Chapter 93: Meeting an Old Acquaintance Again

"What does the Daoist have?"

"Asking me?"

"Naturally." Lin Jue's expression was calm, "Treasures are hard to distinguish by value, and there is no silver money to measure them. Getting what each needs and finding joy in it is the best."

"Eh?"

The middle-aged Daoist was somewhat surprised that these words could come from the mouth of a young man. He couldn't help but look at him more, then revealed a smile and fell into deep thought.

His peripheral vision sized them up.

Obviously, he was pondering what to bring out so that he would feel it was worth it, and they would be satisfied.

Finally, his gaze stopped on the long sword beside the two.

"You Daoists of Floating Hill Peak, aren't you cultivators of magic? When did you learn sword techniques like the Daoists of the Talisman Sect?" The middle-aged Daoist asked.

"We don't cultivate sword techniques; we carry swords just for self-defense." Lin Jue answered, "Sometimes when facing monsters, ghosts, and people, a long sword is not necessarily less useful than magic."

"That is indeed true. This poor Daoist also cultivates sword techniques. Since it is used for self-defense while walking in the pugilistic world, besides a long sword, one must have suitable sword techniques." The middle-aged Daoist said, "I have a book of Green Pill Sword Techniques, which was originally learned by Daoists in Maple Mountain in the capital. It is considered a pretty good sword technique in the pugilistic world down the mountain. It focuses on competing with people in swordsmanship and can also fight against monsters. Can it be exchanged for these leaves?"

"Sword techniques?"

Lin Jue looked at the junior sister.

Sure enough, the junior sister's eyes flickered, and there was restrained excitement in her eyes, and she secretly aimed at him again.

"Can I take a look?"

Lin Jue had to speak for her.

"Yes."

The middle-aged Daoist then took out a sword manual from his bosom, on which simple patterns were drawn, and many words were written.

Lin Jue held it in his hands and flipped through it.

The junior sister leaned her head over.

The third senior brother also glanced over here.

Seeing them like this, the fox, even if it couldn't understand anything, also leaned its head over.

The sword manual was detailed.

Flipping through it casually, it was roughly divided into three parts: one part was basic skills and body techniques, one part was sword moves and routines, and one part used a large amount of text to explain the precautions and ways to win when competing with people in swordsmanship.

"It's a proper sword manual." The third senior brother said from the side, "It's also considered okay."

The junior sister became even more excited.

Lin Jue looked at her and said: "If junior sister is willing, you can make the decision yourself."

"I am willing!"

The junior sister was also a decisive person.

"My junior sister intends to learn sword techniques and is willing to exchange with you." Lin Jue paused, "However, even as the Daoist said, this sword technique is considered pretty good in the pugilistic world down the mountain, but after all, it is a mortal object. No matter how rare it is, it can be sought, but spiritual objects cannot be sought. Therefore, it can only be exchanged for the pile in front of my junior sister."

"A pile?" The middle-aged Daoist raised his eyebrows, "Little fellow Daoist, you are too greedy!"

"I have never been a greedy person."

Lin Jue handed the sword manual back to him again.

"And this is not greedy?"

"Not greedy."

"Just a few leaves."

"Not greedy." Lin Jue looked at him calmly, "The growth of this tree also had my participation, therefore, I know how rare it is."

"You little Daoist..."

The middle-aged Daoist was a little angry and made a gesture to leave, but seeing Lin Jue's calm demeanor, he felt that such a bargaining tactic was useless, so he stopped, held the sword manual, and fell into deep thought, the luster in his eyes flickering.

"..."

The middle-aged Daoist's face changed several times. He sized Lin Jue up for a long time, as if he had finally made up his mind: "This poor Daoist has nothing else, so I will exchange it with silver money, how about that?"

"We don't accept silver money."

"What about a lot of silver money?"

The middle-aged Daoist reached into his satchel and suddenly took out a large handful of silver. They were all large chunks of silver, so heavy that even he felt heavy holding them in his hands. He took out one handful after another.

"This poor Daoist refines pills in the mountain. When looking for gold essence and cinnabar, I accidentally found a silver mine and refined a lot of silver. This kind of yellow and white thing is useless to us cultivators. If you are willing, just take it."

The silver fell onto the bamboo mat, making a heavy sound.

The strange people and hermits in the pugilistic world all around were also attracted.

"Can't use much on the mountain..."

Lin Jue's words hadn't finished, and seeing these two handfuls of silver, he was also suddenly stunned.

Even the fox's eyes widened.

The junior sister was almost dumbfounded.

These two handfuls of silver were a lot, at least a hundred taels. If Lin Jue hadn't dug up silver from the rat monster's cave before, he probably wouldn't have seen so much silver in his life. But what attracted him wasn't the amount of silver, but the large and irregular shape of these pieces of silver.

Generally speaking, irregular silver is very fine and fragmented. Even if large pieces of silver aren't complete official silver, they are official silver cut in half or something similar.

Such large irregular silver really looks like what he said, refined by himself.

But why does it look a bit like a stone?

Lin Jue frowned and couldn't help but reach out and take a piece.

"Hmm?"

Lin Jue was surprised.

The silver was very heavy in his hand, completely the weight of silver. Pressing it with the hilt guard of the sword could also leave a dent. Besides that, no matter how he looked at it, he couldn't see anything unusual.

If it weren't for the strange feeling that flashed in his heart the moment he took the silver, he really wouldn't be able to tell the difference.

This should be a kind of magic?

This old guy wants to trick him!

But it did give him something else.

"How is it?"

The middle-aged Daoist looked at him, satisfied with his performance. As long as the Daoists in this world enter the world, where would they not need silver money?

But he saw Lin Jue raise his head with a strange expression.

"What?"

The middle-aged Daoist didn't understand.

He saw Lin Jue reach out and casually pick up a leaf.

"Daoist, good skills. This leaf will be given to the Daoist as a gift, just as if I watched a magic trick, ending today's fate!"

"What skills?"

The middle-aged Daoist was stunned immediately.

Could it be that he was seen through?

"This silver." Lin Jue pushed the silver back to him, "Return it to the Daoist."

The junior sister beside him had also taken a piece of silver and was looking at it carefully, imitating him. She was being hit by the pile of white silver that had suddenly fallen, and her head was buzzing. Hearing his words, although her face was full of doubt, she immediately threw the silver in her hand back, as if it were hot.

The third senior brother was also looking at the silver back and forth. Although he felt it was not very real, he didn't see any flaws. Just as he was pondering whether what this middle-aged Daoist said was true or false, he heard the junior brother make a judgment first.

Not knowing if it was right or wrong, he also threw the silver away anyway.

"Why return it to me?"

"Why bother to make it clear?"

"What make it clear? This is proper silver. Anyone can check it. You little Daoist, don't talk nonsense."

"That's about enough..."

Lin Jue just sat cross-legged and looked at him calmly.

"Eh?"

The middle-aged Daoist was even more surprised.

Was he really seen through?

But if he was seen through, shouldn't he be very angry?

Why give him one piece?

The middle-aged Daoist couldn't be sure for a moment.

Looking at this little Daoist, seeing that there was no wavering in his eyes at all, the middle-aged Daoist soon determined that he was indeed seen through.

"Haha! As expected of a Daoist from Floating Hill Peak, this poor Daoist was just playing a joke on you!" The middle-aged Daoist put all the silver back into his satchel and continued to ask, "How can I exchange for these two piles?"

"If the Daoist is willing to teach us this magic, we can give these two piles to the Daoist."

"You little Daoist, you are quite smart." The middle-aged Daoist said without thinking, "However, how rare and profound magic is. Not to mention that it's impossible to explain it clearly to you here today, even if I could explain it clearly, how could I use a magic art to exchange for these two piles of pill fruit leaves? My magic art, once learned, will ensure a lifetime of food and clothing!"

"Then take this one piece and go."

"Hmph! You little Daoist!" The middle-aged Daoist laughed instead, but still stayed in place without moving, and asked, "Do you know any curse prohibitions?"

"I only know one."

"What curse?"

"Manifestation Curse."

"I will pass you a Sword Attachment Curse, which can use incantations to make the weapon in your hand more powerful against monsters and ghosts. It is used by curse prohibition masters to eliminate monsters, and any weapon will do. But I want all the spiritual leaves."

"Sword Attachment Curse..."

Lin Jue felt it was useful to him.

It just so happened that this person's character was cunning, and the method of curse prohibition was relatively simple. Whether it was true or false, he could tell in an afternoon.

So he turned to look at the third senior brother.

The third senior brother had no doubts.

"Okay." Lin Jue agreed, but added, "The Daoist has already tricked me once. If you trick me a second time, it will be inconsistent with the original intention of the fast offering."

The implication was that they would see each other down the mountain.

"Hahaha, just a joke. This poor Daoist can be considered an old acquaintance with Floating Hill Temple."

The middle-aged Daoist became serious:

"Listen to the incantation first—

"The incantation connects heaven and earth, divine thunder gathers at the sword tip, the law points to yin and yang, true fire reflects on the blade edge! The three realms and five elements help together, making my weapons manifest divine mystery!"

"Remembered."

"You guys are doing good business. Selling leaves once, three people learn magic." The middle-aged Daoist shook his head and said, "I will tell you the key points, and I will only tell it once."

"Okay!"

The middle-aged Daoist sat over unceremoniously, lowered his voice, and explained it to him in detail.

This couldn't be faked.

Lin Jue concentrated and listened to his explanation.

He even forgot that the sun was setting.

When he finally left, the middle-aged Daoist asked him how he saw through his illusion, and why he gave him a leaf after seeing through his illusion. Lin Jue just shook his head and didn't speak.

When he came back to his senses, the sunset had just set.

The treetops of the bamboo forest in the mountain were illuminated by the light into gold, all bending their waists sincerely. Many Daoists and pugilistic people were walking down the mountain along the small path.

Lin Jue and the others were also walking back.

At this time, all three piles of leaves were gone, exchanged for a sword technique, a curse prohibition technique, and probably a magic art that could turn ordinary stones into silver.

That Daoist originally had no intention of giving it to him, but it ended up in Lin Jue's hands. This couldn't be changed, so Lin Jue defaulted to it as half a transaction.

The Daoist's heart was not good, so he gave him one piece to dismiss him.

Although this magic art is somewhat dishonorable, it depends on how it is used. In this respect, its nature is roughly the same as the Green Fu magic. It can be used to cheat money, do evil, perform, or be used to keep one's own silver money from being stolen, and it can also be used to treat evil.

In the end, it is just a magic art.

"Look, most of the hermits who come to this Great Offering are of this sort." The third senior brother always spoke casually, "There is no lack of these sinister ones."

"Yes."

"It's good that you are smart, junior brother."

"Yes."

"But how did you discover it, junior brother? I looked at that silver for a long time and couldn't see whether it was true or false."

"I am smart."

Lin Jue said this indifferently and casually.

The third senior brother suddenly looked like he had eaten a fly, his expression uncomfortable, and he closed his mouth and didn't speak.

Only the junior sister nodded in agreement, her expression extremely serious.

Suddenly, he saw firelight in the open space ahead.

Someone was performing magic tricks.

There were some people around outside, but not many.

Before Lin Jue got close, just by seeing the flames spewing out from above the heads of the onlookers, he knew it was the Fire-Aversion Technique.

For a moment, he felt a little nostalgic.

It just so happened that they were walking that way.

But after getting close, Lin Jue suddenly revealed a look of surprise. His footsteps stopped instantly, his eyes went straight, and he looked at the few tricksters in the open space, closing his mouth and not speaking.

It was exactly that group of tricksters from his hometown last spring.

He actually met them here.

At this time, this group of tricksters was no longer playing any tricks like "two people playing two roles and causing disputes," and they didn't want money. They were just performing magic tricks purely. After performing a segment, they would stop and salute the onlookers. Knowing that besides pugilistic martial artists, peers, and other strange people in the pugilistic world, those who came here were proper Daoist cultivators, so they were here to communicate.

"I have embarrassed myself, I have embarrassed myself. If you guests have any pointers in your hearts, please be sure to say them. The old man will be grateful."

The voice from that side kept coming.

The old man also kept cupping his hands and bowing.

Just wanting to ask for pointers, how could it be so simple?

Not to mention that it was already dusk.

At dusk, many people walked down the mountain, so there were many pedestrians on the roadside. There was no lack of nearby commoners and high-ranking officials who came up the mountain just to watch the fun, but they would watch for at most two glances before they had to follow the crowd down the mountain.

Gradually, only two Daoists and a fox were left, standing on the bluestone steps beside the bamboo forest, looking toward that side.

The third senior brother's whereabouts were also unknown.

"Third Shixiong brother..."

The junior sister followed by the senior brother's side, secretly looking at him.

"It's nothing." Lin Jue turned his head and smiled at her, "Met some old acquaintances."

After speaking, he took a step and walked toward that side.

The old man led a group of tricksters, his body full of the vicissitudes accumulated from years of wandering in the pugilistic world, but also having the calm and firmness after experiencing wind and snow. Even if no one paid attention, he still cupped his hands and asked a few times. Seeing that the previous wave of audience had almost left, and seeing that the sky hadn't completely darkened, he thought about performing another show, hoping to attract another wave of people.

The fire is conspicuous only when the sky is dark.

Maybe this time there will be people willing to give pointers.

Seeking the Dao is difficult, and how can seeking magic be easy?

Unexpectedly, just as he was about to turn around with a hunched body, signaling the gongs and drums to start again, he saw a young man suddenly arrive in front of him. This young man was wearing a Daoist robe, carrying a long sword, and looked handsome and unfamiliar.

Should be a spectator, right?

The old man thought so, raised his hand, and before he had time to salute, unexpectedly, this Daoist faced him and first solemnly saluted him.

The old man was puzzled for a moment.

"Does the old gentleman still recognize me?"

The Daoist raised his head and asked him.