Ghost Immortal Spirit Mediumship

Mo Chuan ultimately turned down the job of driving a hearse.

It was not because he looked down on it.

He had no parents and few relatives, so he naturally did not care about society's judgment.

The main reason was that he carried the Sacrificial Dao Furnace, and offerings could come at any moment, like auditory and visual hallucinations.

Delaying work was a small matter; causing harm to the deceased's family was a grave one.

As he ate beef offal noodles, he calculated his savings. There was not much left—only a little over six thousand.

Including the debt collected that morning, he had a little over eight thousand left.

He had already paid his rent in advance and could stay another four months.

He had no girlfriend to spend money on, and with only himself to feed, the debts could support him for a year or so.

He put the matter of finding work aside for now. First, he needed to figure out the Sacrificial Dao Furnace.

After breakfast, he rode his electric scooter out to buy supplies and make preparations.

In the blink of an eye, a week passed.

During that week, the Chen family made daily offerings and worshipped without fail.

Mo Chuan feasted on incense offerings every day, and he felt his body growing healthier, his strength surging, his spirits high.

However, he ultimately did not move about within the Chen family's territory.

At most, he took a lap around the ancestral hall.

The reason was simple: to his physical body, the sunlight looked warm and pleasant, but to his Xian Body, it was like heavenly fire.

Before he had even left the ancestral hall, that blazing sunlight had frightened him into not daring to cross its bounds.

Unless he put on the painted skin.

Only then did Mo Chuan finally understand why Huang Buyu had called the painted skin a means of transportation when he offered it.

Speaking of Huang Buyu, he was also the second reason Mo Chuan had not left the ancestral hall without wearing the painted skin.

That day, he had used clever words to trick Huang Buyu and resolve the Chen family's calamity.

Who knew whether Huang Buyu had caught on?

Mo Chuan felt somewhat guilty, after all.

If that fellow was still waiting outside Chen Family Town and ran into him, then if his act was exposed, he would have a hundred mouths and still be unable to explain himself.

After thinking it over, Mo Chuan decided it would be best to lie low for the time being and not show himself around the Chen family.

It was worth mentioning that, during that week, Mo Chuan tried bringing all kinds of things across.

He thought that if he could trade goods between the two worlds, exchanging cheap real-world silver for gold from the other world, would he not make a fortune overnight?

But anything he brought from reality turned into a wisp of ash upon reaching the other world. At a touch, it crumbled and dispersed as curling green smoke.

Things from the other world were even harder to bring back to reality.

Without a physical form, he simply could not carry them.

From this detail, the painted skin Huang Buyu had offered must have undergone some special treatment.

What kind of immortal method was that?

When he had the chance, he needed to have a proper talk with Huang Buyu.

"Let the heavy fragrance answer Heaven and Earth; light the pure incense, piercing Heaven's Gate..."

That day, a voice distinctly different from the Chen family elder's began murmuring in Mo Chuan's ears.

Mo Chuan froze, then hurriedly summoned the Sacrificial Dao Furnace. Three offering sticks gave rise to curling green smoke.

The one making the offering was another old man.

His sparse hair was white, and he was in the twilight of his years. An ebony hairpin was tucked into his hair, and he wore a dark Daoist robe patterned with fourfold cloud motifs. Holding three incense sticks, he chanted under his breath.

Beside him stood a Daoist boy who looked to be around twelve or thirteen.

"...Within Ziwei Palace, the sacred hall opens; the Peach Blossom Jade Maiden invites the immortals. Incense stretches across a thousand miles to summon them; riding flying clouds and galloping steeds, descend and arrive..."

With his experience at the Chen family, Mo Chuan did not reveal himself. He merely listened and watched in silence.

Yet judging by the old man's calm, unruffled manner, he did not seem to have encountered any calamity.

After a long while, the old Daoist finished reciting the spirit-medium invocation, let out a faint breath, inserted the three incense sticks into the burner, and turned to the Daoist boy beside him.

"Have you memorized the words for Ghost Immortal Spirit Mediumship?"

"I have, Master."

"Good. Recite them once."

"But, Master... what if I really summon a Ghost Immortal?"

"With your master here, rest easy!"

The Daoist boy clearly trusted the old Daoist deeply. Hearing that, he was indeed reassured. He took three offering sticks, lit them with a candle, and began muttering the incantation in imitation of his master.

Once he finished the spirit-medium words, today's lesson was considered over.

After inserting the offering incense, the Daoist boy asked, "Master, yesterday I read a Daoist scripture. It said that all true celestial immortals and Divine Generals do not possess the bodies of living people. Whoever possesses someone to speak is certainly an evil demon of the Outer Dao, an unrighteous ghost. If that is so, is our Fu Luan Temple spirit-summoning art righteous or wicked?"

The old man burst into laughter. "What do you think?"

"I cannot say."

"Arts themselves are neither righteous nor wicked. It depends on the person using them."

The old Daoist took the opportunity to instruct him.

"The book you read was the Supreme Heavenly Altar Jade Regulations, the doctrine of the Qingwei and Shenxiao lineages. In their view, such arts as circular light, possession, summoning generals, fu luan spirit mediumship, and water-gazing are all heretical teachings! This is merely a dispute between lineages. You need not concern yourself with it."

"So that is how it is! Then they are truly awful. If they wanted to compete, then compete—but why belittle us?" The Daoist boy's face was full of displeasure.

"One mountain cannot contain two tigers. Daoist lineages are the same."

The old Daoist did not explain further, but he added one more sentence.

"Though the Qingwei and Shenxiao lineages value precepts over talismans and differ from us in doctrine, their discipline is strict, and they take saving the world and delivering people as their duty. If you encounter them in the future, you must never slight them because of doctrinal disputes."

"Yes, Master." The Daoist boy nodded.

With that, the conversation between old and young came to an end, and they left the main hall one after the other.

Mo Chuan looked at the various fierce-eyed divine statues around him and, after some thought, returned to his physical body.

"From what they said, the old Daoist is teaching the boy the art of Ghost Immortal Spirit Mediumship."

"Seeing how casually he allowed the Daoist boy to try it, the Ghost Immortal they served must have vanished long ago. That also fits the Sacrificial Dao Furnace's ability to intercept only ownerless incense offerings."

"Still, to be safe, I should observe for a few more days."

Mo Chuan pondered in secret and simply held back his impatience as he continued to observe.

Over the following days, he enjoyed the Chen family's incense offerings while coveting the incense offerings at the Daoist temple.

That day, after offering incense, the old Daoist once again instructed the Daoist boy.

"Xuan Yun, the 'Text of the Multitude of Precepts of the Three Caverns' says: if a Daoist scripture is not transmitted by a master, then practicing it will have no spiritual efficacy. Do you know why?" the old Daoist asked.

This meant that if Daoist arts were not imparted by a master, then even if one used them, they would possess no supernatural power.

"This disciple does not know."

Although Xuan Yun the Daoist Boy was clever, he truly did not understand this.

"The 'Compendium of Daoist Methods' says: the Dao is the ultimate truth of spiritual connection; methods are the mysteries of transformation. The Dao saves people through methods, and people comprehend the Dao through methods..."

The old Daoist swayed his head as he explained.

Mo Chuan listened for a long while, lost amid clouds and mist, before barely sorting out the gist of it.

It turned out that Daoism was divided into "Dao," "methods," and "arts."

As the saying went: the Dao is hard to seek, methods can be cultivated, and arts are easily obtained.

The power cultivated by Fu Luan Temple came from its ancestors and forebears, so naturally one had to gain the recognition of one's master's lineage.

"Do you know why I have you practice Ghost Immortal Spirit Mediumship every day, yet do not worry about summoning a Ghost Immortal?" the old Daoist asked again.

"Master, do you mean... even the bodies of the Patriarchs' Ghost Immortals have died?"

Smack!

The old Daoist flicked the Daoist boy on the forehead.

"The Patriarchs underwent Ascension to immortality. What do you mean, dead or alive?"

"Oh!"

The Daoist boy covered his forehead with a wronged expression. Then inspiration struck him. "Then does that not mean practicing this Ghost Immortal Spirit Mediumship is useless?"

"It is useful!"

"Then how is it used?"

"When I ascend and take my place among the Ghost Immortals."

The old Daoist looked toward the temple's divine statues and slowly exhaled.

The Daoist boy was dumbfounded.

"A cultivator who fails to awaken to the Great Dao..."

The old Daoist was about to speak in lofty, bookish phrases when his words suddenly stopped at his lips.

"Xuan Yun, I may not necessarily become a Ghost Immortal either! After I ascend, if the art of Ghost Immortal Spirit Mediumship does not work within seven days, then it likely means my soul has returned to the Three Mountains and my spirit to the Five Peaks."

"Master—" The Daoist boy grew anxious.

"Silence!"

The old Daoist interrupted his disciple.

"If I do not become a Ghost Immortal, this Daoist temple will depend on you alone from then on. Your spiritual root far surpasses mine. You will surely become a Ghost Immortal, and you must protect the Fu Luan Temple lineage in the future! Today, I will teach you another art, called the Ghost Subduing Talisman."

"This is a talisman art. Borrowing the power of xian, it can subdue evil ghosts. After I ascend, if I cannot attain immortality, I will surely scatter into xian. Perhaps I can remain intact for several days. You must seize that chance to write several talismans, making them the foundation of our lineage."

The Daoist boy's entire body shook.

"Master, can this xian truly deal with ghosts?"

"Of course. Otherwise, why do you think the xian character is engraved in relief on our Daoist eight-trigram coins and even on all kinds of talismans?"

"I still do not understand. Xian forms when ghosts die, so how can it still deal with ghosts?"

"Ghosts form when humans die, so how can they harm humans?"

"This... ghosts are human souls and spirits. Only certain special people can become ghosts. Such people are blessed by Heaven, their souls are powerful, and naturally they can harm people. But xian has lost its physical form, so how can it deal with ghosts? Could it be like those evil spirits, possessing ghosts and draining Ghost Qi?"

"Hahaha... you are teachable indeed! Just as not everyone can become a ghost unless their resentment and Baleful Intent reach the heavens, not every evil spirit can become xian either!"

As the master and disciple discussed, Mo Chuan's eyes shone brightly.

What he lacked was precisely this kind of basic knowledge.

Now, listening to the old Daoist expound on the Dao, he finally gained a preliminary understanding of his own condition.

"That will be all for today. Rest your spirit well tonight. Tomorrow, bathe and burn incense, and I will teach you the Ghost Subduing Talisman!"

"Yes, Master."

Mo Chuan watched the master and disciple leave the main hall one after the other, feeling as though he had stumbled upon treasure.

The next day, Mo Chuan had likewise rested well. Upon hearing the old Daoist's murmured incense offering, he decisively used incense offerings as a mirror and came to watch.

Before the divine statues, the old Daoist set out a small table.

He performed the Ghost Immortal Spirit Mediumship art once, then spread out talisman paper, picked up his brush, drew a deep breath, and said:

"Xuan Yun, this Ghost Subduing Talisman, like Ghost Immortal Spirit Mediumship, borrows the strength of our ancestors and forebears! Ghost Immortal Spirit Mediumship summons Ghost Immortals! This Ghost Subduing Talisman naturally summons Jie Immortals! Watch carefully."

As the old Daoist chanted, his wolf-hair brush dipped into cinnabar, and its tip touched the paper.

At once, his brush moved like a dragon and serpent, its force penetrating the back of the paper!

Mo Chuan, watching from the sidelines, was instantly absorbed.

In a daze, he subconsciously raised his hand and made a phantom grip around the old Daoist's brush. Like a child learning to write, he followed its strokes, soaring like phoenixes and dancing like luan birds!

In moments, a seal-script character for "xian" appeared upon the talisman paper.

"Master, that character seems to be moving..."

Xuan Yun the Daoist Boy looked at his master in astonishment, only to abruptly discover that his master's eyes were brimming with tears, looking as though he might break into sorrowful weeping!

In this book, titles such as Ghost Immortal, Jie Immortal, and Great Immortal Master are not true immortals, but rather elegant honorifics.

Also: this book's cultivation system uses benchmarks such as "sixty years," "one hundred years," and "one thousand years." A higher realm does not necessarily crush a lower realm, and in rare cases, there may be mutual generation and restraint. Different races each have their strengths and weaknesses.