Chapter 49: As One Desires

In this world there is something called karma; when an event occurs, the people and things involved form a bond, this bond is like a seed that will eventually blossom and grow until it bears fruit, and the fruit's growth, flavor, and nutrition depend on all aspects.

Liu Yanyan dug up Zhang Xilin's grave and learned that he had a grandson, at which point Zhou Shuo could feel that she and Zhang Chulan were bound to meet, no matter in what way, and no matter what the outcome of their meeting would be.

"Zhang Chulan? It looks like he's related to Zhang Xilin, right! That's great, bring him to me and you'll officially be one of us." Lu Liang, hearing Zhou Shuo mention the stranger's name, easily guessed what it was, and made a request and promise to Liu Yanyan.

"How can I still trust you?" Liu Yanyan asked, somewhat angrily.

"Simple, the door is right behind you." Lu Liang said fearlessly.

"Fine, I'll trust you once more; if you dare lie to me, I'll twist off your head." Liu Yanyan's words made Zhou Shuo glance askance, also slightly amused, further confirming some of his thoughts.

Lu Liang had played Liu Yanyan, there's no doubt about that; as for in what ways he played her, Zhou Shuo was a bit unsure, but seeing how things are now, Lu Liang's interest in Zhang Xilin is genuine, and he also intends to investigate, so Zhou Shuo can be sure that Lu Liang is merely using Liu Yanyan as free labor, not letting her do free labor out of bad taste; judging from Lu Liang's current despicable behavior, the Complete Nature Sect accepts members very casually and simply, otherwise they wouldn't have casually accepted themselves, nor would they easily have taken in Liu Yanyan; their taking in Liu Yanyan is real, and their pursuit of Zhang Xilin's qi origin is also real, but the mission itself involves an inspection of Liu Yanyan, a very harsh inspection.

"Since we've settled her matter, now let's talk about me!" Zhou Shuo watched Liu Yanyan being teased like a monkey, raised his eyebrows at Lu Liang and the especially eye-catching Xia He.

"Fine, no problem." Lu Liang was very straightforward.

"First tell me, who is the leader of the Complete Nature Sect? Then, if I join the Complete Nature Sect, can I get what I want, and what would I need to do?" Zhou Shuo's eyes flickered slightly.

"Well, the first question: our Complete Nature Sect currently has no sect leader; there is an acting sect leader. To become our sect leader is very easy—just get everyone in the Complete Nature Sect to agree. As for the second question…" Lu Liang rested his chin on his hand, lifted his gaze, thought for a moment, then interface.

"I remember, Brother Zhou, you want to find someone to learn from, right? What do you want to study? In our Complete Nature Sect we also have the habit of exchanging cultivation methods; of course, innate kung fu cannot be passed on, but other things, as long as you can learn, I can personally teach without reservation, but some experts' secret techniques in the sect depend on your own ability." As Lu Liang spoke, the light in his glasses flashed once.

"This third question: our Complete Nature Sect values freedom; to completely obey the sect leader's orders—of course the sect leader is currently absent, and the acting sect leader still has two chances to issue orders to us; after those are used, he is no longer the sect leader, but his orders must generally be followed, otherwise the outcome will be miserable, you understand?"

"Understood." Zhou Shuo looked at the flashing glasses, the tone of the boy both cautioning and suggestive, nodded, and also basically understood the situation of the Complete Nature Sect: the sect has no leader, experts act independently, plus lawless, doing as they please, belonging to some chaotic evil camp, an interesting organization, but such an organization is just right for him to hide in.

"Anything else you want to ask? Ask it all at once!"

"May I ask how to discern the three souls of the human body? And how should the three souls be cultivated?"

"The three souls of the human body are respectively the fetal light, the vital spirit, and the dark essence; the fetal light is the life of the human body; the vital spirit is the nature of the human body; the dark essence is the illusion of the human body; the three souls reside in the liver, at peace, ……" Lu Liang was somewhat unprepared for Zhou Shuo's direct question; after a moment of surprise, he regained his composure and immediately recited a passage of mantra characters, which explained exactly the key points of the three souls.

"This is what I saw in the Daoist scriptures of the Complete Truth Sect; the Complete Truth Sect's internal alchemy, the cultivation to manifest the Yang Spirit—I think it starts from the three souls; cultivating the dark essence can produce various illusions; within the illusions one can have the soul and spirit leave the body through the orifice, while the vital spirit ensures that one does not get lost in the illusions during cultivation……"

"Are you a little Daoist?" Zhou Shuo lowered his brows, thought, and nodded; the theory of the three souls is like the union of the seven corporeal souls with the martial body and spirit, closely related to the cultivation of the divine soul; the Daoist scriptures write that when a Daoist leaves the orifice, it is indeed layers of illusions; many people either cannot conjure it or get lost in the illusions, unable to settle the restless mind, so cultivating the Dao is harder than cultivating martial arts, because many people's dark essence and vital spirit are not strong.

"What, of course not, how could I possibly be a Daoist? These are all things I saw online; the internet is a miraculous world where you can discover many good things, but many things are incomplete, just like the human three souls—although many people understand them, few can manifest the Yang Spirit and leave the orifice; cultivation is a serious matter." Lu Liang spread his hands, his face especially solemn.

"Hmm, I understand that, then where are you from?" Zhou Shuo blinked slightly, as if there were no problem; the location of the three souls is not bad, I wonder what I should ask next!

"Do you want to learn our Lu family's stuff?" Lu Liang's glasses flashed, accurately catching Zhou Shuo's certain restless urge; upon hearing his words, Liu Yanyan's gaze involuntarily flickered.

"You just said you'd teach everything without reservation, didn't you?" Zhou Shuo raised his eyebrows, had he just slapped his own mouth?

"That's right, I said it, I won't go back on it, but our Lu family's most famous technique is the innate Bright Soul Technique, which can process others' qi and soul; I can't really teach you that, but what I said definitely counts, I'll teach you another skill, will you learn it? It's very powerful!" Lu Liang spoke temptingly, causing the silent Xia He to glance askance.

"The Lu family, one of the Ten Elders' Lu family…" Liu Yanyan exclaimed in slight surprise beside him, causing Zhou Shuo to raise his eyebrows; he knew the Ten Elders were the representatives formed by the top ten anomalous individuals in the anomalous world, these ten anomalous individuals not only possess superb strength but also have huge forces behind them, so the Lu family likely has someone who has joined the Ten Elders, but he didn't expect this scrawny kid to actually have such an origin.

"Hehe, how about it, want to learn?" Lu Liang looked at Zhou Shuo, his tone carrying a provocation.

"What are the requirements? I mean, how would you teach me?" Zhou Shuo watched Liu Yanyan and Xia He's reactions, as well as Lu Liang's current behavior, and could tell that this skill is hard to learn, learning it will surely cause trouble, but he isn't afraid!

"No requirements at all." In the boy's smile there was an indescribable flavor.

"Come on!" Zhou Shuo fearless, even if something happened, he could just leave this world.

"Come, I'll directly give you the memory; this skill is called As-You-Wish Force…" The boy said while condensing a golden qi mass before his brow, indicating for Zhou Shuo to come forward.

Facing the boy's instructions, Zhou Shuo had nothing to fear, he stepped forward directly, letting the other place the fingertip-sized golden qi mass into his brow, and immediately one after another of incantations and images rose from his mind, this is a mass of memory about As-You-Wish Force.

"Is this the Bright Soul Technique?" Zhou Shuo felt the memory in his mind, inevitably curious, not because of As-You-Wish Force, but because of the boy's method, processing and transmitting his own memory to others, freely altering others' qi and soul; if he had this ability, gathering incense thoughts would no longer fear incense poison, and this ability could be compared to the Great Chant Temple's past Maitreya Sutra and future No-Birth Sutra.

"Hehe, right, impressive!" The boy laughed very proudly.

"Impressive." Zhou Shuo nodded sincerely, also inevitably feeling regret; this ability is innate, brought from the womb, he cannot learn it, but the matter of innate versus acquired is interesting nonetheless.

"Anything else you want to ask?"

"Of course, do you know the methods of controlling objects, transforming objects, and refining artifacts?" Zhou Shuo asked.

"Um, this is rather a niche thing, Xia He?" Young Lu Liang couldn't answer, turning his pleading gaze toward his companion.

"Geez, what a troublesome newcomer, I don't know refining artifacts either, I can only go ask that old guy Yuan Tao, but as for controlling objects and transforming objects I can indeed explain, these controlling objects and transforming objects actually come down to three points: one is the method of using qi to nourish objects, two is the quality of objects that bear qi, three is the mutual coordination between objects and qi; to be frank, spending this time pursuing external things is not as good as cultivating, or, seeking fun is really……" Xia He said while speaking, her gaze unconsciously began to wander, scanning up and down Zhou Shuo's body, her tongue tip licking her lips, even Zhou Shuo couldn't help but feel a bit distracted.

I will tell you, the method of nourishing objects with qi, the recipe for creating qi-bearing objects, and also the way of mutually amplifying with objects..... At the moment when Zhou Shuo could barely control his bodily reactions, Xia He's expression tightened, and she began to impart knowledge on her own, making Zhou Shuo both disappointed and forced to listen attentively.