The Undying Sect is one of the four major evil sects.
“The Undying Sect, I remember they believe in the Undying Immortal. They say the Undying Immortal lives forever, never dies, and those who faithfully follow the Undying Immortal can avoid the three disasters and five tribulations of cultivation, extending their lifespan,” Meng Jingzhou recalled the information about the Undying Sect.
This is all basic knowledge that anyone could find with a little effort, but how much of it is true is hard to say.
“The Undying Sect is recruiting, which is a good opportunity. When the time comes, there will be a mix of people, and the requirements will be much lower. They won’t be too strict when checking identities,” Lu Yang said happily. This was indeed good news.
He was worried that the three of them had never practiced proper evil cultivation techniques and whether they could use the method of driving away ghost servants to get through. But now, Qin Yuanhao brought such good news—what a blessing!
“Should we still kill Qin Yuanhao?” Mang Gu asked, as if there was no longer a need for murder.
“No matter what, he’s still a troublemaker. If we can kill him, we should, but we won’t use his bone card,” Lu Yang replied. Regardless of whether they could infiltrate the evil sect, Qin Yuanhao had to die.
Once someone reaches the mid-stage of Foundation Building in the evil sect, it’s impossible not to have taken a few lives.
Even though Qin Yuanhao didn’t kill his underlings, it wasn’t out of kindness; it was because they were still useful to him. If any of them were to lose an arm or a leg and become unable to move, they would no longer be of use to Qin Yuanhao and would surely die.
“Why can’t we use the bone card?”
Lu Yang called over two ghost servants to prepare some grilled skewers and explained while eating, “The relationships among the members of the evil sect aren’t as good as we think. If we frame Qin Yuanhao, and he investigates and concludes that someone in the evil sect dislikes him, we’d be in trouble.”
“If we use Qin Yuanhao’s bone card to enter the evil sect, we’d be labeled as his people and might face all sorts of difficulties. It wouldn’t be worth it.”
Mang Gu suddenly understood.
“But the evil sect is quite cautious. They only announced the location of their base on the last day to prevent it from leaking. Are they afraid that the righteous path will find their location and eliminate them?” Lu Yang chuckled.
“Let’s keep tracking Qin Yuanhao and see if we can find the location of the Yanjiang Branch based on him. It’s good to be prepared.”
“It’s getting late. We should practice and rest. Let’s disperse.”
The next morning, Lu Yang yawned, got dressed, and had breakfast with everyone. It was a beef offal soup made by Mang Gu.
At that time, Mang Gu had already returned from the market with a cart full of pig, cow, and sheep.
They used beef bones to make soup, added a bit of salt, and seasoned it with other spices. After simmering for a while, a steaming bowl of beef offal soup was ready.
“Add more money intestines,” Lu Yang called out.
“Sure!”
After enjoying a delicious breakfast, everyone went about their own tasks.
Today, it was Mang Gu’s turn to supervise. After finishing the meal, he ran up to the second floor, ready to sit there all day.
Meng Jingzhou was not one to sit still, bouncing around like a lively rabbit, and he didn’t know where he had gone to cause trouble.
The two ghost servants split the meat, chopped vegetables, and threaded skewers. After four days, they had become familiar with the process, working from morning until evening, just in time to open for business. They went to the backyard to burn charcoal and started grilling all night.
Working from morning till night felt very fulfilling.
Lu Yang also had his own things to do. He took out the book on Shape-Fist, hoping to learn the basics. He had never practiced martial arts before, so he felt uncertain.
“Everyone has to start somewhere.”
Lu Yang set up a simple soundproof barrier in the backyard so he couldn’t hear the outside world, and his voice wouldn’t reach it either.
He sat cross-legged and carefully read the book: “Shape-Fist is a martial art that mimics the strengths and forms of various animals, as well as the fighting and daily life of people. It includes Tiger Fist, Monkey Fist, Eagle Claw Fist, Snake Fist, and more. This book only contains Tiger Fist.”
“Tiger Fist emphasizes imitating the shape of a tiger, using the tiger’s skills, and integrating them into the intent of the fist.”
“The Tiger Fist routine is short, concise, and compact, with small steps, mainly focusing on the three-seven stance.”
“To master Tiger Fist, the most dangerous step is to observe a tiger. It’s best to have experience fighting a tiger so you can deeply understand its fighting style for better imitation.”
The hardest step of Tiger Fist was actually easy for Lu Yang since he had fought and won against a tiger demon.
Lu Yang slowly closed his eyes.
Roar, pounce, tear… the various movements of the tiger demon’s attacks flashed in his mind, vivid and clear.
Although he had killed the tiger demon, he had to admit it was a formidable opponent with many things to learn from.
Of course, he didn’t need to learn how to call his wife for help; that wasn’t something he could learn for now.
The image of the tiger demon and his own figure gradually overlapped, merging into one, giving his human form the skills of a tiger.
Lu Yang repeatedly simulated the movements of Tiger Fist in his mind, and the originally awkward motions became increasingly fluid, almost as if he were possessed by a fierce tiger, roaring in his mind.
This was something only someone at the Foundation Building stage could achieve, requiring a high level of spiritual awareness that ordinary martial artists couldn’t reach.
Lu Yang opened his eyes, his gaze fierce, hiding the spirit of a tiger.
He jumped up, firmly landing on the ground, assumed a stance, exhaled forcefully, and stomped his feet to gather strength, radiating a powerful and fierce energy.
The two ghost servants threading skewers in the room heard Lu Yang’s punches and jumped in fright, thinking the tiger demon had come back to life.
They secretly peeked through the door frame to watch Lu Yang and, upon realizing it wasn’t the tiger demon, felt relieved and continued threading skewers.
After finishing a set of movements, Lu Yang felt a surge of energy, as if he had endless strength to release.
Taking advantage of the feeling in his body, he went through several more sets, each one more fluid than the last, every move strong and powerful.
No matter how effective he could be in battle, at this moment, even a master of Tiger Fist wouldn’t be able to point out any flaws in Lu Yang’s technique.
“Wait, there’s still room for improvement.”
Lu Yang’s movements became faster, yet his mind remained calm like a still lake, clear as a bronze mirror.
This state was quite wonderful; every action revealed his understanding of the martial art.
Punching, kicking… as his understanding deepened, a faint shadow of the tiger demon appeared behind him.
“Roar—”
Lu Yang reached the peak of his understanding, all expressed in this one tiger roar, feeling completely invigorated.
“Huh? Why am I lying on the ground?” Lu Yang snapped back to reality and found himself inexplicably on the ground. He tried to stand up but felt weak in his legs, wobbling several times without being able to rise.
“What’s going on?” Lu Yang couldn’t understand how practicing martial arts could go wrong.
He felt he had a high talent for martial arts, so how could there be a problem?
A sense of unease crept over him, and he used both hands and legs to crawl to the edge of the water tank.
Finally, Lu Yang saw his reflection.
He had turned into a tiger.
His Tiger Fist had reached great success—what a cause for celebration!
“Lu Yang, guess what I saw on the street? There’s a very interesting mascot at a tofu shop.”
Meng Jingzhou returned from his stroll and, hearing that Lu Yang was practicing in the backyard, wanted to see how he was doing.
Then he saw a tiger demon lying at the edge of the water tank, looking at its reflection.
“Holy crap, a monster!”
(End of Chapter)