Chapter 87: Open Your Mind (Fourth Update)

Many Daoist sects, when designing their own systems, adopt the template of secular power hierarchies, and this is especially evident in the Shenxiao Sect, which reached a unified strategic accord with Emperor Huizong of Song.

Moreover, they constructively separated military and administrative functions: in their system, the Jade Emperor is the supreme deity of the administrative hierarchy, while the Shenxiao Yuqing King is the supreme deity of the military hierarchy (Note ①).

This resulted in the Shenxiao Sect, despite venerating the Shenxiao Yuqing King as its primary deity, using "Edict of the Jade Emperor" as the incantation header for most high-grade talismans.

And according to the usage habits of Central Plains virtual deities, except for those they cultivate themselves, all others must follow a "transaction" form: mortals offer incense and offerings, and deities respond to their wishes.

This means the Shenxiao Sect must offer far more incense and offerings than ordinary commoners to harness the power of the Jade Emperor.

Yet Feng Xue, on this crucial day of receiving the Jade Emperor, offered only ordinary sticky rice cakes stacked in towers and three cups of tea with five cups of wine, and even the deity statue on the altar was a mass-produced painting, lacking even the most basic hand-painted lacquer.

Undoubtedly, this is not something a Shenxiao Sect disciple would ever do!

Other things might be faked, but matters concerning the sect's very foundation are absolutely impossible to get wrong!

Upon realizing this, Li Maolin's heart nearly collapsed under greed, but his remaining reason and centuries of survival as a demonic cultivator forced him to suppress this greed.

"No, even without a patron, he is a man of great fortune—I cannot oppose him during the human calamity!"

Every moment, Li Maolin struggled internally, yet forcibly restrained his impulse; he was now one step away from shedding his demonic embryo and achieving the Corpse Liberation Immortal state, and it was precisely this step that restrained him, this former unchecked demonic magnate.

"Huh…"

Gently exhaling a cloud of turbid breath, Li Maolin finally quelled the myriad distractions in his mind and spoke:

"The idea of combining artifacts has indeed been considered before; it is said that during the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods, both the Mohists and the Gongshu clan excelled in this art, crafting mechanical devices from wood and stone powered by spiritual force—earlier, when discussing the Discontinuous Method, I mentioned the mechanical prosthetic limbs, which belong to this category; however, with the changes in the Dao, the Mohists have now become nominal in name only, and the Gongshu clan survives only as a group of carpenters, yet the methods have been partially preserved, among which the most crucial is the Fa-Jin Fa…"

As he spoke, Li Maolin's voice suddenly halted, and Feng Xue, seeing this, could not help but feel puzzled.

Li Maolin cleared his throat, as if nothing had happened, and continued:

"Funny enough, the Yellow-White Cultivation Technique I previously taught you, and the prosthetic reconnection in the Discontinuous Method, both have roots in this method—for instance, Fa-Jin and Fa-Yin, the key conduits of spiritual force, are essentially similar to the medicinal gold and medicinal silver of the Yellow-White Sect; the ritual procedures for reconnection also derive from the joining techniques used to connect mechanical parts…"

As Li Maolin spoke, he carefully observed Feng Xue's expression; had Feng Xue's demeanor or spiritual aura not shown a hint of sudden understanding, Li Maolin would have suspected he had intended to learn this "combined artifact" technique from the very beginning.

Yet upon further reflection, he deemed it unnecessary—after all, the combined artifact technique was not his own strength; even if Feng Xue knew he was Li Maolin of the Sansha Sect, he would likely be scheming for Li Maolin's secret Great Art, such as the "Sansha Stabilizing Primordial Technique," not fixating on a combined artifact technique that had been obsolete for over two millennia.

"Indeed, the temptation is too great—I must restrain myself…" As a seasoned demonic cultivator, Li Maolin understood well that greed clouds wisdom, but he also knew that unless he found an outlet, this greed would fester in his heart, swell further, and eventually become utterly irredeemable.

With a plan forming in his mind, Li Maolin distracted himself and began instructing Feng Xue on how to refine Fa-Jin and Fa-Yin, and how to temporarily substitute spirit ghosts for certain functions if refinement failed.

An hour of instruction passed in the blink of an eye; Li Maolin vanished again, and Feng Xue stared helplessly at the cold food—this elder had come under the pretense of delivering meals, so Feng Xue had no grounds to request more.

Slightly shaking his head, Feng Xue looked down at Liu Yunxi in his hand and, amid her faint trembling feedback, said:

"You remind me of a microwave."

…

"So if you just wanted to heat up the food, you could've just told me! I can use spiritual force to warm things—I'm not some creature you turn into a mouth-heater, am I?"

Moments later, Liu Yunxi resumed her human form and glared at Feng Xue; only after he took his first bite did she speak—but Feng Xue merely paused, glanced at the food, then nodded and said:

"Understood, I'll be more careful next time. I was just too hungry and forgot."

"Wait a minute! That food went through my mouth! Don't you find that weird?" Liu Yunxi, completely unprepared for Feng Xue's calm reaction, muttered nervously—yes, she feared violating the taboo against noise on the day of receiving the Jade Emperor.

Feng Xue merely shrugged and said:

"What's the big deal? Don't forget, I've bathed you before—that water went in through your tail and came out your mouth. You were already transformed anyway…"

"Ugh…" Feng Xue hadn't even finished speaking, but Liu Yunxi, recalling the scene where she'd been turned into a water heater, felt a surge of nausea; in truth, being turned into a water heater hadn't felt particularly strange, nor had it caused psychological discomfort—the key issue was what followed: when she reverted to human form without fully draining the water, that sensation Liu Yunxi still remembered vividly.

…

Feng Xue began eating; Li Maolin, having left the guesthouse, began acting. Understanding that blocking was worse than diverting, he decided to find something to do to stop his mind from fixating on Feng Xue's inheritance.

"The remaining malevolent spirits left over from before are just what I need—but I still need to investigate exactly how to use them… If this kid is just lucky, I might try tricking him into becoming my disciple. Hmm, taking a disciple to deflect calamities is an old tradition—maybe I can even extract something from him… Ah damn! Isn't it natural for a master to explain the Dao to his disciple?"

Li Maolin muttered to himself, considering how to probe; only five days remained until Lunar New Year's Eve. The malevolent spirits were still usable, but relying on the same trick too often would be easily countered.

He strolled through the streets, his eyes scanning left and right, seeking inspiration from alleyways and lanes—when suddenly he spotted a vendor shouting:

"Buy firecrackers! For New Year's Eve, to suppress evil and chase away the Nian Beast!"

"I understand New Year's Eve and suppressing evil—but what's this 'Nian Beast'? It seems recent New Year customs have invented new legends again?" Li Maolin, having lived for centuries, knew that sometimes a minor folk tale or an official decree could spawn new customs and "traditions," and these customs often influenced the gathering and transformation of votive power and incense offerings.

And the term "Nian Beast"—from its name alone, it was clearly some kind of "animal." This triggered a thought in Li Maolin's mind; whether it could truly be turned into reality depended on whether its popularity met his expectations.

Thinking this, he immediately wiped his face, making himself appear several years older, then ambled over with an air of condescending seniority:

"What's this 'Nian Beast'? I've lived this long and never heard of it! Don't make up nonsense just to sell your goods!"

(End of Chapter)