"It was a deity, that much is true. Unfortunately, it later fell into the Devil Dao and became a demon." Shen Gongbao glanced back at the statue and sighed softly.
Lu Chuan was shocked. "May I ask, Master, how did this happen? How could a deity turn into a demon...?"
"Take a look at this temple. What do you think? Have you noticed anything?" Shen Gongbao asked.
"This temple..." Lu Chuan glanced around the dilapidated shrine as he spoke. "It looks like it's been abandoned for a long time. There are several holes in the roof, and so many cracks in the walls..."
Shen Gongbao nodded. "That's right. This temple hasn't received offerings of incense for many years."
"But what does incense have to do with a deity turning into a demon?" Lu Chuan asked, baffled.
"I think you noticed it earlier, didn't you? She's only a wandering soul. She doesn't have a physical body, right?" Shen Gongbao asked.
"A wandering soul?" Lu Chuan murmured in a daze. "Does that mean I didn't run into a monster, but a ghost?"
He didn't really understand what a wandering soul was.
But he had indeed seen it earlier: the female demon's dragon form had looked hazy and unreal, just a phantom in the shape of a dragon.
"So... it's more or less the same. She has no physical body and belongs to the ranks of Ghost Immortals."
"Normally, she can only rely on the power of incense to keep her Dharma body from perishing and her soul from fading," Shen Gongbao explained. "But as we just said, this temple hasn't received incense for many years."
"What happens when there's no incense?" Lu Chuan asked.
Shen Gongbao sighed. "Her soul scatters, and she returns to heaven and earth."
"What?" Lu Chuan stared blankly. "Are gods without the power of incense really in such a dire state?"
He remembered that in Investiture of the Gods, none of the gods who made the list seemed to have physical bodies. They had all ascended to the List of Conferred Gods as a wisp of their true spirits.
Could that mean they, too...?
"It is a little tragic. But you're right: only gods without physical bodies suffer that fate. Those who have bodies don't."
Shen Gongbao sighed wistfully. "To keep herself from vanishing from this world, she chose to descend into evil and eat people. She used the blood and vitality of humans to cultivate demonic energy, then relied on that demonic energy to keep her soul from perishing."
"I see."
Lu Chuan's eyes flickered. It was truly chilling to hear that she had chosen to eat people just to stay alive...
In truth, Lu Chuan could understand her a little.
Even ants clung to life. If anyone else had been in her position, they probably wouldn't have accepted having their soul scattered either. Lu Chuan had to admit that he wouldn't have sat back and waited for death, either.
But no matter what, her tragic circumstances couldn't justify harming others. The people she had eaten had all been innocent passersby.
Today, Shen Gongbao had injured her, and she had ended up being eaten by the Divine Tiger. It was only right that she got what she deserved.
Perhaps that was what people meant when they said: every pitiable person had something detestable about them.
No!
She wasn't human. She was a demon—one born from a wandering soul.
So was she a ghost or a demon?
Or should she be called a ghost-demon???
Shen Gongbao sighed. "Eating people is a vicious and cruel method, the way of demons. From the moment she ate her first person, she changed from a deity into a demon."
"Oh!"
Lu Chuan nodded when he heard this, then fell silent.
Suddenly, Shen Gongbao asked, "Lu Chuan, your senior brother sent you to cultivate under me. So let me ask you: what do you hope to gain from cultivation?"
Lu Chuan froze. He hadn't heard clearly. "What?"
"Or, to put it another way, why do you want to cultivate?" Shen Gongbao asked again.
"What do I want to gain?"
Lu Chuan lowered his head and thought carefully.
Yes. Why did he want to cultivate? What had his original goal been?
Seeing Lu Chuan deep in thought, Shen Gongbao chose not to disturb him.
He simply sat cross-legged by the fire, quietly gazing at the flames dancing over the burning wood.
After a long while...
"Master, I want to attain longevity."
After thinking for a long time, Lu Chuan turned to Shen Gongbao and spoke earnestly. Then he let out a long breath.
At first, he had only wanted to learn some Daoist arts and skills from Jiang Ziya so he could face the coming Investiture of the Gods Catastrophe and avoid ending up as cannon fodder.
But since a famous master was right in front of him, why not seek eternal life and freedom in this world?
"Longevity?" Shen Gongbao smiled faintly, not surprised.
Lu Chuan nodded seriously. "Yes. This disciple wants to attain the Dao and become an immortal."
"Attain the Dao and become an immortal? Hahaha..." Shen Gongbao burst into laughter.
Lu Chuan remained calm. "May I ask why Master is laughing?"
Shen Gongbao stopped laughing. "Then let me ask you: what do you think an immortal is?"
Lu Chuan pondered briefly. "Immortals never grow old or die, ride clouds and mist, and roam freely through the world..."
At that, Lu Chuan hesitated.
"Say whatever comes to mind. Don't hold back or hide anything," Shen Gongbao said. "I'm testing you and deciding what I should teach you. If you miss your chance because of this, don't blame me for refusing to pass on the Dao to you."
Lu Chuan continued. "They fly through the sky and burrow underground, move mountains and fill seas, and can do anything..."
He recited all the idioms he could think of that described immortals, as though he were reading aloud from a textbook, and went on for quite some time.
Shen Gongbao: "..."
"Do you think immortals are good?" Shen Gongbao finally managed to ask once Lu Chuan had finished.
That brat! If he hadn't stopped him, would he have kept reciting until dawn?
"Are immortals good?"
Lu Chuan was taken aback, then answered without hesitation. "Of course they are. If they weren't, why would everyone in the world want to become an immortal?"
Shen Gongbao asked again, "If everyone in the world knows immortals are wonderful, then why are so few people able to become immortals?"
"Um..." Lu Chuan had no answer.
"Do you know the three difficulties of cultivation?" Shen Gongbao asked.
"This disciple does not. Please enlighten me, Master."
"To enter the Immortal Path, the first difficulty is being born with the roots and bones of an immortal. The second is being born with an immortal's fate and fortune. The third is finding a renowned master."
"To attain the Immortal Path, one must first face these three difficulties. To become an immortal, not one of them can be missing," Shen Gongbao explained.
"Immortal roots, destined fortune, and a renowned master?" Lu Chuan lowered his head, quietly turning over the meaning of each in his mind.
Shen Gongbao paid him no heed and continued in a clear voice. "Your roots and bones are the first hurdle. Without immortal roots, you can't even set foot on the road of cultivation. You'll be lost among ordinary people."
"What happens to someone with the right roots and bones but no immortal fate?" Lu Chuan asked.
"Fate is fortune. Someone with immortal roots but no good fortune can toil at cultivation, only for it all to end as flowers reflected in a mirror and the moon's reflection in water."
Lu Chuan lowered his head and said nothing.
If that was the case, then Jiang Ziya must have been in that situation.
The fact that Jiang Ziya could cultivate meant he had the right roots and bones. But Yuanshi had said his fate was too shallow for him to attain the Immortal Path, so he had been sent down from Kunlun Mountain to carry out the Investiture of the Gods on his behalf in the future.
As for a renowned master...
Lu Chuan thought of a spiritual monkey who would be born in the future.
He had been nurtured by heaven and earth itself, so of course his roots and bones were extraordinary. He had also been born with great fortune.
Even so, hadn't he spent more than ten years searching for a renowned master?
Lu Chuan suddenly asked, "May I ask, Master, what are my roots and bones like? What about my fortune?"
"Fate and fortune are determined by heaven. How could your master possibly know that?"
Shen Gongbao smiled. "As for your roots and bones... if you didn't have them, do you think your senior brother would have let you become my disciple?"
Lu Chuan secretly breathed a sigh of relief.
He had thought of this himself, but he still lacked confidence. Shen Gongbao's words were like a pill of reassurance.
"Master, does that mean I can cultivate too?" Lu Chuan asked again.
His excitement and disbelief surpassed even what he had felt upon receiving his university acceptance letter.
Shen Gongbao smiled and nodded.
"Then, Master, when can I start cultivating?" Lu Chuan asked again.
But Shen Gongbao shook his head with a smile. "There's no rush. You don't even know what an immortal is yet. How can you talk about cultivating to become one?"
"Then, Master, what is an immortal?" Lu Chuan asked.
"When a person dies, he can become a ghost. When he attains the Dao, he can become an immortal. A person stands right between them."
"Those who are purely yin are ghosts, and those who are purely yang are immortals. Those who balance yin and yang are human. Only humans stand between the two, able to become either ghosts or immortals," Shen Gongbao explained.
"Immortals, humans, ghosts?"
Lu Chuan lowered his head in thought, pondering this.
Note: These words come from a book of Daoist teachings; I didn't just make them up. Also, my contract is complete, so I'm starting two updates a day. Please add this to your favorites and recommend it. Tips are optional—hehe, thank you!
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