The Confucian and Taoist Sages of Mortal Cultivation

As dawn broke, in a deserted house north of Jiayuan City, a man and seven women stood in the main hall, looking around.

These eight people were Yang Qingyuan and the mother and daughter of the Mo family.

"Master Yang, this is the ancestral home of our Yan family." Madam Yan pointed to a portrait behind the altar and said, "This is our Yan family's sixteenth ancestor, Yan Chengjiao."

Upon hearing this, Yang Qingyuan quickly walked to the offering table, used his Heavenly Eye Technique, and a silver light flashed in his eyes as he looked around.

Under the observation of the clairvoyance technique, the offering table actually emitted a faint spiritual light.

Upon seeing this, Yang Qingyuan flicked his sleeve and threw out a gold-locked ring.

The golden lock ring transformed into a streak of golden light and slammed heavily onto the offering table, but then it was bounced into the air.

The offering table swayed incessantly, flashing with five-colored spiritual light that illuminated the room.

Upon seeing this, Madam Yan was slightly surprised and said, "Ah, so there's more to this ancestral altar than meets the eye."

"Master Yang, what exactly is going on?"

Yang Qingyuan took out the animal hide scroll and handed it to Madam Yan, saying, "I obtained this treasure map by chance before."

"Based on the clues above, that's how we arrived at Jiayuan City."

"This altar should be one of the components of the formation; only a descendant of the Yan family with magical power can open it through bloodline."

Yan took the animal skin scroll and carefully examined its contents.

Third Madam Liu also came closer, reading the animal skin scroll, and asked in surprise, "Fourth Sister, your ancestors actually included cultivators? How come I've never heard you mention it before?"

Madam Yan shook her head and said with a wry smile, "Women are not allowed to enter the ancestral hall in the Yan family. I don't know much about our ancestors' affairs either."

"Speaking of which, there was indeed an unnamed mantra passed down in our family back then."

"Whenever the boys in the family learn to read, their elders will urge them to practice this mantra."

"I also secretly learned it."

"But they didn't master anything, and no one in the entire Yan family succeeded in cultivating it."

"Later, this mnemonic was gradually forgotten."

"I never imagined that this nameless incantation would actually be a cultivation technique for immortality."

Upon hearing this, Mo Caihuan felt extremely regretful and said, "Mother, why didn't you study and practice more diligently back then!"

"Maybe if we persevere a little longer, we'll make a name for ourselves."

Yang Qingyuan, who was standing nearby, chimed in to explain, "It's useless. To cultivate a technique, you must first have a spiritual root."

"The reason why the Yan family members have failed to achieve anything in their cultivation is because they lack spiritual roots."

"It seems that Madam Yan also lacks the aptitude for cultivation."

"However, we have no other choice but to try this as a last resort. Please, Madam Yan, drip a drop of your blood onto this offering table."

After saying this, Yang Qingyuan cast a golden needle spell, and a golden flying needle appeared in his left hand. He then reached out and grabbed Yan's slender hand.

Yan's hands felt very soft to the touch, clearly indicating that she came from a wealthy family and never had to lift a finger.

Since Mo Juren disappeared, Yan had never been close to a man. Now, with Yang Qingyuan holding her hand, her heart raced and her heart fluttered with desire.

Yang Qingyuan gently pricked Yan's left index finger with a gold needle, causing Yan to let out a soft moan.

As a drop of blood fell onto the offering table, the table trembled slightly before absorbing the blood.

However, the restrictions on the offering table were not lifted.

This made Yang Qingyuan frown slightly.

Madam Yan also felt very regretful. She bowed to Yang Qingyuan and said, "It's all my fault for not having spiritual roots, which has ruined Master Yang's good deed."

"According to the ancestor's personal letter, only a descendant of the Yan family with magical powers can break the restriction."

Mo Caihuan, quick-witted, considered her options and said, "I also have the blood of the Yan family. If I possess spiritual roots, could I help Brother Yang?"

Yang Qingyuan shook his head and replied, "You don't have any spiritual roots either."

The women, including Li and Wang, craned their necks in anticipation and asked, "Immortal Master, do we have spiritual roots?"

Upon hearing this, Yang Qingyuan took out a colorful talisman from his storage bag. It was the "Spirit Sensing Talisman" used by the Valley Master Qingyan, which could detect the attributes of spiritual roots.

This talisman can be used repeatedly more than ten times. In Tainan Valley, Valley Master Qingyan used it on Yang Qingyuan once, and never took it back afterward.

Yang Qingyuan then infused his magical power into the talisman and began to test the spiritual roots of the women.

As expected, none of the women had spiritual roots and were unable to cultivate.

The women present couldn't help but feel dejected.

Mo Caihuan was also stunned and felt very frustrated, muttering, "I didn't expect the probability of developing a spiritual root to be so small."

"Brother Yang, is it really impossible to cultivate immortality without spiritual roots?"

"Of course..." Yang Qingyuan was about to reply when he suddenly thought of something and fell into deep thought. He patted the storage bag at his waist, took out the writing implements, and placed them on the altar.

"What does Master Yang want to write? This humble woman will grind the ink for you." Upon seeing this, Mo Yuzhu walked straight forward, took the water bottle she used for hunting from her waist, poured water into the inkstone, and then began to grind the ink.

Yang Qingyuan pondered for a moment, then picked up his pen and began to write on the paper.

The Mo family mother and daughter crowded around, wanting to see what Yang Qingyuan was writing.

Fourth Madam Yan then parted her lips slightly and read aloud, word by word:

"The Jade Palace in the heavens, with twelve towers and five cities."

"An immortal touched my head, and I was granted eternal life."

The women looked at each other in bewilderment upon reading this.

"These are probably the most ethereal and expansive lines of poetry I've ever read," said Madam Wang, the Fifth Madam, speechless. "I never imagined that Master Yang's literary talent was so exceptional."

The second wife, Madam Li, was also greatly impressed. She parted her lips slightly and praised, "It wouldn't be an exaggeration to call him a banished immortal."

This poem was not written by Yang Qingyuan, but rather the first four lines of Li Bai's poem "After the Turmoil and Separation, I Remember My Old Travels to Yelang and Write This Poem to Prefect Wei Liangzai of Jiangxia," which became widely known.

The story goes that there is a fairy city in the sky built of white jade, with magnificent and splendid pavilions and city walls. Once, an immortal touched the top of my head and taught me the way to immortality when I was young.

After Yang Qingyuan finished writing the poem, the mantra scroll in his dantian seemed to respond and began to buzz.

Below the "Thunder" mantra, the "Soothe" mantra is formed.

The mantra "Soothing" has a unique effect: it bestows spiritual roots upon mortals.

[Spiritual root aptitude depends on the power of the "Soothing" mantra. Currently, it can be granted three types of true spiritual roots, and the number of recipients is limited to seven.]

[The holder of the Mantra Scroll can, in an instant, reclaim the bestowed spiritual root, and also take away the cultivation and righteous energy of the recipient.]

A glint flashed in Yang Qingyuan's eyes as he thought to himself, "Just as I expected."

In this way, he will be able to successfully open the Yan family's treasure.

Moreover, Yang Qingyuan can even reclaim the cultivation and righteous energy of those who have been granted spiritual roots.

In the cultivation world, the method of absorbing the righteous energy of others does exist. For example, after Han Li formed his Nascent Soul, when he infiltrated the Great Jin Bailu Academy, he encountered a late-stage Foundation Establishment Confucian cultivator who wanted to extract the righteous energy of a schoolteacher. However, it was not mentioned what happened to the two of them.

Yang Qingyuan was worried that his accumulation of righteous energy was too slow, so he looked around at the Mo family mother and daughter and said slowly, "I have a method that can guide you onto the path of cultivation."

"What?!" Upon hearing this, the mother and daughter of the Mo family were overjoyed.

No mortal would refuse such an opportunity.

But Yang Qingyuan added, "But I must make it clear to you beforehand, because this method is too drastic and must not be leaked in the slightest."

"Therefore, I will plant a restriction called 'Black Fiend Seal' in your bodies in advance."

"To prevent you from leaking the news one day and causing unnecessary trouble."

"If you are unwilling, I, Yang, also have a set of forget-worry acupuncture techniques here."

"You can erase the memory of this conversation, and then you can go wherever you want."

This Black Fiend Seal comes from the "Black Fiend Asura Technique" by the Azure-Patterned Daoist. It is extremely vicious. When the curse seal is activated, it will turn the cultivator into a pool of pus and blood, killing them instantly.

Upon hearing this, both the mother and daughter of the Mo family felt a chill run down their spines.

The Fifth Madam, known for her "cold and aloof" demeanor, was the first to react. She knelt down with a thud and kowtowed to Yang Qingyuan, saying, "My lady Wang is willing to serve the Immortal Master for all eternity."

"If you ever harbor even the slightest thought of betrayal, may I curse you to death and suffer a terrible fate."

Wang Shi has been in charge of the Jingjiao Society's secret operations for many years, and his thirst for power is ingrained in his very bones.

But after meeting the cultivators today, she realized that all the peerless martial arts, martial arts masters, and Jianghu forces were utterly insignificant in front of cultivators.

Now that Wang heard that Yang Qingyuan could guide her to become a cultivator, she did not hesitate at all and was willing to serve Yang Qingyuan as her master.

The remaining women of the Mo family, after careful consideration, were unwilling to give up this heaven-sent opportunity. They exchanged glances and then knelt on the ground in unison.

"Very good." Upon seeing this, Yang Qingyuan opened his mouth and exhaled a stream of silvery light.

The rosy light spun around and condensed into seven "抚" characters, which then entered the bodies of the seven Mo family members, mother and daughters.

Immediately afterwards, Yang Qingyuan used the Black Fiend Seal from the Black Fiend Asura Technique to plant a restriction in the bodies of the seven women.

After obtaining the three spiritual roots of wood, fire, and earth, Fourth Madam Yan once again circulated the ancestral incantation. About half an hour later, she finally felt a faint warm current gathering in her dantian.

Yang Qingyuan also sensed a faint spiritual light on Yan Shi's body through his Heavenly Eye Technique, which meant that she could barely be considered a cultivator at the first level of Qi Refining. He then gently pricked Yan Shi's index finger again, letting a drop of blood fall onto the table.

This time, the offering table trembled incessantly, emitting multicolored light.

When the light faded, a gray storage bag appeared on the altar.

Seeing this, Yang Qingyuan finally smiled, used his object manipulation technique to open the storage bag, poured its contents onto the offering table, and began to take inventory...