Chapter 70: Master Fox

Xu Jia woke up from a state that felt vaguely like "mending the heavens and bathing the sun."

He calculated that by balancing his physical body and his breath with his Yin Spirit, he could roughly assist himself in completing the "Hundred Days Foundation Establishment," crossing over "Fetal Breath Sensing Qi," and entering directly into the practice of the Small Heavenly Circuit.

However, relying solely on the mutual balance of soul and body was not a sufficient aid; Xu Jia intended to lay a more solid foundation, check for gaps and make up for deficiencies, and cultivate his character.

After calming his breath and exhaling deeply, Xu Jia instructed Hu Jinhua: "You must take down those five villages as soon as possible, reveal your true skills, and make the hall's prestige known! The three types of Fire Qi you need to collect must be sought from them."

He then said to Congcong: "Go prepare nine mirrors! We are going to burn this scourge."

Congcong was already used to Xu Jia asking him to collect various things, so he went off happily to find them.

Mirrors were not in every household, but Congcong had quite a few connections and soon gathered nine, without needing Xu Jia to worry too much.

At this time, the mirrors were still bronze mirrors, and there were specialized mirror polishers, so the quality was decent.

Among the treasures of Taoism, mirrors are also good things, especially bronze mirrors; copper is metal, and the mirror surface is like water, capable of receiving heavenly light.

Among Magic Tools, there is the saying of "Sword, Ruler, Mirror, Seal," which are the four treasures for Altar Opening.

The Peach Wood Sword, the Tianpeng Ruler, the Eight Trigrams Mirror, and the Five Thunder Seal.

Xu Jia consecrated them one by one, washing them with clear water, wiping them with a clean cloth, and reciting incantations—mainly the "Sun Incantation" and "Moon Incantation." These two incantations can mobilize the essence of the sun and moon, combining them into "Ming," which means brightness.

The little foxes picked mountain fruits to honor Xu Jia, and some vegetables had also been grown in the vegetable patch behind; they clumsily cooked some vegetable noodles, which were barely edible.

This was exactly them listening to Xu Jia and beginning to learn to be human.

Xu Jia was also very attentive to the little foxes' education, testing them again on how they performed incantations and whether the Zao Shu they had learned previously was effective.

All the foxes knew that Xu Jia liked to give tests, and they could all answer fluently; it seemed they had all put in hard work.

It was just Niu Congcong who was sweating profusely; how did you all learn elementary studies so well? Are you the humans, or am I the human?

"How did you learn so fast?" Xu Jia asked curiously: "Didn't you say it was difficult?"

"Oh my, don't mention it, nine annoying brats moved in, and now there are ten," Hu Butang, the lame fox who talked the most, complained: "Originally we just grew some vegetables and recited scriptures, but now we have to take care of children. Once you have children, you can't let them do bad things, so you have to patiently teach them. While teaching, we found we didn't understand either, so what could we do? We could only study hard."

Xu Jia laughed heartily: "You still have a bit of the talent of a Master among foxes. This is a good thing, why worry? Look at how much your wisdom has increased!"

Hu Butang could barely force a smile. Although the little ghosts had been purified once, they were still very mischievous, and the number of foxes was limited. On average, each fox had to look after three or four little ghosts. Although they didn't need to mix formula or change diapers, they were still being annoyed to death.

Xu Jia comforted him: "Everything will get better."

When noon arrived, Xu Jia set up the nine mirrors and made a "fire basin," placing inside it dry branches and leaves to start the fire, as well as the wooden carving of the evil Daoist's Yin Demon Primordial Spirit and that Dharma Box.

The nine mirrors gathered the sunlight together, the brightness overlapping layer upon layer, becoming so dazzling that one could no longer see what exactly was being illuminated, but it still did not ignite.

Xu Jia guessed that the Yin Demon Primordial Spirit was causing trouble, so he recited the Fire Method incantation. Immediately, the temperature rose rapidly, and after only a moment, black smoke emerged, and after a while, flames ignited. "Hum!"

The Yin Demon instantly turned into fuel, and all the evil Yin materials were burning vigorously within it.

Watching the flames, Xu Jia told Hu Jinhua and the others: "Save the charcoal after it finishes burning and preserve the fire seed; do not let it go out. It will help you cultivate the Fire Method. Borrow kitchen stove fire, lamp and candle fire, and Incense Fire from the homes of the common people. Borrow and return; if you return this solar fire to them, it can purify houses and remove filth."

Hu Jinhua nodded in agreement.

By the time the things were mostly burned, the evil Daoist had no possibility of resurrection. Having been refined into a Yin Demon body, then struck by a blade to sever his spirit, and finally forged into ash by the Sun True Fire, his soul had already scattered.

Xu Jia felt much more at ease and began to walk toward his home, intending to start cultivating his heart generals.

Niu Congcong also had to return to Niu Fu once, as his father Niu Dafu had sent a letter saying he would soon return home.

As for things like County Commandant Chen clearing out evil followers, Xu Jia did not care about the outcome. Only the matter of the old Daoist sacrificing himself to the Mountain God did Xu Jia keep in his heart. If this matter was not resolved, the surroundings of Yushan would, at best, see a great change in Feng Shui and people's hearts turning evil, henceforth producing unruly people from poor mountains and treacherous waters; at worst, there would be earthquakes, the leakage of Earth Li Qi, and rampant plagues, with most of the common people dying out.

This Dragon Vein was in the shape of a centipede, which was because there were too many hills stacked together, resembling a centipede's belly, hence there was "centipede poison." Centipede poison techniques belong to wind poison, and dispersing evil also involves wind evil. If a plague were to rage, one should apply formulas for dispelling wind and cold like "Jade Screen Powder"...

Xu Jia collected his thoughts and returned home. At this time, the house was bright and charming, giving Xu Jia another layer of feeling, which was the issue of "identity belonging." Before, it seemed like he was an impostor, but now it was "justified and honorable."

The Feng Shui of the house owner in the Qian Position poured over without reservation.

Xiao Hong was working hard to steam and boil the medicinal herbs Xu Jia had ordered. A large pot was set up there, stacked four or five layers high. Because she was afraid the medicinal properties would mix, they were actually all the same medicine; what she was steaming now was Solomon's Seal.

But it was not wild; the herbal farmers in this world had long ago mastered the artificial cultivation technology for Solomon's Seal. It was just that it was divided into mountain Solomon's Seal and field Solomon's Seal, and the price difference between the two was more than ten times. What Xu Jia wanted was naturally the mountain Solomon's Seal, but the field Solomon's Seal could barely be eaten as rations, or it could be fried with yellow rice wine, which could restore essence and replenish Qi.

"Xiao Hong, which round is this?"

"The second round," Xiao Hong said: "The weather has been good these past few days, so it dries quickly."

Xu Jia praised: "Not bad, you've done well. I'll give you a raise this month!"

Xiao Hong was pleasantly surprised, jumped up, and asked: "Really?"

"Really." Xu Jia also used the "stick and carrot" approach: "I was fierce to you last time, don't take it to heart; it was for them to see."

Xiao Hong had already been dazed by money, so whatever Xu Jia said was right. Moreover, she didn't have the habit of holding grudges; after all, in ancient thought, the concept of superior and inferior was severe.

Gui Linggao had already defected from Xu Jia at this time and had become a paperweight on Father Xu's table. On the table, every time Father Xu read an article, he would shake his head.

Xu Jia didn't pay him any mind and went straight to the Ming Tang, climbed up to the roof beam, took down the golden toad, and placed it into the pond, using a rope to force out the Condolence Guest evil that was trapped inside.

(End of chapter)