Chapter 653

The items Ouyang Rong hid in the Peach Blossom Spring painting were a bit messy.

Since he returned to Xunyang City after seeing off Wang Lixian and his party to the capital, he hadn't really checked them; they were all piled up in the painting.

Some were old items, some were spoils of war captured in the Great Battle at Twin Peaks.

In the past, he would have been full of enthusiasm to check them and think about their uses one by one.

But now, he felt a bit lazy and couldn't raise his interest.

People often say, seeing objects reminds one of people.

But if one doesn't pull oneself together, how can one move forward again? How can one stay in the same place forever?

"What should come will come, what should go will go. One must face it. Hmm, Brother Huaimin is fully responsible; he has influenced me to be a bit slack..."

Before the desk, Ouyang Rong, who had risen in the middle of the night, murmured to himself. After reflecting for a moment, he continued to take out the items from the painting.

First, he took out a bronze mask and a golden fierce mask.

They were the Mirage Beast Mask and the Fangxiang Mask, respectively.

Both were old partners.

The former could be used for disguise, fitting the Fangshi lineage within Ouyang Rong's body.

But judging by Cui Hao's tone, it seemed that after wearing this mask and changing his appearance, he could also use the spiritual qi of the lineage possessed by the fake body.

This was a bit terrifying.

It was close to the unpredictable Purple Mist of Merit.

But to fully exert its power, one needed to master the complete Qi Refining technique of this lineage.

Ouyang Rong thought about it; the most promising channel at present was still Cui Hao.

It was a pity that this "old guy" always loved to sell suspense. When Ouyang Rong asked him before leaving, he just smiled and said "next time for sure."

Both are thousand-year-old foxes—hmm, a big fox and a small fox—what kind of Liaozhai are they singing...

The latter was captured from the Qi-watchers of the Astronomical Bureau, specifically for restraining spirits and monsters. Last time he saw the little ink spirit Miaosi use it, it seemed it could also help people see the spirituality of dead souls.

Whether it had more uses, Ouyang Rong was still exploring; he had forgotten to ask Rong Zhen before.

Judging by the posture of that group from the Astronomical Bureau, this thing should be quite precious. He heard that because of its restraining nature, it was easily destroyed by rare, powerful monsters, so not many survived.

Ouyang Rong placed the two masks on the upper left corner of the table.

Glancing at the Mirage Beast Mask, Ouyang Rong rummaged through the painting and found a blood letter.

It was left behind by Cui Hao before he left.

It contained the method to summon his relic again.

Ouyang Rong, who had already browsed it, put it aside for the time being, placing it with the two masks.

Ouyang Rong groped again and took out half a volume of withered yellow scripture.

The words "Zhen Gao" were faintly visible on the cover.

This was the source of Ouyang Rong's study of the Shangqing absolute arts, but the content had long been memorized by heart. Now it was used for tearing paper to make red and black talismans.

He groped again and took out two tubes of spiritual ink.

They were "confiscated" from the little ink spirit.

Ouyang Rong flipped his hand to take "Zhen Gao," tore two pages from the back, and placed them with the two tubes of spiritual ink.

All were put aside for now.

Ouyang Rong reached into the painting and groped; shortly after, he took out a pill box.

There was a Taiqing Longhu Mountain mark on the box cover.

Ouyang Rong opened a corner of the pill box and glanced at the two pills inside.

One pill was emerald green with a strange fragrance, the other was dark brown with a foul stench.

They were sent to him by Li Guoer, who "suddenly had a burst of conscience."

The former was a precious pill for healing.

The latter, although inconspicuous, was extraordinary; it was a Golden Pill of Transcending Mortality.

After receiving it, Ouyang Rong had not taken it.

He was in no hurry; anyway, even if he took it now, his cultivation base couldn't advance, and there would be no immediate effect.

Because he had been slow to penetrate the true meaning of the 【Emperor Wen】 sword technique and could not comprehend its divine abilities, the spiritual qi of the Sword-Wielder lineage remained at the early stage of the seventh grade, resulting in no progress at all.

It was best to wait and take this Golden Pill of Transcending Mortality at the moment of comprehending the true meaning of the sword technique.

One plus one is greater than two; it might help him rush further.

Ouyang Rong carefully placed the pill box aside.

He groped again, and shortly after, grabbed a snow-white long sword from the painting.

He narrowed his eyes slightly.

It was Miss Zhishuang's "Zhishuang."

When Ouyang Rong took it out of the painting, Zhishuang trembled, and snow-white light halos surged from the sword body.

Ouyang Rong watched with narrowed eyes, doing nothing.

The next moment, a Kui Star Talisman suddenly appeared on the snow-white sword body.

It could be seen that the Kui Star Talisman was like a slender swimming dragon, winding from top to bottom around the entire sword body; the talisman script was dark gold, flowing slowly.

This scene was like a prisoner struggling to break free from chains, but to no avail.

This was also the reason Ouyang Rong dared to take it out.

If it were in the past, this sword would have "rebelled" long ago.

However, Ouyang Rong guessed that even if Miss Zhishuang sensed it, she wouldn't dare to come, unless their Yunmeng Yunmeng Jian Ze had some new trump card. They hadn't been beaten into submission yet, and Miss Zhishuang felt she was "okay" again, igniting her fighting spirit to challenge him, the "Master of Butterfly Loves Flower," once more...

Ouyang Rong thought about it and pointed his index finger at the Kui Star Talisman on the sword body.

The Purple Mist of Merit in his body was consumed rapidly; over a hundred merits were injected, the Kui Star Talisman shone brightly, and the dark gold talisman script became golden and flashing for a moment.

Zhishuang immediately let out a tremor and a mournful cry.

It was as if it had been violated by this finger of Ouyang Rong.

At the same time, Ouyang Rong, who was lightly touching the sword body, felt that this index finger seemed to have penetrated into the depths of the snow-white long sword along with the Kui Star Talisman.

It was like entering a muddy swamp of cotton, sometimes icy cold, sometimes warm and scalding.

However, not long after he penetrated, he felt a resistance.

Within the snow-white long sword, there was a cold, unyielding spirituality faintly resisting, fiercely "biting" his finger, but it couldn't stop the intrusion of the finger protected by the Kui Star Talisman, yet it resisted persistently. This personality... was faintly familiar.

As expected of you, Miss Zhishuang.

Ouyang Rong felt that if he continued to consume merits, he might be able to try to crush this spirituality, or even go and crumble it.

He didn't know what kind of impact it would have on Miss Zhishuang, who was far away.

Thinking about it, Ouyang Rong gave up for the time being.

Originally, he didn't have many merits left, so there was no need to waste them on this. It harmed others without benefiting himself, and it couldn't help him lock onto the location of Miss Zhishuang and the Yunmeng Yunmeng Jian Ze.

Besides, he didn't use this Zhishuang anyway.

Ouyang Rong let go again and threw the snow-white long sword aside.

Zhishuang seemed to be afraid; after escaping someone's dirty hands, it also settled down, afraid of attracting his attention again.

Ouyang Rong lowered his head, his gaze cast toward the painting paper.

There wasn't much left in the painting.

Except for the Mo family sword case, only a few items remained.

Ouyang Rong pursed his lips, first took out the Mo family sword case, and checked the situation of 【Craftsman】.

The little guy was lying quietly in the case.

The thunder essence filaments on it had not decreased at all, and the ancient thunder punishment pattern was imprinted on the sword, like Mount Tai pressing down.

Ouyang Rong lowered his eyes to feel it; 【Craftsman】's mood was a bit low.

Since it was born by Butterfly Creek, it had never encountered anything that restrained it so much, nor had it lived such a stifling life.

The little guy looked like life was meaningless.

Ouyang Rong was originally prepared to take out a small piece of washed-white purple cloth to encourage it, but his movement stopped.

He thought about it and gave up.

It was a bit inhumane.

After all, in the Great Battle at Twin Peaks, he took the limelight, and the little guy took the lightning strikes.

Ouyang Rong's gaze calmed down and fell on the thunder punishment ancient pattern on 【Arc】.

Anything that could suppress the mythical Tripod Sword must also be a mythical object.

Before the Great Battle at Twin Peaks, the so-called thunder punishment seemed to exist only in legends; Ouyang Rong and the people at Twin Peaks were seeing it for the first time.

On that day at Twin Peaks, to use Cui Hao's helpless words, he didn't know how many dirty things were gathered there. Of course, the "resurrected" Cui Hao and Tao Yuanming were also dirty things in a sense, intolerable to heaven and earth, and deserved to be "struck by lightning."

But they came down as gods and hid well, but there were Song Mama, Xue Zhongzhu, and Wu Daozi who loved to self-destruct...

Ouyang Rong accompanied the little guy quietly for a while before closing the sword case. His gaze turned to the last item in the painting.

After a moment of silence before the desk, the young man reached out and took it out.

He placed it on the table in front of him.

It was a string of copper coins, strung together with a worn hemp rope.

This was the money Mother Zhao and Aunt sold Xiuniang for back then.

It was also given by the previous generation's female sovereign of the Yunmeng Yunmeng Yunmeng Jian Ze; Mother Zhao and Aunt couldn't bear to use it and had kept it until now.

According to the truth revealed by Aunt before parting that day, she and Mother Zhao didn't sell Xiuniang because they were short of money or hated her, but to protect Xiuniang, fearing that Xiuniang would be drowned in a pig cage by clansmen who strictly adhered to ritual laws...

From the perspective of Buddhist karma, the fate between Xiuniang and him was influenced by this string of money.

The so-called "origin of fate is empty."

This string of copper coins was an origin of fate.

An origin of fate with the Yunmeng Yunmeng Yunmeng Jian Ze.

Then, according to Buddhist principles, what begins with something must end with it.

Ouyang Rong was silent for a moment, then took out an icy white jade hairpin, a life-bound jade pendant, a skirt knife, and a compass from the clothes rack by the inner room.

These were all items he carried with him.

The copper compass was used to communicate with Zhang Shixiu and the Sanqing Daoist Sect.

But right now, Zhang Shixiu couldn't help him either; he couldn't find clues about the Yunmeng Yue women.

Ouyang Rong placed the four items and this string of money together, stroking them from time to time.

His eyes were deep.

He didn't know what he was thinking.

Outside the window, the night was quiet, and the handsome young man with the lamp lit before the desk sat quietly for the time it takes to burn a stick of incense.

He suddenly put the string of money and the compass into the painting.

And other items were also carefully put back one by one.

The Peach Blossom Spring painting was controlled by the Kui Star Talisman; although it consumed some Purple Mist of Merit every time it was activated, it was simple and convenient, and he didn't have to be as silly as before, carrying a zither.

Ouyang Rong only kept the icy white jade hairpin, the skirt knife, and the life-bound jade pendant, rose, and placed them by the clothes rack.

These were for daily use.

In addition, two tubes of spiritual ink and two pages of withered yellow scripture paper were left on the table.

Without looking at them, Ouyang Rong closed his eyes and entered the Tower of Merit.

Inside the tower, the Bell of Good Fortune had been silent for a long time.

Ouyang Rong's gaze turned to the blue-gold characters above the small wooden fish.

【Merit: 1,831】

Last time, he exchanged for a "Golden Good Fortune with Peach Blossoms" worth 4,000 merits, clearing all the merits he had originally stored.

Until recently, as good news from Luoyang arrived one after another, the merits of the small wooden fish increased by more than a thousand.

As for the extra 800-plus merits, besides the sporadic feedback from the Zhe Yi Channel, Twin Peaks, and the low-rent housing in Xingzi Lane, most were "unexpected gains."

This was also a strange thing Ouyang Rong had encountered recently:

In broad daylight, a series of wooden fish sounds often rang in his ears from time to time.

It didn't seem to be related to Wang Lixian and his party in Luoyang, and every time the merits increased, it jumped up by one or two hundred.

Mysteriously, it faintly contained a pattern.

He didn't know where it came from.

It had already happened three or four times, and by now, it had accumulated an increase of nearly 800 merits, but there was no sign of stopping. He estimated there would be more tomorrow during the day...

Anyway, it was definitely not the stable growth created by the Zhe Yi Channel, Twin Peaks, etc., because that had already been calculated.

Ouyang Rong felt slightly puzzled.

Could it be that something he didn't know had happened in the capital, and the Xiao Shimei and Wang Lixian's family were still giving him positive feedback on his merit value?

After thinking for a long time without a clue, Ouyang Rong shook his head.

Anyway, being able to increase merits was ultimately a good thing. If he couldn't figure it out, he wouldn't. The merits gained were real; he wouldn't refuse them.

Ouyang Rong took a final look at the merit value and turned to leave the Tower of Merit.

Opening his eyes, Ouyang Rong was still sitting by the table.

He leaned forward and picked out a wolf-hair brush specifically for drawing talismans from the brush rack.

After taking a deep breath, he began to dip in spiritual ink and draw talismans on the withered yellow scripture paper.

It was a red and black talisman.

Before parting with Wang Lixian and his party last time, Ouyang Rong used the remaining tube of spiritual ink to draw a red and black talisman.

And mixed it with wine, letting Dalang Li swallow it.

Having used the Divine Descent Edict many times, Ouyang Rong was now an old hand.

That red and black talisman was used first; anyway, it wouldn't consume his 3,000 merit value immediately, so let it stay in Dalang Li's stomach first.

Just like the legacy talisman of the old Celestial Master Yuan back then.

If Dalang Li and the others encountered danger or an emergency, combined with the wooden Buddhist beads left by Dalang's side, it counted as a surprising backup move.

However, for the sake of safety, Ouyang Rong had to accumulate 3,000 merits quickly; otherwise, Dalang reciting the mantra from afar would be useless.

Looking at it this way, Ouyang Rong became even more curious about the small wooden fish's occasional increase of two or three hundred merits.

Where exactly did it come from, and could he use it to farm a wave of merits?

Speaking of which, now that the Xiao Shimei and Xie Xiao Niangzi Rong had left, he had lost another "punching bag" for stably farming merits.

Ouyang Rong was silent for a moment and continued to draw talismans at the desk.

About two cups of tea later, he leaned back in relief and breathed a sigh of relief.

A red and black talisman was successfully completed.

After drinking some cold tea, he took the remaining scripture talisman paper and continued to draw talismans.

Soon, following the same method, another red and black talisman was finished.

Ouyang Rong put one red and black talisman into his bosom to carry with him.

The other red and black talisman was stuffed into the painting, stored safely with his other belongings.

Rolling up the painting scroll with a rope, Ouyang Rong raised his head and scanned the dim and lonely study.

He had originally planned to study and improve the Kui Star Talisman.

At this moment, his movement stopped.

He felt a bit listless.

While sitting quietly, the window by the table gave a light "creak" and was "bumped open" from the outside.

A white sturgeon, emitting a white fluorescent light, flicked its tail lightly in the night wind and swam into the room from outside the window.

It was back.

"Dabai" circled Ouyang Rong, turning around twice excitedly.

Ouyang Rong used the paper and pen on the table to draw a Kui Star Talisman, injected a hundred Purple Mists of Merit, threw it into the air, and fed it to the white sturgeon.

After eating the Kui Star Talisman, the white sturgeon flicked its tail happily, its form becoming more agile, and it bumped against the back of his hand affectionately.

Ouyang Rong blew out the lonely lamp and rose to return to his room.

Passing by the wardrobe, he heard the dream-muttering of a little ink spirit:

"Little Rongzi, protect the carriage, protect the carriage, hmm? You brat, what are you doing with this Immortal's bodice..."

Ouyang Rong stopped instantly. He didn't go to cover the little ink spirit who loved to kick the quilt, returned to the bed, lifted the quilt and lay down, and heard the white-haired little girl muttering in her sleep:

"Sister Xiuniang, come back quickly, Tanlang has been waiting for you in the same place to fulfill his promise..."

In the darkness, the young man who had propped up his upper body remained silent for a moment.

He stretched out a hand, covered the white-haired little girl with the quilt, tucked her feet back in, and lay down as well.

This night.

Ouyang Rong had a dream.