Fangxian Heretical Path

Chapter 178 Second Uncle Black Rat in Seclusion to Undergo Tribulation
After dealing with the matter of the woman surnamed Yin, Fang Shu took Old Daoist Lü back to the Dugu Pavilion.

He handed the old Taoist priest over to the servants in the building and walked towards the council hall.

As soon as Fang Shu entered the hall, he saw a familiar figure pacing back and forth at the entrance, anxiously waiting for something.

Upon seeing the other person, he paused slightly, his expression blank.

That person was none other than his second uncle, Yu Le.

The second uncle also noticed that someone had come to the hall. He immediately turned to look at Fang Shu, and after a moment of surprise, a bright smile appeared on his face.

"Uncle!" Fang Shu called out and quickly approached.

Second Uncle Yu Le also came forward, then patted him heavily, laughing and scolding:
"You little rascal, you've only just come down the mountain and you've already caused such a big commotion in town. It really worried me... But at least you're alright."

The second uncle looked Fang Shu up and down, and only after confirming that Fang Shu's body was intact and without any damage did he finally breathe a sigh of relief.

The uncle and nephew chatted idly in the council chamber.

Fang Shu briefly recounted his experiences on the mountain, mainly reporting the good news and omitting the bad. His second uncle also briefly described his situation in the town.

The man, looking smug, released a plume of energy smoke from above his head.

Now, he has not only fully recovered his cultivation, but has also stepped into the realm of a Three Tribulation Immortal.

Fang Shu saw this and immediately understood. No wonder that after so many years, when he saw his second uncle again, he didn't see much aging on his second uncle. On the contrary, he felt that the other man was even younger.

As for why his second uncle had made such progress, it was clearly inseparable from the "cultivation" he received at the Dugu Pavilion. Fang Shu secretly kept this matter in mind.

After chatting for a while, Fang Shu belatedly looked around the hall and exclaimed in surprise, "Where did Master and the other masters go?"

Second Uncle Yu Le said, "The situation in the town has been largely stabilized. The owner of the inn went out to see the guests off, as he seemed to have something to discuss with the other innkeepers."

The other party paused for a moment: "Perhaps we should hold a welcome banquet for you, so that these prominent figures in this town can support you in your attempt to become an inner disciple within the Immortal Sect."

Fang Shu glanced at his second uncle in surprise, as he had not mentioned anything about inner disciples.

Clearly, this information was revealed by the owner of the manor. It seems that the second uncle is also being groomed by the owner to become the manor's head steward.

After asking a few more questions, Fang Shu suddenly remembered what happened at the Black Tiger Pavilion.

You should know that during the day yesterday, there were quite a few disturbances in three different areas of the town. However, he and the Du Guan Master were only busy with the Kai Shan Guan and Shao Wei Guan, so they neglected the Black Tiger Guan.

Fang Shu mentioned it briefly, wanting to ask about the black rat's condition.

In his view, the commotion in the Black Tiger Pavilion was clearly caused by Black Rat, who had disembarked with him. He suspected that Black Rat might have committed the same act of patricide and patricide as Ling Bailang.

To his surprise, he had only guessed half of it correctly.

"Black rat?" Second Uncle Yu Le was slightly taken aback, and after a moment of contemplation, he tentatively asked:

"You mean the immortal seed in the Black Tiger Pavilion, the one who went up the mountain with you back then? Could it be that this person has also come down the mountain?"

Before Fang Shu could answer, his second uncle, Yu Le, said:
"The situation in the Black Tiger Hall yesterday was different from that in the Burning Tail Hall and the Opening Mountain Hall. The hall was attacked by demons for some unknown reason. First, a fire broke out in the hall, and then demons emerged from the ground and burned and killed people in the Black Tiger Hall."

Fang Shu listened carefully and then he understood.

It was precisely because most of the Qi Refining Immortals in the town were gathered at the Kaishan Hall that no one went to rescue the Black Tiger Hall Master, leaving him alone.

Rumor has it that the man was killed in full view of everyone by a snake demon, and in the end, he was swallowed whole by the snake demon without leaving a trace.

Many of the town's owners are now working together to search for the snake demon, but they have found no trace of it. They plan to report the matter to the Immortal Sect later to see which snake demon dared to come to the town and cause trouble.

After saying a few words, Second Uncle Yu Le didn't say anything more, but just looked at Fang Shu with a knowing look in his eyes.

Upon hearing this, Fang Shu understood completely.

It seems that Black Rat did not return to the martial arts school openly like he and Ling Bailang did, but instead sneaked back to the town, seized the opportunity to kill Black Tiger, and fabricated the whole thing as a demonic disturbance.

Fang Shu thought to himself, "A snake demon who can kill a sect leader... it seems that Black Rat is not only quite cunning, but also quite fortunate in life."

This person achieved Qi Refining later than him, and according to Fang Shu's knowledge, the other party also failed to become the disciple of the eighteen hall masters, but instead ended up under the command of an ordinary Foundation Establishment Immortal.

And now, the other party actually has a snake demon of the fifth tribulation by his side! It's just unknown whether the snake demon was brought from outside or given to this person by someone else.

Fang Shu pondered for a moment, but finding he couldn't figure it out, he didn't dwell on it any longer. Instead, he began to consider how the Black Rat's secret return to the town and its swift retreat would affect him.

After thinking about it for a moment, he realized that this might actually be a good thing for him.

Fang Shu thought to himself, "With White Wolf dead, Black Rat will most likely not return to Guling Town. In that case, I will be the only one in the town who can compete for the inner sect disciple position this year, and even for the next few years."

As the only son of the Guling Town, he rightfully deserves the town's strong support. This matter, while not exactly a lifeline, would certainly be a bonus, making it easier for him to accumulate Taoist merits at the temple and compete for inner disciple status!
Realizing this, Fang Shu's mood immediately became calm and unhurried.

Since he is the only son, there's no need to rush to cultivate relationships with the prominent figures in town.

An idea popped into Fang Shu's mind.

So half a day later.

When the owner of the guesthouse returned from outside and discussed with Fang Shu in a relaxed manner the plan to hold a grand banquet for him in the center of town the next day to welcome him back, Fang Shu did not respond.

After a moment's thought, he told the owner about the black rat.

Upon hearing this, the owner of the inn narrowed his eyes and sighed, "These two old devils have both raised a good apprentice."

Then the old woman looked at Fang Shu, asking him with her eyes if he had any thoughts on the matter.

Fang Shu cupped his hands and said directly:

"I think that since no one else from this town is coming down the mountain, we can postpone the welcoming banquet."

He said with piercing eyes:
"It would be better to wait until my disciple breaks through to the fifth tribulation before meeting with the many Qi Refining Immortals in this town."

"I suppose at that time, they will value my disciple even more and give him more face." The sect leader looked at him with surprise and asked, "You're actually confident you can survive the fifth tribulation?"

After saying this, the Dugu Master recalled how the two of them had joined forces to fight and kill the founder of the sect, and how Fang Shu had single-handedly killed the White Wolf.

From any perspective, Fang Shu is clearly a person with abundant internal energy.

Her face lit up, and she immediately patted Fang Shu on the shoulder.

"Good, good, good! You've accumulated enough cultivation in less than ten years. It seems you've been diligently cultivating on the mountain and have had quite a few opportunities."

The owner of the independent building readily agreed:
"We can discuss the banquet matter after you emerge from seclusion. Right now, nothing is more important than your breakthrough in your seclusion!"

Seeing his master agree so readily, Fang Shu smiled.

The master and disciple then discussed the matter of resources needed for the breakthrough.

The fifth tribulation of the immortals is called "All Evils Avoid and Easily Avoid," also known as "Avoid Evil and Be Unharmed."

The main purpose of this tribulation is to temper the six internal organs of the immortals. After passing through it, the immortals can consume gold and jade, greatly increasing the power of their six internal organs and making them immune to damage from various evil toxins.

Even if a Five Tribulation Immortal's internal organs are damaged, as long as they are not removed, they can repair themselves.

It is precisely because of this that the Five Tribulations Immortals are able to harvest the evil energy and refine it into their true energy and internal organs, so as not to be harmed by the evil energy.

The supplies needed to survive this calamity were divided into two parts.

The first is the use of evil and poisonous medicines. The best of these is to use weakened and processed evil energy as a base to temper the six internal organs, allowing them to gradually adapt to the evil and poisonous substances.

Secondly, there are healing medicines. These can either repair the organs of immortals or detoxify them, so that immortals can constantly repair their damaged bodies during tribulations and not die on the spot.

Originally, both of these items required careful preparation by the immortals who had undergone tribulation. Many disciples in the Five Organs Temple would spend a year or more just preparing the medicinal materials.

Fortunately, Fang Shu had already accumulated the true energy and magical power of thirty toads more than half a year ago and had pondered this matter.

As for poisons, since he had practiced insect and lead cultivation techniques and his Qi cultivation method was "The Lesser Joy of Life, Death, Yin and Yang," many poisons were no longer considered poisons to him.

Fang Shu could try using the evil energy directly to temper his six internal organs.

This malevolent energy is not the malevolent energy he wants to condense, but only to serve as a whetstone. It does not need to be weakened too much. On the contrary, if more of its original flavor is retained, it can better stimulate his physical potential.

Therefore, Fang Shu only needs the owners of the independent martial arts schools or the martial arts schools in the town to provide some evil energy.

As for the second type of healing medicine, because the spiritual root Fang Shu planted was extraordinary, the divine threads that spread and grew from it could also be inserted into the body, forming a network of true qi and spiritual energy similar to veins.
This item can help him repair his physical body. In addition, with the solid foundation he has laid for his own body, he doesn't even need medicine for some common injuries. As long as there is enough spiritual energy, he can get through them on his own.

Inside the hall, Fang Shu addressed the owner of the guesthouse in a deep voice:
"Spirit stones, tonics!"

"All I need are plenty of spirit stones and potent tonics to nourish my body and vital energy—the more the better—and I am confident I can overcome this tribulation."

Upon hearing this, the owner of the private club nodded emphatically.

As a Fifth Tribulation Immortal, she naturally knew that the amount of spirit stones Fang Shu needed this time would not be small.

In particular, judging from Fang Shu's tone, he would thoroughly strengthen his foundation and would never waste his potential for immortality due to time constraints.

Suddenly, the owner of the villa smiled:

"Fortunately, we were able to receive the strong support of Fellow Daoist Deng and Fellow Daoist Ling, as well as the two schools. Otherwise, I would have had to sell my possessions to prepare supplies for you, kid."

Upon hearing this, Fang Shu immediately flipped his hand and took out the storage bag he had taken from Ling Bailang and Old Man Ling.

Although these two storage bags are damaged, opening them requires either specific methods or time to painstakingly grind them open. Therefore, he has never opened them before, and now he is handing them over to the owner of the pavilion to help him deal with them.

The owner glanced at it and accepted it without any hesitation.

Immediately, the old woman told Fang Shu all the incantations and passwords in the dungeon of the Dugu Pavilion, telling him to go down to the dungeon and take whatever he liked. As long as it could help him break through in the slightest, he could take it all without any problem.

After explaining these things, the old woman quickly left the Dugu Pavilion and went to find various pavilion owners in the town to make transactions.

Not only the owner of the inn, but also the second uncle, Yu Le, upon learning of this matter, immediately went out and began to rely on his connections in the town to try every means to collect highly nourishing medicines for Fang Shu.

With these two close friends by his side, Fang Shu, though intending to break through at the foot of the mountain, unexpectedly discovered that his choice was indeed the right one.

Although the spiritual energy at the foot of the mountain is far inferior to that at the top, and most of the tonics are also not as good as those at the top, if there is enough of them, it makes little difference to him.

In particular, it's quite possible that the Qi Refining masters in the town might have some hidden treasures.

And so, Fang Shu sat peacefully in the hall, undisturbed by anything else, needing only to calm his mind and prepare himself physically and mentally for the upcoming breakthrough in his seclusion.

It happened very quickly, taking only a day and a half.

A space was cleared out in the Dugu Pavilion, and the pavilion master even invited people to temporarily set up a spirit-gathering array. All kinds of medicines were also piled up in the quiet room, just waiting for Fang Shu to use them.

When Fang Shu entered the quiet room that had been carefully prepared for him, his expression was momentarily moved.

Thanks to the accumulation of spirit stones, the spiritual energy here is far richer than what he saw in Duobaotang, probably five times that of Toad Beach!

In particular, the tiger bones, beef tendons, deer antlers, ginseng, and other items, sold by the box, were displayed in the corner as if they were free. There were also several medicinal herbs inside, which should have reached the level of spiritual medicines, and their quality was no less than that of the flesh-shaped Ganoderma he had obtained before.

Standing here, Fang Shu was suddenly filled with emotion: "Is this what it feels like to come home?"

If he were to break through to the top of the mountain, he wouldn't be able to enjoy such leisure, nor would he receive such meticulous care.

Breathing in the rich medicinal fragrance of the quiet room, he stood still for a moment before suppressing all the distracting thoughts in his mind.

Since the temple has treated him so well, he should concentrate on overcoming his tribulation and repay them by succeeding in one fell swoop!

Immediately, Fang Shu sat cross-legged on the altar repaired with inferior spirit stones, breathing in the surrounding medicinal energy, refining himself, and beginning his fifth tribulation—the exorcism of all evil.

(End of this chapter)