44,移植存神法

When you gazed into the abyss, the abyss gazed back at you.

Xie An tried to break free from that abyssal gaze, only to find that no matter what he did, he could not escape it. Those scarlet eyes seemed to see straight through him, even taking control of his limbs and body.

My body... won't move!

This is... Cocoon Force!?

It was more than ten, a hundred times stronger than the Cocoon Force in Li Family Village that guided nightmares!

Is this the evil god my Xie Household worships?

"Mingxi is here. Go offer three sticks of incense to the White Jade Goddess first."

Only after his father spoke did Xie An feel the restraints on his body ease considerably. He walked to the incense table, picked up three thin incense sticks, and lit them.

Crack.

As the incense sticks were inserted into the burner, the smoke rose straight upward. Just as it was about to pass through the red cloth three meters above their heads, it suddenly changed direction and flowed into the cloth.

It was absorbing the incense he had lit!

The next moment, the scarlet eyes watching him vanished, and Xie An regained control of his body.

Whew!

Xie An let out a long breath. His clothes were soaked through with sweat. When he turned around, he saw that his father was still kneeling on the prayer cushion with his hands pressed together, his expression devout. Daoist Master Yusu was also kneeling to his father's left, palms together as she worshipped with reverence.

A thought could not help surfacing in Xie An's heart: Our Xie Household worships such a powerful evil god. Will we truly not suffer a backlash from it one day?

Xie Zhengtang spoke then. "Do not stand there in a daze. That is a grave disrespect to the White Jade Goddess. Come and pay your respects."

"Yes."

Xie An came back to himself and worshipped from the prayer cushion on his father's right.

Xie Zhengtang bowed deeply toward the statue covered by red cloth. "This is my son, Xie An, courtesy name Mingxi. It is his first time meeting Your Ladyship, so he is inevitably ignorant of proper etiquette. If he has offended Your Ladyship in any way, I beg Your Ladyship's indulgence."

After the worship, Xie Zhengtang led Xie An and Xie Yu beneath the eaves of the ancestral hall.

"Mingxi, the secrets of the Xie clan's White Goddess Shrine must not be spoken of to outsiders. From now on, Daoist Master Yusu will watch over this shrine for the time being. If you have time, come here and find your elder sister. She will tell you about everything else."

With that, Xie Zhengtang patted Xie An on the shoulder and nodded. "Your elder sister told me about what happened at the Zhou Residence last night. You did very well, and the plan you proposed was extremely sound. From now on, learn martial arts properly from your elder sister. In all things, you must listen to her."

"I understand."

"My Mingxi has truly grown up. Whatever you wish to do from now on, go ahead and do it. Your father and your elder sister will be there to catch you if the sky falls." Xie Zhengtang sighed with feeling, then turned and left.

Watching his father's receding back, Xie An could not help feeling moved.

Earlier, when his father had asked at the dinner table whether practicing martial arts was difficult, he had merely said, "It's all right," only to receive a harsh lesson from his father.

Yet now, his father spared no effort in supporting him in doing what he wanted.

It was clear that his father now completely treated him as an adult.

With such a father, Xie An felt very fortunate.

"Mingxi, didn't you want to learn the Spirit Preservation Transplantation Method? Come in with me!"

Daoist Master Yusu's words jolted Xie An awake. He followed her into the ancestral hall and knelt once more on a prayer cushion.

"Elder Sister, is this the evil... deity worshipped by our Xie Household?"

Xie Yu nodded heavily. "Yes. The White Jade Goddess."

Xie An was deeply puzzled. "Isn't the White Jade Goddess the deity exclusively worshipped by the three great Returning Dragon Abbeys of the inner city? Our Xie Household is in the outer city, so how can we..."

Shh!

Xie Yu made a silencing gesture, then shot Xie An a fierce glare. "Why does Mingxi have so many questions? Are you learning the Spirit Preservation Method or not?"

Xie An glanced at the lofty statue draped in red cloth and realized that many questions were not fit to ask. He gave an awkward laugh. "I'll learn. I'll learn."

Only then did Xie Yu sigh in relief. "Then sit cross-legged. Look at the Ladyship's red cloth before you, and follow my incantation."

Xie An changed to a cross-legged sitting position and stared at the scarlet cloth covering the statue before him.

Xie Yu spoke gently and unhurriedly. "Your attitude must be devout. Since the Ladyship has entered the Xie Household's ancestral hall, treat her as your ancestor, someone who will sincerely protect you. You must hold reverence in your heart and cast aside all other distracting thoughts."

Xie An did as she said, sweeping away his improper thoughts and trying his best to maintain reverence and devotion toward the Ladyship.

Once Xie Yu sensed that Xie An had entered the right state, she began reciting the Spirit Preservation incantation from the Illuminating Spirit Scripture: "All men say communion with gods is difficult, yet they know not that knowing oneself is harder still. If one does not know oneself, how can one know ghosts and gods? If one knows oneself, ghosts and gods cannot invade.

"The Spirit Preservation Method has nine volumes, corresponding to the nine apertures of the human body. To open an aperture is not to open the apertures of eye, ear, nose, tongue, body, and mind, but to open the aperture of the heart. If the heart aperture does not open, the six roots are all blind..."

As one incantation after another entered his ears, Xie An gradually entered the state as well.

Once he sat down, an entire morning passed.

Daoist Master Yusu's incantation ran through Xie An's mind again and again, while he kept staring at the red-clothed statue before him...

Yet there was no progress at all.

"Elder Sister, is cultivating the Spirit Preservation Method just endlessly reciting the incantation while staring at the Ladyship?"

Xie Yu said, "Mingxi, do not be impatient. Even the favored sons of heaven among the three great powers need two or three years of continuous visualization to cultivate the Spirit Preservation Method. Even then, it would already be good if two or three out of ten succeeded."

Xie An smiled bitterly. "It's that difficult?"

Xie Yu nodded. "Its difficulty far surpasses martial arts of artistic conception. Preserving the spirit is the beginning of stepping into the transcendent; it is inherently an act of defying heaven. If it were easy, everyone in this world would be transcendent. How could demons, monsters, evil spirits, and wicked entities be allowed to run rampant like this?"

"Are there any signs that one has entered the Spirit Preservation Method?"

"The Spirit Preservation Method is divided into inner illumination and outer illumination. Inner illumination is further divided into spirit preservation and inner sight. When you can focus your thoughts and the red-clothed statue appears in your mind, and that statue grants you a special spiritual power, that means you have entered the Spirit Preservation Method."

"A special spiritual power?"

"A spiritual power that does not belong to you. You will be able to sense it."

Xie An understood.

Not long after, a guard delivered lunch.

Xie An took the initiative to hand the bowl and chopsticks to Xie Yu. "Elder Sister, it's been hard on you teaching me martial arts. You eat first."

But Xie Yu sat across from him at the table, propping up her chin as she watched Xie An. "Elder Sister isn't hungry. Mingxi, eat more. Once you are full, we will continue this afternoon."

Experts really do have strange habits... Xie An did not insist. He began eating in great mouthfuls, and whenever he looked up, he would see Daoist Master Yusu gazing at him with a gentle expression.

It truly felt somewhat like an elder sister caring for her younger brother.

After lunch, Xie An practiced in the ancestral hall for another afternoon, yet there was still no progress.

Once night fell, his elder sister said she had something to take care of and went out.

Taking advantage of the empty ancestral hall,

Xie An immediately summoned Ten Thousand Questions. While silently reciting the Spirit Preservation Method's incantation, he gave the command:

"Estimate the qi and blood required to transplant the Spirit Preservation Method!"

[Estimating...]

[Estimate successful: Transplanting the Spirit Preservation Method requires 1.8 units of mental energy]

It consumed mental energy... not qi and blood anymore?

Fortunately, his mental energy value was also 1.9.

It was within range.

"Transplant the Spirit Preservation Method for me. Thank you!"