Chapter 405: The Heart-Intent Sect is Moved

In the small room at the back of the temple.

Several senior monks had grim expressions—some clutched their prayer beads, some gritted their teeth, some wore mournful faces, as if they had been beaten black and blue.

"Senior Brother, I…"

The moment Great Ming Chan Master opened his mouth, as if tugging on a sore spot, the corner of his eye twitched:

"The preliminary selection is still more than half a year away, there's still a chance, still a chance… Master-disciple Liaokong, what do you say?"

"…This disciple will surely give it his all."

Monk Liaokong lowered his head slightly. He hadn't been beaten, but he had personally watched his martial uncle get pummeled by his master until he vomited a whole peck of blood, so at this moment he couldn't help feeling a little tense!

Great Ding Chan Master's face was as still as water, and he secretly thought himself lucky. When he had gone down the mountain, he had also seen someone opening a betting pool; fortunately he had held back out of regard for his status, otherwise he would probably have suffered a silent loss too: "Who did you lose to when you challenged the tower? Was it an old monk who looked utterly miserable, held a Demon-Subduing Pestle, and fought with extreme frenzy?"

"…It wasn't Senior Long Yin!"

Monk Liaokong steadied himself, his expression still somewhat complicated: "It was Li Yuan!"

"Li Yuan, which ancestor of Dragon Tiger Temple…hm? You said Li Yuan?"

Great Ding Chan Master's gaze sharpened: "The little Daoist Priest following behind Nie Xianshan?"

"Yes, it was him!"

Hearing Monk Liaokong's words, Great Ding Chan Master fell silent. Great Ming Chan Master, who had only just recalled who Li Yuan was after a moment's thought, raised his hand and delivered a slap: "A mere junior at the Organ Refining stage, and you couldn't beat him either?"

With a sharp *smack*, Great Ding Chan Master blocked his arm, his brows tightly furrowed, expression solemn: "How did you lose?"

"This disciple…"

Monk Liaokong found it a little embarrassing to speak. After steadying himself, he said: "This disciple challenged the tower three times, and lost to him every time. Of those three, the most I ever endured was thirteen strikes—I nearly been beaten to death on the spot…"

"The small room suddenly fell silent, so quiet one could hear a pin drop!"

Monk Liaokong lowered his head, silently reciting Buddhist scriptures, feeling it was time for him to quit gambling!

The two old monks sitting in meditation exchanged glances, and after their shock, their eyes both lit up!

"Did you give it your all?"

Great Ming Chan Master seized his shoulder in one grip!

"This disciple took one Qi-Restoring Spirit Pill, and exerted his full strength, but still was no match…!"

Monk Liaokong's face was full of misery!

"Even with full strength he couldn't match him…a junior at Organ Refining, a junior at Organ Refining…"

Great Ming Chan Master's face was moved as he looked toward his senior brother: "Senior Brother…tomorrow, you and I shall go together to pay a visit to Daoist Long!"

Great Ding Chan Master took a deep breath, suppressing the pounding of his heart: "As for Martial Uncle, let's not inform him for now…"

In the small room, the oil lamp flickered like a bean!

The little mouse poked its head out of the hole, staring dumbly at the porcelain bottle in Li Yuan's hand on the bed, drool dripping down!

A fragrance like orchids, like lingzhi, permeated the entire room, as if a hundred flowers were blooming at once, the fresh scent of grass and trees intoxicating heart and soul!

"What a fine treasure!"

Li Yuan took a deep breath, feeling only warmth throughout his body. He gently shook the porcelain bottle, which gave out a tinkling sound, like metal and stone striking each other!

Through the white-jade-like porcelain bottle, Li Yuan could faintly see a reddish-gold pill spinning round and round, with the shadows of dragon and tiger appearing and disappearing!

A pill that bears the name of a Heaven-Blessed Divine Weapon is no ordinary product—its greatest use lies not in the body's true Qi, but in the divine soul!

According to what Daoist Long said, I have a ninety percent chance of entering the Dao; add this pill and it's a hundred percent!

Li Yuan's heart filled with joy!

Ninety percent and a hundred percent may seem to differ by only ten percent, but the sense of security has greatly increased!

"There's still a hundred Spirit Pills to choose from…bowing my head wasn't for nothing, what a bargain."

Carefully storing the pill into his Armament Space, Li Yuan reached out and grabbed the little mouse that had pounced on him—this little fellow was drooling all over, greedy beyond measure!

"Don't even think about it, this pill isn't for you to test!"

Li Yuan reached out and weighed it in his hand, finding this little fellow had grown much sturdier. Held up, it was like lifting a counterweight of equal size.

!

Its coat of fur, soft yet tough, like steel needles one by one!

"Looks like it hasn't missed out on good things this past year!"

Though he said so, Li Yuan still took out a Zeng Xue Dan and tossed it to it. Such ordinary pills were already of very little use to him, far inferior to Spirit Pills.

In fact, this little mouse even seemed a bit disdainful!

"Squeak squeak!"

The little mouse frantically sniffed the lingering scent in the air—this was left behind when Li Yuan had taken out that Nourishing Life Pill to look at just now. After a good while, it reluctantly carried the Zeng Xue Dan back into its hole!

"This little thing's gotten a picky palate too!"

Li Yuan was a bit caught between laughter and tears, but he couldn't possibly feed Spirit Pills to a mouse—he himself didn't have enough to eat!

"The medicinal power of the Long Hu Longhu Dadan is also nearly exhausted; I reckon once I reach Marrow Refining it will be completely used up!"

Closing his eyes to enter meditation, Li Yuan sensed the Long Hu Longhu Dadan within his belly!

After Organ Refining, his physique had undergone further transformation, and his digestive capacity had greatly increased—this Long Hu Longhu Dadan could barely hold on any longer!

"Daoist Long promised me a hundred Spirit Pills, drawing the blade for Old Long Head earns three hundred and fifty, after the sect's examination, according to the treatment of a Dragon Gate Dao Child, there's another fifty, and being second on the Dragon List also earns fifty…hm, at least until Blood Exchange it's more than enough!"

Li Yuan calculated in his heart!

With the Long Hu Longhu Dadan supporting him, in these past few months he hadn't consumed any Spirit Pills at all, and had instead accumulated a large sum—this didn't even count what that Star-Plucking Tower Lord had promised!

Otherwise he felt the pills to cultivate all the way to Grandmaster would already be enough!

"This is the treatment a genius gets!"

Daoist Master Li's heart was a mirror bright and clear—if he had held back a hand when entering the sect, at this moment he probably wouldn't even know what a Spirit Pill looked like!

"Huu."

After the usual tally, Li Yuan's mind slightly condensed. In the place of spiritual light, that ball of mist scattered along with it, and all manner of characters flowed and streamed into his heart!

Long Dao Zhu had clearly cultivated this Wu Gong, Wind Tiger Cloud Dragon, to a peerless degree. The half Wu Gong contained within this wisp of mist was exceedingly complex!

The main text was roughly several tens of thousands of characters, but the annotations were ten times that of the main text. If written down, it would be a thick stack of books!

Hum— The mist churned. Not only were there characters, but all manner of images interwove as well, and this was an extremely brilliant method of transmitting Wu Gong! Out!

"Wind, Tiger, Cloud, Dragon—these four forms are the foundation of this Wu Gong, and also where its essence lies. Comprehending these four shapes and combining them counts as initial entry, but true entry requires cultivating the spiritual form!"

The requirements were no different from Dragon Elephant Vajra Heaven. Li Yuan read through it once, and already had a good grasp in his heart!

For the entry conditions of this Wu Gong, he was still missing the Wind and Cloud forms!

"Cloud Dragon Nine Appearances and Shan Xuan Yin Bai Hu Palm—these two ultimate techniques should be encompassed within Wind Tiger Cloud Dragon. To cultivate to Great Perfection, five more ultimate techniques from the main lineage are still needed!"

The Wu Gong was very complex. Li Yuan chewed through it word by word, sentence by sentence!

Just like Dragon Elephant Vajra Heaven, this Wu Gong also required seven ultimate techniques to cultivate to the final Great Perfection!

In fact, any Wu Gong was like this—extremely intricate, with its own system in place, and could not be casually transmitted to outsiders!

This Wu Gong could be set aside for now, but the Wind and Cloud forms needed to be comprehended sooner. The Great Perfection of Cloud Dragon Nine Appearances also required the Cloud form; likewise, Shan Xuan Yin Bai Hu Palm required the Wind form!

After pondering in his heart for a long time, Li Yuan divided his attention. Visualizing and comprehending did not interfere with each other, while simultaneously circulating true qi and cultivating Yang Jian Tian Yi!

This true qi tempering art was extremely brilliant. As far as he himself could see, the tempering arts contained within the two Wu Gong, Dragon Elephant Vajra Heaven and Wind Tiger Cloud Dragon, were both somewhat inferior!

Previously he had only guessed, but now he could be certain—this must have come from that peerless Wu Gong, the Dragon Demon Heart Sutra!

"What a pity, that Tower Master has probably left!"

Li Yuan opened his eyes. Moonlight flowed into the room, peaceful and serene. He had waited the whole night in vain, but that Star-Plucking Tower Master still had not come!

"Killing the donkey after it has done its grinding shouldn't happen. With Old Long Tou and Long Dao Zhu here, they should give me at least some of what they promised, right?"

Shaking his head slightly, Li Yuan took off his outer garment, pulled the quilt over himself, and went to sleep!

In a half-asleep, half-awake state, he listened to the sounds as usual!

Ever since he could draw in first and second tier incense offerings himself, he had become much more generous when listening. First and second tier incense offerings were used in rotation, and the intelligence value obtained was considerably greater!

"In certain mountains, murmuring voices echoed: Can a person live without a head!"

"Since that time, the closest successful blood theft failed. Within the Xieshen Sect, someone was quite furious…"

"I heard that more than three thousand years ago, a spiritual elephant fell from the sky. Passing through nine layers of gang wind clouds, its flesh and blood were gone, leaving only its skeleton, which was cast into a water-polished monk's staff…"

After the Listening Sound Seal advanced to the fourth tier, even using first tier incense offerings, he could hear intelligence that originally required fourth tier incense offerings to hear. Naturally, the intelligence obtained from second tier incense offerings was even better!

"Blood theft—the imperial family?"

Li Yuan recalled what he had seen when listening to the heavenly sounds before—a uniform of silver hair and dragon patterns. Anyone could notice the difference!

After martial artists exchanged blood, they were no longer human. The probability of offspring with extraordinary talent among their children was slightly greater, but no one had ever seen anyone give birth to a different species!

"Probably the product of inbreeding, right?"

Li Yuan muttered in his heart. Compared to the imperial family's so-called claim of being born bearing divine decree, he was more inclined to think this was a mutation!

He noted down the important sounds he had heard. The Listening Sound Wood Seal still flickered with flowing light. Occasionally, Li Yuan would even release a third tier incense offering!

This time, among a pile of sounds, there was actually one about Bai Shen Fa: "The three treasures of heaven are sun, moon, and stars; the three treasures of man are essence, qi, and spirit. Ordinary Wu Gong goes from essence to qi and then to spirit. Bai Shen Fa starts from spirit… Therefore, its method is difficult to enter without the very top talent, and one is extremely prone to going mad from qi deviation!"

Li Yuan recited in his heart. The sound echoed in his ears, and was actually related to the Xinyi Sect: "There was a Monk who, with astonishing talent, comprehended a Wu Gong from the Bai Shen Zheng Fa. He took a different approach, using the false to cultivate the true. It was easier to enter than the Bai Shen Zheng Fa, and less prone to qi deviation, but hidden dangers remained! To avoid these hidden dangers, those who cultivated this Wu Gong would often loosen one thread, expressing it through material desire—either greed for wealth, lust, or a compulsive addiction to gambling…!"

"This… Fo Wo Du Zun Gong?"

Li Yuan's heart stirred. This was clearly referring to the Xinyi Sect. After all, this sect took Xinyi as its name, and what it emphasized was not severing desire and cultivating Chan, but following the heart and following intent!

"After so many years, the Xinyi Sect still hasn't been able to perfect Fo Wo Du Zun Gong?"