Chapter 22

Surrounded by several potted jade bamboo landscapes and dotted with exotic flowers, it was evident at a glance that it had been meticulously maintained. Chen Hang sat in the main seat with a cup of clear tea in his hand and cast his gaze outward.

He saw that this three-story building had been cleaned until it was spotless, without a speck of dust.

Although there were no gold or jade decorations inside the house, the few ink paintings of green bamboo were elegant and full of interest.

The group of white foxes did not dare to yelp randomly anymore; they all huddled outside the main building, revealing only their eyes to observe Chen Hang. Seeing him look over, they hurriedly scrambled away on all fours, fearing that if they were a step too slow, they would be killed on the spot and turned into fur coats.

"Your clansmen are quite lively."

Chen Hang looked at Tu Shan Ge, who was sitting below him; the yellow-robed youth was currently sprawled weakly on a blackwood chair, as if he had lost half his life.

"Is that so? I was just as lively before I met you..."

Tu Shan Ge wore a dejected face:

"Master, you are too ruthless! The Dharma contract I just signed is almost the same as a death contract for selling myself; no, it's even more ruthless than a death contract. I've been firmly tied to your ship."

"Fortune and misfortune are unpredictable; who knows, once I achieve the Dao, you might also rise to the heavens."

Chen Hang casually offered a word of comfort.

"That's true!"

Tu Shan Ge's spirit lifted upon hearing this, and he suddenly perked up:

"I forgot to ask, Master, which sect are you a disciple of? The Eight Great Xuan Sects are too high and distant, so I won't hope for that; the Six Demonic Sects are also skipped and not mentioned..."

"I see Master's killing intent is resolute, and you are from the southern region of Dongmi Prefecture. Could it be that you are from the Evil Food Mountain of the Demonic Sect, or the Flower God Mansion, or the Humanoid Temple? These are all great sects, only below the Eight Sects and Six Sects; they are all extremely powerful second-rate sects! They have True Persons who have achieved the Primordial Spirit Return to Emptiness residing in the world, capable of suppressing a hundred thousand miles of mountains and rivers!"

"I am an Immortal Path cultivator." Chen Hang shook his head.

"... Right! Right! How could I forget that there are countless killers among Immortal Path cultivators, each with a Dao heart as cold as iron, especially those sword cultivators, each one inhuman, as if their sanity were crazed!"

Tu Shan Ge harbored hope and asked again:

"Then is Master from the Luofu Sect, the Divine Fire Cliff, the Pure Yang Sword Sect, or the Five Light Sect?"

Unknowingly.

Tu Shan Ge quietly lowered his expectations by another notch.

"Master is only in the Embryonic Breathing stage but dares to forcibly kill a Qi Cultivation cultivator; you must have an extraordinary background, right?"

"I am currently studying the Dao at the Xuanzhen Sect on Little Ganshan." Chen Hang said indifferently.

"What?"

"The Little Ganshan not far from Lanliang City is where the Xuanzhen Sect's mountain gate is located; you should know it."

"Yes, yes... I know it, that's the sect where the sect leader only has Cave-Mystic cultivation..."

Tu Shan Ge's vision went black, and he almost fell to the ground, but he still forced himself to ask one last question:

"The sect is one thing, but what about the family background... is it... is it an Immortal Path family?"

Below the Eight Great Xuan Sects and Six Demonic Sects of the Xudu Heaven.

There are also the Twelve Xuan Sect Families, whose foundations are deep and whose divine powers are vast; they are true Immortal Path aristocrats, both golden and noble.

But if one were from the Twelve Families, even the most unfavored concubine-born son would never fall to the point of studying the Dao at a dilapidated sect like the Xuanzhen Sect, which only has Cave-Mystic cultivators.

Tu Shan Ge lowered his expectations to an ordinary Immortal Path family, but even so, his heart was still drumming.

"The family is indeed the Chen clan of the Rong State." Chen Hang smiled.

"It's over!"

Tu Shan Ge shouted in his heart, clapped his hands, and fell backward toward the sky.

The path of cultivation: Dharma, Companions, Land, Wealth.

This person seems to have none of them!

Without a family background, and without having joined a good sect, how can one cultivate the Dao? One cultivates with one's life!

Without resources, without superior classics, without the protection and help of teachers and friends, without a blessed Fan Dongtian.

Among the billions of loose cultivators in these Nine Prefectures and Four Seas, only one True Person Yan Xi was ever produced. What about the loose cultivators of his era?

They either died halfway or had long since passed away, becoming withered bones in a grave!

He also remembered that perhaps there were elderly clansmen in the Chen clan of the Rong State who had offered incense to him...

At this thought, Tu Shan Ge felt even more that the world was cold and life was meaningless.

"Alright."

Chen Hang didn't care: "You have been a local mountain deity for some time; may I take a look at your private collection?"

"Master, you are too polite. In my current situation, isn't what's mine yours?"

Tu Shan Ge's throat choked.

This person could clearly have just robbed him directly, but he had to add a "may I"; he was truly, excessively polite...

Following Tu Shan Ge's order, the group of white foxes outside the main building immediately became active, moving piles of items, and soon filled this reception hall.

With the Dharma contract in place, Tu Shan Ge's thoughts had nowhere to hide, and Chen Hang didn't worry that he would conceal anything.

After a short while, with his reading and Tu Shan Ge's explanations on the side, Chen Hang soon found what he needed.

"Daoist techniques, it's actually this; it is truly a stroke of luck."

Chen Hang held the three book slips in his hand, unable to hide his joy.

There was no need to mention the worldly gold, silver, and scholarly ink paintings.

Besides a few talisman coins, among this pile of items, he actually found three Daoist techniques; it was truly gratifying.

One must know that within the Xuanzhen Sect, Daoist techniques are not taught for free.

Either rely on the teaching of teachers...

Or, one must have made a great contribution to the sect, have it specifically recorded by the Merit Hall, obtain a merit count, and finally go to the Elder Hall to exchange for it.

"Three Daoist techniques: Qi Armor Technique, Blood Armor Technique, and Aurora Great Escape."

"Both the Qi Armor Technique and the Blood Armor Technique are lower-grade Daoist techniques, and they are both defensive; their effects overlap, so specializing in one is enough. However, I have the True Dharma Realm in hand, and time is abundant, so I can cultivate both. As for this Aurora Great Escape..."

Chen Hang secretly thought:

"This Aurora Great Escape is an escape technique, and its grade is superior, higher than the other two. Although I didn't obtain any killing methods, it's not bad."

"Master, these three Daoist techniques were left behind by my former master. After she died in a battle of techniques, we spirit pets lost our backing and were driven out of the Chiming Sect... I was lucky enough to come to Yangshan safely and live until now, but the other spirit pets were miserable. I heard that many were intercepted and killed by the former master's enemies on the way, and even their souls were taken to light sky lanterns; it's truly pitiful."

Seeing the Daoist techniques in Chen Hang's hands, Tu Shan Ge paused and sighed: "When the former master was still alive, she always wanted to enter the 'Nine Sovereigns Constant Yang Jin Que Fan Dongtian' to cultivate, but unfortunately, until she died, she never fulfilled her wish, sigh..."

"Is this the reason why you have always called this place the 'Nine Sovereigns Constant Yang Jin Que Fan Dongtian'?"

"I've made you laugh, but it is indeed only after the former master died that I realized how good the Chiming Sect was and how difficult life is. It is truly arduous to lead this clan of old and young to make a living."

Tu Shan Ge sighed and said:

"Here, I was almost killed by the Yangshan Daoist, but when I was under the former master, even the servants who fed and watered our clan had higher cultivation than him. This world..."

Speaking of this, Tu Shan Ge seemed to think of something and suddenly became alert.

"Master! There is one thing I almost forgot. The other two Daoist techniques are nothing special, but this 'Aurora Great Escape' has a hidden secret!"

"What hidden secret?" Chen Hang frowned.

"This 'Aurora Great Escape' was obtained by the former master after she killed a disciple of the Huzhao Sect. It is not only difficult to cultivate but also cannot be easily shown to others!"

"Are you worried that if the Huzhao Sect finds out, it will bring disaster?" Chen Hang asked.

"Exactly, exactly. The Huzhao Sect is one of the Six Demonic Sects, and their way of doing things..."

Speaking of this, Tu Shan Ge suddenly shivered, as if he had remembered something extremely terrifying, and his body stiffened.

"In short, Master, you must be extremely cautious!"

After a long time, he gave a bitter laugh and repeated it again:

"Extremely cautious!"

At the same moment.

In a small village outside Lanliang City, Xiao Yu walked out of a thatched hut with a blood-stained pair of scissors, her face expressionless.

A thick smell of blood drifted from the thatched hut behind her. A short, fat farmer lay on the bed, his eyeballs protruding like a dead fish, his belly sliced open, revealing dark red internal organs; he was clearly no longer alive.

"You were a good person; you gave me food to eat."

Xiao Yu looked back with regret:

"But why did you secretly look at my calves? You are just like that old pig-dog in Yangshan. Just a little bit, really, just a little bit more and I could have not killed you..."

Yesterday, she, wandering aimlessly, met a farmer.

This middle-aged widower saw that she was pitiful, gave her a bowl of wheat rice, and brought her back to the side room to rest, but it was just such an inadvertent glance that angered Xiao Yu.

Therefore, this farmer died.

While in a deep sleep, he was sliced open by Xiao Yu with scissors and died in living pain.

"The concubine was originally, a lotus girl, heart's sorrow untold, tears like rain..."

Xiao Yu hummed a song without a tune, turned around, and walked forward; she seemed as if she were drunk, walking with a sway.

Today seemed a bit different.

The surrounding doors were all tightly closed; no one came to watch her performance. Thick white mist had risen from nowhere, as thick as rice paste.

It was quiet.

As if she were the only person left in the world...

"It sounds terrible, like a dog barking."

Suddenly, someone mocked.

Xiao Yu stared fixedly at the water well at the entrance of the village, where an old man with long eyebrows hanging over his cheeks stood, arms crossed, looking her up and down as if looking at a dead fish.

"Old thing, who are you?"

Xiao Yu spat: "I want to scrape your flesh off piece by piece and fry it in a pot of oil!"

"I am Yin Gonghao, currently an Elder of the Huzhao Sect."

The old man shouted coldly:

"You wicked beast, your heart is cruel and you have no humanity. Today, I have come here specifically to slay demons and eliminate evil, to maintain the orthodox sect!"