East of Xiaolin City lay a vacant stretch of ruins.
A great fire had swept through this place eight years ago, burning many people to death. Crying could often be heard here at night.
People also frequently disappeared nearby.
Rumor had it that those burned to death were trapped here, unable to reincarnate. They had all turned into vicious ghosts, capturing passing travelers to keep them company.
The authorities and the Demon Suppression Division had both sent people here, but they never found anything. In the end, the matter was simply dropped.
Later, the rumors grew more and more sinister, frightening all the nearby residents into moving away.
Now, the place was completely desolate. Those passing through usually took a detour around it.
Fahua Temple was nearby as well.
It was said that the temple had once been filled with flourishing incense offerings, its visitors coming and going.
The temple had survived the fire, but all the monks had vanished.
By now, the temple had fallen into utter disrepair.
It did not cover much ground and was overgrown with weeds. The main hall was draped in cobwebs, and even the Buddha statue in the center had only half its body left. The rest had long since gone missing.
Tonight, however, a masked man carried an Old Daoist into the temple's main hall.
After knocking the Old Daoist unconscious, Zhang You had thought it over again and again before coming here.
He had often heard people mention this place in tea houses. It was eerie as hell.
After absorbing the blue-white energy he had obtained from the Headless Corpse Evil, he felt that his next Great Body Tempering was about to arrive.
He needed to seize the time to improve his strength. After all, he only had two days left.
Shopkeeper Li usually did not concern himself with Zhang You, so Zhang You was not afraid of being discovered for staying out overnight.
Besides, so what if he was discovered? He already had some confidence now, though he did not know whether it was enough.
Over the past two days, he had considered coming here many times to farm experience. Tonight, he happened to need some experience, so he came.
Perhaps he really could run into a few evil entities and use them to make himself stronger.
Zhang You tossed the Old Daoist onto the floor, then sat down on a prayer cushion beside him.
"Ow!"
The Old Daoist grimaced in pain. Supporting his aching lower back and rubbing his head, he bared his teeth as he climbed to his feet.
He looked around, then finally fixed his gaze on Zhang You.
"You're awake."
Zhang You looked over with two dark circles under his eyes.
"Your Excellency is truly rough. If you have something to discuss, we can talk it out. Why resort to violence? These old bones of mine cannot take such tossing about! Go on, what is it?"
The Old Daoist took it rather well. Since the other party had not dealt a killing blow, he clearly wanted something.
"Cough, cough... It's nothing much. I just wanted to ask you about something."
Zhang You had not expected the Old Daoist to be so straightforward.
He had originally thought he would need to rough him up some more.
"That's it? You needed to tie me up and drag me here for that?"
The Old Daoist widened his eyes, dearly wishing he could stomp this masked man twice.
He had thought it was some grave matter, but this was it?
"Cough, cough... A lot of people rushed over there earlier. I was trying to keep a low profile and avoid exposing myself. I was afraid you wouldn't agree, so I gave you a little smack! Who knew your body was so frail... You should nourish yourself more!"
Zhang You coughed again and offered an explanation.
"..."
"Fine. What do you want to know? Ask away. So long as I know it, I'll tell you everything!"
The atmosphere went cold for a moment. The Old Daoist took a deep breath, then glared at Zhang You through gritted teeth.
"Are you on the Immortal Cultivation Path?"
"You could say that, but in this world today, becoming immortal is difficult!"
The Old Daoist shook his head.
"You don't know about the immortal path?"
Then he sensed that something was wrong.
This man was so powerful, perhaps even a Foundation Establishment Realm cultivator, yet he did not know about the immortal path?
He then recalled Zhang Lin's actions from earlier and began pacing back and forth in the main hall.
Suddenly, his face changed in shock, as though he had seen a ghost. "You cultivate the Martial Dao? That's it—his blood and qi force was so vigorous!"
He truly had not sensed any spiritual power flowing through Zhang Lin, not even when he had fought the evil entity earlier.
"But how is that possible?"
He then looked at Zhang Lin again, hoping Zhang Lin could explain.
One had to know that the Martial Dao was a legendary existence. It was no longer acknowledged by the Heavenly Dao, and under the influence of the greater world, it was already impossible to achieve anything through cultivating it.
It was not as though no one had tried before, but Heaven did not permit it. Even if one exhausted an entire lifetime, it would all be in vain.
Thus, the Martial Dao had become a thing of the past, gradually forgotten. Only scattered fragments remained recorded in a handful of ancient texts.
By now, only some ordinary people might imitate the cat while drawing the tiger and learn a few Martial Dao techniques. But that was limited to strengthening their bodies. As for cultivating blood and qi force, they should not even dream of it.
Yet this masked man before him had actually achieved success, and at a great level of mastery at that. The strength he had displayed earlier was something ordinary Qi Refining Realm cultivators could not contend with at all.
Zhang Lin narrowed his eyes, but did not explain much.
After all, even he did not understand what was going on. Perhaps it had something to do with his special physique!
If that was truly the case, then it could not be replicated. Others still would not be able to achieve anything through cultivating the Martial Dao.
"I want to know whether I can cultivate the immortal path."
Zhang Lin did not continue that topic.
"This is a Spirit-Testing Stone. Just hold it, and you'll get the result."
After thinking for a moment, the Old Daoist took out a pure-white pearl and tossed it over.
"Doesn't seem to be any reaction."
After a while, Zhang Lin frowned and looked at the Old Daoist.
"The prerequisite for cultivating the immortal path is possessing a Spiritual Root. Only with a Spiritual Root can one absorb the spiritual energy of heaven and earth, refine it, and cultivate the immortal path. The Spirit-Testing Stone tests whether someone has a Spiritual Root. If they do, it glows. Otherwise, there is no reaction."
The Old Daoist shook his head and continued, "It seems you cannot cultivate the immortal path!"
Zhang Lin sat where he was, staring at the Spirit-Testing Stone for a long while. At last, he sighed and tossed it back to the Old Daoist.
"Those who can cultivate the immortal path are one in ten thousand, especially in this day and age. People with Spiritual Roots are fewer than ever! Look on the bright side!"
The Old Daoist put away the Spirit-Testing Stone and offered a word of comfort.
"Besides, being able to cultivate the immortal path may not necessarily be a good thing!"
The Old Daoist stared at Zhang You meaningfully once more as he said this.
"Not necessarily a good thing?"
Zhang Lin was startled by the Old Daoist's final words.
But the Old Daoist clearly had no intention of explaining.
Zhang Lin did not continue dwelling on the matter and instead asked, "Besides the Qi Refining Realm and the Foundation Establishment Realm, what other realms are there on the Immortal Cultivation Path?"
"You actually know about the Foundation Establishment Realm!" The Old Daoist was greatly surprised.
"The Immortal Cultivation Path now has only four realms: the Qi Refining Realm, the Foundation Establishment Realm, the Soul Realm, and the Innate Realm. After the Innate Realm, one is called a 'Land Immortal.' It is said that ten thousand years ago, there were realms above that, but they can no longer be reached now. Even the Innate Realm is attained by very few people nowadays."
"What realm are you in? And what realm was that headless evil entity from earlier?"
Zhang Lin wanted to know roughly where his own current strength stood.
"I am at the Ninth Level of the Qi Refining Realm. As for that evil entity, before it transformed into that giant creature, it was equivalent to the Eighth Level of the Qi Refining Realm. Afterward, it was a little stronger than the Ninth Level of the Qi Refining Realm, but only by a limited amount."
The Old Daoist had nothing to hide.
"You can leave."
For the moment, Zhang Lin had no further questions. He waved a hand and fell into thought.
"I've finally found you, you little bastard!"
Before the Old Daoist could reply, a stream of spiritual power suddenly swept in from outside.
The doors and windows were instantly blasted apart and sent flying in all directions, followed by an icy, sinister aura that spread throughout the entire main hall.
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