Wife is hell

Chapter 78 Evil God Immortal Feather
Now, let's talk about the other side.

Completely disarmed by Jiang Mu's discourse, Mu Qingshan returned home dejectedly, feeling a tightness in her chest.

It feels like there's fire burning in my liver and gallbladder area, making me restless and anxious.

He staggered into the kitchen, came to the large water vat in the corner that was half a person tall, picked up the ladle hanging on the edge of the vat, dipped it into the water, and scooped up a full ladle.

He tilted his head back and gulped it down.

The cool liquid slid down my throat and into my stomach, and the burning, agitated feeling subsided slightly.

"The Way is like an empty vessel, yet its use is inexhaustible..."

Mu Qingshan murmured, "What a profound emptiness and formlessness, yet its power is boundless."

He looked down at the water vat and smiled bitterly:
"Madam, I've really lost face today. That old fellow, Master Hongyuan, is probably going to badmouth me behind my back."

But that young man from Wenhua Mountain is truly bizarrely powerful. If I listened any longer, I might even feel like jumping off a cliff to my death. Madam, this is no joke, it's true..."

A woman's corpse was submerged in the water tank.

It is already severely rotten.

Strangely, there was no stench of decay; instead, a fragrance similar to that of ripe apples filled the air.

Mu Qingshan slid down onto the ground, leaning against the water vat, and continued:
"To learn, one gains daily; to practice the Way, one loses daily. Losing and losing again, until one reaches non-action..." This line from the Daoist classic was something you helped me understand back then.

But after hearing what that younger man said, I realized we were all wrong, terribly wrong… Madam, would you like to hear what he has to say?

The water tank remained silent.

Only her seaweed-like hair rippled gently in the water, following the waves created by the man scooping water.

He said, "...the pursuit of knowledge will lead to increasing arrogance and conceit, while the pursuit of the truth will lead to increasing humility and self-effacement...if one continues to be humble and self-effaced, one can reach the state of non-action."

Mu Qingshan was lost in thought for a moment, her eyes vacant, and she murmured:

"Madam, tell me... what exactly is the state of 'non-action'?"

He sighed deeply and exclaimed in sincere admiration:

"This young man named Zhao Niansheng is truly remarkable. Wenhua Mountain lives up to its reputation as one of the top three in Confucian lineage, with its profound heritage, to have cultivated such a talent."

Given time, this child's future is limitless; he might even surpass those old fogies at Baiyang Academy.

He picked up the water ladle again, scooped up the water from the vat, and drank several large mouthfuls.

After finishing his drink, he wiped his mouth with his sleeve, stood up, and a calm smile appeared on his face.
"So be it, let's just accept defeat. You once said, 'Ancient scholars studied for themselves, while modern scholars study for others.' Once that old fellow Hongyuan has calmed down, I'll personally visit and ask that young man for guidance another day."

The man turned and walked toward the kitchen door.

When his gaze inadvertently fell upon the lone fruit tree in the yard, he suddenly stopped in his tracks.

The fruit trees were not tall, with sparse branches and leaves, giving them a somewhat desolate appearance.

It lacked vitality, just like the courtyard.

However, on the withered branch, an apple was hanging.

An apple that is eerily red, plump and round.

Mu Qingshan exclaimed with delight, "Madam, another fruit has grown!"

He walked quickly to the tree, carefully picked the fruit, wiped it with his sleeve as if he were holding some rare treasure, and went into a closed room next door.

Move the wooden table aside and lift the carpet.

A hidden round wooden door was revealed.

A brass lock hung on the door.

Mu Qingshan took out the key, unlocked the brass lock, and, feeling her way in the dark, climbed down the narrow wooden ladder.

The cellar was dimly lit and the air was cold.

He placed the red apple on a small altar.

Then, he straightened his robes, knelt down on the ground devoutly, and kowtowed repeatedly to the altar.

He was muttering something under his breath.

There were no statues of gods on the altar, only a colorful painting.

The woman's face in the painting is blurred, as if it had been scorched by flames, making it difficult to discern her features.

However, her figure is described as extremely graceful and aloof.

She was wearing a flowing blue dress.

Strangely, the woman was surrounded by vast expanses of blood-red spider lilies.

From within the eerie flowerbed, countless arms stretched out.

Struggling, twisting.

It was as if they were trying to drag him into the deepest hell.

The entire painting is filled with an unsettling and eerie atmosphere.

In the lower right corner of the portrait, there are two small characters written: Immortal Feather!

-

-

Led by Master Hongyuan, Jiang Mu arrived at the "Hidden Merit Pavilion" of Chongtian Temple.

From the outside, it is just a two-story pavilion with blue bricks and gray tiles, and it is not particularly eye-catching.

But once inside, after passing through a hidden array corridor, a staircase made of a single piece of bluestone suddenly appears before your eyes, extending downwards continuously.

Following the stone steps down, you arrive at an underground hall.

The ceiling of the hall is inlaid with luminous pearls, and the surrounding walls are made of hard bluestone, engraved with protective array patterns.

Master Hongyuan led Jiang Mu into a separate stone chamber.

There were two bookshelves inside, displaying dozens of martial arts manuals, most of which were incomplete.

Even if it is complete, only the front part is shown.

This is a preventative measure.

To prevent thieves from sneaking in and stealing the entire manual at once.

To borrow the complete book, one must undergo strict registration and then be accompanied by a designated person to a secret chamber further inside to retrieve the remaining portion.

"Young friend Mu, let me explain this to you in advance. The core cultivation techniques passed down by Chongtian Temple are restricted by the sect's rules and ancestral teachings and cannot be passed on to outsiders unless you are willing to become a disciple of our sect."

Master Hongyuan pointed to the inner chamber of the stone chamber and said,

"But these techniques are fine, because they all come from other sects, and their origins... hehe."

Hongyuan revealed a sly smile and continued:
"In short, my letting you study this book is not a violation of the sect rules. You may choose any book here. However, let me make this clear from the start: if the original owner's family finds out in the future, young friend Mu, you cannot say that you obtained it from me."

Jiang Mu understood immediately:

"Rest assured, Master, I know how to handle this and will never cause you any trouble."

Master Hongyuan nodded, took a book from the bookshelf, and handed it to Jiang Mu:

"Young friend Mu will be starting his cultivation journey from scratch, so it's natural for him to build a solid foundation. This cultivation method is the most complete among these, and if I were to recommend one, it would be this one."

Jiang Mu took it and looked at it.

The Secret of Breathing

A very basic breathing exercise.

It is a basic method that teaches people how to adjust their breathing to be fine, even, deep, and long, so as to initially sense and accumulate true qi.

The technique is good, but unfortunately I can't use it.

Jiang Mu put the cultivation manual back: "This junior would like to take a look at it myself first, compare it with others, and perhaps find one that suits my taste better."

"Okay, take your time, no rush."

Master Hongyuan didn't force him. He walked to a futon in the corner of the stone chamber, sat down, and took out the two talismans Jiang Mu had drawn, continuing to study them.

Jiang Mu is currently lacking a supportive cultivation technique.

Absorb as much vital energy as possible so that you can refine more pure spiritual energy when you cultivate together later.

He patiently flipped through the martial arts manuals on the bookshelf one by one.

At the same time, I try to search for similar or related information from the chaotic fragments of memory in my mind.

Unfortunately, he was unfamiliar with most of the techniques.

It is not due to memory loss.

After all, in the Xuanming World, it was impossible for him to be completely familiar with all the cultivation techniques and magical treasures.

Fortunately, there are many cultivation techniques here, giving him ample choice.

After browsing for a while, Jiang Mu finally picked up a booklet titled "A Brief Explanation of Qi Circulation".

According to the notes in the book, this is a fragment that a sect leader called "Azure Sky Sword Sect" collected and pieced together from various sources to decipher.

The content is extremely fragmented.

Many parts are poorly written, and the descriptions of the qi circulation routes are vague or even contradictory.

To outsiders, it's just a pile of waste paper.

No dogs.

However, as Jiang Mu was reading through its contents, several long-forgotten fragments of memory suddenly flashed through his mind.

He remembered that it was created by a powerful figure from the Xuanming Realm.

The original title was "Refining the Dao in Other Mountains".

To seize the fortune of others, and to refine my own unique path.

Commonly known as the "Absorption Technique"!
(End of this chapter)