Cultivation: Starting from a Fighting Cock

Chapter 67 Facing the Blind Taoist

"What's there to be afraid of? This time is different. With you, the Blind Taoist, taking action, we can't lose." The Blind Taoist said calmly, "If we really do lose, it will be a great joy!"

His purpose this time was to test the fighting rooster in the Zhao family mansion.

If they lose, there's only one possibility: the fighting rooster in the Zhao family's mansion is a demonic beast.

"what?"

Xu Dingsheng was completely bewildered, having no idea what the purpose of this blind offering was.

He raised his head, mustered his courage, and stretched out his five fingers at the other person to see if this blind worshipper was truly blind or pretending.

The next second, the blind Taoist slapped him away, cursing, "What audacity!"

Xu Dingsheng lay on the ground, clutching his face and howling in pain, saying, "You foolish offering, I can't go on, I... I'm seriously injured, I can't go to the cockfight in your place..."

"Fine, since you're already a useless cripple, I'll just kill you with one blow now to save myself the trouble."

"No, don't make offerings blindly. I... I think I still have some energy left. I'm willing to go and fight the Zhao family's cockfight in your place!"

Faced with life and death, Xu Dingsheng's expression changed faster than anyone else's.

If I agree, I might not die, but if I don't agree, I'll die right now.

Xu Dingsheng felt he could borrow two or three more days from heaven.

……

After winning two cockfights, Master Zhao stopped short of defeat and headed home.

He placed the fighting cock in the backyard, instructed Zhao Yan to take good care of it, and then went out to drink and brag with a few cronies.

Zhao Yan groomed Ji Cheng's feathers and fed him a handful of dried corn kernels.

Dahuang slept and recovered all day. It curled up in its kennel, its body twitching occasionally.

After Zhao Yan left, Ji Cheng began to study the new title and the stealth technique "Hidden Chicken Killing".

At present, what he needs to cultivate are "Fire Serpent Transformation" and "Hidden Chicken Killing". During the day, he will first understand and comprehend the mysteries within them, and at night he will practice and rehearse them.

At night, Da Huang barked at Ji Cheng.

It remained tied to the old persimmon tree, showing no intention of going out. Its bark was a plea for Ji Cheng to give it two roasted chickens to nourish its body.

Ji Cheng went out and didn't mention any gatherings tonight, so he didn't see a single demon.

He first prepared two roasted chickens and three roasted fish for Dahuang.

After feeding the big yellow dog, he went to the riverbank to practice the "Fire Serpent Transformation".

He had been practicing this spell for several days, and now the flames he spewed out had transformed into the shape of a fire snake, signifying that he had finally mastered the basics.

The next step is to practice how to control this fire snake.

"After condensing into a fire serpent, the power of the flames seems to have increased?"

This was not Ji Cheng's illusion. The Fire Serpent Transformation did indeed cause a qualitative change in the Samadhi True Fire, significantly increasing its destructive power, almost comparable to the flames Ji Cheng had burned with his essence blood.

It turns out that the "Triple Transformation of Spiritual Fire" is not just a change in shape, but also has three different levels of improvement in the quality of the flame.

"This 'Triple Transformation of Spiritual Fire' is indeed extraordinary. Even if one cultivates it to the Golden Core or Nascent Soul stage, it is still a powerful fire-attribute spell... I just wonder if the Three Immortals Cave has the other two complete transformations?"

Ji Cheng was quite envious; this must have given his Samadhi Fire a huge boost.

If he had the chance, he would definitely get his hands on the complete version of "The Triple Transformation of Spiritual Fire." Thinking of this, he silently repeated the name of the Three Immortals Cave several times.

I practiced "Fire Serpent Transformation" in the first half of the night and "Hidden Chicken Killing" in the second half.

Ji Cheng wasted not a single moment. The next day.

As usual, Master Zhao brought his ever-victorious fighting rooster, General Zhao, to the Green Bamboo Gang's cockfighting arena.

He asked around, but everyone avoided his gaze, not daring to challenge him. Just then, a voice, though weak, still strained to speak: "I'll go!"

People quickly made way for each other, and a man carrying a fighting rooster walked over; it was Xu Dingsheng.

Many people pointed at him and discussed it heatedly, saying that Xu Dingsheng had gone crazy after losing to Master Zhao last time, so how come he's acting like a normal person now?
He was holding a black-necked chicken, and he looked quite distinguished, but he was nowhere near as impressive as Qingfeng and the Chicken King from before.

Some people shook their heads, concluding that Xu Dingsheng, this fighting cock, was definitely no match for Master Zhao, the ever-victorious general.

In reality, Xu Dingsheng was also unsure of himself at this moment.

This is a fighting rooster he randomly picked at the market. Apart from being tall and strong, it has no other merits.

Anyone familiar with cockfighting can tell that this black-necked rooster is just fat and looks good but is useless.

But the blind Taoist priest took a liking to it, saying that having this black-necked chicken was enough.

"Oh, isn't this Young Master Xu? Has your madness been cured?"

Master Zhao was surprised; this was his old nemesis, and he hadn't expected him to come and challenge him again.

Master Zhao had won over a thousand taels of silver from him, and if he dared to refuse, the surrounding crowd would not agree. Therefore, the bet was quickly made.

This time, the bet wasn't much, just twenty taels of silver.

The cockfighting arena manager put the two fighting cocks on the scales and then opened the betting pool.

Xu Dingsheng's odds of winning cockfighting were as high as 50 to 10.

Even so, few people bet on his cockfighting to win; they just watched it for fun.

Soon, the two fighting roosters were placed in the center of the arena, and the manager announced that the cockfight had officially begun.

This fighting rooster...

Ji Cheng sensed something was amiss.

He had felt uneasy for a while, as if an evil gaze was watching him from the shadows. He looked around but couldn't find where the gaze was coming from.

At that moment, he realized that the gaze was coming from his cockfighting opponent, Xu Dingsheng's black-necked rooster.

He wondered if there was anything special about this black-necked chicken.
The cockfight began, but neither cock launched an attack rashly. Instead, they circled around each other, sizing each other up.

The soul that entered the body of this black-necked chicken was that of the blind Taoist priest.

He had been observing Master Zhao's fighting rooster for a long time but found nothing strange about it, and he had not smelled any demonic aura.

The blind Taoist wondered if he was overthinking things.

At this moment, Ji Cheng flapped his wings and launched an attack, rushing fiercely towards the blind Taoist. The blind Taoist skillfully dodged to the side.

Ji Cheng continued, displaying the aggression expected of a normal fighting rooster, but unfortunately, all his attacks were easily dodged, and he missed completely.

People exclaimed in surprise, never expecting Xu Dingsheng's black-necked chicken to be so agile and nimble. What... what's going on?
Keep in mind, this is a black-necked chicken, not known for its agility and dexterity, yet its abilities far surpass those of a typical blue pheasant.

Ji Cheng's heart grew heavy. After several attacks were perfectly dodged, he realized that this was no ordinary fighting cock.

Look at the opponent's clean and neat movements, even with a calm expression. An ordinary fighting cock would have already gone berserk and rushed up to peck wildly. How could it be so calm and composed?
In terms of the combat experience, Ji Cheng felt as if he were facing not a fighting rooster, but a human with unfathomable cultivation.

Is it that blind old Taoist priest?
Ji Cheng thought to himself.

Considering the blind old Taoist's ability to possess magpies, he reasonably suspected that the fighting rooster he was facing had already been possessed by the blind old Taoist.

(End of this chapter)