Chapter 200: The Eldest Outer-Sect Disciple, Gongming

The venom of a king cobra is a mixed toxin; part of it is hemotoxic, and part is neurotoxic. Once these two toxins undergo demonization, they possess a dual effect targeting both the spirit and the physical body of a practitioner.

Before Chang Yu had told Xu Jia his name, he had once been referred to as "Poison Python."

It was just that he cultivated his character and nourished his nature, consuming the Qi of the Jade Mountain and the Metal-Moon, and even if he had to eat something on some days, he would simply open his mouth and inhale, sucking many bats into his mouth; he rarely went out to hunt or slaughter living creatures.

Otherwise, with his body size and digestive capacity, he could finish eating three cows and nine pigs in a single day.

Therefore, since he achieved Didao, he had not really used his venom or fangs to deal with people. Only during the Great Calamity of the Century did he encounter a roc bird that specialized in eating poison dragons and practiced the Garuda Path. The two fought, and in the end, he was nearly pecked into rotten flesh. He only managed to survive the calamity by bitterly entangling the roc bird, waiting for the venom to take effect, and then swallowing the roc bird. He found a cool, shaded place to undergo Skin Shedding, and it was then that he became acquainted with the Ancestor of Shanju Guan.

The two became teachers to each other, which led to the subsequent Metal-Moon Qi-Consuming Method, which is a method of an Earth Immortal.

Recalling those years, Chang Yu sighed: "If you can truly help me transform from a python into a flood dragon and gain five hundred years of Daoist Practice, then you will be the second most important person in my life."

Xu Jia: I am not Xu Xian, do not come to me with this sentimental confession routine. Although we have formed a Karmic Connection, it is not the kind of "bond" others look down upon, and neither is the orange slice.

"Rest assured, with the right timing, favorable terrain, and human harmony—as the saying goes, those who follow the Dao have much support, while those who lose the Dao have little—with my help, I will surely allow you to achieve the Earth Immortal realm and successfully complete your Transformation into a Flood Dragon."

"That is good!"

Chang Yu deliberated for a moment: "Then I will also look after you."

Xu Jia came out from the side of the Zushifen, having roughly figured out what to do next. He no longer put too much pressure on the Daoists of Shanju Guan, letting them help set up the altar with peace of mind.

Instead, he turned directly back into Yushan County, to the Cuichun Pavilion.

"Hu Agui, come out and see me!"

Hu Agui was currently receiving County Commandant Chen: "My lord, you haven't been here for quite a while."

The essence and Yang Qi of martial artists are more concentrated; although the musk is also heavy, it is nourishing, so the fox demons value it very much.

"Damn the Longevity Sect!" County Commandant Chen squeezed a large peach, round and plump, causing Hu Agui to let out a coquettish gasp, and he cursed again: "Those dog-begotten Military Officials, those judge-officials born of a sow!"

He became more and more spirited as he spoke.

Until a cough startled him awake: "Eh? County Magistrate, why are you also at the Cuichun Pavilion?"

"In this place, why mention official titles? I am just here to play and have fun, don't have any burdens!" The County Magistrate said: "You went to Xinzhou this time; I suppose you met with setbacks?"

"Yes, I went to report my merits. When I arrived at the Military Office, the Military Official in charge stopped me and asked if I had any 'expression' of gratitude. Where would I have any good things? I only have a large ancestral bow; I couldn't pawn it for money. He just told me to wait, saying there were too many people reporting merits and that they had to be arranged one by one according to seniority."

"I argued with him, and he said everyone is the same. So I went to find the judge-official. There was a military advisor there who asked me how many people I had captured, how many had died, and how many had rebelled. I had just said they were captured before they could rebel, and he chased me out, saying such a small matter was unimportant."

The County Magistrate listened and chuckled: "How many years have you been an official?"

"Three or four years, I suppose."

"Then why don't you understand the ways of the world? Without this 'paving the way,' do you think you alone get the benefits? Or that you are the only hero, the only good man?"

The County Magistrate laughed and said: "I am a dignified second-rank imperial scholar and have been a County Magistrate for fifteen years. First, I was the County Magistrate of Rong County in Guangxi, which was a poor place, and later I was the County Magistrate of Binchuan County in Yunnan. If you don't give benefits, you will only be transferred to more and more remote places. That is why I collected three thousand taels of silver in Binchuan, which is how I became the County Magistrate of Yushan. You are able to be the County Commandant of Yushan; it is likely your family pulled strings and spent money. If you want to climb up, don't look at the size of your merits. If merits cannot reach the ears of the heavens directly, then they don't exist. Only this can make people move up and down."

The County Magistrate made a gesture of counting money with his hand and said with a smile to County Commandant Chen: "You are cursing them now, but even if they find out, they won't act. They will just wait until your term expires and write a letter saying you are quite capable and like to chew on hard bones, and then exile you to a remote, barren place. That is truly killing without seeing blood or a blade."

County Commandant Chen had originally been full of hot blood that was doused with cold water; now, hearing this, he was completely dumbfounded.

"Then isn't it all over?"

"Quite the opposite. Because there is a system of collective responsibility and joint punishment for recommendations and promotions, they will not recommend those who only know how to take money and not do real work. Instead, it is those who can both take money and achieve results who can climb to the top, because they are all the same kind of people."

"Even if they don't know how to do things, at least they must know how to cover it up. Otherwise, no one who takes this money can feel at ease, because it costs one's head. These people are more afraid of death and more afraid of losing their heads than anyone else."

The County Magistrate patted County Commandant Chen on the shoulder: "You should still hang out with military officers; they don't have those kinds of tricks."

At this moment, Xu Jia's voice came from outside. County Commandant Chen suddenly "broke the golden lock," cast off his heavy shackles, and said: "This bird-like official position, I won't do it anymore!"

He was stunned for a moment and came toward Xu Jia. Last time, when Xu Jia and he dealt with the Evil Aura of Yushan together, it was he who performed Overturning Altars and Smashing Caves, smashed the Incense Burner, kicked the divine statues, and simultaneously opened his Dharma eyes to see the appearance of the Centipede Dragon's Dharma Realm.

He thought that human affairs were so complicated; it would be better to slay demons and eliminate devils, and act with chivalry and righteousness—that would be much happier! Why continue to be a bird-like official who has to take such insults!

Xu Jia saw him walking out aggressively, with Hu Agui waving his hand behind him: "My lord, even if you don't play, you still have to pay!" Xu Jia was also stunned. What is this big, rough man going to do? He saw County Commandant Chen kneel directly before him: "Master, please teach me the magic of slaying demons and eliminating devils!"

"Eh? What are you doing?" Xu Jia didn't even have time to dodge and was kowtowed to solidly.

As the saying goes, only the common people kowtow to officials, and people kowtow to gods; he had never seen an official kowtow to a person, and a god turn around to worship a person.

Such an aura of a military official rushed up directly. Fortunately, Xu Jia had the "Immortal's stature," and the Immortal is greater than the official, so he could bear it. If it were an ordinary Daoist, being struck by such Official Malice, he would likely lose the power of his magic.

"Quickly get up, what are you doing?"

"I can't do this bird-like official position anymore. I want to become a monk, I want to cultivate the Dao! I want to slay demons and eliminate devils!"

Xu Jia looked at his tiger-backed, wolf-waisted frame, his sturdy build, and his tall stature. He looked just like a human-shaped giant bear, full of Yang Qi, with his beard bristling. He looked exactly like Zhang Fei reincarnated or Li Kui manifested, and imagining him practicing Daoism, he was clearly a rough version of "Yan Chixia."

"You really won't be an official anymore?"

"I really won't. It's stifling and meaningless. When I was learning martial arts, my master taught me the martial way; there is a term called 'better to break than to bend.' Now, my waist cannot bend down."

"Then you kneel to me?" "Worshipping a master to learn a craft is different."

His personality was quite honest and straightforward, which was very rare.

Xu Jia calculated the Karmic Connection a little and felt that this disciple could be accepted, but he could not be a True Transmission Disciple. He said: "You can be my outer-disciples. My outer-disciples are all of the demon kind; you are the first human. However, they are all outer-disciples without being recorded by name. You will be an outer-disciple recorded by name, so you will be the Eldest Senior Brother of the outer sect."

"Can I not be a True Transmission Disciple?"

"It depends on your performance. If you perform well, perhaps you can transfer from an outer-disciple to a True Transmission Disciple."

County Commandant Chen nodded: "I understand. It just means I still have to undergo tests, which is very normal. As long as you can teach me real skills and not fool me, I am willing to be an outer-disciple."

Xu Jia nodded: "Good, then I will give you a nickname. You came out of the official gate and have the ambition to pursue righteousness, so how about I call you Gongming?"

"Chen Gongming? Good, good, good! I will take this name! As expected, you people are cultured. No wonder they all find an Immortal to calculate and pick a good name when they have children!"

Chen Gongming stood up and asked: "Master, why did you come to Cuichun Pavilion to find Pavilion Master Hu? For dual cultivation? She often dual-cultivates with disciples. Have we used the same path? No, maybe it's two paths."

Xu Jia said indifferently: "You have no chance to become a True Transmission Disciple. Besides, I told you last time, she is a male fox who achieved cultivation!"

"That's not true, I've touched her many times, there's no such thing there."

"That is because he practices the Hidden Yin Aspect and has retracted it into his belly."

Hu Agui looked at Xu Jia with an ambiguous expression: "Congratulations, True Person, on gaining a good disciple. True Person, you returned so quickly; could it be that you have made up your mind to join me in dual cultivation, Reversing Yin and Yang, and enjoy a pleasure where one doesn't know what heaven and earth are?"

Xu Jia said: "I want you to help me with my cultivation!"

Hu Agui was overjoyed: "The True Person has figured it out? I am very willing to help the True Person with cultivation. When the time comes, we will enjoy ourselves to the heavens together!"

Xu Jia took out the Seven Treasures Cold Forest Kasaya: "This is a Buddha Treasure. You practice Dharma, but you may not have attained the Buddha's Truth. I am using this item as collateral. Firstly, I want you to help me with my cultivation, and secondly, you are to release Wang Mintong; I have a use for him."

Hu Agui's eyes lit up when he saw the kasaya: "Is this the Seven Treasures Cold Forest Kasaya from Dizang An? The treasure that guards the temple?"

"Legend has it that this item was sewn from the back skin of one hundred and eight nameless corpses from the Shitolin, and later sewn with cloth scraps from the swaddling clothes of one hundred and eight infants who were offered to the Long Life Salary Position. It takes the meaning of the cycle of life and death, and is further blessed with the Seven Treasures. By constantly reciting the Ksitigarbha Sutra, it has the power to protect people as they pass to the Pure Land, preventing them from falling into the cycle of reincarnation. Furthermore, it is blessed by the various heavenly benevolent deities and the Eight Legions of Heavenly Dragons."

Only after hearing her say this did Xu Jia feel a bit disgusted; it was actually sewn using the back skin of unclaimed corpses as a base.

However, this also indirectly showed that this fox knew her stuff.

Hu Agui thought to herself: Although I also stumbled into this by accident, using my physical body to bestow Joyous bliss, practicing not for myself but for the joy of all sentient beings, and thus attained the Intermediate Body Achievement, I might not necessarily survive the Five Hundred Year Great Tribulation. If I have this kasaya as a treasure to cross the tribulation and bless my Intermediate Body, passing the Earth Immortal's Five Hundred Year Great Tribulation would not be difficult.

So she said: "Does this treasure belong to the True Person? Can the True Person's word be trusted? If I come to redeem this treasure again and you refuse to return it, what then?"

Xu Jia smiled: "If I don't return it, then I don't. The Buddhist school emphasizes Cause and Effect above all else. If you don't return it, the rightful owner of this kasaya will surely come to subdue you in the future. It might even be your Love Tribulation! A tragic romance between a fox demon and a monk would be quite a tale!"

After Xu Jia finished speaking, the fox spirit's expression shifted uncertainly, because what Xu Jia said was all too likely to become true. Moreover, she also practiced the Dharma, and hundreds of years ago, she had indeed formed a Karmic Connection with a monk. This matter of Karmic Connection, bound by fate, is hard to end unless one ends it oneself.

Now that Xu Jia had said it again, it vaguely became a prophecy, just like when he joked before about wanting Xu Jia to engage in dual cultivation with him to overcome the Love Tribulation among the fox's seven tribulations, in order to shed her mortal fox body and attain the "Fox Immortal"—though, of course, since he practices Buddhism, it should be "Fox Bodhisattva," but the meaning is about the same.

But if one truly has to overcome the Love Tribulation, that is the tribulation foxes fear most. There has never been a fox who truly passed it unscathed; for example, Daji, whose Love Tribulation became entangled with the fate of a dynasty, or Nüjiao, who fell in love with Great Yu and ended up turning into a stone watching for her husband.

If one asks if there is anyone who has passed the Love Tribulation, there are, but Hu Agui does not know who they are. She was also taught at the Old Crooked Neck Tree Fox Den outside the Luanzanggang of Qingtian Zhen. Although she made her way in the world relying on the word "lust," her knowledge was not particularly profound.

"Forget it!"

Hu Agui quickly cast it aside. She had always taken things one step at a time. When she first picked up a book of spring palace paintings, she never imagined she could become the owner of the Cuichun Pavilion. Selling herself to set up a scheme was just to live the good life of a concubine in the county, rather than being a poor, shabby Wild Fox in the countryside.

"Fine, I agree to your terms," Hu Agui said. "When you bring three thousand taels of silver to redeem this kasaya, I will also return that seventy-year-old man to you. However, what do you mean when you say you want me to assist your cultivation?"

"You will know when the time comes."

Xu Jia had not met many monks who had attained the Intermediate Body, but since this fox spirit had actually achieved it, he could test several of his hypotheses on her. If they were useful, they could be used on the Chang Sheng Jiao Fawang.

Time was pressing; there was not a moment to lose.

Hu Agui vaguely felt something was amiss, but she still nodded: "Alright then, how long will it take?"

"Ten days at the shortest, one month at the longest. After one month, it will be the Dragon Boat Festival, the Flying Dragon in the Sky; no matter what, it cannot be stopped."

"Fine, then we'll count it as ten days. For every day after that, you'll have to deduct silver for me."

Xu Jia smiled: "I am not short on money. Do you know of the Jin Chan Debt Pawn?"

"Ah? That swindling business?"

"What swindling business? That is called high-efficiency investment!" Xu Jia said. "It was established by the Golden Toad under my command. The first thing I will do later is take you to find him."

"Golden Toad?" The fox narrowed her eyes. "The Golden Toad that represents wealth? Then I must consult him properly on how to manage my Cuichun Pavilion so it can be more profitable."

Xu Jia was surprised: "What do you need money for? Don't you rely on Joyous harvesting and supplementing to cultivate?"

"Wrong. I rely on the money earned from running a brothel to buy precious gems and spiritual herbs for cultivation. I practice the Joyful Cultivation Method and have long since stopped harvesting turbid essence. I only experience the Joyous bliss of the union of spirit and desire, seeking the true meaning of the Dharma within it. For true cultivation, I swallow herbs and boil gems, absorbing the lustful pink Qi to cultivate the Outer Path deity, the Pink Skeleton."

From the few sentences she said, Xu Jia smelled the scent of Pinduoduo.

(End of chapter)