Six Paths Temple (Continued)

The prefect hurriedly said, "It's alright, it's alright. It's good that the person is alive. The house can be rebuilt if it's damaged. If it weren't for the hero's rescue, I would have had no chance of survival."

What else could he do but say that? Could he ask the other party for compensation? With the other party's strength, they could crush him with a single finger. The prefect didn't consider himself a fool, and he didn't think that just because the other party was human, he could bully them.

Looking at the prefectural governor's mansion, two-thirds of which was now ruins, Qiu Dahu murmured, "So martial artists really can be this powerful."

Looking at Si Ming again, his gaze was no longer just filled with admiration, but with a kind of worship as if he were seeing a god or Buddha.

Zhao Xiaohui stepped forward and tugged at Si Ming's sleeve, pouting, "Master, you have such amazing martial arts skills, yet you never teach me. I'm your top disciple, after all."

Zhao Jiaren immediately scolded, "Xiaohui, how dare you speak to your master like that? Your master taught you martial arts, and you not only don't know how to be grateful, but you also want to complain?"

Zhao Xiaohui said, feeling wronged, "I didn't."

Zhao Jiaren said, "I see you're becoming increasingly arrogant and disrespectful, and you'll make a big mistake sooner or later. When we get back, I'll have my father discipline you properly!"

Zhao Xiaohui knew things were going badly, so she looked at Si Ming with teary eyes and pleaded in a tearful voice, "Master~"

However, Si Ming was completely unmoved by this approach. He believed in the principle of "spare the rod and spoil the child." Although he did not support the idea of "strict discipline," he felt that Zhao Xiaohui, who had a somewhat unruly personality, could not be indulged too much, otherwise she would eventually become the kind of spoiled girl that everyone disliked.

Kongzi advocated teaching according to aptitude. For Ran You, who was humble but indecisive, he encouraged him to be decisive. For Zilu, who was competitive and reckless, he advised him to listen to others' opinions and think things through before acting.

Si Ming does have this educational philosophy; he won't think it's okay to spoil someone just because they're cute—that's probably what most parents of unruly children think.

"Yes, they do need to be disciplined, but corporal punishment is not allowed."

After Si Ming finished speaking, he handed Zhao Xiaohui to Zhao Jiaren. He hadn't really cared much about this cheap female disciple, otherwise he wouldn't have only agreed to let her be a Registered Disciple.

He walked up to Duan Jinsu and asked, "Senior, how are your injuries?"

"The accomplished come first; I don't deserve the title of 'senior.'" Duan Jinsu waved his hand. "Just call me Old Duan. Encountering a Grandmaster- level Flying Zombie, surviving is a miracle; a few injuries are nothing."

Si Ming took out a medicine bottle and said, "This is the Nine Treasures Bright Jade Pill, made from nine rare and precious ingredients, including a hundred-year-old mountain ginseng, bear bile, and snow lotus. It is an excellent healing pill, especially effective for internal injuries."

This pill is actually a secret recipe of the Si Clan. Because of the Heavenly Martial Alliance, Si Ming had accumulated a lot of heavenly materials and earthly treasures. Since it would be a waste to leave them lying around, Si Jingyu casually refined a batch. The success rate was not high, with only about thirty pills, wasting most of the materials.

Duan Jinsu didn't stand on ceremony. After taking one pill and circulating his internal energy slightly, he felt a surge of vital Primal Qi welling up from it, filling his limbs and bones. While healing his injuries, it also slightly benefited his Cultivation Body. He immediately realized that this pill was a priceless treasure.

"First, you saved my life, then you gave me medicine; I am truly unworthy of such kindness, and to this day I don't even know your name."

Si Ming, wanting to gather information about the Three Great Holy Lands, said, "Now is not the time to talk. Let's find a place to rest first, and get to know each other when we've recovered."

Thank you for your understanding.

The next day, thanks to Duan Jinsu's profound Foundation and the fact that he had only suffered a physical injury and had not been invaded by any troublesome Power of Anomalies, his complexion improved significantly and his breathing returned to normal after the medicine was administered.

When Si Ming met with her, after introductions, he expressed his desire to learn about the mysterious Six Paths Temple. Duan Jinsu didn't seem to mind and explained, "Actually, it's not a secret. It's just that we Six Paths Temple have few disciples and little contact with others. And those few who do come into contact with us are often too intimidated to ask us these questions, which is why it's become a secret of the martial arts world. Our Six Paths Temple is actually a branch sect. Our main sect is called the Six Paths Sect, a powerful sect that commands respect throughout the heavens. Every five years, the Six Paths Sect sends some disciples to the Barbarian Continent for training, searching for a suitable successor."

Si Ming, "So you are all 'successors of the mantle,' and not disciples of the Six Paths Sect?"

Duan Jinsu nodded and said, "That's right. According to my master, it seems that the sect has established a rule that disciples are not allowed to directly interfere with their own world. They can only influence it indirectly. That's why our Six Paths Temple doesn't have a formal sect. After all, we don't have much contact with each other. We can only travel the world as Rogue Person. Sometimes we even bump into each other, but we still can't recognize each other."

"Can't we confirm it using martial arts skills?"

Duan Jinsu smiled bitterly, "That's the biggest difficulty. The Six Paths Sect advocates education for all, accepting all teachings, and claims that 'Confucianism, Buddhism, and Daoism are interconnected, and the three teachings have always shared the same origin. Red Lotus, white lotus root, and green lotus leaf, the three teachings are originally one family.' The Cultivation Method practiced by its disciples are also ever-changing. Some, like me, practice Yin-Yang Evil Dao techniques, while others practice spirit-summoning techniques, and still others practice evil magic that steals people's Essence Blood and refines their souls. They even have Buddhist School Divine Ability and Confucian orthodox methods. Therefore, unless someone actively identifies themselves, you have no idea that the other person is also from the same sect."

Upon hearing this, Si Ming laughed and said, "This Six Paths Sect sounds quite interesting. It actually tolerates different Cultivation Method and philosophies. No wonder others say that your Six Paths Temple is both righteous and evil. It seems that scoundrels and virtuous gentlemen all live together."

Duan Jinsu said, "Recently, things have changed. That prefect wasn't talking nonsense. The main sect changed its leader a long time ago. This leader disagreed with the Six Paths Sect's previous practice of allowing its disciples to run rampant. He wanted to cleanse the sect of its evil ways, so he established eight major precepts and seventy-two rules, forbidding disciples from committing any wrongdoing. Anyone caught doing so would be severely punished. This caused several internal conflicts, but now the reputation has finally been reversed. The Six Paths Sect has transformed from a powerful evil sect into a pillar of righteousness. Its disciples take it upon themselves to uphold justice and maintain peace in all realms, slaying demons and monsters, capturing ghosts and exorcising monsters, with righteousness as their priority."

Si Ming felt like he was listening to a fairy tale. He had heard plenty of stories about righteous sects harboring filth and corruption, but the idea of a demonic sect reforming was something he had never heard of before. It was not uncommon for a great demon to be reformed and embark on a path of Road of No Return redemption, but for an entire sect to be redeemed together was unheard of. Could you imagine all the disciples of the Celestial Sect abandoning poison and instead practicing medicine to save lives?

This is no different from feeding a tiger grass. What's even stranger is that they actually succeeded. Just how many people do they have to kill to change the entire sect's reputation?

Seemingly sensing Si Ming's surprise, Duan Jinsu smiled wryly and said, "At first, I also thought it was a joke, but later I realized that the Grand Master was serious. The evidence is that the number of exorcists at the Six Paths Temple has been decreasing recently. Therefore, the Western Martial World may not be very peaceful in the near future. Although I am reluctant to admit it, even those exorcists who practice evil arts are quite adept at dealing with Monster Race. Without them to share the burden, the frequency of Anomalies events will increase in the future."

Si Ming thought to himself, "This is actually a good thing for me."

After thinking for a moment, he invited, "Since neither of you belongs to a sect, would you be willing to join the Heavenly Martial Alliance?" He then explained the Heavenly Martial Alliance's martial arts exchange system.

It was clear that Feng Liancheng was quite interested, after all, the Heavenly Martial Alliance didn't impose any restrictions on individuals or sects. However, the mature and prudent Duan Jinsu refused, saying, "We haven't even mastered our own magic yet. Learning other Law Technique arts would be like biting off more than we can chew. Besides, ordinary martial arts aren't very effective against Anomalies."

In the past, he would have said that learning martial arts was useless since it couldn't defeat the Monster Race anyway, so why waste time? But after witnessing yesterday's battle, he couldn't bring himself to say that, which made his momentum somewhat weak.

"Even if you don't learn martial arts for combat, you can learn some auxiliary Cultivation Method, such as lightness skills, mastering some footwork for movement and shifting, which can at least increase your safety and won't affect your ability to cast Law Technique. In addition, learning some hidden weapon techniques can also have a surprise effect at crucial moments. Even if you don't learn martial arts, you can still learn about Anomalies things through the alliance, saving you the trouble of running around everywhere."

Si Ming tried his best to persuade them, because he was very interested in the Yin-Yang Daoist technique that the two of them had used yesterday. Unfortunately, it seemed that he could not learn it just by looking at the hand seals. He had not been able to steal the technique using his talent yesterday. He thought that the Technique Method had nothing to do with strength or posture. The most important thing was the use of True Qi, which could not be seen just by looking at the appearance.

"I see, that doesn't seem like a bad idea..."

The Duan Jinsu had already loosened somewhat, but it still lacked a fatal blow, so Si Ming delivered the final strike.

"By the way, have you ever heard of the Soul Intent Diagram?"

He then explained the effects of the Soul Intent Diagram and found Qiu Dahu to be a witness, who recounted his personal experience to prove it.

"Such wondrous paintings exist! They can increase cultivation efficiency several times over, far surpassing the effects of consuming heavenly materials and earthly treasures."

Duan Jinsu was immediately tempted. The Taiyi Scripture of Deliverance from Sin was too profound. Even with his disciple's talent, the learning progress was slow. With the help of the Soul Intent Diagram, a lot of time could be saved. He might even have time to find the next successor in this lifetime.

"How can I get that female martial arts master to draw a Soul Intent Diagram for me? Is it enough to just join the Heavenly Martial Alliance?"

Si Ming hurriedly shook his head and said, "That won't do. Even if I want to show favoritism, I have to be fair. Otherwise, it will be hard to convince everyone. If you want someone to draw a specific Soul Intent Diagram for you, there are only two ways. One is to publish the secret technique in the martial arts manual. We will draw a Soul Intent Diagram for any Cultivation Method that is willing to be published for free. The other is to exchange it with contribution points."

After thinking it over, Duan Jinsu realized that it was absolutely impossible to make the "Taiyi Scripture of Deliverance from Sin" public. He could only choose the second method. Moreover, earning contribution points was not difficult for him. The most rewarding task in the Heavenly Martial Alliance was dealing with Anomalies, which was exactly in line with his mission as an exorcist. It was a win-win situation.

"In that case, I humbly request to join the Heavenly Martial Alliance, hoping the Alliance Leader will agree."