Chapter 151

Late at night.

Shangjing City, Bai He Temple.

Inside a quiet pill room, a slender figure sways gracefully with the flickering of the firelight.

"The Great Lingzong Wang has finally escaped his tribulation. I didn't expect that this time, he would suffer such heavy losses, and even the Thunder Prison..."

Just then, a middle-aged Daoist priest spoke, his heavy words tinged with a trace of regret.

"The Divine Demon Sacred Embryo is the most ferocious thing in the world. Such an existence was never meant to be easily erased from the human world. The so-called tribulation is nothing but the great medicine for his longevity."

Suddenly, a languid voice rose leisurely, like a clear breeze, like a bright moon, natural and harmonious, without a single ripple.

"He didn't die... and his cub might not have died either..."

The middle-aged Daoist raised his eyes slightly, saying as if with deep meaning.

"Don't forget, that cub also practiced the 【Divine Demon Sacred Embryo】. Ten years ago, you fought him under Long Hu Mountain and were evenly matched. Perhaps, he has also escaped his tribulation."

"He won't."

That languid voice rose again.

"The Nine Great Inner Alchemy Methods are each unique in heaven and earth. In every era, only one person can master each one. If a second person masters it, then..."

"His tribulation will be ten times that of the first person."

Once these words were spoken, the middle-aged Daoist fell silent.

This was a secret, a secret regarding the Nine Great Inner Alchemy Methods.

The Nine Great Inner Alchemy Methods were never meant for mortals to practice. It is rare for even one person to master a single method across several eras. If two people master the same method, the latter's tribulation is ten times that of the former.

With such a tribulation, how could one escape to heaven!? Others might not know, but the young man before him certainly did, because the latter had also practiced one of the Nine Great Inner Alchemy Methods...

Seizing the Fortune of Heaven and Earth!!!

"There is one more thing. You have been in seclusion for so long, perhaps you don't know, but the Wu Wei Gate has produced an up-and-coming talent who broke the 【Soul-Aspect Grand Method】 of the Qi brothers of Mount Laojun in Dongshan Province..."

"I know."

Just then, that languid voice rose again, interrupting the middle-aged Daoist's words.

"His name is Zhao Jiexuan."

"The temple's intention is to have you take action. After all, among the same generation..."

The middle-aged Daoist raised his eyelids slightly, stopping mid-sentence...

His gaze fixed on the flickering firelight, which illuminated the silhouette of a young man. He was dressed in a loose Daoist robe, sitting cross-legged facing the wall, staring at a portrait on the wall.

It was the portrait of the Bai He Temple's founder. Under the blue sky, a Daoist with the bearing of an immortal was ascending on a white crane. Above the firmament, however, thick ink had spread like dark, ominous clouds. A black immortal crane flew out, meeting the founder who was ascending on his crane. The scroll was divided by this scene, as distinct as clear and muddy water, like the two colors of yin and yang.

It is said that this portrait of the founder records the scene of the Bai He Temple's founder ascending to immortality. It has been passed down through generations, yet no one has been able to fathom the mystery within the painting.

"Same generation? Is there anyone left in the same generation worth me taking action? No need."

Just then, the young man whispered leisurely. His eyes were deep, as if reflecting the blue sky. Within his gaze, the white crane in the painting seemed to move.

Yujing City, Hongfu Huayuan.

Four twenty-three in the morning.

In the old residential complex of Hongfu Huayuan, everything was quiet. Under the dim, flickering streetlights, three or five night cats scurried between trash cans, searching for food. Their rustling sounds provided the only movement in the cold and quiet complex.

The residential buildings stood like tombstones under the night sky, without a single light, save for the security booth at the entrance of the complex.

Woo... woo... woo...

Just then, an unusual night wind whipped up. The fallen leaves and paper scraps on the ground in the complex began to swirl, as if being toyed with by an invisible hand under the dim streetlights.

Such wind might not sound loud, but if one observed with the soul-aspect, one could hear that the wind was mixed with shrill wailing—gloomy, eerie, and chilling, like the screeching of night cats, carrying deep fear.

"Hmm!?"

Inside the security booth, Liu Fusheng was suddenly startled awake from his sleep. He opened his eyes wide and stood up, walking out of the security booth.

"Ghost Night Wailing!?"

Liu Fusheng muttered softly, his brow furrowing into a deep "chuan" shape.

Rain of millet from the sky and ghost night wailing are both extraordinary omens. Since ancient times, only those who have achieved great mastery in the Great Method can trigger such omens.

At this moment, at Building 27 of Hongfu Huayuan, bloody figures were swaying.

People jumped from this building almost every year; it was a famous ghost building in Hongfu Huayuan, and even in the old city district.

At this time, those bloody figures curled into a mass, like a shadow writhing. The sounds they made were like the screeching of night cats, their wailing terrifying, accompanied by an unconcealable fear.

Around Hongfu Huayuan, eerie figures swayed, as if they had all sensed the terrible fluctuations that could not be ignored. They gathered in one place, shivering, kowtowing in the same direction, as if begging for amnesty from life and death.

"This kid... what is he doing!?"

Liu Fusheng's brow furrowed even tighter. He subconsciously looked up, toward the direction of Building 73. As far as his gaze could reach, the lights in Zhang Fan's home were still faintly lit.

Inside the room, Zhang Fan sat cross-legged in meditation, his soul-aspect having left his body, suspended three feet above his head. Black currents of air permeated and surged around him, vast and deep. At the same time, the phantom of a black immortal crane appeared and disappeared, its wings spread, guarding behind the soul-aspect. Its feathers, looking as real as life, gently rose and fell, emitting heart-palpitating fluctuations.

The full moon set in the west, and the morning sun rose in the east.

Zhang Fan slowly opened his eyes, returning from his meditative state. The moment his soul-aspect returned to his body, the true yang that had been dormant within him surged like a bursting dam, rolling and moving, the roaring sound as loud as thunder.

"Full of vigor."

Zhang Fan looked at his hands, feeling the surging power within his body, as well as that soul-aspect that was as hidden as a god's, and found it incredible.

Five days had passed since he failed to promote to 【Gao Gong】 that day.

His cultivation speed was even more rapid than before; his soul-aspect was constantly strengthening every day. Now, even when he performed the 【Fire Huo Huo Long Dan Jian】, it was not as strenuous as it used to be.

After all, a Great Method like the 【Fire Huo Huo Long Dan Jian】 was comparable to the 【Five Thunders True Method】. To truly master it, one had to have the cultivation of 【Gao Gong】. Yet now, Zhang Fan was becoming increasingly adept, and the power he could unleash was not what it once was.

"It seems that stick of 【True-Descending Incense】 was not wasted in vain." Zhang Fan thought to himself.

The soul-aspect is the foundation of cultivation. If one practices with the inner alchemy method, the physical body will also undergo changes, the true yang will gradually become sufficient, and the flesh and blood will become extraordinary.

Right now, his soul-aspect was like it had eaten growth hormones, full of vigor. Such changes were impossible to achieve even with months of hard cultivation.

Such changes gave Zhang Fan full confidence. Once he achieved great success in his divine abilities, the first person he would take a knife to would be the Dog Han Diyan.

Who told him to be the one among the Thirteen Zodiacs who tried to put Zhang Fan to death twice in a row!?

"Just wait to die." A cold light flashed in Zhang Fan's eyes. He had long since placed the Dog Han Diyan on his death list. If he didn't kill him, his mind would never be at ease.

But for now...

"I still have to find a way to solve the problem of promoting to 【Gao Gong】." Zhang Fan pondered.

The soul-aspect of an ordinary Daoist can use 【True-Descending Incense】 to summon the true ones and achieve ultimate sublimation. Crossing this pass makes one a 【Gao Gong】 rank.

But Zhang Fan was different. He had practiced the 【Divine Demon Sacred Embryo】. Even though his soul-aspect was incomplete now and there was still an 【Evil God】 outside, he was afraid that a single stick of 【True-Descending Incense】 would not be enough to help him cross this pass.

Nine lives are hard to return. Those who practice the Nine Great Inner Alchemy Methods should have other mysterious methods for passing the 【True-Descending Life】 pass.

Zhang Fan's mind was entirely focused on how to break through to the 【Gao Gong】 rank. He finished washing up in a trance-like state and walked straight out the door. "Little Fan, have you eaten breakfast? Want two catties of steamed buns?"

Walking to the entrance of Hongfu Huayuan, Liu Fusheng poked his head out of the security booth window and called out.

"Uncle Liu, I've already eaten toothpaste..."

Zhang Fan didn't even turn his head, responding mechanically. His mind seemed to be far away, as if he were possessed.

"This kid..."

Liu Fusheng looked at Zhang Fan's retreating back with some worry, shook his head, and pulled back into the booth, opening his lunchbox—fragrant steamed buns paired with rich, fresh soy milk.

A beautiful day had begun again.

Taoyuan Plaza, Night-Not-Bright.

Zhang Fan became the first person to reach the company. After all, no one could compare to him.

Nowadays, if Zhang Fan could sleep for two or three hours a day, it counted as high-quality sleep.

He sat at his desk, opened his computer, jumped to the "Little Yellow Book" page, and clicked on his follow list.

"Hmm!?"

Just then, Zhang Fan's eyes lit up. The avatar of 【Millennium Old Demon】, who hadn't been online for a long time, had actually lit up.

"Online!?"

Zhang Fan hurriedly opened the chat box for 【Millennium Old Demon】 and sent a message.

"You finally appeared."

Whoosh...

The message was sent successfully. Zhang Fan breathed a sigh of relief. This "netizen" who liked to block people and once made him suspect whether he was mentally abnormal finally didn't block him this time.

Ever since they chatted in Gusu City that day and agreed to meet, 【Millennium Old Demon】 had never appeared again.

Zhang Fan even suspected that he had canceled his account.

"Speak."

Seeing that the other party didn't respond, Zhang Fan couldn't wait to send another message.

"Sorry, you have been added to the blacklist by the other party..."

Just then, the system popped up a notification message.

"Damn it!"

Zhang Fan slammed his keyboard and cursed.

He considered his cultivation to be deepening and his ability to nourish his Qi to be quite good, but every time this 【Millennium Old Demon】 could ruin his Dao heart, making his consciousness restless. He was simply his inner demon, his disaster.

"Don't let me meet you in reality." Zhang Fan gritted his teeth, wishing he could follow the network cable to find him.

Hum...

Just then, the avatar of 【Millennium Old Demon】 suddenly turned gray.

"Offline!?"

Zhang Fan's eyes narrowed into a line, his fingers pinching until they creaked.

This 【Millennium Old Demon】 could always poke Zhang Fan's temper.

"Hmm!?"

Zhang Fan casually clicked on the main thread of 【Millennium Old Demon】 and found that this guy had actually updated a post titled "The Three-Corpse Daoist and Wan Zhenxiang"...

"Hmm? This post is about the Three-Corpse Daoist?" Zhang Fan was stunned for a moment.

The name Three-Corpse Daoist must be extremely unfamiliar to ordinary people. Even for those in the Daoist sect, I'm afraid most people don't know much about him, after all, the era is too distant.

But for those who have truly entered the Dao, this name is absolutely thunderous.

Looking at the hundred-year history of the Daoist sect, if only two names could be left, then undoubtedly, one is Chu Chaoran, and the other must be the Three-Corpse Daoist.

"Sixty years ago, during the Jiazi Demon-Sweeping, the Three-Corpse Daoist transformed into the Dao at the peak of Mount Dongyue. This battle established Chu Chaoran's world-renowned divine name for a Jiazi..."

"However, if we push time back, eighty years ago, the Three-Corpse Daoist had already firmly sat in the 'number one chair in the world'. At that time, Chu Chaoran was just a fledgling young man..."

"From this, it can be inferred that the Three-Corpse Daoist should have been born a hundred years ago, about twenty years apart from Chu Chaoran..."

"This article is only based on research and inference from ancient isolated books. Whether it is true or not, judge for yourselves."

Seeing this, Zhang Fan was slightly moved. This 【Millennium Old Demon】 was truly knowledgeable, even having records about the 【Three-Corpse Daoist】, which made him even more curious about this mysterious netizen.

"The Three-Corpse Daoist's secular name cannot be verified. In his youth, he was suspected of having great entanglements with Long Hu Mountain..."

"Long Hu Mountain's legacy records that the Three-Corpse Daoist once encountered a great pass at 【True-Descending Life】. True-Descending is not true, nine lives are hard to return..."

Writing to this point, 【Millennium Old Demon】 also annotated at the end: The Three-Corpse Daoist practiced the Nine Great Inner Alchemy Method 【Three-Corpse Reflecting Life】, suspected to have a soul-aspect different from ordinary people. Even the Daoist sect's number one strange incense 【True-Descending Incense】 could not help him cross this pass, baptize his soul-aspect, and promote to 【Gao Gong】.

Seeing this, Zhang Fan's heart jumped, and even his breathing became much heavier. He couldn't help but continue reading.

"Long Hu Mountain is the ancestral court of the Daoist sect. A figure like the Three-Corpse Daoist knocked on the gate of Long Hu, searched bitterly for three years, and finally found the method to break through the pass."

"Wan Zhenxiang!?"

Seeing this, a special name entered his sight.

The Three-Corpse Daoist obtained a treasure at Long Hu Mountain, named 【Wan Zhenxiang】.

Regarding this treasure, there are three theories.

The first theory is that the Three-Corpse Daoist got to know a master of the 【Long Hu Zhang Family】 main sect and became close friends with one of the up-and-coming talents, thus spying on the secret scrolls of the heavenly books left by the Ancestral Three Tian Shi Zhang Daoling, comprehending the secrets of immortals, refining pills in the mountains, and refining this stick of world-rare 【Wan Zhenxiang】.

The second theory is that the ancestor of the Long Hu Zhang family, the Ancestral Three Tian Shi Zhang Daoling, secretly refined great pills at Mount Yunjin. The pills became dragons and tigers, having the aura of immortals. Mount Yunjin was renamed 【Long Hu Mountain】 ever since. As for that stick of 【Wan Zhenxiang】, it was refined from the pill residue after the pill was finished and the furnace was extinguished.

The third theory is that the Long Hu Zhang family united the power of the Daoist sect in the world to hold nine 【Mountain-Breaking and Temple-Sweeping】 ceremonies, killing the Wu Wei evildoers. During the last one, they held a 【Universal Putian Dajiao】, respectfully inviting the immortals and gods of the sky. This incense was an object formed by the gathering of spiritual incense when the immortals and gods were responsive during the great offering. After the ninth 【Mountain-Breaking and Temple-Sweeping】, the Wu Wei Gate disappeared, and this treasure remained at Long Hu Mountain, worshiped for generations.

"Wan Zhenxiang!?" Zhang Fan thought to himself, chewing on the name.

Regardless of the origin of 【Wan Zhenxiang】, it had a great relationship with 【Long Hu Mountain】. The 【Three-Corpse Daoist】 brought this object out of 【Long Hu Mountain】 back then, and with just half a stick of incense, he broke the pass of 【True-Descending Life】 and stepped into the 【Gao Gong】 rank.

"The Three-Corpse Daoist must have been very young at that time, and he stepped into the Gao Gong rank with just half a stick of incense!?" Zhang Fan's eyes narrowed slightly, revealing an unusual brilliance.

Speaking of which, his current situation was exactly the same as the 【Three-Corpse Daoist】 back then.

"Since the 【Three-Corpse Daoist】 only used half a stick of incense back then, what about the other half?"

Zhang Fan stared at the screen and continued reading.

"The Three-Corpse Daoist promoted to Gao Gong, advanced rapidly, and entered the ranks of the number one master in the world. Even the powerful Long Hu Zhang family found it difficult to edge out his sharpness..."

"As for the other half of 【Wan Zhenxiang】, it is suspected to be left in the Wu Wei Gate, for generations..."

"Human Portrait's custody!?" Zhang Fan's gaze sank, staring at the last four words of the post.

(End of chapter)