Chapter 379: Cicada Shedding its Shell and Breaking and Reconnecting

"Many thanks to you, sir. Please rest in the guest hall for the night."

Lin Jue escorted the merchant who delivered the letter to the guest hall and even lit an oil lamp for him, handing the lamp to him as well.

Seeing him first examine the furnishings in the room, and then, when turning to thank him, scan the pitch-black night outside, Lin Jue knew he was uneasy and smiled, saying:

"Please rest assured, kind sir. Although Mount Yishan is remote and has many legends of immortals and spirits, it is, after all, a famous immortal mountain. There aren't that many harmful demons and ghosts; it is even safer than the road you took to get here. Although our Fuqiu Temple is a remote little Daoist temple, it has also become a well-known mountain temple in recent years. No demons will cause trouble here, and the Cloud Leopard in the temple has also cultivated for many years and is extremely spiritual; it will not harm people."

"Ah... naturally, naturally."

The merchant held the oil lamp and nodded repeatedly.

This was the sect of that heroic Daoist, and he was here to deliver a letter for him; naturally, he didn't worry about being harmed by these Daoists—not to mention that these Daoists were all enthusiastic and gentle, like immortals. Even the demon stories he had heard over his many years of trading—whenever people delivered geese or ducks to demons, they were never eaten by the demons.

It was just that where there were immortals, there were likely more wonders. If something came knocking at night, even if it were just a pet kept by an immortal, or a bug listening to scriptures in the corner of the wall, it was not something he could handle.

Hearing Lin Jue say this, he finally felt at ease.

It was just that as he watched the young Daoist turn and leave, and a white fox peek its head out to examine him before following the Daoist away, the merchant suddenly felt puzzled again.

A Daoist and a fox...

Did he seem to have heard of something similar in Qinzhou?

Thinking of this, he shook his head again.

That True Person was in the capital, and he was in Qinzhou, three thousand li away; how could he appear here?

Moreover, that was an extraordinary True Person. Even if the people living on this mountain were all immortal experts, the place was small after all; that person shouldn't appear here.

It was just that he still couldn't help but ask:

"May I ask the Daoist's surname?"

"Hmm?"

The Daoist and the white fox turned around together in the night:

"My surname is Lin."

"Lin?"

The merchant was immediately shocked: "True Person Lin?"

He only saw the Daoist smile:

"Just a hollow name."

The Daoist and the fox turned and continued to leave, leaving the merchant alone holding the oil lamp by the door, his mind unable to calm down for a long time.

He was a merchant traveling between Huizhou and Qinzhou. When he was in Qinzhou, he had naturally heard the rumors of "True Person Lin," but he never expected that by accidentally delivering a letter to Huizhou, he would actually run into this person.

Even less did he expect that such a remote mountain with difficult roads, such a small Daoist temple, could not only produce the Daoist who summoned celestial soldiers to eliminate demons with a wave of his hand, but also a True Person Lin. And in this small Daoist temple, there seemed to be several other Daoists.

Could it be that they were all immortals?

The good news was that he wasn't afraid anymore, but his mind was even more unsettled.

In the guest room, Lin Jue covered himself with a bear-skin blanket.

The winter mountain was cold and the wind was heavy; he could hear the north wind howling outside, and the wind seeping through the window cracks was freezing. However, the bear-skin blanket was very soft and warm. Lying in the room, there was also a rare sense of peace.

No need to worry about night raids by demons or villains, no need to worry about divine beings coming to disturb; one only needed to cultivate quietly.

After all, this was Mount Yishan, this was Fuqiu Temple. The Mount Yishan Mountain God was an existence no less than an immortal who had attained the Truth, and he was a local Earth Deity Mountain God. Being on this Mount Yishan, most True Lords could not be his enemy. And the temple had a treasure mirror passed down for a thousand years; even if a True Person came here, they would have the power to contend.

Therefore, even the fox ran from his feet to his pillow, curling up to sleep peacefully, looking as if it didn't care about anything outside.

Even if it was just cultivation, Mount Yishan's spiritual aura was dense, making it more suitable than other places.

Lin Jue lay for a while without cultivating or thinking, his mind blank, his whole body relaxed, just resting simply. After a long time, he took out the ancient book.

"Swish..."

He flipped to the latest few pages.

The fox's ears moved, and hearing this special sound of flipping pages, it opened its eyes.

However, a hand quickly reached over, covering its eyes, meaning for it to continue sleeping. And the hand that blocked the lamplight and the warmth coming from the hand indeed made it sleep well.

The fox liked this feeling...

It twisted its body to make its posture more comfortable and continued to sleep.

Lin Jue looked at the ancient book—

Cicada Shedding its Shell, a top-tier escape technique.

In critical moments, one can abandon the physical shell to escape, and then use magic to reshape the shell, returning from the dead.

According to the depth of attainment, the escape can be tangible or intangible; the shell can be the true body or a false body; reshaping the shell can take three years, three months, or even three days.

This technique is mostly used by immortals.

"Escape can be tangible or intangible—that's probably the difference between being easily discovered and escaping silently, right? I didn't expect there to be a difference between a true body and a false body."

Looking at it this way, that Leopard King's learning wasn't very profound.

As for the line "This technique is mostly used by immortals," Lin Jue wasn't surprised. After all, such an ability was indeed profound; it could escape from his hands and also from the hands of a Divine General. And this spell was something the Leopard King itself had obtained from the Husheng Husheng Zhenjun Baosheng.

"Swish..."

Breaking and Reconnecting, a body-refining spell.

As the name suggests, severing limbs and reconnecting them, breaking and regenerating.

This technique is mostly learned by demons; ancient martial arts practitioners also practiced it. It is an extremely profound body-refining technique.

Beginners are injured without bleeding and heal quickly; further learning leads to severed limbs regenerating—this is Breaking and Reconnecting. The deeper the attainment, the faster the reconnection. When cultivated to a profound level, if hands or feet are severed, they grow back immediately upon a thought. Great powers can even grow their heads back instantly if they are severed. Therefore, when ancient divine beings captured Many Yaoguai Kings, they were often extremely difficult to kill. If they captured a Great Ji Xianren among demons, beheading them dozens of times was nothing more than a punishment.

One technique of Breaking and Reconnecting, one technique of Scattering and Re-gathering, one for refining the body, one for nourishing the spirit; one in the flesh, one in the soul. When both are cultivated to great success, one is nearly immortal and indestructible.

"Breaking and Reconnecting...

"Scattering and Re-gathering...

"Ji Xianren and indestructible..."

Lin Jue's lips moved, murmuring. Especially the last four words, which were very attractive to him.

However, this was a body-refining spell, mostly practiced by demons or ancient body-refining practitioners; it would be very difficult for him to learn. Perhaps only after attaining the Truth and having more time could he slowly practice it.

And with "Cicada Shedding its Shell," plus the "Disaster-Sending" technique, for a cultivator like him, it could largely compensate for the role of "Breaking and Reconnecting" in combat.

It was the other technique mentioned, "Scattering and Re-gathering," that seemed to be a technique for nourishing the soul, which was more suitable for him and the current Many Yaoguai-Method Sect cultivators, and also more suitable for use in combination with Cicada Shedding its Shell: one can abandon the physical body and soul to leave, and the other can ensure the soul is difficult to scatter or destroy.

It's a pity that now there is only Breaking and Reconnecting.

The fox could learn it first.

Because it is a demon, its physique is already far stronger than Lin Jue's, and the practice of this technique is built upon a strong physique.

And the fox also obtained this technique—

The spell it "drank" from the Leopard King was this Breaking and Reconnecting. As for Cicada Shedding its Shell, it "drank" it from General Baodeng, which was enough to show its cleverness.

"Hmm..."

Lin Jue made up his mind.

(No content lost!)

During this time on Mount Yishan, he would first start learning this "Cicada Shedding its Shell" technique.

A life-saving spell naturally has a higher priority.

In addition, there were the Bean Soldiers.

The most critical priority was naturally that Long Bo.

That Long Bo was at least ten zhang tall. After dying and becoming a ghost, relying only on a remnant soul, it could match a Many Yaoguai General under the Leopard King even when unwilling. If it were alive, it would definitely be even more powerful.

And theoretically, a body made of spiritual wood could be even stronger than it was in life. Equipped with a suit of armor, it would definitely far exceed a Many Yaoguai General. If carefully refined for a few years, perhaps it could even fight the Leopard King.

This would be a great help to him.

But the problem arose—

This Long Bo's body was so huge. If he wanted to ensure the strength and physique after carving it into a Bean Soldier, he would need larger and higher-quality spiritual wood, and the refining would take longer.

Carving an ordinary Bean Soldier only required spiritual wood the thickness of a child's wrist and a palm's length. Carving this Long Bo would probably require spiritual wood taller and thicker than a person, right?

And the quality couldn't be low!

Although Lin Jue found quite a lot of spiritual wood from the Leopard King's lair, many of which were top-tier and very suitable for carving Bean Soldiers, they were far from being this long and thick.

When he went to Kuze County before, there were many ancient trees that had obtained spiritual aura, and their length and thickness were already sufficient. But firstly, they had only lived long and naturally produced spiritual aura, and were actually far inferior to the original Pear Ancestor that had become a demon. Secondly, Lin Jue had learned the Wood-Escape technique; they were living well and might soon become demons, so how could he just cut them down?

Last time, Lin Jue at most only broke off a few branches that didn't get sunlight below. This was similar to trimming their hair and nails, which was also good for their growth, and even so, he had a return gift.

"In that case, only..."

This is Mount Yishan; naturally, he should ask the Mountain God.

Moreover, Mount Yishan's spiritual aura is even denser than Kuze County's, and it has also had few human traces for many years. There are countless demons, ghosts, spiritual plants, and spiritual trees in the mountain. Lin Jue doesn't believe there isn't a suitable one. And he doesn't believe that after he has respectfully worshipped and offered sacrifices to the Mountain God for so long—every time he did something to eat on the mountain, including these two times he returned, he first used it to worship the old man—the old man wouldn't point him in a direction.

Everyone escorted the merchant away and gave him a Heart-Protecting Pill.

Not many days later, it was New Year's Eve.

"One liang of nutmeg, one liang and six qian of grass nutmeg, three qian of cinnamon, eight qian of star anise..."

Lin Jue was reciting, and Little Xiao Shimei was taking notes on a piece of paper beside him, her expression serious and meticulous.

There were too many types of these spices, many of which she had never heard of before, and she didn't even know which characters they were, so she had to stop frequently to ask Third Shixiong.

Although she didn't know where Third Shixiong learned them, she didn't dare to be sloppy at all.

This was Third Shixiong's recipe, and it was also the future treasure of Mount Fuqiu, just like the mirror hanging in the Mountain-Moving Hall; it was the future heirloom technique of Mount Fuqiu, just like the few spells they were learning.

"Soak the spices in water first, otherwise the flavor won't come out; this point of care is very necessary. Then start the pot and heat the oil, use plenty of oil, first fry the scallions, ginger, and coriander until golden brown and remove them, put them into the braising pot, then fry the spices, and after they are fragrant, remove them into the pot as well, then stir-fry the sauce with oil and pour it into the pot together; that is the braising liquid.

"You must do this to make it fragrant enough.

"With this ratio, you can braise five jin of meat at a time.

"The more meat that can withstand boiling, the earlier it should be put in; the less meat that can withstand boiling, the later it should be put in. At the very end, you can also put in some boiled eggs. Hmm, anyway, you like eating eggs; eggs made this way become braised eggs, which have a unique flavor."

Lin Jue said while putting half a chicken, some pork ribs, and a piece of pig head meat into it.

Little Xiao Shimei, while frantically taking notes, said: "I don't like eating eggs; it's just that boiled eggs are time-saving and easy, and they are good to eat! That is meat!"

Lin Jue couldn't be bothered to argue with her.

A strange fragrance gradually arose in the Daoist temple.

The strange fragrance drifted far away with the wind, drifting toward the mountain, causing many spirits to stretch their necks, and many animals to turn their heads to look.

"Eighth Shishu! This smells so good!" Ji Yin and Ji Yang sniffed, shocked and drooling, "After it's done, can you scoop a spoonful of the soup for me to soak in rice?"

"You two are so young, why are you as unpromising as your masters and shishu were before?"

"Ah? Did they soak it too?"

"What do you think?"

"I don't know..."

"Eat more meat so you can grow tall," Lin Jue said. "But before that, go get me a plate, pick a little of everything, pick the best, cut them neatly; I want to offer them to the Mountain God."

"Got it."

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 380 =====