Chapter 102: Wading Chang (Four Thousand for Monthly Votes)

Xu Jia presided over the entry ceremony; this Hall Genealogy of Master Xu Jia, Xu Jia, served as the master genealogy.

But now that there are many immortals, and there will be many disciples in the future, it is necessary to conduct "branch genealogy."

Thus, four separate genealogies were written: the Fox Immortal Hall Lineage, the Yellow Immortal Temple Lineage, the Dragon Immortal Cave Lineage, and the Stele King Lineage.

The Stele King Lineage takes Luejue Shen as the Hall Master, with the Condolence Guest Evil Qi as support and the Ten Spirit Children as assistants, presiding over all matters concerning ghosts and spirits.

The Fox Immortal Hall Lineage is headed by Hu Jinhua, which goes without saying.

The Yellow Immortal Lineage is headed by Huang Pipo; her Ershinian Dajie, if assisted by a noble person, is not difficult to overcome, it is merely a matter of insufficient cultivation. Once Niu Congcong finishes refining the pills for Xu Jia's cultivation, it will be enough for her to use, or perhaps once the Evil Aura of Yushan is subdued and the world is clear, Merit will naturally descend, and she wouldn't be able to die even if she wanted to.

The Turtle Immortal Lineage was merged into the Dragon Immortal Lineage, as the Dragon King and Turtle appearance have always been one. This genealogy has the fewest descendants, but also the highest status.

Xu Jia divided the four hall genealogies, which are actually clan genealogies. In the future, when their descendants become spirits, open their wisdom, are able to transform into human form, and pass the initial tribulation, the immortals on the genealogy can jointly discuss whether to add them to the genealogy. Whether they can move from a branch genealogy to the master genealogy follows another set of procedures.

Taking advantage of his current prestige, while the immortals on the genealogy—both close and distant—were all present, Xu Jia established rules.

These rules were much more numerous and much stricter than the three commandments Xu Jia had previously required Xiaopangdun to follow.

The first is that theft is forbidden; whether it is a fox or a weasel, the habit of stealing is very difficult to change, so the first offense of theft is punished by ten lashes, executed by the Spirit General Luejue Shen. The second offense carries the punishment of "hand-chopping," and the third offense is the "death penalty by skinning."

The second is that one must not harm fellow sect members or betray Xu Jia; if this occurs, the punishment is death by fire.

The third is that one must not use the Method to bully the common people; if discovered, their Daoist Practice and Dharma Power will be abolished.

The fourth is that one must not forcibly demand offerings or money from the poor, nor may one possess people at will or harass mortals with "spirit medium constitution" who are unwilling to serve; violators will suffer the "stone-dropping punishment," which involves turning them into their original form and tying a stone to their waist at all times—eating, sleeping, and cultivating with this stone—which is to treat them as they treated others.

Following this, a total of nineteen articles were listed, known as the "Nineteen Commandments." Xu Jia required them to swear one by one; all immortals entering the hall henceforth must abide by these commandments, known as the "Nineteen Commandments of the God Immortals."

After doing all this, Xu Jia finally finished one matter and instructed Qiu Jinsha: "Water connects to Water Veins; I wonder if it can connect to wells. Huang Pipo failed to gather information at Dizang An because she was not secretive enough. If you can enter the wells through the Water Veins to know yourself and the enemy, this matter will surely succeed."

Qiu Jinsha knew this was the first task since entering the hall and being added to the genealogy; if done well, there would be Merit, and if done poorly, he would lose face, and he feared he would not be worthy of his position above the Fox Immortals and Yellow Immortals despite having just arrived.

"A few days ago, we sensed Evil Qi from the upstream water source. This Evil Qi reached the downstream, but was partially neutralized and partially dispersed. This little dragon is naturally willing to volunteer."

"Do not fear the Evil Qi; I shall pass you a Cleansing Water Incantation!"

The Cleansing Water Incantation is one of the water methods. When Meishan Water Masters go into the mountains to hunt, if they are thirsty and have no water with them, and encounter a puddle or similar, fearing they might get sick from drinking it, they have a specialized Cleansing Water Incantation. Reciting the incantation three times kills the forty-eight thousand insects in the water and drives away plague, evil, and foul Qi.

The Lushan Method also absorbs this, because many Evil Masters like to plant Gu in water; this method can kill Gu insects, so it is widely applied.

This Qiu Jinsha, although a Creek God, actually did not know any water methods, only two spells: Water Escape and Earth Escape. Xu Jia borrowed his method, which only provided the ability to breathe and open eyes underwater, but that did not matter; since he did not know many water methods, Xu Jia would just teach him.

Xu Jia did not know much else, but he knew many efficacious spells of the heterodox paths; as for proper rituals and ceremonies, he only knew the general process and needed to be guided by scriptures.

Xu Jia then recited the incantation: "Heavenly Water is holy, Earthly Water is spiritual, quickly tremble and disperse the evil. I obey the order of the Lushan Dharma Master, summoning the Nine Heavens Cloud Thunder Messenger to quickly descend with heavenly thunder and lightning into my altar method. Heaven's Gate and Earth's Axis, enter my water."

He immediately consecrated a bowl of clean water, took a mouthful, and sprayed it out, cleansing the evil in an area.

Qiu Jinsha had been a Creek God for many years, so he immediately grasped the essence. Although he did not spray water, he could trigger the Jinsha Creek Water Vein, attach the method to the Water Vein, and flow upstream to trace the source and clear it.

Next, Xu Jia assigned the two little ghosts, Duowen and Guangmu, whom he had already subdued in the altar, to Qiu Jinsha as subordinates.

The two little ghosts were very unhappy: "Dharma Lord, we cannot swim; we are not water ghosts."

Xu Jia chuckled: "Have you tried hard enough? Have you thought about why you cannot swim? If you cannot swim now, why not learn? Do you intend to never be able to swim?"

The two little ghosts:?

The ghost Guangmu was almost in tears, and the large ears of the ghost Duowen drooped down.

Xu Jia thought: "I will place a Pearl in the altar where I keep you, and you will be able to enter the water. Besides, although ghosts cannot swim, they will not be drowned by water, and furthermore, there is a Creek God managing you."

He then asked Qiu Jinsha: "Is there Evil in the water? Can it be used to refine Water Chang?"

Qiu Jinsha said: "Naturally there is Evil in the water, which is the Profound Yin Evil. Although Jinsha Creek is small, it can still drown people. In summer, when children enter the water and are not rescued in time, they become water ghosts, and the water evil becomes heavy..."

"Then learn the Chang-refining method as well; refine a Wading Chang to go alongside Hu Jinhua's Mountain-Roaming Chang."

After the Evil Qi of Jijuezi Mountain was exhausted, only forty-eight Mountain-Roaming Chang were refined, totaling four teams. Hu Jinhua originally offered them fresh blood, but later discovered that compared to fresh blood, the Mountain-Roaming Chang preferred "hornets." The fiercer and more poisonous the hornets, the more these Mountain-Roaming Chang liked to eat them. The original requirement of a drop of fresh blood on the first and fifteenth of every month changed to offering a hornet on the first and fifteenth of every month. The Mountain-Roaming Chang also liked a type of Calamus grass, which they cut into spears to use as weapons, and they also liked the rice wine brewed by the villagers.

Having received these offerings, the Mountain-Roaming Chang became more human-like, more obedient to commands, and more ferocious.

Therefore, Xu Jia had Hu Jinhua pass the skill of refining Chang to Huang Pipo. The Yellow Immortal Temple governs Tianliang Shan, so she can refine the Evil Qi of Tianliang into Chang; if Huang Pipo refines them, it is equivalent to Xu Jia refining them.

Although Tianliang Shan is a small mountain, it is indeed one of the ten scenic spots of Yushan. It is unknown if there is a Mountain God, but it does not matter; refining Chang under the banner of the Yellow Immortal Temple, and with the promise of the Yushan City God, Xu Jia can act with discretion.

As for Xu Jia, he taught Qiu Jinsha the refining method for Wading Chang separately. Mountain evil is hidden in mountain caves and caverns, which is the Qi of Earthly Evil.

Wading Chang absorbs water evil; water evil is formless and has no fixed location, so to refine Water Chang, one must first sacrifice to the water to gather the evil. The water evil of Jinsha Creek is the soul of the drowned child. If they cannot find a substitute for a long time, they will become water monkeys.

Refining this Chang uses fish scales, fish bladders, and fish gills as triggers, dripping blood while reciting incantations, and taking ten pairs of shrimp eyes, burning moss to sacrifice... entrusting evil thoughts to the water evil, thus forming a Wading Chang. They are usually kept in jars, and the sacrificial items they like are all kinds of fishy and foul things.

This Chang is good at wading through water, comparable to the White Stripe in the Waves, can create whirlpools, has immense strength in the water, drives away fish and shrimp, explores underwater treasures, and gathers Water Origin.

Xu Jia explained it in great detail. Fortunately, Qiu Jinsha is a True God; if he could not remember it for a moment, he could record his thoughts and look back at them later.

After finishing, Xu Jia did not keep them and let them return.

Although the Yushan City God said that the affairs of Yushan were urgent, they had to wait. Sharpening the knife does not delay the work of cutting wood. Xu Jia calculated that three days later would be a good day for Water-Fire Refining and Crossing, allowing him to invite the soul of his original body into the Xinjiao to serve as a pill-essence attendant, Guardian Divine General, and Heart Grace Fate Assistance.

After refining the Heart General, Xu Jia would be able to multitask and perform many high-difficulty Great Abilities, including communicating with the temple lineage of his previous life again to borrow Dharma Power.

After all, Xu Jia is not Master Xu Jia now, and the original body, Xu Jidi, will take the place of Master Xu Jia.

A living person without Merit cannot ascend to a divine position.

Only when a ghost or god receives offerings and enters the Xinjiao can the soul of the original body communicate with the Golden Body of the previous life on behalf of Xu Jia and borrow Dharma Power.

Xu Jia once said: "From now on, I am Xu Jia, Xu Jidi, and you are Master Xu Jia." After everyone, including Huang Pipo, had left the small Fox Immortal Hall, Hu Jinhua said with some worry: "Master Xu, so many people have come all at once, and they all seem like good people, I am a little afraid."

"As long as you are strong enough yourself, they will all be good people. If you are insufficient, it will turn into a pack of wolves devouring a tiger. The Lushan Method focuses on deterrence; you don't need to fear this. You and Niu Congcong just need to develop villager faith more in the future and must not be slack."

Hearing Xu Jia say it was fine, Hu Jinhua felt relieved: "This disciple understands."

For the next three days, Xu Jia did not go out. In the Fox Immortal Hall, he drank chicken soup every day to wash his body with the divine, consolidate his Xingong, inhale and exhale purple Qi, practice the Six Harmonies Stake, perform the Eight Brocades, and when tired, he would meditate, run the Turtle Breath Hibernation Method, and adjust his body and mind to the best state.

Soon the last bowl of chicken soup was finished, and only the medicinal dregs of the ginseng remained.

Xu Jia's face was ruddy; the deficiencies left before his Return to Soul had been completely replenished, and his Acquired Essence was also full. When essence is full, it overflows, but Xu Jia had no lustful thoughts at night, so he did not give it the opportunity to transform into Acquired Essence, but slowly replenished his brain, using it for the consumption of heavenly secret calculations.

Xu Jia combined the "Blind School Innate Divine Calculation" taught by Xia Laohan, using numerical calculations on one hand and not using them on the other, striving for "good fortune coming to the heart," viewing it with the heart.

Verifying the two, it was not a waste of time. Sharpening the knife does not delay the work of cutting wood. Xu Jia did not like to do ineffective output; he strove to hit the target in one strike, aiming at weaknesses and occupying the right time, place, and people.

The last time he killed the Evil Master, or cured the chicken spirit, it was all like this.

The Blind School of Divination is truly a window of talent opened by the Heavens for the blind and disabled.

Although Xu Jia can still see, he is obscured by "external obstacles" and cannot see his own heart; yet, every time he enters deep meditation, in the midst of the dim and obscure, a flash of spiritual light appears—it is the "Heavenly Eye" replacing his physical eyes, allowing him to observe some future events within the Dharma Realm.

"No wonder!" Xu Jia had calculated the Cause and Effect, and sighed for a moment: "No wonder, no wonder!"

Three "no wonders" in a row exhausted the will of Heaven.

Bit by bit, string by string, there were traces to be found that could be linked together.

What Xu Jia saw in his heart was precisely the two people from the market that day: the blind old man and the Sha Huofo.

That day, they said they were looking for a daughter and asked Xu Jia to cast a divination.

Xu Jia had said: "Your daughter is safe for the moment, hidden in a place of green lamps and ancient Buddhas, but the future is not necessarily auspicious; there is a danger to her life..."

The old man immediately understood: "Then I know where she is..."

... which meant he had also calculated it.

Xu Jia watched as they walked toward their destination, the signs of death becoming more and more obvious.

Just one sentence: "If there is a calamity in one's fate, one must still cross it oneself."

Now, it has corresponded with what was sought today.

This problem lies with the daughter adopted by this old couple.

This daughter... is precisely the Saintess of the Longevity Sect.

Xu Jia sighed for a moment: "Is the cause of becoming a Buddha ultimately about letting go, or picking up?"

Xu Jia himself is one who does not begrudge the teachings of the Three Religions, and from this, he had already seen the traces of the Twelve Causalities.

Perhaps, this is also a Demon Examination.

If it were merely an illusory Demon Examination, that would be one thing, but it happens to involve hundreds of thousands of living beings, which makes it a "calamity."

Dizang An opens its mountain gates wide on the first and fifteenth of the month to accept the vows and fulfillments of believers.

Xu Jia stood up, intending to go home.

The various foxes in the Fox Immortal Hall were already very busy because the Fox Immortal Hall had manifested its holiness before people, and they were not here; only a Sparrow Spirit named Zhanying was still following Xu Jia.

She followed Xu Jia's words, chose a feather from a chicken demon, inserted it into her tail, and refined it with her heart; at this moment, her tail was cocked high, looking less like a sparrow and more like some kind of long-tailed magpie.

At this time, she was flying back and forth above Xu Jia's head, being incredibly noisy: "Great Immortal, why can that loach open a Long Xian Hall, but I, Zhanying, cannot open a Phoenix Immortal Hall? I can take in many bird demon subordinates! Great Immortal, are you looking down on me because my Daoist Practice is low? I admit, I have only survived five winters, but I will be six years old soon. Six is different from five, but setting aside these facts, Great Immortal, do you not have even a tiny bit of prejudice? With all my hard work and contributions, why can't I become the hall master of a Phoenix Immortal Hall? Why can't I start my own Lineage?"

Xu Jia said: "Wait until I subdue the civet cat and open a Meow Immortal Hall, then I will make you a subordinate to the Meow Immortal."

"Don't! Great Immortal! You have done all sorts of evil things! Civet cats are all very bad!"

"There was once a civet cat who later became a crown prince, and then became an emperor. Speaking of which, the rebellious chicken demon we killed was actually his mother. Do you think he won't come to trouble us?"

"Ah? Then what should we do! I am most afraid of civet cats!"

"There is no other way. Fortunately, you refined the chicken demon's feather, so the civet cat will only look for you and won't look for us. Sacrificing you to fulfill the rest of us, isn't that very good?"

"Ah! I knew it! Quickly pull out this chicken feather thing!"

Zhanying cried out in a panic.

Xu Jia was amused by teasing her.

Soon they arrived at Xu Fu. Xu Mu's father was not at home, and upon asking, he learned that he had gone to discuss literature with the County Magistrate again, and the County Magistrate had kept him for a meal and invited him to stay the night...

Seeing Xu Jia return, Xu Mu could not help but say: "Neither of you two men is at home; what kind of appearance is this?"

Xu Jia explained: "Something happened over there that requires me to save the common people."

"Stop spouting nonsense. The common people have the Azure Heaven and Thick Earth, and the human emperor to save them. Who do you think you are? You are only sixteen years old; it would be good enough if you could save a chicken or a dog."

(End of this chapter)