Am I the old man who's always by my apprentices' side?

Chapter 308 The Fake White God and He Yu's Friend

"There is indeed some trouble."

In the somber atmosphere beside the Kunmi River, He Yu suddenly appeared.

His expression was somewhat displeased, but he also seemed to have relaxed a lot.

He Yu nodded slightly to Zhang Chengdao and said, "That thing is very cunning. When I caught up with him, before I could capture him, he actually self-destructed!"

Zhang Chengdao was startled upon hearing this: "Self-destruction? Could it be that his cultivation is even above the Nascent Soul stage?"

There are many types of "self-destruction," but generally speaking, they can be divided into two main categories.

One type is "suicide," which means that one deliberately destroys one's spiritual abode and primordial spirit, resulting in the annihilation of both the soul and the spirit.

Another method is to detonate one's own divided spirit or divine thought, which is separated from the physical body or main body, to avoid being tracked by enemies. This kind of "self-destruction" can generally only be used by cultivators above the Nascent Soul stage, because cultivators below the Nascent Soul stage can hardly separate any divided spirit, so they naturally cannot "self-destruct".

Zhang Chengdao didn't believe that such a "villain" would commit suicide because his deeds were exposed. Therefore, "self-destruction" could only be a way to cut off his tail and survive, such as self-destructing a part of his primordial spirit in order to protect himself.

He Yu shook his head: "No, what he self-destructed was a split soul. His cultivation method is very strange. He separated his three souls and seven spirits. The one causing trouble here is his split soul."

"Although his self-destruction and split soul will inevitably cause him great damage, at least for now, it will probably be very difficult to track him down."

"Soul splitting..."

He Yu's statement touched upon Zhang Chengdao's blind spot.

Although his cultivation level was not low, he knew relatively little about various cultivation methods. He had never heard of any secret techniques like splitting the soul, and his mind was filled with doubts.

The two men spoke without keeping it to themselves, so the warriors of the surrounding tribes all heard them.

Most people couldn't understand the Central Plains language. The few who could were all minor leaders. Huobu Wucuo, the most prestigious among them, stepped forward and greeted the two with the courtesy due to a Central Plains person, saying, "Thank you, two Central Plains gods, for your help to our tribes in the Kunmi River region, and for saving our lives. On behalf of the Mengshe tribe, I invite you two to visit our Mengshe tribe. Our Mengshe tribe has the best wine and the most beautiful girls!"

He Yu declined, saying, "There's no need for us to be guests. We still need to investigate the matter of the fake White God. But you can rest assured, that person's split soul has already self-destructed, so we can no longer act on the basis of the 'White God' faith for the time being."

These words reassured everyone, but some tribal leaders asked, "Then, God of the Central Plains, what should we, who have practiced 'divine sorcery,' do?"

"I've seen this 'divine sorcery' before. Apart from the corpse puppet technique, the others don't seem to be considered evil magic..."

Zhang Chengdao hesitated, then looked at He Yu with a questioning look in his eyes.

To be honest, he did want to guide these natives in their cultivation, but firstly, there was a language barrier, so even if he taught them the "White Stone Immortal Dao Book," they wouldn't understand it. Secondly, he had a lot of things to do, and even more matters to attend to in the underworld, so he simply didn't have time to waste here.

So he recalled the contents of the stone slab and was conflicted about whether or not to prohibit these natives from practicing "divine witchcraft".

"Divine sorcery" is not actually just one kind of magic, but a general term for all the cultivation methods and magical abilities taught by that fake white god.

Besides the Corpse Puppet Technique that manipulates corpses, there are also Shamanic Techniques and War Incantations. The former is a healing technique that involves chanting sacrificial texts, while the latter is a technique that involves setting up formations on the battlefield and inspiring warriors to be fearless of death by chanting sacrificial texts.

In addition, there is another technique derived from "Soul Nourishing Technique," which is called "Divine Witch Technique" by these locals.

This technique allows one to absorb spiritual energy indirectly. However, unlike ordinary cultivators who draw energy into their bodies, this technique uses all the absorbed spiritual energy to nourish the soul until it becomes strong enough to directly form an infant, which is equivalent to the Nascent Soul stage of a normal cultivator.

The greatest advantage of this cultivation method is that the cultivation speed is extremely fast in the early stages. As long as the cultivator is not too poor in aptitude, they can reach the Nascent Soul stage in a few decades.

Of course, there are no concepts like Qi Refining Stage or Foundation Establishment Stage when cultivating this kind of technique, and there is no inner core. Before reaching the Nascent Soul stage, one is relatively weak. However, because one is always cultivating the soul, one is very difficult to kill. If one had to name a school, it would probably be the legendary "Gou Dao Liu" school.

Once one cultivates to the Nascent Soul stage, and their soul is completely refined into a primordial spirit, they will directly break through from the Nascent Soul stage to the Deity Transformation stage.

Cultivators who practice this method can separate from their physical bodies as early as the Nascent Soul stage, so there is no intermediate "astral projection" period. For them, the physical body is no longer a constraint, but a container for their soul and primordial spirit.

These cultivators are often called "soul cultivators." They are similar to ghost cultivators in some ways, but they are also quite different. In general, although their cultivation path is somewhat strange, it is indeed a normal cultivation path.

However, due to the special nature of cultivation techniques, there are always restless cultivators who like to take shortcuts, such as harming other people's souls to "nurture souls with souls," or relying on their extensive knowledge of souls to raise many ghost servants and corpse puppets. Even worse, some will choose to possess ordinary people when their lifespan is about to end or in critical situations... According to He Yu's popular science, this is absolutely not allowed in normal cultivation civilizations and would be subject to accountability by law enforcement agencies.

However, since the path of "soul cultivation" has always existed, it proves that this path also has its reasons for existing. Therefore, Zhang Chengdao was considering whether or not to encourage these natives to study these things on their own. After all, this kind of "local god" worship area is quite suitable for this kind of cultivation path.

Because soul cultivators have an advantage that cultivators of other paths do not have, namely, they can enjoy the benefits of "shamanism".

In simple terms, "shamanism" refers to the practice of obtaining "energy" through rituals and chants performed in accordance with a particular belief, much like a "buff" in a game.

Of course, reality is not a game. In a game, the "buff" is very constant, but in reality, this "buff" is closely related to the practitioner's faith and the "incense and vow power" of that faith.

Therefore, soul cultivators generally live in family groups and worship their own ancestors, belonging to the belief of their own main god. In this respect, they are very similar to these native people.

“The cultivation method recorded above is somewhat strange, but it is still a normal method and cannot be considered an evil technique,” ​​He Yu thought for a moment before saying, “We can let them keep it, but they should not sacrifice themselves to become human puppets, and it is best to be cautious in using the ‘corpse puppet’ method.”

Encouraging the local people to cultivate is essentially beneficial to the revival of spiritual energy in the entire world. Moreover, the path of soul cultivation does not require as much spiritual energy as other paths. Zhang Chengdao and He Yu had the same idea.

However, Zhang Chengdao was willing but unable to do this, so he said to He Yu, "Fellow Daoist He, I really know very little about the path of soul cultivation. Why don't you wait until this matter is over, and then compile some cultivation methods and paths, and bestow them upon the people of Kunmichuan through the Qin King Temple, so that they won't practice indiscriminately in private and cause any mistakes?"

Upon hearing this, He Yu immediately understood Zhang Chengdao's implication to him.

This was meant to allow him to take the opportunity to spread his faith to the Yunnan-Yunnan region!
“Alright, let’s do it this way,” He Yu said to Huobu Wucuo. “In half a month, you might as well find a Qin King Temple, offer me three sticks of incense in the temple, and recite my name a few times. At that time, I will give you the 'Soul Nourishing Technique' that I have finished. Also, don’t let the people here practice those incomplete ‘Divine Witchcraft’ techniques.”

Huobu Wucuo said gratefully, "My life was saved by the two Central Plains gods, and our Mengshe tribe was also able to survive the hands of the false White God thanks to their help. Brothers and sisters of Kunmi River will remember your kindness and will definitely build two temples for you, sing your deeds and spread your stories! At that time, I will lead the brothers and sisters of the Mengshe tribe to the new temple to offer sacrifices and present you with the fattest cattle and sheep and the most fragrant wine!"

"Please stop killing slaves for sacrifice! Slaves are human beings just like us, not objects..."

Zhang Chengdao originally wanted to take this opportunity to educate these natives and try to brainwash them away from the slave mentality. However, considering the level of productivity in this era and region, and the social conditions that objectively required the exploitation of labor to maintain the normal operation of the tribe, he gave up on preaching and only added: "Forget it, as long as you don't kill slaves for sacrifice!"

Huobu Wucuo bowed again, but this time, he performed the local custom, pulling up the tasseled cloak called "Charwa" draped behind him from the right side to cover his chest, and then bowed deeply: "The Mengshe tribe will remember your teachings!"

Zhang Chengdao and He Yu did not linger. After comforting the local people for a few more minutes, they hurriedly left Kunmichuan.

As the two traveled from the Yellow Springs Road in the underworld towards Yizhou City, they discussed the matter.

"That aura is definitely not that of the friend who mistakenly entered this world with me!"

He Yu was quite certain, but soon fell into a new doubt: "But this 'Divine Witchcraft' and various witchcraft methods, although somewhat clumsy, are indeed derived from the most basic cultivation techniques and spells of soul cultivation that circulate in my original world. These most basic techniques are almost universally known. Could it be... that there were other cultivators who were trapped here just like us back then?"

Zhang Chengdao did not question He Yu's judgment, but he couldn't help but have some suspicions in his heart—

One or two times could be a coincidence, but adding them together, including the incident with the Grand Preceptor Mingjing of the Zhou Kingdom, this is the second time. Both times it's related to puppetry and both are on the path of soul cultivation. In this light, the Grand Preceptor Mingjing and this fake White God might be the same person, and both come from the same world as He Yu.

In other words, either this person, as He Yu said, was also trapped by mistake, or he had some connection with He Yu's friend.

I wonder if the "aura" will change after the "possession"...

Moreover, Zhang Chengdao always had a feeling that this person seemed to be deliberately avoiding He Yu.

With his mind in turmoil, Zhang Chengdao couldn't help but ask, "What kind of person is this friend you mentioned?"

"His surname is Tang, and his given name is Tang Yu. He is an array cultivator. At first, we mistakenly thought that this world was an ancient ruin and wanted to explore it, which is why we decided to come here..."

At this point, He Yu sighed, his face full of guilt as he recounted, "Logically, if an entrance to a suspected ancient ruin is discovered, it should first be reported to the sect. The sect elders would then assess the danger before sending people to investigate. The main problem was that I had just started studying talisman cultivation, and my master's assignment for me was 'The Derivative Uses of Runes in Ancient Talismans within Arrays.' To get an excellent grade, I was thinking of obtaining firsthand information about this newly discovered ancient ruin. Otherwise, once it was reported to the sect, I wouldn't have had a chance to go in and study it..."

"I paid a hefty sum to invite Fellow Daoist Tang to help me figure out how to break through the array restrictions of the so-called 'Ancient Relic Mansion'!"
"Unexpectedly, what was broken in the end was not the array restriction, but the world barrier..."

"Moreover, to be honest, it wasn't that the world barrier was broken through, but rather that Fellow Daoist Tang 'smuggled' in using a method he devised himself..."

"Alas! It's all my fault! Otherwise, I wouldn't have caused Fellow Daoist Tang to suffer like this!"

(End of this chapter)