Practicing Iron Shirt Skill, Uncle Nine Takes a Disciple

A few days later.

A mountain peak.

A white waterfall cascaded down, creating a thunderous roar.

Beneath the waterfall, Bai Yu stood bare-chested in a peculiar stance, allowing the water to pound against his body.

The force of the hundreds-of-feet waterfall was enough to knock anyone off their feet, the water striking the skin like knives.

But Bai Yu showed no discomfort, enduring the full force of the waterfall.

His skin faintly radiated a crystalline glow.

After a full hour, he finally rose from the pool.

"Hah, this training session increased my Iron Shirt Skill proficiency by another 2 points."

"The progress of this Iron Shirt Skill is improving rapidly."

The Iron Shirt Skill was an external art, specializing in defense.

It was especially difficult to master, requiring the strengthening of the skin through whipping, hammering, and other methods.

One also needed to wash the body with snow lotus, deer blood, and other medicines to nourish hidden injuries and avoid damaging the foundation.

However, Bai Yu had no such concerns.

He directly spent 110 points of Life Experience to raise the Iron Shirt Skill to the level of "skillful."

After entering the initial stage, it was not so difficult. Instead, one had to rely on external forces to temper the body under waterfalls, in sandstorms, and other locations.

Moreover, the progress was very gratifying, with each practice session increasing proficiency by 2 points.

Now, if an ordinary person were to slash Bai Yu with a knife, they wouldn't even be able to break his skin.

With the Iron Shirt Skill, his Skin Tempering cultivation was also improving rapidly.

The proficiency had already reached 63%.

Bai Yu estimated that in another half year, he would be able to fully temper the skin all over his body, leaving no blind spots.

He put on his clothes and used the Lingxu Step to hurry back to the Mortuary.

Back at the Mortuary, Zhu Tong was listlessly fiddling with an abacus in the main hall.

Seeing Bai Yu return, Zhu Tong began to complain:

"The weather has turned cold recently, and the Mortuary's business has increased a lot. They are all poor souls who have frozen or starved to death."

"There are no wealthy families holding funerals, and few ordinary families are buying burial plots."

"Our workload has increased, but our income has decreased sharply."

Bai Yu replied with a smile:

"What can we do? Isn't this how we make a living?"

Zhu Tong sighed:

"To live off the mountain, live off the mountain; to live off the water, live off the water; to rely on the Mortuary to make money off the dead."

"Without other side income, how can we support our families with just our meager hundred copper coins a month?"

"Only someone like Uncle Jiu, who relies on his Feng Shui and exorcism skills, can make money off the dead without violating his conscience."

Daoist Lin Jiu didn't care about their taking and demanding, secretly collecting tomb fees, but he never participated in the distribution of money.

Bai Yu took it, but he always secretly returned his share.

Zhu Tong shook his head and sighed:

"These days are hard. Are we going to have to learn from those laborers and eat only two meals a day?"

Suddenly, he slapped his forehead and said:

"Oh, right, Uncle Jiu instructed me earlier to have you go to the backyard to find him. I reckon it's good news."

Bai Yu was overjoyed. Could it be that Uncle Jiu had taken on another job?

He chatted with Zhu Tong for a few words and quickly went to the backyard.

At this time, Uncle Jiu was drawing talismans.

Black dog blood mixed with cinnabar was used to draw talismans on yellow paper, forming exorcism talismans.

Bai Yu stood aside, watching intently.

After finishing a talisman, Uncle Jiu grabbed the yellow talisman and threw it out.

The yellow talisman turned into a ball of fire and shot away.

Uncle Jiu asked smugly:

"Little Bai, what did you see?"

Bai Yu said hesitantly:

"Did you add white phosphorus to it again?"

Uncle Jiu's beard twitched with anger:

"Nonsense, what white phosphorus?"

"This is a genuine fire-starting talisman, from the Zhu You Yin Fu Jing. It can create fire from nothing, amazing, right?"

Bai Yu was taken aback, thinking to himself:

"Isn't this just a lighter?"

Of course, he couldn't say that, so he pretended to be ignorant and praised:

"To be able to create fire from nothing, that's amazing. I won't need to carry a tinderbox anymore."

Uncle Jiu was very pleased with Bai Yu's lack of knowledge and asked:

"Xiao Bai, do you want to learn?"

Bai Yu was stunned.

This fire-starting talisman didn't have much power; it just ignited a ball of fire, at most burning off a little hair.

It was far from the legendary immortal fireball talisman.

But, no matter what, it was still a skill, so he nodded like a chicken pecking rice:

"I want to learn, I want to learn, of course I want to learn."

Uncle Jiu smiled triumphantly:

"Then are you willing to become my disciple? I will pass on the Zhu You Yin Fu Jing to you, and make you a true Yin-Yang Master."

Normally, in this era, accepting a disciple required three years of assessment, three years of apprenticeship, and another three years before one could graduate.

But Mangzi's matter made Daoist Lin Jiu feel a sense of urgency.

What if he assessed him, and the person was taken away?

Moreover, Bai Yu's aptitude was even above Mangzi's.

He was a genius who could play the suona and create a soul-stirring artistic conception.

So, he didn't bother with any assessment and directly adopted a posture to start accepting disciples.

Bai Yu was naturally overjoyed.

If he learned all of Uncle Jiu's skills, he could easily earn ten taels of silver just by taking on a simple white job.

It was much better than earning a meager fixed salary.

On the spot, he washed his hands, burned incense, and formally offered tea to become a disciple.

Uncle Jiu drank the tea and said:

"Our Yin-Yang Master profession is not like cultivators who live to be a hundred years old, nor like martial artists who have amazing strength."

"We simply look at feng shui, suppress evil spirits, and eliminate disasters for everyone, and then earn a living."

"So there are only two rules: first, do not deceive your master or betray your ancestors; second, do not use the Zhu You techniques you have learned to do evil."

Bai Yu hurriedly nodded:

"Don't worry, Uncle Jiu, I will never harm others unless they provoke me."

"I just want to live a down-to-earth life in the Mortuary."

Uncle Jiu smiled:

"I am relieved about you. You are a pure and bright child who doesn't cause trouble."

"What's rare is that you have always maintained a sense of kindness, returning the money you received from the dead."

"This is also the reason why I accepted you as a disciple."

Next, Uncle Jiu brought out the Zhu You Yin Fu Jing passed down by the ancestors and gave one of the volumes to Bai Yu.

"Take it back and study it carefully. In three days, I will see how your comprehension is."

Bai Yu took the Yin Fu Jing and returned to the small courtyard to start reading it.

The Zhu You Yin Fu Jing recorded various talismans and various tricks for resolving evil, eliminating disasters, and even catching ghosts.

It wasn't anything high-end, but it was very practical.

For example, there was a bone-dissolving talisman inside. If someone was choked by a fish bone, they could write the talisman, chant the incantation, boil water, and drink it to soften the fish bone.

Bai Yu flipped through it once, and a skill was added to the attribute panel.

Zhu You Yin Fu Jing (Fragmented, Uninitiated, 3/10).

Bai Yu had extraordinary comprehension when it came to matters related to funerals.

Whether it was playing the suona or the Yin Fu Jing, he understood it as soon as he learned it.

Three days later, Bai Yu began to learn how to draw talismans with Uncle Jiu.

Evil-resolving talismans, evil-suppressing talismans, bone-dissolving talismans, Bai Yu quickly became proficient.

Uncle Jiu was so shocked that he praised this child for being terrifyingly talented.

After a busy and fulfilling period of apprenticeship, Bai Yu prepared to go to the Black Market again.