Fangxian Heretical Path

Chapter 192 Life and Death in Power, Building an Empire for Restraint (5 words)
After returning to the cave.

Fang Shu sat cross-legged on the altar, pondering the words of the Dragon Maiden Immortal repeatedly, and also trying to decipher them by referring to Huai Liangxing's notes.

After carefully considering it, he felt that even if the Dragon Maiden Immortal's words today concealed her purpose, her statement that "she would not touch him before he established his foundation" should be true!

Fang Shu thought to himself:
"That guarantee is enough!"

As for anything else, we'll talk about it after he truly establishes his foundation one day.

After all, these conditions are quite favorable compared to many disciples in the temple. At least the Dragon Maiden Immortal family won't hinder his foundation building, nor will they make things difficult for him.

It should be noted that, according to Huai Liangxing's notes, some of the Foundation Establishment masters in the temple treat Foundation Establishment like a radish, hanging it in front of their disciples all day long, but they never teach the true methods of Foundation Establishment, nor do they explain the key points of Foundation Establishment, watching their disciples waste their youth.

Even if a disciple has already reached the sixth level of tribulation, if he wants to gain some experience from his peers, he still has to acknowledge them as his father and mother, serve them as slaves, and be at their beck and call.

Masters like Long Gu Xian Jia, who might actually help Fang Shu during his foundation-building process because they will "need something from him in the future," are already rare and precious.

What Fang Shu needs to do now is to find ways to take each step steadily before building the foundation, and to guard against any mistakes or even hidden dangers.

Thinking about this, it suddenly occurred to him.

Fortunately, with countless predecessors like Huai Liangxing serving as lessons, both openly and secretly, the Dragon Maiden Immortal Family now treats him with complete freedom, fearing that interfering with his cultivation would only hinder his upward momentum.

Even when giving him the method of condensing evil spirits, the other party added an extra instruction: once he joins the inner sect, he can study and comprehend the "Six Desires Yin Evil Spirit Method" and the original "Six Internal Organs Nourishing Evil Spirit Method" together and make his own choice.

In this way, the other party would not need to check his physical body from time to time, and he would not need to be on guard against the other party all the time.

Fang Shu thought of Huai Liangxing, and then of Hao Junliang, and thought to himself, "Perhaps Master Long is not a bad person."

Make sure it's clear.

He stopped dwelling on these worries and instead opened the Qi-condensing technique in his hands, carefully studying it.

After only a few glances, he became immersed in the method of condensing evil spirits and found it quite ingenious.

In addition to the method of condensing evil spirits, the manuscript also contains the cultivation method of Yin-Yang True Qi during the fifth tribulation, as well as the steps to break through to the sixth tribulation.

The sixth tribulation of the immortals is called "Water, Fire, Swords, and War".

After passing through this stage, the immortals' five internal organs will be greatly enhanced, and their breath will be as powerful as swords and spears, capable of penetrating stone caves and iron, and able to withstand the high pressure of the seabed and the miasma of volcanoes. Even if they fall naked into the airless void, they can survive for a long time without being frozen, hungry, or cold.

Only with such internal organs can one be able to absorb and expel the fierce energy from the sky, and not fear the wear and tear!

For a while.

Fang Shu was engrossed in a busy period of seclusion and comprehension. He had three books to read and digest: the Appraisal Technique, the Gu Pit Technique, and the Five Tribulations Method.

And every now and then, he had to write to his friends and to people in Guling Town, going back and forth to plan his family's Gu Pit business.

We also cannot slow down our daily self-cultivation and refinement.

Fortunately, he had a Taoist talisman to use, and when he went down the mountain, he happened to obtain a portion of dragon energy from the old mountain lord.

In just half a month, Fang Shu had already arranged many things in a logical manner, mastered all the tricks of managing the Gu Pit, and made some progress in the cultivation of Qi Condensation.

That day, a thought struck him, the path in his mind swayed, and lines of text appeared:

[Registered Person: Fang Shu]

[Magic Power: Thirty-one and a half toads]

[Realm: Fifth Tribulation Qi Refining Immortal]

[Techniques: "The Lesser Joy of Life and Death, Yin and Yang", "The Six Desires and Yin Sha Method", "The Secret Technique of Refining Blood and Nourishing the Body with a Hundred Insects", "The Secret Technique of Lead, Mercury, Blood Treasure Seed and Vessel"]

[Spells: "Leaping Through Walls", "Five Senses Invisibility", "Flying and Object Manipulation", "Golden Smoke and Fire Clouds", "Secret Sword Technique", "Fur Transformation Technique", "Red Serpent Bloodline Fire Blade Technique"]

[Gu Formulas: Yin Corpse Gu, Yang Huo Gu, Follower Gu, Breath-Holding Gu, Sleepy Gu]

[Ritual implements: Hundred Gu Banner with Dragon Spine, Ancient Treasure Ring, Long Tongue Sword]

[Spirit Stones: 244 taels for low-grade, 121 taels for inferior-grade]

………………

Dense texts unfolded before his eyes. After they were fully unfolded, there were also many inferior or not yet fully mastered techniques, spells, and miscellaneous items that unfolded in turn, making the texts in front of him even more numerous.

Looking at these contents, Fang Shu's gaze was momentarily dazed.

This seemed to be the first time he had so comprehensively examined all his cultivation techniques, spells, resources, and treasures.

Unbeknownst to him, he had grown from an ordinary mortal to a celestial being with some spiritual attainments.

Suddenly, Fang Shu's gaze fell on the "long tongue sword".

He did not open his mouth, but instead took out the magical artifact from his sleeve.

As he looked closely, his eyes filled with even more emotion.

This item was the first magical artifact he acquired when he first entered the path of immortality, but now it can no longer keep up with his progress. He only used it once, feigning weakness, during his duel with Huai Liangxing, and the Tongue Sword was severely corroded by poisonous insects, with the restrictions on the sword on the verge of collapse.

However, Fang Shu had no intention of discarding the Tongue Sword. Instead, he expended a great deal of true energy and used his own precious blood to infuse it into the Tongue Sword, carefully nurturing it until it was completely restored to its original state.

He is a sentimental person.

Even if this first magical artifact that accompanied him in his cultivation is useless, it should still be properly cared for or treasured. In any case, for him now, a little repair wouldn't take much effort.

However, Fang Shu did not put the tongue sword back into his mouth, but put it back into his storage bag.

To avoid having to take it out to use again, only to find it not only useless but also completely damaged, leaving him with a lingering thought.

In a moment of reflection, Fang Shu suddenly thought of the piece of bone nail he had handed over to the head of the household.

He thought to himself, "My tongue sword is useless, and the bone nail has been handed over. My manipulation technique is still lacking a magical object to control it."

After some thought, Fang Shu decided not to rush into this matter. In any case, he wouldn't be going down the mountain for at least a year, and he still had the Hundred Gu Flag of the Flood Dragon's Spine. He just needed to keep an eye out for related refining spells or magical artifacts in the temple.

After thoroughly checking himself to ensure nothing was missing, he didn't delay any longer. He immediately made a hand seal, leaped out of the cave, and headed towards the location of the Gu Hall.

Not long after.

Fang Shu was in the Gu Hall when he saw his many friends from the mountains.

"Junior brother!"

Senior Sister Fang Lu, dressed in a light yellow Taoist robe, was the first to greet them. Because she frequently visited the Gu Hall and had a sect relationship with Fang Shu, she was practically a member of the Gu Hall, and she had just been greeting everyone.

Lu Renjia, Bao Fengtao, Mai Shenger, Er Daiyuan, and some other unfamiliar faces from Fang Shu all rose to greet them, bowing respectfully.

"Congratulations, Fellow Daoist Fang, on taking charge of your hall's two major Gu pits!"

"Greetings, Immortal Master Fang! Thank you for your great kindness in promoting me."

Fang Shu smiled and jokingly chatted with Lu Renjia and the others: "Don't congratulate me yet. I invited you all here today because I need your help to do some free work."

"Not at all, it's just a little bit of effort."

Lu Renjia and the others laughed and said, "No rush, no rush, we'll come back another day to eat at your restaurant, you big spender."

As they talked, all of these friends had smiles and joy on their faces. Even Lu Renjia, who was also competing for the inner sect, showed no jealousy or hatred in his eyes.

After all, Fang Shu had a good relationship with them, and they were not disciples of the same sect, so there was no competition between them.

On the contrary, the more prominent Fang Shu's position was within the temple, the more likely they would be to find connections and benefit from his influence in the future.

After exchanging pleasantries, Fang Shu turned around and bowed to the unfamiliar faces:

"Fellow Daoists, I have been on the mountain for many years and am only now meeting you all. I have truly been negligent."

These unfamiliar faces quickly said "no" repeatedly, especially those dressed in menial uniforms. Seeing Fang Shu's politeness, they all blushed and looked excited.

"Immortal, you are too kind to us!" These people included both old and young, and they were immortals from Guling Town.

The largest group consisted of disciples who had left the Dugu Hall but had not been able to cultivate their Qi in the temple.

Over the past nine years, Fang Shu had just achieved the Qi Refining stage and had been focused solely on cultivation. Lacking any foundation, he had not interacted with the senior and junior servants in the same building.

Now that he has a foothold, he naturally wants to gather these people here, firstly to serve as his henchmen, and secondly to provide some protection. If any of these people can advance to the Qi Refining stage in the future, it will be a worthwhile investment.

In addition to recruiting the existing Taoist disciples in the temple, Fang Shu had already discussed with Fang Lu and Master Du that the Taoist disciples who come up the mountain every year will no longer need to go elsewhere to hone their skills, but can come directly to his Yin-Yang Gu Pit to serve as his servants.

This is a good thing for the opponent, the dojo, and the disciples!
Amidst the commotion, everyone, young and old, was moved to tears. Had they not worried about disturbing Fang Shu's enjoyment, they might have burst into tears.

Having endured so many years of hardship, they were fortunate enough to survive. Now, they finally have the chance to escape the mire, which is extremely rare for them, no less than a second life!
The gathering of twenty or thirty people was quite a commotion, which naturally attracted the attention of the Gu Hall members.

Eighth Senior Brother Gou Yandi is currently also in charge of managing miscellaneous affairs of the Gu Hall. Hearing the sound, he came over and saw Fang Shu and his group. His expression was not different, but he sneered inwardly.

"I thought that this guy was young and weak, and that he would be too busy to handle two Gu pits and would have to ask us for help."

Unexpectedly, this young man is indeed quite cunning and shameless, bringing his entire family with him to take office.

Gou Yandi thought to himself, feeling quite regretful.

He had originally hoped to take advantage of Fang Shu's favor, or even secretly take care of the Gu pit for a while while Fang Shu was unfamiliar with it, so as to line his own pocket a little.

Such a favor would have been well-received, and the benefits would have been substantial. Unfortunately, this good fortune has now fallen through.

Although he was in a bad mood and didn't want to approach Fang Shu, Gou Yandi suppressed his emotions, put on a smile, and quickly stepped forward to offer his congratulations.

"Congratulations, Ninth Junior Brother. You're about to officially take over the Yin-Yang Gu Pit. Why didn't you tell your senior brother sooner?"

Throughout the conversation, this person kept trying to join in the fun and offer their opinions.

However, the reason Fang Shu gathered so many people was that he planned to clean up the Yin and Yang Gu pits himself, without relying on anyone in the hall.

He politely replied, "No need to trouble you, senior brother."

In the end, Gou Yandi could only smile and see them off. After the crowd disappeared, he secretly stomped his foot.

soon.

The Yin-class Gu pit was the first to appear before everyone.

Upon arriving here, even Fang Lu, who had the highest cultivation level among them, looked tense, while the others, especially the servants, were even more so.

Hiss! When the sounds of snakes and insects rang out in the pit, many people's hairs stood on end.

However, soon, people who were even more apprehensive than them appeared.

As soon as Fang Shu appeared, the servants in the Gu pit rushed out and knelt before him:
"Greetings, Immortal Master Fang!"

The expressions on the faces of the Gu Pit servants varied: some were trembling with fear, some were filled with dread, and some secretly looked forward to it. Although they were servants, they were within the territory of the Gu Hall and had some channels of communication among the servants.

Although the specific reasons were unknown, everyone already knew twenty days ago that the leader of the Gu Pit had changed. And the new leader was the same person who used to come to the Gu Pit from time to time to eat and drink for free and mooch materials.

After everyone knelt and paid their respects, they dared not even breathe loudly, making the pit extremely quiet for a moment.

Fang Shu paced back and forth, his gaze sweeping over everyone before finally settling on a few familiar faces.

Pop, pop, pop!

Without uttering a single word, he waved his sleeve and unleashed a spell to manipulate objects. Nearly half of the familiar faces immediately died, their bodies contorted and their spines broken.

This scene horrified the remaining servants in the Gu pit; their eyes widened and their breath caught in their throats.

This also caused the fellow disciples and servants from the same town who had accompanied Fang Shu to tense up, their expressions of awe deepening.
"I consider myself a decent person. So even though these guys were under orders from my predecessors and often harassed me, I didn't humiliate them and just gave them a quick death."

He nodded to the servants:
"Get up, everyone. Those who should vacate their positions should vacate, and those who should stay in their positions should stay in their positions and do their jobs well."

The servants in the Gu pit looked at each other, not daring to speak for a moment.

When they saw Fang Shu's brows furrow slightly, they immediately jumped up from the ground as if their pants were on fire.

"I will obey the Immortal's decree!"

"Thank you for your forgiveness, Immortal Master!" they said, vying to express their loyalty.

For a moment, shouts echoed through the Gu pit.

The commotion caused the numb-faced Qi Refining soldiers in the pit to turn their eyes and scrutinize the crowd.

After a brief cleanup, Fang Shu bowed to Senior Sister Fang Lu, instructing her to lead half the group to take over the menial tasks.

He himself, along with Lu Renjia, wandered through the Gu pit, beginning to examine the arrays and mechanisms within.

As a talisman master, Lu Renjia had a keen eye and would often offer guidance:
"This is the Midnight-Noon Talisman Array, which opens at midnight and closes at noon, presumably to facilitate the entry and exit of Gu worms."

"The quality of these talisman papers is somewhat inferior. But they are still usable, and can be replaced every half month. If you want them to last longer, Brother Fang, you can buy some similar talisman papers from me, which can be replaced every three months."

Soon, the man was surprised to discover: "Huh! Brother Fang, you understand the principles of formations?"

Fang Shu smiled and said, "I know a little bit."

Soon, the Yin-class Gu pit was cleaned up. After confirming that there were no major hidden dangers, Fang Shu led the remaining half of the team to the Yang-class Gu pit to make an example of them once again.

I must say, the method of killing some, withdrawing some, and keeping some is really effective.

It only took a day and a night.

He took over both Gu pits completely, and replaced the key positions with his own people. From top to bottom, everything went extremely smoothly without any hindrance.

However, after accepting the Yin-Yang Gu pit, he uncovered many clues about the accounts and records in the two Gu pits.

In terms of the exchange of spirit stones, the accounts of both Gu pits were quite clean and without any discrepancies. However, there was much more to learn about the materials used for refining Gu and the food for raising them.

For example, every month, some positive Gu worms are inadvertently transported to Yin-type Gu pits. Uncomfortable with their habits, they naturally perish.
During this time, some older servants also took the initiative to join them, revealing various ways of harming the public for personal gain, using resources and even Gu worms from pits to exchange for various supplies and spirit stones.

These resources and spirit stones are similar to so-called "kickbacks," but they are not accounted for in official records or documented, making them extremely difficult to detect. This is an old method used by Gu swindlers to make money.

However, after learning all this, Fang Shu hesitated for a long time and still chose to put the matter aside.

Compared to stealing spirit stones, what he cared about most was that after taking control of the Gu Pit, all the cultivation resources could be recorded in the Gu Pit's accounts.

Even if such a thing were discovered, it wouldn't be considered a mistake, and Master Longgu wouldn't care, since what cook doesn't steal food?

However, taking it directly home changes the nature of the situation.

If these things happen, Fang Shu himself may not be in any danger, but his fellow disciples who are in charge of managing the Gu pits will most likely be used as scapegoats and even have their recruitment of people from the Gu Pit restricted in the future.

Unlike Huai Liangxing, Fang Shu planned to manage these two Gu pits as a "foundation" and absolutely not to do anything reckless.

Otherwise, once he establishes his own Gu pit and builds his own empire, his subordinates may have developed bad habits. In that case, he himself might have his staff poached, or he might have to train others, wasting even more energy.

One day, two days.

Half a month, one month.

With Fang Shu overseeing the Gu pits, things in both pits were getting more and more on track. It seemed that Long Gu was also favoring him, and many of the Gu refining tasks in the hall were transferred to the Yin and Yang Gu pits.

Therefore, in addition to his fixed monthly salary for Taoist merit, he could also earn a share of Taoist merit by completing miscellaneous tasks within the hall.

Based on this rough estimate, he could accumulate ten merits per month, and one hundred and twenty merits per year. Even if there were fewer tasks later on, he could still earn one hundred merits per year.

Such a salary is more than thirty times greater than his previous three annual merits!
This made Fang Shu inwardly admire:

"Indeed, it's good to take shelter under a big tree!"

(End of this chapter)