Journey to the West: Cultivation Begins at Jindou Mountain

Chapter 326 Compassionate Salvation
Seventeen years is a very short time in his more than three thousand years of cultivation, and it doesn't even last as long as he once went into seclusion.

Even so, Guo Kun, this father, still left a real mark on his long and endless life with these short seventeen years.

"Who knows, we might encounter many more things like this in the future."

Niu Yi composed himself and walked down the passage. After walking a full hundred feet, he finally arrived at a room without a door.

Niu Yi stepped inside and found it to be an unremarkable underground study, illuminated by candlesticks, each made using secret methods and capable of burning for a hundred years.

Niu Yi's eyes lit up when he saw the many dusty books on the bookshelf. He stepped forward, randomly picked out a few, and looked at them one by one.

"The Heavenly Thunder Punishment Register", "The Mysterious Altar Invocation of the Gods", and "The Four Spirits Incantation".
"As expected, these are all secret techniques of the Kunlun Sect. It seems I'll be staying here for a while."

Niu Yi browsed through all the books on the shelf, picked up two books titled "Hu Tian Lu" and "Yin Yang Lu" and walked towards the stone steps.

Before long, Niu Yi returned to the Guo family mansion, but he heard a series of noises around him.

"Hmm? The magistrate of Liuxi County?"

Outside the Guo family's residence, two carriages were blocking the gate, while Xiao Hai and the Poison Witch were confronting a group of people on the other side.

"How dare you!! What do you mean by this! Not only have you barged into the magistrate's residence, but you also dare to obstruct him here. Are you trying to disobey orders?!"

Xiao Hai's face showed a hint of anger. He had gained some courage by traveling with his young master recently, but he still held back when he saw the official robes of the group of people opposite him.

The Poison Witch looked at the constables in front of him with a calm expression, as if he were looking at a group of dead people. It was this look that frightened the constables so much that they dared not step forward.

If he were here, he would have simply sprinkled some corpse-dissolving powder, and these people would have been reduced to ashes long ago. But at this moment, he is, after all, the young master's steward, and without the young master's orders, he cannot act arbitrarily.

Magistrate Xu's face was equally grim upon seeing this scene. He had noticed that the Guo family members were all gone and had been thinking of taking over the Guo family's property and mansion for himself.

However, he did not expect that the haunted house would actually become a haunted house. He sent people to invite Taoist priests and monks to deal with it several times, but all of them failed.

Even so, he wasn't too worried. He just waited for the newly hired expert to arrive, eliminate the ghosts and monsters, and then take over the Guo family mansion.

But today, he suddenly heard that Guo Yang from the Guo family had actually returned!

Magistrate Xu stepped forward, about to say something, when he saw a handsome young scholar slowly walking out of the courtyard gate.

"I am deeply sorry for not welcoming Magistrate Xu properly."

As Niu Yi spoke, he walked past the carriage, put his hands behind his back, and slowly approached Magistrate Xu.

Seeing Guo Yang's rudeness and the magistrate's failure to bow, the yamen runners beside Magistrate Xu angrily shouted:
"How dare you!"

Before the yamen runner could finish speaking, Magistrate Xu, standing to the side, reached out and stopped him.

“Nephew, when did you return? Why didn’t you tell Uncle Xu?”

Niu Yi looked at the magistrate of Liuxi County, who had a black beard and an upright appearance, and chuckled:
“Magistrate Xu is joking. I am but a scholar who has just returned from my studies. How could I trouble you, magistrate?”

Niu Yi took another step forward toward Magistrate Xu, whose expression had changed.

“Magistrate Xu, now that I’m back, we can give up everything else the Guo family owns, but no one is allowed to touch the Guo family mansion.”

"Otherwise, if you always do something wrong, you'll be struck by lightning."

"Boom!!!"

As soon as Niu Yi finished speaking, a bolt of lightning flashed across the sky, followed by a deafening roar.

Magistrate Xu's already grim face turned terrified under the flash of lightning. He staggered back two steps and fell to the ground with a thud, and the surrounding crowd also let out a series of terrified screams.

Magistrate Xu trembled uncontrollably as he watched the lightning flash across the sky. Once he had calmed down a bit, he pointed at Niu Yi with eyes full of terror.

"you you."

"Magistrate Xu, you'd better go back and think it over carefully. After all, it's not worth ruining your health over a haunted house."

Niu Yi's meaningful gaze made Magistrate Xu, who had bought his way into the position, tremble uncontrollably.

"Let's go!"

A moment later, Niu Yi looked at the disheveled backs of Magistrate Xu and his group of constables, and sighed slightly.

Since transmigrating to this world, he has been constantly in trouble, even more so than when he first transmigrated to the Three Realms.
And most of these troubles are caused by his identity.

"Let's get rid of these troubles as soon as possible and find a mountain to cultivate."

Niu Yi shook his head slightly and turned to walk towards the Guo family's gate.

"Xiao Hai, Poison Witch, bring the carriage in, and remember to close the gate."

"Yes, son!"

At night, Niu Yi was standing in the courtyard admiring the moonlight, as wisps of pure moonlight fell into his eyes and disappeared.

However, at that moment, something in the courtyard seemed to awaken gradually because of the moonlight. One after another, ashen-faced figures slowly rose from the ground, their bodies shrouded in resentment, instantly chilling the entire mansion.

Niu Yi seemed not to notice, standing there quietly absorbing the moonlight, but golden threads of magical power continuously spread out in all directions from beneath his feet.

Soon, these strands of golden magical power spread throughout the entire Guo family compound. From the sky, the Guo family compound appeared to form a complex golden talisman.

"Guo Guo Yang"

Hearing the voice behind him, Niu Yi turned around and looked at the old ghost who was staring at him with resentful eyes.

"Second Master, it's been a long time."

Niu Yi's tone carried a strange smile. The old man's mouth suddenly split open, as if he was about to roar at Niu Yi. But at that moment, the golden lines on the ground suddenly burst out with golden light!
Buzz————

The moment the ghosts touched the golden thread, they screamed and turned into black mist, quickly disappearing into the ground, clearly having vanished into nothingness.

These ghosts have completely become earthbound spirits, and cannot be released by any exorcism spells. Only by releasing their resentment will they leave the Guo family and go to the underworld to be reincarnated.

But Niu Yi had no interest in this. These people had gone to great lengths to seize the Guo family's assets, committing all sorts of evil deeds, and they had a grudge against him.

Therefore, the magic array that Niu Yi set up was formed by the most yang and strongest magical power.

Soon, in just a short while, as the golden light faded, these ghostly figures completely disappeared from Niu Yi's sight.

In a house on one side of the courtyard, Xiao Hai stared blankly at the ghost that had been about to pounce on him but suddenly screamed and disappeared.

The Poison Witch looked at the spot on the ground where the golden magic lines had just appeared, her eyes filled with admiration.

"Young Master's methods are truly unfathomable."

There are naturally many methods for targeting the soul in the Southern Frontier, and they are extremely strange and powerful, but compared with the young master's method, they are simply not up to par.

As for that lightning bolt during the day, he couldn't discern any pattern from it despite his keen eyesight. If it were a normal spell, that terrifying lightning bolt should have generated extremely strong magical energy fluctuations.

Then there's only one possibility for all of this.
"The Dao Realm."

That was the Dao Realm that only the one among the five Ancestral Witches of the Southern Frontier, who had only lived for a thousand years, had comprehended.

The underworld.

A monk with a face full of Buddha images and holding prayer beads was walking through the dark underworld until he came to a lake of scarlet blood.

"Universal Salvation and Compassionate Journey."

"Why aren't you doing your job as the imperial advisor? What are you doing here?"

Hearing the sounds emanating from the lake, Pudu Cihang bowed respectfully towards the blood lake and chanted:
"Blood Demon, this humble monk observed the celestial phenomena last night. More than a month ago, the heavenly secrets suddenly became chaotic. Only today has this humble monk realized that there may be a variable in this world that could change the situation."

"The rise of demons is the will of Heaven; how can there be any change?"

"You should just focus on absorbing your luck and transforming into a dragon."

Upon hearing this, Pudu Cihang's face instantly contorted in a ferocious expression, but he quickly suppressed it and returned to a calm demeanor.

"Very well, it seems I have gone to unnecessary trouble. In that case, I will take my leave."

As Pudu Cihang spoke, he took a deep look at the scarlet lake, his body flashing with golden Buddhist light, and his figure vanished instantly.

"Humph, bug!"

Niu Yi returned to Liuxi County and quickly spent a month in peace.

Now everyone in the county is saying that ever since Guo Yang returned to the Guo family that day, a series of shrill screams have been heard from the Guo family that very night, and everyone in the county can hear it clearly.

The next day, the county magistrate, sporting dark circles under his eyes, led all the county's constables to the Guo family to apologize.

After accepting the apology gifts, Niu Yi let them leave peacefully. They were just ordinary people, and he didn't intend to stay in Liuxi County for too long.

At this moment, Niu Yi was sitting cross-legged in the house, meditating with his eyes closed. His palms were open, and the five elements of metal, wood, water, fire, and earth were constantly rotating and changing between his five fingers.

Meanwhile, spiritual energy from the outside world was constantly surging in and flowing into Niu Yi's body. After passing through a complex meridian route like a furnace, it transformed into pure magical power that filled his body.

After a while, Niu Yi slowly opened his eyes. The five elements in his hand gradually disappeared, and the surging spiritual energy around him gradually returned to calm.

"Thunder, cause and effect, the five elements, the yin and yang—I have dabbled in many great Daos, but progress has been slow. Because of the demonic energy, comprehending the Dao in this world is so difficult."

"Fortunately, during this time, I have cultivated many techniques, which should give me enough power to protect myself in this world."

Niu Yi smiled and looked at his wide sleeves.

With the many collections he had gathered during this period, he not only completely mastered his own cultivation technique, but also practiced the supernatural powers of the senior Zhen Yuanzi.

(End of this chapter)