Techniques and Dao

Chapter 67 Borrowing the Golden Cudgel

The old man suddenly understood something and said to the people beside him, "It's alright, you can all go out now."

The middle-aged staff member was still uneasy: "Sir, how about we change your room?"

The old man said slowly, "No need, it's nothing. I'm probably just tired from having a few drinks. You can all go out now. I want to be alone for a while."

The room was filled with plainclothes guards and staff who looked around before slowly leaving.

The old man slowly walked to the sofa, where a cup of freshly brewed, high-quality green tea sat on the coffee table. He picked up the lid and carefully dripped the steam from it into the teacup, not letting a single drop spill. Then he gently blew on the cup, dispersing the tea leaves floating on the surface. He then slowly took a sip of the hot tea.

“You’re not simple. You’ve bribed everyone around me. They’ve followed me for over twenty years, through thick and thin. But today they still betrayed me,” he said slowly.

Master Yu Ran said, "Your subordinates have not been bribed by me."

The old man didn't discuss the topic further, but looked at Master Yu Ran and said, "What exactly do you want to do today?"

"To save the adult's life."

The old man frowned. Suddenly, he felt a slight twitch in his stomach, probably from drinking a few too many glasses. The smell of alcohol started to rise to his head, but he had just drunk a special kind of Moutai; even if he had drunk twice as much, it shouldn't have made him drunk. "It seems I'm getting old," the old man thought to himself, but he didn't dwell on it and continued:

"You mean you disguised yourself as a Taoist priest so that my loyal subordinates would ignore you, instead of trying to harm me?"

Master Yu Ran smiled slightly and said, "That is not true. In your short sentence, you have made four mistakes."

"Where did you go wrong?"

"First, I am not a Taoist priest. Second, your subordinates did not ignore me because no one but you, sir, can see me. Third, I have not come here to harm you, sir."

The old man forced a smile and rubbed his temples. The smell of alcohol seemed to be getting stronger, and he was starting to feel a little dizzy. He tried to stay awake and said, "Where did I say something wrong?"

Master Yu Ran sighed: "The fourth mistake is that your subordinates are not loyal."

“But when I said they betrayed me, you said I was wrong.”

"Yes. They are disloyal, but not because I bribed them."

"How much money would it take to bribe the guards who have followed me for so many years?"

“Everyone in this world has a price. But this price is not necessarily measured in money,” said Master Yu Ran.

The old man smiled slightly. He still wanted to refute the "liar" posing as a deity, but his vision began to blur. He regretted his earlier indulgence in alcohol. He rubbed his eyes, but the more he rubbed, the more stars appeared in front of him.

In a daze, he heard the other person say, "Sir, you shouldn't be sitting on this sofa, nor should you be drinking this cup of tea."

Before he could finish speaking, the old man saw Master Yu Ran suddenly raise his left hand, and at the same time, he heard a small, crisp sound of shattering glass. Although his vision was blurred, the old man still followed the direction of Master Yu Ran's hand, and then he saw the most astonishing scene of his life.

The indoor lighting wasn't bright, but it was enough to illuminate the small, shiny particle floating in mid-air.

He looked closer and realized it was a pistol bullet, only a hand's width away from his eye. The bullet seemed to be stuck in the air, hovering motionless.

Immediately afterwards, there were two more sounds of shattering glass. Two more bullets clearly appeared before the old man's eyes, but they remained suspended in mid-air, about a hand's width from his head. Perhaps a silencer had been used, because only the sound of glass breaking could be heard.

The curtains were clearly drawn, but the old man knew that wouldn't stop the heat-sensitive sight. Those curtains should have been replaced with heat-resistant fabric long ago, meaning this was a premeditated assassination.

The old man was startled and hurriedly stood up from the sofa, but he felt dizzy and then fell to the ground. He finally remembered the cup of hot tea he had just had.

Suddenly, Master Yu Ran floated up, waved his left hand towards the door and window, and then came the sound of someone falling from a tree outside the window. Then, the three bullets in mid-air landed on the carpet in the room.

The old man lay on the ground, feeling like he was on the verge of death. This wasn't the first time he'd been shot; his old wounds still throbbed with pain. That's politics—to get to your current position always comes with risks, always involves offending many people. He had long since resigned himself to life and death, but he hadn't expected this day to come so suddenly.

He told himself: Who can truly be prepared for death?

Master Yu Ran stepped forward and casually tore a blank sheet of paper from the desk. He helped the old man up, pressed his palm against the paper, and firmly pressed it against the old man's chest. He softly chanted, "Blood Purification Mantra! So be it!"

The old man felt his blood begin to flow rapidly, and then the white paper on his chest seemed to dissolve like ink, leaving mottled black shadows within seconds. He felt his breathing become much easier, his dizziness gradually disappeared, and he was slowly able to straighten up.

There was a rapid knocking at the door, followed by a guard's voice: "Sir! Sir, are you alright?"

The old man replied, "It's alright! You don't need to come in."

The guard then stopped knocking.

"What happened just now?" the old man asked Master Yu Ran.

“I have removed the toxins from your body. You were supposed to die tonight, but now you have been given another twenty years to live.”

The old man replied, "Although I don't know what method you used, you must have done something else besides saving me, right?"

Master Yu Ran nodded and said, "To be honest, the reason I came here tonight is to..."

The old man suddenly interrupted Master Yu Ran: "Before you speak, I would like to ask you a question."

"what is the problem?"

"Who can I trust around me?"

Master Yu Ran shook his head, stroked his beard, and sighed, "The longer you stay atop the mountains, the fewer trustworthy people you will have, until... you will no longer trust even those you can actually trust."

The old man, addressed as the leader, remained silent.

Immortal Master Yu Ran continued, "My lord, I have come here today not merely to save your life. There is something more important that requires your full assistance, and only you can do it."

As time passed, the Magic Arts Academy quickly entered a state of combat readiness. All items, magical artifacts, and personnel unrelated to the Qiankun Defense War were swiftly evacuated to surrounding areas, transforming the entire Magic Arts Academy into a military camp filled with battle flags.

The day before the Mid-Autumn Festival, Taishang Xiaojun stuffed his grandfather's jade pendant into Huasheng's hand.

"Hua Sheng, I need to prepare before the battle at Shengpingning. Time is of the essence, so we must split up. I will stay here to make final preparations, so I'll leave this to you. Just like my grandfather said, give this to the Victorious Fighting Buddha and borrow his golden cudgel from him."

Hua Sheng didn't understand. There were more than one or two people in the Magic Academy who were more powerful than him, so how could he possibly control this peerless divine weapon?

"The Dao Ancestor entrusted this jade tablet to us as a responsibility. And you cannot be absent from this most crucial link. To break through the Jupiter Veil and defeat the Netherworld, you can only rely on borrowing the Golden Cudgel from the Victorious Fighting Buddha."

"what should I do?"

"Forgot? You, the winner of the Heavenly Eye Trial! Go to the summit of the East Sea, and with the Victorious Buddha's Path Pass, you can see the Victorious Fighting Buddha!"

Hua Sheng opened the map and said, "But where exactly is the summit of the East Sea that the Dao Ancestor spoke of, the place where dragons gather? If Laoshan in Shandong is known as the Daoist summit of the East Sea, it doesn't quite fit the description of a place where dragons gather."

Taishang Xiaojun stared at the map of the East Sea and said, "I think I know where it is..."

"Tell me."

Tai Shang Xiao Jun placed his finger on a city on the map: "We've been to this place before!"

Hua Sheng looked in the direction he was pointing.

"Shanghai? How is that possible?"

"The Dao Ancestor said it was the summit of the East Sea, but where in the East Sea is there a high place? So we must find a place that can be reached by following the waters of the East Sea. What is the Golden Cudgel also called?"

"The Divine Treasure of Dinghai. Isn't Dinghai the East Sea? You're saying it's Shanghai? Are you kidding me? I remember when the Golden Cudgel existed, Shanghai was still called Huating County!"

“Times have changed. Look, the appearance of the immortal artifacts is also changing, and the location where they are hidden will also change!” Tai Shang Xiao Jun said, “Moreover, when we were in Shanghai before, do you remember me saying that there was a huge feng shui formation where dragons gathered?”

"I remember! It's right in Lujiazui!"

Hua Sheng suddenly realized that there is only one place in Shanghai that can truly be called the "Peak of the East China Sea"!

He gripped the hand of the Supreme Lord Xiaojun tightly.

"Don't come to see me if you can't get the Golden Cudgel!" Taishang Xiaojun laughed.

Hua Sheng felt that there was no time to lose, so he immediately rode away on a flying cloud.

The night is deep.

After giving the "HOPE" group their final practice session, Master Yu Ran instructed everyone to rest as soon as possible. The formation instruction for "BRAVE" and "HOPE," both from the mortal realm, was conducted hands-on by Master Jue Guang, Master Yu Ran, and thirty other immortal masters. The two teams displayed an unexpectedly high level of teamwork; in just a few days, with the protection of several disciples from the academy, both the "Six Ding Six Jia Formation" and the "Nine Palaces Eight Trigrams Formation" had reached a practical combat level.

Master Yu Ran came to rest by the Drunken Heart Lake and saw the Supreme Lord Xiao Jun lying on the stone railing, gazing at the starry sky.

Taishang Xiaojun also saw Immortal Master Yuran and asked, "In just a few days, have those formations improved?"

"From the chaos of the first day to the current unity and cooperation, we have achieved some success," said Master Yu Ran. "Tomorrow night will surely be a fierce battle, so you should rest early, Grand Master."

Tai Shang Xiao Jun, with a twig between his teeth and his hands behind his head, gazed at the bright moon in the sky and said, "How beautiful this moonlight is. Over the past thousand years, it has soothed countless weary hearts in the world. But now we must wage a life-or-death battle against it."

Master Yu Ran said, "No matter what the outcome is tomorrow night, it is the fate that the human world must bear. In fact, most of the immortals, humans, and spirits of Shengping Ning do not want to see the human world turn into a scorched wasteland."

Taishang Xiaojun said, "I have been thinking, since the Netherworld has gone to such great lengths, yet the Heavenly Realm turns a blind eye, wouldn't our intervention instead bring disaster to Shengping Ning?"

Master Yu Ran said, “Because we cannot stand idly by. Perhaps immortals or spirits, after living with humans for too long, find it difficult to remain inactive when faced with choices. Perhaps Dao Ling Xingjun is no exception. Sheng Pingning is simply bound by the rules of a thousand years and lacks a reason to change. The letter from Taishang Laojun that you brought gave Dao Ling Xingjun a reason. In Sheng Pingning, we are beginning to become like humans, willing to sacrifice ourselves for the sake of compassion for others.”

“I believe that doing so is the right thing to do,” said Taishang Xiaojun.

"What's heartening is that this time, the entire Academy of Arts and Sciences, regardless of gender, signed up to participate in the battle; there were no absentees or deserters. Isn't this the essence of compassion? Perhaps this is the success of the Immortal Masters' teachings, and something the Academy of Arts and Sciences can be proud of. This is all the Academy can do. Lighting the prayer lanterns in the night sky tomorrow night is both a prayer for peace on earth and a determination to defend our homeland to the best of our ability. Let's see how much strength the resolve of mortals can bring to the Academy of Arts and Sciences then."

"I believe that my efforts will not be in vain. At least this intervention will bring new possibilities to the world in the future."

Master Yu Ran nodded: "Those two mortal groups you brought, called 'HOHO' and 'BRA,' their cultivation power should not be underestimated. Mortal children are indeed good at studying and learning skills."

“Master, those aren’t called ‘HOHO’ and ‘BRA’, they’re called ‘HOPE’ and ‘BRAVE’.”

(End of this chapter)