellow Wind Cave.

The sound stopped in the middle of the night.

Beneath the dark green moss, Tiger Two lay on its back in the pile of rubble, its chest rising and falling, its black fur completely soaked.

"Big brother... I can't take it anymore, I really can't..."

It took more than thirty tiger pounces tonight, and its shoulders, hips, and cheeks were all sore, but the eldest brother held back every time, stopping just when it was about to hit its target.

Lu Shanjun stood in the center of the cave and slowly exhaled a puff of white air.

Within the sea of ​​consciousness, a faint blue light flashed.

Martial Arts: Three Forms of Subduing the Tiger (Beginner Level 61/100)

He understood.

In a true contest of strength, bones, claws, and teeth, one relies on the Three Subduing Tiger Forms and a foundation of metal and water elements. With a few days of practice, one can improve their proficiency to a minor level and then have a 50% chance of winning against a wolf around 300 years old.

But the difficulty of this battle lies in the fact that even if you win the battle, you may not be able to save your life.

"Biaozi, I have a question for you."

Lu Shanjun sat down on the bluestone. "With a single claw, you can shatter rocks and break trees. But can you grasp the moon's reflection in the water?"

Tiger Two didn't even hesitate: "I can't catch it. The moment my paw strikes, the moon shatters. The moment I lift my paw, it's round again."

"The Yin spirit of the Silver Howl is the moon reflected in the water."

Tiger Two was stunned.

The latter part of "Xiao Zhenwu Yinqi Jue" has a dedicated chapter on this.

After reaching the first stage of Qi Refining and Spirit Transformation, and condensing the elixir, the second challenge is the emergence of the Yin Spirit. The spirit departs from the body, possessing a spiritual essence but lacking physical substance, and travels at midnight, moving silently within a hundred miles.

When you sleep, it sits by your pillow listening to your murmurs. When you're asleep, it lies at the entrance of your hole and counts how many times you pant.

A claw strike is no different than striking into a cloud of mist. A sword or blade slashes at it, but only makes a mark on the water's surface before closing in an instant.

The secret formula clearly states: Yin spirits are pure Yin spirits. They have not been refined by the sun and moon, and the Yin impurities have not been removed, hence they are subject to three fears.

First is the scorching sun. When extreme yin meets extreme yang, it's like frost and snow meeting sunlight—they melt instantly.

Therefore, those who possess the spirit of the underworld only dare to roam at night, hiding during the day and venturing out at night; how are they different from ghosts?

In alchemical texts, those who cultivate to the end of this path are called "ghost immortals," and are listed as the lowest of the five ranks of immortals.

The lingering spirit cannot be released, it cannot escape; it may be considered an immortal, but it is not truly an immortal.

Secondly, there are fierce winds. Fierce winds howl in the heavens, and in the places where battles rage on earth, and where thousands cheer, there are also malevolent winds.

The Yin spirit crashed into it headfirst, like a paper boat entering a rapid current, and instantly vanished without a trace.

The three most feared things are the fierce and intense blood energy. The killing intent of a veteran soldier on the battlefield, the bloodshed in a slaughterhouse, and the thunder in the sky are all of the masculine kind, which the yin spirits avoid as if they were boiling water or fire.

Lu Shanjun went over this passage in his mind several times, and the more he read it, the clearer it became. These three fears are the Achilles' heel of the Silver Howl.

That old wolf only cultivated to become a Yin spirit in three hundred years. To put it bluntly, he was a ghost immortal, and he couldn't stand anything that was extremely Yang.

The one who enters the Death Gate, his Yellow Wind Cave is full of claws and teeth, but he has none of the most yang things.

If a real fight breaks out, Yinhao naturally wouldn't dare to release his Yin spirit during the day; he wouldn't be afraid to fight with his physical body.

But if the old wolf senses something is wrong halfway through the fight, while his physical body fights and retreats, his spirit secretly leaves his body, circles behind him, and burrows into his Niwan Palace.

Can his newly formed nascent core withstand it?

Unstoppable.

What can you use to slay the Yin spirit?

Lu Shanjun sat on the bluestone for half the night.

Suddenly, a sentence from Huang San's military intelligence report from a few days ago surfaced in his memory.

"Her hair was disheveled, she was barefoot, one hand forming a hand seal, the other pressing against her mouth sword..."

Pressing down on the sword.

The stone statue of the Celestial Venerable held a stone sword in its hand!

Lu Shanjun suddenly opened his eyes.

The Taoist school emphasizes "Dharma, Companion, Wealth, and Land." Once the divine position is established, the Dharma will remain for a hundred years.

The temple was completely deserted, but the image of the Demon-Subduing Celestial Venerable was still there, and the words "Demon-Subduing" were still there.

Under the Heavenly Venerable's palm, the stone sword was suppressed and nurtured day and night by this divine power and magic. After decades or even centuries, it was no longer a stubborn rock.

It was a sword imbued with "momentum".

Ordinary swords and blades can slay spirits as easily as a knife cleaves water.

This sword is different; the majesty of the Demon-Slaying Ancestor presses down upon it, causing evil spirits and yin ghosts to flinch before they even get close.

only……

Lu Shanjun's mind immediately fell into a deep gloom.

It has power, but no edge.

The stone sword is protected by incense and ritual; it can be suppressed, but not necessarily killed.

To kill it, we must first pave a "sunlit path" for it.

The three things to be feared in the formula, when viewed upside down, are actually three medicines.

Cinnabar, which alchemists call the essence of fire, is born in stone and possesses pure yang energy. It is the first ingredient used in talismans to ward off evil.

Black dog blood is extremely turbid and potent. It's an old folk remedy for exorcising evil spirits. It may be a bit crude, but it's effective because it has a strong yang energy.

Then there's a rooster.

The rooster crows at dawn, its song bringing daylight and dispelling all evil.

If you can find a mature rooster and take a drop of blood from its comb, that's the purest yang. If you apply it to your sword and the yin spirit touches it, it's like the blazing sun overhead.

It has the sword that vanquishes demons as its core and the blood of ultimate yang as its edge.

The more Lu Shanjun thought about it, the more steadily his heart beat.

If this sword strike succeeds, it will be his trump card. On the surface, he will use the Three Forms of Subduing Tiger to fight its physical body.

In the shadows, this sword awaits its yin spirit.

The game then comes to life.

……

As dawn broke, Huang San was pulled out of bed.

To be precise, he was grabbed by the scruff of his neck by Hu Er and dragged in front of Lu Shanjun.

The newly appointed military advisor, Huang, had barely settled into his post before bowing deeply, saying, "Your Majesty, what are your orders?"

Lu Shanjun looked at it, not in a hurry to speak. After a long while, he slowly said:

"Huang San, I have a task for you. If you succeed, your position as strategist will be truly secure. If you fail…"

"It can be done! It can be done!"

Huang San spoke first, then realized his mistake and awkwardly bowed back, "...Your Majesty, please speak first. What kind of task is it?"

"Go down the mountain."

Huang San's waist stiffened halfway down the road.

Downhill.

These two characters now have the same meaning as "on the road" on Huangfengling.

Three paths, five demon lives, and that three-inch peach wood sword is still hanging at the foot of the mountain.

Lu Shanjun saw through his thoughts perfectly, but he didn't point them out. Instead, he slowly and methodically explained three things.

The first thing to do is go to the mountain pass on the official road, meet the old Taoist priest, and pass on a message.

The second thing is that if the old Taoist priest agrees, he should bring the stone sword from the temple up the mountain.

Thirdly, I went into the village alone to buy the necessary items. The black dog's blood had to be freshly collected. The cinnabar had to be the strongest, top-grade. I also needed to select three to five lively, healthy roosters.

Finally, Lu Shanjun stared at Huang San's triangular eyes and spoke slowly and deliberately.

"Remember this rule: once the money is exchanged, there must be no surprises, and absolutely no harm. You cannot take even a single hair or a chicken feather from anyone else without permission. The money..."

He flicked his paw to the side. A small pile of loose silver coins, the accumulated wealth from the cave over the years.

"Give us the full amount, and add another 30%."

After hearing the first story, Huang San's legs went weak. After hearing the second, his mind went blank. But when he heard the third, his triangular eyes gradually brightened.

It is a demon, but it is a demon formed from a weasel.

Before the weasel became a significant force, it loved to roam around people's villages, watching them go to the market, watch them slaughter pigs, and watch them haggle over every penny. In its trade, a whole mountain of demons combined couldn't compare to its sheer number.

This job is truly dangerous.

But if it gets done...

Huang San steeled himself, knelt down, and kowtowed: "Your Majesty, please teach me that phrase."

Lu Shanjun bent down, lowered his voice, and taught him word by word.

Huang San followed along, memorizing sentence by sentence. Halfway through, the yellow hair all over his body stood up with a "whoosh".

"I understand!"