Chapter 52: Face-Changing and Martial Arts

On the way back, the embroiderer was very curious about Daoist Yan Song's face-changing.

"Junior Uncle Yan Song, what's the deal with those masks?" The embroiderer looked Daoist Yan Song's face up and down with curiosity. "So many masks! Where did you hide them?"

At this moment, although Daoist Yan Song was still wearing a Primordial Chaos cap, black cloth wrapped around the back and both sides, extending into his clothes, which was indeed quite different from his usual attire.

The embroiderer had previously thought it was because Daoist Yan Song was old and afraid of the cold, but now it seemed he wore it specially for the purpose of magical combat.

"That's called face-painting; it's my exclusive secret." Daoist Yan Song grinned and leaned close to the embroiderer, simply shaking his head, and a blue face-painted mask instantly appeared on his face.

The embroiderer was startled into a shiver and couldn't help but let out a soft cry, stepping back a pace.

Even with her cultivated eyesight, she couldn't see how Daoist Yan Song suddenly put that face-painted mask on his face, and she couldn't help but greatly admire it. "It's too magical!"

Daoist Yan Song laughed heartily, raised his hand and swept his sleeve in front of him, then returned to his original appearance.

"This is called face-changing; it's a unique specialty from my Daoist hometown. During the difficult years, many craftsmen made a living for their families relying on this one skill." Daoist Yan Song explained.

Even in the internet age, when videos revealing the secrets of face-changing were online, once watched live, the audience would still exclaim in amazement; let alone in this ancient otherworld.

Moreover, Daoist Yan Song had made his own modifications; as long as he cooperated with a bit of magic power, he could switch between seven face-painted masks at will. If he returned to the modern Blue Star to perform, it would absolutely be a top-tier skill in the art of face-changing.

Even the King of Face-Changing would have to admit defeat; those who knew the principles of face-changing would be completely baffled!

Thinking of this, Daoist Yan Song felt greatly proud and even thought about when to return to show the Daoist Priests of Qingcheng Mountain some new knowledge.

Like Gu Zhao, Daoist Yan Song did not plan to reveal the Great One Taiyi Fenghuo directly upon returning; instead, this little trick combined with magic power was best at manipulating people's hearts.

Not only the unworldly Daoist Priests of Qingcheng Mountain, but even the embroiderer and Bai Ke were now surprised, because Daoist Yan Song's face-changing indeed gave people a feeling of mystery and extraordinary brilliance.

"Then why did you change your face during the magical combat?" The embroiderer continued to ask.

"To increase our side's momentum!" Daoist Yan Song pointed at himself with a smile. "My old face has no intimidation; others won't be afraid at a glance. If, during a fight, the opponent sees me putting on these terrifying face-painted masks and feels weak in the heart, wouldn't I gain the advantage?"

Bai Ke, "..."

The embroiderer, "..."

Bai Ke was powerless to retort, thinking how strange all the successors of Gu Zhao's sect were. If you really started fighting and blew out a Great One Taiyi Fenghuo, who would dare to look down on you? Would you still need to change your face to scare people?

The embroiderer lacked experience and hadn't thought of so much; she just nodded as if understanding and added, "You also changed the face... face-painted mask in the middle."

"When casting different spells, of course, you must cooperate with different face-painted masks." While speaking, Daoist Yan Song looked at Gu Zhao and recited two lines of doggerel: "The Green-Faced Wind Lord hides in the sky; the Red-Faced Fire God stirs the universe."

Gu Zhao immediately understood, raised his thumb, and acted as the straight man for Daoist Yan Song. "This is called professionalism!"

The embroiderer understood. "So you used the blue face-painted mask when blowing wind, switched to the red one when spitting fire, but why did you switch to black in the end?"

"Black means I'm going all out." Daoist Yan Song explained patiently.

The representative figure of the black face-painted mask is Zhang Fei, both reckless and fierce, with beard and hair standing on end; of course, it is a sign of going all out.

Bai Ke leaned on the embroiderer's shoulder, curious about what other skills Daoist Yan Song had, so she asked, "Then what other colors of face-painted masks do you have? Show them off and let us see?"

Hearing this, Daoist Yan Song didn't mind; he simply reached out and wiped his face, and a yellow face-painted mask appeared on his face again.

Yellow as the base, black outlining, red patterns; it looked brave and fierce.

"What does yellow represent?" Bai Ke asked.

"Yellow means I'm going to use my sword." Daoist Yan Song patted the sword at his waist. "My Qingcheng Sword Art has been cultivated for several decades!"

Qingcheng Martial Arts became famous for the sword; Daoist Yan Song had indeed practiced sword techniques for several decades. The Whistling Cloud Sword, the Seven Stars Sword, and others were all practiced until they were as smooth as a well-oiled machine and as natural as using one's own limbs.

If ten days ago his sword technique could only be used for self-cultivation, with its function in fitness performance greater than defeating enemies, now that his masterfully refined sword technique, once imbued with magic power, could be used to slay demons and monsters.

For this battle, he had specially brought the sword that had accompanied him for several decades.

"To act righteously, knowing only spells isn't enough; one must know some martial arts to some extent." Gu Zhao made the summary.

Whether it was Ren Tian of the Golden Wind God Sect, or the Brocade-Clothed Old Man Huang Pinggong of the Three Absolutes Mountain, or the target of this time, the Corpse Ghost Xu Kongting, although they were ghosts, gods, or monsters with magic power and spells, their physical techniques were not neglected at all.

That is to say, the mainstream cultivation direction in this world is still dual cultivation of body and magic.

"That's right." Daoist Yan Song nodded. "But we aren't bad either."

Daoist Priests do not seek the next life, only this one; of course, they value physical health. Even the Zhengyi Sect, which cultivates the Visualization Method, also attends to refining Qi, strengthening their bodies and practicing martial arts in daily life.

This has a tradition; when the Taiping Sect raised its banner and the Five Pecks of Rice Sect carved out a territory, the Daoist Priests were all capable of mounting horses, wielding swords, beheading generals, and capturing flags!

So Daoist Yan Song practiced fist and foot techniques and sword arts for several decades, and Gu Zhao also practiced martial arts with his grandfather. Now that he had magic power and his physical constitution had greatly improved, he naturally possessed close-combat capabilities.

However...

"I think I can be even stronger." Gu Zhao said.

Thinking of Huang Pinggong's violent ape form just now, and Xu Kongting trying to tear them apart with sharp claws, Gu Zhao did not want to pin all his hopes on future opponents having less magic power than himself and being unable to get close to him; moreover, open spears are easy to dodge, but hidden arrows are hard to guard against.

Daoist Yan Song understood Gu Zhao's meaning. "Although what your grandfather taught you is a local small fist style, it has laid a good foundation for you. No matter what martial art you learn in the future, you will achieve twice the result with half the effort."

"Hey, hey, hey? What do you mean by 'local small fist style'?" Gu Zhao said dissatisfied. "The Bai He Fist isn't a local small fist style; it's also one of the flagship styles of Southern Fist."

Daoist Yan Song jumped in. "If it hasn't even entered the Intangible Cultural Heritage list, what else would you call a small fist style?"

Gu Zhao snorted. "Hong Fist hasn't entered either."

Daoist Yan Song shook his head. "Hong Fist hasn't entered because there are too many branch lineages and disputes, and Hong Fist doesn't need to rely on this to raise its status."

Gu Zhao couldn't help but sigh. "The successors of Bai He Fist aren't pulling their weight!"

Daoist Yan Song smiled and offered a suggestion. "Then you support it! Go back and perform a Bai He Fist routine, directly manifesting a Bai He Dharma Image, and see who dares to look down on Bai He Fist."

Gu Zhao, "..."