The Twelve Trials Starting from Zero

"Alright..." Dao Run, not wanting to listen to their idle chatter any longer, said impatiently, "Stop wasting my time."

"Alright." Su Qi sighed softly and handed the wrapped flower root to Dao He. "My friend, this journey is fraught with peril. I entrust this child to your care. Please do your best to raise her well, help her grow up healthy, get married, and have children. It will make this life's destiny worthwhile."

The latter took it, his face full of black lines, and said, "Get out of here!"

Afterwards, Su Qi obediently followed Dao Run and was taken to the underground prison in the southwest corner of Dao City.

The dungeon was dark and damp, with a dirty and messy floor. The corridors and torture chambers were filled with instruments of torture such as axes, knives, saws, wooden donkeys, shackles, iron chains, iron cangues, and tiger benches. The air was filled with the stench of decay and a faint metallic smell. The cells were empty, with bones and rats scattered everywhere. It seemed that no one had been here for a long time. There were no prisoners or even a single guard.

What exactly are you thinking?

After taking away the spirit and the medium through which it resided, and locking Su Qi in prison, Dao Run looked at the still calm-looking Su Qi through the iron bars, his doubts still unresolved.

Su Qi sat cross-legged on the ground, his right fist supporting his chin, openly appraising the girl's long, slender, fair, and shapely legs beneath her cheongsam. He said in a serious tone, "I'm thinking now, Miss Dao Run has a really good figure. She would be even sexier in white stockings. Why don't you try them on?"

Fifteen-year-old Daorun was hearing such "explicit" words for the first time. A blush flashed across her pretty face. She then coldly snorted, "I refuse," and turned to leave.

That's a real shame.

Despite saying this, Su Qi showed no sign of regret.

"Hmm, I wonder if our chuunibyou young master can persuade Daoyuan..."

Watching Dao Run's figure disappear quickly into the distance, he leaned against the wall and murmured to himself, feeling no worry whatsoever. He could always retrieve his Reverse Scale, capable of cutting through iron like mud, and with his pseudo-Heavenly Eye that could see through the structure of matter, escaping this dungeon would be a piece of cake.

Moreover, in the past few days, he has been seizing the time to study witchcraft and has already grasped the basic usage of the super spirit body, gaining a basic ability to protect himself. Even if his spirit host is taken away, with his witchcraft power, he can easily find any undead spirit and forcibly control it, turning it into his new spirit host.

Therefore, for him, possessing a spirit is not the problem; a powerful possessing spirit is the problem.

The strength of the spirit wielding a medium determines the upper limit of the super spirit's power. Some powerful spirit wielding mediums also come with additional special abilities. In order to bring out the advantage of Su Qi's enormous magical power, he needs a spirit wielding a medium that is at least at the level of an elf or a god. He will have to replace an ordinary tiger spirit sooner or later.

"Given the current situation, I need to stay in the Taoist community for a while longer, at least to see if there's anything useful in the Taoist canon. After all, my opponent is the great Onmyoji Asakura Hao from a thousand years ago. That guy can even convert the five elements of his spirit. Just to be on the safe side, I'd better not have any weaknesses in magic."

Su Qi set his sights on the various related classics collected by Taoists over the past two thousand years—the Taoist Canon.

If it weren't for the fact that the witchcraft in this world can only be used as MP and to control spirits, he would have already taken on the entire Taoist school and gone to search through the Taoist canon. However, reality doesn't allow for "what ifs," so he still needs to lie low in the Taoist school for a while, because he doesn't yet have much confidence in facing the entire Taoist school.

"According to the original work, the Shaman War will begin around 1999, so there's no need to rush. I still have three years."

Thinking of this, Su Qi let out a soft breath and calmed himself down again, quietly studying the application of witchcraft in this desolate dungeon.

……

In the center of Dao City, at Dan Yuan Palace.

A man over two zhang tall, with bulging muscles, a protruding belly, and bristling hair and beard, his imposing figure like a small mountain, sat upright in the main hall, wearing a large Taoist robe. His physique was clearly different from that of an ordinary person; even the extra-large chair beneath him creaked as if it could not bear the weight and might collapse at any moment.

This man is Dao Yuan, the current head of the Taoist family, or rather... his manifested, constantly maintained super-spiritual body.

"That's how it is... Father, please allow me to fight that rude fellow to the death during the end-of-month assessment!"

Dao Lian knelt below, looking down at the ground, pleading with unwavering conviction.

Dao Yuan didn't speak, but instead used his right palm to rub the black and white panda that was chained up and lying next to the chair, while coldly looking down at Dao Lian, remaining silent for a long time.

Deathly silence, an eerie stillness. The atmosphere in the entire hall was heavy; even the giant panda, clearly being pinched in pain, was terrified and dared not utter a sound.

As time went by, Dao Lian's body gradually stiffened, and she became increasingly nervous and uneasy, with cold sweat beading on her forehead.

From the time he could remember, his father had always appeared as a non-human, mountain-like figure. While he showered his father with the best resources to grow up in, he also meticulously planned his entire life path, allowing no room for defiance. Therefore, even someone as aloof as him harbored a hidden fear of his father.

Dao Lian couldn't fathom what decision Dao Yuan would make. Given that man's ruthless nature, whether towards enemies or allies, he might order someone to drag her, who had broken the rules, into the dungeon and torture her, just like when she disobeyed him at the age of six. But he might also see this as excellent training for her and grant her request, allowing her to fight that good-for-nothing Dao Cheng to the death.

boom! !

Suddenly, Daoyuan crushed the panda's head and threw the headless corpse in front of Daolian.

Then, a sound wave like thunder shook the hall, and it was coldly said: "If you win, the punishment is cancelled; if you lose, you will be suspended for ten days and then confined to seclusion."

He agreed!

Dao Lian was overjoyed and suppressed the urge to laugh out loud. He said loudly, "Yes, Father, please rest assured, I will definitely retrieve that guy's head during the end-of-month assessment!"

……

In the western dungeon, Dao Run returned in less than an hour.

"You can come out now."

She opened the cell door, her eyes filled with anger, and coldly greeted Su Qi inside.

"Heh, judging from Miss Daorun's expression, Daolian must have succeeded in persuading her."

The latter stood up and walked out of the cell at a leisurely pace, smiling slightly, "Actually, you can rest assured, at most I'll break his legs, I won't take his life."

"You seem very confident."

"To be honest, I've actually become stronger after the last battle, and there's nothing to be afraid of anymore. I feel like I have a huge advantage now, and I'm sure I'll come back alive."

Su Qi was full of confidence, like an old general on a stage, with flags planted all over his body, and he was not afraid at all.

"Hmph, I hope you can still keep that smiling face after listening to Father's words."

"Oh, what are you saying?" He showed no fear on his face, but instead chuckled and said, "Don't worry, I don't have any other merits, but I am optimistic."

“If you win, you can live; if you lose, he will personally turn you into a zombie and give you to Dao Lian as his birthday present this year.”

"Ha, what an unoriginal threat."

……

Not long after, Su Qi returned to his room and immediately saw the small, withered wildflower planted in a small, broken ceramic vase on the wooden table in front of the window with its openwork carvings. A few tiny water droplets clung to the leaves, sparkling like diamonds in the sunlight.

Chapter Seven: A Hundred Martial Arts Skills, This is a Super Spiritual Body!

Around noon, Daohe returned from his usual fishing trip at the training ground and saw Su Qi sitting in his wheelchair, leisurely basking in the sun in the yard.

"Huh? You actually came back alive?" He looked surprised, as if he couldn't believe it.

"My friend, why do you look surprised and then a little regretful? Shouldn't you be crying tears of joy?"

“Yes, I should cry, but I’m just so sad that I want to cry.” Daohe walked to Su Qi’s side and stood there, basking in the warm sunlight, and said with a troubled expression, “Just thinking that you, this scourge, are still alive and will continue to torment me in the future, makes my head start to hurt.”

"Eh? What makes you say that, my friend?"

“You know I just want to live a peaceful and carefree life, right?” He sighed. “My life now isn’t great, but it’s still barely acceptable. But if you drag me into the conflict with Dao Lian, even my current life will be gone. So Dao Cheng, you’re neither willing to settle down nor willing to die, which really puts me in a difficult position.”

"What's so difficult about that?" Su Qi said with a faint smile. "Why don't you just distance yourself from me? Or we can put on a show and I'll beat you up, then everyone will know we've become enemies."

Why don't I be the one to beat you up?

"The pain you feel is in my heart. As the saying goes, physical pain is worse than emotional pain. I'm doing this for your own good."

"No need for that. Let me experience this pain myself. How about I hit you instead?"

Su Qi turned to look at him and nodded slightly. "Alright then. So, my friend, what should we argue about? Sweet tofu pudding or savory tofu pudding? Lolita or mature woman? White stockings or black stockings? Setsuna or Touma?"

"What kind of rubbish is this...?"

Daohe rolled his eyes at him, not replying immediately. Instead, he looked at the old osmanthus tree in the courtyard, his eyes flickering. After a moment of silence, he sighed softly, "Forget it. With Daolian's pride, he probably won't deliberately make things difficult for me. And you only know me. If you die without anyone to collect your body, it seems a bit too pitiful."

Su Qi's eyes flickered slightly, a hint of a smile flashing within them. "Heh, while I appreciate your loyalty, why is the condition that I die?"

"Are you confident you can win?"

"Although I haven't gone bald, I've become stronger, and I don't believe you haven't noticed that."

"Yes, I know you were able to dodge Dao Lian's attacks with ease this morning, but do you think you can win just like that?"

……

Meanwhile, in a training ground somewhere in Danyuan Palace, Daorun asked a similar question.

"Dao Lian, are you confident you can beat that guy?"

"Dao Run, what nonsense are you talking about..." In the center of the training ground, Dao Lian held a Guan Dao, shirtless, revealing the Tai Chi tattoo on his back, drenched in sweat, and coldly said, "You actually think I would lose to that piece of trash?"

"But you saw his performance this morning. He easily dodged your slash. That guy is definitely not an easy opponent."

"Hmph, of course I know, but it doesn't matter." A cold smile curled at the corner of his lips as he arrogantly said, "Thanks to his provocation, my super spirit body is almost complete. When that happens, no matter how much he struggles, I will shred him to pieces with a single blow!"

As a spiritual family with a history of two thousand years, the Taoist family could not possibly be unaware of the existence of super spirits, nor could they fail to pass on that knowledge to their successors. Dao Lian herself is undoubtedly a genius, so although she is only ten years old, she is only one step away from achieving super spirit status.

But now, his anger toward Su Qi seems to have given him a push, allowing him to cross that threshold before the main plot even begins.

"Can it really go that smoothly...?"

Daorun, however, was not as optimistic as her younger brother. She wondered if it was just her imagination, but she always felt that the overly composed boy was somewhat mysterious and unpredictable, like a bottomless abyss, which made her feel a little uneasy.

A psychic's senses are never without reason. I must personally help Lian clear away that guy named Daocheng...

Thinking of this, Dao Run's face turned cold.

……

Time flies, and it's already the end of the month.

On this morning, Su Qi and Dao He got up early as usual, but their destination was no longer the large training ground in the center of Dao City, but the Jiebo Platform in the northwest corner of Dao City, which was the location for the end-of-month assessment.

However, on their way to the Tribulation Platform, an uninvited guest blocked their path.

“My friend…” Su Qi stopped, brushed a strand of hair from his forehead, and said to the rising sun and morning breeze, “The wind is so noisy today.”

Daohe stopped, a look of disgust on his face that said, "This idiot is at it again." "What are you trying to say now?"

Su Qi's expression was solemn. "The wind has brought something ominous into the city. My right arm, which seals the Black Flame Dragon, is trembling. It is warning me that evil beings carrying dark power are approaching."

Daohe sighed, feeling somewhat weary.

Ever since he narrowly escaped death from Dao Lian's clutches, his roommate's strength has increased dramatically, but his behavior has become increasingly strange. He keeps spouting incomprehensible phrases like "Black Flame Dragon," "Dark Power," "The Great Onmyoji Asakura Hao wants to destroy humanity," and "I am the savior descended from another world." It seems like he has some kind of mental problem, making it incredibly troublesome for him to have to think carefully about the meaning of those strange words before communicating with him.

"Enough..." He was too lazy to waste his brainpower trying to figure out the guy's delusions anymore, and said directly, "Speak like a human being!"

“Ahem, I was saying the scene was quite lively today…” Su Qi said, looking at Dao Run, who stood silently in front of him with his arms crossed and wearing a cold and elegant cheongsam, “and… the visitors are not friendly.”

"Daocheng, I need to talk to you."

Seemingly ignoring Su Qi's assessment that "they came with ill intentions," Dao Run strode forward and, taking advantage of his height, looked down at Su Qi and Dao He.

Dao He's eyes flickered, and he lowered his head slightly, saying respectfully, "Miss Dao Run, we are on our way to the assessment. If we are delayed, we are afraid that the Dao Master will be displeased. I wonder if you could do us a favor?"

Dao Run gave him a cold look. "This is a problem between him and me. You can leave first. As for the rest, I will naturally help you solve it."

Daohe frowned slightly, his expression hesitant, but... he didn't move.

Dao Run's face turned cold. "What? You want to stay with him?"