Fangxian Heretical Path

Chapter 155 Senior Brother Hao Uses True Qi to Fish for a Toad
The next day at dawn.

Fang Shu left the cave where the smell had not yet dissipated and headed to the Gu Hall.

After some announcements and waiting, he found one of the two official disciples of the Dragon Maiden Immortal in the corridor of a quiet room in the hall.

He greeted them in a very formal and meticulous manner:

Fang Shu greets his second senior brother.

The newcomer was middle-aged with a square face, dressed in simple clothes. He didn't look like a celestial being, but rather like a scholar from the mortal world. There was a hint of fatigue in his eyes, as if he had just finished something.

However, the other party's attitude was not bad. He sized up Fang Shu a few times and saw that Fang Shu's demeanor was calm and composed, not impetuous, and his manners were proper. He then chuckled and said:

"You're Junior Brother Fang, who just entered the hall. It seems your cultivation has stabilized. My name is Hao Junliang. Are you here to learn the Dharma?"

"Greetings, Senior Brother Hao. It is indeed you."

Hao Junliang nodded and casually said, "Come with me."

The two walked one after the other into the depths of the Gu Hall, arriving at the main hall where Fang Shu had previously become an apprentice.

However, the hall was now empty, with no sign of the Dragon Maiden Immortal, and no one dared to enter.

The two were talking when they stopped in front of a wall full of medicine shelves.

Hao Junliang pondered for a moment and asked:

"Junior Brother Fang, do you really want to cultivate the 'Minor Joy of Life and Death Yin and Yang'? Although this technique cultivates both Yin and Yang, it enhances both Yin and Yang-related spells and can also lock in the primordial Yang. It is not only enjoyable but also increases the chance of Foundation Establishment by half a percent."

However, this kind of cultivation method emphasizes the balance of Yin and Yang energies, and requires a very high level of control over true Qi. If the practitioner is impatient and careless, causing the furnace to be lost or the medicine to be overturned, it will backfire and burn the practitioner, resulting in the loss of all previous efforts. Its risks are much greater than those of ordinary cultivation methods.

Furthermore, it nourishes both the physical body and the soul, meaning it requires simultaneously refining both. The difficulty of comprehending it is twice that of ordinary cultivation methods, and the speed of cultivation is also slower than with ordinary methods.

After a pause, Hao Junliang added:
"This cultivation method was originally obtained by my master to resolve the issues of life, death, decay, and prosperity within himself. He even recruited disciples to practice it."

However, the practice did not yield results, and the disciples, impatient due to slow progress, suffered physical harm. Although they survived under their master's care, their bodies were damaged, and they had to descend the mountain.

You should switch to another cultivation method. This is a major matter of cultivation, and your master has long since let go of his obsessions. You don't need to cultivate this method just to please your master.

Fang Shu listened silently to what the other person said, slightly surprised.

His surprise stemmed both from the inside story Hao had told him and from his impression of Hao himself.

Even before his formal visit, Fang Shu had tried to find out about the reputation of the second senior brother of the Gu Hall.

Some say the other person is old-fashioned and overly controlling, acting more like the eldest brother than the second brother, and it's best to keep a respectful distance. Others say that although this person is old-fashioned, they value rules and are not unreasonable.

In retrospect, although this person interfered with Fang Shu's choice of cultivation method upon their first meeting, what he said was all logical and reasonable, and he even revealed inside information that Fang Shu did not know, so he must have meant well.

Fang Shu pondered for a moment, then cupped his hands and said in a deep voice:
"Senior Brother, although this cultivation method is relatively slow and requires patience, it can increase the success rate of Foundation Establishment. For me, it is worthwhile! I cannot miss it!"

Upon hearing this, Hao Junliang pondered for a moment, then sighed softly:
"That's true. Although there are other Yin-Yang related cultivation methods in the temple, this is the only one that can increase the chances of Foundation Establishment."

"Since you possess a pseudo-spiritual root, with this method already in place, you naturally have no interest in anything else. Moreover, choosing this method is a move to seek foundation building. It seems your ambition is quite significant."

Fang Shu simply nodded without saying a word.

Immediately, he saw Senior Brother Hao walk up to the medicine shelf and take out two jade slips, which were shaped like bamboo slips, one black and one white.

"This black thing is the first volume of 'The Lesser Joy of Life and Death, Yin and Yang,' as well as the method for transcending tribulations, enough for you to cultivate up to the fifth tribulation."

This white stuff represents the experience of the first three disciples of this hall. The one who cultivated the furthest among them used this method to pass the sixth tribulation, but after passing the tribulation, he accidentally suffered a qi deviation during the process of condensing his inner energy, resulting in failure.

Hao Junliang asked Fang Shu again, "Are you sure you want to practice this method?"

Fang Shu replied, "Confirmed."

Even after receiving Fang Shu's affirmative answer, the man still did not directly pass on the method to Fang Shu.

Fang Shu was pondering whether the rumors were wrong and whether the other party was waiting for him to give them some benefits.

At this moment, Hao Junliang flipped his hand, putting the two jade slips into his sleeve, and then waved his sleeves, saying:
"Come with me, and I will test your true energy. If your true energy is so weak that you can't even catch the Five Toads, then let's abandon this matter and find another method."

After speaking, the other party turned and left, giving Fang Shu no chance to refuse.

quickly.

Fang Shu stood with a strange expression in front of a pond that was ten feet wide. Inside the pond were hundreds of bronze-colored toads, each with bumps on its back like copper coins.

"This is the Copper Coin Toad, which likes to eat true qi. It is used to measure the true qi of qi-refining immortals, or the standard for the strength of their magical power."

Then, Senior Brother Hao Junliang introduced:

"Generally speaking, a newly promoted Qi cultivator, after stabilizing his realm, can catch five money toads at once using only his true Qi. This is known as the 'Five Toads Power'."

Those who survive five tribulations can catch thirty toads. Those who survive six tribulations can catch sixty toads.

The other party pointed to the toad pond and said, "The number you catch depends on the strength of your true energy, your control ability, and so on. You try it. If you can catch five toads in one go, I will give you the secret technique."

If not, think it over carefully.

"How difficult is this?"

Fang Shu looked at the money toad in the pool with curiosity, nodded, and did not object.

Five toads? According to the other party, that's only at the intermediate level of a newly promoted Qi Refining cultivator. If he can't even reach the power of five toads, he really should consider changing his cultivation method.

Immediately following Senior Brother Hao's instructions, Fang Shu stretched out one hand, making a sword finger gesture. Without casting any spells, he directly forced his true energy out of his body, condensing it into threads that stretched continuously and slowly fell into the toad pond.

Sure enough, the toads in the pond loved to eat true energy. As soon as the threads of true energy fell, they immediately caused all the toads in the pond below to jump around, densely packed, scrambling and fighting for them.

quack!

Suddenly, about a dozen toads jumped up and bit Fang Shu's true energy, swaying back and forth. Don't be fooled by their small size; they were only about the size of a washbasin, but their strength was considerable.

However, the true energy of immortals is not very strong when it is simply released outwards.

Therefore, Fang Shu was standing on the edge of the pool when his true energy was almost torn off by the group of toads. He held on tightly, but then he stumbled and almost got pulled into the toad pool as well.

The croaking of frogs filled the air, and the toads in the pond all stared at him with drooping eyelids, as if mocking his small stature and boastful tone.

Hao Junliang, who was standing nearby, watched with a smile and said, "You have to hold on for at least thirty breaths before you can be considered to have caught the fish." So Fang Shu quickly steadied his legs and started thinking, and the talisman also trembled.

Assessing the consumption of his internal energy, he decisively shortened the energy threads.

With a few snaps, five toads fell off the threads of true energy, leaving only eight toads still clinging to them. After the eight toads swayed for a moment, Fang Shu decisively shortened the thread again, letting down three more, leaving only five, not wanting any more.

He then forced himself to endure and struggled against the toad on the true energy thread.

These guys had clearly taken a bite, but they weren't behaving themselves at all, continuing to jump and struggle, causing Fang Shu's fingers to sway from side to side.

Fortunately, after a struggle, thirty breaths passed.

The true energy threads that Fang Shu had condensed did not dissipate. He glanced at his senior brother Hao Junliang beside him, breathed a sigh of relief, and then severed the true energy, letting the toads fall back into the pond.

He cupped his hands and said, "Reporting to Senior Brother, it seems my internal energy is still quite good."

Hao Junliang stared at him intently, but did not stop him this time. He smiled casually, and the two jade slips came out of his sleeve and landed in Fang Shu's hand.

The other party simply stated:
"Take it and study it carefully. Your master is not here today, so you can study it directly in the Gu Hall. Remember to put it back in its original place after you have finished studying it, and do not take it out of the Gu Hall."

"Yes, senior brother."

Fang Shu took the jade slip, a look of joy on his face, and greeted the other party again.

However, he did not rush to leave. After considering for a moment, he suddenly asked, "May I ask, senior brother, is our hall still short of manpower for the purchase of materials for refining Gu, as well as the breeding and sale of Gu worms?"

Hearing this, Hao Junliang raised an eyebrow: "What, are you itching to try your hand at refining Gu right now, or do you have other ideas?"

Before Fang Shu could answer, the other party laughed and said, "It's a small matter. Although you are only a nominal disciple, you have a waist token. Just give the order to your subordinates."

"Thank you, senior brother." Fang Shu immediately bowed.

Fang Shu actually knew the wonderful use of his family's waist token, but the person in front of him was the "chief steward" of the Gu Hall. If he wanted to pull some strings for Senior Sister Fang Lu, it would be best to inform this person first.

After bowing repeatedly, just as Fang Shu was about to take his leave, Hao Junliang suddenly said:

"It is indeed not easy to cultivate with the aptitude of a pseudo-spiritual root, and it requires a lot of resources. But junior brother, don't be blinded by some petty gains."

Since you've chosen the "Minor Joy of Life and Death, Yin and Yang" method, cultivate it diligently. If you can completely transform your true energy before the end of the year, perhaps something good will happen.

Fang Shu's eyes flickered slightly, puzzled.

He looked at Senior Brother Hao in front of him, but the other man just smiled without saying a word and waved for him to leave.

Seeing this, Fang Shu had no choice but to retreat as instructed.

Before long, he walked alone into the Gu Palace, and randomly chose a spot in front of the shelves full of medicines on the wall, and sat down cross-legged.

According to rumors, Fang Shu held the jade slip in his hand and slowly probed it with his divine sense.

In an instant.

A flood of text and images rushed into his mind, making him dizzy for a moment. Fortunately, the Daoist talisman in his mind immediately trembled slightly, and in a few blinks, it had integrated all the contents of the cultivation method in a logical and orderly manner.

The jade slip is a magical artifact used by immortals to transfer their skills. It can directly imprint the contents of the jade slip into the mind of an immortal, along with the secret text.

However, just because something is imprinted doesn't mean it's understood. It's more like rote memorization, and if you don't review it regularly, the imprinted content will slowly disappear.

Generally speaking, when a Qi Refining Immortal is taught a cultivation technique, it may only take a few dozen breaths at most, but it can take several cups of tea or even several hours to recover.

With the help of the Taoist talisman, Fang Shu didn't need to go through such trouble at all.

After waiting for less than ten breaths, his divine sense surged into another jade slip.

In an instant, a vast amount of cultivation experience and insights were once again crammed into his mind, the content being more than ten times the size of the main text of the cultivation method.

In less than ten breaths, Fang Shu's Daoist talisman had finished organizing the cultivation experiences of his predecessors one by one.

While meditating, he glanced at the "Minor Joy of Life, Death, Yin and Yang" and found that the technique was indeed complicated, as it included both methods of circulating qi and methods of strengthening muscles and bones.

During daily cultivation, it is best to use various medicinal herbs to nourish the soul and spirit internally and strengthen the body externally. Many steps require strict adherence to rules, and no mistakes are allowed.

Otherwise, haphazard practice is a waste of effort and only increases the risk of harming oneself through improper cultivation.

Therefore, according to the description in the manual, it is best for Qi Refining Immortals to seek help from Foundation Establishment Immortals every month to correct the flow of Qi within their bodies and prevent errors.

"It seems that Senior Brother Hao underestimated the difficulty of cultivating this technique," Fang Shu thought to himself.

The three predecessors in the Gu Hall only began their cultivation with the assistance of the Dragon Maiden Immortal.

Even so, two of the three suffered qi deviation during their cultivation, and the last one had to change his cultivation method midway. It's conceivable that without the assistance of a Foundation Establishment cultivator, the probability of them suffering qi deviation during their cultivation would have been even higher.

However, Fang Shu felt no fear at this moment; on the contrary, he was quite looking forward to it.

The reason is simply that even if someone else cultivates this method with divine sense and the assistance of others, it is difficult for them to completely monitor the physical body.

However, Fang Shu was different. With just the Dao Register, he had a complete understanding of his own physical condition.

This kind of intricate and meticulous approach, which emphasizes balance, is just right for him!
This is another major reason why he chose this method: it makes the best use of resources.

Immediately, Fang Shu immersed himself in studying the cultivation technique, and before long, his true energy began to circulate boldly.

the other side.

Hao Junliang stood in front of the pool where the copper coin toad was, still pondering the scene of Fang Shu using his true energy to fish for the toad, thinking to himself:
"It seems that although my junior brother's foundation is weak, being only a pseudo-spiritual root, his basic foundation is not bad at all. I underestimated him."

As he spoke, he extended his sword finger and channeled his inner energy into the toad pond.

As a result, his true energy was torn apart by the surge of hundreds of toads jumping around in the pond.

Hao Junliang muttered to himself, "As expected, they've been starving for too long and are too restless. They need to be properly disciplined."

It turns out that although the frogs in this pond were used to test the true energy of immortals, not all of them were qualified frogs.

Those creatures are too restless and their biting power is too strong, so the values ​​measured by this toad will all be lower than expected.

(End of this chapter)