Chapter 117: Cinnabar fire hides sword intent

Cultivation completed, merits fulfilled to three thousand; subduing the fire dragon and the true tiger. Who is an immortal? I am an immortal.

In years past, when Master Lu followed the Fire Dragon Immortal, realized the Dharma sword, and practiced the cinnabar method, he spoke these words on the day his cultivation was complete.

In the deep, dark night, a massive explosion startled half the street.

A large hole was blasted into the wall of the hotel room, shattered glass sprayed across the floor, and the erupting firelight drove away the darkness of the night.

Amidst the scorching flames, a human figure slowly walked out, standing before the hole in the shattered wall, eyes unfocused and ethereal, indifferently gazing downward.

"Zhang Fan..." Sui Chunsheng's eyelids twitched violently, shocked by everything happening before him.

"Orthodox Mysterious Sect, Daoist fire method!?" A look of disbelief appeared on Zhan Xinyue's pretty face.

Daoist cultivation is the refining away of the yin dregs within the spirit to achieve the Limitless Pure Yang.

Through gathering and refining medicine, one tempers the true yang within the three treasures of 【Jing, Qi, and Shen】, nourishes the Nascent Soul, and pursues the Limitless.

Only the Nascent Soul can mobilize the true yang within the three treasures; if ignited, it becomes the Daoist True Fire.

This mysterious pass is fierce among the fierce, mysterious among the mysterious; it can burn away all evil in the world, and it can also dissolve the fleshly body.

Daoist texts say: if true yang exits the three treasures, once ignited, the heart-fire rages; raging heart-fire spurs madness, and the restless consciousness invites fire to burn.

Human emotions are fire, thoughts are fire, restlessness is fire, and the arising of intent is also fire...

Once true yang is ignited, madness is born, and the heart-fire is like a dragon difficult to subdue; with the slightest carelessness, one will invite self-immolation.

Therefore, the Daoist fire method is extremely difficult to practice.

To practice the fire method, one must subdue the fire dragon, otherwise, one will invite fire upon oneself.

The 【Red Snake Fire Talisman】 previously used by Qi Ji and Jiang Hu relied on the way of talismans to catalyze natural fire; it was not the Daoist True Fire catalyzed by one's own small universe.

"The three treasures suddenly separate to release Jing, madness arises to spur the fire dragon... there is actually a master here!"

Shi Shougong's expression was solemn, but his grim gaze shifted from the charred corpse at his feet to Zhang Fan in the scorching firelight.

In Daoist mythology, the Heavenly Court is divided into eight departments, and Daoist mystical arts are also divided into eight methods; fighting techniques are the most mysterious, thunder techniques are the most ruthless, and fire techniques are the most ferocious...

To be able to master the Daoist True Fire, one must be of the orthodox Xuan Sect.

It was just that Shi Shougong did not expect that tonight, in this place, such a master was hidden.

Whoosh...

Heat waves rolled, fiery winds whistled, and Shi Shougong's expression changed abruptly. A thick palm, like a shadow, pressed down horizontally, actually covering his face directly.

"So fast!?"

In Shi Shougong's heart, it was as if a figure was roaring wildly.

Bang...

At almost the same moment, a massive force gripped his face, pressing him, the whole person, flying out. In an instant, he had already flown ten meters away.

"Zhang Fan..."

Sui Chunsheng's pupils contracted sharply. In that instant just now, he only saw the firelight flickering; that figure was as fast as a ghost, flashing and disappearing within the firelight. By the time he regained his senses, Shi Shougong had already flown out.

Hum...

A patch of burns appeared on Shi Shougong's face, and pieces of skin actually turned charred black and slowly peeled off. His eye corners twitched, enduring the intense pain; before he even landed, he gradually disappeared in mid-air, as if merging with the air.

"Be careful, he is a demon... he can hide his form."

Just at this moment, Sui Chunsheng spoke to warn him; he had suffered a great loss from this move just now.

However, Zhang Fan seemed not to hear. He looked down at his own hands, the rolling true yang within his body surging, moving like an invisible airflow in his palms. As he rotated and maneuvered, it turned into streaks of crimson light, emitting a terrifying temperature that caused the surrounding air to distort and deform.

"Cinnabar fire... cinnabar fire..."

Zhang Fan murmured softly. A mere wisp of crimson light, slightly out of control, scorched his right arm, black smoke rising from the skin and flesh, and scarlet blood evaporating and dispersing.

"Zhang Fan..." Zhan Xinyue's face paled, and she cried out involuntarily.

However, Zhang Fan turned a deaf ear, and even seemed unable to feel his own burns.

"He is still in a state of meditation... damn it..." Sui Chunsheng's expression changed abruptly; he simply could not believe it.

In other words, at this moment, Zhang Fan's Nascent Soul had not awakened, and everything was entirely by instinct.

Hum...

Just at this moment, the heat waves behind Zhang Fan suddenly rippled, as if a gap had been torn open. Shi Shougong seemed to walk out from the air, revealing his form. His sharp claws, like blades, slashed open Zhang Fan's arm.

A touch of pitch-black, like thick ink, dissolved, directly drilling into the flesh and blood, merging into the blood, and spreading toward the four limbs and hundred skeletons.

"Oh no..." Zhan Xinyue's heart skipped a beat.

The means of the demon before them were sharp and strange; such a technique was like a plague poison. Once it entered the body, there was no saving it, and they had all fallen to it.

"You are still too green..." Shi Shougong said coldly.

Hum...

Suddenly, Zhang Fan's arm trembled slightly, and the blood in his body seemed to boil, actually burning away that ink-like pitch-black in an instant.

In the blink of an eye, his arm flicked like a long spear, turned, and directly gripped Shi Shougong's neck, lifting him high into mid-air.

"Ah ah ah..."

Just at this moment, Shi Shougong let out a heart-rending, painful wail. Not a single spark of fire was seen, yet his body was as if being scorched by a great fire; moisture was crazily lost, his skin tightened and shriveled, gradually turning withered yellow and charred black, and a pungent smell of burnt meat even permeated the air.

"He... what kind of fire method is he practicing!?"

This scene made Zhan Xinyue's heart jump, and a deep sense of disbelief appeared on her pretty face.

Daoist fire methods, without seeing true fire scorching, yet having the power to burn the body and refine the spirit.

Such a technique, she had never seen, nor had she ever heard of.

"Zhang Fan... what is his background, after all?" Zhan Xinyue's expression was dazed, as if she were seeing Zhang Fan anew.

When at the Jiangnan Province Dao Alliance headquarters, she hadn't taken the two people sent by 【Night Not Bright】 to heart. Other than Jiang Hu, who came from Maoshan and had some weight in her eyes, she and Sui Chunsheng had intentionally or unintentionally revealed a sense of superiority, whether regarding their status in the Daoist gate or the mission of this trip.

Especially this trip to Gusu, they had practically treated Zhang Fan and Jiang Hu as add-ons, whether they were there or not made no difference; everything was centered on her and Sui Chunsheng.

However, everything happening before her eyes overturned Zhan Xinyue's perception of Zhang Fan.

This man...

Clatter...

Just at this moment, Shi Shougong's charred and shriveled skin suddenly split open, and a black shadow actually jumped out from within, and viscous liquid sprayed all over the floor...

"Molting!?"

Sui Chunsheng's brow twitched violently. Looking at the lively Shi Shougong, who was completely slick as if just separated from the mother's body, stained with viscous liquid, his face turned pale. He gasped for breath, his eyes fixed firmly on Zhang Fan, his spirit guarded to the extreme.

"Demon... this is a demon... truly difficult to deal with..." Sui Chunsheng frowned.

When a spirit creature possesses a body, it is a demon. After they have a human body, the body will undergo different degrees of alienation.

In daily life, this alienation is controllable, and can even grant them special abilities, which are no less than Daoist techniques.

Clearly, this demon named Shi Shougong possessed the abilities of invisibility, plague poison, and molting.

Three abilities, giving him extremely strong survival capabilities; this could more or less reveal the origin of his previous life.

"Just like sunlight passing through the dark night, dawn quietly brushes past the horizon..."

"Whose figure shuttles between reincarnation..."

Just at this moment, a pleasant and spirited singing voice came from afar, echoing in the deep night.

"A new storm has already appeared, how can one stagnate and not move forward..."

"Crossing time and space with all my might, I will come to your side..."

That spirited singing voice was sometimes near and sometimes far, like a light from the darkness, attracting everyone's attention.

"It's time to go."

Shi Shougong's eyes were cold, and he looked grimly toward the sound. Following that, his gaze sank slightly, and he looked at Zhang Fan, as if wanting to remember him forever.

"Next time we meet, it won't be like today."

As soon as the words fell, Shi Shougong's figure slowly disappeared, as if merging with the surrounding environment.

Sui Chunsheng and Zhan Xinyue remained vigilant, looking around solemnly, but the opponent never appeared again.

"He left!?"

"He should have left." Sui Chunsheng nodded and subconsciously looked at Zhang Fan. At this time, Zhang Fan gradually calmed down, and the surrounding heat waves slowly dissipated. He even sat down cross-legged, hands clasped at his Dantian.

"He has entered meditation again." Zhan Xinyue couldn't help but say.

"He never woke up." Sui Chunsheng shook his head and stood up tremblingly.

The exploded hotel room, the glass shards all over the floor, and the charred corpse... appeared particularly conspicuous on this cold street.

At this time, the influence brought by the thick fog gradually faded, and some people were already poking their heads out to watch.

"Trouble again."

Sui Chunsheng rubbed his temples and hurriedly took out his phone to make a call.

There would be specialists to handle the aftermath here.

Right now, he and Zhan Xinyue hurriedly carried Zhang Fan back into the hotel.

The exploded room was a mess, the smoke detector had long since activated, and the sprayed water gradually extinguished the flames.

More latest popular novels at/p>

"Damn it..."

In the corner, Jiang Hu crawled up from the ruins, his face covered in black ash; every time he coughed, he spat out two taels of dirt.

Fortunately, he still had a talisman to protect his body, otherwise he would have been cremated on the spot.

"The jar..."

At this time, Jiang Hu suddenly slapped his forehead and turned his head to look, only to see that the ancient jar had long since shattered all over the floor.

"This... this..."

"Don't be nervous."

Just at this moment, Sui Chunsheng raised his hand to signal, and began to soothe him.

"There was nothing in this jar to begin with."

"Ah!? What's the situation?" Jiang Hu couldn't help but ask.

"The real thing is being escorted by masters of the Dao Alliance, and it should arrive at the Xuanmiao Temple by tomorrow." Sui Chunsheng flicked his island.

"What we are escorting is fake."

"Hmm!?"

At this time, even Zhan Xinyue couldn't help but reveal an unusual expression, because she didn't even know about this matter.

"Such an important thing, how could it be left to us juniors to escort?"

Sui Chunsheng sat down weakly and let out a long breath.

"It was just to attract the attention of the Wu Wei Gate... of course, it could also flush out the secret agents hidden within the Xuanmiao Temple."

"Secret agents!?"

"The Wu Wei Gate's reach is too long. As far as I know, there are their people inside the Xuanmiao Temple..." Sui Chunsheng said in a deep voice.

"So that's why you weren't in a hurry to go to the Xuanmiao Temple to report, but stayed here for a night instead." Jiang Hu realized.

"Not many people knew that we were escorting the Dharma jar to Gusu, so it was easy to draw out that secret agent."

Sui Chunsheng's gaze condensed slightly, revealing a solemn look.

"I just didn't expect that the Wu Wei Gate's power was already so vast, not only infiltrating the Daoist gate but also recruiting all kinds of demons and ghosts."

Thinking of Shi Shougong's means just now, Sui Chunsheng felt a lingering fear. If it weren't for Zhang Fan, they might all have fallen here today.

"Fellow Daoist Jiang, what is his background, after all?"

Thinking of this, Sui Chunsheng couldn't help but ask; as soon as he spoke, even his form of address became very polite.

"He is a disciple of Zhenwu Mountain," Jiang Hu said indifferently.

"I know this... Xia Weisheng mentioned it... but with such Daoist practice, why haven't I heard of him?"

Sui Chunsheng revealed a look of confusion.

"Who is his master?"

"Master Chaoran." Jiang Hu remembered Bai Buran's instructions and spat out a name.

"Master Chaoran!? He is a disciple of Master Chaoran?"

Sui Chunsheng stood up abruptly and looked at Zhang Fan, who was still in meditation, with an expression of disbelief.

"Isn't Master Chaoran's closing disciple Xia Weisheng? How could there be another..." Zhan Xinyue revealed a look of suspicion.

"I don't know about that..."

"I heard that he went sightseeing, was spotted by Master Chaoran at a glance, and he insisted on taking him as a disciple."

"Ah!?"

As soon as these words were spoken, Sui Chunsheng and Zhan Xinyue looked at each other, feeling as if they were having auditory hallucinations.

Master Chaoran, that is a living fossil in the Daoist gate, a living True Person of the present age, who has already entered the Limitless Pure Yang Realm. Sixty years of subduing demons, and he is the supreme existence who killed the number one master in the world, the Three-Corpse Daoist.

Such status, such a legend... let alone being his disciple, even seeing him once would be like the ancestral grave emitting blue smoke.

Sightseeing? Insisted on taking him as a disciple!?

Is this human talk!?

"No wonder when I first saw Brother Daoist Zhang, I felt he was extraordinary... so he is a disciple of Master Chaoran..."

Sui Chunsheng looked at Zhang Fan with awe, as if there was light in his eyes.

"What do we do now?" Jiang Hu couldn't help but ask.

"Change rooms and wait for the local relevant departments to handle it." Sui Chunsheng was still very familiar with the handling process for such emergencies, so he immediately opened two more rooms, specifically letting Zhang Fan have one alone.

In the inner landscape of the Nascent Soul, the river surged.

That vertical stroke was like a sword returning to its sheath, slowly dissipating.

"Cinnabar fire hiding sword intent... it looks exactly like the Master Lu stele rubbing I saw in the Pure Yang Hall that day... not bad, not bad..."

Zhang Fan regained his senses; that stroke in the air had indeed benefited him greatly.

Above the great river, the bright moon shone, and that lonely and mysterious figure seemed to be returning, merging into the hazy water vapor.

"Are you a thousand-year-old demon?" Zhang Fan asked.

Hum...

Before the words fell, that lonely figure walked toward the depths of the great river, the tide rising and falling, silent and desolate, only that bright moon was eternal.

"Whoo..."

In the early morning, sunlight shone through the window onto Zhang Fan's face. He opened his eyes; the sun was already high. He picked up his phone and looked; it was already 9:37 AM.

"It's already this late?"

Zhang Fan sat up and looked around.

"This isn't yesterday's room!?"

Zhang Fan frowned, revealing a look of confusion, and casually opened his phone.

"You're finally awake."

Just at this moment, Zhang Fan walked in.

"Why am I sleeping here?" Zhang Fan couldn't help but ask.

"Don't you remember anything at all?"

"I have some impression... it seems I fought with someone..." Zhang Fan rubbed his head, only feeling his right arm burning with pain.

"Yesterday, you..."

Jiang Hu had just started speaking when he saw that Zhang Fan's expression was a bit off.

"What's wrong with you!!?"

Jiang Hu asked and walked over, only to see a news item popping up on Zhang Fan's phone.

【Shock! Last night, an unknown creature appeared on the Yangtze River, walking across the waves】

Clicking on the news, a video with rather blurry image quality popped up.

The endless Yangtze River, waves rolling, the bright moon shining on the great river, a mysterious and lonely figure stood on the waves. Between the clouds rolling and unrolling, that figure walked slowly, crossing the ten-thousand-mile Yangtze River, better than a stroll in a leisurely courtyard.

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 118 =====