Wild Dogs

Upon seeing the old Taoist priest, Yang Fan desperately suppressed his fear and stood up tremblingly.

"Greetings, Taoist Master!"

The old Taoist priest walked in and casually closed the door.

"Alright, kid, tell me, how did things go at Qingyun Temple? Did you get the jade pendant? Sword Tomb..."

Before he could finish speaking, the old Taoist priest's face darkened as he looked at Yang Fan's clothes.

"Why are you still wearing your servant's clothes? Didn't I give you the Ascension Token? With the Ascension Token in hand, how come you're still a servant?"

The old Taoist's gaze grew increasingly cold.

Cold sweat seeped from his back, and Yang Fan nervously swallowed.

"Master, I failed to become a disciple of Qingyun Temple; I'm currently a menial servant in the Pill Refining Hall..."

"What?!"

"You good-for-nothing! That was an Ascension Token, but you're just a menial servant! What use are you to me?!"

Enraged, the old Taoist priest rushed over and grabbed Yang Fan by the collar.

To be honest, if he didn't only have one Ascension Token, he would have slapped Yang Fan to death.

"Master, spare my life! This is not my fault; I was forced into this situation."

Yang Fan hurriedly shouted and immediately explained the whole story.

After Yang Fan recounted everything, the old Taoist clenched his fists in anger.

"Shameless old man, how dare you steal my Ascension Token!"

It took the old Taoist priest most of the time to calm down.

"Well, that's how it is now, there's nothing we can do but accept it. What can I do when I don't have any more Ascension Tokens?"

The old Taoist muttered something under his breath, then looked Yang Fan up and down.

"It's alright to be a menial job. It may be a bit troublesome, but I can still get things done."

"So, how's things going with you now?"

Yang Fan could only give a vague, general account of the matter.

He didn't dare say that he hadn't gone to the Sword Tomb yet, but vaguely said that he was trying to get closer to it, but hadn't succeeded yet.

After listening for a while, the old Taoist's face turned completely gloomy.

"So, you haven't done anything all month?"

"No, I've already gotten close to Senior Sister Xu Longyue, but I haven't had the right opportunity to make a move."

At this point, Yang Fan poured out his grievances to the old Taoist priest.

"Master, I really want to help you, but I don't have any cultivation techniques right now, and my strength is insufficient, so I can't do anything even if I want to."

Yang Fan wasn't trying to get any benefits from the old Taoist priest; he just wanted to use this method to lull the old priest into a false sense of security.

"Hmm, that's true. There's no way a menial servant like you could possibly obtain any cultivation techniques."

The old Taoist priest originally thought Yang Fan would become a disciple of Qingyun Temple, so he never taught him any martial arts techniques from the beginning.

Yang Fan is just a menial laborer now, and he has no ability to accomplish anything, so I can only help him out.

"It's not impossible for me to teach you my skills, but you must first become my disciple."

The old Taoist priest sized up Yang Fan.

"Hehe, this old Taoist has been wandering the martial world for so many years, but I've never taken on a disciple. I'll make an exception and accept you this time."

Apprentice?

Yang Fan never expected that the old Taoist priest would want to take him as his disciple.

"But I've already joined Qingyun Temple. If I try to learn your techniques, won't it give me away?"

This old Taoist priest was clearly an evil cultivator, and the techniques he passed on to Yang Fan might have been tampered with. Of course, Yang Fan didn't want to become his disciple.

"Oh, so you're saying you're unwilling to become my disciple?"

The old Taoist priest's face darkened, and he took out the small drum, ready to strike it.

"Thump!"

Yang Fan knelt down and hurriedly bowed to the old Taoist priest.

"Disciple Yang Fan greets Master!"

"Good disciple, we are now master and disciple, there is no need for such a grand ceremony."

The old Taoist priest smiled and helped Yang Fan up. Then he touched the gourd, and soon two booklets flew out of his hand.

"This one is the cultivation technique that I, your master, passed on to you; the other one is a technique for concealing one's breath."

"Master Dao's techniques are somewhat unorthodox; it's best not to let others discover them."

"With this concealment technique, you can temporarily hide your cultivation level so that others cannot detect it."

Yang Fan's heart skipped a beat; he was now able to cultivate his inner energy.

Because the amount of spiritual energy refined so far is too small, it doesn't attract much attention.

If we wait a while, someone will eventually notice something amiss.

Now that I have this Breath Concealment Technique, I can temporarily hide my cultivation level.

"Thank you, Master!"

Yang Fan respectfully bowed to the old Taoist priest.

"Ahem, Master's Daoist name is Beiming, don't forget."

Yang Fan nodded hurriedly and carefully held the two booklets in his arms.

He glanced at the gourd at the waist of the old Daoist Beiming and a thought struck him.

"Master, I see that all the immortals have storage bags, and you also have this gourd. I wonder if you could bestow a gourd upon your disciple as well?"

"This way, it will be convenient for the disciples to carry whatever they want."

Old Daoist Beiming snorted coldly.

"Even I, the Daoist, can't afford a storage bag, and you want one? I don't have one. Keep those two booklets safe."

"If you get caught by Qingyun Temple, I can't save you."

Yang Fan hurriedly nodded obsequiously.

"Fine, I'll forgive you this time, but you must make progress next time, otherwise, I have plenty of ways to torture you."

"Don't blame me for being ruthless then."

As the old Taoist priest spoke, Yang Fan nodded hurriedly.

Seeing that the old Taoist priest seemed to be in a better mood, Yang Fan tentatively looked at him.

"Master, what exactly is the use of the jade pendant on Miss Xu's body? Is it worth all this trouble?"

Yang Fan was curious about the feud between the Old Daoist Beiming and the Xu family.

"This is a long time ago, it happened hundreds of years ago."

"My ancestors and the Xu family ancestors were brothers from the same school. Back then, the two of them explored a secret realm together and found a pair of jade pendants inside."

"It is said that the jade pendant contained a great secret, but neither of them had enough power at the time, so they could only divide the jade pendant into two pieces, one for each of them."

"I never expected that the descendants of the Xu family would be so ungrateful, attacking our Han family and wiping out our entire family in order to steal the jade pendant."

"If it weren't for my quick thinking and sneaking away, the Han family would have been finished."

"Hey, tell me, was it right or wrong for me to wipe out the entire Xu family?"

Yang Fan nodded hurriedly, clenching his fist in righteous indignation.

"Of course I should. It's truly gratifying that Master has avenged himself. I will definitely help Master get that jade pendant."

As Yang Fan spoke, he secretly glanced at the old Daoist Bei Ming, and from his inhuman appearance, he roughly understood.

To seek revenge, this old Taoist priest from the Northern Underworld must have made quite a few sacrifices.

This made Yang Fan even more wary of the old Taoist's techniques; if he practiced them, he feared he would also turn into this inhuman, ghostly creature.

"This is the antidote for this month."

The old Taoist priest handed Yang Fan a dark-colored pill.

Yang Fan took the pill but hesitated and did not swallow it.

The things the old Taoist priest gave him all had some problems, and Yang Fan felt he should put them into the small cauldron to test them.

"Eat quickly, or it will be too late."

A sinister smile appeared on the face of the old Daoist Beiming, which was somewhat intimidating.

Yang Fan didn't dare to hesitate; he pretended to be nonchalant and swallowed the pill.

"Don't worry, the pills I gave you will only benefit you and will not do you any harm."

"As long as you work honestly for Master Dao, he will reward you handsomely."

The old Taoist patted Yang Fan on the shoulder, his smile somewhat sinister.

"Yes, Master!"

Yang Fan forced a stiff smile.

Since he had already taken the antidote, Yang Fan decided to give up entirely.

"Master, I haven't started cultivating yet. Could you give me some self-defense items so that I can protect myself if I encounter danger?"

Now that he was certain the old Taoist priest wouldn't make a move against him anytime soon, Yang Fan decided to take advantage of the old priest.

"Too."

The old Daoist Beiming stroked his chin, rummaged in his gourd for a while, and pulled out a crumpled yellow talisman, stuffing it into Yang Fan's hand.

"This is a talisman for escaping into the ground. If you encounter danger, you can use this talisman to leave the place."

"However, this talisman can only be used ten times in total. I have already used it seven times, and there are three times left. Be careful when you use it."

After thinking it over, the old Taoist priest from Beihai felt that one yellow talisman might not be enough.

He patted the gourd and then took out a small drum.

"This is a treasure refined by the Taoist priest. If you encounter danger, you can beat this drum, and even the rats in Qingyun Temple will obey you."

"Don't underestimate mice; they can act as your eyes and ears."

Yang Fan took the small drum without giving it much thought.

This thing is of little use to him either.

"Alright, I've given you the item. It'll be here again next month. If you still come away empty-handed, don't blame me for being ruthless."

The old Taoist priest chuckled and patted Yang Fan on the shoulder. Then he beckoned, and a group of rats swarmed around him and walked outside.

Yang Fan only sighed with relief long after the old Taoist had left.

"I almost got killed by that old Taoist priest."

Yang Fan glanced at what the old Taoist priest had given him and gave a wry smile.

This yellow talisman is crumpled and obviously not very effective.

【Blood Yin Gong】

After glancing at the names of the techniques in the booklet, Yang Fan felt that this thing was very unreliable.

However, Yang Fan was quite interested in the book "Concealing Breath Technique".

The Concealing Breath Technique can hide a cultivator's true cultivation level, which is exactly what Yang Fan needs right now.

He is currently facing numerous dangers, so it would be very beneficial for him to conceal his true cultivation level.

However, this concealment technique was given to him by his cheap master, so it may not be reliable.

After thinking for a moment, Yang Fan put all of these things into the small cauldron.

After packing his things, Yang Fan hurriedly left the dilapidated temple.

Outside the dilapidated temple, the crow was startled awake again and was looking at Yang Fan with a sidelong glance.

Yang Fan shook his head slightly, affixed a speed talisman, and headed towards Qingyun Temple.

He needed to get up the mountain early so as not to miss tomorrow's alchemy session.