Chapter 78: Chapter 61: In this Great Age of Yanfu, Who is the First Manifestation of the Daoist Lineage?

“Are your father and his generation still living?”

The Yellow Crown Daoist sat on his meditation cushion and asked leisurely,

“The technique I cultivate requires one to avoid the entanglement of familial ties. It is best if one’s parents have passed away early, grandparents are gone, and one has no lingering attachments.”

At these words, Lu Xuan froze on the spot.

He hesitated for a moment before stammering,

“Reporting to the High Cultivator, my father is still alive, and my Grandpa… is also in good health.”

The Yellow Crown Daoist shook his head slightly.

“Then you and I are not fated to be. You may leave.”

’This monumental opportunity was just within my grasp, and now it’s about to vanish like a bubble?’

Lu Xuan’s heart tightened, and he kowtowed repeatedly.

“I beg the High Cultivator to show mercy! Please consider this junior’s sincere heart for the Dao…”

He was frantic. His Grandpa had gone to great lengths to pull strings, but at most, he could only get him into the Yin Puppet Sect as an Inner Peak Disciple.

Now, an Elder from a Branch Sect Dharma Lineage was personally inquiring. If he could become this man’s Registered Disciple, he would be on equal footing with the direct descendants of the most noble Dao Races of Beimang Ridge, like the Fu Clan and the Kang Clan.

This was a golden opportunity to bring honor to his ancestors, to turn his life around and change his destiny. How could he just watch it slip away!

“The path of cultivation has always been this way; it is governed by fate.”

“Your paternal line is complete, so your destiny does not carry the ’Star of Solitude’.”

“Even if I were to force your entry as a Registered Disciple and pass on my Technique to you, it would all be for naught in the end. It would only be a waste of your precious years.”

The Yellow Crown Daoist’s tone carried a hint of regret.

“The reason I called you upstairs was because I saw your luck was passable. Because my path requires one to be ’destined for solitude and a bane to one’s kin,’ it must be balanced by good luck to ensure longevity.”

“Even if I were to explain the mysteries within, you might not be able to comprehend them.”

Lu Xuan felt nothing but terror. It was as if he had grasped something, yet couldn’t hold on, a tormenting sensation like his very insides were on fire.

“I beg the High Cultivator’s mercy! I beg for your mercy… This junior yearns for the Dharma Lineage. My only wish in this life is to enter the Zhao You Gate Wall. Even if I were to die upon entry, I would gladly accept it!”

Lu Xuan had no other choice but to beg repeatedly, hoping to move this Elder of the Zhao You Sect.

The Yellow Crown Daoist’s gaze flickered. Seemingly having heard a key point, he let out a soft “Oh?” and his attitude softened slightly.

“It’s rare to meet a junior with such a resolute heart for the Dao. Our meeting in the Doufa Pavilion is indeed a kind of fate.”

“Fine, rise for now. I will be staying in the Sanhe District for a few more days. You may come and seek my guidance at any time.”

Lu Xuan had been kowtowing so forcefully that his vision swam with spots. He looked up at the Yellow Crown Daoist.

“This junior dares to ask, does having living parents mean I am fated to have no connection with Zhao You?”

The Yellow Crown Daoist feigned difficulty.

“It’s not that there’s no room for maneuver. If one’s family has recently suffered a bereavement, it can add a touch of solitary baleful energy to one’s destiny… You junior, don’t ask any more questions!”

The words seared Lu Xuan’s heart like a red-hot iron. The two words, “familial loss,” were deeply branded into his mind.

He dazedly got to his feet. He couldn’t clearly remember what he said to the Yellow Crown Daoist after that.

Finally, as if possessed, he asked,

“Junior dares to ask the High Cultivator, what conflicts with a Cultivator of Ding Fire, making them easy to injure? And what counters them, making them easy to kill?”

The Yellow Crown Daoist laughed heartily.

“As the saying goes, ’damp wood injures Ding’! Don’t just assume wood feeds fire. How can a pile of damp firewood be ignited? Therefore, if you take a Hundred-Year-Old Mulberry Branch and Sixty Years of Tiger Climbing Vine, pound and grind them, and mix them into medicine, it can cause great harm to a Cultivator of Ding Fire.”

Lu Xuan felt as if he had found a priceless treasure, committing every word to memory.

After his inquiry was complete, he prostrated himself once more, then retreated on his knees.

After Lu Xuan had left, the doors and windows of the Doufa Pavilion’s fifth floor suddenly flew open. A cascade of smoke rushed in, coalescing into a slovenly old man dressed in a Mottled Magical Robe.

“Song Chou, you’re luring people into becoming your ’medicinal materials’ again? Aren’t you afraid a True Master from the Taifu Sect will find out and bring you to justice?”

The Yellow Crown Daoist named Song Chou smiled faintly.

“I was merely bestowing upon him the karmic bond of master and disciple. He himself just said that as long as he can enter the Zhao You Gate Wall, he would have no regrets even in death. I am fulfilling his wish. What crime is there in that?”

The slovenly old man snorted twice.

“That Ghost and God Capturing Skill of yours is truly formidable. If I want to find a ’medicinal material’, I have to rack my brains to spin a convincing lie. You just need to use one move of your Profound Light and a bit of True Qi to befuddle them, and they’ll walk right into your trap without even knowing it.”

Song Chou showed no signs of pride, only saying softly,

“It’s just a little trick for dealing with Lower Cultivators. It’s not of much use in Magical Combat against those of the same realm. It’s far less formidable than Elder Fang’s Life Essence Two-Devouring Gu.”

The slovenly old man waved his hand.

“There are no outsiders here, so why the mutual flattery? You, Song Chou, cultivate Ding Fire, yet you were able to comprehend a method to hook into people’s dark thoughts and amplify their desires. You can be considered a maverick genius who takes an unconventional path.”

“If your surname were Fu or Kang, there would surely be a place for you among the True Masters.”

Song Chou’s face was as still as water, and a dim fire, like a bean-sized flame, flickered in his eyes, reflecting the fleeting lights and shadows of the outside world.

“Those who collect Mingtang take its light, and those who collect He Flame take its brilliance. I collect Zhao Rong and Yin Decline, so naturally, I can illuminate the hearts of men and toy with their darkest thoughts.”

Hearing this, the slovenly old man’s face twitched, his fear and apprehension palpable.

Don’t be fooled by Song Chou’s casual tone; his methods were, in fact, impossible to guard against. Many Cultivators at the Eighth or Ninth Layer of Qi Cultivation had been played right into his hands, dying without ever knowing why.

“How is your collection of the Doufa Pavilion’s ’Fear Shocking Death Qi’ coming along? If you’re done, let’s talk business.”

Song Chou smiled faintly. Profound Light surged from the fontanelle atop his head, golden and red lights pulsing. Amidst them, countless terrified and fearful faces suddenly appeared, only to be instantly refined into flying ash.

“There is great terror in the moment between life and death, which is best for generating ’Fear Shocking Death Qi’. It’s just a pity that the amount is so small. After several years of accumulation and over a hundred deaths, I’ve barely managed to collect ten wisps.”

Seeing that Song Chou had finished his Qi Collection, the slovenly old man seemed to grow emotional and sighed.

“If not for that one from the Immortal Dao being so overbearing, how could we have ended up living worse than even the Outer Path Tribulation Cultivators? We even have to worry about upsetting the balance of nature just to open up a place for Qi Collection!”

“Ten thousand years ago, gathering a million mortals for a single venomous gu-pot, using the spirit of all living things to nourish the essence of heaven and earth to raise a Venerable Gu was a perfectly ordinary affair.”

Song Chou didn’t share as many complaints, smiling slightly.

“In the Yanfu Vast Land of today, all four great Daoist Lineages, plus the lawless lands carved out by the Outer Dao, are all being suppressed.”

“That Daoist Monarch who attained [Tai Yang] is the ’First Manifestation Under Heaven.’ His light shines everywhere, falls everywhere, leaving no one able to hold their heads high.”

“You and I are just little fish and shrimp being tossed about by the waves. What is there to say?”

“The ones truly sitting at the top and suffering the most… they haven’t said a word.”

A chill went through the slovenly old man’s heart, and he didn’t dare say more.

This was only because they were in the Nanzhan Continent. If he were to recklessly discuss that figure in the Dongsheng Continent, even without speaking his name, it would be easy for him to be monitored.

He would be struck by heavenly fire on the spot and burned to death.

“This Immortal Dao is flourishing. Five thousand years ago, one attained [Tai Yang], and three thousand years ago, another attained [Thunder Core].”

“Let’s not even talk about the first one. As the First Manifestation of Yanfu, he has forced our Demon Dao to only be able to cultivate the [Five Elements].”

“If we want to slaughter mortals and squeeze them for their spiritual essence, we have to consider whether we’ll be marked down for it and have a fiery calamity descend upon us.”

“But damn it all, it’s one thing for [Tai Yang] to be so tyrannical, but [Thunder Core] is just as unreasonable.”

“The moment we’re stained with the stench of blood, he raises his whip to punish us… He really treats our Demon Dao like dogs!”

Song Chou was helpless, of course. In fact, what Cultivator from a Demon Dao Dharma Lineage didn’t feel helpless?

Methodically collecting and refining Spiritual Energy, condensing Innate Qi, then combining it to form Profound Light for a Flying Foundation Establishment.

Just listen to that. Does that sound even remotely like the practice of the Demon Dao?!

Go back ten thousand years, and even those of the Immortal Dao would have had to respectfully address me as a ’Great Virtuous High Cultivator’!

“It can’t be helped. It just can’t be helped. With [Tai Yang] manifest in the world and [Thunder Core] in Ling Xiao, the Immortal Dao is fated to prosper for ten thousand years. This is the will of heaven.”

“You and I should just live our days with our tails between our legs.”

Song Chou changed the subject, getting back to business. He looked at the slovenly old man who wouldn’t have shown up for no reason.

“Elder Fang, you just said you had something to discuss. Has the Taifu Sect issued another decree?”

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