Chapter 135: Human-Demon, Red-Name, and Nether-Walking Realms

He felt a massive surge of cultivation experience regarding the Art of Opening the Altar flood rapidly into his mind.

In just a short moment, it was as though insights and comprehension were flowing through his heart, granting him a deeper understanding and experience of setting up altars and performing rituals.

"The Art of Opening the Altar has reached the Minor Accomplishment stage."

Chen Yushu immediately realized that he had successfully advanced the Art of Opening the Altar to the Minor Accomplishment realm.

Glancing at his attribute panel, sure enough, it clearly displayed the words: Art of Opening the Altar – "Minor Accomplishment."

Furthermore, the experience value was not "1," but had directly reached "27."

"However, come to think of it, this is quite normal.

This time, opening the altar was a genuine, practical execution, and with the aid of the ritual array, I eliminated numerous ghost soldiers of the fierce ghost level and ghost generals of the malicious ghost level.

Most importantly, there was that evil spirit, the Faceless Ghost.

Its strength, strictly speaking, was far more formidable than that of the ghost bride I encountered previously.

After I used the Art of Opening the Altar to eliminate it, the increase in experience was naturally immense."

Chen Yushu muttered to himself, feeling exceptionally pleased.

The Art of Opening the Altar at the Minor Accomplishment stage naturally made him somewhat reflective of his own performance.

Especially the placement orientation of the altar, the timing of its activation, and the positioning of various antique vessels and talismans... all had minor inaccuracies.

If every single one of them had been properly aligned to truly achieve a resonance between the entire ritual array and heaven and earth, it would have been utterly impossible for the evil spirit to "recognize" the ghost generals and the others, thereby "awakening" and retaliating against him.

A master-level altar operates on absolute reality.

In the eyes of evil spirits and malevolent entities, everything around them is real.

They must submit; they must accept judgment.

Only when this judgment truly threatens their own lives and safety will they resist out of "survival instinct."

Yet Chen Yushu had ordered it to execute the ghost soldiers without threatening its survival instinct.

Had the altar been set up according to the Minor Accomplishment level, it would have been impossible for it to awaken on its own.

"This can also be considered good news.

It gives me even greater confidence when facing Mother Jiang.

At the very least, my level of strength will rise by a tier."

Chen Yushu felt a slight surge of encouragement in his heart.

Of course, he did not completely let his guard down.

This time, he had slain Mother Jiang's subordinate, the Faceless Ghost of evil spirit rank.

Yet who could say whether Mother Jiang herself would appear next?

Therefore, even though he dispersed the incantations of the Art of Opening the Altar, he did not dismantle the altar itself. Instead, right there in the courtyard, he practiced the White Tiger Visualization Meditation to recover the Dao energy he had consumed.

One stick of incense, two sticks of incense, three sticks of incense...

Just as the Dao energy within his body was about to fully recover, he suddenly felt a slight vibration from within.

It was the Induction Disk!

Almost instantly, Chen Yushu reacted.

The vibration of the Induction Disk indicated that someone within a certain range was injecting Dao energy into it, using the Induction Disk to attempt a connection and conversation.

"Who could it be?

Could it be, the Divine Favored One?"

Chen Yushu wondered inwardly.

The next moment, the injection of Dao energy was complete, and a voice rang out instantly.

"Code name: Divine Favored One, calling the Spirit Communicator. Please respond if you hear this."

The voice belonging to the Divine Favored One sounded clearly.

A thought stirred in Chen Yushu's mind, and he immediately responded, "Ah, Fellow Daoist Divine Favored One, have you been safely rescued?"

"That's right, it's me.

Hahaha, I've finally escaped! I've had the worst luck lately.

Fortunately, I had the Induction Disk and was able to contact Fellow Daoist Spirit Communicator.

Otherwise, I really would have died of grievance serving that false deity as a divine attendant—that would have driven me mad.

Therefore, as soon as I got out safely, I contacted you immediately because I wanted to specifically thank you."

The Divine Favored One first acknowledged the greeting, then hurriedly offered an explanation. Joy was unmistakably evident in his voice.

"That's good to hear.

It seems my message was delivered just in time.

And Senior Situ arrived quite quickly as well."

Chen Yushu replied.

"Situ and I are old friends; he rushed right over the moment he received the letter.

Actually, I was rescued yesterday.

It just takes a little time to heal and recover.

It's a pity we weren't able to leave that false deity behind.

That bastard subjected me to such great humiliation; according to my brother Situ's intentions, we absolutely should have shattered its soul, extracted its spirit, and ground its bones to ashes.

Too bad it was too cunning.

It used a soul-burning secret art and managed to escape by the skin of its teeth.

However, we inflicted heavy injuries on it, and coupled with the soul-burning art, unless its faith reserves are immense, it will likely take a very long time for it to recover.

Besides, I already know its identity; once my injuries are fully healed, I will definitely go back to settle accounts with it."

The tone of the Divine Favored One carried a heavy sense of resentment.

Clearly, he had suffered quite a severe loss this time.

"Oh? Which malevolent entity is it?"

Chen Yushu asked with curiosity.

"Mother Jiang, the River-Guarding Divine Envoy of Jianghuan Town," the Divine Favored One said darkly.

"It's her?

She holds sway there, and the incense offerings in the nearby towns are considered thriving.

Recovering probably won't be difficult for her," Chen Yushu thought to himself, speaking aloud accordingly.

In truth, he had long guessed that the one who made a move against the Divine Favored One was none other than Mother Jiang.

After all, throughout the vicinity of Jianghuan Town, she was the most prominent evil spirit conferred as a deity.

As for entities like the Kitchen God or Earth Gods, they were "righteous deities" who could not possibly be compared to the false deities transformed from such malevolent entities.

Normally, they would not even appear before ordinary people, let alone walking-yin practitioners.

And it was obvious that precisely because she had failed on the Divine Favored One's end, feeling her losses were catastrophic, she could not help but make a move against the ghosts within the Zuo family residence, intending to capture Xiaohong and draw out her grandfather, the Zuo family ancestor.

Either way, she wanted to gain something.

If she couldn't secure a divine attendant, capturing the Zuo family ancestor would still earn her merit... she couldn't afford to make a move for nothing.

"A tiny Jianghuan Town—how much faith can it possibly generate?

Even with abundant faith, it will still take her several months to recover.

During this period, she will definitely hide inside her temple and not dare to take a single step outside.

Otherwise, the evil spirits and malevolent entities outside this town would undoubtedly seize the opportunity to move against her.

There are quite a few eyeing her position as the River-Guarding Divine Envoy, after all," the Divine Favored One sneered as he spoke.

The position of River-Guarding Divine Envoy was an identity, but it was also a layer of protection.

With the backing of this divine title, she could freely display her strength in the human world without being restricted.

It also allowed her to recruit various ghost soldiers outside the city for her own use, causing various malevolent entities to revere her, submit to her, or simply not dare to provoke her.

Yet, at the same time.

The identity of a divine envoy could also attract the covetous desires of numerous malevolent entities.

Once she was slain and the Divine Envoy Token acquired, those malevolent entities, provided they obtained "recognition," could similarly step up grandly and become a locally conferred deity.

Of course, this so-called recognition required acknowledgment from two aspects.

First, the subordinate "higher deity"—for instance, Mother Jiang was a River-Guarding Divine Envoy, so above her would inevitably be a River-Guarding Divine General, a River God, a River God King, a Dragon God...

Generally, securing the recognition of the River-Guarding Divine General alone was enough to attain a "divine position."

On the other hand, there was the recognition of the human authorities.

Primarily, this meant acknowledgment by the current dynasty's legitimate officials or members of the Yin Suppression Bureau.

Although Mother Jiang's divine position was secure, if her injured state were discovered by certain calculating malevolent entities, it would still be extremely dangerous.

As an old ghost that had lived for hundreds of years, she naturally would not take such a risk.

"So that's how it is."

Hearing this, Chen Yushu nodded, indicating he understood.

Inwardly, he felt a wave of relief.

This meant that the other party would likely not come looking for trouble with him anytime soon.

Even though he had successively slaughtered her two teams of ghost guards and a subordinate evil spirit.

It was precisely because of this that she would be all the more wary and fearful.

Especially now while she was injured, she would certainly not dare to act rashly or manifest easily.

After all, she also feared that other malevolent entities might be lying in ambush nearby to strike at her.

Weaker evil spirits like them could only guarantee their safety by staying within their own temples.

Just like that General Fengyun within Jianghuan Town.

Why had his incense offerings withered? Wasn't it because his divine might was no longer apparent? He didn't dare step half a step out of the General Temple.

Because the moment he left the temple, he ran the risk of being assassinated by other evil spirits and replaced.

If a divine token never leaves the temple, it cannot project influence; and without projecting influence, how could it attract believers to worship him, light incense, and contribute faith?

"Fellow Daoist Spirit Communicator, I wonder what you need so I can repay you."

The voice of the Divine Favored One came through immediately.

"Fellow Daoist Divine Favored One is being far too polite.

It was merely a matter of convenience for me."

Chen Yushu hurriedly replied.

"To you, it might have been a matter of convenience, but to me, it was saving my life.

Such a great kindness naturally calls for repayment.

Otherwise, my conscience will remain ill at ease, and it will become a barrier to my cultivation, hindering my progress.

Therefore, I must repay it.

Last time, you mentioned that you have always stayed in this vicinity and were using the Induction Disk for the very first time.

That being the case, you certainly know nothing about the power of our Induction Disk Alliance.

Nor do you know how to survive in this world.

Since I have the time, I might as well tell you about it first."

The Divine Favored One continued.

"The Induction Disk Alliance?"

Chen Yushu was stunned.

He had not expected the Induction Disk to have an alliance.

"Actually, the Induction Disk Alliance is not some dedicated allied organization.

Anyone who holds an Induction Disk, as long as they have not been judged as 'red-named' by the disk, can be considered a member of our alliance.

And as you know, with the help of this disk, we can contact one another, cooperate, trade what we have for what we lack, and remain extremely covert—almost impossible for other cultivators to discover.

Naturally, these individual holders of the Induction Disk can mutually leverage each other's strength to grow rapidly.

Among them, as far as I know, there are fellow daoists who have held an Induction Disk for several centuries. Not only are they genuine heavyweights within the disk's network, but they are also second to none among the powerhouses of the entire esoteric sect world.

They can truly be called leaders of the mysterious arts."

The Divine Favored One offered an explanation, then continued, "Of course, the reason this alliance exists is also because we have enemies.

Not just malevolent entities and calamities.

We have human enemies as well.

Because cultivators holding the Induction Disk possess such extreme convenience.

Many esoteric sects have experienced the theft of secret manuals and betrayals.

Indeed, under the influence of the disk, a holder's selfish desires can be magnified infinitely.

Selling sect intelligence, secret manuals, or even being hired to assassinate powerful figures within one's master's sect happens from time to time... Because of this, our disk holders are also referred to as human fiends.

We are spurned and hunted down by orthodox esoteric sects.

Therefore, outwardly, you must never expose the fact that you possess an Induction Disk.

Otherwise, you will die."

At this point, a hint of solemnity was unmistakably present in the Divine Favored One's voice.

This was the second time he had warned him not to expose his identity.

Previously, when he was trapped, he had mentioned it once, and now upon escaping, he brought it up again.

"Thank you for the warning, Fellow Daoist. I understand.

However, 'red-named'?"

Chen Yushu responded solemnly, then voiced the doubt in his heart.

"Those are Induction Disk users who lack integrity.

Failing to keep one's word three times causes the disk to record and flag them in red.

Once flagged, they naturally become red-named.

Additionally, it's worth mentioning that those who betray their sects and sell sect intelligence or manuals are mostly red-named cultivators.

It is said that red-named cultivators have even established a faction called the Sin Gate, specializing in assassinations and the like.

The reason our alliance is so despised and labeled as human fiends is largely because of these red-named individuals.

Once encountered, not only must you remain vigilant, but you must also prepare in advance.

If you can strike first to gain the upper hand, you must do so.

You must understand, we non-'red-named' disk cultivators are also targets for them."

The Divine Favored One explained smoothly.

Hearing this, Chen Yushu felt a chill in his heart, truly surprised that a mere Induction Disk possessed such internal fractures.

And in the eyes of outsiders, they were collectively termed "human fiends."

Were they practically cast directly into the ranks of "villains"?

"Are you scared?

Actually, there's no need to be overly nervous.

Most disk cultivators are decent people.

And red-named individuals are displayed on the disk.

There's no need to worry about being ambushed by them blindly.

From now on, you just need to be a bit careful and avoid contacting them or getting entangled with them, and naturally, you won't have to worry."

The Divine Favored One said in a relaxed tone.

"Thank you for informing me, Fellow Daoist.

I understand."

Chen Yushu replied hastily. Following that, he pondered for a moment and asked, "I wonder how much understanding Fellow Daoist has regarding entering the Dao?

Do you happen to know what realms lie beyond the Dao-Entry stage?"

He had always known that walking-yin cultivation progressed through one stick of incense, two sticks of incense, three sticks of incense, and then the Dao-Entry stage.

Yet as for what entering the Dao truly meant, he only had some understanding because he had read the book *The Art of Entering the Dao*.

He knew that entering the Dao required consuming oneself with spiritual fire, refining the three souls and seven魄, and forging the divine soul.

However, the specifics—what abilities one gained after entering the Dao, and the path of cultivation ahead—remained entirely unclear to him.

Now that he had managed to cross paths with someone evidently above the Dao-Entry realm, and one who was enthusiastic about explaining things, he naturally could not help but ask.

"In truth, entering the Dao is the cultivation of the divine soul.

Everything before it—whether one stick, two sticks, or three sticks of incense—is merely laying the foundation to strengthen your three fires of heaven, earth, and man.

Only when these three fires burn brightly can you scorch your three souls and seven魄, fusing them entirely together to forge your own divine soul.

Everyone's divine soul is unique.

Once the divine soul is formed, you can be considered to have successfully entered the Dao.

Of course, for ordinary walking-yin cultivators to achieve this is exceedingly difficult.

The simplest yet hardest method is to cultivate and elevate your meditation state.

In the Minor Meditation realm, you can rely on various heavenly treasures to forcefully enter the Dao.

In the Major Meditation realm, you have a certain probability of relying on your own strength to successfully undergo spiritual fire consumption and forge your divine soul.

Only in the Constant Meditation realm.

Can you guarantee a one-hundred-percent chance of forging your divine soul by your own power.

Yet as everyone knows, cultivating the meditation state is the hardest of all.

Some people never progress beyond Minor Meditation their entire lives.

Those with good luck or considerable talent can elevate themselves to the Major Meditation level through certain special techniques or heavenly treasures.

As for Constant Meditation?

That requires a cultivator with extremely high mental temperament to achieve.

Within major sects, such individuals are usually vice sect masters or elders.

They are hailed as walking grand masters.

Beyond that is the Eternal realm.

Eternal carries the meaning of being ancient and undying.

Thus, it is also known as the Undying Realm.

It means that even if the divine soul is shattered, one can still rely on a single thought to recover and be reborn.

To a certain extent, it truly deserves to be called undying and indestructible.

Of course, that is merely the meditation state.

The actual cultivation realms correspond to incense—divided into one, two, or three sticks of incense—while entering the Dao also has three realm tiers: Out-of-Body, Night-Wandering, and Day-Wandering. Following that is Soul-Refining, which is divided into True and False, Sun-Transformation, and Life-Seizing... As for what comes after that, even I am not clear; it is said to be the realm of immortals.

In other words, anything above the Soul-Refining realm can be considered an immortal.

Right, it is worth mentioning that the Dao-Entry realm is intricately linked to the walking-yin realm.

The higher your meditation state, the easier it is to cultivate to higher realm tiers.

There is an ancient legend of a great Confucian scholar who spent a hundred years reading without ever cultivating, yet his mental realm was exceptionally high; the moment he began cultivating, it took him only a single night to reach the Dao-Entry realm directly, earning him the title of a grand walking-yin of the Dao-Entry level.

Of course, such people are exceedingly rare in this world.

For countless years, there has only ever been one.

It is said that this was because his mental realm had attained the Eternal state."

The Divine Favored One genuinely felt grateful toward Chen Yushu, and when asked questions, he answered them one by one without the slightest concealment.

"The Eternal realm, entering the Dao in a single night?"

Chen Yushu could not help but marvel in astonishment.

He was currently at Constant Meditation, only one realm tier away from Eternal, yet the gap was so vast?

Of course, he also knew that things could not be compared in this manner.

After all, the circumstances, situations, and innate endowments of the two individuals were worlds apart.

Not to mention that that great Confucian scholar possessed a hundred years of accumulation.

Once he began cultivation, he could naturally accomplish it in one stroke, smoothly elevating his strength and realm to a relatively high level.

Beyond entering the Dao, that person had exhausted his early accumulations.

Subsequent cultivation would still require relying on himself and resources; though the speed would remain rapid, it wouldn't be quite so exaggerated.

Compared to him, Chen Yushu's biggest difference was his lack of accumulation.

Naturally, his cultivation had to proceed step by step, improving slowly.

"Incense, Dao-Entry, Soul-Refining...

Three sticks of incense, Out-of-Body, Night-Wandering, Day-Wandering, True and False, Sun-Transformation, Life-Seizing... these various realms.

This has truly cleared away all my doubts.

I now have a much clearer understanding of my future cultivation path."

Chen Yushu could not help feeling a wave of deep emotion in his heart.

He felt profound gratitude toward the Divine Favored One as well.

Otherwise, he truly would not have known what the Dao-Entry realm actually was or what kinds of strength transformations came with it.

Now he knew that the first realm after entering the Dao was the ability to allow the divine soul to leave the body.

Once the divine soul leaves the body, it gains the ability to wander as a spirit.

Night-Wandering meant the ability to wander during the night.

Day-Wandering signified that Chen Yushu's divine soul could freely fly about in broad daylight under the sun's rays... It was indeed a magical and highly anticipated thing.

"Thank you, Fellow Daoist, for resolving my doubts."

Chen Yushu said hastily.

"Think nothing of it.

It's just moving one's mouth.

Compared to the favor I owe you, it's a drop in the ocean and hardly worth mentioning.

Tell me, what do you want?

As long as I can manage it, I can help you."

The Divine Favored One continued speaking immediately.

Clearly, he was eager to repay the favor and did not want to remain indebted.

Especially since he knew Chen Yushu's strength was still weak at the moment, repaying the favor now would be relatively easy.

Should he wait until Chen Yushu's strength grew before trying to repay it, the weight of the favor would multiply, and he might not even be able to pay it back.

Just like Chen Yushu, who had previously owed favors to Zhao Feng and Qi Jichuan, and once they made their request, had no choice but to accompany them to raise corpses.

"If you're asking for a request, perhaps Fellow Daoist could impart some secret arts that can be practiced after entering the Dao..."

Chen Yushu muttered thoughtfully, unable to think of anything else he needed help with at the moment.

Mother Jiang's threat?

The other party had already explicitly stated that she had been injured by him, ensuring she would behave herself in the short term. Furthermore, the Divine Favored One himself held an even greater grudge against Mother Jiang and had explicitly stated he would meet her again once his injuries healed.

He preferred not to complicate things unnecessarily.

If the other party were to discover his true identity, it would only make him feel uneasy.

Therefore, after much deliberation, he decided to exchange for "secret arts" instead.

"Very well! Just wait.

Within three days, I will have them prepared for you.

However, just this alone can only be considered a minor favor; it cannot offset the major favor of saving my life.

My life as the Divine Favored One is quite valuable.

Still, let's leave it at that for now, since I figured you wouldn't be able to come up with any real demands anyway."

The Divine Favored One spoke hastily, agreeing to the request and indicating that he would contact him again in three days.

To this.

Chen Yushu naturally had no complaints.

In truth, he hadn't held overly high expectations for this request to begin with.

The only thing that brought him a measure of comfort was that from the other party's words, he had learned of Mother Jiang's situation.

Consequently, he knew he was safe for a period of time to come.

He also didn't need to worry that she would dare step out of her temple to cause trouble for him.

Thus, after ending the communication with the Divine Favored One, Chen Yushu packed away the altar and related items in the courtyard.

Naturally, that included the spoils left behind after the destruction of the evil spirit and ghost soldiers.

Just at that moment...