A few days later.
On a mountain peak.
A white waterfall crashed down with a thunderous roar.
Bai Yu stood naked beneath the waterfall in a strange horse stance, allowing the cascading water to pound against his body.
The waterfall plunged from several hundred zhang above. Its impact could knock a person off their feet, and the water striking one's body felt like knives slicing through skin.
Yet Bai Yu showed no sign of discomfort, enduring the waterfall's full force.
The skin all over his body faintly gave off a crystalline sheen.
Only after a full hour did he rise from the pool beneath the falls.
"Whew, this round of training increased my Iron Shirt Skill proficiency by another 2 points."
"The cultivation progress of this Iron Shirt Skill is really rising fast."
The Iron Shirt Skill was an external martial art specifically used to train one's defenses.
It was especially difficult to get started with. One had to strengthen the skin and flesh through whipping, hammering, and similar methods.
One also had to cleanse the body with medicines such as snow lotus and deer blood, nourishing hidden injuries and preventing damage to one's foundation.
But Bai Yu had no such concerns at all.
He directly spent 110 points of life experience to raise the Iron Shirt Skill to the level of practiced proficiency.
After getting started, it was no longer quite so difficult. Instead, he needed to use external forces to temper himself beneath waterfalls, at windblown sand passes, and in similar places.
Moreover, the progress was highly encouraging. Each cultivation session could increase his proficiency by 2 points.
As Bai Yu was now, an ordinary person could hack at him with a blade and fail even to break his skin.
With the Iron Shirt Skill, his cultivation in the Skin Tempering Realm was also advancing rapidly.
His proficiency had already reached 63%.
Bai Yu estimated that in another half year, he would be able to temper the skin over his entire body to completion, leaving no blind spots anywhere on him.
He got dressed, then used the Lingxu Step and hurried toward the funeral home.
When he returned to the funeral home, Zhu Tong was idly fiddling with an abacus in the main hall.
Seeing Bai Yu return, Zhu Tong began pouring out his grievances in a stream of chatter.
"The weather has turned colder lately, and the funeral home's business has increased quite a bit. They're all poor souls who froze or starved to death."
"There are no wealthy households arranging funerals, and few ordinary families come to buy burial plots either."
"The workload has gone up, but our income has actually plummeted."
Bai Yu replied with a smile.
"What can we do? This is the bowl of rice we live on."
Zhu Tong sighed repeatedly.
"Those who live by the mountain eat from the mountain; those who live by the water eat from the water. We live by the funeral home and make money off the dead."
"Without any other extra income, how can we support a whole household on our measly one hundred copper coins of dead wages?"
"Only someone like Uncle Jiu, relying on his own feng shui and Baleful Intent-suppressing skills, can make money off the dead without going against his conscience."
Daoist Lin Jiu did not interfere when they took advantage of their positions and secretly collected burial plot fees, but he never took part in dividing the money either.
Bai Yu collected his share, but he would always secretly return it afterward.
Zhu Tong shook his head and sighed.
"These days are getting hard. Are we supposed to imitate those laborers and eat only two meals a day?"
Suddenly, he slapped his forehead.
"Oh, right. Uncle Jiu told me earlier to have you go find him in the back courtyard. I reckon it's something good."
Bai Yu's heart leaped with joy when he heard that. Could it be that Uncle Jiu had taken on another job this time?
After chatting idly with Zhu Tong for a few more moments, he quickly headed into the back courtyard.
At that moment, Uncle Jiu was drawing talismans.
Mixing black dog blood with cinnabar, he drew talismans across yellow paper. Each one became an Evil-Suppressing Talisman.
Bai Yu stood to the side, watching without blinking.
Once he finished drawing a talisman, Uncle Jiu grabbed the yellow paper and fiercely flung it outward.
The yellow talisman transformed into a burst of fire and shot away.
Uncle Jiu asked smugly.
"Little Bai, what did you see?"
Bai Yu hesitated before answering.
"You added white phosphorus to it again?"
Uncle Jiu's beard twitched in anger.
"Nonsense! What white phosphorus?"
"This is a proper Kindling Fire Talisman, a talisman from the Zhu You Yin Fu Jing. It can create fire out of thin air. Impressive, isn't it?"
Bai Yu froze for a moment and thought to himself.
Isn't this just a lighter?
Naturally, he could not say that aloud. Instead, he put on an ignorant expression and praised him.
"Creating fire out of thin air? That's amazing. We won't even need to carry tinderboxes anymore."
Uncle Jiu was very satisfied with Bai Yu's awestruck expression and asked.
"Little Bai, do you want to learn?"
Bai Yu was stunned.
This Kindling Fire Talisman did not have much power. It merely ignited a small flame, enough at most to burn off a little hair.
It was worlds apart from the legendary immortal fireball talismans.
Still, no matter what, it was a skill. Bai Yu nodded like a chicken pecking at grain.
"I want to learn, I want to learn. Of course I want to learn."
Uncle Jiu smiled smugly.
"Then are you willing to take me as your master? I'll teach you the Zhu You Yin Fu Jing and make you a true Yin-Yang Practitioner."
Ordinarily, taking on a disciple in this era required three years of observation, three years as an apprentice, and another three years before one could complete one's training.
But Mangzi's matter had given Daoist Lin Jiu a sense of urgency.
What if he kept testing him and tested the man right out the door?
What was more, Bai Yu's aptitude surpassed even Mangzi's.
He was a genius who could play the Suona with an intent capable of calming souls.
Thus, Uncle Jiu did not bother with any more tests. He directly assumed the posture of accepting a disciple.
Naturally, Bai Yu was overjoyed.
If he learned all of Uncle Jiu's skills, then in the future, taking on any funeral job would start at ten taels of silver.
That was far better than bitterly scraping by on dead wages.
Right there and then, he washed his hands, burned incense, and formally served tea to acknowledge his master.
After drinking the disciple tea, Uncle Jiu said.
"We Yin-Yang Practitioners are not like cultivators, who can live for a hundred years, nor are we like martial artists, whose strength is astonishing."
"We simply help people read feng shui, suppress Baleful Intent and dispel disasters, then earn enough for a meal."
"So there are only two rules. First, you must not betray your master or dishonor your ancestors. Second, you must not use the Zhu You arts you learn to commit evil."
Bai Yu hurriedly nodded.
"Don't worry, Uncle Jiu. If others don't provoke me, I'll never harm them."
"I only want to live an honest, steady life at the funeral home."
Uncle Jiu smiled.
"I have no worries about you. You are pure-hearted, never causing trouble or inviting it."
"What is rare is that you have always held on to your kindness, returning all the money made from the dead that you received."
"That is also why I accepted you as my disciple."
Next, Uncle Jiu brought out the Zhu You Yin Fu Jing passed down by the patriarchs and handed one volume to Bai Yu.
"Take it back and study it carefully. In three days, I'll see what your comprehension is like."
Bai Yu accepted the Yin Talisman Scripture and returned to his small courtyard to begin reading it.
The Zhu You Yin Fu Jing recorded all kinds of talismans, along with various tricks for dispelling Baleful Intent, averting disasters, and even catching ghosts.
It was not particularly lofty or grand, but it was highly practical.
For example, it contained a Bone-Dissolving Talisman. If someone had a fishbone stuck in their throat, they could write the talisman, chant an incantation, burn it in water, and drink it to soften the fishbone.
After Bai Yu read through it once, an additional skill appeared on his attribute panel.
Zhu You Yin Fu Jing (incomplete copy, not initiated, 3/10)
Bai Yu possessed extraordinary comprehension when it came to matters related to funerals.
Whether it was playing the Suona or studying the Yin Talisman Scripture, he understood it as soon as it was pointed out.
Three days later, Bai Yu began learning to draw talismans under Uncle Jiu's guidance.
The Transformation Talisman, Evil-Suppressing Talisman, and Bone-Dissolving Talisman—Bai Yu quickly got the hang of them all.
Uncle Jiu was so astonished that he repeatedly praised the boy as terrifyingly gifted.
After a busy and fulfilling stretch of apprenticeship, Bai Yu prepared to visit the Black Market once more.
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