Dream of the Red Chamber: Starting from Immortal Martial Arts

"Shh, I heard that a team of highly skilled bounty hunters died in a haunted temple in the northern suburbs a couple of days ago. They were all drained of their life force and turned into dried-up corpses. It was a terrible sight."

"High-ranking Taoist and Buddhist priests have perished here before. Compared to these immortal masters, what are bounty hunters?"

『......』

Jia Tang slowly withdrew his divine sense, his expression thoughtful: 'Guo Bei County, the Ghost Temple—that must be Nie Xiaoqian.'

Is it the entire world of *Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio*, or just the world of Lanruo Temple?

"Does the fourth-tier upper limit refer to the Black Mountain Demon, the Giant Centipede, or some other human or demon not mentioned in the original work? Is the cultivation system in this realm based on absorbing Qi and consuming food, or on cultivating true Qi? Perhaps only meeting Yan Chixia will provide the answers."

Jia Tang shook his head, no longer thinking about it. After feeling the Tiger Demon Extermination Banner within his body, his mind calmed down. He then said to the four retainers, "Retainers Li, Cui, and the two Zhaos, go out of the city and explore the surrounding area for a hundred miles."

"only!"

After receiving their orders, Li Jia and the other three disappeared from the spot in an instant.

A moment later, the four returned and said, "There are scattered villages a hundred miles south of the city, where bandits are fighting and killing each other."

"The western part of the city is overgrown with weeds, littered with corpses, and sparsely populated."

"There is another city ninety li east of this city, and the situation is not much different from here."

"The mountains north of the city are deep and secluded, desolate and cold, with a gloomy atmosphere condensing within, which may be hiding a large amount of goods."

Li Jia continued, "I wonder if the young master and everyone else have felt it, but coming here seems to have removed some shackles from our bodies. Whether it's flying or breathing exercises, it's much faster than in the manor, at least 40% faster."

Jia Tang nodded and said to everyone, "It's due to the difference in the scale of heaven and earth. We don't know our current strength yet, so we need to find something to practice on first."

"Destination: Northern suburban mountains and forests. Onward!"

The crowd quickly lined up, with the two generals of Ankang leading the Fire Tiger Guards in front and the Golden Tiger Guards behind, surrounded by five great worshippers on the left and right, along with the two generals of Heping. They escorted the indifferent-looking Jia Tang out of the temple and headed north of the city towards the gradually darkening sky.

When they arrived on the main street of the city, all the passersby were startled by the sight.

A large group of heavily armored soldiers, their hands on their waists and their eyes cold, surrounded a burly young man in fine clothes, striding northward.

"Wow, what a distinguished guest could possibly arrive in this godforsaken place?"

"Look at those people's clothes; one of their robes could probably buy a courtyard house in the city."

"Wearing armor, with tiger patterns etched on it, could it be the son of some noble family traveling together?"

The bounty hunter in front, with a mole on the corner of his mouth and black hair growing from it, rolled his eyes when he heard the surrounding chatter. After whispering to the people behind him, he strode to the front of the line and knelt down with a thud, pleading pitifully, "Please, sir, have pity on us! We haven't eaten for days. Please, sir, give us some silver so we can have a full meal."

Before the people behind him could echo him, a fierce soldier wearing black armor engraved with fire tigers swung his waist knife. In the blink of an eye, several bounty hunters were decapitated, their hot blood gushing out onto the ground.

The soldiers marched past in formation without pausing for a moment, and everyone realized they had met their match, so they scattered like birds and beasts.

After leaving the city gate, they arrived at the mountains and forests to the north. Following the footprints, they strolled in and killed any hungry wolves they encountered along the way, their eyes gleaming green and their mouths drooling.

Jia Tang recalled the tree demon in the movie who could control the movement of the surrounding trees and create a maze, and slowly spread his divine sense.

He tried to sense whether the surrounding trees contained spiritual energy, but after a long while he found nothing, so he guessed that it was just the old witch's racial supernatural power.

Before long, the group arrived at a dilapidated and abandoned ancient temple. There stood a stone tablet leaning against the wall, and in the dim moonlight, three large, indistinct characters could be vaguely seen carved on it.

The group strode towards the interior, where they found the ancient temple in ruins, with various stone pagodas and piers leaning to one side.

Outside the main hall, a broken bronze bell hangs on the thick branches of a poplar tree, seemingly unringed for a long time.

As the group entered the main hall, they discovered several holes in the roof through which the pitch-black night sky could be seen. Several clay bodhisattvas, each with a different form, stood there blankly, their painted decorations long since peeled off and covered with thick dust and cobwebs.

Moonlight pierced through the gaps in the dark clouds, sparsely scattering across the dilapidated statues in the main hall. A gust of cold wind blew by, rustling the poplar trees around the temple. Combined with the eerie, chilling laughter of owls echoing through the forest, the atmosphere was utterly unsettling.

Just then, the sound of a creaking door opening suddenly came from the west side of the main hall, and messy footsteps accompanied by a glimmer of light walked towards the hall.

Jia Tang and the others saw a scholar, his robes half-wet and his figure frail, carrying a broken lantern as he came to investigate. When he saw them, he suddenly froze and stood there speechless.

Jia Tang chuckled and said, "Excuse me, young man. We are new to this place and would like to ask for lodging for the night. Would you be so kind as to do us this favor?"

As the queue dispersed, the scholar breathed a sigh of relief upon seeing Jia Tang, who was dressed in luxurious clothes. He bowed repeatedly and said in a trembling voice, "Greetings, esteemed...esteemed sir. My name is Ning Caichen. I am also staying here. This temple is unclaimed land. There used to be a white-robed gentleman living in the temple, keeping company with the Buddha."

Just then, a dashing young man dressed in white, carrying a sword case on his back, stepped in. He had come to check on the upright scholar, worried that he might have been poisoned by demons.

Upon discovering the newcomer, Ning Caichen's face lit up with joy. He hurriedly hid behind the person and muttered a few words under his breath.

The swordsman said loudly, "Greetings, everyone. This is not a safe place. If you wish to stay overnight, you should be prepared."

Jia Tang stepped forward, his divine sense spreading out. After gently examining the energy fluctuations within the swordsman's body, he smiled and nodded, saying, "Greetings, fellow Daoist. They are nothing more than a few demons; we can easily slay them."

His internal energy is about the same as that of the four generals. He and Ning Caichen can both solo Black Mountain, so I expect our side will be no problem either.

The swordsman was taken aback. After a flash of golden light in his eyes, he bowed and said, "Greetings, fellow Daoist. I am Yan Chixia. I presume you have come to exorcise demons from this place? I have noticed an astonishing spiritual energy within you, and your physical body is incredibly strong. Could you perhaps be a body cultivator?"

As the two were talking, Jia He swept up three stone blocks, shaved them into stone benches, and brought them over. Yan Chixia paused for a moment upon seeing this, bowed, and then took the benches and sat down.

"Body cultivation? I am unaware of that. Please enlighten me, fellow Daoist."

Yan Chixia was stunned again, not knowing?

He wondered, "The cultivation of the world is for seeking immortality and the Dao. It is divided into sword cultivation, knife cultivation, body cultivation and so on, depending on various emphases. They all follow the path of Qi cultivation and foundation building, core formation and infant formation, and finally, deity transformation and ascension. Body cultivation believes that the physical body is the means to protect the Dao, so they do not cultivate techniques but only cultivate the body."