Chapter 414: 173. Descending God

173. Descending God

"Why doesn't the female immortal speak?"

"Ouyang Lianghan, you... did you and that Shangqing cow-nosed Daoist agree that I have to be a little ink slave and be squeezed day and night..."

"Uh, not really."

"You even took out the 'Zhen Gao', and you still won't tell me the truth. It's really too much, even insulting my intelligence together. You can't bully an immortal like this..."

"Really not."

In front of the desk, looking at the little ink sprite with a loveless expression, Ouyang Rong's face was also a bit embarrassed, shrugging his shoulders:

"It's just that I happened to be able to learn it, and you happened to know about spiritual ink, so I had to trouble you."

"You're lying. You're not one of those Five-Peck-of-Rice Daoists, how could you learn this method."

"Five-Peck-of-Rice Daoists?"

"The Sanshan of Talismans belong to the Jiang Nan Daoist School. The Jiang Nan Daoist School originally originated from the Five-Peck-of-Rice Sect. It was called this name at the beginning, and the Sect Master has always been surnamed Zhang. Later, it also evolved into the Tianshi Mansion lineage of Longhu Mountain, and I don't know how many generations it has passed down...

"Wait, Ouyang Lianghan, do you have Tianshi Mansion bloodline? Are you a descendant of the Zhang family?"

"Uh, no,

"Then why the hell are you learning it."

"Scolding people again?" Ouyang Rong looked at her with a smile that wasn't quite a smile.

"I'm so angry."

Miaosi leaned back directly, sitting on the tabletop, acting shamelessly and throwing a tantrum. She spread her hands, giving up and not wanting to do it anymore:

"How come one after another, you all want spiritual ink? I... I don't have that much literary Qi. To produce the amount of spiritual ink for you to draw talismans, I have to lose essence and blood. I'm still so weak; don't draw my blood, it hurts so much, *woo woo woo*."

"So that's how it is. On the side of the Sanshan of Talismans, there are also ink sprite female immortals like you, being secretly bled by the Sanqing Ancestor Hall to supply a continuous stream of spiritual ink?"

"It's not that crude, but it's about the same. Being worked like an ox or a horse, they are urged for spiritual ink every day, forced to eat the incense Qi of the Profound Gate that they don't like, to produce spiritual ink, otherwise they can't make up for the lost essence, blood, and ink Qi..."

"Then you..."

"I'm a picky eater; I only like fragrant literary Qi, I don't like the bland and unpalatable incense Qi of the Profound Gate."

"So you can't produce spiritual ink right now?"

"I can only produce a tiny bit. I just woke up and recovered, and the literary Qi I ate isn't much, and quite a bit was sent to Miss Xie to break through her realm. The excess can only produce a tiny bit of spiritual ink, not even enough for you to write a single character. I... I'm still small, let me go, okay..."

Ouyang Rong was unmoved: "You're not small. Didn't you just understand quite a lot and feel quite proud? Existing for at least three hundred years at the very least, and you still call that not small?"

"..." Miaosi said weakly: "It can't be calculated like that either..."

Ouyang Rong asked calmly:

"Then as long as you eat literary Qi, you can produce it continuously?"

"Hmm, that's right. But where can I get literary Qi for me to eat? I searched all over Xunyang City and didn't see a few real talents. Except for a poor, sour little official living in the temple, none of them are very good. It's hard to eat enough literary Qi; I can only eat Hanlei ink sticks to fill my stomach first, making do, mixing one meal as one meal. It's like the difference between mountain delicacies and white flour steamed buns.

"Hey, literary Qi is hard to come by. The ink envoys raised by Sanqing are all forced to change to eating incense Qi. It's simply abusing spirits. Ouyang Lianghan, you're even less human than them."

Miaosi waved her fist, filled with righteous indignation.

"Thanks for the compliment."

Ouyang Rong thanked her, ignored her, pulled out paper and pen on his own, and began to bury his head in writing.

"Wait, Ouyang Lianghan, what are you doing?" Miaosi waited for a while and discovered something was wrong.

"Aren't you wanting literary Qi? Is this piece enough?"

"Ah?"

Miaosi lowered her head and took a look, her complexion changing slightly, but she was still stubborn:

"How... how is one piece enough."

"Then here comes another piece. No, ten pieces, twenty. Forget it, let's start with thirty pieces..."

Miaosi: "...??"

If other conditions were needed, Ouyang Rong would be a bit troubled, but if it was just lacking poetry... When he was preparing for his postgraduate entrance exam, he had memorized quite a bit. According to the tropes of certain web novels in his previous life, he was at least an old literary plagiarist now.

Well, actually, he was usually just too lazy to plagiarize, which made him appear low-key. It was just that now he lacked literary Qi to make the little ink sprite produce spiritual ink, so he had to display his traditional skills.

It was also fortunate that he had done little literary plagiarism to show off before, so his inventory was sufficient. Now that he needed it urgently to supply Miaosi... he shouldn't be lacking literary Qi for a short time.

Seeing Ouyang Rong bent over his desk, writing furiously, with stunning poetic chapters being born one after another under his dragon-like brush, Miaosi couldn't help but lean back. The desk before her was filled with abundant spiritual energy that she had never heard of before.

The young Daoist nun in Confucian robes swallowed her saliva.

Ouyang Rong didn't even stop to rest while writing, and soon, it was her turn to be anxious:

"Alright, alright, don't write anymore. I know how powerful you, the great poet immortal, are. You, how come you don't even pause? You're cheating. Could it be that you had a draft ready long ago? You couldn't really be a banished immortal, could you? Strange, strange.

"Alright, I beg you, don't write anymore. It's enough, it's really enough. Save some; I can't eat any more. Oh my, you're really crude, wasting good poetry..."

After writing another "Caisangzi," Ouyang Rong stopped his brush leisurely and looked at her sideways:

"How long does it take for the spiritual ink for one talisman?"

The young Daoist nun in Confucian robes crouched on the desk, carefully rolling up the sheets of Xuan paper filled with literary talent, her movements careful, and hugged them to the side to put them away. She said in a low voice:

"Give this immortal maiden half a day... Red and black talismans, right? I'll get you the amount of ink to write a red and black talisman."

"Good."

The poetry Ouyang Rong remembered was actually limited, and some of the too explosive and peerless ones were inconvenient to take out. He really couldn't write endlessly. Fortunately, although this little ink sprite had a big mouth, her little belly seemed quite easy to fill...

Miaosi sat happily in a pile of brilliant poetry, couldn't help but look at Ouyang Rong, who had a calm expression, and asked curiously:

"Can you really learn the 'Zhen Gao' and perform the supreme arts of Shangqing? Doesn't that mean you can also use all the talismans of the Sanshan? Do the Sanqing Daoist sects know about this?"

Ouyang Rong shook his head: "Naturally, I haven't said much to them."

"Ouyang Lianghan, are you sure your surname isn't Zhang? Or... there was someone surnamed Zhang next door before."

"Ask again and I'll beat you."

"..."

Ouyang Rong suddenly showed a troubled expression, grabbed the old, blackened little booklet on the table, stood up, and paced alone in the study.

The little ink sprite, who was greedily eating literary Qi, couldn't help but raise her head. As she was gorging herself, her mouth was a bit indistinct:

"Mm mm, Ouyang Lianghan, mm, why are you sighing?

"The Square-Inch Thunder Pool, the Decree of Descending Gods, and the Nine-Turn Elixir Formation—these three supreme arts of Sanqing are among the top-tier Qi Refining arts in the Northern and Southern Daoist gates.

"Among the Sanshan of Talismans, the Daoists qualified to practice them can be counted on one's fingers. You, an outsider, are neither the illegitimate son of the Zhang family nor a direct descendant of Sanqing. Being able to get the 'Zhen Gao' to study, and having the good luck to receive ink from this immortal maiden—it's like pie falling from the sky. You should be too happy to be sad, so why are you still looking so worried?"

Ouyang Rong frowned and turned back:

"Isn't there still a lack of special talisman paper? You can only produce spiritual ink, but what about the talisman paper? There's still one thing missing, the hardest to find... No, why are you looking at me with that kind of expression? Is there something on my face? Go eat your literary Qi; don't look at people randomly. If you looked at people like that in my hometown, you'd be beaten..."

Ouyang Rong was halfway through speaking when he suddenly noticed the young Daoist nun in Confucian robes had stopped eating literary Qi and was looking at him with a strange expression. Ouyang Rong couldn't help but urge her.

"Ouyang Lianghan, you... you really don't know? It seems you really know nothing about making talismans."

"It is indeed my first time drawing talismans. I'm just lacking spiritual ink and talisman paper. No, what exactly do you mean?"

"What do I mean? This immortal maiden is really impressed by you. Hahaha, no, this immortal maiden is going to die laughing."

Miaosi was overjoyed, clutching her stomach with both hands, rolling around and laughing.

Just as the straight-faced Ouyang Rong was about to reach out, the little Daoist nun on the table suddenly pointed her finger at the old, blackened little booklet in Ouyang Rong's hand with the words "Zhen Gao" written on the cover:

"Isn't the book page in your hand the highest quality talisman paper? What else do you want to find? Hahaha, this immortal maiden is going to die laughing. You're the stupidest, bar none."

"..."

Ouyang Rong let out an "Ah," couldn't help but lower his head to look at this old little booklet with about twenty pages, and raised his eyebrows...

Evening.

In the study of the Yinbing Zhai, before the desk, Ouyang Rong sat upright.

The young Daoist nun in Confucian robes was not in the study; rhythmic, slight snoring sounds came faintly from the inner room not far away.

It was Miaosi, who had been frantically devouring literary Qi and producing spiritual ink all afternoon, who was exhausted and was sleeping soundly.

She really didn't have a drop left today.

Ouyang Rong was not disturbed by the snoring. He sat quietly before the desk, his gaze falling on the few items placed on the desk before him.

First was a golden alms bowl, containing half a bowl of blood-red ink, emitting a scent of pine resin. Smelling it too much actually made one have a faint urge to compose poetry.

Beside the golden alms bowl was placed an old, blackened piece of paper, which seemed to have been torn from some little booklet; the other side still had some withered yellow handwriting. At the moment, the side without writing was facing up.

In addition, Ouyang Rong's brush for drawing talismans was also saved; he directly borrowed the snow-white horsetail whisk of Miaosi.

Anyway, everything was taken from the spot, focusing on making the best use of everything.

According to the words of a certain little ink sprite before she collapsed from exhaustion, he was the smartest, bar none.

Ouyang Rong looked at the spiritual ink and talisman paper, took out the "Zhen Gao" little booklet from which he had torn the last insignificant page, and began to flip through it.

According to what was said in the "Zhen Gao."

The Decree of Descending Gods needed to be used in conjunction with red and black talismans. Those who have mastered this scripture can produce an exclusive red and black talisman containing the power of one Decree of Descending Gods, which can be carried on the body and used at any time.

Performing the Decree of Descending Gods can summon a "god" related to oneself to possess the body, and the probability of success and the duration of the possession depend on the closeness of the relationship.

The "god" possessed by the body has a certain instinctive consciousness, but as long as it is not malicious, it will not seize control of the body, but rather refresh the ability state of the possessed person.

Of course, the possessed person, as a container, cannot be too weak or too fragile, otherwise they will explode and die from the descent of the god. In addition, the real strength of the descended "god" will also be suppressed somewhat, depending on the situation of the possessed person, because generally, it is a high-level descent to a low-level, otherwise there is no need for a god to descend.

Finally, when introducing the Decree of Descending Gods at the end of this book, there was an extra sentence:

The Decree of Descending Gods can actually invite the past self to possess the body as a "god," in order to maintain a full-health state that once had no negative effects...

Seeing this last item, Ouyang Rong widened his eyes slightly.

This trick of borrowing power from the past self to maintain a high level of spiritual state seemed a bit fierce. Originally, he was still worried about how to invite a "god," after all, he was not familiar with those gods and ancestors of Sanqing, and could not achieve "intimate connection."

Hua Xuanji, Ouyang Rong frowned. Inviting himself to possess his body was just refreshing his state once, which was not too overbearing. After all, encountering an enemy like the Candle in the Snow head-on, without borrowing power to set up the sword with "Fate Begins, Nature is Empty," even if he refreshed his state ten times by descending a god, he wouldn't be able to beat her...

This introduction in the "Zhen Gao" was concise and comprehensive, but Ouyang Rong knew clearly that as a supreme art of Shangqing passed down in the Ancestor Hall for hundreds of years, there would definitely not be a single redundant word. Whatever precautions there were, there would definitely be an explanation.

For example, the trick of descending the past self as a god. Therefore, as long as it is within the above rules, it should be allowed, and the god-descending can be successful.

One point worth noting is that the "Zhen Gao" does not say what kind of existence the so-called "god" is.

Ouyang Rong studied it for a while and felt more and more that this "god" was more like a substitute.

He could produce a red and black talisman related to himself, and then when he was seriously injured, invite his past full-health, full-state self to possess his body.

But he was not a god.

"Since I can descend myself as a god, it shows that the so-called god in the book does not refer to a real god, but is similar to a vague and ethereal divine soul and spiritual nature.

"And the past self... doesn't that mean the Decree of Descending Gods can also invite people who existed in the past... even the spirits of the deceased can possess the body, as long as they are related to me? So this god can also be the spirit of a deceased person."

Ouyang Rong suddenly realized, but immediately, he began to mutter:

"But I am not a Daoist, and I don't know how Shangqing uses the Decree of Descending Gods. The 'gods' they can invite should be relatively many. After all, the Sanshan of Talismans have produced many powerful figures in history, worshipped as gods.

"But I don't know any powerful people, and there are even fewer who are related to me. I can't just invite the little junior sister or... if it can only be a high-level descent to a low-level, the range is even smaller. How come it feels like a chicken rib for the time being.

"In addition, if the one invited is still alive, will this person have a sense? There should be, after all, borrowing the mythical spiritual nature..."

Just as he was hesitating, a burst of footsteps suddenly came from outside the courtyard, and then the little junior sister's shouting came, as if she was saying something to Zhen Shuyuan, Ye Weilai, and the others.

Ouyang Rong immediately put away the many items on the table and walked out the door.

"What's wrong? Little junior sister."

Sending away the female relatives like Zhen Shuyuan and Ye Weilai, Ouyang Rong asked immediately.

"Daoist Lu is leaving tonight. He called the Prince and the Heir to discuss matters, saying there is an important matter to entrust."

Xie Lingjiang glanced at him: "It's best for the Senior Brother to go."

"Good."

(End of chapter)