Walnut used me to boost her sales performance.

"You can't just say things like 'bullying the elderly'!"

Hu Tao's expression was serious and solemn. She pulled Jiang Bai aside, pointed at his face, and said, "Our Jiang Bai is an injured person. Look at the injury on his face, and look at his limping leg. But you are different. You are the Thunderbolt and Lightning True Lord, an immortal!"

"How can it be called bullying an old man when an injured person spars with an immortal!"

Jiang Bai cooperated perfectly, touching his face and rubbing his legs, groaning in pain.

"You...you..." The old man was furious at their behavior. He tremblingly extended his finger, almost spitting out a mouthful of blood.

Wu Cong and A Ling looked at each other in bewilderment. The former finally realized that he had been tricked, slapped his forehead, and suddenly understood.

The latter stared blankly, unable to believe that he had been deceived.

His path to immortality, his journey of cultivation...

It just ended like that...

He knelt on the ground, as if snowflakes were dancing around him, tears streaming down his face. The pain was not in his body, but in his heart!

Wu Cong sighed as he looked at him.

I used to think I lacked talent, but now it seems this thing is completely fictitious.

Because they believed it so deeply, they deceived themselves.

This made him suspicious several times, but the others were too engrossed in their roles, which made him doubt himself and he could never figure it out.

Perhaps after some time, he will choose to give up and leave this place, but the regret of not being able to pursue immortality will stay with him for a long time.

As for the Mora he paid over the past two months, he doesn't plan to keep it.

The manual the other party gave him was actually quite useful; otherwise, he wouldn't have been able to stay for two months.

He patted A-Ling on the shoulder, then turned and went back to the hut to pack his things, preparing to leave this troublesome place.

Ignoring the two men's thoughts, Hu Tao kindly helped the old man up. "Grandpa, we won't make things difficult for you. If you leave now and stop using the name of an immortal to swindle people, we'll pretend nothing happened. But if you insist on pursuing this matter, I'll have to call Qianyan Army over..."

The old man shook off her hand, straightened his clothes, and snorted coldly, "Hmph, fine, I'll leave then!"

He was careless this time and ran into two people who were pretending to be weak but were actually strong. Next time, he'll change his outfit and refuse to compete with anyone again!

Seeing the old man leave, even discarding his straw hat, Jiang Bai scratched his head in bewilderment.

"That's it?" Isn't it a bit too easy to let them go like this?

"Otherwise what?" Hu Tao retorted.

She's not like Xingqiu, who enjoys chivalrous deeds; she just happened to run into them and exposed their scam.

Besides, they didn't scam much; they only scammed two young people.

An old man, scamming a little money, should be let off the hook if appropriate.

Otherwise, by the time she finds Qianyan Army, several days will have passed, and will they still want to go to Huaguang Forest?

"Okay... but how did he manage to shatter the cliff face from a distance?" Jiang Bai asked curiously.

“Use a talisman. Just like when you punched him twice and he only fell to the ground a couple of times without any injury, it's because he has a protective talisman.” Hu Tao took out a talisman from her ring.

The bottom of the talisman was a rectangular piece of yellow paper with intricate, pattern-like characters written in cinnabar.

The old man was secretly drawing talismans inside the house just now.

After Little Ghost's investigation, it was discovered that the old man had several talismans hidden on his body. By secretly activating the talismans, he shattered the rocks, creating the illusion that his fist technique had broken them.

"There aren't many people who can draw talismans anymore. The talismans passed down in the Rebirth Hall are all used for exorcising evil spirits and suppressing ghosts..."

Although the art of talismans exists in Liyue, it is not prevalent.

In ancient times, the art of talismans was a Taoist practice of immortals. Later, when wars between demons and gods broke out, causing widespread suffering, the immortals passed down the art of talismans, which people used to fight against evil spirits and powerful enemies.

In ancient times, a powerful talisman could freeze ice and burn forests, but as time went by, fewer and fewer people inherited the way of talismans, and its power declined.

Aside from a few families of sorcerers and demon hunters, it's very rare to find people in Liyue who can draw talismans.

It's quite rare to encounter an old swindler in the mountains who can draw talismans.

Hu Tao put away the talisman, stretched, and prepared to rest for a while before continuing her journey.

Unexpectedly, the man who had been crying suddenly rushed over and tried to hug her leg.

The sudden attack startled Hu Tao, who jumped up and instinctively traversed the spirit world to dodge it.

Jiang Bai stood in front of Hu Tao, staring at the man with a dangerous look in his eyes.

"What do you want to do?"

He suddenly rushed over and tried to grab Hu Tao's leg. If Hu Tao couldn't explain himself, he'd make him pay!

Ah Ling put on a fawning smile and quickly waved her hand to prove her innocence.

"Don't misunderstand, don't misunderstand!"

He bent over, clasped his hands together, and raised them above his head. "My name is A-Ling. You two don't look like ordinary people at all. I just want to learn from you! I hope you can take me in!"

"You want to follow us? What do you have to learn from us?" Jiang Bai looked at Hu Tao, who shrugged, indicating that she didn't know either.

"I see that you two just took out talismans, so you must be proficient in talisman-making!"

The moment he saw the talisman, images flashed through his mind of using it to fan himself and make ice in the summer, to light a fire and keep warm in the winter, to repel a great demon in times of danger, and to protect himself in times of peril, before finally reaching the pinnacle of life with a beautiful woman in his arms.

Since the path to immortality is blocked, turning to the path of talismans is not out of the question.

With his talent, learning talismans will be a piece of cake for him.

"I believe I have considerable talent, and if I could learn from you two, I would surely be able to carry forward the art of talismans!"

Jiang Bai thought he was narcissistic enough, but he was wrong. The guy in front of him couldn't be described as narcissistic at all.

Chapter 58 Master, wait for me!

What kind of thought process led him to rush over and cling to Hu Tao's coattails? Was he trying to learn talismans from Hu Tao in this way?

"Holding onto someone's coattails" is just an adjective used to describe someone who takes advantage of another's power, yet someone actually tried to turn it into a verb!

"Uh..." Hu Tao was also speechless.

She only took out a talisman, so why did she become an expert in talismans?

No wonder they were fooled and believed in this so-called Thunder and Lightning True Lord so much. They have such vivid imaginations!

“I can’t draw talismans, I bought those. If you want to learn talismans, you might as well go find that old man. His talisman skills are superb, and he carries a whole bunch of them…” Hu Tao pointed in the direction the old man had just left, giving him a clear path.

"Famous teachers" paired with "outstanding students"—you shouldn't be harming others.

"What!" Ah Ling exclaimed in shock.

He chased after it while shouting.

"Master, wait for me! Master, wait for me!"

Watching the guy leave, Jiang Bai pointed to his head with a troubled expression, "Is there something wrong with this guy's head?"

Hu Tao sighed, "Who knows? Just don't bother us..."

Such people are stubborn and don't care about the facts; they only care about what they see. If you get entangled with them, it won't be easy to get rid of them.

"By the way, where's Wu Cong?" Jiang Bai looked around but didn't see him.

He wanted to find him to learn more about the stories of immortals, but he couldn't find him anywhere.

"Let's go back."

The two turned and walked towards the thatched hut, and soon saw Wu Cong standing at the door of the hut.

He was carrying a small bundle on his back, clearly waiting for the two of them.

Are you leaving?

"Yes! Now that we know it's a scam, there's no point in staying."

"Then do you still want to seek immortality and enlightenment?"

"I will not seek immortality or seek enlightenment. Seeking immortality is the wish of my ancestors. My wish is to pursue the martial arts! I plan to join the Ancient Hua Sect. I hope we will meet again someday!"

"I was thinking of asking Brother Wu to go with me to seek out those trials that take us to heaven and earth..." Jiang Bai said with a regretful expression.

He was genuinely curious about what those trials involving going to heaven and earth were. With Wu Cong, a guide who grew up in these mountains, finding anything would be easy.

It now appears that this idea cannot be realized.

Seeing that Jiang Bai had such thoughts, Wu Cong took out an old notebook from his bundle and handed it to him, "This is the diary left by my ancestors. I'll lend it to you for a while. If you can find the trial of that [land], it will fulfill the wish of my ancestors."

Jiang Bai was quite surprised when he took the diary.

"Such an important thing, you just handed it over to me like this?"

"If I need it, I can just go to the Rebirth Hall and get it from you."

Wu Cong chuckled lightly, his seemingly simple face showing no signs of dullness, clearly indicating that his intelligence had fully recovered.

Or perhaps he never believed Hu Tao's statement, "I have a friend from the Hall of Rebirth."

"The head of the Hall of Rebirth surely wouldn't be so greedy as to take away one of my diaries, would he?" He looked at Hu Tao, his tone slightly teasing.

Many people in Liyue know that the head of the Hall of Rebirth is a young girl who enjoys promoting the Hall's services. Considering all this, Hu Tao's identity becomes quite clear.

“Since you’ve found out, I’ll tell you the truth.” Under Wu Cong’s gaze, Hu Tao straightened her back and cleared her throat. “Since you’ve already seen through me, I won’t hide it anymore! That’s right, the seventy-seventh head of the Rebirth Hall is me, Hu Tao!”

"Don't worry, you can just come to our Rebirth Hall to get it when you need it," she assured him, patting her chest.

"Then thank you very much, Hall Master Hu!" Wu Cong clasped his hands in a fist salute and bid farewell to the two men.

Watching Wu Cong's figure disappear down the mountain road, Jiang Bai carefully put his diary away, preparing to read it properly when he rested.

"Master, what is the Guhua Sect?"

Hu Tao sighed, "A once glorious but long-declining small sect. However, the Guhua Sect is fortunate; its once-renowned martial arts of Liyue now has an excellent successor, at least it won't be lost..."

"The martial arts renowned throughout Liyue? Are they that powerful?"

"The Ancient Hua Sect once had three unique skills: the spear technique [Thrusting Brightness Technique], the sword technique [Rain-Cutting Technique], and the dual skills of spear and sword [Generation and Restraint Technique], which were quite formidable in Liyue's martial arts."

"Unfortunately, as time passed, while the Three Ultimate Techniques reached their pinnacle, their power steadily diminished, leading to the decline of the Ancient Hua Sect's influence, the loss of its members, and its gradual transformation into an obscure and unknown sect..."

As Hu Tao spoke, she sighed with regret.

Their ancestral hall has also been passed down for thousands of years and is getting better and better, but the once famous Guhua School has declined.

Different development paths lead to different circumstances and different outcomes.

"Master, you know so much about this!" This kind of thing should be a secret of the sect, and outsiders shouldn't know it so easily.

However, considering the identity of the head of the Walnut Rebirth Hall, it's not surprising that he knows this.

Hu Tao shrugged. "Well, who told me that the person who inherited the Three Wonders of Ancient Hua is my friend? I'll introduce you to him another day. You'll definitely get along with him."

She couldn't really judge Xingqiu's personality, but she greatly admired his poetry.

"it is good......"

After resting for a while, the two continued on their way.

To reach Huaguang Forest, one must first pass through Jueyun Pass.

The terrain of Jueyun Mountain is complex, with towering peaks reaching into the clouds above and bottomless pools below. Waterfalls rush down the mountainside, crashing against the rocks like the roar of a raging lion, deafeningly loud.

A wooden suspension bridge sways in the wind, connecting the opposite cliff. Below the bridge, the river rushes through the gorge.

Jiang Bai looked at the suspension bridge, which had been built many years ago. Some of the wooden planks on the bridge were broken, and in some places, the planks were completely gone. The ropes on the bridge also looked very old, and many places were covered with moss.

If you accidentally step into a hole, you'll have to prepare for a funeral.

He tugged at the rope with some concern. "Master, isn't anyone going to repair this suspension bridge or build a new one?"

“Now, apart from herb gatherers and hunters living in the mountains, very few people go into the mountains. With so few people using it, the suspension bridge has naturally been neglected and left to fall into this state over time…”

Hu Tao shrugged, indicating that she couldn't do anything about it.

In the past, when stories of seeking immortality and enlightenment were still prevalent here, many people came to Jueyun Mountain in hopes of catching a glimpse of the true face of the immortals and praying for the secret to longevity.

But later, immortals appeared less and less, and seeking immortality and enlightenment became increasingly difficult. Now, the stories of seeking immortality and enlightenment have become legends, and apart from the treasure-hunting gang, naturally no one comes to this Jueyun Pass anymore.

If she hadn't met Wu Cong, even she wouldn't have known about this "trial of ascending to heaven and descending to earth".

Even though she loves to go to the mountains, she mostly goes to Wuwangpo and rarely goes this way.