Under One Person: The Taoist Priest Descends the Mountain

"Stop, stop, stop! I surrender!" Cheng Mo jumped back, raising his hands high, his attitude extremely sincere. "Mr. Tu is incredibly powerful; this humble mortal is no match for him! I was being presumptuous!"

Cheng Mo only wanted to use Tu Junfang's methods to draw out his three corpses in order to try to sense the Qi of heaven and earth. Now that he saw Tu Junfang manifest his three corpses, he knew that the old man was ready to fight to the death.

Cheng Mo only wanted to pursue the Dao and didn't want to risk his life, so he quickly admitted defeat.

Tu Junfang froze, speechless with shock.

At this moment, Xia He jogged forward, spread her arms to block Cheng Mo, and said to Tu Junfang, "Uncle, let it go! He's just a stubborn training fanatic, he doesn't have any bad intentions~"

Her voice was clear and sweet. Although she didn't use any special abilities, her watery eyes looked at Tu Junfang, which inexplicably calmed down his anger.

In fact, Tu Junfang had already considered withdrawing when he discovered that Cheng Mo's mental state was stable and the Three Corpses Technique was ineffective.

He had no mortal feud with this kid, so there was no need for him to risk his life for the sake of saving face. Xia He's plea at this moment provided him with a way out.

He snorted coldly, the black aura around him receded, and the three black shadows of his body slowly shrank back into his body.

The unsettling chill of the open space dissipated.

"Kid, you're lucky today. I'll let it slide for this girl's sake. But in the future, don't ask questions you shouldn't ask, and don't provoke people you shouldn't provoke."

Tu Junfang stared coldly at Cheng Mo, his eyes seeming to want to poke holes in the boy.

Cheng Mo seemed oblivious to the murderous aura, and bowed respectfully, saying, "Thank you for your magnanimity, sir."

Tu Junfang's lips twitched, and he turned to leave—he was afraid that if he stayed any longer, he would really lose control and beat this arrogant brat into a pile of mud.

"Please wait a moment, sir!"

Tu Junfang stopped in his tracks.

He slowly turned around: "Kid, do you really want to die?"

"No, no, no, that's not what I meant." Cheng Mo quickly waved his hand, his expression so sincere it made one want to punch him. "I'm just encountering obstacles in my cultivation and wanted to ask Mr. Tu, how exactly should the Three Corpses evolve?"

Tu Junfang stared at Cheng Mo for a full three seconds, then suddenly laughed in exasperation: "Ha! You little brat, you want to join my Three Demons Sect?"

Cheng Mo shook his head, speaking seriously: "I have my own sect and it's inconvenient for me to switch. If it's inconvenient for Mr. Tu to tell me the method, could you... use the technique of inducing the Three Corpses on me again?"

Tu Junfang: "..."

This time, he wasn't as angry. Having been in the world of supernatural beings for so many years, he had a good eye. The kid in front of him had clear eyes and a serious expression; he didn't seem to be toying with him.

"Kid," Tu Junfang said, arms crossed, his tone softening, "just say what you have to say. I hate people who beat around the bush the most."

Cheng Mo looked puzzled: "Didn't I just say it from the beginning? Please help me activate the Three Corpses, Mr. Tu."

Tu Junfang: "..."

He took a deep breath, a vein throbbing on his temple: "You fucking...you're something else. I'm asking you, why the hell did you have to trigger the Three Corpses? Normal people would avoid it like the plague, but you, you're practically chasing after them?"

Cheng Mo suddenly realized, slapping his forehead: "Oh! So that's what you wanted to ask!"

Tu Junfang and Xia He rolled their eyes almost simultaneously.

"It's because I can't sense Qi," Cheng Mo said calmly, "so I want to use the Three Corpses to sense the existence of Qi."

"You can't sense the Qi?!"

Tu Junfang and Xia He spoke in unison.

Xia He blinked her big eyes, as if she had discovered a new continent: "No wonder you weren't affected by me!"

Tu Junfang frowned and glanced at her: "Girl, your special ability has nothing to do with whether he can sense Qi or not."

"Why is that?" Xia He asked, tilting her head.

"I'd like to ask why!" Tu Junfang muttered to himself, his gaze returning to Cheng Mo as he scrutinized him closely.

This kid is clearly practicing the orthodox Taoist cultivation method. His life force cultivation has reached an extremely high level. In terms of physical strength alone, he is even two points stronger than me.

But if you can't feel the presence of Qi, you can't use Qi to cultivate and strengthen your body. There's no reason why you could reach that level.

Tu Junfang became increasingly uneasy, his eyes turning suspicious: "You kid...you're not deliberately making fun of me, are you?"

Cheng Mo sighed, his expression serious: "I'm not a bad person, how could I deliberately play such a joke on you, Master? I really want to seek the Dao."

Tu Junfang muttered to himself, "I don't think you're a good person either... What good person would chase after someone asking them to manifest their three corpses?"

He was silent for a moment, then suddenly asked, "Judging from your methods, they seem to be orthodox Taoist practices. Finding the Quanzhen School's method for manifesting the Yang Spirit should be easier for you than finding me. Why go to such lengths?"

That's a very good question.

Cheng Mo had actually thought about this method years ago. There are many Quanzhen Taoist temples on Zhongnan Mountain. If he could learn a method to release his yang spirit, and his primordial spirit would leave his body, he would surely be able to see something, right?

But as soon as he mentioned this idea to his master, the old man gave him a severe scolding.

The old man was sitting cross-legged on the kang (a heated brick bed), picking at his toes as he said, "Those guys from the Quanzhen School refine essence, qi, and spirit through internal alchemy. First, they refine themselves to build a foundation, then they refine qi into spirit in the lower dantian. Only after their spirit and soul are strong enough can they try to separate their primordial spirit from their body."

"The Eight-Section Brocade and Vajra Longevity Exercise you practice are both internal alchemy practices. But here's the problem—" The old man wiped his hands, which he had just finished picking at his feet, on his Taoist robe.

"Can you even understand what essence, energy, and spirit mean from within yourself? You can't even sense Qi, so how can you refine Qi into spirit? How are you going to do it?"

Cheng Mo was thoroughly humiliated by the scolding and gave up the idea of ​​developing his Yang Spirit, focusing instead on practicing his skills.

Some things are like a slow and steady process; you can't master them until the time is right. Only through quantitative change can qualitative change occur, so he wasn't in a hurry.

But after being driven down the mountain by his master, Cheng Mo's thoughts changed somewhat.

Life on the mountain is peaceful and allows for quiet meditation; but once you come down from the mountain, if you continue to follow the same routine as on the mountain, then what's the point of coming down to the world?

We need to find a breakthrough.

That's why he set his sights on Tu Junfang.

"I cultivate the internal alchemy of my sect, and I have no Qi sensation at all, so naturally I cannot refine Qi into spirit, let alone try to separate my primordial spirit from my body," Cheng Mo explained to Tu Junfang.

"Before the primordial spirit leaves the body, one can only start from oneself, as outsiders cannot help. After much thought, the only way to succeed is through the Three Demon Sect's method of invoking the Three Corpses."

Tu Junfang remained silent after listening.

The wind blew across the riverbank, carrying a few withered leaves, and the broken windows of the abandoned brick kiln in the distance made a soft "whooshing" sound in the wind.

Xia He glanced at Cheng Mo, then at Tu Junfang, and muttered softly, "Why isn't anyone saying anything..."

At this moment, Tu Junfang felt a pang of sympathy for Cheng Mo.

This kid's cultivation of life force is incredibly powerful, yet he can't even sense Qi. He's like a blind man with immense strength, possessing great power but unable to see the road ahead.

And what about yourself?

The Three Demon Sect's cultivation methods are complete, but they lack the most crucial method of severing the three corpses. The higher one's cultivation level, the more severe the backlash from the three corpses one suffers.

Over the years, he joined Quanxing and struggled on the edge of life and death. Wasn't it all to temper his character in extreme environments and seek that sliver of the three corpses?

They were all seekers of the Way, and they were all stuck at the crucial point.

Tu Junfang let out a long breath, which condensed into white mist in the autumn air.

"Boy," he began, his tone no longer icy, "do you even know what the manifestation of the Three Corpses means?"

Cheng Mo nodded: "The three poisons of greed, anger, and ignorance manifest, eroding one's will and ultimately harming oneself."

"Knowing that you still want to try?"

"I want to see." Cheng Mo's eyes were bright. "I want to see what my desires look like, and see if they can become a bridge for me to perceive Qi. The Three Corpses originate from within myself and are closely related to sex, and what I lack is precisely the understanding of sex."

Tu Junfang stared at him for a long time.

Finally, he suddenly laughed, a laugh tinged with helplessness and emotion.

"Alright," he said, "then I'll show you."

After agreeing, Tu Junfang's expression turned serious: "However, during our sparring just now, I secretly tried the usual method of activating the Three Corpses, and it was completely ineffective against you."

Cheng Mo nodded: "Indeed, I felt nothing."

"Therefore," Tu Junfang looked up at him, "only by transferring the Qi condensed from my own Three Corpses into your body as a catalyst can we see if we can stimulate a reaction from your own Three Corpses."

He paused for a moment: "This method is dangerous and has never been tested on anyone else. If your own three corpses are activated and resonate with my corpse energy, the intensity will be unpredictable; if they are not activated... my corpse energy will remain in your body, which is definitely not a good thing."

Cheng Mo understood.

This is just a medical "allergen provocation test." Tu Junfang's corpse energy is an allergen. We inject it into our own bodies and see if there is a reaction.

"Then I'll trouble you, sir." Cheng Mo cupped his hands in greeting, his expression calm.

Tu Junfang stared at him, his eyes deep: "Boy, you should know that when I transfer my Qi to you, with just a thought, the corpse Qi can shred your internal organs and meridians. Your life and death will then be in my hands."

Cheng Mo is certainly not stupid.

He had a deep impression of Tu Junfang when he read comics in his previous life.

This person joined Quanxing only to hone himself and seek the method of severing the three corpses. He never indiscriminately killed innocent people. In fact, he was quite principled in some matters. He was not an irredeemable villain. He had a bottom line in his actions and kept his promises.

The information acquired by Jianghu Xiaozhan also confirmed this.

Cheng Mo straightened his Taoist robe and stood ramrod straight: "Since you have come to me for help, I naturally trust you. Please do as I please."