Fifty zhang outside Ling City's east gate stood a grove of scholar trees.
An old Daoist in gray robes and straw sandals, his face covered in scars, was crouched at the roots of a scholar tree, digging a hole.
Suddenly, a cloud's radiance flashed at the edge of the grove.
Before Sun Chen could speak, Ao Ding looked over with his left eye.
Under the scrutiny of a True Person's discerning eye, thick black mist churned inside the pit among the roots. Hideous ghosts struggled within it, one after another, but could not break free. Looking at the old Daoist himself, he saw black-purple baleful qi rolling through his body, with five little ghosts clinging to his limbs and neck, frantically draining his vital essence. The old Daoist's skin was ashen blue, his vitality dim and fading. Clearly, he had suffered a curse's backlash.
But before they came, Sun Chen had performed a divination and said something about "slaughtering the city," and wanted him to "fight a magical duel." How could Ao Ding dare take this lightly?
Realizing that this man was far from decent and that his methods were strange and sinister, Ao Ding drew the Xuanjia Spirit Staff from his waist without another word.
Sun Chen also saw what this feng shui master looked like and laughed. "Good, good-this is right in your line of work. This Daoist actually practices a secret art of ghost-rearing? Young Ao Ding, you can bring out those Northern Yin Curses of yours-"
Before Sun Chen finished, Ao Ding had already charged.
True Heaven Golden Gang flowed into the spirit staff, and the youth swung it hard. "Mysterious source of heaven and earth, root of all qi..."
Golden light burst forth with a roar, blazing like the scorching sun. The old Daoist noticed the disturbance beside him and saw the two appear nearby. Before he could speak, golden light rushed straight at his face.
Boom-
The golden light sent the old Daoist flying, and he crashed heavily into the scholar-tree grove.
Ao Ding seized the chance to fling another Great Golden Light Spell into the pit. Under the overwhelming suppression of True Heaven Golden Gang, all the churning black mist dispersed. A layer of pale golden radiance appeared over the opening, firmly suppressing the ghosts below.
"This... where did this boy learn the Golden Light Spell?" Sun Chen's face was full of astonishment.
Over the past few days, while refining artifacts and cultivating with Ao Ding, he had indeed taught him several spells.
The Concealment Spell, Wall-Passing Spell, Size-at-Will Spell, Heaven-One Water-Generating Spell, and Earth Evasion Art.
But-Sun Chen did not remember teaching him the Golden Light Spell!
Ao Ding pressed his advantage without mercy. Just as the old Daoist recovered and drew a magical artifact to strike back, another blast of golden light thundered toward him.
Old Daoist Qi hastily dodged the golden light and shouted, "Fellow Daoist, who are you? Why are you making things difficult for me?"
He unfurled a pitch-black banner, its dark-gold embroidery forming a lifelike skeletal fiend.
"Three Yin Demon Baleful Intent, rise-"
Three streams of black qi billowed from the skull to meet the golden light.
But at their first clash, the black mist melted like ice and snow, blasted apart in all directions by the golden light.
Ao Ding stepped forward twice. Without using any other spell, he again drove the Golden Light Spell with golden gang, slashing at the old Daoist from both sides as though wielding sabers, spears, swords, and halberds.
"This boy-he really is fierce." Sun Chen could not help clicking his tongue. But... this boy... if he's so ruthless when fighting people, why was he so timid at Junior Sister's haunted house? Was it really just his first encounter with demons and ghosts, and he hadn't adjusted yet?
Muttering to himself, he walked to the pit and peered inside.
Under the golden light's suppression, the ghosts had all shrunk back into skulls strung together on an iron chain.
Well now, a Five Baleful Intent Plague-Dispelling Skull Ring?
"Isn't this an artifact the Plague-Dispelling Dao uses to release epidemics and spread disease? Wasn't this fellow a feng shui master? Why hasn't he used a single profound feng shui art, only these sinister things?"
Sun Chen was utterly speechless. Had he known this was such a practitioner of crooked paths, why would he have brought Ao Ding to broaden his horizons?
If Ao Ding's resolve became unsettled and he fell onto an evil path, the blame would be his.
Looking again at Old Daoist Qi, who was dodging this way and that nearby, Sun Chen pointed a finger. Leaves on the ground curled into a long rope and bound the old Daoist tight.
Then, looking at Ao Ding beside him, bright-eyed and without the slightest sign of fatigue, Sun Chen could not help asking, "Where did you learn this spell? And this-never mind. You had plenty of dealings with the outer-court disciples at the Seven Spirits Sect. You must have developed your fighting techniques then."
Although Sun Chen found much of it crude and clumsy, every blast of golden light struck at a vulnerable point in Old Daoist Qi's qi circulation. Presumably, the marvel of his left eye allowed him to see straight through to the flaws in Old Daoist Qi's Dao foundation.
Ao Ding nodded. "I was bullied by the outer court at the Seven Spirits Sect, so I know a little about sparring and magical duels. As for the Golden Light Spell... it's a spell I comprehended from heaven and earth while observing the Dao upside down. I haven't fully figured it out yet-"
Comprehended from heaven and earth?
A Heavenly Spell? A heaven-bestowed divine spell?
Sun Chen paused, then nodded silently.
"That stands to reason. When you observe the world upside down, you can see the Three Heavens Great Grotto True Seal. It's no surprise that you could comprehend a spell derived from it. Such spells differ from those created by immortals, demons, and ghosts like us. They are primal spells spontaneously born of this world. Regardless of their power, they are all extensions of this world's origin. Thus, the immortal sects call them Heavenly Spells-heaven-bestowed divine spells. But-to think you comprehended the Golden Light Spell! Do you know that this spell and the Golden Light Method I taught you share the same source? When you cultivate in the future, you won't need to breathe and refine qi anymore. You need only recite the spell."
"Ah-"
"The Great Golden Light Spell is the spirit-sustaining secret incantation of the Taiyi Profound Origin Golden Light Chain-Form True Scripture. You can think of it as the spell version of the Taiyi Golden Light True Scripture. Moreover, if you suddenly comprehend a Golden Light Divine Talisman, you won't need breathing exercises to cultivate either. You need only contemplate and meditate upon the talisman each day. There are also sword formulas. If you comprehend the art of the magical sword from the true scripture, you likewise won't need to sit in meditation to cultivate anymore."
Sun Chen took a few steps forward and continued explaining as he examined the bound Old Daoist Qi.
"The immortal sects speak of Dao, methods, and arts. Dao becomes methods, and methods give rise to arts. The many orthodox methods passed down by the six sects are all meant to help cultivators realize the Dao. Extending downward from those orthodox methods are the dazzling myriad spells and arts. Incantations are arts, talismans are arts, sword formulas are arts, alchemy is an art... everything that extends from a method as its foundation falls within the category of arts."
Seeing Ao Ding lost in thought, Sun Chen smiled.
"Don't overthink it. To use my master's words, Dao is the seed, the method is the great tree, and arts are its branches and twigs. Whatever the art, whichever the branch, they ultimately connect to one great tree, to the same roots, don't they?"
Ao Ding accepted the lesson.
Then Sun Chen searched Old Daoist Qi and found three magical artifacts.
Every one of them billowed with baleful qi and brimmed with evil.
"The Eighteen Plague Demon Epidemic Banner, the Seven Baleful Intent Soul-Losing Banner, the Plague-Spreading Evil Bell..."
Sun Chen could no longer keep his composure.
"If my divination was correct, you have a grudge against the Wang Household? You're the feng shui master who arranged to borrow their fortune all those years ago, aren't you?"
"That's right." The old Daoist glared hatefully at them.
"You're reinforcements the Wang Household invited too, aren't you? Damn it-I should have tampered with the water source directly and killed this entire city!"
Sun Chen rapped him hard on the head. "Every other word out of your mouth is slaughtering a whole city. Is this all you've cultivated your Dao heart into?"
Still unsatisfied, he struck him twice more.
"No matter how that household targeted you, you could have dug up your old feng shui array disk and taken back their fortune... at worst, killing their entire household would have been enough! How innocent are the people of this city, that you should torment them like this?"
Once his anger had eased somewhat, Sun Chen said gravely, "Tell us truthfully what happened to you back then, and why you ended up like this-if we find your case reasonable, we could even help you take revenge on the Wang Household!"
Old Daoist Qi stared at Sun Chen and slowly recounted what had happened to him.
In his early years, Old Daoist Qi had learned feng shui arts from an extraordinary person and embarked on cultivation. Since he was already an adult then and his vital essence had been depleted, his progress with the "hundred-day Foundation Establishment method" was extremely slow. Only at thirty did he enter the Seed Qi Realm. Later, he encountered an immortal opportunity and reached the Qi-Seeding Upper Realm at a hundred and fifty. To prepare for the Mystic Gang Realm in the future, he devised a way to borrow fortune.
He surveyed feng shui sites in the mortal world and helped households with whom he had an affinity prosper. Decades later, when he needed to borrow fortune for his breakthrough, he would return to collect it.
At this point, Sun Chen told Ao Ding, "See? This resembles the Hundred-Curse Fortune-Gathering Secret Rite I taught you. Both borrow the fortune of humanity from the myriad living beings to help one break through. However, the secret art I taught you gathers a hundred curses and does no harm to those whose fortune you borrow. And since you first help them and sow a good cause, the fortune is merely the good fruit they repay you with. Thus, both sides benefit and help each other succeed. But he-he borrowed too much!"
Hearing Sun Chen's assessment, Old Daoist Qi could not help protesting his innocence.
"When I identified the dragon lair and granted the Wang Household a century of prosperity, I made it clear: 'As you rise by this, so must you one day decline by it. After three generations of prosperity, I will come to collect twenty years of fortune, and our accounts will be settled-'"
The old Daoist's face flushed red, making his scars even more hideous.
"But when I reached the Ultimate Realm and returned to collect their fortune, they turned on me! They even invited two spellcasters to oppose me... in the end... in the end..."
Fury burned in his eyes. Without him saying what happened next, Sun Chen and Ao Ding understood.
Sun Chen told Ao Ding, "See? This is what comes of borrowing too much fortune. Granted, when the terms were first discussed, the other party agreed readily. But decades later, how can you guarantee they'll still keep their promise? Either keep the price low, as with the Hundred-Curse Secret Rite I taught you, finding a hundred people with whom you have an affinity and accumulating fortune bit by bit. Someone like him, demanding twenty years of the Wang Household's fortune in one breath, would effectively wipe out an entire generation's prospects. After three generations of prosperity, the Wang Household was no longer poor and lowly as before. How could they willingly agree? Besides, would the descendants willingly honor their ancestors' agreement? We cultivators must above all avoid seeking repayment from descendants for an ancestor's debts. That turns a rightful claim into a wrongful one."
Old Daoist Qi said urgently, "According to you, I was the one at fault?"
"It isn't that you were wrong, but that you should never have trusted human nature in the first place, trusted the Wang Household to keep its promise—even if you insisted on making an agreement, you had to prepare a fallback beforehand, rather than foolishly running out to collect your fortune at the Qi-Planting Extreme Stage. Boy, have you learned something? This is the lesson. Never leave home at the Ultimate Realm. Who knows? Your human tribulation might arrive!"
"I'll remember."
Seeing Old Daoist Qi's fate, Ao Ding took it as a warning.
If I ended up like this... ah... how miserable.
From Ao Ding's expression, Sun Chen knew he had taken the lesson to heart. His effort in specifically finding this example to warn him had not been wasted.
"What happened afterward? After escaping, why didn't you continue cultivating feng shui arts? Why did you instead cultivate all these methods of spreading plague?"
Old Daoist Qi's chest heaved as he said hoarsely, "That day, I barely escaped with my life. I found a cave abode belonging to a senior master, inherited the Plague-Dispelling Dao's lineage there, and switched to cultivating secret arts of spreading plague..."
A trace of disdain crossed Sun Chen's face, but he quickly concealed it.
Feng shui arts gathered the fortune of myriad beings and the essence of mountains and marshes, and still retained an orthodox foundation.
But going off to spread plague and unleash epidemics—although the plague-and-pestilence sickly qi cultivated that way could indeed be used for Qi-Seeding and Gang Refining, as for that kind of gang qi...
Hadn't they just seen Ao Ding, likewise in the Mystic Gang Thoroughfare Realm, casually chase Old Daoist Qi around and slash at him with a single spell?
Compared with the True Heaven Golden Gang Ao Ding had formed by gathering the upright qi of Heavenly Gang, the difference between the two was like clouds and mud.
Sun Chen said, "Enough. Ao Ding, clean up the battlefield first. When we fight magical duels outside, we mustn't leave a mess that obstructs ordinary people. Once you've finished, we'll go to the Wang Household. These old grievances must have a resolution."
Before you continue