Daoist Lin Jiu

Saying goodbye to Du Jian, Bai Yu mused to himself.

"Immortals, huh? It's best not to get involved too early."

From the very first day of his transmigration, he knew that cultivators existed in this world.

From time to time, cultivators from various sects would descend upon Li Kingdom to recruit disciples.

However, as a being with longevity, Bai Yu didn't plan to get involved with cultivators too soon.

The path of immortality was fraught with peril, and who knew what dangers he might face.

There were too many uncontrollable forces in the immortal path, and the possibility of accidents was high.

Therefore, only by accumulating sufficient strength in the mortal realm could he begin to explore the immortal path.

Bai Yu said to Old Mo:

"Old Mo, remember this: the most important thing for us long-lived beings is to fight above our level."

"At least one level higher, preferably two. It would be even better if we could fight across an entire realm."

"Third-Rank Martial Artists fight above Second-Rank, Second-Rank above First-Rank, Grandmaster Martial Artists above ordinary Martial Artists."

"Once we've accumulated strength comparable to an intermediate cultivator, we'll go explore the immortal path."

Old Mo feigned surprise and barked a few times.

Meaning: This kid is terrifying! He has actually comprehended the true meaning of the Cautious Dao.

It put on an act, baring its teeth, which amused Bai Yu.

The two of them, man and dog, frolicked around.

On the way back, Bai Yu was once again troubled.

Simply put, he didn't have enough money.

He had already spent a considerable amount of the money he brought from the village.

His monthly salary was only a hundred Wen.

It wasn't easy living in Jiang City; a bowl of scallion noodles cost two Wen.

He could buy coarse rice and cook for himself, but even that wasn't cheap.

In Peach Blossom Village, a pound of coarse rice cost one Wen, but in Jiang City, it cost three.

Bai Yu's monthly salary was only enough for a few dozen pounds of coarse rice.

With such a large shortfall in his salary, he could only hope to earn some extra money, like Du Jian.

However, Bai Yu still couldn't bring himself to profit from the dead.

Moreover, with Bai Yu's cautious mindset, he also needed to prepare a security deposit in case of accidents.

But if he wanted to make money, he couldn't rush; he had to take it one step at a time.

In the days that followed, Bai Yu worked as a pallbearer during the day and practiced martial arts at night.

Life was peaceful and fulfilling.

One evening, Bai Yu was wielding his blade in the small courtyard.

Under the moonlight, the wood-chopping knife danced, its edge like lightning.

Bai Yu, caught up in the excitement, channeled his Blood Essence into his arms and slashed horizontally.

The blade flashed like lightning, and a tree trunk as thick as a fist was cut in half, the cut perfectly smooth.

He exhaled a long breath, as if he had understood something.

Looking at the panel, the Soul Severing Blade had broken through and reached the Entry Level!

With the Soul Severing Blade at the Entry Level, his strength had improved significantly.

On a whim, Bai Yu practiced a round of Five Elements Fist.

After finishing the set, he felt refreshed.

At this moment, a voice came from outside the courtyard:

"Little Bai, have you recently broken through your realm?"

Bai Yu turned his head and saw Daoist Lin Jiu.

"Uncle Jiu, please come in and have a seat."

"I recently broke through to the First-Rank Flesh Refinement Realm."

This was the first step of Bai Yu's plan.

To slightly reveal his strength; the identity of a First-Rank Martial Artist would make it much easier to make money.

Daoist Lin Jiu pushed open the door and sat down on a bamboo chair.

Bai Yu hurriedly poured him a cup of tea.

Lin Jiu nodded slightly and said:

"I can tell, Bai Yu, you've been practicing martial arts very diligently. No wonder you were able to break through your realm."

"However, there's something wrong with your fist technique."

Bai Yu was taken aback and hurriedly asked, "Uncle Jiu, what problems did you notice?"

Lin Jiu said, "The more you practice this fist technique, the more your Blood Essence depletes."

Bai Yu feigned surprise, "Uncle Jiu, you could even see that? I have indeed been losing Blood Essence the more I practice, but I don't know why."

Lin Jiu took a sip of tea and smiled faintly, "The reason is that your fist technique only has methods for fighting, not for training."

"It's a good thing you're so naturally gifted that you were able to enter the Flesh Refinement realm with this set of fist techniques."

What he said was true.

If Bai Yu didn't have the Burial World Record, which allowed him to replenish Blood Essence through burials, he might have already withered away into a dried corpse.

Lin Jiu said solemnly, "In the future, you can't practice it anymore. Continuing to practice will shorten your lifespan."

"Blood Essence is the foundation of a martial artist. Only with abundant Blood Essence can you take the next step."

"The more you practice and the more you lose, not only will advancement be hopeless, but you'll also be damaging your foundation."

Bai Yu added some tea for Lin Jiu and asked, "Uncle Jiu, if I want to go further, I don't know how to solve this problem."

Lin Jiu said, "It's not like there's no solution. Just change to a different cultivation technique."

"I see that your fist technique, based on the momentum of the Five Elements intergeneration, is very similar to a fist technique called Five Spirits Fist."

"If you can obtain the Five Spirits Fist, you can directly switch cultivation techniques."

Bai Yu's eyes lit up, and he asked, "Uncle Jiu, I wonder where I can obtain this Five Spirits Fist technique?"

Lin Jiu picked up his teacup and blew on it, "Generally, cultivation techniques are never passed on to outsiders. Even if some martial arts schools are willing to teach, the tuition fees are not cheap."

"But you can try your luck at the Black Market."

"Five Spirits Fist is a Yellow-Rank, Upper-Grade cultivation technique, so even at the Black Market, it might cost several dozen taels of silver."

Bai Yu was a little helpless.

Several dozen taels of silver, that's how long he'd have to 996 to gather that much.

But taking this opportunity, he could learn more from Daoist Lin.

"Uncle Jiu, you mentioned Yellow-Rank, Upper-Grade cultivation techniques. I don't know how these cultivation techniques are classified?"

Lin Jiu smiled casually and said, "Cultivation techniques and martial skills are both divided into four ranks: Heaven, Earth, Black, and Yellow. Each rank is further divided into Upper, Middle, and Lower grades."

"The higher the quality of the cultivation technique, the faster you cultivate and the stronger you are in the same realm."

Bai Yu nodded thoughtfully and pressed on while the iron was hot, "Oh, so that's how it is."

"Then please teach me, Uncle Jiu, what realms can martial artists be divided into?"

Lin Jiu was in a talkative mood and began to explain to Bai Yu, "This isn't really a secret, so I'll tell you about it."

"As far as I know, martial artists can be divided into the Muscle Realm, Qi and Blood Realm, Spirit Transformation Realm, and Astral Realm. Beyond that, there are Martial Gods and Martial Saints."

"Each realm can be further divided into three minor realms. For example, the Muscle Realm is divided into First-Rank Flesh Refinement, Second-Rank Sinew Forging, and Third-Rank Skin Tempering."

"The Qi and Blood Realm can be divided into Fourth-Rank Meridian Opening, Fifth-Rank Bone Tempering, and Sixth-Rank Organ Strengthening."

"Once you reach Third-Rank and above, you need to circulate Blood Essence and condense true Qi, so abundant Blood Essence is of utmost importance."

Lin Jiu put down his teacup, got up, and walked outside, saying, "Bai Yu, sometimes recognizing your own strength is a good thing."

"Before you obtain a new fist technique, you must not practice anymore. If you damage the foundation of your Blood Essence, it will be difficult to improve in the future."

After seeing Daoist Lin Jiu off, Bai Yu's desire to make money became even more urgent.

Eating, drinking, and relieving oneself all cost money, and so does exchanging for better cultivation methods.

A single copper coin can stump even a hero.

In the following days, Bai Yu didn't act rashly, still suppressing the urge to make money, and slowly integrated into the Mortuary.

However, after Mangzi learned that Bai Yu possessed martial arts, he felt even more guilty.

"What kind of thing am I doing? Little Bai has martial arts and doesn't hold it against me. What a great person."

He slapped himself hard again and again:

"I really deserve to die."

Even Wu the Unvirtuous, who came every few days, showed Bai Yu a bit more respect.

In the past, he always liked to take out a single copper coin and ask others to buy him meat and tea.

Naturally, one copper coin couldn't buy any meat, and the missing money had to be made up by the servants themselves.

After Bai Yu broke through to First-Rank Flesh Refinement, Wu the Unvirtuous never ordered Bai Yu around like that again.

Soon, Bai Yu had been at the Mortuary for over a month.

This day was payday.

Wu the Unvirtuous gave Zhu Tong and the others one hundred copper coins as wages.

Bai Yu fully expected to have one hundred coins as well, but Wu the Unvirtuous rolled his eyes:

"Newcomers get half their wages for the first half-year. Here's your fifty coins."

Bai Yu's heart sank.

Great, the lack of money was getting even more serious.

Wu the Unvirtuous patted Zhu Tong on the shoulder, encouraging everyone:

"Everyone, work hard. If you do well, I'll find you a sister-in-law next year."

"As long as you work hard enough, I can get a new ride."

Bai Yu was speechless.

Indeed, there were only wrongly chosen names, not wrongly given nicknames.

Wu the Unvirtuous was truly unvirtuous to the extreme.

After Wu the Unvirtuous left, Mangzi spat hard.

"Pah, what a piece of trash."

"If I become a great hero, the first thing I'll do is take his dog life."

Bai Yu smiled helplessly:

"No matter what, the wages are in hand, so we can have a good meal."

Zhu Tong shook his head:

"In hand? Little Bai, you're too naive. It's in hand, but not completely in hand yet."

Just then, a rough voice came from outside:

"Mortuary, it's time to pay this month's protection fee."