Cultivation Methods

With an instinctive gasp, Huang Huai did not notice that a divine light flashed instantaneously through the void and directly submerged into the thumb-sized, exquisitely carved divine statue on the bead bracelet he had worn for years on his wrist.

This bead bracelet was the string of beads that the waiter at Ping'an Inn had inadvertently noticed and regarded as an incense and fire treasure artifact. The entire bracelet was carved and polished from top-grade purple sandalwood, and one of the statues carved from obsidian, depicting the Holy Lord Emperor Guan, was lifelike.

Along with that ray of divine light merging into it, the already lifelike statue of the Holy Lord Emperor Guan seemed to gain a bit more spirituality.

His mind jolted, and when Huang Huai pulled himself together and looked again at the statue of the Holy Lord Emperor Guan before him, the previous miraculous phenomenon was completely gone. However, the phantom of the deity he had seen in that trance-like moment seemed branded into his heart; he could affirm that the phantom of the deity was the Holy Lord Emperor Guan, and everything was so real.

Thinking of that divine light cast toward him, Huang Huai carefully sensed it, yet discovered nothing.

A gust of wind blew, and with a stir of Huang Huai's mind, that mysterious portal vanished. Standing before the divine statue for a long time, Huang Huai truly could not discern any changes.

Remembering something, Huang Huai then took out incense and candles, and following the previous pattern, lit the candle again to ignite the God-Worshipping Incense, bowing respectfully.

The candlelight flickered, and the God-Worshipping Incense gave off an ethereal incense and fire aura, but this time there were obviously no abnormalities; both the candle and the God-Worshipping Incense burned slowly as usual.

Having experienced the bizarre burning of the incense and candles and the phantom of the deity of the Holy Lord Emperor Guan seen in a trance, Huang Huai could affirm that the statue of the Holy Lord Emperor Guan had undergone changes unknown to him. He could only blame his own understanding of this world, especially the divine statues worshipped by everyone, for not even amounting to a mere scratching of the surface.

Perhaps if a cultivating person were to come, they would certainly know for what reason such miraculous phenomena appeared on the statue of the Holy Lord Emperor Guan.

Secretly making up his mind in his heart, he must find a way to contact the world of cultivation as early as possible, even if it meant just figuring out some basic common sense.

After quite a while, seeing that no changes were coming, Huang Huai bowed to the statue of the Holy Lord Emperor Guan once more, turned around, and went to tidy up his dwelling.

Come to think of it, being anxious about such matters was useless; he still had to settle down in this world first, and only then would he have sufficient time and energy to explore the secrets of this world.

Closing the courtyard door casually, Huang Huai walked toward the outside of the alley. He had already made some observations when he arrived: there were not many households in the alley, totaling only three, and this residence of his was located at the very end of the alley.

With a creak, Huang Huai saw the courtyard door of the household at the mouth of the alley suddenly open. A figure was just preparing to come out, and upon catching sight of Huang Huai, she paused slightly, a trace of wariness appearing in her eyes.

This was a young woman, at most in her early twenties, with an uncommon appearance. However, Huang Huai merely glanced at her, then withdrew his gaze, nodded slightly toward her, and explained, "Miss, I am a newly moved resident, right at the innermost house of the alley."

Hearing that Huang Huai was a newly arrived resident in the alley, the wariness in the woman's eyes dissipated a bit, and she likewise nodded toward Huang Huai.

Right at this moment, a fit of violent coughing came from the courtyard behind the woman, followed immediately by a slightly hoarse, under-powered voice that called out, "Lass, who is it?"

Following the sound, Huang Huai looked over and saw a middle-aged man dressed in a dark cyan long robe, his complexion pale, carrying an air of scholarly elegance about him, coughing while covering his mouth and nose with one hand as he walked toward the doorway.

Seeing this, the woman hurried into the courtyard and, supporting the middle-aged man, said, "Grandfather, aren't you painting in the study? Why..."

At this time Tang Yuan had already walked over. Huang Huai looked at the middle-aged man and then at the woman, feeling somewhat surprised in his heart; their outward appearances looked more like father and daughter, and he never imagined they were actually grandfather and granddaughter.

Although his thoughts raced, Huang Huai still bowed to the middle-aged man, saying, "I am Huang Huai, and my residence is at the very innermost part of the alley. We are neighbors from now on, so I ask for your kind care."

Tang Yuan's gaze swept over Huang Huai imperceptibly, a smile appearing on his face as he said, "This old man's surname is Tang, given name Yuan. Since we are neighbors, we naturally ought to look out for one another in the future."

Huang Huai smiled and said, "I still need to tidy up my dwelling, so I won't disturb Mr. Tang any further. Once I have finished tidying up and chosen an auspicious day, I will formally pay you a visit, sir."

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

Tang Yuan smiled indulgently and said, "Silly lass, how could there be so many wicked people!"

Tang Lin's pretty face flushed, and her gaze naturally fell upon a painting on the desk. At just a single glance, Tang Lin revealed a look of astonishment.

She saw that on the painting, a deity's phantom stood high above the heavens of the nine firmaments, with phoenix eyes and silkworm-brow eyebrows, a turban tied around his head, holding a broadsword, and his eyes half-closed. Perhaps the old man's painting skills were exquisite enough to render the portrait of the deity lifelike, or perhaps the portrait of the deity carried an innate supreme might, but Tang Lin felt a wave of divine might washing over her face.

"Grandfather, what is this you've painted..."

Tang Yuan looked at the lifelike portrait of the deity on the desk and slowly said, "This is a supreme and holy existence of the Imperial Lord's rank!"

"Ah, this... this deity in the painting is actually an existence of the Imperial Lord's rank!"

Amidst her startled cry, Tang Lin couldn't help staring closely at the painting, and suddenly frowned as she said, "Grandfather, that's not right. I've seen so many divine statues, and all of them have eyes flashing with divine light, but I've never seen one like this Imperial Lord, whose eyes are drooped and seemingly half-closed and half-open. I feel that if this Imperial Lord were to open his eyes, it would definitely be a completely different scene!"

Now, after a massive shopping spree among the market stalls lasting until evening, and after sending off the merchants who helped deliver the goods, Huang Huai finally breathed a sigh of relief and began sorting out the items he bought to place them in the side room where the statue of the Holy Lord Emperor Guan was worshipped.

Night fell, and Huang Huai prepared to get the items sorted and put away before heading back to the mortal realm first. On one hand, he needed to purchase some things, and on the other hand, it was mainly because things were still in a chaotic mess here, with nothing unpacked, not even a place to sleep.

The lamp flame flickered, and the candlelight spilled in all directions through the broken window. The night wind blew, rustling the tree leaves, and looking at it now, this dilapidated courtyard under the night sky gave one an inexplicable sense of desolation.

Over here, Huang Huai was tidying things up inside the room. Down below in the courtyard, beneath the pavilion by the water well, inside the cave chamber in the well wall, He Yuan—who had been sitting cross-legged digesting blood food—finally opened his eyes with a look of utter satisfaction. Looking at the lifelike, almost truly divine Scarlet Body Ghost Face Yaksha God before him, he could not help but smile complacently: "Swallowing a few more people as blood food today will surely accomplish the full feat."

He thought of how he had once knelt outside the Great River Sect for three days and three nights in hopes of touching the Great River Sect's High God to accept him into the sect, yet he had simply passed out cold in the heavy rain, only to wake up and find himself discarded in the mass grave outside the city.

He hated—hated those lofty High Gods. Why could they look down upon all living beings from their lofty heights while he could only act as an insignificant ant?

Ever since then, he had stopped at nothing, seeking every possible way to find a cultivation method, and even gradually getting acquainted with several people who had suffered like him.

Fortunately, great fortune descended from the heavens. During a grave-robbing expedition, they actually managed to unearth the underground palace of a cultivating person. After going through nine deaths and a lifetime of peril, he managed to drag a cultivation method out from the underground palace.

It was precisely by virtue of that cultivation method that he had attained his good fortune today.

With his emotions surging, He Yuan instinctively stroked the jade ruyi, about the size of an infant's palm, worn upon his chest. It was this jade ruyi, which he had risked his life to bring out from the underground palace and which contained a cultivation method within, that had changed his destiny.

Steadying his mind, He Yuan rose to his full height. With a thought, he stowed the Scarlet Body Ghost Face Yaksha God into his body, exited the cave chamber, and appeared soundlessly at the well opening.