The White Deer's Snowy Coat Went "Yoyo," Treading My Peach Blossoms Across the Stone Bridge

Although Master Chen hated to part with his silver, he at least knew what mattered most. He hurriedly had someone bring out a plate of snowflake silver ingots, personally offering it before Spiritual Gate and imploring him to accept it. He then busily called for the servants to prepare a feast. Seeing how attentive he was, Spiritual Gate secretly thought, Perhaps I should stay another day or two and put these villagers at ease.

"Besides, I ought to leave that child a fist manual and offer him some guidance. If he is willing to work hard, it will be an opportunity of destiny. If he is unwilling, it will at least be a good deed." With that thought, he smiled and said, "I'll stay for a few days. If that Evil Cultivator comes again, I certainly won't let him off."

Chen Ganliu returned to his room and never went out again, burying himself in cultivation.

Night fell!

Everyone in the Chen Family's old residence had gone to sleep. The surroundings were silent and still, save for the occasional chirping of insects.

Chen Ganliu suddenly heard a faint popping sound outside the window, as if someone were tapping on the lattice.

He formed the Thunder and Fire Arts, thought for a moment, then switched to the Binding and Fixation talisman arts. Just as he was about to strike first against the person outside, he heard Spiritual Gate's warm voice call out, "This humble Daoist is Spiritual Gate. I've come especially to gift you a fist manual."

Chen Ganliu was astonished and pushed open the window.

A clear breeze swept in, and the Daoist Spiritual Gate was already standing inside the room. Smiling, he handed over a scroll and said, "This is the Great Vehicle Myriad Flower Fist Manual. It contains five levels of skill. Once cultivated to the utmost, it can send inner qi more than ten feet away and injure a person across empty space without a trace."

"Today, you threw a brick and distracted the Black Robed Daoist, allowing me to win the Magical Combat. This is your reward."

"I can only teach you the fist techniques for one night. After that, you'll have to rely entirely on your own comprehension."

Chen Ganliu was deeply disappointed. He was a cultivator, after all. Why would he want to learn some fist techniques?

His face went blank, and he stared in a daze. Spiritual Gate merely assumed the child was so delighted that he had been struck silly, and immediately taught him all the various principles of the Great Vehicle Myriad Flower Fist.

When the sky began to brighten and dawn was about to break, Daoist Spiritual Gate gave a soft shout. "This humble Daoist shall be off." In the blink of an eye, he vanished without a trace. Besides the scroll of the fist manual, another plate of silver ingots had appeared in the room—the very ones Master Chen had gifted him.

In his previous life, Chen Ganliu had desperately wanted to apprentice himself to a good master, but had never gotten his wish. In this life, he had already been like a critically ill patient blindly seeking any doctor, yet he had never imagined that even someone of Daoist Spiritual Gate's modest cultivation would look down on him.

Sullenly, he went to the kitchen to find something to eat, then returned and collapsed into sleep. By the time the sun was high in the sky, he had slept enough to regain some energy and felt that his body had recovered somewhat. He then sat cross-legged in his room and refined qi.

Three days later, a melodramatic incident from his previous life happened again.

Master Chen sent someone over to mention that his maid was being reassigned to his second older brother. There was no room for refusal; all he could promise was that the next time the household bought maids, Chen Ganliu would be allowed to choose first.

Chen Ganliu's father was a wealthy country squire with many children. In his previous life, he had paid little attention to this son even when Chen Ganliu had earned the reputation of a child prodigy and become famous throughout the region. Now that Chen Ganliu had returned to this life, he had yet to distinguish himself and was utterly unremarkable, so his father cared even less.

As a concubine-born son whom no one in the Chen Family ever paid attention to, Chen Ganliu's existence was ignored by everyone. No one had even considered that he was still young and ought to have someone look after him.

Why would Chen Ganliu care about some maid?

He cared only about cultivation.

Having no eyesore constantly coming and going in his room was actually a good thing.

He agreed at once, though his feelings toward his family grew a little colder.

Another seven or eight days passed.

Chen Ganliu ended his cultivation and secretly thought, "There's no point staying in the Chen Family anymore. Besides, mortal households have too many troubles and too many trivial matters, making them unsuitable for cultivation. I had no choice before, but now I have reached Qi Refining Layer One, my talisman arts have improved greatly, and I've also practiced the Great Vehicle Myriad Flower Fist Manual..."

"I should have found an immortal abode and cultivated in peace long ago. I don't have the fortune to enter a proper immortal sect, but settling down in an Immortal Market would still be better than staying at home."

"I remember hearing a rumor in my previous life that someone bought the White Emperor's Legacy at the Suiyang Immortal Market."

"Supposedly, that person went to the Suiyang Immortal Market and bought a Green Jade Stone, intending to refine it into a jade talisman. When he split open the stone, he discovered a copy of the White Emperor's Discourse Collection and three magical treasures inside: a sword and a pair of hooks."

"The White Emperor's Discourse Collection was renowned, but it was not orthodox Daoist scripture. It was a lifetime compilation of the arts of a White Snake that had successfully cultivated the Dao—a secret cultivation method of the Demon Race."

"That White Snake had once cultivated to the peak of the Spirit Embryo Realm and was only a step away from entering the True Yang Realm. He was unquestionably a great cultivator of the Demon Race. Although the White Emperor's Discourse Collection he left behind was not orthodox Daoist scripture, it contained more than a dozen formidable spells. That Flying Sword had been refined through sixteen hundred years of painstaking cultivation. Even among the sect-protecting Flying Swords of the great orthodox and unorthodox sects, it was unique and astonishingly powerful. The two Flying Hooks had an even more exalted origin: they were relics of an ancient water god, skilled at controlling the rivers, lakes, and seas beneath heaven and capable of binding all kinds of magical treasures."

"It was only a pity that the person who obtained the treasures became too pleased with himself and told the matter to three or five close friends. The news spread by word of mouth, until someone came to his door, killed him, and seized the treasures. His body and Dao were destroyed, and the White Emperor's Discourse Collection and the sword and pair of hooks vanished without a trace. No one knew whose hands they had fallen into, making it one of the great unsolved cases of that era."

"When I heard this rumor, I was working as a servant in the Immortal Encounter Sect. Two or three decades had already passed since the incident. By my reckoning, it should happen precisely within the next two or three years."

At this thought, Chen Ganliu suddenly felt a little sorrowful. He had nothing valuable on him. Even if he encountered such an opportunity, would anyone simply give him a Green Jade Stone?

Besides, no one knew how many Green Jade Stones there were at the Suiyang Immortal Market. How could he pick out the one containing the treasure? Unless he had a sea of Talisman Coins and bought every Green Jade Stone at the Suiyang Immortal Market over the next few years, there was no way to stumble upon that opportunity.

After feeling dejected for a while, he thought again, "I still have two or three years. It's not as if I can't raise my cultivation a little further and gather enough Talisman Coins."

"I've been given a chance to live a new life. Could there be a greater opportunity than this?"

"Go, go. Don't lose heart. I must keep my spirits up at all times."

Several days later, Chen Ganliu borrowed a woodcutter's knife, chopped down a thick branch to use as a staff, and brought along the dozen or so coins he had saved over the years. He left the plate of silver Spiritual Gate had given him in his room and did not take a single other thing from the Chen Family. Alone and unencumbered, he set off into the distance.

The Suiyang Immortal Market was more than two thousand li from Chen Family Village. An ordinary child would find it nearly impossible to make the journey alone.

Although Chen Ganliu was only seven or eight years old, he was still a Qi Cultivator and proficient in talisman arts. Even ten-odd ordinary adults would not have been his match.

Having lived three lifetimes, he was rich in experience when it came to traveling far. After leaving Chen Family Village, he did not hurry on. Instead, he searched the wilderness for two days and finally encountered a White Deer.

The White Deer was dull and foolish. Even when it saw a person, it did not flee.

Seeing that the White Deer was strong and sturdy, Chen Ganliu was delighted. He took out a talisman, pointed at it from afar, and shouted, "Fix!"

The White Deer collapsed at the sound of his command!

Although he had only cultivated his talisman arts to the first layer, they were useless against someone with even a little magical power. Against an animal, however, they worked with effortless ease.

Chen Ganliu walked over and pressed down on the White Deer's neck, then drew seventeen or eighteen Binding talismans.

This White Deer was merely an ordinary wild deer. How could it withstand such immortal methods? Seventeen or eighteen Binding talismans entered its sea of consciousness, and it immediately became docile and obedient, no longer struggling.

Chen Ganliu gave a light laugh, climbed onto the White Deer's back, sat upright, and shouted, "Get moving!"

The White Deer spread its four hooves. At first, it was somewhat unsteady, its rump twisting wildly and making for a terribly bumpy ride. Soon, however, under the talismans' support, its steps smoothed out. After half a day of training, it had become an excellent mount.

With the White Deer carrying him, he no longer had to walk by himself. He felt light and carefree by countless degrees.

As the saying went: The White Deer cried "yoyo," its coat white as snow, treading my peach blossoms across the stone bridge.

The immortal aura in this chapter is so strong. How about rewarding me with a few votes...?