Chapter 270: Revealing the True Form

Xu Jia left these troublesome matters for Hu Jinhua and the others to handle themselves.

He himself began to ponder mathematics; mathematics is the underlying logic of all sciences, and if one cannot learn mathematics well, one cannot learn anything else.

This includes traditional celestial stars and phenomena, Purple Star Astrology, and the Eight Trigrams of the Mysterious Gates.

There is a saying that goes well: when a person is pushed to the limit, they can do anything, except for mathematics—if you don't know mathematics, you just don't know it.

Although Xu Jia had received compulsory education in his previous life, that was limited to compulsory education; for the hundred-odd years that followed, he struggled with heterodox paths.

As everyone knows, the reason heterodox paths are heterodox is because their cultural level is not high; the ancestors' cultural level was not high, so they were not Heavenly Immortals, and the disciples' cultural level is not high, so they misinterpret the meanings.

Xu Jia certainly cannot be this person with a low cultural level, and besides, he does not have a system to liver-grind skills or accumulate experience; he can only rely on his own learning and understanding.

Fortunately, Xu Jia quickly picked these things back up; his Primordial Spirit is powerful, he has the Omniscience of an Earth Immortal, and connecting the logic is actually a manifestation of the "Great Dao." What mathematics corresponds to is "Cause and Effect"—if there is an equation, there must be an answer; even with a few more variables, one can still summarize and induce.

Among the people of this era, the top mathematicians might have already reached a level similar to "Zu Chongzhi" of his previous life, while for ordinary people, the closest level is still roughly elementary school addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division; with an abacus, that is about enough.

Xu Jia studied for a while and felt it was vast and boundless, becoming obsessed with it. Even if he stripped away the tedious calculations, it is very difficult to establish a perfect cultivation model entirely with mathematics, unless one has a supercomputer. Moreover, cultivation itself is mostly idealistic; the principle of Borrowing the False to Cultivate the True is difficult to describe essentially using mathematics; one can only use mathematics to observe and record.

Thus, he paused these basic things and turned instead to drawing up blueprints for things that could be directly applied, such as weaving machines.

For an ordinary small farming household, their own weaving machine breaking five pieces of cloth in three days is already considered very high efficiency; a large semi-automatic weaving machine only requires three or four people to operate to complete the workload of eighty people.

Or take shipbuilding technology, for example; even if it is only the backward multi-sail wooden ships of the Age of Discovery, it is still a relatively mature technology capable of long-distance voyages.

Yushan cannot build large ships here, at most those with a draft of half a meter, but one could try. It is just that there are no suitable shipwrights; there are some in Poyang, and to the south, in the Min and Yue regions of the Nansheng where the Longevity Sect is rioting, there is no shortage of people who know how to build ships.

But it does not matter; three cobblers are equal to one Zhuge Liang. If a carpenter's skill tree is skewed, they become a shipwright. There are quite a few carpenters here in Yushan Dexing, and relying on the Xin River, there are also quite a few small boats going to Poyang and then to the Yangtze River. Although most are awning boats or fishing boats, they are still ships, aren't they?

First build weaving machines, then set up factories, then rely on the merchant team of the Golden Toad to sell silk and recoup funds, and then use these funds to build ships. Once ships are built, one can train naval forces, install cannons on the ships, and sail in the surrounding seas. To say nothing else, attacking Japan and occupying a few shogunate territories would be more than enough.

One could also go to Malaysia, Thailand, and these Southeast Asian lands to bring back various spices and rare materials, or perhaps even establish a Dao Kingdom overseas.

Xu Jia drew these blueprints one by one and then fed them to Du Yu Er. Du Yu Er felt there was no taste to them, but some strange knowledge appeared in his mind.

"How is it?" Xu Jia asked the Bookworm demon who had turned into a pageboy.

"Master, these are all books of heterodox techniques. Even if I eat them, I can only learn some theories; I cannot actually perform the operations. Besides, I am only a bookworm... If you want me to build machines or ships, I cannot do it."

Xu Jia said: "Learning the theory is enough. One part theory, one part practice, combined together, naturally you can do it well. I have a Daoist technique here called the Luban Classic, and I will impart a portion of it to you. Although this scripture is a heterodox path, it is beneficial for all kinds of mechanisms and techniques. You cultivate Literary Qi; no matter how many years you cultivate, you will never become a Book Immortal or a Word Saint, so you might as well learn this."

Hearing that there was something he could learn, Du Yu Er did not resist and immediately received the head-touching transmission from Xu Jia.

Du Yu Er only felt his brain swelling, and when he looked again, his head was already one-to-one with his body, becoming a big-headed boy. These things could not be digested all at once.

"When you have learned it, go find the Works Official. The carpenters and bamboo weavers of Dexing and Yushan all worship at his hall and believe in him. You enter his hall, and from there, you can enter their dreams to pass on the knowledge, enhancing their professional abilities."

"This disciple understands." The Du Yu Er boy turned back into his original form, a big-headed worm, and burrowed into a book to swallow and spit out Literary Qi. Afterward, he spat out silk to wrap himself up, turning into a cocoon so he could fully digest it. Once digested, he could naturally break out of the cocoon and complete an evolution.

It is just that Xu Jia feels one Du Yu Er is not enough to help him realize his theoretical research in all aspects; it would be better if there were more, multiplying into a tribe. It is just that this insect demon is usually only found in large libraries, and in this era, large libraries are rare, and those with bookworm demons are even rarer.

On the other side, Liu Ruyan finally took Chen Liuxian away, leaving only Ling Yun and Yilei, who were silent with each other. Finally, Ling Yun said: "We must write a letter to report to the sect; the monsters and evil gods here are rampant, and they must be eradicated!"

Yet they did not know that three days in advance, Xu Jia had already notified the Lishan Sect through the City God.

After Chen Liuxian was taken away by Liu Ruyan, he remained cautious: "Wife, I really didn't mean to... I went up the mountain to gather herbs and suddenly heard someone calling for help, and then I arrived at this cave... The two of them were sick, and I couldn't just watch them die..."

"What? What kind of illness requires your Spirit Root to be inserted to save them?" Liu Ruyan sneered: "I know this matter is suspicious, but it is also a fact that you couldn't hold yourself back. You and I are husband and wife; I will follow you wherever you go, but what can I do?"

Chen Liuxian swallowed his saliva. He had just witnessed his wife's combat level during the battle between the three women. She usually didn't show her strength, but now that he saw it, she had the ability to kill a man with three punches, let alone him.

"Wife, don't be angry. I'll listen to you; can't we just leave this place?"

Only then did Liu Ruyan's expression soften, and she sighed: "Perhaps I should have let you follow that Daoist to seek Immortality in the first place."

She looked at Chen Liuxian with complex emotions, but what appeared in her eyes were the loves of her previous two lives, especially the first life. She thought that her husbands in the previous two lives were absolutely loyal to her and had never had such a situation; some things had already changed long ago.

"Wife, I don't seek Immortality; I just want to live happily with you."

"Very well, we will take a boat tonight, leave here, and head to Poyang."

Liu Ruyan had already obtained the token of the Poyang Dragon Palace from Guiyu Po; once there, she could defect to the Poyang Dragon King.

The Poyang Dragon King is a Great Demon in the God Immortal Realm who has roamed the Jiangnan West Circuit for a thousand years; he is a famous Great Demon today.

Her two senior sisters, having lost their chastity and suffered a great loss, would certainly report to the sect. They said they were schemed against, and there is only one person locally who could scheme against them: that Lingbao Xu Celestial Master.

Thinking of the slap she received last time, she revealed a sinister and vicious expression.

"You took a fancy to Liuxian and wanted to take him as a disciple to obstruct our third life again, right? None of you look down on me, but I will be the most determined. Once I seize the foundation of his past-life cultivation and he becomes an ordinary mortal, let's see what you all fight and scramble for!"

... At night, Chen Liuxian and Liu Ruyan boarded a boat, but they could not see that there were demons monitoring them from under the water.

There was no boatman on the boat; as a snake demon, Liu Ruyan could drive the wind to send the boat along, and traveling eight hundred miles in a night was something she could do.

The cabin was dim and hazy. Liu Ruyan snuggled her body against Chen Liuxian's chest: "Husband, swear that you will never touch another woman again, okay?"

Chen Liuxian swallowed his saliva, not knowing why he felt his wife was extremely dangerous; her body temperature was cold and chilly.

Earlier today, when he was caught in the act, he felt guilty and stunned. Once the affair was exposed, he began to make excuses for himself and even started to pick out others' faults. Among them, the most frequent one was what Xu Jia had said in his mind: your wife is a monster.

During their intimate moments in the daytime, he had inexplicably heard his wife calling him; she was clearly still far away, yet the next moment she was at the entrance of the cave.

It was like a ghost. Coupled with her later fighting skills and the subsequent battle with the two Daoist nuns, talking about the sect and returning—these were things she had never mentioned before.

"What oath does my wife want me to take?" he asked nervously.

"You swear that if you go out and cheat again, you will die right on a woman's belly."

Chen Liuxian felt the fingernails behind his neck as if, if he did not agree, they would pierce into his brain and kill him alive.

"I, Chen Liuxian, swear that from now on I will be single-mindedly loyal to my wife alone. If I violate this oath, I will surely be bitten to death by wild dogs."

"Oh my! Why did you take it seriously? Ptooey, ptooey, ptooey! All I wanted was an attitude!" Liu Ruyan breathed like an orchid, frowning slightly, and placed her finger on Chen Liuxian's lips, her eyes hooking with desire: "Husband, I know you were framed; it was those two sluts who seduced you... It's just that I didn't know before that you had such vigor, being able to fight two at once. My two senior sisters are not ordinary..."

Chen Liuxian had just been in a cold sweat, but now he was full of himself. However, he did not want to say that he had learned the Battle Method, and his heart was burning: "In the past, you were always the one riding on top of me; this time I will make you lose your armor and throw away your helmet!"

Immediately, the two turned over, shaking the water surface into waves, and the fish circled the boat, hearing the fish-and-water play inside.

Liu Ruyan originally intended to harvest his essence, but Xu Jia was different now. Having obtained the True Yin and Primordial Yin of the two, he already had the foundation of a Human Immortal. The Primordial Qi in his body did not need to be circulated; it moved on its own, entering the Small Heavenly Circuit.

With his essence locked, his spirit intent sealed, and his breath steady, it was Liu Ruyan who, even using her Nine Turns and Ten Entanglements skills, could not squeeze anything out. Instead, she was repeatedly thrusted and bumped, feeling comfortable to the extreme. Unable to guard her heart or hold her intent—as a monster, she was naturally prone to lust—she felt something was wrong, yet she was addicted to it, feeling that the past few hundred years of her life were like a widow's, not as refreshing as this moment.

The power of the Peach Blossom Curse and the Falling Love Gu infiltrated Liu Ruyan's body silently during this time.

This method worships the "Romantic Fairy," who is in charge of romantic affairs. Having a romantic encounter on a boat, and with a snake demon at that, is already a superior romantic affair, and it naturally had a boost of romantic lewd Qi.

In fact, it was not just Liu Ruyan who was hit; Ling Yun and Yilei, although they had bathed and cleaned themselves and were lying on their beds, were still savoring the feeling. Even though they were overly ashamed and angry, that feeling of pleasure had long since broken the precepts they had cultivated for over twenty years. This made them unable to sleep late into the night, so they sat up to meditate. After meditating, their hearts could not be calm; there were only the Heavenly Demons of the Six Desires, summoned from the sea of desire, who transformed into strong and handsome men in front of them, all with the face of Chen Liuxian.

……

"Ah!" Chen Liuxian had been locked in fierce battle for two hours; even though Liu Ruyan was a woman of iron-willed lust, she felt a burning, swollen, and unbearable ache at this moment.

She had begged for mercy during the act, but Chen Liuxian, recalling how he had just been forced to take an oath, was already extremely displeased; thinking of how he had assumed he could not subdue her in bed, his wounded male pride took hold, and he thought to himself: "So you have a time when you beg for mercy too; if I don't make you submit to me today, who knows what kind of trouble you'll stir up tomorrow?"

Liu Ruyan's Kan Water True Yin had already bottomed out; after all, Chen Liuxian was carrying a surge of Qi and was not as gentle as before, which truly embodied the meaning of a fierce battle.

Furthermore, Liu Ruyan had originally stolen Chen Liuxian's foundation from past lives, so the foundation within her body was of the same origin as Chen Liuxian's; coupled with the karmic love of three lifetimes, they were even more inseparable.

Even if she wanted to muster her Dharma Power to resist, the circulation of her Dharma Power was already dominated by Chen Liuxian, and she could not control it at all.

She wept like pear blossoms in the rain: "Husband, I was wrong, spare me!"

"Almost there!" Chen Liuxian did not speed up his movements, instead pushing forward with a final sprint.

But then he saw Liu Ruyan faint; the next moment, snake scales appeared on her body, and immediately her form began to change, transforming into a large white python as thick as a waist and likely three or four zhang long.

This time it was Chen Liuxian who could not take it; he let out an "Ah!" and fell over to sleep, his Soul frightened out of his body. Fortunately, his five viscera had been nourished by Essence, and his gallbladder was still resilient enough that it did not shatter from the fright.

After Liu Ruyan recovered, she left the small boat; now the breath within her body was in turmoil, she could not change back into human form, and her cultivation even showed signs of regressing, so she could not care about Chen Liuxian and urgently needed to find a place to cultivate.

She was terrified in her heart: "How did Liuxian learn such a tyrannical art of fierce battle for plucking Yin to supplement Yang, almost plucking me to death? What the two fellow disciples said about being ambushed is true indeed!"

……

Liu Ruyan had nowhere else to go, only the place of her good friend Guiyu Po.

But just as she arrived at the Water Mansion, she saw Turtle General holding a melon hammer.

Turtle General sneered: "Little lady? Where do you think you're going?"

Liu Ruyan was startled and immediately tried to flee back, only to see Ao Jin, who had transformed into his original form—a large carp over a zhang long and weighing over two hundred catties; this carp exuded the aura of the Divine Path: "Bold snake demon, I could tell at a glance that you are not human!"

"Are you people human?"

The large python that Liu Ruyan had transformed into began to struggle; she was also from the Lishan Sect, but her cultivation was ultimately insufficient, and Turtle General had attained the fruit of an Earth Immortal and the position of a Water God Earth Deity; how could she fight him in the water?

In just one encounter, she was seized by a giant hand formed from water waves and taken back to the Water Mansion.

(End of this chapter)