Chapter 431: The Art of Borrowing Shadows to Replace Life

The Huanglian Daoren was practicing today, and Xu Jia borrowed his physical body to cultivate a proper "Thick Earth True Qi"; this Thick Earth does not refer to the Huanglian Niangniang.

It means that if the earth is three feet thick, one is three feet closer to the heavens; it is a method for wishing for abundant land produce, nourishing all living things, and for everyone to achieve success.

But this Huanglian Daoren himself, no matter how he practiced, could only visualize a single yellow lotus, and could never grasp the principle of the yellow lotus transforming into a golden lotus, or himself sitting upon a Lotus Platform to attain a righteous fruit.

He only blindly treated the third-rate flying sword refined from the "Hundred Poison Yellow Sand Gu" as a supreme treasure.

Every day, besides fixing the sand and planting trees to complete his tasks, he would run into the desert to gather spirit sand and poisonous materials to continue refining this sword.

Even when Huogong Toutuo tried to persuade him, he would not listen, let alone the easily fooled "Huanglian Tongzi."

This day, he suddenly felt an urge: "As the leader of the Huanglian Sect, I have not offered sacrifices to the Huanglian Holy Mother for a long time; this is truly improper. Now that this oasis has been built, and many coconut trees, jujube trees, and saxaul trees have been planted... the merchant caravans have brought various seeds from the Western Regions, and some grapes, watermelons... and cantaloupes have grown... With these fragrant fruits, it is just right to offer a sacrifice to the Holy Mother Niangniang, praying for her to let me break free from control and gain a new life."

So he silently set up an altar and collected the Magic Tools and items needed for the ritual.

Others saw this and only assumed he was going to offer sacrifices to "Xu Jia" in the Glazed Temple.

Once he finished building the altar, he prayed respectfully for three days.

Suddenly, a crack in space-time split open on the altar, revealing a bead.

Then, a sword gleam flashed within the bead, and he immediately lost consciousness.

To be precise, his shadow was severed by the sword gleam.

Then Xu Jia revealed his form from behind the sword gleam, carefully looking up at the sky; seeing no unusual movement, he finally felt at ease.

The Huanglian Daoren, now without a shadow, became dull and dazed, as if he had lost his Soul.

But his shadow was merely detained by Xu Jia to cover his own shadow, thereby replacing the Huanglian Daoren's identity to move about.

If Xu Jia were not a Grandmaster of the heterodox paths who understood the "Nail-Head Seven Arrows Technique," he would never have thought of such a method.

This could already be considered the "gentlest" method; the next would be the Skin-Peeling Heaven-Deceiving Technique, which requires peeling a layer of "soul-clothing" from the Huanglian Daoren's Soul, which one then wears with their Primordial Spirit to walk in their true body.

That would be truly too evil.

He brought the Huanglian Daoren's physical body back to the Glazed Temple.

Huogong Toutuo did not recognize Xu Jia; seeing the Huanglian Daoren dull and dazed, as if struck by a Soul-Bewitching Technique, he became immediately vigilant and unleashed the Dutian Liehuo Sword. Recently, he had been inhaling Sun True Fire every day, and his Dharma Power had become increasingly pure, crossing the level of a third-rate swordsman and entering the level of a second-rate swordsman.

He scolded: "What kind of monster are you? Do you not know this is the Yueya Quan Liuli Jingtu of the Da Mo?"

Before Xu Jia could speak, Xiaopangdun shouted: "Master, you have finally come! You remembered me?"

It was indeed Xiaopangdun, who had possessed a clay doll and was working a three-day shift, returning for one day of soul-restoration. Although it was a clay doll, its face was no different from a real person; after all, Xu Jia had specially refined a "special weapon" for it: the Hundred Plays Nuo Mask.

Xu Jia said: "How have you managed this Da Mo?"

Seeing that Xu Jia's first sentence was not to express concern for his hard work but to ask about work progress, Xiaopangdun's eyes became resentful: "It is much harder and more difficult here than on the Luzon Island overseas; every day, it is nothing but sand in my mouth."

"The oasis is now about one hundred and twenty or thirty li in circumference, living off that Buddha Treasure Sarira. Where the sarira shines is the oasis; outside the sarira, it is the desert. Although we are planting trees to fix the sand, expansion is difficult. The commoners who have come here to live are not many, only about twenty thousand people, though it is easier to manage with fewer people."

"Because you, Master, fought the Immortals previously, cultivators often come to inquire about your news, and there are also monks going to the Golden Ancient Kingdom for archaeology."

"There are also people coveting the Buddha Treasure Sarira, but with Baiyun Chanshi repairing the Gugu Si Miao in the Golden Ancient Kingdom and carving the Great Buddha Grottoes to deter them, plus the restrictive measures you left behind, no one has succeeded in stealing it."

Xu Jia had previously obtained the Buddha Treasure Sarira, but because he felt it was evil, he did not take it away. Moreover, the place where this thing shines can turn into an oasis; if held by that "Golden-Haired Hou," it could turn everything into "gold."

It is a polymer of "gold nature." This gold nature is not the "nature of the Golden Core" but the "nature of the Golden Immortal."

This sarira's true name is "Mituo Gengzi Golden Light Nature." One who refines it can attain the position of "Golden Light Bodhisattva," and then continue to establish a Buddha Kingdom in this Golden Ancient Kingdom, with the whole nation believing in Buddhism.

Xu Jia inquired: "Have these residents started to believe in Buddhism after being shone upon by the Golden Light Sarira?"

"Many have developed worship; after all, a Blessed Land oasis of a hundred li in circumference was created. As for believing in Buddhism, there are no statistics. There were already many who believed in Buddhism in the Da Mo, but the Glazed Temple you established here is also worshipped by quite a few people. It is just that I think the title of 'Land Manager' for this Da Mo is too ugly, sounding like a Chief Eunuch, so I changed it to 'Da Mo Earth Deity,' abbreviated as 'Mo Shen'."

Hearing him say this, Xu Jia immediately became serious: "This title has Cause and Effect. I took the name 'Land Manager' because I only govern land that can be farmed or grazed, not the desert. Therefore, I must control the sand, fix the sand, and prevent the sand. To be precise, I am an enemy of the Mo Shen. The Dharma Realm where the Mo Shen here resides has always wanted to destroy the oasis, so when I established the temple earlier, I also let them recite into the Dharma Realm to refine the desert." "With you changing it like this, I fear this Mo Shen will be at odds with us until death. This is a fundamental harm to the Quanshen."

Xiaopangdun wore an expression of having done something wrong.

Xu Jia said: "Very well. Since I have brought the Weiji Immortal Sword this time, I will take the opportunity to resolve the Mo Shen in the Dharma Realm, subdue this evil god, and seal him as a subordinate. I imagine he cannot beat me. If he is not subdued, I happen to be lacking some Divine Nature to use for Registering and Conferring."

"As for this Huanglian Daoren, I have borrowed his shadow and life-span to use for obscuring the heavenly secrets. When the Heavenly Dao will discover this is still unknown, so I must set up an array to cover the heavenly secrets and prevent his aura from leaking."

"Besides, he is now dull and dazed, and needs someone to feed him food and water, lest he die of thirst or hunger."

Xu Jia said: "Find seven old oil lamps, set up a Seven Star Lamp array, and write a Register Position for the Great Saint Northern Dipper Seven Origin Lords to place in front of him for worship. Add oil to the Seven Star Lamps when it runs out. Other than that, there is nothing else."

Xiaopangdun wrote it down but felt it was eerie: "What kind of magic is this? To be able to sever a shadow?"

"Just a minor heterodox trick, do not be pointlessly curious." Xu Jia knocked on his head.

Huogong Toutuo only then realized that this was his own "Benevolent Master." He kowtowed on the spot and thought to himself: "So the one who placed the restriction on me is this old demon. Truly evil; last time he possessed the Huanglian Daoren from afar, and now he has even cut off his shadow. To not see his shadow in broad daylight is truly eerie."

He carefully looked at his own shadow and thought secretly: "I must find a secret technique to hide my shadow."

He did not know that to hide one's shadow, one must cultivate one of the thirty-six great Divine Abilities of the Heavenly Dipper, "Standing on Earth Without a Shadow." This method is achieved by cultivating the "Yang Spirit," because the Yang Spirit is no different from a living person under the sun, yet it has no shadow. If the physical body wants to "stand on earth without a shadow," it requires the Yang Spirit to refine the physical body from the inside out. Once the physical body is refined, it is already an existence capable of "Daytime Ascension."

The Yang Spirit of an ordinary person cannot fully refine the physical body; some can only refine it to the size of a three-year-old child before they can go no further, and some can only refine it to the size of an infant.

Some will leave behind a layer of skin, looking as if a crack has appeared from the back, as if they had undergone Feathered Ascension.

Some will leave behind a bit of bone or a tooth.

If refined until completely formless, only clothing and personal Magic Tools will be left.

Some even refine their clothes and Magic Tools away, becoming completely formless, and can gather or disperse at will.

In short, without achieving the Yang Spirit, one cannot hide one's shadow.

Even with a "shadowless lamp," the shadow only becomes multi-layered and very faint, not non-existent.

He kowtowed and bowed, carefully welcoming Xu Jia.

Xu Jia only said: "You may rise. My true body has descended this time for the sake of the Dutian Liehuo Ancestor Inheritance, and to take a trip to the Central Plains to see the figures in the cultivation world of that realm. Once I obtain the Dutian Liehuo Ancestor Inheritance, I will go to Luling to seek the sword-casting manuals of the Sword Casting Villa."

"This journey requires you to run errands by my side. You should cultivate well, lest some small fry offend me and force me to take action myself, losing my dignity and demeanor."

"In the Central Plains, there are people like the disciple everywhere..."

"Rest assured, I will give you some pointers. Besides, since my true body has arrived here and this place counts as my lineage in this realm, a Dao Register is something you cannot lack."

Xu Jia pointed, and added a Lingbao Daoist Citizen Register and a Human Immortal Register for him.

Not only did he have a share, but the Huanglian Daoren also had a share, only he was not clear-headed now.

With the Dao Register, Huogong Toutuo immediately felt his mind start to operate clearly, as if machine oil had been poured into rusted parts.

For a moment, his wisdom became clear and his nostrils felt unobstructed; nothing was blocked anymore, as if his orifices had been opened.

"What about me?" Xiaopangdun said, "I also want to leave here and go out to play."

"You have not descended in your true form, but are only a body of molded clay; you cannot leave here for too long. Once you cultivate to the God Immortal Realm, I will take you to roam freely in your physical body."

"God Immortal Realm, I haven't even attained Earth Immortal... although after Hu Jinhua became an Earth Immortal, my cultivation also rose by a large margin, but..."

"Enough with the 'buts'. Your aptitude is not bad. As my founding disciple, a God Immortal is something you can easily grasp; I believe in you."

Xu Jia then went to look at the Oasis settlement, and for those villagers who were clever and had decent innate bones, he bestowed upon them the Daoist Citizen Register and basic cultivation methods, not forbidding them from passing on these cultivation methods, though without the Lingbao Daoist Citizen Register, their cultivation speed would likely be very, very slow.

(End of this chapter)