Chapter 129: Analysis, Superior Foundation-Building Pill, Tracking

"The Induction Disc—so this is its true purpose.

It not only allows one to sense other users within a certain range and communicate with them, but it also possesses an anti-counterfeiting function. It serves to discern the truthfulness of the other party's words. In a sense, it can indeed help two parties in conversation establish sufficient trust."

After closing the communication, Chen Yushu could not help but ponder silently, gaining a deeper understanding of its function.

"However, from the conversation with that 'God-favored One,' aside from the function of the Induction Disc, it is not hard to analyze a great deal of information. First and foremost, this Longjiang River holds a great secret. There truly is a 'dragon.' Though I do not know if it is a true dragon or a sub-dragon, its strength is undoubtedly immense; a mere flick of its tail was enough to severely injure that God-favored One.

Furthermore, based on his description, the strength of that entity should not be weak—at the very least, it is at the Dao-Entering Realm. Otherwise, he would not have spoken with such disdain for 'Calamity-level' pseudo-gods. That Granny Jiang, based in Jianghuan Town and having received local veneration there, may not be overwhelmingly powerful, but she is a genuine enshrined deity capable of enjoying local incense offerings. Even at the Calamity-level, she is by no means weak. Yet, the God-favored One was able to hold her off for such a long time despite being heavily injured; one can only imagine his own capabilities."

Thinking of this, Chen Yushu could not help but marvel.

"Right. That God-favored One also mentioned that Granny Jiang was originally hunting another Calamity-level evil spirit, and only abandoned that pursuit to attack him after happening upon his heavily injured state. If that is the case, the evil spirit being hunted is very likely the Old Master Zuo from the Zuo residence, the one Xiao Hong calls grandfather. It seems his abilities are not to be underestimated; he successfully escaped from Granny Jiang's clutches."

Chen Yushu mused silently. Only after thoroughly analyzing the brief conversation did he rise and go to his study. He took up his brush and began to write to Daoist Situ Nan of the Fuqiu Temple on Mount Huang.

From beginning to end, he recounted the encounter of the God-favored One in peril and his plea for help to Daoist Situ Nan. Of course, he did not write in the conventional reading format; instead, he deliberately scrambled the order. Anyone unfamiliar with the specific secret key used by the Fuqiu Temple would be unable to decipher the true content of the letter. Once finished, he sealed the letter securely. He only needed to send it to the designated courier station the following morning.

...

Immortal Dharma Cultivation: Two Incense Sticks (52/100)

The next morning, Chen Yushu glanced at his attribute panel, a trace of satisfaction appearing on his face. He had passed the halfway mark of the second incense stick. Such cultivation speed made him feel quite at ease. The key was that not much time had passed since he broke through from one incense stick to two.

"The state of 'Constant Meditation,' combined with the Tranquility Talisman, the Spirit-Invoking Talisman, and the perfected-level White Tiger Visualization Technique—it is the superposition of these many effects that allows my cultivation speed to reach such a ferocious level. Not to mention the efficiency of the technique running automatically every day, which also improves my incense cultivation..."

Chen Yushu thought to himself, his confidence growing significantly. Time, he only lacked time. He simply needed to follow the steps and elevate his incense cultivation to the three-incense-stick level, which would undoubtedly elevate his strength to another tier.

"Right. And there are those two evil spirit essences, one large and one small. According to Lu Yizhi, evil spirit essences have great utility. Beyond strengthening a cultivator's spiritual power and incense cultivation, they also possess the ability to help a three-incense-stick cultivator break through into the Dao-Entering Realm."

Soon, Chen Yushu recalled the two essences in his storage bag. But he now knew that for a cultivator with three incense sticks of attainment, the primary condition for breaking into the Dao-Entering Realm was that their meditation state must reach the "Great Stabilization" level.

"Fire burning the body, building the soul." The agony of the fire burning the body is something only a cultivator in the Great Stabilization state can endure with sheer willpower. Otherwise, they would be forced out of the meditative state and, due to the intense, unbearable pain, suffer a mental collapse, unable to maintain it any longer. Naturally, the attempt to enter the Dao would fail, and their three souls and seven spirits might be scorched and destroyed, ending their path to the Great Dao forever, or even leading to death, or leaving them mentally impaired and forever barred from the path.

While a "Small Stabilization" state holds a slim chance of successful entry into the Dao, the probability is extremely low. Thus, many have devised various methods to enter the Dao, such as spiritual pills or other rare treasures. The evil spirit essence is one such method. According to Lu Yizhi, some cultivators use the power of the evil spirit within the essence to mask the pain of entering the Dao. The more essences used, the stronger the masking effect, and the longer it can be maintained.

But at the same time, this leaves the cultivator's true spirit in a completely unprotected state, making it highly susceptible to being tainted by the tyrannical, evil, combative, and chaotic emotions of the evil spirit. This can lead to a drastic change in personality, becoming evil and murderous, losing one's true self...

"Of course, there are cultivators who are minimally affected. That depends on luck. Those who dare to take this path are either making a desperate gamble or possess a heart of iron, a heart for the Great Dao as hard as steel..."

Chen Yushu sighed, but he had already decided to absorb these two evil spirit essences directly and convert them into his own incense cultivation. After all, he did not need such things to break through. Not only because he was currently only at the two-incense-stick level, with a long road ahead before the Dao-Entering Realm, but also because his meditative state was that of "Constant Meditation." His heart was as stable as ever; once he entered meditation, no worldly event could stir ripples in his heart. The threshold of the Dao-Entering Realm—the fire burning the body and building the soul—would definitely not be as difficult for him as one might imagine.

...

Before heading to the pharmacy, Chen Yushu first went to the courier station to send off the plea for help. To ensure the letter reached the Fuqiu Temple on Mount Huang as quickly as possible, he spent an extra ten taels of silver for an express dispatch. Throughout the process, he disguised his appearance; he did not want to be traced later by the God-favored One or Daoist Situ Nan of the Fuqiu Temple. With that done, he returned to the pharmacy and began his routine cultivation.

...

For the next few days, the entire Jianghuan Town remained calm and peaceful. Nothing of great significance occurred. Naturally, this was to be expected. In a small town with a limited population, people lived stable lives; how could there be so many bizarre events? The incident regarding the centennial tomb of the Prince of Pinghai was already a once-in-a-century spectacle for Jianghuan Town. Normally, the town did not see such an influx of eccentric individuals from the world of the "paths."

As a result, in the days following, stalls for street fortune-telling appeared every few steps, and the streets were filled with gossiping busybodies. Some looked for marriage prospects, others for feng shui, some sought to find auspicious burial grounds for their elders, and others held ceremonies for moving into new homes. Many in these "paths" did not possess the ability to draw talismans like Chen Yushu to earn money quickly. Many had to rely on fortune-telling, reading feng shui, or solving problems for ordinary folk and wealthy masters to earn silver. Those with more reputation naturally received more clients and higher fees, while those who had just finished their apprenticeship had to struggle. Because of this, whenever there was any event in the world of the paths, these people would do everything in their power to join in the excitement and earn some silver.

Consequently, as the centennial tomb incident concluded, the flow of people in Jianghuan Town receded significantly, and the surroundings returned to their previous quiet. Only occasionally at the ends of the streets could one hear discussions and anecdotes about these practitioners.

By comparison, something had happened at the pharmacy recently: people from the Liu family pharmacy in the county had arrived. The leader was none other than Elder Liu Hexuan, who had visited before. Besides him, there was a physician named Liu Xiang and four or five bodyguards. It is worth mentioning that Liu Xiang was also of the Liu family, though from a collateral branch, yet he possessed extremely high medical talent. At only twenty-eight, his medical skills were already on par with many of the older generation of physicians in the Liu family.

"However, he was sent by the first branch. This assessment will, of course, still be led by me. But privately, he will likely try to win over some people. Especially you—you will likely be a key target for his recruitment. Regardless, the Third Young Lady has not forgotten you. The 'Talent Assessment' quota your master applied for you had originally been taken away, mainly because our Liu family pharmacy has been mere spectators for years, failing to live up to the name of 'genius,' so two quotas were canceled. It was only because the Third Young Lady personally stepped in and approached the Elder that she secured this one spot for you."

Afterward, Liu Hexuan sought out Chen Yushu and told him this.

"Is that so? I am very grateful for the Third Young Lady's concern." Chen Yushu had not expected that there would be a scramble for quotas for the so-called Talent Assessment.

"It is only right. After all, you are part of our third branch. If we don't look after you, who will? By the way, I came this time because the Third Young Lady specifically asked me to bring these two bottles of Peiyuan Pills for you. She heard that you were about to participate in this Talent Assessment and feared that, given your short time practicing martial arts, your constitution might not keep up. These are top-quality Peiyuan Pills, several times more effective than the ordinary ones. There are ten pills in each bottle, twenty in total. If you take one every three days, you should be able to finish them all before the assessment next spring and elevate your constitution by a level. That way, you won't fall too far behind in the Talent Assessment."

Liu Hexuan then took out two bottles of pills and handed them to Chen Yushu. Clearly, in his eyes—and perhaps even the Third Young Lady's—while Chen Yushu's talent was decent, his short time practicing meant his strength and means were inferior to those of the children of great families. Securing this quota for him was not only part of the power struggle against the first and second branches but also a way to recruit him.

"Many thanks to the Third Young Lady for her concern. I will certainly work hard!" Chen Yushu did not mind the slight, and he bowed in response.

Speaking of which, his master had once told him he could receive two Peiyuan Pills a month. However, a month had not yet passed since his master said that, and it was not yet time for the monthly distribution of stipends and rewards. Thus, he had never tried the effects of these pills. He had not expected to receive top-quality Peiyuan Pills from the Third Young Lady directly. This was a great boon for him, especially since his Red Cloud Ganoderma had just run out. He had been wondering if he should use Shi Hao as a front to buy Peiyuan Pills from the pharmacy or acquire other nourishing treasures similar to the Red Cloud Ganoderma to sustain his martial arts training. These two bottles of top-quality Peiyuan Pills arrived just in time.

"However, I could still acquire some more medicinal herbs and spiritual fish. Such nourishing items are extremely beneficial for both my martial arts and my visualization practice." Chen Yushu was not short on money, and such treasures could significantly accelerate the progress of all his skills. With this in mind, he made his decision.

In the evening, Chen Yushu returned from Old Fu's Incense Shop. He had gone to purchase high-quality talisman paper. He had previously discussed this with Old Fu, who claimed he needed to order them from outside, taking at least ten days. Today was the tenth day. Coincidentally, the animal-hide talisman paper he had bought from Master Feng was completely exhausted, so he had gone specifically to pick them up.

"Fortunately, everything went smoothly. Although the quantity is not as high as I expected—only six hundred sheets—it will barely be enough for a while." Chen Yushu felt satisfied. During this period, he had been drawing talismans every day. He had accumulated quite a few in his storage bag, but he was not satisfied. He needed more, higher-quality talismans on his person to feel secure.

"However... I am just a minor apprentice at a pharmacy. Who would go out of their way to follow me?" Chen Yushu's expression darkened. He had long noticed a small tail following him. From the moment he left the pharmacy, someone had been tracking him. At first, he thought it was just a coincidence, but when he went straight to Old Fu's shop and returned, the shadow remained. If he still hadn't noticed, it would be a waste of the eyes he had trained through constant practice of his throwing skill.

"Not following very closely, but their blood and energy are not weak; they have almost reached the level of a perfected internal refining." Chen Yushu glanced behind him, his expression composed.

...

I've been busy for the past two days, so the updates have been a bit sparse. I'll make up for it later! My apologies!!!