Chapter 107: It Turns Out the Dao Foundation Can Be Obtained

Sanyin Temple, front hall.

He had not seen the fat man in half a year, and he had grown even rounder, yet he looked travel-worn and quite exhausted, carrying a rather large box, which made Chen Ci feel slightly curious.

"Junior Brother Ding, what is this?"

Chen Ci poured him a cup of tea, pushed it over, and asked, though he could roughly guess the reason, it would be tactless to point it out himself.

"Sigh, Senior Brother Chen, don't mention it. This period of time has scared me quite a bit. If I weren't usually tactful and obedient, you wouldn't be seeing me now."

Ding Jiang's fat face crumpled into a ball, his mouth slightly agape, and he sighed: "Acting on my teacher's decree, I have come for two things this time."

After speaking, Ding Jiang took down the black sandalwood box he was carrying and pushed it toward Chen Ci: "You should already know about the rumors outside, Senior Brother. This is a Dharma Artifact the teacher has gifted to you."

A Dharma Artifact?

Oh!

"You shouldn't have brought a Dharma Artifact just for a visit."

Chen Ci waved his hands repeatedly, grinning with a mouthful of teeth, and while declining, he took the wooden box and set it aside: "You are too polite. I haven't taken those rumors to heart at all. Senior Brother Hutou is truly too polite. I am overwhelmed, truly overwhelmed."

"Senior Brother, you should open it and take a look."

Ding Jiang's cheeks twitched: "The teacher's exact words were that this is an explanation for you."

Chen Ci paused upon hearing this; could there be some hidden meaning in this?

Subconsciously, he opened the black sandalwood box. As soon as the lid was flipped, several miserable wails containing endless pain and despair drifted out. Chen Ci's eyelids twitched slightly; inside the box was actually a lamp-shaped Dharma Artifact.

It was just that this lamp-shaped Dharma Artifact was a bit peculiar. On a pale, twisted spine grew seven or eight fist-sized Six Yang Skulls, still bearing skin, flesh, and facial features, with hair twisted into wicks. Chen Ci even found a few of them vaguely familiar.

As soon as they were exposed to light, those shriveled lamp heads began to wail in unison, as if begging for something.

What kind of explanation was this?

A thought flashed through Chen Ci's mind, but he smiled and asked: "Senior Brother Ding, what is the use of this Dharma Artifact?"

"This Dharma Artifact is called the Soul-Bewitching Magic Lamp. Once lit, it can emit the Soul-Bewitching Magic Sound. Those within its range will feel fear and anxiety. It might be lacking when used to fight enemies, but during cultivation, it can be used to temper the Dao Heart, subdue the Heart Ape, and remain calm when encountering Evil Methods."

Ding Jiang's eyes narrowed slightly, and he whispered: "The four senior brothers in the altar who received the most Essence Refining offerings were rumored to be killing people to practice their arts. No one in the Internal Affairs Department dared to admit it, so the teacher simply took the heads of all thirty-four people in the Internal Affairs Department and personally refined them into four Soul-Bewitching Magic Lamps, giving them to the four senior brothers as an explanation."

Pausing for a moment, Fatty Ding subconsciously touched his neck: "This Dharma Artifact is made using a living-refinement method. These people on it aren't completely dead yet; they have to endure the suffering of burning souls after the lamp is lit, and only when they are burned clean will they find release."

Chen Ci: "."

Hearing this, Chen Ci finally remembered where the sense of familiarity came from; two of the people on this magic lamp had even taken his silver. It was a pity.

The two remained silent for a moment, then Chen Ci twitched his lips into a smile and bowed toward the direction of Fuhu Altar: "This artifact suits my intentions perfectly. Many thanks to Senior Brother for bestowing the Dharma!"

"Old Fan and the others were considered veterans of the altar. It's a pity they didn't maintain their integrity to the end."

Ding Jiang shook his head: "That is the first thing. The second is that the teacher said there is no need to take those rumors to heart; he has already handled them. Furthermore, starting from this month, there is no need to send Essence Refining to Fuhu Altar anymore."

"Oh?"

Chen Ci's heart stirred, half-happy and half-worried, and he subconsciously asked: "Has Senior Brother Hutou attained the Upper Grade Dao Foundation?"

Ding Jiang shook his head upon hearing this and remained silent.

Chen Ci gave a dry laugh, quietly handed over a gold note, and added: "I am one of your own; you can just nod."

Ding Jiang hesitated for a moment, gritted his teeth, carefully tucked the gold note into his sleeve, and gave a slight shake of his head: "Although Essence Refining does not need to be offered, the population and household registers of the various counties need to increase, and all evil spirits and yin ghosts within the territory must be dealt with. A superior master may come to audit soon."

It seems that Hutou Daoren suffered a significant loss in this matter, otherwise he would not be so furious.

That person surnamed Xiao coming to demand population probably heard some rumors, but the problem shouldn't be too big; Changping County is sufficient to pass the audit.

However, it is fine that the Essence Refining has stopped; he can just focus on practicing the Five Ghosts Transportation Method.

Chen Ci suddenly asked: "How will the previous merit points be handled?"

He still had more than ten merit points left unredeemed; they could not be wasted.

"The teacher said that you may ask for whatever you need. If the difference isn't much, it can be settled with silver; if the difference is too great, it won't work."

Ding Jiang explained: "One merit point can be converted into a thousand taels of silver; the senior brothers can choose for themselves."

Very well, it wasn't a case of getting something for nothing; instead, they slightly raised the price, likely with the intention of pacifying people.

"Does the altar have Yellow Dragon Grass and Earth Bright Stone? Convert them into these two items for me."

"Can do."

Ding Jiang made a note and replied: "I will go back and check the warehouse; if there are any, I will send someone to deliver them to you."

After sending Ding Jiang away, Chen Ci looked at the eerie Soul-Bewitching Magic Lamp in the box, his eyes narrowed, and he twitched his lips.

An explanation?

It's more like using both kindness and severity.

Although not everyone in the Fuhu Altar Internal Affairs Department was a cultivator, Chen Ci had seen three who had succeeded in practicing the arts, and among them, that old Daoist had twenty or thirty apertures of cultivation, yet he still became a yin ghost in the artifact.

Playing smart?

Denying it to the death?

He killed them all, steamed them, and even dared not to support the artifact; he wouldn't even let them die painlessly.

"This cheap senior brother is also a ruthless person."

Chen Ci extended a finger and tapped the Soul-Bewitching Magic Lamp. The topmost Six Yang Skull ignited. That lamp head, refined by an Evil Method, followed the wick as it burned with a miserable green flame. Yin Fire spewed from its seven orifices, emitting a blood-curdling roar.

Chen Ci felt a dullness in his brain, and only after his Three Yin True Qi circulated did he regain clarity. However, listening to this magic sound piercing his ears, chaotic thoughts of fear and terror kept rising in his heart, making it impossible to calm down.

"Magic sound to temper the heart; it will help my cultivation. In the future, I will grant you release."

Chen Ci exhaled a breath of turbid air and flicked his finger to extinguish the Yin Fire; the wailing sound then slowed down significantly.

He truly had no good defensive means against this kind of magic sound method. If it were suddenly used during a fight, it would be easy to capsize in the gutter. This kind of stress-exposure therapy was indeed quite good.

"But today's matter must be kept in mind. In the He Mountain Sect, there is probably no such thing as human rights."

Chen Ci shook his head: "Take this as a warning."

When boarding the ship, be firm; when getting off the ship, be thorough. Do not harbor even a shred of wishful thinking.

Half a month later.

Sanyin Temple, backyard, Chou hour.

A magic lamp with an eerie, sinister intent stood to one side; the eight Six Yang Skulls upon it were all entwined with Yin Fire, their facial features twisted as if in madness, and beneath the demonic sounds, there was a chaotic scene of a hundred demons dancing.

Chen Ci's brows were tightly furrowed, his complexion somewhat pale, and sweat the size of beans fell from his forehead as he struggled to circulate his Three Yin True Qi, cutting away the distracting thoughts in his mind one by one.

Beside him, the five little ones—East, South, West, North, and Red Bell—were clutching their master's thighs, shivering and peeking around, stealing glances at the Soul-Bewitching Magic Lamp not far away, feeling that these foreign wandering ghosts were truly lacking in manners.

A bit scary for ghosts.

Chen Ci had originally wanted to let his five ghosts learn the method of demonic sounds; he still had the Five Ghosts Soul-Confusing Method that he hadn't even begun to master, but now it seemed there wasn't much hope.

"Hoo~"

Not knowing how much time had passed, Chen Ci slowly opened his eyes and waved his sleeve to extinguish the Soul-Bewitching Magic Lamp. These days, he had kept this lamp by his side, not even moving away from it while practicing the Three Yin Qi-Eating Method, and he had indeed developed a resistance to this demonic sound technique, such that even while practicing the Qi-eating method, he could stabilize the circulation of his True Qi and subdue the distracting thoughts in his heart.

"Face the fear, eliminate the fear."

Chen Ci tapped open his personal panel.

Three Yin Qi-Eating Method: 41/100

Even within the He Mountain Sect, no matter how many different sayings or attitudes there were, only cultivation level was respected.

"This Soul-Bewitching Magic Lamp no longer has much effect on me. No matter how miserably they scream, I just find them noisy."

Chen Ci took the magic lamp over and glanced at the five little ones, who saw him wake up and felt they were tough again, currently provoking the Soul-Bewitching Magic Lamp; he shook his head helplessly: "Sigh, if I don't learn the Five Ghosts Soul-Confusing Method, then I won't. At least it's not noisy. Hmm?"

Chen Ci stood up abruptly, carefully watching outside the courtyard, and shouted: "Who is it!"

Outside the backyard wall, a white, bone-chilling skull the size of a cartwheel floated over from afar, cackling strangely, spitting black smoke from its mouth, staring fixedly at him with a gruesome expression.

Skull Demon Method?

This was the second-ranked Evil Method in the He Mountain Scripture. Chen Ci had only heard of it and had never seen it before. Where did this He Mountain fellow disciple come from, and why would they visit him in the middle of the night?

And looking at the posture of this Skull Demon, it didn't look like a friendly character.

"I wonder which fellow senior brother this is?"

Chen Ci performed a salute and asked again, but his focus was already on the Five Yin Evil Qi Bag and the White Bone Heart-Lock Hammer.

The Skull Demon stared at Chen Ci for a while, then suddenly spat out human words: "Junior Brother Chen Ci, come see me at once!"

Immediately after, it glanced at Chen Ci and then leisurely flew away.

"It possesses intelligence and speaks human words; this person's Skull Demon Method has likely reached an extremely profound level!"

Thoughts surged in Chen Ci's heart, but he quickly suppressed his unease. Since the person knew his name and his roots, he would first follow and see what the situation was.

Chen Ci followed behind this Skull Demon for over ten miles before the evil object slowly descended to a dilapidated small pavilion, transformed into a trail of black smoke, and was collected into the sleeve by a Daoist wearing a purple-bottomed gold Daoist robe.

The Daoist turned around unhurriedly and looked over, chuckling: "Junior Brother Chen Ci, I didn't expect that after you came down the mountain, your cultivation level would have improved quite a bit. If I had known earlier, perhaps the Ancestor would have accepted you as an initiated Apprentice; it is a bit of a pity."

This Daoist was tall and long-limbed, his appearance was handsome, his face was fair and beardless, and he carried an air of nobility. If not for the terrifying Skull Demon Method just now, he would have had the bearing of an immortal disciple.

Chen Ci looked at this person and found him vaguely familiar, flipping through his memories: "Liu... Senior Brother Liu Ge?"

In his memories, this seemed to be a senior brother from the same lineage as his predecessor on He Mountain, but unlike an Outer Transmission like Chen Ci, this person had been truly accepted into the sect, otherwise, he wouldn't have learned such a great method as the Skull Demon.

"Hmph, it's only been a few years, and you've already forgotten?"

Seeing that Chen Ci was not very respectful, the Daoist surnamed Liu looked slightly dissatisfied and was about to reprimand him, but before he could speak, Chen Ci's face changed to an expression of tearful emotion, choked with sobs: "Senior Brother, I have missed you so much! You know how I have lived these past few years? I have finally found the organization, boohoo..."

Liu Ge: "..." Wait, are we that close? We didn't have much friendship back on the mountain, did we?

"Senior Brother, you have finally come. Tell me, what matter do you have for your junior brother to do? I will go through fire and water, and I will not refuse even if I die!"

Chen Ci patted his chest, almost writing "loyal and devoted" on his face.

As for who this person specifically was and what his relationship was with the predecessor, he truly couldn't remember, but at a time like this, no matter what the matter was, saying "yes, yes, yes" was definitely not wrong.

Liu Ge paused, almost rendered speechless by Chen Ci. The draft he had prepared, full of threats and inducements, was of no use.

He was stuck.

"Not refuse even if you die? Hehe."

Liu Ge regained his composure, his expression turned cold, and he said indifferently: "I heard you are very diligent toward that Lin Laohu, offering three or four thousand drops of Essence Refining at once. You've killed quite a few people, haven't you? If you had this kind of ruthlessness on the mountain, you wouldn't have been evaluated as having a difficult Dao Foundation to build, losing even your path to the Dao."

The rumors from the past few days were caused by this guy?

However, listening to his tone, he seemed to be ill-informed about the details. After all, the person registering merit points in the Internal Affairs Department only knew the quantity of Essence Refining, but not the source, which had nothing to do with killing people to practice methods.

"Senior Brother, Junior Brother, I have been living so miserably!"

Chen Ci looked as aggrieved as a two-hundred-pound man, his lips trembling: "Last year, a Registered Disciple of Nine Springs Temple died in the mountains of Changping County for some reason. That man surnamed Lin said he needed three thousand drops of Essence Refining to suppress the matter for me. Junior Brother, I have no sect backing me, so I could only submit to his lewd power, secretly killing some people, and then went to the Baibao Pavilion in Xishan Market to buy some Essence Refining, only then barely getting past this disaster. But that man surnamed Lin crossed the river and tore down the bridge, he..."

The expression on Chen Ci's face changed, and finally, he gritted his teeth and summoned his five spirit ghosts, ashamed to speak: "Thousands of drops of Essence Refining... Junior Brother, I was terrified, fearing I would cause trouble. I originally wanted to exchange them for some pills or something, but that man surnamed Lin dismissed me with these five little pieces of trash. He is a beast..."

"Heh, Five-Ghost Transportation Technique? You even said... Hmm. That man surnamed Lin seems to have gone a bit too far. Could it be that he was even reluctant to give you the full method for such a small technique, using some incomplete junk to fool you?"

Liu Ge had originally wanted to pressure Chen Ci further, but seeing the appearance of the five spirit ghosts, he opened his mouth and found himself unable to speak.

These five ghosts were simply the worst of the worst, the trash of the trash. If the Five Ghosts Transportation Method was like this, others would laugh their heads off if they saw it.

"Don't mention it, it's all tears. But now that Senior Brother has come, the blue sky has returned."

Chen Ci wiped the corners of his eyes and took back the five little ones: "Senior Brother, tell me, what is the matter? But Junior Brother hopes that one day I will have the chance to leave this place, you understand."

Liu Ge pondered for a moment, scanned Chen Ci a few times, and suddenly spoke: "I heard that a few days ago, that Lin Laohu rewarded you all with a Dharma Artifact..."

"A little trinket that can't be brought to the table, it's simply dismissing a beggar."

Chen Ci didn't even think much, threw the Soul-Bewitching Magic Lamp directly on the ground, stomped on it twice, and then took out his Spirit Iron Short Sword and chopped it into several pieces: "I am irreconcilable with evil!"

Liu Ge: "..."

Could this man surnamed Chen truly be a loyal one?

After a long while, Liu Ge's tone softened, and he said: "Junior Brother Chen, I remember you practice the Three Yin Qi-Eating Method, right?"

"Yes, the method bestowed by my teacher. I dare not forget it, practicing bitterly every day to commemorate the warm years in the sect."

A trace of nostalgia appeared on Chen Ci's face.

"You should know that this Three Yin Qi-Eating Method of yours can only be practiced up to the Hundred Apertures, and you cannot attain a Dao Foundation."

Daoist Liu Ge said indifferently: "I have a task for you to do. If you do it well, I will ferry you back to the sect and ask the teacher to pass the Three-Corpse Opening Technique to you. As long as you aren't a fool, you will have a chance to attain a Dao Foundation in the future and become an Ancestor."

Three-Corpse Opening Technique?

I fear this is nothing more than the remaining aperture techniques for the Three-Yin Qi-Consuming Technique; this pie is truly big and round.

A visible glint of greed flashed in Chen Ci's eyes, and he hurriedly pressed, "Senior Brother, what is it?"

"It is nothing major."

Seeing Chen Ci's expression, Liu Ge gave a soft laugh: "Within three years, find a way to reduce the population of this county by half; can you do it?"

(End of chapter)