Cultivation Method

With an instinctive cry, Huang Huai didn't notice a divine light flash through the void and instantly enter the thumb-sized, exquisitely carved statue on the prayer beads he always wore on his wrist.

These prayer beads were the bracelet that the waiter at Ping'an Inn had casually seen and treated as a treasure for incense and fire. The entire bracelet was carved and polished from top-grade sandalwood, with a lifelike statue of Holy Lord Emperor Guan carved from obsidian.

As that divine light entered it, the already lifelike statue of Holy Lord Emperor Guan seemed to gain a bit more sentience.

His mind jolted, Huang Huai snapped back to reality and looked at the statue of Holy Lord Emperor Guan before him, but the previous anomaly was gone. However, the illusory divine figure he had seen in his daze was as if branded into his heart; he was certain that the divine figure was Holy Lord Emperor Guan, and everything felt so real.

Thinking of the divine light that had shone upon him, Huang Huai felt around carefully but found nothing.

A gust of wind blew, and with a thought from Huang Huai, the mysterious portal disappeared. He stood before the statue for a long time but couldn't discern any changes.

Remembering something, Huang Huai took out incense and candles again, lit the candles as before, ignited the God-Worshipping Incense, and respectfully bowed.

The candlelight flickered, and the God-Worshipping Incense emitted a faint scent of incense and fire. However, this time, no abnormality clearly appeared; both the candles and the God-Worshipping Incense burned slowly as usual.

Having experienced the strange burning of the incense and candles and the illusory divine figure of Holy Lord Emperor Guan he had seen in his daze, Huang Huai was certain that the statue of Holy Lord Emperor Guan had undergone a change he was unaware of. He could only blame himself for not even knowing the basics about this world, especially about the statues worshipped by everyone.

Perhaps if it were a cultivator, they would definitely understand why such an anomaly occurred with the statue of Holy Lord Emperor Guan.

He secretly resolved to find a way to enter the world of cultivation as soon as possible, even if it was just to understand some basic common knowledge.

After a while, when Huang Huai didn't wait for any changes, he bowed to the statue of Holy Lord Emperor Guan and turned to tidy up his residence.

It was useless to rush such things; he first needed to settle down in this world before he would have enough time and energy to explore its secrets.

Casually closing the courtyard gate, Huang Huai walked towards the outside of the alley. He had observed when he arrived that there were not many households in the alley, only three in total, and his residence was at the end of the alley.

With a creak, Huang Huai saw the courtyard gate of the household at the entrance of the alley suddenly open. A figure was about to come out and happened to see Huang Huai. She paused slightly, a hint of vigilance appearing in her eyes.

This was a woman, at most twenty years old, with a good appearance. However, Huang Huai only glanced at her before looking away, nodding slightly and explaining, "Miss, I am a new resident who just moved in, the one at the very end of the alley."

Hearing that Huang Huai was a new resident in the alley, the vigilance in the woman's eyes lessened. She also nodded at Huang Huai.

Just then, a violent cough came from the courtyard behind the woman, followed by a slightly hoarse, weak voice, "Girl, who is it?"

Huang Huai followed the sound and saw a middle-aged man in a dark green long gown, with a pale complexion and an air of refinement. He coughed, covering his mouth and nose, as he walked towards the doorway.

Seeing this, the woman hurried into the courtyard, supporting the middle-aged man as she said, "Grandfather, weren't you painting in the study, why are you..."

At this moment, Tang Yuan had already walked over. Huang Huai looked at the middle-aged man and then at the woman, feeling a little surprised. The two looked more like father and daughter, but he hadn't expected them to be grandfather and granddaughter.

Although his thoughts raced, Huang Huai still bowed to the middle-aged man and said, "My name is Huang Huai. The place at the very end of the alley is my residence. We are neighbors from now on, please take care of me."

Tang Yuan's gaze swept over Huang Huai almost imperceptibly, and a smile appeared on his face. "My surname is Tang, my given name is Yuan. Since we are neighbors, we will naturally look out for each other from now on."

Huang Huai smiled and said, "I still need to tidy up my residence, so I won't disturb you, Mr. Tang. After I finish tidying up, I will choose a good day to formally visit you."

Watching Huang Huai's figure recede, the young woman helped Tang Yuan back to the study and said, "Grandfather, that person..."

Tang Yuan smiled indulgently, "Silly girl, where are there so many bad people!"

Tang Lin's pretty face flushed, and her gaze naturally fell on a painting on the desk. With just one glance, Tang Lin showed a look of surprise.

On the painting, a divine figure stood above the void of the nine heavens. He had phoenix eyes, silkworm eyebrows, wore a scholar's cap, held a large saber, and his eyes were slightly closed. Perhaps it was the old man's exquisite brushwork that made the divine image so lifelike, or perhaps the divine image itself possessed supreme might. Tang Lin instinctively felt a divine power rushing towards her.

"Grandfather, who are you painting..."

Tang Yuan looked at the lifelike divine image on the desk and slowly said, "This is a supreme and holy being of Imperial Sovereign!"

"Ah, this... this divine being in the painting is actually a being of Imperial Sovereign!"

With a cry of surprise, Tang Lin couldn't help but stare closely at the painting. Suddenly, she frowned, "Grandfather, that's not right. I've seen so many statues of gods, and they all have divine light in their eyes. I've never seen an Emperor like this, with his eyes slightly lowered as if half-closed. I feel that if this Emperor were to open his eyes, it would definitely be a different spectacle!"

Meanwhile, Huang Huai went on a major shopping spree in the market. It wasn't until evening, after seeing off the merchants who helped deliver the goods, that Huang Huai finally breathed a sigh of relief and began to organize the purchased items, placing them in the side room where the statue of Holy Lord Emperor Guan was enshrined.

Night fell. As Huang Huai prepared to put away the items, he planned to return to the present world. On one hand, he needed to buy some things, and on the other hand, the place was still a mess, with nothing organized, and he didn't even have a place to sleep.

The lamp flickered, and the candlelight spilled through the broken window in all directions. The night wind blew, and the leaves rustled. The dilapidated courtyard under the night sky now gave off a strange sense of desolation.

As Huang Huai was tidying things up in the room, in the well under the pavilion in the courtyard, inside the cave dwelling on the well wall, He Yuan, who had been cross-legged digesting Blood Food, finally opened his eyes with a look of satisfaction. Looking at the lifelike Scarlet Body Ghost Face Yaksha God before him, which was almost like a real god, he couldn't help but smile proudly, "If I capture a few more people for Blood Food today, I will be able to complete my task."

He thought about how he had knelt for three days and three nights before the Great River Sect in his younger days, hoping to move the High God of the Great River Sect to take him as a disciple. However, he had fainted in the heavy rain. When he woke up, he found himself abandoned in a mass grave outside the city.

He hated those high and mighty High Gods. Why could they look down on all beings from their lofty positions, while he could only be an ant?

From then on, he stopped at nothing, trying every means to find a way to cultivate, and even gradually befriended a few people who had similar experiences.

Fortunately, fate smiled upon him. During a grave-robbing expedition, they actually dug up an underground palace of a cultivator. After experiencing countless dangers, he managed to bring back a cultivation method from the underground palace.

With that cultivation method, he achieved his current success.

As his emotions surged, He Yuan subconsciously touched a jade ruyi, about the size of a baby's palm, which he wore on his chest. It was this jade ruyi, which he had risked his life to bring out of the underground palace and contained a cultivation method, that changed his destiny.

Calming his mind, He Yuan stood up, and with a thought, he absorbed the Scarlet Body Ghost Face Yaksha God into his body. He emerged from the cave dwelling and silently appeared at the wellhead.