I created the myth of the Great Old Ones.

Lu Ban was trying to understand what was above.

The text here was initially somewhat normal, consisting of Crane Cry Taoist's insights into all things, including his views on knowledge, pollution, and exotic lands.

Later, when he recorded his own journey of seeking the Dao, it became obscure and difficult to understand, vague and unclear. He repeated the same words many times, or skipped certain plot points without any logic.

Fortunately, Lu Ban followed the thought process of a mental patient and carefully analyzed Heming Daoist's ideas, and still managed to obtain some useful information from them.

What surprised Lu Ban the most was that the knowledge of the Daoist Heming did not come from his own insights, but from an ancient manuscript he had obtained.

The book originally had only seven chapters. After studying and understanding it, Daoist Heming copied it, added to it, and incorporated his own understanding, which resulted in the book "Heming Nine Chapters Secret Scripture".

The title of that book is no longer verifiable; the only information recorded in the book is its author.

Xuanjun.

Chapter 562 The Art of Resurrection

Seeing this, Lu Ban felt like there were even more ants on his eyes.

Tiny ants crawled all over his eyeballs, their antennae dabbing at the lens, occasionally tearing at the delicate nerves and muscles of his eye with their teeth.

"The knowledge of Daoist Heming comes from the Mysterious Lord. This Mysterious Lord refers to the ancestor of the Nine Schools of Thought, whom they compete for every ten years?"

"Xuanjun must be a person of this world. His knowledge is the knowledge of this world. In other words, the knowledge of this world has polluted Daoist Heming, making him a serious source of pollution in the ruined capital?"

"The mud monster in the ruined capital was also summoned by a ritual passed down by the successor of the Crane Cry Sect. And that mud monster was summoned and bound at the Nanhua Private Renji Hospital decades ago. Does this mean that the pollution of this world may be more profound than it seems?"

Lu Ban glanced at the first chapter, the art of resurrection.

Good guy.

Lu Ban exclaimed "Wow!" even before he finished reading it.

This art of resurrection involves using the mud monster to extract the spirit, discard the physical body, and thus turn a person into a walking corpse.

If you follow the instructions here, it will end up like the situation at Nanhua Private Renji Hospital.

Later on, the ritual to become a ghoul became quite bloody, requiring certain actions that would be marked with asterisks if spoken of, making it extremely cruel.

As for the methods of controlling alien monsters and traversing alien realms, they are all increasingly anti-human.

Lu Ban felt that it was best not to show this thing to anyone.

Lu Ban closed the book again and glanced at Tang Que opposite him.

The woman didn't actually come closer; she just stared at Lu Ban with great interest.

"So, did you find anything?"

Tang Que inquired.

"This thing is indeed harmful and should be destroyed immediately."

Lu Ban immediately replied.

"You're a really interesting person."

Tang Que sized up Lu Ban with a gaze somewhat like a hungry wolf looking at a lamb.

Lu Ban placed the book on the altar.

"The person who placed this book here must have some ulterior motive; Xuanjun's position is not so simple."

He added.

"Ms. Tang, do you know what happened to Xuanjun before?"

"That's unclear. The previous Xuanjun was probably from the Mountain Moving and Dragon Seeking side, or perhaps a relative of Seventh Master."

Tang Que glanced at the door.

There was already a commotion outside.

Lu Ban and Tang Que went outside and saw Dai Yuanyang and He Chong fighting again, but they were quickly pulled away by the others.

"I have no idea about any secret manual. If I had such a thing, wouldn't it be better to keep it for myself or take it back to the university's research lab? Why would I give it to you?"

Dai Yuanyang said, "It sounds like it makes a lot of sense."

"That book has a very serious problem. I just checked it, so it's best if you don't flip through it casually. For safety reasons, I will carry it with me at all times."

Lu Ban turned around and picked up the booklet on the altar.

Suddenly, Lu Ban felt that something was wrong.

He looked up.

He then discovered that the strange eyes of Fang Geng's statue were staring at him, their gaze sharp as a real blade, sending a chill down Lu Ban's spine.

"Isn't there something wrong with this statue?"

Lu Ban asked.

Tang Que and Shi Buwen were also somewhat surprised when they came in.

Lu Ban's [True Vision] swept over the statue, but found nothing unusual; it was just a stone statue.

"Tonight may not be peaceful."

Shi Buwen said in a deep voice.

He looked at the eerie statue as if he could see through time itself.

……

evening.

After dinner, night fell over Jiangcheng Mountain.

For Lu Ban, who lived and grew up in the city, the nights in the mountains were very dark.

There are no streetlights or other building lights here. In this gloomy place where even the moonlight is shrouded by dark clouds, darkness grows.

Human beings' fear of darkness is instinctive; it is a fear of the unknown and danger.

Lu Ban didn't feel fear; he only felt that it was very dark, and only the light in the courtyard gave him some warmth.

He went to the Taoist temple again and took a look. The statue's gaze was fixed on the altar, and it remained motionless.

The followers of Jiuliu have already begun to go out to search for the whereabouts of the jade pendant.

Eight people, nine jade pendants. If one pendant can be found, at least one point can be guaranteed, and the extra pendants can give them the lead.

For example, if Dai Yuanyang gets two pieces while Lu Ban doesn't find any, his score will surpass Lu Ban's, making him the current number one.

Of course, if someone is exceptionally skilled and manages to obtain nine jade pendant fragments at once, then they can slack off in at least two projects without falling behind.

"Seventh Master, I heard that the previous Xuanjun was from your Mountain Moving and Dragon Seeking lineage. Do you know any details?"

By the moonlight, Lu Ban found Seventh Master outside the door, who was lighting a pipe.

“Oh, that’s true. The last Xuanjun was my cousin. We all call him San’er because he’s the third in his generation in the family.”

Seventh Master took a deep breath of the foul air from the burning tobacco in his pipe, and slowly exhaled it after it had filled his lungs, his eyes momentarily glazed over.

What happened to him after he became a Mystic Lord?

Lu Ban pressed for an answer.

"I don't really know. Anyway, he went home later and passed away a few years later due to illness. He was in Northeast China at the time, so it wasn't convenient for me to go there."

Seventh Master said as he recalled.

"Will Xuanjun die?"

Lu Ban asked subconsciously.

"Of course he'll die. Nobody is immune to death. They say that Xuanjun can inherit some methods of immortality, but I think that's utter bullshit. If Xuanjun could really live forever, we wouldn't need to come here every ten years."

Seventh Master said in a refined and easygoing manner.

"So, what happened to the previous Xuanjun?"

Lu Ban suddenly asked again.

"I'm not too sure about that, but they should all be dead."

Seventh Master smiled.

"Could it be that Xuanjun was tricked into going up the mountain, then tied up and burned to death in a cave to be sacrificed to the mountain god in exchange for peace?"

Lu Ban said something out of the blue.

"...Brother Lu, your imagination is too rich. People who become Xuanjun are all perfectly fine. At most, they may have learned some so-called secret techniques and gone mad. They will be fine."

Seventh Master reassured him.

"That's good."

Lu Ban nodded and then walked into the darkness.

He visited several buildings in the area from the afternoon to the evening.

After quickly checking the locations of the five jade pendant fragments, Lu Ban wasn't interested in the remaining four. As long as he got all five, he could guarantee first place, so it wasn't a big problem.

Seeing that the others were still searching, Lu Ban went straight to the hall with the ink painting hanging on it without saying a word.

He planned to take the hidden piece first.

But as he walked in, he found that Blind Zhang was sitting there, stroking a piece of emerald green stone in his hand.

Upon seeing that thing, Lu Ban saw the ink painting brushstrokes distorted, forming the system's cold and indifferent text.

[Item Found: Fate Jade 1/9]

Chapter 563 Where is Home Anymore

【Jadeite with Destiny】

Lu Ban found it rather ingenious; what he needed was actually a tool for the Xuanjun Competition.

Therefore, collecting all the fragments is imperative.

That's easy. Once this round is over, Lu Ban can just ask the others for some fragments and that'll be it.