Becoming an immortal and ancestor begins with the golden toad spitting out money.

Chapter 3 Day-Wandering Spirit Soldiers, Minor Yin-Yang Technique

Zhang Family Courtyard, Dongsang Village.

The Zhang family had produced a magistrate once, so although the courtyard was small, it had all the necessary facilities. In addition to the three tiled rooms—the east bedroom, the living room, and the west bedroom—there was a kitchen on the east side and a storage room on the west side.

Under the moonlight, a small temple could be vaguely seen in the empty courtyard, with shadowy figures lined up on both sides, guarding the local earth god on the altar.

After Su Ji agreed to serve as a spirit soldier, the local earth god seized the opportunity and prepared to include Su Ji in the spirit soldiers of the earth god temple.

At this moment, the Earth God's spiritual realm was fully manifested. Even though many spiritual soldiers could not personally attend due to their duties, the Earth God on the altar remained very majestic.

"Golden Toad, now that you've entered my local earth god temple, you must fulfill your duties and tasks. If you have any merits or demerits, you will be rewarded or punished accordingly..."

Su Ji was a time traveler, and he didn't want to be targeted by someone with ulterior motives after revealing his real name, so he simply used the name Jin Chan (Golden Toad).

He was already mentally prepared for the so-called duties, tasks, merits, demerits, rewards, and punishments. As a transmigrator, he prided himself on his discipline, which was no less than that of the people of this world.

Then, the Earth God made a stroke of his pen, and the words "Golden Toad" appeared on the floating register.

"Tonight, I hereby bestow upon you the title of 'Daily Wandering Spirit Soldiers' [Talisman], and after registering at the Earth God Temple, you shall patrol the villages of East Sang and West Sang daily to protect the safety of the people."

Fifty households in this area form a "li" (里). If there are fewer than fifty households, two villages are combined into one "li". The local earth god, who is in charge of the yin and yang affairs of the two villages, East Sang and West Sang, governs these affairs.

As for the choice of spirit weapon, it was a result of the mutual agreement between the Earth God and Su Ji.

If a ghost becomes a spirit weapon, its entire soul can control the spirit weapon [talisman]. Most living beings, however, can only control the [talisman] through their celestial soul dreams while asleep.

The most common are "ghost messengers" and "underworld messengers." The former refers to ghosts serving as messengers, while the latter may be living beings.

Su Ji was, after all, a toad, and his daily activities were all at night. Even if he had plenty of food and drink, his biological clock couldn't be changed in a short time, so he simply chose to become a daytime wandering spirit soldier.

As the Earth God reached into his robes, a [talisman] shimmering with warm spiritual light appeared in his hand.

"If any traces of demons or monsters are discovered, as long as they are not more than a hundred feet away from the two villages, the local earth god temple can be notified with a [talisman]. Even if I am not present, the earth god's spirit soldiers will respond..."

Among the many spiritual soldiers in the Earth God Temple, the first-class one is naturally the Earth God Spiritual Soldier. When the Earth God is not present, the Earth God Spiritual Soldier can make its own decisions.

"If someone dies in the village, you might encounter the spirit soldiers or spirit officials of the White Impermanence. You need to guide them to the deceased's home and hand them over to the spirit soldiers of the Central River to receive them..."

Some people die at night, and some die during the day, which corresponds to the Black and White Impermanence.

However, there is a possibility that the Black and White Impermanence might mistakenly take the wrong soul. In such cases, the day-roaming spirit soldiers must first guide them, then the mid-roaming spirit soldiers must review the documents, and only then can they enter the house to take the soul.

"So that's how it is!" Su Ji suddenly realized. The local earth god seemed to be saying some precautions, but in fact he was revealing some inside information.

Even though they are all spiritual weapons, they are still ranked in terms of power.

The Earth God once said that the two spirit soldiers he brought were originally night-roaming spirit soldiers, but now they have become the Earth God Spirit Soldier and the Central God Spirit Soldier.

Following this logic, the Earth Spirit Soldiers are of the highest rank, followed by the Middle-Rank Spirit Soldiers, and the Day-Roaming and Night-Roaming Spirit Soldiers should be of the next highest rank...

Fortunately, he had no intention of replacing the other spirit soldiers; he only needed to do his job well.

It seems that because the name "Golden Toad" was entered into the register, Su Ji had a faint connection with the Day Wandering Spirit Weapon [Talisman] even before it flew over.

Then, as if guided, the [talisman] hovered steadily in front of him.

Su Ji's heart stirred, and he turned his gaze to the Earth God, bowing respectfully as he said, "Earth God, I have been pondering this on my own before, and although I have made some progress in cultivation, I have only grasped one aspect..."

The path of the gods is a self-contained system. As long as one has enough merit and virtue, even an ordinary person can become a priest or even a god.

The path of immortality focuses on oneself; without cultivation and enlightenment, it is impossible to ascend to heaven in one step.

Since ordinary people can become gods, cultivators certainly can too; otherwise, there wouldn't be the term "wandering immortals."

Having served as a divine favored one for over twenty years, the Earth God has gained considerable understanding of this matter.

Although cultivation level does not determine a god's rank, if merits and virtues are roughly equal, those with ability are more likely to be promoted.

In the eyes of the local deity, Su Ji's words were perhaps just self-deprecation.

Of course, it's also possible that Su Ji only grasped one aspect of it.

Even more surprisingly, Su Ji's ability to transform into a golden toad was simply obtained by consuming some kind of spiritual herb or exotic fruit.

Regardless, Su Ji's ambition deserves encouragement, the local deity nodded slightly and said:
"Golden Toad, you can go to the county town next month to participate in the City God Temple Fair. Not only will many people go, but it will also be a gathering of deities in Jinfeng County, including many demon beasts that have become the gods' favorites..."

The City God Temple Fair is held from the date the City God Temple is completed. Next month, from the first to the third day of the third lunar month, it will be the City God Temple Fair in Jinfeng County.

Su Ji couldn't help but feel helpless upon hearing this, as it was only the fourth day of the second lunar month, and there were still some days until the City God Temple Fair.

It wasn't that he couldn't wait; rather, after becoming a Day Wanderer Spirit Soldier, he felt a sense of urgency.

Yan Tianchou had already explained the pros and cons, and now lines of text appeared.

"After careful analysis and comparison, the Day Wandering Spirit Weapon [Talisman] contains a peculiar Yang-attribute power. Judging from the energy fluctuations, it is slightly stronger than the black water membrane on the body of the Black-bellied White-ringed Serpent Demon."

"However, if the mountain demons who are fighting the local earth god have ulterior motives, they may be able to exert considerable power during the day by using the power of the sun, but their strength may be greatly reduced at night..."

"In order to deal with potential crises that may occur at night in the future, once we have sufficient computing power, we suggest that we first deduce an offensive strategy."

Immediately, Su Ji nodded secretly, which was considered as agreeing to Yan Tianchou's suggestion.

There are still more than twenty days until the City God Temple Fair next month. Not to mention whether I can obtain a suitable cultivation method, even if I can cultivate normally, it will take time to reach a certain level of cultivation.

Therefore, if he wanted to get through this "vacuum period", he could only place his hopes on Yan Tianchou.

Su Ji didn't forget etiquette and bowed deeply to the Earth God, saying, "Thank you for enlightening me, Earth God!"

As soon as he finished speaking, the Earth God nodded. Seeing Su Ji reach out and take the Day Wandering Spirit Weapon [Talisman], he waved his long sleeves and disappeared into the night sky along with the illusory image of the Earth God Temple.

At this moment, although the illusory image of the Earth Temple transformed from the Earth Spirit Realm was gone, Su Ji did not immediately return to his physical body, but instead existed by relying on the Day Traveling Spirit Weapon [Talisman].

Seeing that Su Ji was reading the basic information inscribed in the [talisman], the two gatekeepers exchanged a glance and then flew into the courtyard gate.

For a moment, in the Zhang family's courtyard under the cover of night, only Su Ji stood alone.

As time passed, the light grew weaker and weaker, eventually turning into a tiny firefly that fell into the body of the toad inside the courtyard gate.

In an instant, Su Ji felt a blur before his eyes. Everything that had just happened in the Land Spirit Realm seemed to be an illusionary dream. He tried to grasp these memories, but he could only grasp a few fragments of light.

"The Earth God... the daytime wandering spirit soldiers... the City God Temple Fair..."

Su Ji shook his head, paused for a moment, and then turned his gaze to the Tianchou.

As lines of text appeared, he not only recalled everything that had just happened, but also learned the reason for his memory loss.

The one that just entered the Land Spirit Realm was not a human soul, but a celestial soul containing a consciousness. In other words, he just had a dream, which corresponds exactly to what was recorded in the Day Wandering Spirit Weapon [Talisman].

The principle of daytime travel is to entrust one's consciousness to the dream world of the celestial soul. Since the experiences of a day far exceed those of ordinary dreams, many experiences will gradually fade and disappear after waking up, and one may not even remember a few keywords.

As these memories accumulate within the Heavenly Soul, the further back one goes, the greater the impact upon waking, and the fewer experiences one can remember.

Some people don't even know what they did while they were sleeping. They might have become soul-reaping messengers or executioners who slay dragons.

Although Su Ji had only experienced it for a short while, his physical body was too weak, which is why he only remembered three keywords. Fortunately, he possessed the Yantian Calculation Tool, which could record and calculate.

"Sigh..." Su Ji suddenly felt a little speechless.

He originally had some ulterior motives; during his daytime travels, he could first discover the location of the people's money and valuables.

At night, as long as you avoid creatures like cats and dogs, you can absorb the power of wishes contained in money and use it as the power of divination in the Heavenly Calculation.

Only by doing this can we quickly acquire a technique for attacking and overcome the "vacuum period" that follows.

Fortunately, he wasn't without other options. By bringing the Yantian Chou with him, he could not only record everything he experienced, but also directly absorb the power of wishes within the money.

The only drawback of this method is that without the protection of the Heavenly Mandate, his physical body not only loses consciousness, but also loses the ability to transform into a golden toad at any time.

Fortunately, the road is right under your feet; all you have to do is lift your leg and walk forward.

A short while later, Su Ji arrived in the living room and leaped onto the ancestral altar of the Zhang family.

"Creak..." It seemed as if a gust of wind blew by, and the doors and windows made a sound.

Su Ji didn't care. He opened his mouth and spat out the talisman, which landed steadily on the offering table.

He then jumped down from the altar, but instead of leaving, he quietly entered the east bedroom.

"Squeak..."

It seemed like another gust of wind was blowing the doors and windows, but Su Ji didn't even lift her head and continued crawling under the bed.

The two guardian spirits, observing the golden toad's actions, suddenly realized what was happening.

The toad's body is indeed weak. If it hides quietly under the bed where it cannot be seen during the day, it is not afraid of accidents during its daytime travels.

Then, the creaking of the doors and windows stopped, and only the breathing of Zhang's mother and daughter remained in the room.

Su Ji, who was under the bed, did not look for a suitable place to stay, but quietly watched Yan Tianchou.

Although the Zhang family was destitute, they were not extremely poor. Not to mention the pension they had not yet spent, Zhang's daily earnings from weaving were enough to save some money.

Currently, Yantianchou is absorbing the complex and varied power of these wealth and using it as computing power to improve the [Golden Toad] supernatural ability.

Su Ji had already made up his mind. From now on, he would stay at the Zhang family's house during the day, take Yan Tianchou to tour the surrounding area, and go out to hunt at night.

Having spent so much time with Yan Tianchou, he had also developed the habit of thinking that "better safe than sorry." Since there was a possibility of being discovered no matter where he hid, why didn't he use the Golden Toad form to be in the open?
The only drawback is also obvious: the [Golden Toad] spell takes twenty-four hours to dispel, which conflicts with his time management.

Fortunately, the [Golden Toad] supernatural power is not without room for improvement, and Yan Tianchou is currently working on solving this problem.

Before long, Yan Tianchou absorbed all the mixed wishes on the money in the box. He then began to purify the wishes into computing power, and he was not idle either.

Su Ji left the Zhang family courtyard again, and about half an hour later, he returned with a bulging belly.

The two guardian spirits thought Su Ji had just returned from foraging for food, so they only glanced at him and then ignored him. However, Su Ji left the Zhang family courtyard again not long after.

Not long after, Su Ji returned, this time in less than 15 minutes.

The guardian spirits on the left and right exchanged glances, both curious about Su Ji's actions, and then came from the courtyard gate to the door.

Seeing Su Ji slip into the room, he suddenly leaped toward the Zhang family's ancestral altar a few steps later.

The young guardian spirit on the right changed his expression slightly, while the middle-aged spirit on the left saw the reason. As the golden toad opened its mouth, five more copper coins appeared on the offering table.

The young gatekeeper, Lingbing, asked in astonishment, "What is the Golden Toad doing?"

The middle-aged doorman Lingbing couldn't help but laugh: "The golden toad spits out money, you can see it."

The young door god Lingbing certainly knew that the golden toad was spitting out money, but he didn't know why the golden toad was spitting out money, so how could he dare to spit out money on the altar in front of them?

Su Ji did not travel by day, and the door god did not come within the three-foot sensing range of Yan Tianchou, so he naturally did not know that the door god was watching this place.

However, he really didn't have any other ideas.

He brought the money for two reasons: first, to thank the Zhang family girl for giving him the opportunity to become a spirit soldier by chance; and second, to use it as part of his rent and incense money for living here in the future.

The reason the Zhang family appeared to be struggling financially was that Zhang Shi had been saving up a dowry for Zhang Xiaolian well in advance, thinking about her daughter's future.

Zhang Xiaolian was only thirteen or fourteen years old. Although she didn't know how much money her family had, she was very sensible. She knew that she could earn money by washing clothes for the Wu family in the village and ease her mother's burden.

From now on, Su Ji will stay in the Zhang family as the Golden Toad. He must not only act as a human being, but also help the Zhang family mother and daughter as much as possible.

He made five trips back and forth, and in addition to the talisman he had brought with him initially, there were twenty-four more copper coins on the altar.

After resting for a while, he set off again and soon returned with his biggest catch from the stream: a piece of silver weighing about three or four qian (approximately 15 grams).

As far as he knew, one tael of silver was worth about 1,200 coins. Even if this piece of silver only weighed three coins, it would still be worth 360 coins.

You have to understand, clothes aren't washed every month. Even if Zhang's daughter washed clothes for a whole year, she wouldn't earn that much money.

"Boom..."

As the silver was placed on the offering table, Su Ji finally breathed a sigh of relief. He then turned his attention to seeing how Yan Tianchou had improved the [Golden Toad].

Just then, his vision blurred for a moment, and with a flash of five-colored light, the familiar scene reappeared before him.

The Earth God remained dignified and expressionless, while the guardian spirits behind him, each with a different expression, thoughtfully observed Su Ji.

Su Ji was surprised and quickly bowed, saying, "I wonder why the Earth God has appeared again?"

The local earth god scrutinized Su Ji carefully before speaking, "Golden Toad, did you bring all this money here for next month's City God Temple Fair, perhaps to use it as collateral and request an advance on some divine power?"

Divine power is the currency among gods. After Su Ji became a day-roaming spirit soldier, he could only receive thirty strands of divine power each month unless he made special contributions.

...Can money be used as collateral to gain divine power?

Su Ji had no idea about these things. After a moment of surprise, he said sincerely, "Lord, you misunderstand. I intend to use this money as rent for the next year and a half... If it is possible to use money as collateral to obtain divine power, I will seek it again later!"

This money is at most five hundred coins, and even if it could be mortgaged for divine power, it probably wouldn't amount to much.

The local deity did not press further, but instead smiled slightly and said, "After I returned, I realized that you were not a simple demon beast, but a human soul that had awakened its innate wisdom. So I copied down a cultivation technique for you."

After saying that, a beam of light flew out from the Earth God's chest, and when it reached Su Ji, it had already transformed into the shape of a book.

Su Ji looked intently and saw the four large characters "Minor Yin-Yang Method" written on the title page of the book, and a faint voice nearby read it aloud.

"The Lesser Yin-Yang Method"

At this moment, the Earth God waved his sleeves again, and as the Earth Spirit Realm dissipated, a reminder also fell.

"This method is a profound technique specifically for cultivating the Heavenly Soul. You can practice it when you travel during the day."

"This method is easy at first and difficult later. With my annotations, you should be able to get started in just ten days. If you haven't gotten started after fifteen days, it means you are not destined for this method."

"If you are interested in continuing to cultivate profound skills, you can find a more suitable one at the City God Temple Fair a month from now."

"If you still have other ideas, you can also gain something at the City God Temple Fair, it all depends on your own fate."

At this moment, the spirit soldiers on the left and right doors couldn't help but show envy.

The "Minor Yin-Yang Method" itself isn't expensive; the annotations are the most valuable part, as they contain not only the Earth God's understanding but also his insights from practicing this method.

When Su Ji's consciousness returned to his body, he was stunned for a moment. After recalling his experience, he was overjoyed.

"Could it be that the local deity takes a liking to me and approves of my character, and therefore intends to groom me as a trusted confidant?"

He hadn't overlooked the guardian spirits on either side. Judging from their envious expressions, this profound technique must be quite valuable. Even if one could only cultivate the Heavenly Soul and not transform the physical body into human form, it would still be an unexpected gain.

"Yes."

Yan Tianchou gave a brief one-word answer without elaborating further.

Subsequently, Yan Tianchou displayed the optimization progress of the [Golden Toad] supernatural power.

"Currently, the time from transforming into a golden toad to reverting to physical form using the [Golden Toad] technique can be shortened to twenty-one hours. However, it cannot be used instantly again during this time and requires a half-hour cooldown period."

Su Ji's eyes lit up. Half an hour of cooling down was nothing; he could easily while away some time in the Zhang family's courtyard.

After becoming a day-roaming spirit soldier, both the east and west villages were within his patrol range, and he was looking forward to tomorrow's harvest.

He is even more looking forward to the City God Temple Fair next month, which is not only an opportunity to broaden his horizons, but also the possibility of gaining more spiritual knowledge.

With this thought in mind, wisps of golden energy flew out from the Heavenly Mandate, and in an instant, he transformed into a golden toad.

This time, he didn't sleep, nor did he use the power source of the Heavenly Calculation. With a thought, he landed in a ball of spiritual light.

Immediately, a detached voice rang out.

"The Lesser Yin-Yang Method originates from the Yin-Yang Classic..."

(End of this chapter)