Marvel's Hogwarts Wizard

Chapter 375 The Decline of the Taoist Sect

Shaking his head, Lin Feng didn't say anything more. He hadn't expected outsiders to help him much anyway. The fact that they were able to move Officer Lin outside and reduce his burden was already quite good.

However, seeing a foreigner sitting on a small stool cracking sunflower seeds still felt a bit too incongruous to him.

To be honest, if the other person didn't look like a foreigner, you really couldn't tell they were a foreigner from their accent, manner of speaking, and behavior.

"Open your eyes!"

With a backflip, Lin Feng dodged the crew-cut policeman's attack, took two willow leaves from his pocket, wiped his eyes, and then coldly snorted:

"I've found your weakness!"

He reached out with both hands to grab something, then pulled hard, turned around, took off the jade pendant from his neck, and thrust it forward.

"boom!"

Inside the room, the glamorous woman who was controlling Eddie with the yellow rope suddenly felt a tremendous force coming from the yellow rope, and her body was involuntarily pulled back a few steps.

Then it felt like something burned his chest, he let out a scream, and was thrown away again.

"You stinking Taoist priest, you're asking for death!"

This injury clearly enraged the beautiful woman. She no longer relied on controlling Eddie's corpse to indirectly fight Lin Feng outside. Instead, she immediately formed hand seals after getting up and rushed towards the gate.

She wanted to get to know the other person in person, face to face.

Lin Feng, who was outside, also noticed the evil cultivator's actions inside. He placed the jade pendant he had taken off in his palm, chanted a spell to activate its power, and rushed towards the villa's gate.

The two arrived at the gate at the same time and launched a fierce attack on each other through the gate.

"Sizzle!"

The clash between pure Yang and pure Yin power, coupled with the fact that their cultivation levels were not far apart, resulted in one person's hand being burned and the other's hand being frozen, both of them being injured and forced to retreat.

"Hey, trying to run away? That won't do!"

Seeing that when Lin Feng used the jade pendant to dissolve the ice formed by the yin energy in his hand, the aura of the evil cultivator inside actually began to flee, seemingly planning to slip away through the back door.

Jerry tossed aside the sunflower seeds, pointed towards the villa, and said:

"The Thunder Emperor summons you! So be it!"

A bolt of lightning, thicker than a thigh, shot from Jerry's hand, bursting through the villa's front door and chasing after the glamorous woman who was trying to escape down the hallway.

At this moment, Jerry was using the Li family's lightning magic, but with his current understanding of lightning magic, the power he unleashed was slightly greater.

Inside the villa, the glamorous woman, carrying Eddie's body in one hand, had just reached the back door of the villa and hadn't even gotten into the car that the cool-looking man in the suit had prepared in advance when suddenly her hair stood on end. A sense of fear from the depths of her soul made her involuntarily turn around.

"How is that possible!"

What appeared before her was a bolt of lightning thicker than a thigh.

The Taoist priest she had just fought was about as strong as her. If they were to fight to the death, the outcome would be evenly matched. So she chose to retreat first and then make further plans.

Moreover, when she left, she used magic to remember the Taoist's appearance, so that when she returned, she could use ice talismans to control the walking corpses to attack him at night.

But she didn't expect that the other party could unleash such a powerful lightning spell.

Based on the power of the lightning magic she was currently sensing, she felt she couldn't withstand even one hit. If she were to be hit, there would only be one outcome.

That would mean your soul would be completely annihilated!

Since you know such powerful lightning magic, why did you spend so much time testing her? Wasn't that a waste of time?

The beautiful woman forced herself to calm down and, as quickly as possible, threw Eddie's corpse, which she had originally intended to use to ambush Lin Feng, at the thigh-thick Lei Ting, attempting to stop him.

However, Eddie's body was blasted to pieces by the lightning shortly after it came into contact with it.

However, this block did have some effect, at least making the thigh-thick lightning bolt slightly thinner, which must have consumed some energy and barely bought two seconds.

Although it only bought her two seconds, it was enough for the beautiful woman to react.

Her hands moved in a blur, quickly forming hand seals, and as the lightning struck again, she finally erected a shield made entirely of cold, damp energy in front of her.

When the lightning struck the shield, it hissed and crackled, like ice and snow melting.

Lightning spells are the nemesis of cold and yin-type spells. Jerry's lightning spells have been improved many times, making them much more powerful than ordinary lightning spells.

Therefore, even though the beautiful woman used a shield made of cold, corpse energy, it only delayed her death and could not stop the fatal blow of the thunder.

Just as Lei Ting was about to break through the chilling corpse energy and kill the beautiful woman on the spot, the cold-looking man in the suit who had been standing in front of the car door, ready to open the door for her, rushed over without thinking.

He leaped and knocked the beautiful woman away, using his own body to absorb the remaining lightning.

"Tomoko, let's go!"

"Ichiro!"

The beautiful woman froze on the spot when she saw the man in the suit who had been protecting her be electrocuted into charcoal by lightning.

Meanwhile, in the villa's courtyard, Lin Feng, who was trying to dispel the erosion of Yin energy in his hands, couldn't help but exclaim in surprise when he saw Jerry unleash a bolt of lightning.

"Longhu Mountain Thunder Technique, you are a disciple of Longhu Mountain!"

"Disciples of Longhu Mountain?"

Jerry was stunned by Lin Feng's words. Just as he was about to reply, he suddenly realized that the evil cultivator over there had not been killed by his lightning. So he left two "wait a moment" and immediately rose up and flew towards the location of the evil cultivator behind the villa.

Jerry's flying skills once again made Lin Feng's pupils shrink:

"Flight? I never imagined that in this day and age, someone could still wield magic of this caliber. Who is this foreign mage, to possess such profound skill!"

The power displayed by the lightning spell from Longhu Mountain was beyond his imagination. He had never seen anyone unleash such power with lightning magic. The Taoist sect of today is not the same as it was hundreds of years ago.

"Uncle Feng, am I seeing things? That was thunder, and just now..."

At this moment, the crew-cut police officer also stammered as he approached Lin Feng's side.

Just now, when Lin Feng broke the beautiful woman's spell, the spell within his body was also released and he returned to normal.

So he naturally saw Jerry reach out and unleash a bolt of lightning as thick as a thigh, and that he had just been sent flying from the ground.

"Let's go take a look!"

Lin Feng was in no mood to explain to the crew-cut police officer. He put the magic jade pendant back around his neck and walked into the villa through the broken gate.

"So someone covered for you!"

Jerry slowly descended from the air, glanced at the charred figure over there, and spoke calmly to the still-stunned, beautiful woman.

"I'll make your soul fly away!"

When the beautiful woman saw Jerry land, she knew that the lightning spell she had just cast was cast by this man, and her eyes immediately revealed an expression of extreme resentment.

With a loud shout, she quickly reached into her bosom and pulled out nine chrysanthemums, then scattered them all around while chanting a spell.

After the chrysanthemums landed, they began to spin under the influence of magic, with countless chrysanthemum petals flying everywhere, completely enveloping the surrounding cement ground.

"Interesting. Let's see what kind of magic you can use!"

Seeing the beautiful woman's posture, as if she was about to unleash some incredible magic, Jerry didn't take the opportunity to learn more about her. Instead, he floated in the air with his hands behind his back, waiting with great interest for her to cast the spell.

"rise!"

The beautiful woman raised her hand, and all the areas of the concrete ground covered by chrysanthemum petals cracked open, revealing stones the size of adult bodies that slowly floated into the air.

"go!"

The beautiful woman formed hand seals again, and the large rocks covered with chrysanthemum petals burst into eerie blue flames, which were then hurled rapidly towards Jerry in mid-air.

"A combination of mind control magic and fire magic, using chrysanthemums as a medium to cast such a spell—the Nine Chrysanthemums Sect is quite something!"

Jerry watched as large rocks wreathed in blue flames hurtled towards him, but he didn't panic. He simply cast an Iron Armor Spell to protect himself.

"Boom! Boom! Boom!"

A series of bombardments rang out as dozens of large pieces of metal, wreathed in eerie flames, slammed into Jerry's Ironclad Curse, but had no effect whatsoever.

"Apparition!"

He vanished from his spot and reappeared directly behind the glamorous woman. Jerry grabbed her by the neck and lifted her up.

The beautiful woman struggled to form hand seals, using the last bit of magic power in her body to grab Jerry's arm.

The yin energy flowed from the beautiful woman's hand to Jerry's arm, turning into layers of frost that rushed directly towards Jerry's heart.

Jerry gave a cold laugh, and with a flick of his arm, the frost clinging to his arm was shaken off.

After being enhanced by the No. 1 bloodline enhancer, his current magic resistance means that ordinary spells can hardly cause him any damage.

This scene immediately filled the beautiful woman with despair. There was nothing she could do; the difference in their cultivation levels was too great—they were not even in the same league.

"Well, maybe you're still of some use!"

Recalling the spells the beautiful woman had just used, Jerry had a thought. In the end, he didn't kill her, but instead used a stun spell to knock her unconscious and threw her into the box space.

Although the magic of the Nine Chrysanthemums Sect is not very strong, it has its own characteristics and can be used as a reference. As an evil cultivator, this beautiful woman's body is half demon and half human.

In the future, when there is a shortage of materials for human experiments, these materials can be used; killing them directly would be a waste.

"Lightning strike!"

Sensing that Lin Feng and the crew-cut policeman were about to find the back door, Jerry chanted the spell again.

Suddenly, a dark cloud appeared above the villa, followed by a series of thick lightning bolts that struck the ground in the backyard, turning the already uneven ground black with electricity.

"Rest assured, Fellow Daoist Lin, that evil cultivator has been annihilated by my magic, both body and soul!"

"Oh, very good, Carmen the Mage's lightning magic is truly amazing!"

Looking at the scene in the backyard and the intense magical fluctuations from before, Lin Feng swallowed hard and gave Jerry a thumbs up.

The crew-cut police officer standing next to Lin Feng muttered nervously:

"If I write everything that happened today in my task report, will I get fired immediately?!"

That evening, at Officer Lin's house.

"This is my niece, Alian, and this is Mr. Carmen."

After entering, Lin Feng pointed to a pretty girl of about eighteen or nineteen and introduced her to Jerry.

"Hello, Miss A-Lian!"

Jerry greeted him with a smile.

"Hello, Mr. Carmen!"

Although Ah Lian didn't know why her uncle would bring a foreigner back, she still greeted him very politely.

"Uncle, where's Officer Lin?"

"That kid should be reporting to the police station right now. He probably won't be back until later. Don't worry about him. Go pack your things. The case here is closed. We can go back first thing tomorrow morning."

Lin Feng gave A-Lian some instructions, then went to the living room with Jerry and sat down.

"Venerable Carmen, there's something I'm unsure whether I should ask."

"Fellow Daoist Lin, what do you say?"

Jerry smiled.

Lin Feng nodded:

"I noticed you just used the thunder magic of Longhu Mountain. May I ask, are you perhaps a disciple of Longhu Mountain?"

Thunder magic is one of the most powerful offensive spells in Taoism, and many sects use it, but the way it is released varies from sect to sect.

Just like his Maoshan sect's thunder magic, he often draws talismans in his palm and then activates them with magic power, which is called "palm thunder". However, the power is not great, after all, the Maoshan sect is not famous for thunder magic.

Today, Jerry's spells and methods of using thunder magic had very obvious characteristics of Longhu Mountain thunder magic, which is why he couldn't help but ask about it.

"I am not a disciple of Longhu Mountain. I just have some connection with the Li family in Hong Kong. I also learned this thunder magic from the Li family. Similarly, I came to Hong Kong this time at the invitation of the Li family head."

After thinking for a moment, Jerry told him the truth.

Lin Feng seemed to understand something after listening:

"The Li family, no wonder. I never thought that the Li family, which disappeared for decades, had also hidden in Hong Kong."

"Ahem, Fellow Daoist Lin, may I ask what the relationship is between the Li family and Longhu Mountain?"

Upon hearing Lin Feng's words, Jerry's eyes flickered slightly, and he coughed, interrupting Lin Feng's reminiscence.

Lin Feng smiled upon hearing this:

"The Li family should be the most authentic lineage in Longhu Mountain at present. It was also the most powerful family in the Taoist sect of China. However, it suddenly disappeared decades ago and has not been heard from since."

But that's normal, considering it was decades ago.

Next, Lin Feng gave Jerry a general overview of the situation of the Chinese Daoist sects in this world.

It turns out that with the development of the times and the rise of technology, supernatural forces like Taoist magic have begun to decline.

It's not because the spiritual energy in the air is declining, making it increasingly difficult to cultivate Taoist arts, but rather because of the overall environment, which is causing fewer and fewer people to cultivate Taoist arts.

Looking back at China over the years, before the founding of the nation, it was almost entirely a time of instability and war, with social unrest and many Taoist sects being destroyed and their traditions lost.

In this world, most Taoist priests and magicians are not actually very powerful. Many of them have cultivated for decades, but they may still not be able to withstand a sniper bullet that comes from a long distance.

Taoist priests and magicians who can ignore modern firearms belong to the most elite group in the world.

As for someone like Clow Reed, there has only been one so far, and that's because he was exceptionally talented and well-versed in both Eastern and Western learning, which allowed him to reach that level.

Crucially, in times of war, finding children with the aptitude to learn magic and Taoist arts became countless times more difficult than in times of peace.

As time went by, the most skilled Taoist masters died of old age, the middle-aged Taoist masters died in war, and the number of new disciples decreased significantly.

By the end of modern times, the entire Taoist sect had almost completely declined.

Almost all sects disappeared due to the problem of insufficient manpower, such as Longhu Mountain, Maoshan, Quanzhen, Shenxiao, and so on.

Later, only a few capable Taoist priests remained, who inherited some of the mantle, and then it gradually developed into a family-based system of barely passing on the tradition.

When the war finally ended and peace was restored, the Taoist community entered a true period of hardship as the whole country developed science and technology and broke down superstitions.

After all, very few people are qualified to learn Taoist arts, and even fewer can master them. They offer absolutely no help to the country's development, strength, or improvement of people's living standards.

The ancestors of the Li family were Taoist priests of Longhu Mountain, and they inherited most of the mountain's traditions. Their descendants all had excellent aptitudes, so decades ago, they were considered the most powerful Taoist family.

However, in order to survive and carry on the legacy, they still chose to move to Hong Kong.

The Lin family, to which Lin Feng belongs, were originally Taoist priests of the Maoshan sect. However, the family members were not promising and few of them had good aptitude. By the time of Lin Feng's generation, only Lin Feng was left who could barely cultivate.

Lin Feng remains unmarried, and his brother has only a niece who also lacks talent for cultivation. If things continue like this, the Maoshan Sect's lineage may be lost.

In fact, Lin Feng's current situation is likely the same as that of most Taoist lineage families that still exist.

They still retain the cultivation methods and spells passed down from the Taoist sect, but unfortunately, because the inheritors lack the aptitude to cultivate them, or even if they do, their aptitude is very poor, learning some Taoist spells is not as practical as studying properly, so they give up.

Jerry had mixed feelings of joy and worry after hearing what Lin Feng said.

What worries him is that he originally thought there were many families like the Li family in China, and even many Taoist sects, so he could take some time to go there and exchange ideas and learn from their masters.

But given the current situation, it seems the Li family is already at the pinnacle of Taoism, and those experts he imagined simply no longer exist.

The good news is that the decline of Taoism in this world may not necessarily be a bad thing, because it means that it has the opportunity to develop.

It doesn't matter if you don't have the aptitude for cultivation. You can sign a contract with him. As long as you sign the contract, you will be able to use your magical power. With magical power, you can continue the lineage and revitalize the Taoist sect.

The condition is very simple: just show me your heritage.

At the same time, he can also use this to gain a group of high-quality borrowers, slay demons and monsters, practice magic, and fight with fellow Daoists—all of which require magical power.

The more magic a borrower uses, the more time they will spend cultivating their magic. The more magic they cultivate, the more interest they will receive, and the faster their total magic power will increase.

(End of this chapter)