Three months ago, Author: Xun Chun Xu Zhou
In Yan Jianming's eyes, Chu Weiyang was truly a clever person.
From start to finish, despite the undisguised surprise in his expression, Chu Weiyang never asked about the reasons behind these changes.
Apart from thanking Yan Jianming for returning the Pan Wang Sect's cultivation technique, Chu Weiyang did not mention Danxia Laomu at all, as if he had not heard Yan Jianming's deliberate probing remarks.
So clever, but destined not to live long.
At this thought, for some reason, as he looked at Chu Weiyang again, at the young man's tired face, at his somewhat unfamiliar yet forced smile, and his awkward and unfamiliar small talk, Yan Jianming felt a sense of transcendence.
This feeling came inexplicably.
One was a stray dog, the other an old disciple; one was plagued by illness, the other at the peak of Qi Refinement.
Comparing them, Yan Jianming had clearly won over Chu Weiyang in every aspect, so there was no reason for Yan Jianming to feel pleased.
But perhaps sensing the cleverness of the person in front of him, sensing something astonishing about to flash by and disappear, like a shooting star or a fleeting moment.
That baseless feeling of transcendence almost made Yan Jianming indulge in self-absorption, as if he had suddenly realized all the complexities of the mortal world in that moment, feeling the impermanence of life, feeling on the verge of transcending the mundane world.
Lost in these thoughts, faced with Chu Weiyang's hesitant small talk, Yan Jianming suddenly became impatient.
He waved his hand, cutting off Chu Weiyang's words.
"Friend, please stop! These lies, these pretty words, are useless to both of us!"
"Do what Laomu instructed you to do, otherwise I won't fare well, and as for you, friend..."
At this point, Yan Jianming shook his head.
"You don't want to know."
Being rudely interrupted like this, Yan Jianming behaved quite impolitely, even unlike himself.
Yan Jianming even resorted to using such low threats.
Chu Weiyang was not angry, he was just somewhat surprised.
In a daze, he seemed to see a person who had just been suppressed into the Demon Suppression Cave, their soul and emotions being pulled by malevolent energy, then in extreme anger and sorrow, allowing that devilish malevolent energy to slowly devour their consciousness, completely forgetting themselves.
Such thoughts flashed by.
Chu Weiyang even looked at Yan Jianming with a hint of pity at that moment.
Then, he smiled and nodded.
"Alright, if there's anything, Friend Yan can directly come to Zhai Feng Tower to find me. It's been a while since I've had a peaceful day, I need some time to recuperate. Of course, I won't forget Laomu's instructions, so..."
Chu Weiyang hesitated.
Yan Jianming nodded, then raised his chin, feeling that this gesture seemed inappropriate, hesitated for a moment, then shook his robe, turned around, and left like that.
Standing behind the interwoven spiritual chains of light, Chu Weiyang stood quietly in place until he watched Yan Jianming's figure completely disappear into the lush forest.
Only then did Chu Weiyang walk back to Zhai Feng Tower with a sense of bewilderment.
Pushing the door open, the steward was already sitting on a wooden chair, meeting Chu Weiyang's gaze.
Clearly, the steward, who had mastered the Sword Intent Secret Technique, had keenly sensed the conversation just now.
Before Chu Weiyang could say anything, the steward nodded on his own.
"You're not wrong. As I said, from now on, your place of standing, your body is the Demon Suppression Cave that suppresses you! Now that malevolent energy is steaming, even someone at the peak of Qi Refinement standing in front of you will be affected by the malevolent energy."
"Only lunatics will be around a lunatic."
"In the future... you probably won't have any friends."
At these words, Chu Weiyang simply nodded calmly, as this was something he had already guessed.
But whether he was crazy or not, whether he had friends or not, Chu Weiyang had no time to worry about these things.
After all, the steward had recently suffered a disaster, and his thoughts were still in the original comfortable state, always accustomed to thinking about this and that.
At this moment, Chu Weiyang's mind was pondering the implications behind Yan Jianming's words just now.
After a long period of contemplation, Chu Weiyang became increasingly worried.
"I originally thought that dealing with disasters and tribulations was just for the sake of a child from the Chunyu family. Even if someone broke into the Sword Sect's gate for him once and destroyed the Demon Suppression Cave."
"But such things should be limited to the next two generations at most. Even if Danxia Laomu instructed it, there is no reason for me and Yan Jianming, who together are not as tall as someone else's ankle, to be so detailed in her inquiries."
"There is no reason for this!"
"But things still happened this way."
"So this guise of mine is not for that Chunyu family child, or perhaps both of us are just guises, who is more concerned about this matter..."
These words were a bit convoluted, but in the end, Chu Weiyang looked at the steward with a puzzled expression.
Both of them understood the implications behind those words, feeling as if the deep spring forest was enveloped in frost, sending shivers down their spines.
The steward awkwardly scratched his head.
"What kind of luck is it that makes you act as a guise for Danxia Laomu!"
Chu Weiyang clicked his tongue, grinned without smiling, then weighed the green jade slip in his hand.
"My limited intelligence is barely enough to fool Yan Jianming. If he returns to the sect and recounts the whole process, I'm afraid that even from a distance, Danxia Laomu will see through me."
"She may not have anticipated that I could guess this far."
"So after several rounds of flipping through precious materials, all of which were hard-earned treasures, she hopes for me to grow stronger, but not to the point of losing control."
"So this Poison Scripture, no matter how beautifully and profoundly explained, may not necessarily meet my intentions."
With that, Chu Weiyang absentmindedly picked up the emerald green jade slip from the wooden box, gently placing it on his forehead.
His spiritual consciousness circulated, unfamiliar characters flowing through his mind.
After a long time, Chu Weiyang opened his eyes, silently watching the jade slip in his hand disintegrate into light, turning into powder and dispersing with the wind between his fingers.
He gently brushed off the last speck of ash and dust from his palm, as if he had seen the end and passing of a cause and effect story from five hundred years ago in the Pan Wang Sect, gradually fading away in the silent sighs of future generations, slowly fading into the passage of time.
The steward, who had been bored to the extreme, was now absentmindedly scratching his head.
At this moment, he looked at Chu Weiyang in silence, then asked.
"How was it? In my opinion, you shouldn't have too high hopes. I've never heard of the 'Green Bamboo Elixir Scripture,' and those figures who carried the cauldron five hundred years ago sound like nonsense. How many years has it been since the Pan Wang Sect, big and small, has been declining? For hundreds of years, even the semblance of humanity in the mountains and wilderness has almost disappeared. Such figures carrying the cauldron, are they even worthy of discussing creating scriptures? Even tearing off a piece of skin would be more enduring than those few words of his!"
At these words, Chu Weiyang glanced at the steward's lower body that no longer existed.
"Steward, well said. Don't say such things in the future."
-
Three more days passed.
In front of Zhai Feng Tower.
Chu Weiyang molded clay into a large urn, half a person tall and as thick as a water bucket, placed on the flat ground.
The steward sat on a wooden chair beside him, propping himself up with his hands, peering into the urn.
Inside the large urn, several common spiritual herbs and medicines found in the forest were carefully laid out in layers of grass mats brought by Chu Weiyang.
Among these grass mats, snake eggs resembling sheep-fat white jade were neatly arranged.
On the inner wall, several deliberately carved pits were embedded with more than ten spiritual stones in just the right places.
Normally, Chu Weiyang would not be so extravagant as to use spiritual stones in this way, as they were still other people's money, used without hesitation, displaying a somewhat extravagant air of spending money like dirt.
These spiritual stones of varying heights embedded on the inner wall, when looked at carefully, seemed to have a hint of mystery, as if they had laid down some kind of formation, binding the energy within the entire large urn.
As the sun and moon revolved, like stars in the sky.
He reached out and laid the final layer of grass mat on top.
Each snake egg was completely hidden among the spiritual herbs and medicines, even the spiritual stones were concealed within them.
Only then did Chu Weiyang stand up straight.
He hesitated, raised his palm, placed it directly above the large urn, then drew a sword edge across his palm.
In an instant, drops of bright red blood fell into the large urn.
Visibly, as Chu Weiyang's fresh blood dripped into it, wisps of dark mist emanated from his bloodstains, extremely pure malevolent energy spreading in all directions, intensifying, yet being tightly bound by the formation made of spiritual stones on the inner wall.
At the same time, Chu Weiyang's complexion became increasingly pale.
Being in poor health, Chu Weiyang felt dizzy in a moment, hastily swallowing the Dragon-Tiger Revitalizing Pill hidden under his tongue.
A scorching flow surged through his limbs and bones, reviving Chu Weiyang, who then saw the wound in his palm showing signs of healing.
Without hesitation, he drew another sword, then threw the long sword aside, bolstering his spirits, forming a sword gesture with his hand, pointing it at his wrist.
In a moment, Chu Weiyang spoke confidently, his tone mixed with the changes in his spiritual consciousness, stirring the rotation of his internal energy.
Before long, the wound on the palm of his hand, which was originally bright red, suddenly turned dark red, almost becoming a deep purple color, looking like some kind of poisonous substance.
At the same time, the grass mats that had been almost drenched in Chu Weiyang's blood, when sprayed with this dark red fresh blood, still seemed to be corroded, emitting a hissing white smoke.
A pungent but rich medicinal fragrance began to permeate, but was also confined by the formation within the large urn.
Finally, Chu Weiyang picked up a spiritual stone, placed it on the wound in his palm.
Then, stirring his sword energy, he ground the spiritual stone stained with his fresh blood into powder, then evenly sprinkled this powder into the urn.
After Chu Weiyang had finished these actions and sealed the mouth of the urn with a piece of parchment paper covered in dense seals, the steward sneered, looking at Chu Weiyang with a disdainful expression, as if he were a spectator who had just finished watching a show.
"This method of refining gu seems like a demonic technique, exuding a taste of unorthodox methods. This chaotic concoction makes me feel like I'm serving a dish!"
"This is using the method of refining gu to tame beasts..."
"The malevolent energy has been transformed, but it has been condensed onto the demonic beasts!"
"The toxic energy has also been refined, similarly condensed onto the demonic beasts!"
"With this back and forth, you lose a bit of malevolent energy from your body for no reason, but it only makes those ferocious beasts stronger!"
"However, the ferocious beasts cultivated in the path of poison are all untamed beasts!"
"If they are raised weak, they are just a burden."
"If they are raised strong, one must be wary of backlash."
"You're right, by passing on this method to you, Danxia Laomu didn't really want you to become strong!"
At these words, Chu Weiyang lightly touched the gradually healing wound, looked at the large urn filled with snake eggs, nodded, as if he agreed with the steward's words, yet also seemed to be marveling at the mysterious nature of the 'Green Bamboo Elixir Scripture.'
"A green snake in bamboo, a yellow wasp with a sting, neither are poisonous, the most poisonous is a woman's heart."
Hearing Chu Weiyang's contemplation, the steward suddenly froze, as if he had remembered a story.
Suddenly, he fiercely slapped the armrest of the chair.
"Damn it! The unreasonable heavens!"
-
North of the Yushui River, Tingchang Mountain, Danxia Laomu's Daoist temple.
In the dim Daoist hall, with the doors tightly closed, only the incense candles burning on the walls, the billowing mist becoming denser, creating an atmosphere akin to a fairyland.
On the high platform to the north, Xie Jiang and Jin Guan sat cross-legged, but upon closer inspection, Xie Jiang's eyelids were twitching, and Jin Guan was frowning, neither of them focused on their meditation practice.
Having been confined to Tingchang Mountain for several days now, Xie Jiang and Jin Guan had lost their freedom, imprisoned in this Daoist hall, unaware of what was happening outside, whether their elders from the sect had come knocking on the door, whether Qinghai Master Uncle had made a vow with Danxia Laomu.
They knew nothing.
But as the days passed like this, they became increasingly restless and anxious.
At this moment, Jin Guan finally seemed to let out a sigh of relief, unwilling to pretend any longer, he opened his eyes and looked at Xie Jiang beside him, suddenly speaking.
"Sister, about that spiritual object..."
Seeing Jin Guan about to continue, Xie Jiang suddenly opened her eyes, her deep gaze shining with supreme sword intent, almost materializing from the void, directly cutting through Jin Guan's mind!
"Fool! In Tingchang Mountain, on someone else's territory, how dare you say anything!"
Hearing Xie Jiang's low reprimand, perhaps reaching the peak of irritation, Jin Guan rolled his eyes, indifferent, and continued.
"So what if I say it! If that spiritual object is in Tingchang Mountain, it must be on that Chunyu family brat! But if it's truly not in Tingchang Mountain, Sister, do you think it might be on the escaped demonic prisoner!"
"After all, surviving in the Demon Suppression Cave during the outbreak of malevolent energy, it seems that the suspicion falls more on that demonic prisoner..."
Seeing Jin Guan about to continue, Xie Jiang suddenly slapped him on the chest.
"Are you planning to betray the sect one day? Acting so recklessly and madly here! Losing the spiritual object, our sect's tribulation-supplementing scripture..."
At this point, Xie Jiang suddenly lowered her voice.
As if knowing, yet not knowing.
At this moment, outside the Daoist hall, there was suddenly the hurried footsteps of a person rushing away.
Many books are now hard to find, so cherish them while you can.