Divine Tang Era

Before long, Wang Shouyi ran inside and took out several sheets of paper. The top sheet had the words "Five Elements Transport Method" written in large characters. Judging from the ink, it was clearly just written.

"You didn't copy this from a book, did you?" Xu Dan questioned the origin of the technique.

Wang Shouyi glanced around nervously, then said in a stern but weak voice, "Who cares where it comes from, as long as it's useful, isn't that enough?"

That makes sense.

Xu Dan flipped through the pages; there weren't many words on the few sheets, and he finished reading them in no time. He discovered that the Five Elements Transporting Method recorded on them was actually a method to subdue five ghosts and make them work for him.

"This is clearly a technique for controlling ghosts; is it suitable for commanding spirit children?"

"Although its name is 'spirit child,' its essence is no different from that of a ghost; both are spirits. One is a yin entity, and the other is a yang entity. So this method is just right," Wang Shouyi said calmly.

"But this is the Five Sons Transporting Method, which means we need to find four more spiritual children to use it."

"You're so stubborn. They're all techniques for controlling the elements anyway, so who cares how many there are, as long as they can be used? Five elements just mean one more Five Elements Formation. Does that mean five people can do something, but one person can't?"

Xu Dan nodded, feeling that it made sense.

Wang Shouyi glanced at it secretly, and only breathed a sigh of relief when he found that there was no problem.

He had only learned a few cultivation techniques, and this one was most suitable for the spiritual child. If it wasn't suitable, there would be no other techniques for him. Wouldn't those dozens of spirit stones just slip through his fingers? Absolutely not. But to avoid future conflicts, Wang Shouyi kindly reminded him, "This is the Lesser Transport Technique. After you've mastered it, come back, and I'll give you the Medium Transport Technique."

Xu Dan frowned and asked, "Is there also a Great Transport Method?"

"How did you know?" Wang Shouyi asked, looking bewildered.

Xu Dan grabbed him and lifted him up. "Are you playing me? Splitting a martial arts manual into three parts so you can charge me more?"

"Put me down," Wang Shouyi struggled a few times, but finding he couldn't break free, he said, "Who said that? That's how my master taught me when I was learning. Don't you think about it? Newborn babies drink milk, they don't eat meat. The small transport method is the foundation, like building a house. Once the foundation is solid, you build the walls and the house on top. If you don't lay a good foundation before building the walls and the house, wouldn't it be blown down by a strong wind? The same principle applies. If you don't know anything, how can you learn the large transport method?"

"Are you sure you're not lying to me?" Xu Dan asked seriously.

"No," Wang Shouyi said loudly, sounding aggrieved.

Seeing that his eyes were clear and he didn't seem to be lying to him, Xu Dan let him go.

But to avoid leaving a grudge and refusing to help when needed someday, he explained kindly, "It's not that I think you're lying to me, it's just that you took out a few newly written papers, and called it the 'small-scale moving method,' anyone would misunderstand, don't you think? It's just that I'm easy to talk to. If you encountered some unreasonable and domineering people, then it would be difficult to handle."

You're just an unreasonable brute.

Wang Shouyi muttered to himself, but dared not say it aloud.

He didn't look like much, but he was incredibly strong, lifting him up in one go. Dealing with this kind of person was no good. He had experience dealing with these kinds of people; having spent years in the temple, he'd encountered plenty of troublesome individuals like him. At this point, you absolutely must speak kindly and coax them; otherwise, they might do anything if they're unhappy. Although Donglai Palace wasn't afraid, they didn't want to cause trouble.

So when he encounters such situations, he always tries to persuade them with kind words and accompanies them carefully, and in the end, they are always satisfied.

Some even bought a lot of talismans, which made him a lot of money.

"How much?" Xu Dan asked, putting away his little moving technique.

"Fine, I'll let you have it..." Wang Shouyi extended his right palm, then retracted two fingers. After thinking for a moment, he felt it was a bit unethical to charge so much for a small teleportation technique, so he retracted one finger and said, "We're all acquaintances, so I'll just give you twenty spirit stones."

Xu Dan took out a spirit stone and gave it to him, then asked, "Do you have any good amulets or peace charms? The more powerful the better."

"I have plenty of amulets, but as for peace charms..."

Wang Shouyi only ever sold talismans, never protective spirit tablets. So when Xu Dan wanted to buy one, he was in a dilemma.

If I say no, a bunch of small change slips through my fingers; if I say yes, I don't have it on hand. Suddenly, I remember that the crane in the Daojun Temple seems to be carrying a divine tablet made of lightning-struck wood in its beak. My master took it out and hung it up after selling a jade tablet that was originally hanging there for a silver ingot.

So he led Xu Dan toward the Daojun Hall.

Upon entering the hall, Wang Shouyi hopped up and took the plaque from the beak of the tall crane.

Perhaps it had been sitting for a long time and was covered in a layer of dust, so I quickly wiped it with my sleeve.

"Here, this is it." Wang Shouyi handed the plaque to Xu Dan, and fearing he might find it dirty, he explained, "Don't let its dark color fool you; it's made of top-grade lightning-struck jujube wood. I don't know how many years it's been enshrined in the Daojun Temple; it's covered in dust. If you carry it with you, absolutely no ghosts will dare to approach."

"Lightning-struck wood, could that be used as a dwelling place for a spirit child?"

"No, no, this is a sacred tablet that has been worshipped with incense. If the spirit child goes in, the spirit official will beat him to death," Wang Shouyi said, shaking his head repeatedly.

It was then that Xu Dan realized that the carving on the plaque depicted Wang Lingguan, a Taoist guardian deity who protects mountains.

Wang Lingguan has a red face and beard, wears golden armor and a red robe, has three angry eyes, rides on wind and fire wheels, holds a golden seal in his left hand and a golden whip in his right hand. He is majestic and brave, and is the head of the five hundred Taoist spirit officials, known as the "Great Spirit Official of the Capital".

It is said that it has fiery eyes on its forehead that can distinguish between truth and falsehood, good and evil, and prevent evil spirits and demons from hiding.

The statue of Wang Lingguan is carved so lifelike that it appears to be enshrined in smoke and fire, as if it has been worshipped for countless years.

Xu Dan nodded in satisfaction and asked, "How much?"

"This is quite expensive, it costs one tael of gold," Wang Shouyi said, holding up one finger. His master sold a jade pendant for one ingot of silver, so selling it for one tael of gold himself wasn't unreasonable, was it?

Xu Dan paid the bill, said goodbye, and left.

Wang Shouyi held the spirit stones and gold, feeling quite pleased with himself. If more wealthy clients like him came, the prosperity of Donglai Palace would be just around the corner.

When Ye Jingzang, the master of Donglai Palace, returned, he noticed that the sign hanging on the crane's beak was missing and hurriedly asked his disciple.

Wang Shouyi took out a tael of gold and showed it off, saying, "I sold it. It's a tael of gold, which is more than several dozen taels more than the silver you sold it for."

Ye Jingcang gasped. What a good disciple! This spendthrift! Doesn't he know he was originally going to give away the jade pendant last time? It was only because the other party refused that he had to ask for twenty taels as a token of appreciation. Otherwise, was that pendant only worth twenty taels? Even a hundred twenty taels wouldn't buy it.

Similarly, this brand is worth more than just an ounce of gold.

That spendthrift son of a bitch, he just brought it out and sold it in the blink of an eye. Is this a brand name? It's a favor.

But you can't explain this to him, otherwise he'll definitely say, "Master, are you stupid?" Do you believe it?

"Very good, very good." Ye Jingcang was clearly heartbroken and breathless, yet he still had to praise his disciple. He sighed inwardly, put his hands behind his back, and walked inside. He was afraid that if he didn't leave soon, he would have to expel the disciples.

"Strange, Master seems a little unhappy."

Wang Shouyi muttered something to himself, then immediately beamed with joy. So many spirit stones and gold!

Xu Dan left Donglai Palace but didn't go home immediately. The most important thing now was to solve the problem of the spirit child; otherwise, if he was always openly followed around, he might be mistaken for a monster and killed one day.

Where are you going?

Markets and shops are places where the quality of goods varies greatly, and since you don't know how to appraise them, it's not a big deal if you get ripped off. But if the things you buy are unsuitable for the spirit child to inhabit and are even harmful, that would be terrible.

After much thought, I decided that I should still seek out Master Mingfeng.

Although she always liked to have me tell her legendary stories, the quality of the things she sold me was always top-notch, always exceeding the price I paid, never being low.

Having made up his mind, he headed towards Mingfeng Tower.

As for legends, just say so.

A decades-long novel enthusiast who has watched countless TV shows, movies, and videos, she could easily compile a book out of her words.