Immortal Dao Fruits, Cards to Help Me

Chapter 42 Demon Exorcism Mission
When Chen Xiuxian arrived at the government office, he was led inside after being announced to the authorities.

Upon seeing Chen Xiuxian, Cao Bianjiao greeted him with a hearty laugh.

"Ha! Brother Chen, you've come at the perfect time! Commander Qianhu has invited a Taoist priest from Ironclad Mountain to investigate the origins of that evil magic. You might even get to meet him!"

Yes, last time he said that the commander of Wadang Fort hired a "professional," but it turned out to be a Taoist priest from Tiesha Mountain!

That's a perfect match for my major!
As one of the few prestigious and righteous sects in the Liaodong region, they are quite famous!
As a result, when Chen Xiuxian reached out his hand, Cao Bianjiao was taken aback. He took the letter, glanced at it, and his face darkened.

"What is this letter?"

“I wiped out Old North Wind a couple of days ago, as you already know. This letter was found in his possession.”

"The pig demon wants to win over Old North Wind?!"

Chen Xiuxian shook his head: "If it were just Old North Wind's gang, it probably wouldn't be worth the trouble. I'm just worried that it's not just Old North Wind's gang who received this 'letter of surrender'!"

Chen Xiuxian's words immediately reminded Cao Bianjiao that Liaodong was a vast and sparsely populated area, with many places having more spirits than people.

As a result, many people fled to the mountains and became bandits...

Within a 30-mile radius of Wadang Fort, you could find three large and three small bandit gangs.

Even if only a portion of the people are persuaded, it will still be a considerable problem!

"You! Why is it that every time I see you, something bad happens?" He patted Chen Xiuxian's shoulder with a wry smile.

"Hey! You're biting the hand that feeds you, not recognizing a kind heart." Chen Xiuxian snatched the letter from his hand and turned to leave.

Cao Bianjiao quickly pulled him back: "Hey, tsk! Look at you, you're like a sour-faced monkey. I was just kidding... Hey, wait a minute, have you gotten stronger?"

He sensed something was off when he patted Chen Xiuxian on the shoulder.

When we first met, I just thought this kid might be able to help out in a small way.

How did your strength increase so quickly?!

……

Chen Xiuxian decided to leave the matter of the letter of surrender to Cao Bianjiao to handle.

Because the Taoist priests of Tiesha Mountain are rarely seen, he begged Cao Bianjiao to take him there to broaden his horizons.

Cao Bianjiao patted his chest and agreed: "You know what, they really do need manpower over there. The commander even brought in a few men from the countryside to help out!"

After the commander of Wadang Fort reported that someone was spreading evil magic and creating chaos, the Liaodong General's Office sent someone to ask the Taoist priest of Tiesha Mountain for help.

Two Taoist priests, one middle-aged and one young, were sent from over there, but it was clear that they still needed local manpower to help.

But the situation is tense now, with military equipment being inspected and soldiers being trained in various places, keeping everyone extremely busy.

The military was short-staffed, and the personnel were not suited to their professions, so they had to find help from civilians.

As for shamanic practices, they are a unique feature of Liaodong.

The "Fox, Weasel, White Fox, Willow, and Gray Fox" are known here as the Five Great Immortals—of course, this is an exaggeration.

Although demons can also cultivate into demon immortals, which are comparable to human immortals and earth immortals, their numbers are extremely small.

The so-called Five Great Immortals are actually five races of spirits and monsters with spirituality and cultivation.

Those "immortals" with some spiritual power need to accumulate merit, so they "form a bond" or "establish a pact" with a certain disciple who has certain qualities and talents, providing help and magical power, and the two parties cooperate to get what they need.

Many of these old spirit masters have even been in the families of their disciples for several generations.

—While shamans are considered practitioners, they cannot achieve immortality. In fact, many cannot even live long lives.

Immortal techniques are hard to come by; they're not something that can be obtained easily.
Another misconception is that many people believe the Five Immortals are "local immortals of Liaodong" and that the "original inhabitants" of Liaodong, the Wild Boar People, also believe in them.

That's not right!
Although shamanic practices are similar to those of other shamans, the shamans of the Boar People worship various nature gods.

Animal gods are worshipped for their power, such as tigers, eagles, bears, pigs, crows, leopards, and deer.

The four characters 狐黄白柳灰 refer to: fox, weasel, hedgehog, snake, and rat.

The boar-men wouldn't even consider them good enough!

Moreover, the belief in the Five Immortals originated from within the Great Wall, and even from Shandong.

They came along with the immigrants who were developing Liaodong.

It has only been around for a little over a hundred years.

Dou Zhongde was very clear about this.

By the time the Five Immortals belief took root and spread in Liaodong, he had already awakened his spiritual intelligence.

However, at that time he was not very skilled and was timid, so he was not qualified to "take the lead" or "establish a shrine".

...Chen Xiuxian, along with Lao Niu and Shu Xian, followed Cao Bianjiao to help out.

There were already seven or eight people gathered there.

Four or five of them were clearly martial artists, their blood and energy abundant, their temples bulging – signs of accomplished internal strength. Their knuckles and the area between their thumbs and index fingers were thick and calloused, a result of years of practicing boxing or weapons.

There were a few others who were different; some were thin, some were hunched over, some were old, and there was even an old woman with a long pipe in her mouth.

They almost managed to gather the elderly, the infirm, and the disabled.

These people were all helpers hired from several nearby fortified towns.

There are martial artists, folk sorcerers/magicians/cultivators/extraordinary people, and two shamans.

However, when Chen Xiuxian and his group came in, they were completely bewildered by these people.

Is he a martial artist? He does seem like one!

The mere presence of those members of the Lao Niu tribe could completely block out any air from entering a doorway.

And that incredibly handsome kid, he seems to have surprisingly profound internal strength.

The middle-aged martial artists present were all extremely surprised when they saw Chen Xiuxian.

But if you were to call him a monk, that would be plausible too.

And he even has a rat fairy by his side!

The old woman, sitting cross-legged on the kang (a heated brick bed) with a long pipe in her mouth, spoke up: "This young man is truly handsome. May I ask his name? And what is the name of the immortal next to you?"

Cao Bianjiao began, "These are the extraordinary individuals we found in Wadang Fortress: Chen Xiuxian, the guest of the Lao Niu tribe, and this one..."

Chen Xiuxian said, "This is the Rat Immortal Dou Zhongde. We're friends, so he's here to help."

The old lady nodded.

Cao Bianjiao said, "This is Aunt Chunhua from Sickle Fortress, a representative figure among shamans..."

Neither side said much, because the two Taoist priests had returned.

The young Taoist priest looked to be in his early twenties and was holding two dragon-seeking rulers in his hands. These were two iron rods with bends and engraved with talismans, also known as earth spirit rulers, dragon-seeking sticks, or dragon-probing needles.

This is a ritual implement frequently used in Feng Shui.

The middle-aged Taoist priest looked to be under forty years old. He had jet-black hair, neatly tied up, a dignified face, and three strands of beard under his chin, giving him an air of otherworldly elegance.

These two are Taoist priests from Jiuding Tiesha Mountain. The younger one is called Shouyang, and the middle-aged one is called Shouming.

Master Shouming clasped his hands in a fist salute to everyone and said, "My junior brother and I have already explored the earth's energy and roughly narrowed down the area. Next, we need everyone's help to check each location one by one..."

The Taoist priest used geomancy to examine the changes in the earth's energy, found where there was "evil energy," and then had everyone form a team to search for it.

Once a discovery is made, call upon people to eliminate all the evil magic and chaos left behind by that unknown enemy.

This is like a boil that hasn't yet sprouted; it needs to be popped and removed early to prevent it from becoming a big problem.

That's why so many people are needed.

Chen Xiuxian and Lao Niu, along with Dou Zhongde, formed a group.

He was in charge of a place near Qianjin Township.

"Ding~ You have been invited by the Liaodong Garrison Command to assist the Taoist priests of Tiesha Mountain in investigating the source of evil magic... You have accepted the mission [Exorcising Demons in Qianjin Township (Blue)]."

The young Taoist priest guarding Yang added a reminder: "The things over there are quite fierce, so please be careful."

Chen Xiuxian clasped his hands in a fist and said, "Thank you for the reminder, Daoist Master."

……

"A town of a thousand gold pieces!" Chen Xiuxian secretly exclaimed in delight.

Unexpectedly, he was assigned to Qianjin Township to do a "demon-slaying mission"!
Among Liaodong players, Qianjin Township is considered a "famous tourist attraction".

There's a monster spawning area here, specifically for "straw monsters." The most common ones are scarecrows, and there are also some straw beasts and such.

They will drop a Tier 2 material called "Ula Grass".

This thing was initially ignored until a player who specialized in weapon crafting developed a magical artifact: the Grass Dragon!

Holy crap, I don't even need to talk about how strong he is, he's so cool!

When Chen Xiuxian saw the video on the forum, he was absolutely blown away by how handsome he was!
Perhaps the fact that he chose Liaodong as his birthplace was partly due to his "grass dragon" background.

　Thank you to reader Moquanyong for the 100-point reward.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)