The Upright Turns Strange Again

The sun rises in the distance.

Fang Zelin opened the window, letting in the sunlight that had been filtering through the cracks.

Instantly, the sunlight filled the room.

When I visited this inn before, the waiter was right; the room was indeed comfortable.

Sunlight shone on Fang Zelin's face, making it seem as if tiny sparks of light were shimmering on his skin.

Feeling the Spiritual Qi flowing through his body, Fang Zelin immediately smiled.

He called out to the sword beside him, and the sword hummed, shook itself, and flew behind Fang Zelin.

Judging from its appearance, it is quite well-behaved.

"Not bad, all that Spiritual Qi you absorbed wasn't for nothing."

Upon seeing this, Fang Zelin also praised it, causing the sword behind him to hum again.

"Speaking of which, we haven't even provided you with a scabbard yet, and we haven't even given you a name."

As Fang Zelin spoke, he began to wash up.

"What, you don't want a scabbard? How can you do without a scabbard? I'll wrap it in cloth for you every day!"

"This cloth can't withstand your abuse. You've cut it into several pieces. It's like a consumable item every day. I don't have much silver left."

"It seems that an ordinary scabbard is not good enough for you. If you end up ruining the expensive scabbard you bought, even more money will have been wasted."

"You want to name me first? Fine, but what name do you want? Zhu Xian? Are you crazy! Your father wants to become an immortal, what kind of immortal do you want to kill? Are you rebellious?!"

"Being struck by lightning a few times isn't necessarily a bad thing. If you hadn't been struck by lightning so many times, would you have such spiritual power? Stop thinking about rebellion all the time. Don't you know that misfortune may be a blessing in disguise, and a blessing may be a misfortune in disguise?"

"Who can know its ultimate limit? It has no fixed form; the fixed becomes the unfixed, and the good becomes the evil."

"Don't understand? That's okay, your dad won't hurt you. I'll explain it to you slowly."

After Fang Zelin practiced the Treatise on the Supreme One's Response, he did see some results.

Now, I can at least have some interaction with the sword behind me.

Perhaps because this sword was originally made of iron ore, and it was struck by lightning so many times on Ten Thousand Blades Peak, it must have accumulated some anger.

These days, when it comes to naming, they insist on names that carry a hint of menace.

Upon realizing this, Fang Zelin felt a great headache coming on and quickly began to offer guidance to the other party.

No matter what, how could such a fine sword develop such malevolent energy?

Fortunately, Baojian was still in a dazed state, but Fang Zelin's reassurance calmed him down considerably.

In the future, when cultivating, try to soothe the other person more; this bit of hostility should dissipate.

"You must understand, before you were fully formed, it was the power of lightning that brought you into being. It may seem that the power of lightning prevented your birth, but in reality, it helped you develop sentience. Do you understand?"

Fang Zelin kept talking to Baojian about Chapter 58 of the Dao De Jing Ching, regardless of whether Baojian understood or not. He first explained the concepts to the other party and let him ponder them slowly.

As he slowly and methodically explained, he failed to notice that the sword wrapped in cloth behind him was now flickering with spiritual light.

It's like breathing.

After Fang Zelin finished washing up, he stopped talking and turned to leave the inn.

After buying a few steamed buns from a street vendor, Fang Zelin ate them as he entered the City God.

He wanted to ask the local City God if he had any immortal scriptures or texts.

If so, see if you can make a deal with them.

He still had two ounces of spirit rice on him, which might be worth trading.

No matter what, he had used a lot of Spiritual Qi to cultivate this spirit rice to maturity.

I've been in the Great Jin for over a year now. I haven't been to many places, but I've learned from many demons and Underworld Bureau that cultivators are hard to find.

If it's so hard to find, then something containing Spiritual Qi must be even rarer.

So far, all Fang Zelin knows is that Spiritual Qi only dissipates between heaven and earth when he is cultivating.

From this perspective, Spiritual Qi should be exclusive to cultivators.

Cultivators are hard to find, but objects imbued with Spiritual Qi are even harder to find.

After finishing the bun in a few bites, Fang Zelin strolled into the City God.

There were many people offering incense in front of the City God, Fang Zelin looked closely.

They watched as countless streams of incense energy were absorbed into the City God statue.

Upon seeing this, Fang Zelin stepped forward and cupped his hands in greeting, "I am a cultivator passing through this place. May I ask to see the City God?"

Fang Zelin made a cupped-hands gesture, but after a long while there was no movement from ahead.

Seeing this, Fang Zelin felt a little embarrassed, but after thinking about it, he couldn't care less about that for the sake of the cultivation manual.

He gritted his teeth and bowed again, "I am a cultivator passing through this place. May I request an audience with City God of Jingyun?"

This time, Fang Zelin released a bit of his Spiritual Qi, hoping to get a response from the other party.

However, after the sound faded, there was still no sound.

The sword behind him suddenly became restless. His father was here, pleading for an audience with polite words, but the other party wouldn't give him the slightest response. This was too much!

Thinking of this, the sword immediately emitted an aura that locked onto the stone statue in front of it.

In an instant, a man dressed in official robes with a full beard appeared before them.

Beside him were two Martial Judge, plus ten soul-reaping messengers.

Fang Zelin nearly broke out in a cold sweat upon seeing this. What's going on? I'm not here to cause trouble!

He quickly suppressed the energy of the sword behind him, and before City God of Jingyun could speak, Fang Zelin bowed first.

"I am truly sorry. I have failed in my duty of instruction. The sword has emitted its own energy. This is entirely my fault."

When the City God and his underworld officials first appeared, they were filled with rage.

He was working peacefully at his desk when he suddenly felt a powerful aura lock onto him, as if it was about to strike at any moment. No one could resist such anger.

Before she could even vent her anger, she saw that the man in front of her was humble and polite, and that he possessed Spiritual Power. Seeing this, she couldn't help but suppress her anger.

"Is there something you need? I have many matters to attend to and do not have time to chat with you here."

The City God waved his hand, signaling the underworld official beside him to lower the chains in his hands, and said in a muffled voice.

Fang Zelin felt his face burning, but he quickly said, "Having cultivated to this point, I would like to ask if the City God possesses any cultivation manuals? I can exchange them for other miscellaneous items."

"No, cultivators are inherently elusive and unpredictable; how could I, a deity, possess such a thing?"

After saying that, he turned to leave.

"Wait!"

Seeing that the other party was about to leave, Fang Zelin quickly took out the remaining spirit rice from his pocket, but it was only two ounces.

"It was I who was rude just now; please accept this as a small token of my appreciation."

The trouble caused by his own child is something only he, as the father, can apologize for.

The City God, who was about to leave, turned back and saw how courteous Fang Zelin was, and his anger immediately dissipated, realizing that the other party had not done it on purpose.

Thinking of this, and seeing that the spirit rice the other party had taken out was no ordinary thing, he pondered for a moment, then reached into his sleeve and pulled out a black book.

"I observe that you seem to be unfamiliar with some of the rules of the underworld, so I will give you this item. This book records the rules of the underworld, as well as some minor Law Technique such as how to use Law Technique to strike the underworld drum."

As he spoke, he handed the book to Fang Zelin.

Upon seeing this, Fang Zelin quickly accepted it with both hands, secretly delighted.

Although he didn't obtain any cultivation manuals, this item was just right for him.