Mang Shusheng's Ink Painting Practice

Chapter 306 The Heart of an Old Father

That night, Chenxiang stayed overnight in the Heavenly Prison and had a truly extraordinary dream...

He dreamed that he commanded thousands of troops and finally stormed the Heavenly Court, defeating the current Heavenly Emperor.

When Venerable Youquan entered into this matter, he remained behind the scenes like a sage and did not directly interfere in the affairs of heaven and earth. Thus, he became the new Heavenly Emperor.

At first, he was very happy, having obtained all the rights he wanted, and even became a Daoist partner with a graceful and noble female immortal, with whom he soon had a son and a daughter.

He wanted to learn from this experience and prevent the tragedy that befell him and his mother from happening again.

Therefore, he devoted all his attention to his family, hoping that his children could feel his love for them.

Everything seemed to be going well, but things changed after his daughter grew up.

His daughter, just like her mother, fell in love with a mortal, and what's more, a blond, slovenly mortal at that.

Well, if that mortal were a gentleman like his father, that would be fine, but instead he looks like a street urchin...

How is this possible? !
As an elderly father, he was extremely angry.

He was prepared to punish his daughter himself.

But at that moment, his son preemptively locked up his troublesome daughter.

This left him with nowhere to vent his anger, so he could only suppress it.

Then look at that blond guy... Surely the Heavenly Emperor wouldn't hold a grudge against a mortal?
In the end, he could only suppress his anger and decide to avoid seeing it altogether.

However, to his surprise, his daughter became pregnant and gave birth to a child for that blond-haired man.

This child knew nothing about it, yet he still wanted to split the mountain to rescue his mother, and even beat up his uncle...

Chenxiang suddenly woke up, covered in sweat.

Good heavens, he suddenly realized that he was actually the 'son of blond hair'.

That was terrifying, that dream was absolutely horrible.

And this dream can't really be said to be guided by someone else; it was clearly a dream I had after seeing my mother's "spirited young lady" appearance yesterday.

He calmed himself down and realized that his back was cold, and he was drenched in sweat without even noticing.

The agarwood has grown once again.

So after he came to his senses, he left in a hurry. In his heart, the overthrow of the Heavenly Prison was still necessary, but he was no longer in a hurry.

He wasn't even in a hurry to take his mother back to reunite with his father... He suspected that his father might not have much affection for his mother.

After all, it's possible that his own father was also a victim in what happened back then...

The monkey followed, but He was reluctant to leave.

He was heartless and probably never even considered what would happen to the Bull Demon King after he passed through the Flaming Mountain.

But now that I know, and even understand, that I have actually let down many of my brothers... I feel uneasy.

Old Niu said indifferently, "Go on, don't stand here in the way. I'm doing very well now, and it's all thanks to you for finding a job for Red Boy with Guanyin that I was able to be placed here instead of being killed outright."

The monkey reluctantly turned back every few steps, but eventually left.

Zhao Yifu chuckled, then sat down next to the old ox and said, "I never expected that you, Old Ox, were the Great Sage Equaling Heaven back then."

Old Niu quickly said, "Don't mention that title anymore. The so-called 'Great Sage Who Pacifies Heaven' was just arrogance when I was young and ignorant. Warden, just call me Old Niu."

"Back then, Lao Niu and his brothers thought that all the gods in the Heavenly Court were as stupid as blockheads, so they wanted to rely on their skills and not be bound by any constraints."

"But when the Heavenly Court actually erupts, we will know just how much power it truly possesses."

“I know the warden probably has some plans, but the Heavenly Court is not easy to deal with…”

Zhao Yifu then realized that the old ox had already seen through some clues.

Zhao Yifu said, "Don't worry, Lao Niu, we're confident this time."

He didn't explain it too clearly, after all, some things are better left unsaid.

Old Niu frowned, then sighed, "Fine, you're the warden, you're in charge."

It still doesn't have a positive outlook, but it's no longer opposed to it either.

This old ox looks much more dejected.

Zhao Yifu didn't say much, after all, the situation this time was different from what they had experienced before...

This time, Old Zhang personally taught him how to overthrow the Heavenly Court.

Just then, a thought struck him, and he sensed someone calling from the mortal realm.

So Zhao Yifu turned his attention to the other side...

Yes, it was his fifth-generation descendant from the same clan calling him.

……

Zhao Huihui anxiously gathered around a bed. The place was a small house with a large hole in the roof. The night was cool and the atmosphere was rather eerie.

Lying on the bed was a young woman, wearing a blood-stained Taoist robe. A scratch mark appeared to have cut from her shoulder, almost reaching her left chest.

The girl looked pale and calmly said to Zhao Huihui, "Huihui, you don't need to worry anymore. The evil energy of this corpse demon has already invaded my heart meridian. If you don't want to see me become its corpse puppet, you might as well burn me now."

Zhao Huihui continued to hold up incense and worship in the distance, showing no sign of stopping. Perhaps this was the first time he had worshipped that ancestor so devoutly.

The woman continued, "It's no use. Your ancestors were all battlefield heroes. The one you're destined to be with probably can't do anything about my injuries."

At this moment, the incense burned out, and Zhao Huihui shook his head and said, "Other ancestors may not be able to do it, but my ancestor might really be able to."

In Zhao Huihui's mind, although Zhao Yifu had a bad reputation in the mortal world, he had a very mysterious feeling after getting to know him.

Zhao Huihui felt that his ancestor had been underestimated by the world.

So he immediately took out another stick of incense to offer to the gods, preparing to light it again and pray to Zhao Yifu.

Just then, Zhao Huihui suddenly heard a voice: "Alright, stop wasting incense. You just need to silently say 'I will hear you' in your heart."

Zhao Yifu's figure appeared.

Zhao Huihui exclaimed excitedly, "Ancestor, you've been so slow!"

Zhao Yifu said nonchalantly, "I was just having drinks with a friend, and it's already quite kind of me to come and check on this little thing of yours."

Zhao Huihui said, "This is no small matter at all; Sister Ying is on her deathbed!"

Zhao Yifu turned his head to look at the woman on the bed, then did some calculations with his fingers and said in surprise, "Your name is Yang Ying, and you are the fourth-generation descendant of Yang Zaixuan?"

Yang Ying nodded in surprise and said, "It is indeed I, this humble woman. May I ask who this is...?"

Zhao Yifu laughed and said, "Since you are the descendant of Zaixuan and Sister Xiangyu, you can call me ancestor now."

Yang Ying was even more surprised, but instead of calling for someone, she asked again, "May I ask who you are...?" Zhao Yifu extended his hand to Yang Ying and said, "Me? I am Zhao Yifu."

As he spoke, he reached out and made a pulling motion in mid-air, and Yang Ying felt something being suddenly pulled out of her body.

A foul-smelling, pitch-black blood gushed from her wound.

That was blood tainted by the evil aura of corpse poison.

Soon, fresh, bright red blood appeared on her wound, indicating that the contaminated blood had been cleaned up.

The wound then quickly closed up and froze, leaving only four shallow, thin marks, no longer showing any gruesome scratches.

"This……"

"Thank you, ancestor."

Zhao Huihui exclaimed in surprise.

Yang Ying also wanted to get up to thank her, but as soon as she stood up, she felt dizzy.

Zhao Yifu waved his hand and said, "No need for formalities. You have lost too much blood and damaged your vital energy. Just go back and take good care of yourself."

Zhao Huihui took it very seriously, as if it were his job to help Yang Ying recover.

Zhao Yifu was speechless at his lack of composure. He said, "It seems you really like your aunt."

Zhao Huihui's eyes widened as she asked, "Auntie?!"

Yang Ying also looked very surprised.

Zhao Yifu said, "Don't you know?"

"Yang Ying's great-great-grandmother was named Zhao Xiangyu. She was a barbarian woman from the Zhao family back then, and also the cousin of Huihui's great-great-great-grandfather."

Zhao Huihui's eyes darted around, and he looked at Yang Ying with some confusion, saying, "Isn't this a very distant relationship?"

Zhao Yifu said, "But in my eyes, it's very close. You are the descendant of my eldest brother, while Yang Ying is the descendant of my closest sister."

Suddenly, Yang Ying thought of something and tentatively asked, "May I ask, Ancestor, was it the Hidden Marquis in person?"

Zhao Yifu exclaimed in surprise: "Lord Yin?"

He then quickly calculated and realized, "So that's how it is. The posthumous title of Marquis Yin doesn't sound like a very good title."

Yang Ying immediately apologized, "I'm sorry, Ancestor, I didn't know..."

Zhao Yifu chuckled: "What's the big deal? I don't care. But what's wrong with you guys? Why are you all in this state?"

He glanced around, frowned slightly, and said, "Is this how the 'Spirit Calling Sect' arranges its disciples' training?"

"But this deserted village is just an old corpse demon. When I was your age, I was already fighting drought demons one-on-one."

He shook his head as he spoke, seemingly feeling sorry for today's young people.

After receiving Zhao Yifu's affirmative answer, Yang Ying immediately struggled to get up and wanted to kneel down to Zhao Yifu, seemingly disregarding her own pain.

Zhao Huihui quickly helped her up and said, "Sister Ying, what are you doing?"

Yang Ying said, "Many people in the world have slandered our ancestor, but my family has always kept a shrine to our ancestor."

"Furthermore, our ancestor Zaixuan left behind instructions that future generations must remember the kindness of our ancestor Junxin and hold sacrifices every year."

Zhao Yifu was comforted and said, "I am very pleased that Zaixuan has such a kind intention."

Zhao Huihui was somewhat dazed. He never expected that his ancestor, who was highly regarded by outsiders, would have such a good reputation in the Yang family, a family of generals for generations.
He looked bewildered.

Zhao Yifu asked, "What's wrong? Is there something you don't understand?"

Zhao Huihui nodded and said, "If that's the case, why is my Zhao family only able to live in a remote corner?"

Zhao Yifu said irritably, "To live in a corner of the world?"

"Look at the things you're saying."

"Back then, Mozhou City was the center of the world's cultural heritage!"

"Back then, Moshan was the center of literature in the world!"

"Back then, the Moshan Danqing Sect was a prominent sect in the cultivation world."

"Do you think the Zhao family's establishment of a manor on the back of Moshan Mountain is just a temporary retreat? No, it's a treasure trove passed down through generations!"

Zhao Huihui looked blank. Mozhou was still the center of the world's literary tradition, but it was no longer the number one place. And where was the Danqing Sect on Mount Mo?
He said, "When I was a child, I went to Moshan to play and saw a place called 'Danqing Temple' there. There was no Danqing Gate."

Zhao Yifu said, "I never expected the world to change so quickly. The once-renowned Danqing Sect has disappeared without a trace."

He then said, "Since things are as they are, I'm too lazy to talk about what happened back then. Since you are all descendants of the Zhao family, then you should all cultivate your family's unique skills and practice your Qi. That's much better than summoning heroic spirits."

He thought the two of them would disagree, but to his surprise, they both nodded in agreement.

Zhao Huihui added, "If it weren't for the 'Fire Crane Divine Claw' passed down to me by our ancestor, we wouldn't have been able to escape from that corpse demon last time."

Upon hearing this, Zhao Yifu praised, "Then keep up the good work."

Zhao Huihui said with difficulty, "But Ancestor, we are now trapped in this deserted village. Now that Sister Ying has recovered, we are not afraid of encountering that corpse demon again... However, we are afraid that we will not be able to complete our trial, and we will be unable to defeat that corpse demon either."

Zhao Yifu replied irritably, "You can't even handle a mere corpse demon? You're really embarrassing me."

As he spoke, he casually uttered a spell, saying, "This is the 'Supreme Exorcism Technique,' which can stimulate one's own righteous energy to suppress evil spirits. The more vigorous your blood and energy are and the more upright your conduct is, the better the effect will be."

"I believe you two should be able to use this technique effectively, right?"

The two thanked him immediately and carefully recited and practiced the text twice. Zhao Yifu corrected them twice more, and they each gained some understanding of it.

Especially when they felt that the 'Supreme Exorcism Technique' had cleverly mobilized their internal energy, making them seem to have supernatural abilities, they looked at Zhao Yifu with awe and reverence.

Zhao Yifu said, "Alright, you guys go deal with that corpse demon. We should be able to take care of it soon."

As he spoke, he vanished on the spot.

In reality, it was a continuation of voyeurism.

Although it was a rather lewd act, he actually just wanted to see just how badly the demons and monsters in the mortal realm had become.

Or rather, how do the demons and monsters of this mortal world come into being?
This was also an interesting topic for him to study the changes in the world, which would help him to understand and find a way to survive the great calamity to come.

However, the young man and woman did not rush to fight. Instead, Zhao Huihui asked curiously, "Sister Ying, what kind of person is our ancestor, Lord Junxin? I'm confused."

Yang Ying asked curiously, "How come you seem to have never heard of Lord Junxin, who is clearly from the Zhao family?"

Before Zhao Huihui could answer, she replied, "I don't know about other things, but my ancestor, the famous general Zaixuan, who led the Northern Expedition, was originally a retainer of Junxin. Even the marriage between my two ancestors was arranged by Junxin."

"Even Yang Zaixuan said that the Northern Expedition could do without Yang Zaixuan, but it could not do without Lord Junxin! He also said that Lord Junxin was actually a divine figure, but he didn't care about fame and fortune, so he always stayed behind the scenes. In fact, the entire Northern Expedition was driven by Lord Junxin behind the scenes..."

Zhao Huihui was greatly surprised to hear this. Was that really the case?
Zhao Yifu was secretly pleased to hear this. Although he hadn't stayed to hear this, he still felt very comfortable.

(End of this chapter)