Young master, why not become a corpse immortal?

Chapter 90: Stay here, or leave?

Tai Nanzi knelt before the coffin for a long time, and Fang Xuanzi was summoned to kneel with him.

After about half an incense stick's time, the young disciple finally couldn't bear it any longer and asked with a pained expression, "Master, doesn't your leg hurt?"

His leg hurt.

Tai Nanzi glared at him, but unconsciously stood up, supporting the coffin.

Fang Xuanzi staggered to his feet and finally couldn't help but ask, "Master, is Grandmaster... the Sect Leader?"

Although the sect leader rarely appears in public, he will still show up at some important times.

Fang Xuanzi knew that whenever the sect leader appeared, his master would hide in the thatched hut and not come out. He originally thought that the two had some kind of grudge, but he never expected that the story behind it was so complicated.

"Back then, my master took my junior sister and me into the mountain gate, where we watched the clouds and took in a group of disciples. We also took in many talented disciples. I thought life would continue like this, but I never expected that a spider would come and cause my master's death and the dissipation of his cultivation."

He finished speaking and sighed deeply.

"Back then, there was no such thing as inner or outer sect. All cultivators should have called them fellow Daoists. It was nothing more than a means for the Spider to split Ta Yunxia apart."

He looked at the starry sky again, his emotions still unsettled. After a long while, he suddenly turned around, faced Lin Jiang, clasped his hands in a respectful bow, and made a deep apology.
"Thank you, benefactor!"

Fang Xuanzi hurriedly followed suit and bowed.

"It's alright. I came here looking for something, and I just happened to come across this kind of evil spirit harming people. I was not happy about it, so I killed it."

Tai Nanzi's back bent even deeper.

The spider's cultivation level is currently unknown, but it must be above the Inner Hall and below the Star Point. Such demons are similar to martial artists, specializing in killing. Ordinary martial artists, unless they specialize in demon-slaying techniques, will find it difficult to fight against demons.

The demon that this young man has just killed must be quite powerful.

He knew that this seemingly casual "hands-off" was actually to settle a long-standing grudge for Ta Yunxia.

But one cannot take kindness for granted.

What are your plans for the future?

"I don't know." Tai Nanzi said honestly, "The knot in my heart has been untied, my thoughts have been cleared, and I no longer have any obsessions."

"I...I don't know either." Fang Xuanzi had experienced too much tonight, and his head was buzzing and burning up. It was really difficult for him to give any advice.

Lin Jiang thought for a moment and asked:
"Do you know how many bandits have turned into disciples within the inner sect of Ta Yunxia, ​​and how many are trustworthy?"

Tai Nanzi spoke without reservation:

"There are a total of seventeen inner disciples and three managers: the sect leader and two elders."

"The sect leader is a spider wearing a lantern made of his master's human skin, and the two elders are executioners brought by him from the martial arts world."

"Of his seventeen inner disciples, twelve have blood on their hands, three are in charge of the black accounts and silver boxes, and only two have just become inner disciples and should not have been associating with those people."

Lin Jiang then asked, "What level of cultivation do they have, and what level do you have?"

"Most people in the sect are only at the first level of cultivation. Some inner disciples can reach the second level, and there is a more powerful third level among the protectors. As for me... after all these years of cultivation, I can barely reach the threshold of the fourth level."

At this point, Tai Nanzi sighed:
"To prevent the emergence of an uncontrollable prodigy, the spider has completely withdrawn its killing techniques. We cultivate techniques that allow us to ascend clouds and tread mountains, making it difficult to harm him. I have been lying in the mountains for many years, accumulating cultivation on one hand, and seeking killing techniques on the other."

Fang Xuanzi, who was listening in from the side, seemed a little disappointed for a moment.

He had never heard his master mention these things. Lin Jiang roughly understood.

The stories Chen Dajiang told him about the martial arts world these past two days included the differences in the cultivation levels of various practitioners.

In this world, cultivators don't improve their abilities in every way. For example, even if someone cultivates the Art of Asking the Gods to the fourth level, their physical condition is at most slightly better than that of an ordinary person. If they encounter a brute on the street who stabs them in the stomach with a knife, they will die anyway.

A martial artist at the fourth level is like Chen Dajiang; a single bandit at the first or second level can take on ten or more, they're incredibly ruthless.

However, the art of asking about rice can transform rice into a spirit, and in the blink of an eye, it can find out everything about a martial artist's background and origins. Then, based on the martial artist's birth chart, it can cause the martial artist to fall into a cesspool and drown halfway through his journey.

If it's really a life-or-death battle, then we'll have to see whether the two are on the ring or quite a distance apart.

Before reaching the Star Realm, victory or defeat depends entirely on who reveals their best skills first.

The skills of "Stepping on Clouds and Mist" are all about escaping.

Lin Jiang glanced at Tai Nanzi's white beard, thinking that the old Taoist priest could probably make the spider his appetizer with a single sliding tackle.

"If we slaughter all the scum on the list, can you handle Ta Yunxia's demands?"

"Huh?" Tai Nanzi's Adam's apple bobbed halfway through.

"Along the way, I casually killed Red Bench and Square Bone. There should only be one bandit left in the forest: Yellow Knife." Lin Jiang counted on his fingers, calculating the remaining number of bandits:
"I don't know how many bandits Huang Daozi can lead with a single order, but if he is so skilled, he certainly wouldn't be subservient to Fang Gutou. Now that two bandit leaders have died, the surrounding bandits should lose some of their backbone. As long as Ta Yunxia is still around, the surrounding bandits will definitely scatter and not dare to act recklessly."

Tai Nanzi understood Lin Jiang's meaning.

But he lacked confidence:
"Ta Yunxia is not a major sect, and its resources are not that great. If we include these inner disciples, they are still capable of fighting against those bandits. But if we only consider the outer disciples, they are not necessarily much stronger than the bandits."

“The bandits have no idea what level Ta Yunxia is at now, whether it is a powerful and prestigious sect or just a bunch of empty shells. When I kill their heads, I break their spines. Without a leader, the pack becomes a pack of stray dogs.”

Lin Jiang asked, "What do you think? Will you stay at Ta Yunxia, ​​or leave now?"

Tai Nanzi did not answer Lin Jiang immediately, nor did Lin Jiang urge him.

Now that he has avenged his great grudge, it seems that the entire Ta Yunxia sect has nothing to do with Tai Nanzi anymore. He can simply take Fang Xuanzi and leave. With the methods of Ta Yunxia, ​​he can become a steward in other sects or escort goods in some escort agencies, and live a relatively wealthy life.

Staying here doesn't seem worthwhile.

Tai Nanzi's peripheral vision lingered on the mound of earth beneath the old cypress, and he vaguely heard the sound of snow hitting the cypress leaves forty years ago.

Tai Nanzi's thoughts drifted slowly back in time, flowing to a long time ago, to when the human skin on the ground was still a young Taoist priest, to when he stood with Tai Nanzi under a dilapidated Taoist temple, rubbing Tai Nanzi's head.

"This is where?"

"This is treading on clouds and mist." The Taoist priest in my memory laughed, his warm palm pressing on the top of Xiao Tainanzi's head: "What you tread on is the chaotic clouds of a troubled world, and what you caress is the cold bones of the common people."

Memories, like faded paintings, still stung his eyes.

"This is Ta Yunxia... This place should be a prestigious and righteous sect. If it isn't, I'll be very upset."

"Having cultivated to this point, one's mind and spirit must not be disturbed any longer."

There was no longer any confusion in Tai Nanzi's eyes.

"Young master, I have decided to stay."

(End of this chapter)