I have to get lucky right away.

Chapter 87: Open your mind (fourth update)

Many Taoist sects would adopt the template of secular power class when designing their own systems, and this was particularly evident in the Shenxiao Sect, which reached a unified strategy with Song Huizong.

Moreover, they also very constructively separated the military and politics. In their system, the Jade Emperor was the supreme god of the administrative system, while the King of Divine Sky and Jade Purity was the supreme god of the military system (Note ①).

This also resulted in the fact that although the Shenxiao Sect regarded Shenxiao Yuqing King as its main deity, most of the high-end talismans had to use "The Jade Emperor's Edict" as the talisman head.

According to the Central Plains system's usage habits of virtual gods, except for those raised by themselves, they all have to follow a form of "transaction", that is, mortals offer incense and the gods respond to their wishes.

This means that if the Shenxiao Sect wants to use the power of the Jade Emperor, it must pay more incense and offerings than ordinary people.

But on such an important day as meeting the Jade Emperor, Feng Xue only offered ordinary rice cake towers and three kinds of tea and five kinds of wine. Even the statues on the altar were mass-produced paintings, without even the most basic hand-painted ones.

There is no doubt that this is not something a disciple of the Shenxiao Sect would do!
Other things may be falsified, but something like this concerning the very foundation of the sect cannot possibly be wrong!
When he realized this, Li Maolin's heart was almost overwhelmed by greed, but his remaining rationality and hundreds of years of experience as a demon cultivator allowed him to forcibly suppress this greed.

"No, even if he doesn't have a backer, he's still a person of great luck. We can't make him our enemy during this time of human calamity!"

Li Maolin was struggling in his heart every moment, but he was forcibly restraining the impulse. He was now only one step away from shedding the demon fetus and achieving the corpse-transmigrating immortal. It was this step that restrained him, a giant of the demon path who was once lawless.

"call……"

Li Maolin finally suppressed the many distracting thoughts in his mind after exhaling a breath of foul air. He said:

"The idea of ​​combining magical instruments has been considered by some. Legend has it that during the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, both the Mohist School and the Gongshu School were proficient in this art. They used wood and stone as materials to create mechanisms driven by magical power. The mechanical prosthetic limbs mentioned earlier when discussing the intermittent method were of this type. However, with the changes in the laws of nature, the Mohist School is now in name only, and only a group of carpenters remain of the Gongshu School. However, some of their techniques have been passed down, and the most important of these is the Magic Gold Method..."

At this point, Li Maolin's voice suddenly paused. Feng Xue couldn't help but feel a little strange when she saw this.

Li Maolin coughed lightly and continued as if nothing had happened:
"What a coincidence! The Huangbai Qicai technique I taught you earlier, and the prosthetic limb connection method in the intermittent method, all have some connection with this method. For example, the magic gold and magic silver, which are key to the circulation of mana, are essentially similar to the Huangbai School's medicinal gold and silver. The rituals of the connection method are actually derived from the connection method of connecting parts..."

When Li Maolin said this, he was carefully observing Feng Xue's expression. If Feng Xue's expression and aura did not show a look of sudden realization and thinking, Li Maolin would really doubt whether he had intended to learn this "combination of magic tools" from the very beginning.

But after thinking about it again, he felt that it was unnecessary. After all, this combination of magic tools was not his forte. Even if they knew Li Maolin's identity as the Three Evils Sect, they should have been plotting against his secret ways such as the "Three Evils Dingyuan Technique" instead of staring at a combination of magic tools that was more than two thousand years outdated.

"The temptation is indeed too great, I must restrain myself..." As a senior magic cultivator, Li Maolin is very clear about the principle of greed blinding people's minds, but he also understands that if he does not find an outlet, then this greed will accumulate in his heart, expand more and more, and finally become impossible to eliminate no matter what.

With an idea in mind, Li Maolin was distracted and began to explain to Feng Xue the key points of how to refine magic gold and magic silver, and how to temporarily use spirits and ghosts to replace some of the functions when he couldn't make it.

An hour of teaching passed in a flash, and Li Maolin disappeared again. Feng Xue looked at the cold food helplessly. This senior came up in the name of delivering food, so there was no reason for him to order food again.

Shaking his head slightly, Feng Xue looked down at Liu Yunxi in his arms. Amidst her trembling voice, he said, "You look like a microwave oven to me."

……

"So if you just want to heat up the food, just tell me! I'm not incapable of mana heating or anything like that, so there's no need to turn me into something that heats up your food with my mouth, right?"

After a moment, Liu Yunxi, who had returned to his human form, stared at Feng Xue until he took his first bite of food. Then he spoke. Unexpectedly, Feng Xue was just stunned for a moment, looked down at the food, and nodded.

"I know. I'll pay attention next time. I was just too hungry to think about it."

"Wait a minute! That went into my mouth! Don't you feel weird?" Liu Yunxi had not expected Feng Xue to react so calmly, and she muttered nervously - well, she was afraid of violating the ban on making noise on Jade Emperor Day.

Feng Xue spread his hands and said:

"What's the big deal? Don't forget, I used you to bathe. Water enters through the tail and exits through the mouth. Anyway, it's deformed..."

"Ugh..." Feng Xue said nothing, but Liu Yunxi couldn't help but want to dry heave when she thought of the scene where she was turned into a water heater. In fact, she didn't feel too strange after being turned into a water heater, nor did she feel psychologically uncomfortable. The key problem was that after that, when she turned back without draining the water clean, Liu Yunxi still remembered that feeling vividly.

……

Feng Xue started to eat, but Li Maolin, who had left the guesthouse, started to take action. Knowing that it is better to open up than to block, he decided to find something to do to avoid thinking about the inheritance in Feng Xue's hands.

"The remaining evil spirits could be used, but I need to investigate the specific requirements for their use... If that kid is just lucky, I can try to trick him into becoming my apprentice. Well, taking in an apprentice to ward off disasters is an old tradition. Who knows, maybe I can even learn his tricks... Ugh! Isn't it natural for a master to explain Taoism to his apprentice?"

Li Maolin muttered to himself and began to think about how to test it. Now there are only five days left until New Year's Eve. Although the evil spirit can still be used, it will be easily cracked if it keeps using the same trick.

He was walking down the street, looking around, trying to find some inspiration from the streets and alleys, when he suddenly saw a firecracker vendor shouting:

"Buy firecrackers to shoo away the Nian monster on New Year's Eve!"

"I understand New Year's Eve and suppressing evil spirits, but what is the Nian beast? It seems that new explanations have been made for the New Year in recent years?" Li Maolin has lived for hundreds of years and naturally knows that sometimes a small folk legend or an action of the government will give rise to new customs and "traditions", and these customs will often affect the concentration and transformation of wishes and incense.

The word "Nian Beast" means some kind of "animal" just by looking at the name. This made Li Maolin have some ideas in his mind. However, whether it can really become a reality depends on whether the popularity of this thing meets his expectations.

Thinking of this, he immediately wiped his face to make himself look a little older, then walked over unsteadily, with an expression of taking advantage of his age and saying:
"What the hell is the Nian beast? I've never heard of it in my entire life! Don't make it up just for business!"

(End of this chapter)