Funeral

So the tribe's worshipped totem targeted me, yet rejected me? Aside from wanting me to return to the tribe, it was also afraid I would go back and devour it! Having suddenly understood the relationship between himself and the totem, as well as the source of their conflict, Yu Chen began examining the cultivation method he practiced, the Orthodox Three-Mountains Talisman Qi Formula.

The Orthodox Three-Mountains Talisman Qi Formula itself was a cultivation method forged by combining the Earthly Fiend Art: Talisman Water True Intent, the breathing techniques Yu Chen knew, and the Snake Tribe's body-tempering methods. Yu Chen had always tried to deduce and perfect it, but limited by his environment and the extent of his own wisdom, he had never reached a result.

After entering the instance world, he had first obtained a fragment of the Life-Nurturing Message Treasure Register and incorporated it into the technique. Now, with a fragment of the Free and Easy Treasure Scroll supplementing it, the Orthodox Three-Mountains Talisman Qi Formula had finally completed its deduction for the introductory stage of the immortal path.

When it came to cultivation methods, Yu Chen had not divided them according to the four usual immortal-path realms of "refining essence into qi, refining qi into spirit, refining spirit to return to emptiness, and refining emptiness to unite with the Dao." Instead, he had divided them according to the game world's system: the Human Immortal Realm, Ghost Immortal Realm, Earth Immortal Realm, and Heavenly Immortal Realm.

The Human Immortal Realm pursued the utmost limit one's physical body could bear. At this realm, the most important things were tempering the body and condensing magical power. The differences between different methods and schools lay in their differing inclinations toward the body and soul.

Thus, this major realm was further divided into three lesser realms: body tempering and seated oblivion, condensing origin and opening the channels, and drawing qi to refine the spirit.

Body tempering and seated oblivion referred to hammering the body from without while condensing the spirit within. At this stage, immortal-path cultivators possessed magical power and a certain degree of martial ability, but not many extraordinary powers. Those specializing in methods of the spirit could use some simple spiritual arts at this realm, but they did not possess true combat power.

Condensing origin and opening the channels meant that magical power formed an inner circulation within the body. Whether one's essence, qi, and spirit leaned toward one side or another, at this realm one could employ some exceedingly simple spells. With preparation, one could also use some highly destructive arts, making them equal to or slightly weaker than a Lesser Shaman.

Drawing qi to refine the spirit was different from the "refining spirit" in refining spirit to return to emptiness. It referred to divine sense and the soul merging as one, ascending into a divine soul and giving rise to spiritual consciousness. At this point, one could draw the primordial qi of heaven and earth into the body for refinement, one's lifespan began to increase, and the power of one's spells also rose, making one equal to or slightly stronger than a Lesser Shaman.

After these three lesser realms, once body and spirit were perfected both within and without, and the body had been nourished to its utmost limit, one reached the peak of the Human Immortal Realm. One could then begin forging one's own foundation and break through into the Ghost Immortal Realm. This stage was also called choosing the path and establishing the foundation, or half-step Ghost Immortal.

At this point, immortal-path cultivators in the game world possessed the ability to freely cast spells. According to Yu Chen's calculations, immortal-path cultivators of this period should have been about equivalent to shamans at the Shaman realm.

Of course, the Shaman realm here referred to shamans without the support of totems or earth deities. Within the range covered by the authority of a totem or earth deity, shamans would certainly surpass immortal-path cultivators at the choosing-the-path-and-establishing-the-foundation stage, their strength being lower than or equal to that of cultivators who had just entered the Ghost Immortal Realm.

Without the support of totems and earth deities, or outside the territories under their control, their spellcasting ability might be slightly weaker than or equal to that of cultivators at the choosing-the-path-and-establishing-the-foundation stage.

By the same reasoning, with the support of totems and earth deities, shaman-path cultivators at the Great Shaman realm were equivalent to those in the middle and later stages of the Ghost Immortal Realm. Without support, outside those regions, or if the worshipped totem or earth deity's cultivation was too low, a Great Shaman's abilities would be slightly weaker than or equal to those at the early Ghost Immortal Realm.

All things considered, Yu Chen's immortal-path cultivation was currently around the middle stage of the Human Immortal Realm, namely the condensing-origin-and-opening-the-channels stage. However, his spellcasting ability was slightly above the completed Human Immortal Realm, though still short of the Ghost Immortal Realm.

So, the most important thing for me now is to complete my Human Immortal Realm cultivation, make up for the deficiencies in my essence, qi, and spirit, and finish the cultivation of the Human Immortal Realm. During this time, I also need to seek out more information and further perfect the part concerning the forging of my Dao foundation. While I'm at it, I can use this time to cut off contact with the Wan Family and see whether there's something wrong with Old Liu...

Having made his calculations, Yu Chen put away his things and slowly made his way to where the Huang Family was staying.

"By the Supreme One's decree, your lonely souls are delivered. Ghosts and phantoms alike, the four births all receive grace. Those with heads are delivered; those without heads ascend. Slain by spear or blade, drowned or hanged by rope..."

A man in Daoist robes stood atop the ritual altar, hopping and dancing as he chanted the Daoist Rebirth Mantra. Beneath the altar, a group of children held sticks of incense and bowed in imitation. Thin wisps of smoke curled upward and wound around the area, leaving the adults nearby quietly amazed, though some could not help gossiping.

"What is that Wang Family boy doing? Hopping and jumping around, muttering things that are different from his usual chants! First he wants us to bow here, then he wants the children to kowtow! Anyone who didn't know better would think someone in our family had died!"

"Exactly! I've never seen that Wang Family boy work so hard before. Not even when his father, Old Wang, was still alive did he put on something like this!"

"You don't know, do you? Auntie Wan went to no small trouble for this outsider! Look over there. That glittering golden banner Old Liu is holding is called a Gold-and-Silver Banner. I heard they're a real hassle to make—one costs two taels of silver. Auntie Wan hired four at once. Do you think that Wang boy wouldn't give it his all?"

"Two taels of silver? That expensive? And she hired four? Add all the other odds and ends, and this ritual must cost over ten taels of silver! If you include feeding all of us, this one affair would be enough for a family like ours to live on for over a year! What kind of background did that outsider have? When the Wan Family boy died, Auntie Wan didn't make such a fuss!"

The moment those words were spoken, the surroundings fell silent. Everyone looked at one another, and no one found it easy to continue. In the end, a woman who was rather close to Auntie Wan saw the strange expressions on everyone's faces and realized their thoughts had gone astray, leaving her no choice but to speak.

"Though this outsider really did have some connection to Auntie Wan, don't go imagining things. I heard Auntie Wan explain it herself. A few years ago, when the Wan Family boy was out doing business, he got this outsider's younger sister pregnant. Later, when the Wan Family boy hurried back, he meant to have Auntie Wan go propose marriage, but he left in such a rush that he died. Now there's been a disaster where they lived, and their whole family has died, leaving only this one son. He came here carrying the Wan Family's bloodline to seek shelter."

As she spoke, the woman carefully lowered her voice. "Now that their younger son has died here, he could be said to have carried on the Wan Family incense while cutting off his own family's incense. Who could bear such a thing? How could Auntie Wan not do a little more, so he could leave in proper splendor?"

"Tch!" A woman who ordinarily did not get along with Auntie Wan sneered. "Nobody even saw the girl. Who knows whose grandson this is? Besides, the grandson came, and the man died. Who knows how that outsider died!"

The woman who had spoken first cursed, "How can you talk like that? After what happened to Liu the Half-Immortal, who would dare mess around? Spouting nonsense here like this—aren't you afraid he'll come looking for you tonight?"

As soon as those words came out, the area fell silent again. Even the people beside that woman edged away from her.

The woman knew she had said something wrong. She opened her mouth, wanting to say something, but her husband hastily pulled her away.

Only after she had left did the others resume chatting. They dropped the subject and began talking about other trivial matters, as though nothing had happened just now.

Not far away, Yu Chen—who in everyone's eyes should have been lying inside a coffin—heard all this idle chatter and could not help laughing. Then he looked toward the altar.