Forbidden Technique Causes Trouble

As it drew closer, Xiao Hua could almost feel his nose twitching in annoyance when he finally saw the immortal beast's appearance. A toad, easily tens of feet in size, was squatting next to the fish, its mouth agape, using its barbed tongue to snatch the fish away from Xiao Hua. Its scarlet tongue, a good ten feet wide and several dozen feet long, swept over the fish, scraping off pieces of crystal-clear flesh.

"What a vile creature..." Xiao Hua, seeing that the toad hadn't noticed him, gripped his Ruyi Scepter and darted out from behind. He let out a roar and swung his scepter down!

Although it was a rather underhanded move, considering that a single croak from this toad could shatter his soul, Xiao Hua didn't care about his reputation anymore.

"Croak..." The toad, alerted, turned its head to croak. Unfortunately, its mouth was stuffed with fish, and the sound couldn't escape. With a "splat," Xiao Hua smashed its skull, teaching it a lesson about snatching immortal fish. It was just a rather harsh lesson!

This toad was naturally different from the toads in the Four Great Continents. Its green markings resembled pythons, and between the green markings were some pale runes. Xiao Hua didn't know what use these had, but looking at its hideous form, he didn't want to eat it. Thus, he swept it up with his divine sense and stored it in his spatial dimension.

After storing the toad, Xiao Hua's mind stirred again. Back when he was in the Four Great Continents, he had practiced techniques to strengthen his divine sense and had expanded its range by merging it with his spiritual sense. Now that his spiritual sense was gone, could he use his divine sense to replace it?

With this thought, Xiao Hua subconsciously turned his head to look. The Guiding Emissary hadn't caught up yet. He stood by the water, waiting for the big fish to bite, and simultaneously tried to release his divine sense. Divine sense was different from spiritual sense. If spiritual sense was the eyes, then divine sense was perhaps the hands. After a moment of probing, Xiao Hua felt like a blind man trying to describe an elephant.

"Forget it..." Xiao Hua withdrew his divine sense, thinking to himself, "I should focus on how to cultivate emanated thoughts. I'll use this divine sense only when absolutely necessary!"

"Huh? Why aren't any fish biting?"

After waiting for a while, still no bites, Xiao Hua felt a bit perplexed. He had endured the stinging pain all over his body to act as bait on the shore, but the fish were refusing to cooperate.

"Croak..." Suddenly, from the direction of the distant marsh, a faint croaking could be heard. If it were a refined scholar, they might have splashed ink on paper, painting a scene of "fragrant rice flowers in the harvest season, listen to the chorus of frogs" to express their refined sentiment. Unfortunately, upon hearing it, Xiao Hua's face changed drastically, and he blurted out, "Damn it, I killed one male toad and attracted a whole group of female toads! They're trying to kill me! I'm outta here..."

Without any further delay in fishing, Xiao Hua activated his movement technique and headed towards the distant area that looked like a reed marsh.

After traveling for about several miles, reeds indeed appeared. These reeds were also extremely tall, reaching tens of feet. Standing on the shore, Xiao Hua thought of the Reception Hall and didn't find them particularly imposing.

Entering the reeds, he looked ahead, knowing they would lead to the other side. Xiao Hua hurried forward. Unfortunately, just as he reached the center, he sensed something was wrong. The dark green moonlight falling on him caused him to emit faint fluorescent light, making him quite conspicuous in the night.

"This won't do, I need to move faster..." Just as this thought formed in Xiao Hua's mind, a buzzing sound like that of a flying boat approached him.

Xiao Hua didn't stop. He looked up and inwardly groaned. Ahead, an immortal bird, the size of a dragonfly and tens of feet across, was flapping its wings towards him. The black patterns on its massive head, resembling a skull, were extremely striking.

Indeed, before the dragonfly even got close, a black mist descended from nowhere, rapidly encircling Xiao Hua. Within the black mist, faint ghost heads seemed to emerge.

"Damn it!" Xiao Hua retreated rapidly, cursing. "I used to be the sworn brother of the Demon Lord, a prodigy of soul cultivation! How come I'm being bullied by such a small creature here? Come, come, come! Let me let you taste the true methods of soul cultivation!"

With that, Xiao Hua naturally opened his mouth as if to perform the Green Seal Script. To his surprise, as he opened his mouth, a faint mark appeared between his eyebrows, and soul threads actually emerged. Especially with the soul threads out, the surroundings changed drastically, and wisps of ethereal green light appeared!

"Ah??" Xiao Hua was stunned, then without hesitation, he began to chant.

Instantly, the sky on both sides changed drastically, and sounds of gods and ghosts emerged from the void. The ethereal green light rapidly enveloped the approaching dragonfly!

"Wuwu..." The dragonfly immortal bird was greatly alarmed. It flapped its wings frantically, charging towards Xiao Hua from below without regard for anything else!

"Damn it!" Xiao Hua was overjoyed to have found a means of self-preservation. He pointed at the dragonfly immortal bird and said, "See how powerful your Grandpa Xiao is now? Ouch, you... you dare to crash into my reeds??"

Xiao Hua didn't intend to kill the dragonfly immortal bird. Seeing the dragonfly crash into the reeds beneath him, he quickly used his Soul Cultivation Flight Technique to fly into the air, looking quite disheveled.

The dragonfly immortal bird, having teased Xiao Hua, fled in a hurry. Xiao Hua also flew triumphantly across the water. He discovered that the soul cultivation flight technique was extremely useful in the Immortal Realm.

Just as Xiao Hua was about to continue using the soul cultivation flight technique to escape, his soul suddenly felt a slight pain. He knew something was wrong and quickly descended, thinking to himself, "This is not right! Senior Xu clearly said that soul cultivation techniques are forbidden in the Immortal Realm and that I must never use them upon entering! I accidentally used one just now, I wonder if it will cause any trouble! Besides, using the Green Seal Script consumes life essence and soul power. My soul is weak right now, how can I use it so casually?"

Looking around, Xiao Hua knew that regretting it now was useless. He needed to get away quickly!

Using the Misty Steps and Flowing Cloud Movement Technique as before, Xiao Hua pondered in his mind, "Although I have a Nascent Soul body and have lost everything else, I should only be able to use Daoist Sect methods. Why can I still use the soul cultivation Green Seal Script? Could it be as Xuan Hong discussed in the Star Moon Palace, that the path to godhood lies in the words of God, the aura of God, the spirit of God, and the Godly Body that is sought but rarely found? If that's the case, then the soul cultivation Green Seal Script, the Confucian Cultivation's inner spirit, and the Buddha's Sarira, could I... could I also use them?"

Thinking about the path to godhood, Xiao Hua couldn't help but think of the crystal Divine Spark behind his head, no bigger than a peanut. Unfortunately, that item couldn't be easily probed. Xiao Hua was in danger right now, where would he find the time to look at it?

Xiao Hua tried a little and indeed, his Nascent Soul couldn't use Confucian Cultivation techniques. However, he could still expel that breath of life-giving energy. As for the origin of this innate vital energy, he was still unaware. The Buddha's Demon Subduing Divine Ability could also not be used by the Nascent Soul. Unfortunately, other divine abilities of the Buddha's Sarira couldn't be verified here either. Xiao Hua simply didn't try. In any case, Xiao Hua, who had thought he was empty-handed, discovered that he still possessed a fortune of a thousand guan. His courage surged again. Although he didn't know how to use this fortune, he at least knew he had some means of self-preservation.

While Xiao Hua was testing his divine abilities, far away in an unknown location, within a very old pavilion, a brilliant light suddenly erupted. This light pierced through the dark green night and shot towards the sky.

"What's going on?" Above the pavilion, a flash of light and shadow appeared. An Immortal General, clad in armor and about tens of feet tall, stepped out from the sky, holding an immortal weapon. His astonished gaze fell upon the flashing light within the pavilion as he shouted in surprise.

"Report to the Deputy Captain of the City Patrol..." In the courtyard where the pavilion was located, two Immortal Soldiers quickly flew into the sky and bowed. "We don't know, sir. This place is a forbidden ground of the Immortal County Prefecture, and we ordinary soldiers are not allowed to approach."

"Forbidden ground?" The Immortal General was somewhat bewildered. Just as he was about to speak, "swish..." another waterfall of light broke through the night sky in the distance, and a tall, silver humanoid figure descended, stepping on a bridge of light.

As the silver light receded, a woman wearing feathered clothing and with a beautiful face appeared. Everyone dared not delay and quickly bowed. "Greetings, County Lord Immortal..."

"There's an anomaly at Chenqiao Pavilion?" Although the woman's eyes held a strange glint, her tone remained calm as she asked.

"Reporting to the County Lord Immortal..." the Immortal General said quickly, "I was on patrol around the Immortal County Prefecture tonight and just passed by this place when I discovered the anomaly in the forbidden ground."

"Captain Zhuo knows about the forbidden ground?" The woman raised an eyebrow, possessing an indescribable elegance. Her watery eyes seemed to speak. "I don't recall ever telling you about this matter, do I?"

The Immortal General surnamed Zhuo looked a little embarrassed and said with a smile, "I only just heard about it."

"Hmm, Captain Zhuo is thoughtful!" The woman smiled and looked back at the light emanating from the old pavilion, saying, "This place is a forbidden ground directly built by the Heavenly Venerate Mansion. I don't know what's inside. It's best to report it directly to the sect!"

"Yes, I understand!" The Immortal General surnamed Zhuo replied. Just as he was about to activate his movement technique, he suddenly stopped, looked at the light, and said in a low voice, "County Lord Immortal, I have something to say, though I don't know if I should."

The woman glanced at the two Immortal Soldiers beside her and smiled. "You two on duty, go ahead!"

After the two Immortal Soldiers left, the woman's beautiful eyes looked at the Immortal General and asked, "Speak!"

"My Lady..." the Immortal General surnamed Zhuo said with a smile, "I know you are indifferent and that all affairs within the city are carried out according to the rules left by the previous County Lord Immortal. The reporting of matters concerning the forbidden ground to the sect must also be in accordance with the rules established by the sect earlier, right?"

"And if so?"

"Actually, My Lady might as well take a step further..." the Immortal General surnamed Zhuo said. "The forbidden ground must be reported to the sect, but no one knows why the forbidden ground issued an alarm? Don't forget, this forbidden ground was personally established by the Heavenly Venerate Mansion. Perhaps there will be a reaction from the Heavenly Venerate Mansion. If you can figure out what caused the alarm of the forbidden ground, wouldn't you have a chance to meet the Heavenly Venerate directly?"

"Meet the Heavenly Venerate??" The woman gave a cold laugh. "You're thinking too much!"

"Even if you can't meet the Heavenly Venerate, at least you can establish contact with the Immortal Officials of the Heavenly Venerate Mansion. At the very least," the Immortal General surnamed Zhuo persisted, "you'll become familiar with them! With this connection, will you still be stationed in this treacherous Yunmeng Marsh? Leaving this place to return to the sect would be a mere word from the Heavenly Venerate Mansion!"

The woman's eyes flashed, and she stared directly at the Immortal General, asking, "What do you want? The position of County Lord Immortal?"

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