Journey North to Mount Tai

"Uncle-Master Jin Chang is such a good person!"

Zhang Xuezhou set off on another long journey.

In addition to the care and assistance from Jin Chang along the way, Zhang Xuezhou also brought Rong Tianding along this time, and also took Yi Shuo's medicine gourd away from Chang'an City.

Since the new emperor had not fulfilled his promise, Zhang Xuezhou felt that the other party would be too ashamed to come to his door for the time being.

Li Shaojun and Palace of Peace and Happiness got along well, and things progressed smoothly.

Things have basically settled down in Zhang Household Village. These days, Zhang Changgong has started to inspect the courtyards for sale near the Zhang residence, trying to buy a house at the lowest possible price. Everything is on track.

This gave Zhang Xuezhou some more free time.

He had been lying in bed waiting to return to reality, but eventually he lay down in the carriage, which Jin Chang drove on his journey.

Rong Tianding sat in the carriage, still half asleep. His face was somewhat blank. He had no idea that after all the hard work of driving day and night from the Northern Border back to Chang'an City, he would now have to drive back again.

He peeked out from behind the carriage curtain; the moon was bright and the stars were few. Jin Chang sat leisurely in front of the carriage.

The pale moonlight illuminated every corner. Visibility was poor at night, but Jin Chang seemed to drive the carriage very casually, letting the two horses pull it along at will.

Rong Tianding saw the two horses running around wildly several times. He stared at them intently, but couldn't help feeling drowsy again.

Rong Tianding was jolted awake when he felt a tremendous jolt.

"What's wrong?"

Rong Tianding exclaimed in surprise, his mind almost completely clear.

He reached out and grabbed Zhang Xuezhou's unconscious body, almost jumping up.

"It crashed!"

Jin Chang's calm voice came through.

"What I dislike most is taking care of others, and secondly, driving a horse-drawn carriage!"

Several whip cracks rang out, and Jin Chang muttered about whether he should use Puppet Technique to control the two unruly horses again.

Rong Tianding had no choice but to jump out of the carriage and push it back forcefully.

"These two horses you've chosen aren't suited for nighttime riding; they don't run fast at night!"

Rong Tianding had not only met Jin Chang, but he was also familiar with Jin Chang because of Zhang Xuezhou. He knew that Zhang Xuezhou's help. If Zhang Xuezhou had no use to him, Jin Chang Zhang Xuezhou n't even bother to look at him.

He was not afraid of Jin Chang at this moment, nor did he feel nervous about facing a great cultivator.

"If you don't like driving a carriage at night, I have some little tricks to help you drive it at night!"

"Oh?"

"But this kind of trick is only suitable for traveling on official roads, not on side streets!"

"Then let's go to the main road. Subduing the guards there will be no difficulty for me, and it won't attract any attention!"

Jin Chang disliked doing things like traveling thousands of miles by horse-drawn carriage, but he couldn't stand the endless waiting even more. He would try to be one day faster if possible.

Upon hearing Rong Tianding's self-recommendation, Jin Chang felt a sense of relief, thinking that Zhang Xuezhou's family members were not entirely useless.

"What kind of method is it? Is it for controlling corpses?"

When Rong Tianding began chanting incantations and casting spells, Jin Chang was quite interested in discerning the meaning behind it.

He saw that the previously unruly mounts all quieted down and began to move in very mechanical, small, shuffling steps.

One advantage of Rong Tianding's spell was that the two horses pulling the carriage became quiet and obedient, even running tirelessly. The downside was that they lost their agility, and would inevitably bump into things when encountering winding paths.

"This is called the Corpse Transformation Technique. It's a little Technique Method I learned. It takes forty-nine days to undergo the transformation and die. You can use it to temporarily control your mounts and make them more obedient!"

"It seems to be the technique of the Corpse Jiao. That school specializes in manipulating corpses, and it's even more gruesome than our Yin-Yang School's Puppet Technique!"

With Rong Tianding taking over the carriage, Jin Chang's workload was significantly reduced.

He glanced at Rong Tianding, surprised that Rong Tianding hadn't followed Zhang Xuezhou to practice the Yin-Yang School's techniques, but instead had gone into unorthodox methods.

Jin Chang couldn't say that the techniques of the Shijiao School were problematic, but the techniques of the Shijiao School were the most extreme among all the schools he knew, and the school that dealt with the living and the dead the most.

"I once discovered a secret Underworld in Mount Tai that is rich in yin energy. You can go there and wait it out. If you can subdue one or two ghost kings, you will have no rivals at lower cultivation levels, and fighting against opponents of higher cultivation levels will be a piece of cake," Jin Chang said.

"Thank you for taking care of me, Uncle-Master. You're the best, Uncle-Master," Rong Tianding said with a beaming smile.

Useless people have no value in Jin Chang, but as long as they demonstrate value, Jin Chang will still give them some reward.

Rong Tianding was extremely satisfied with the help Jin Chang had given him, even if it was just a piece of information.

The Shijiao School is insignificant at lower cultivation levels, but once it finds the right direction, its power becomes immediately apparent. Only a handful of schools, such as the Mohists school specializing in Mechanism Technique, can effectively counter it.

If Jin Chang can help beat the Ghost King and Ghost General half to death, and then Rong Tianding can subdue them, Rong Tianding will undoubtedly have a trump card after being forcibly controlled.

He drove the carriage with a happy smile, which brought a satisfied look to Jin Chang's face.

It's that easy to bribe low-level cultivators. Even a casual piece of information from him can make these junior cultivators overjoyed and willing to work hard without complaint.

He didn't mind Rong Tianding calling Zhang Xuezhou "Uncle-Master," and after Jin Chang accepted, he even gave Rong Tianding some pointers on his cultivation.

Jin Chang was not familiar with the cultivation techniques of the Shijiao School, but Jin Chang reached many realms of cultivation over the years, almost repeating the Divine Ability of cultivating to the point of attaining supernatural powers twice. He had also witnessed countless battles and killings, so his casual remarks were based on his experience.

If it weren't for the internal competition between Yin and Yang, even Zhang Xuezhou would consider Jin Chang a renowned teacher. Zhang Xuezhou even focused his cultivation of the Divine Ability Realm on Jin Chang.

Zhang Xuezhou focused more on having Rong Tianding study on his own, while constantly supplying him with elixirs to help him improve, whereas Jin Chang preferred to talk the talk but not walk the walk.

With these two elements combined, Rong Tianding felt that certain shortcomings in his mind were being filled, which also gave him a deeper understanding of cultivation.

"My cousin often takes me out, and as long as I can seize the opportunity, there are fortuitous opportunity around him almost every moment. It's just that these fortuitous opportunity are of a very high level, and it's too difficult for me to get close to them. Even with this Uncle Jin Chang, it took so many interactions before I could benefit from them."

Whether it was Zhang Xuezhou taking Rong Tianding to meet Anguo, or Kong Anguo, or Li Shaojun and others who recently visited Palace of Peace and Happiness, these were all extremely unique cultivators.

These people may have capital or insight, but by continuously interacting with them and building good relationships, they will reap unexpected rewards.

Rong Tianding successfully gained Jin Chang's goodwill after demonstrating his value at this point.

Even if this kindness is pitifully small, it is enough for him at the moment.

He had a vague feeling that his cultivation, accumulated through elixirs and the Five Qi Converging toward the Origin Gathering, was once again being subtly propelled, seemingly propelling him rapidly toward the True Spirit Realm.