Hanging Temple's Trick

"Rustle, rustle..."

Countless white paper offerings drifted down from the sky. Grim and chilling, pale funeral banners fluttered in every direction, their inscriptions ignited by flames. Across the barren earth, graves and tombstones stretched into the distance...

A pyre rose within the black mist, accompanied by an extremely faint sound of sobbing.

The Small Underworld had descended!

"Four dead..."

Mystic Cat Goddess's golden pupils lit up. She leaped down from the wall, the Small Jade Pendant tied around her neck with a red cord swaying gently. With elegant, unhurried steps, she began cleaning up the battlefield left behind by the clash of spells.

She had been drawn by the aura of death to Small River Village, where she had then secretly watched the entire process of the Qi Refiner's death.

Chen Xuan followed like a shadow.

Heartfast activated, and the scene of the Small Underworld came into view.

"This Mystic Cat... is a 'Demon and Monster.'"

A Demon and Monster was one of the Twenty-Four Ghosts and Monsters.

The term usually referred to ancient spirits formed when beasts of the mountains and marshes gained sentience. The Four-Eyed Divine Being and Bronze Horse that Chen Xuan had encountered earlier technically belonged to this category as well, but they had been born from ancient artifacts and existed in great numbers, so Qi Refiners classified them separately as Ancient Demons.

As for the latter two of Demons and Monsters—the wang and liang—they referred to spirits born from wood and stone in the mountains and marshes.

"These three strands of Immortal Qi are too ruined to look at... Young people really do use too much force."

Mystic Cat Goddess stepped over the mangled corpses on the ground, her expression faintly displeased. Feeling that her food had been spoiled, she headed toward the ruins of the collapsed buildings in the distance.

"This strand of Immortal Qi from the great monk is rather interesting. He came from the Hanging Temple and once practiced a trick. It has absorbed a trace of the fortune of the mountains and seas..."

The Hanging Temple?

Chen Xuan possessed Mystic Cat Goddess's eyes and heard her thoughts. His heart sank at once... Had he apparently beaten a Qi Refiner with quite an impressive background to death?

The Hanging Temple was a reclusive sect of the Ancient Chu Kingdom. It did not lie within the territory of Red Crow City. Supposedly, the mountain was home to a group of Ascetic Monks who lived on wind and dew, studied Buddhist teachings, and paid no heed to worldly disputes.

It was a Qi-refining force no weaker than Green Deer Mountain!

"Whoosh!"

Just then.

Mystic Cat Goddess opened her mouth and inhaled. A streak of white Immortal Qi rose from the great monk's body in the ruins, accompanied by a dim fragment of light that flickered rapidly in midair like fleeting scenes glimpsed from horseback.

"Little White Ape Trick... Qi passes through the Purple Palace, traverses the Spirit Ruins and Heaven's Palace Point, reaching..."

Within the fragment, a great monk in a kasaya sat in a temple deep in the mountains, where ancient trees soared into the heavens. He overheard some profound trick...

He then fled down the mountain in a panic, his heart surging with excitement as he tried to practice it. His talent was too poor, however, and he failed to enter the path after several years.

"I can't master it... Hahaha, the masters of the Hanging Temple were right. My Root Bone is too poor. I'll never cultivate Metal Virtue White Qi in my lifetime!"

Under the torrential rain, the great monk threw back his head and laughed furiously, his heart utterly dead.

Greed had forged a grave mistake. Unable to return to the mountain gate, the great monk wandered the world, still borrowing the name of the sect. Later, he drifted into the remote territory of Red Crow City and became a powerful figure of the martial world.

"So the great monk was a traitor. Does that mean I've cleaned house for the Hanging Temple?"

Chen Xuan could not help laughing inwardly. He was not afraid of making enemies, but peaceful coexistence was obviously preferable if possible.

Then he saw a strand of Immortal Qi suddenly fly out from the fragment of light. It moved through the air along a peculiar trajectory, gradually outlining a picture that resembled the contour of a human body.

"This is the Qi-circulation diagram of the Hanging Temple's Little White Ape Trick!"

Chen Xuan's heart jolted. He immediately focused and engraved the Qi-circulation diagram into his mind.

"Roar!"

The snow-white Immortal Qi circled through the air, seemingly connecting with some strange force. Suddenly, a gigantic white ape, entirely snow-white and as large as a small mountain, appeared. With both fists planted on the ground, it raised its hideous face and roared at the heavens.

A white ape!

"Not bad."

Chen Xuan watched, transfixed. He felt that he had already grasped some of the principles of the trick that the great monk had failed to master after several years.

It did not seem that difficult to learn?

"After a Qi Refiner dies, the trick they practiced in life becomes tainted by their fortune and evolves within the Small Underworld."

Chen Xuan muttered to himself, as if he could see a bright road stretching before him... Would that not mean that in the future, whenever he took a fancy to a trick, he only needed to kill its possessor, and the trick would belong to him?

Killing one person made a bandit, killing ten made a demon, and killing ten thousand made an immortal who attained the Dao?

Once an evil thought arose, the world suddenly seemed broad.

"This is practically the method for a great demon's rise."

Chen Xuan shuddered. He felt that the thought which had suddenly surfaced in his mind was far too extreme and not the righteous path.

"I'm not a bloodthirsty person... But if some people commit every evil under the sun and court death themselves, then they can't blame me."

Chen Xuan's character was resolute. He soon cast aside his stray thoughts. His talent was already excellent; there was no need to deliberately pursue shortcuts. He would simply let nature take its course from now on.

Mystic Cat Goddess stared up at the Qi-circulation diagram for a long while. Wrinkling her tender nose, she muttered to herself, "What schemes are those mad Ascetic Monks of the Hanging Temple plotting behind the scenes this time? They're so busy that they don't even care about their own trick spreading into the mortal world."

Chen Xuan frowned when he heard this, feeling that he had overheard a secret. He quickly pricked up his ears and listened closely.

"Could it be that they still haven't abandoned their treacherous intentions and are foolishly dreaming of awakening Yong He? They all died long ago... The Hanging Temple might as well raise a living Buddha of the present age!"

Mystic Cat Goddess curled her lip in disdain and sneered, "Stir things up. Stir the world into chaos, split Chu into pieces, and let all the Qi Refiners die out while you're at it! The Small Underworld will have a good feast!"

Chen Xuan was startled when he heard this. Awaken Yong He?

The Classic of Mountains and Seas said: "There is a beast there. Its shape resembles an ape, with red eyes, a red beak, and a yellow body. It is called Yong He. When it appears, the nation suffers a Great Terror."

Those Ascetic Monks of the Hanging Temple were actually plotting such a shocking, earth-shaking deed behind the scenes!

The giant ape Yong He was a legendary beast on par with the Lei Bird of the Ancient Chu Kingdom. Once it emerged, war would surely erupt in every direction. Metal Virtue White Qi would suffuse heaven and earth, clashing with the Fire Virtue Red Qi emitted by the Lei Bird. A Great Terror would occur, and perhaps the Ancient Chu Kingdom would truly be split in two because of it.

"The Little White Ape Trick is a cultivation method created by the Hanging Temple through researching Yong He..."

Chen Xuan muttered to himself, then decided that whenever he encountered monks from the Hanging Temple in the future, he would retreat three hundred paces. Those Ascetic Monks really were probably a bunch of lunatics.

Of course, he also understood that the Hanging Temple's attempt to awaken Yong He was fundamentally unrealistic. Moreover, the imperial court of the Ancient Chu Kingdom, that colossal power pressing across ninety thousand li of territory, was not idle. It would never sit by and watch such a treasonous deed occur.

"Whoosh!"

Afterward, Mystic Cat Goddess opened her mouth and swallowed the strand of Immortal Qi containing the great monk's past and his fortunes and destiny.

By then, Chen Xuan had memorized the complete Qi-circulation diagram of the trick. Although he had gained no further benefit from Mystic Cat during this descent of the Small Underworld, he had unexpectedly discovered another wondrous use of Heartfast. He had also obtained a trick for cultivating Metal Virtue White Qi, so the trip had not been in vain.

After Mystic Cat Goddess had eaten and drunk her fill, she suddenly turned her head, a trace of gravity flashing through her golden pupils.

Chen Xuan shuddered, because in her field of vision he saw himself. He had just gone through a clash of spells and was now sitting on the steps of the courtyard, meditating with his eyes closed.

"Why is she looking at me for no reason?"

Mystic Cat Goddess scrutinized Chen Xuan. She even moved her four limbs and walked directly up to him, raising her head to examine him carefully.

The whiskers on her cat face brushed softly across Chen Xuan's cheek...

"I misjudged you last time. Little thing, there's something fishy about you too..."

Her cold thoughts rang in Chen Xuan's ears, making him feel as if he had fallen into an icy pit. What exactly had she discovered?

Several days earlier, during the dispute caused by the Yellow Millet Dream in Willow Town,

she had seen this ill-fated youth. At the time, he had obtained a scroll of the Twelve Spiritual Qi Breathing Method, but now it seemed that he had not rashly practiced it.

He was currently learning a cat's breathing technique...

Although Chen Xuan had immediately adjusted the rhythm of his breathing the moment Mystic Cat appeared, his body had already undergone subtle changes from practicing that breathing rhythm over a long period. Mystic Cat Goddess still noticed a trace of something unusual.

This was a very ancient breathing method. She was quite familiar with it, as it circulated only in the Small Underworld and a few other places.

"The Yellow Millet Dream has already emerged into the world. It wouldn't be strange for one more anomaly like you to appear. Someone placed an early bet and provided you with a breathing method."

A bloodthirsty curve formed at the corner of Mystic Cat Goddess's mouth. "Peach Blossom Garden is about to fall from the heavens. You'd better not die. Otherwise, I'll get to see the secret..."

Why bother being a perfectly good person when you could learn to be a cat?

She could not understand it and felt an indescribable sense of shame... That existence secretly teaching Chen Xuan the breathing method truly had no regard for human decency, actually making someone learn such a breathing method.

"Phew..."

Chen Xuan's heart immediately relaxed. So Mystic Cat had only discovered this. He had been mentally prepared for it—after secretly learning someone else's Mystic Cat Breathing Method, it was practically impossible to hide it from the rightful owner upon meeting her.

He simply had not expected Mystic Cat to connect it with such a wild and tangled line of thought.

An expert placing a bet behind the scenes? Was that not her?

The things in the Small Underworld were not as terrifying as he had imagined. After spending more time in contact with it, Chen Xuan now viewed Mystic Cat as having suddenly lost some of her cold, mysterious aura and gained a little warmth instead.

"I'll keep a deathwatch on you..."

Mystic Cat Goddess threw him a vicious threat, then quickly left the area.

In the distant sky, black rain cascaded down like a waterfall, drowning everything within sight.

Not long afterward.

Chen Xuan ended Heartfast and opened his eyes in the small courtyard.

"The Little White Ape Trick..."

He quickly recalled it to deepen his impression, then immediately began cultivating according to the Qi-circulation diagram.