Empowerment (Please Follow)

Jade Heaven Market.

The painted boats drifted slowly, and the market remained as it had been.

"Looks like after the cultivation world was thrown into chaos for a while, it really is about to settle down. Even this sort of mobile market has reopened..."

Fang Qing had disguised himself as the sinister middle-aged man he had once been here as. After converting his mana to [Winnowing Basket Water], he now displayed a sixth-layer cultivation. With his hands clasped behind his back, he stepped onto a book boat.

The signboard of the Nine Rivers Water Pavilion came into view.

A beautiful married woman with skin like congealed cream, a jade-green hairpin in her hair, and a scholarly air about her face came forward to greet him. "Customer... eh?"

She seemed to recognize Fang Qing.

"Manager, it has been a long time."

Fang Qing smiled faintly. "Ba Commandery's cultivation world has suffered a great calamity. I never expected to meet an old acquaintance again..."

He had come here for only one reason: to confirm something.

After obtaining the Plum Blossom Divination, he wanted to verify what Old Blind Man had told him back then.

"The cultivation world was too chaotic before. We could only barely survive by closing the market... Now that the situation has stabilized somewhat, naturally we have to come out and do some business."

The beautiful woman lightly tucked back her cloudlike hair. There was an indescribable charm about her from head to toe.

"That is good. I will buy a few more Daoist books..."

Fang Qing went to the bookshelves and casually leafed through the volumes. "There are still only this many cultivation arts above the Dao Foundation Realm..."

Yet in his heart, he began calculating with the Plum Blossom Divination.

"Minor misfortune?!"

"This is based on my strength. If it were another cultivator, they might truly fall straight into the pit."

"As expected, this bookstore poses quite an obstruction to me."

A faintly shadowed expression surfaced deep in Fang Qing's eyes.

"Dao Foundation cultivation arts are originally secrets that each household refuses to pass on..." The beautiful woman noticed nothing, and her expression remained unchanged.

A moment later, Fang Qing selected several ordinary Daoist books and took his leave.

This time, however, the beautiful woman did not return to her seat. Instead, she went behind the book pavilion.

There was actually a hidden chamber behind the bookshelf wall!

It was isolated by an array. The outside world would find it utterly impossible to detect the slightest trace of it.

A hand reached out and pulled the beautiful woman into the hidden chamber, then began groping over her body without the slightest ceremony.

"Young Master Cheng..."

The beautiful woman demurely resisted. Her hands appeared to have little strength. "What if another customer comes later?"

Standing opposite her was a cultivator with triangular eyes, his face full of lewdness.

If Li Rulong had been here, he would have recognized him at once. This man was none other than Luo Dacheng!

"Tell me about that customer just now."

Although Luo Dacheng's eyes gleamed as though he wanted to devour the woman whole, the greed in his expression was even stronger.

It was as though... he had encountered prey more delectable than the beautiful woman?

"That customer? He came once several years ago to purchase a [Winnowing Basket Water] cultivation art for a disciple of his household. I sold him that flawed copy of the Black Ridge Observation Book from the clan."

The beautiful woman spoke with some confusion.

"Haha... what household disciple? He himself lacks the subsequent cultivation art! I cultivate [Winnowing Basket Water] as well. Using a secret technique to sense him just now, I found that he cultivates my family's Black Ridge Observation Book and has already reached the sixth layer... Hehe, without those few lines of mnemonic verses and crucial points, he definitely cannot break through to Late Qi Ingestion. He may have come this time to probe for information."

"So that was it?"

The beautiful woman was somewhat startled.

"Haha... you really bring me good fortune, woman! With my Prime Quality cultivation art, I can only win and never lose against him. I can devour all his cultivation, and perhaps even break through my current bottleneck."

Luo Dacheng laughed loudly. "I will be back in no time. Just wait nicely for me, beauty."

The beautiful woman smiled sweetly as she watched Luo Dacheng depart. Only after his escaping light completely vanished did her expression abruptly change. She cast a spell and began cleaning herself.

Some distance away from Jade Heaven Market.

Fang Qing stood atop the Profound Ice Wheel and waited in secret.

A moment later, a streak of light flew over, carrying the imagery of clear springs and gentle breezes.

"[Winnowing Basket Water] mana? The Black Ridge Observation Book?"

Fang Qing looked at the triangular-eyed cultivator before him and frowned. "Could you be... the owner behind that book boat?"

"Hehe, correct. Fellow Daoist, your cultivation is profound. Why not fulfill me?"

Luo Dacheng laughed loudly and formed hand seals. "Go!"

Gurgle, gurgle!

Clear springs erupted from the ground, and a light breeze brushed across his face.

Fang Qing suddenly felt the [Winnowing Basket Water] mana that had been circulating smoothly through his body abruptly begin to stagnate, becoming difficult to wield!

If it had been another cultivator, with their mana circulation hindered, they would have been unable to use any spells, talismans, or magical artifacts. They could only let others slaughter them at will!

"Damn it... you tampered with the cultivation art?"

Fang Qing looked "greatly alarmed" as he barely controlled the Profound Ice Wheel, wobbling down to the ground.

"Haha... it is useless. Every Aristocratic Clan in Ba Commandery knows that my Heavenly Water Luo Family specializes in the Black Ridge Observation Book. A lowly cultivator like you, who walked straight into this headfirst, clearly has no identity or background. If you die, then you die."

Luo Dacheng stared at Fang Qing as though he were looking at a priceless treasure. "It is also this young master's luck. During my routine patrol of the market, I happened to spot a fat sheep like you!"

With the many hidden tricks left behind in the family cultivation art, Luo Dacheng was confident that he could directly suppress even cultivators several minor realms above him!

He stepped forward, intending to completely subdue Fang Qing before drawing away his mana.

Yet as Fang Qing watched Luo Dacheng approach, his expression suddenly turned teasing. "Then have you considered... that I might be a Body Refinement cultivator?"

"What?"

Before Luo Dacheng could react, the figure before him flashed, and a massive palm like a cattail fan came crashing down.

Smack!

That huge hand shattered his protective spiritual radiance outright and slammed viciously into his cheek.

Luo Dacheng screamed. Blood streamed from his mouth and nose as he spat out a mouthful of teeth, rolling across the ground like a dead dog. "How is this possible? Such a tyrannical physique? Fellow Daoist, spare my life! Fellow Daoist... I am a disciple of the Heavenly Water Luo Family. My family has a Dao Foundation ancestor!"

He was even more baffled within his heart.

A Body Refinement cultivator capable of tempering their body to such a profound level needed not only an excellent body-tempering cultivation art, but also a terrifying investment of Spirit Assets!

On the Breath-Nourishing Dao side, that amount could at least nurture several cultivators at the same cultivation level!

Theoretically, how could such a lavish cultivator with such wealth possibly not have heard of the Luo Family's inherited cultivation art and so easily fallen into this trap?

Could it be... he had come specifically to fish for him?

At that thought, Luo Dacheng's face immediately turned ashen. "Who are you? Someone from the Luo Family? Or from the Cloudcrag Sect?"

"Hehe... this monk comes from the Secret Treasury Domain!"

Fang Qing silently switched cultivation arts. With the Great Sun Empowerment Secret Art and the Horse-Head Vajra Protector Divine Art, no one would believe him even if he claimed not to be a disciple of the Esoteric Sect!

Boom!

Luo Dacheng screamed. It was as though his eyes had directly gazed upon a Great Sun. Tears flowed from them, falling to the ground and turning into springs.

Only one thought remained in his heart: His previous cultivation art was fake? He really was fishing for me!

"Wait, my Luo Family has no enmity with the Secret Treasury Domain!"

Luo Dacheng hurriedly said.

"That is true enough. But this monk sees that you have an affinity with me... are you willing to become my disciple?"

Fang Qing smiled faintly, revealing his stark white teeth.

"Convert... me?"

Luo Dacheng asked in shock, "Are you an 'instructor' from Great Snow Mountain?"

The monks of Great Snow Mountain were equivalent to Breath-Nourishing Realm cultivators, while instructors were Dao Foundation Realm cultivators!

As for Dharma Kings? They could contend with the Purple Mansion!

"Are you willing, Benefactor? If not, you must descend into the scorching hell and suffer the punishment of blazing fire forever."

Fang Qing did not answer. He merely delivered a thunderous rebuke.

Having cultivated the Great Sun Empowerment Secret Art, Fang Qing had naturally come into contact with the Secret Treasury Domain's methods of "empowerment."

It had to be said that they truly had a knack for controlling people. They could seize a person's life and True Spirit, placing life and death at a single thought's mercy. They could even peer into the heart, making believers unable to lie. Secretly, admiration would arise within them, and with time, they would become fanatical believers.

"From what I see, the Secret Treasury Domain has only two classes: slaves and slave owners..."

Fang Qing had his own unique views on "empowerment" and "precepts." He knew that the key to completely controlling disciples still lay in "status"!

If he were an instructor, with the status bestowed by a major realm gap, then even if Luo Dacheng were unwilling, he could still forcibly "convert" him into his slave—oh, no... his disciple.

But he was not. Without the status augmentation brought by a major realm gap, the other party needed to open his heart during the "empowerment" and harbor not the slightest resistance.

"Actually, if I could borrow the status of the Dao-Born Pearl, I could probably forcibly convert even Dao Foundation cultivators... But unfortunately, this old master will not budge. No, there does seem to be a way, though it is rather dangerous."

Fang Qing had explored quite a few methods for using the Dao-Born Pearl.

What had left the deepest impression on him was when the Shabby Daoist, who was suspected to be a Purple Mansion cultivator, had calculated his fate last time. The Dao-Born Pearl had activated passively, allowing him to borrow its status. From then on, his divinations had seemed blessed by the gods.

"By that logic, if I actively encounter danger, it may also stimulate the Dao-Born Pearl into operating... For example, if a Dharma King were forcibly converting me? Forget it... that is far too dangerous."

While Fang Qing pondered, Luo Dacheng had already respectfully knelt down. "Master above, this disciple is willing to take refuge in Great Snow Mountain!"

"Uh... cultivators in this world have truly broadened my horizons in this regard. Their bottom lines are far too flexible."

Fang Qing was speechless inwardly, but one hand had already pressed onto Luo Dacheng's crown. He recited the Great Sun Tathagata Secret Mantra. "Today, I shall bestow empowerment upon you. This is your supreme honor. You must offer your wealth, parents, children, fleshly body... everything you possess to me. You must give rise to a fearless heart, uphold vajra intent, and receive my fundamental great precepts. You must not defy your master... You must attend me as the Sole Secret Deity. You must revere me as a god!"

With Luo Dacheng's cooperation, Fang Qing's [Great Sun] mana swiftly entered his dantian sea of qi. After circling once, it left not the slightest trace before returning.

Yet Fang Qing inexplicably felt as though he had gained an invisible "hand" that gripped Luo Dacheng's "life."

With a thought, the invisible hand gave a slight squeeze. Luo Dacheng immediately fell to his knees and screamed, "Instructor, spare my life! Instructor, spare my life!"

Even as Luo Dacheng begged for mercy, Fang Qing could vaguely sense his fear, unwillingness... and even a trace of resentment hidden in the depths of his heart.

But it did not matter. Under the augmentation of the Great Sun Precepts, he would gradually come to revere and fear his instructor, until that trace of resentment was completely ground away!

"This method... is so evil! But I like it!"

Fang Qing smiled inwardly and shouted again, "Wretch! Why have you not told me every detail of your origins, cultivation art, lifelong learning, and the Luo Family's secrets!"