Transmission

Wandering free was an extremely important concept in the immortal path; it could be said to be one of its foundational cores.

As for what kind of state wandering free truly was, Yu Chen had heard all manner of explanations in his previous life.

Some believed that wandering free was a state without restraint, referring both to a body unbound by fetters and to a spirit free and unfettered.

Some believed that it meant an absolutely free existence, one unaffected by other things or by one's own position.

Others believed that it meant doing as one pleased without overstepping the bounds, having one's own bottom line, and being able to refuse whatever one did not wish to do.

All sorts of thoughts leaped through Yu Chen's mind. He looked at the Dong family's boy, this fellow who had stirred his heart, and saw that his eyes were tightly shut as he slept.

I almost forgot about you! Yu Chen smiled, his thoughts growing ever more chaotic as he began recalling the past.

Come to think of it, his initial motivation for cultivation had been that, in the tribe, only shamans could live well.

Later, he cultivated so that he would not have to accept certain things his teacher arranged that he hated. He also wanted to determine whether the environment he lived in was illusory or real, and finally, he yearned for the legendary immortality.

But upon closer thought, why had he begun reforming the tribe's systems and seeking out new ingredients after gaining power? Was it merely the condescending guidance of a person from the future toward people of the past? Or had he been moved by what he saw, unwilling to watch so many people die before his eyes?

What he wanted had actually always been very clear!

He wanted to live well. He wanted to be able to refuse things he did not wish to accept. He wanted to change the things he could not stand. Yu Chen's soul grew ever more crystalline, strands of radiance passing over it. In the unseen depths, Yu Chen seemed to understand something.

Under the strange gazes of Jin Guang and White Fox, Yu Chen walked out, spoke with the Dong couple for a while, then returned with several items and a slip of paper. He burned them before the Dong family's boy, then spoke softly.

"Heaven and Earth's Mysterious Sect, the root of all qi..."

As he softly recited the Golden Light Mantra, the Golden Light Ruyi appeared in Yu Chen's hand. With a gentle shake, the mist rising from the burned items flowed into the ruyi. Then he placed its tip against the Dong family's boy's brow.

Threads of golden light streamed from the precious pearl at the ruyi's tip and entered the boy's brow, illuminating his sea of consciousness.

"Fellow Daoist, you are..."

Jin Guang looked at Yu Chen in astonishment, while White Fox gazed at the Dong family's boy with envy.

Yu Chen was performing a transmission.

A transmission was when a master of the Daoist sect transmitted the methods of salvation to a disciple. It was an extremely important matter. In the talisman-register lineage, one had to swear vows and uphold precepts, remain faithful to a single gate of Dharma, and worship the Three Masters before receiving registers and becoming a true disciple. The Three Masters were the Transmission Master, the Recommending Master, and the Supervising Master.

Now that Yu Chen had performed a transmission for the Dong family's boy, within the system of the immortal path's talisman-register lineage, the boy could be considered Yu Chen's disciple.

In the future, no matter what level the Dong family's boy cultivated to, he would have to respect Yu Chen. Otherwise, he would be disrespecting his master and elders, and would inevitably be rejected by the talisman-register lineage.

Likewise, since Yu Chen was willing to perform a transmission for the Dong family's boy, he would certainly teach him the secret methods of the immortal path.

To White Fox, this was something he could only long for but never attain.

However, the Dong family's boy was in an extremely special state right now. His soul was not within his body, so Yu Chen's transmission naturally underwent certain changes.

That was also what had shocked Jin Guang. Yu Chen intended to help the Dong family's boy suppress three thousand army souls!

"Fellow Daoist, what do you seek the Dao for?"

In response to Jin Guang's astonishment, Yu Chen spoke calmly. Jin Guang looked at him, and the surprise in her eyes deepened.

She studied Yu Chen suspiciously, looking him over again and again. At last, she took half a step back and, under White Fox's astonished gaze, bowed. "Congratulations, Fellow Daoist, on finding your Dao heart. The Great Dao lies within reach!"

Yu Chen merely smiled. "What Great Dao within reach? Let us first get through this trial! Fellow Daoist, please help stand guard for me!"

With that, Yu Chen sat down cross-legged and closed his eyes. The Golden Light Ruyi floated before him, while threads of golden light shone from the Dong family's boy's brow. Within that radiance, a Golden Light Ruyi could vaguely be seen rising and falling.

Seeing that Yu Chen was casting a spell to save someone, Jin Guang summoned her Golden Light Mirror. White Fox saw the arcs of electricity dancing across the mirror's surface and revealed a look of horror. He cautiously retreated to one side, not daring to approach at all.

Meanwhile, using the influence of the transmission, Yu Chen sent his soul into the Dong family's boy's sea of consciousness.

To be honest, this was an extremely dangerous action. So long as one had not achieved the Yin Spirit, whether one's soul resembled colored glaze or shone all over, its essence remained something exceedingly fragile. Furthermore, a person's sea of consciousness stored a vast number of memories, and negative memories were always more deeply etched. This often made the depths of the sea of consciousness seem dark and dangerous.

Casually entering another person's sea of consciousness made it very easy to be affected by their emotions and contaminate one's own mind.

It was only because Yu Chen's Golden Light Mantra had undergone several transformations recently, coupled with the special nature of a transmission, that he dared to send his soul into the Dong family's boy's sea of consciousness.

The moment he entered, Yu Chen discovered in surprise that the Dong family's boy's sea of consciousness was divided into two layers.

The upper layer of "seawater" was relatively clear and shallow, appearing to have no major problems. But past a certain boundary, the "seawater" became incomparably murky, filled with all kinds of negative emotions and even an aura of slaughter.

More troublesome still, the two layers of "seawater" were exchanging with each other. The murky "seawater," filled with negative emotions, constantly flowed upward, contaminating the somewhat clearer and more transparent "seawater."

"A previous life is merely a previous life. It is better not to establish a connection with this life so quickly!"

Yu Chen summoned the Golden Light Ruyi and tapped the sea of consciousness below. Threads of golden light merged into the "seawater."

During this time, the Dong family's boy's sea of consciousness stirred slightly, but as wisps of smoke rose from the ruyi, it quickly calmed again.

Yu Chen had used the boy's birth characters and keepsakes, given to him by the Dong couple, to gain the Dong family's boy's trust.

As the golden light merged into the "seawater," Yu Chen used the Golden Light Ruyi again to invoke the power of the Purify Heaven and Earth Spell.

Specks of colored-glaze radiance emerged across the surface of the Dong family's boy's sea of consciousness. Joining with the golden light, they formed a layer of colored-glaze brilliance that wrapped around the upper "seawater," blocking the erosion of the lower "seawater." It even crossed the boundary and illuminated the lower "seawater."

Faced with the Golden Light Mantra and the Purify Heaven and Earth Spell, the lower "seawater" was clearly extremely resistant. Its roiling muddy waves resisted the golden light's illumination and shut out the cleansing of the colored-glaze radiance.

Yu Chen had no choice but to reach out and beckon, softly chanting incantations one after another. From his own ruyi, he drew out threads of golden radiance like colored glaze, constructing a Golden Light Ruyi within the Dong family's boy's sea of consciousness as well.

ps: The meaning of transmission has been modified somewhat, so Daoists, please do not mind! Also, this arc was not specifically created to awaken the Dao heart; that involves later plot.