Chapter 267: Comprehending Arts

It took quite a bit of effort from the crowd to pull the two men apart.

Fortunately, this was the Gathering of Immortals Mansion. Even though there were many "water goods" (frauds) here, even these frauds listened to people lecturing every day, and through constant exposure, they could still understand quite a few things, let alone the others.

Immediately, an old man held a mouthful of water, silently recited a divine name dharma spell he had practiced for a long time, and sprayed it onto one man's face. Another Daoist priest joined his fingers to recite a spell and tapped the center of the other man's brow, using a common palace-style spell-prohibition technique. Only then did the two slowly regain consciousness.

Seeing the other's appearance, the scars on their faces, and their torn clothes, they were both a bit dazed.

Only after the crowd questioned them did they learn—

It turned out that the two had spoken disrespectfully behind the backs of the True Person and the fox immortal of the True Person's household. They had offended the True Person, and thus were subjected to a small punishment by the fox immortal's magic.

These two were also capable of a few tricks.

One of them had been able to see ghosts from time to time since childhood. Later, after growing up, he once got drunk and made a bet with his drinking companions to spend the night in a mass grave. The bet was only ten coins, but he actually went.

That night, he really did encounter several ghosts in the mass grave, but he wasn't harmed by them. Instead, he discovered that ghosts weren't as terrifying as he had imagined and gradually dared to deal with them. Through repeated encounters, he not only learned how to see ghosts at will and how not to be bewitched by the breath of ghosts, but he also honed a set of skills for dealing with them.

The other person had formed a bond with a yaoguai outside the city. Whenever he had a problem, he could ask that yaoguai for help, and he had even been taught breathing techniques by that yaoguai, so he wasn't afraid of ordinary small yaoguai or ghosts.

Yet, these two had no power to resist when facing the fox from that True Person's household.

All the previous talk questioning whether that young Daoist was a real True Person or a fake one, and whether the yaoguai king by the Wei Shui River had truly been eliminated by him, vanished completely. Only ridicule and laughter remained:

"I say, you two are truly stupid. We might not be able to distinguish whether that True Person is real or fake, but can Master Fan not tell?"

"Didn't you see how Master Fan was quite polite to him? If he were truly a fraud, could he live in the same residence as Master Fan?"

"Not to mention Master Fan, just based on the move that guardian by the True Person's side showed today, I think they could slash yaoguai and ghosts with a blade."

"I also saw at a glance that the True Person was extraordinary. How many ordinary people can be so calm while walking beside Master Fan? Moreover, Master Kongjing demonstrated Buddhist dharma earlier, and various experts showed their skills, but I kept an eye on that True Person's expression the whole time. He wasn't surprised in the slightest; I fear he had already seen through our foundations."

"The True Person is a god. Speaking disrespectfully to a god, this was just a small punishment, not casting you into..."

"Yes, yes..."

But by this time, Master Fan and the True Person were already gone.

Today, the strange people and talented scholars in the courtyard had basically all shown their skills, so Lin Jue naturally had no reason to stay longer.

As for the two who had been brawling, Lin Jue did feel a bit guilty, so he could only educate his fox more. As for whether he had offended the Crown Prince, even Master Fan didn't care, so he cared even less.

Of course, Master Fan was pretending not to care.

Lin Jue, however, truly did not care.

The three of them and the fox walked out of the Gathering of Immortals Mansion's office. Only the fox was reluctant to leave, looking back every three steps, craning its neck as if it wanted to look over the courtyard wall of the mansion to continue watching the excitement inside.

The fox also didn't understand why the Daoist wouldn't watch.

"Why don't you just jump up and look!" Lin Jue, beside it, said helplessly.

"?"

The fox was startled, having been prompted by him.

But just as it bent its legs, preparing to jump, it was stopped by another sentence from Lin Jue:

"Are you really preparing to jump?"

"?"

The fox was startled again and stopped its movement, turning its head to stare straight at him, unable to understand for a moment whether he wanted it to jump up and look or not.

"Look at you, you're not a three or four-year-old child anymore, why are you still acting so recklessly?"

"..."

The fox stared at him blankly, still not understanding.

Then came a long, earnest lecture.

The fox listened seriously for the first two sentences, but after that, it kept its head down and walked, not even lifting its head again.

Seeing this, Lin Jue was also very helpless.

However, he was still in a very good mood today—

He had originally been regretting not finding a spell that suited his heart, but the next moment, he had found one.

It not only suited his heart, but it suited his heart perfectly.

The Spell-Control Method was the spell he used most often for fighting and facing enemies, but spell-control required chanting, which was a bit lacking. This Daoist Tao's Object-Control Art didn't seem to be the original version of the Object-Control Art, but it didn't require chanting and was controlled by intent—it was exactly what he needed.

And it was his favorite kind of pillow.

Just this one gain made not only today's half-day visit to the big courtyard, but even this entire trip to the capital, worth it.

The three of them soon walked back to their residence and parted ways by the lake.

Lin Jue, Lord Luo, and Fuyao returned to their small courtyard.

Because this place was adjacent to the Gathering of Immortals Mansion's office, the first thing Fuyao did upon returning was to jump onto the courtyard wall, walk onto the roof next door, and stand on the roof, craning its neck to look down.

"Sigh..."

Lin Jue shook his head and said to Lord Luo, "This little thing, the older it gets, the more it has its own ideas."

"Aren't people the same?"

"That is true." Lin Jue smiled. He knew this principle and wasn't worried about it, but he asked Lord Luo again, "Is this all the people in the Gathering of Immortals Mansion?"

"Of course not."

Luo Seng still hung his bamboo hat on the crabapple tree and placed his long saber on the stone table:

"The Gathering of Immortals Mansion has thousands of people; how many were there today? Not to mention those without real skills, just speaking of the strange people, talented scholars, and famous Daoist high monks with real skills, at most only a small half of those in the capital came. Many others with real skills are still outside."

"Hmm..."

Lin Jue nodded, remembering Master Yun Chan. He hadn't seen him today, and when he asked Master Fan, he said he wasn't in the capital at the moment.

The people in the Gathering of Immortals Mansion's office today either lived in the office courtyard to begin with, or had come specifically for that Crown Prince, either to attach themselves to the Crown Prince or to demonstrate their magic to obtain rewards.

There were certainly some people with real skills who were unwilling to do such things, and there were certainly some people with real skills who hadn't come to this Gathering of Immortals Mansion for fame or profit.

"Does Lord Luo know many?"

"Not many. After all, I only served as a County Commandant in Wanan County for two years. I didn't run to the Gathering of Immortals Mansion every day, and those people don't return to the capital every year. Some don't return for years, so I haven't seen them either."

Luo Seng paused as he spoke:

"However, as far as I know, there are quite a few people with good skills who are not in the capital. There are rumors in the jianghu that they have gone to the north, and some have gone to the southwest."

"So that's how it is."

Lin Jue chatted with him for a few sentences and then returned to his room.

The fox seemed to know what he was going to do. It turned into a white shadow, jumped back lightly from the roof, and entered the room before he could close the door.

Lin Jue lit the night-watch lamp and took out the ancient book.

The fox lay down beside him, guarding him quietly.

Actually, it didn't know what the person was looking at, and it didn't even know why it had to guard here, but it had been like this since it was small—

Since it was small, whenever the Daoist read, it would lie beside him. As time passed, it became a habit, and it knew that when the Daoist read, it had to lie beside him.

Lin Jue turned directly to the latest page.

"Whoosh..."

Blooming and Scattering Leaves, it is an illusionary art.

In ancient times, immortals walked the human world to demonstrate immortal arts. With a single seed, they would urge it to sprout and grow. In an instant, it would become a vine or a tree, bloom, and bear fruit, which they would share with the people of the world. Because the story spread widely, later generations often imitated this, using illusionary arts to make withered wood bloom and bear fruit, or to make seeds sprout into vines, often performing on the streets, hence the name, Blooming and Scattering Leaves.

Beginners can only cover eyes; if one wants the illusion to be real, one needs to put in a lot of hard work. If one cultivates to a high level, when performing this art, touching and smelling are all possible, making the fake indistinguishable from the real.

"Blooming and Scattering Leaves..."

Actually, Lin Jue hadn't been in contact with this spell at the time.

Even when the plum blossoms withered and the petals drifted down, only to be scattered by the wind, none had landed on him.

But he had also learned the method of sending dreams through illusions; in dreams, one must create scenery. He had also been in contact with illusionary arts and had learned several, and although there were differences, most of the principles were the same.

At that time, he had seen the yellow-robed monk perform the magic with his own eyes, so he naturally saw the cleverness in it and had also vaguely glimpsed the principles of the spell.

Because of this, it had triggered the ancient book's reaction.

However, Lin Jue was temporarily not interested in it.

If he were to achieve the Dao in the future and have a long lifespan, he could slowly study various spells.

Now, there were already piles of spells he hadn't learned and things he hadn't done, so it was better to slow down.

Lin Jue turned another page.

"Whoosh..."

Blood Control, using blood to control objects.

A spell adapted from the Object-Control Method and talisman arts. It is simpler to learn than the Object-Control Method. Although it uses intent to control objects and is flexible and unpredictable, before performing the spell, one must draw a talisman on the object with essence blood. This not only harms oneself but also requires time, and it fears heavy rain.

This method is good at fighting, but it has flaws. If one does not have a guardian, one must work hard to cultivate other profound body-protection or hiding methods.

? tTkΛn? ￠o

Cultivating this method is also helpful for cultivating the true Object-Control Art. If one has profound attainments in this area and exceptional talent, one might be able to use this method to self-comprehend the true Object-Control Art.

"Blood Control..."

Sure enough, it wasn't the original Object-Control Art.

Lin Jue knew at a glance that this spell was not only written by the same author as that "Spell Control" piece, but it was very likely written at the same time.

For this reason, he specifically turned to the previous pages and found the "Spell Control" method, comparing them. The introductions were indeed very similar.

Lin Jue frowned and pondered.

These two spells were both derived from the Object-Control Method, and both had been simplified, each with its own characteristics.

Looking at it this way, Spell Control was prepared for proper Dao-cultivating people; one only needed to attach a portion of magical power to control objects with spells. Blood Control, on the other hand, seemed to be prepared for the strange people and talented scholars in the jianghu. They often hadn't cultivated orthodox spiritual methods and only had simple breath-nourishing methods, or even only half of a breath-nourishing method, so they needed to consume essence blood, relying on the spiritual power within the essence blood to control objects. And because essence blood was inherently connected to oneself, they could use intent to control objects.

Blood Control uses intent to control, making it more flexible, but the disadvantage is that it consumes essence blood, requires drawing blood talismans first, and fears heavy rain.

Spell Control uses spells to control. Performing it causes no damage to oneself, and the magical power doesn't fear rain. The disadvantage is that spells are difficult to practice, and the control isn't as flexible or as one wishes.

The two have their own advantages and disadvantages, almost complementing each other.

"If one has profound attainments in this area and exceptional talent, one might be able to use this method to self-comprehend the true Object-Control Art..."

Lin Jue murmured.

This was his true plan!

If he only had Spell Control, with his current attainments, it would probably be difficult to self-comprehend the true Object-Control Art. But if these two were added together, along with this book of spells, he felt it was almost just a matter of time.

The true Object-Control Art...

In Lin Jue's view, this was a spell that could be compared to the true "Sowing Beans to Make Soldiers." It probably not only possessed the advantages of Spell Control and Blood Control, but the power of controlling objects would also be stronger.

If he could comprehend the true Object-Control Art, he would count as having one more spell at the same level as "Blooming in an Huakai Qingke."

In this way, today's harvest could be considered great.

Thus, he held the book and studied hard, forgetting to eat and sleep.

Even in the middle of the night, he was completely unaware. ===== CHAPTER 268 =====