Gacha games can't save this bizarre world.

The stall owner chuckled wryly, "Interesting, isn't it? I bought this painting because it was strange. Back then, I was young and reckless, and I didn't have any taboos..."

At first glance, this painting looks like the "Qingming Landscape Painting"!

Upon closer inspection, Zhao Hao was astonished to find that the numerous "people" depicted in the drawing were either wearing skulls, holding their own heads, or were little devils with horns on their heads and eyes like copper bells!

Looking around at the shops, there were people hanging paper money, burning paper money, and selling incense, candles, and paper horses.

All the ghosts and haunted shops are arranged along both banks of the river, with a wooden bridge in the middle... The edges of the frame are vast cemeteries and graveyards!

Look at the large characters on the right: Qingming Festival Tomb Sweeping Picture!

This is practically a nuclear wastewater version of "The Great Wave off Kanagawa"—a parody of "The Great Wave off Kanagawa"!

At first, Uncle Tie couldn't be sure if the painting was a ghost, but as soon as he touched it, he realized it was indeed a ghost!

It seems that Zhao Hao's pair of "yin-yang eyes" are even more powerful than he imagined.

Moreover, when this kid realized something was wrong, his first instinct wasn't to rush into action, but rather to look for me.

Uncle Tie: This kid values ​​his life... He's bound to achieve great things in the future!

Uncle Iron spent $440, a "high price," to buy the painting.

The stall owner, surprisingly, was quite honest. Before selling it, he mentioned that the painting might be strange. Hanging on the wall, it often emitted eerie and unsettling shouts when no one was around, creating the illusion of a bustling, noisy scene.

Uncle Tie smiled and said, "It's alright, I just like the quirky..." He even gave the stall owner an address so that he could go to Old Tie's Antique Shop if he had anything to sell in the future.

……

Back at the shop, it was already past noon. Neither of them ate, and they began showing off their haul.

Uncle Tie picked up a few small bargains, but none of them compared to Zhao Hao's fist-sized piece of ambergris. A piece that big must be worth tens of thousands of dollars on the market!

The main thing is that this stuff is also useful for cultivators! It can be considered a supernatural material to some extent!

Not to mention the "Qingming Tomb Sweeping Picture," which was a rare find, even though Uncle Tie himself claimed it was incomparable.

Uncle Tie went back to his room upstairs and soon took out another painting.

Before even opening it, Zhao Hao felt it looked familiar.

The paper, size, and even the shape and material of the scroll are exactly the same as those in the "Qingming Tomb Sweeping Picture"!

Uncle Tie opened the painting, which was also over a meter long, and its content was clearly modeled after the Qingming Scroll.

This time it's not all ghosts and monsters, it's all people, but they're all small vendors and the like.

"This painting today seems to be from one of my paintings?!" Uncle Tie wasn't sure either, his tone ambiguous.

Zhao Hao looked at the "Qingming Festival Picture"!

After that, his eyes were opened, and he gained a more intuitive understanding of strange creatures for the first time.

Uncle Tie showed him the effect of the "Qingming Festival Picture".

You can actually throw gold and silver into the painting, and some items will appear randomly!

Those food items or small toys just appeared out of thin air in the painting!

Those pastries were still wrapped in oil paper!

While eating his snacks, Uncle Tie said, "This strange creature isn't very useful; at most, it can be used to randomly buy some things..."

Zhao Hao: So, this "Qingming Tomb Sweeping Picture"...

Uncle Tie brought Zhao Hao to the warehouse in the backyard for the first time, and there was actually a ritual altar inside!

The area was surrounded by statues protecting the deities, along with yellow talismans, a Bagua mirror, an incense burner, a Sanqing bell, command flags, tokens, a peach wood sword, and red ropes... It was like a scene from a movie!

No, it's much more spectacular than filming a movie!

Uncle Tie made some arrangements that Zhao Hao couldn't understand, and then took out a piece of silver weighing three to five taels from the center of the altar and threw it into the painting.

It lasted for about three seconds? Then a hand appeared out of thin air in the painting!

A severed hand! A severed hand with long, bluish-black fingernails!

The severed hand was bluish-black, with five-centimeter-long, jet-black fingernails. The forearm, which was severed at the elbow, was covered with a layer of black hair!

Uncle Tie picked up the severed hand and examined it, saying, "This is the arm of an old zombie..."

"Huh?!" Zhao Hao was speechless.

What is that?

The two tried many times that day, and Uncle Tie was probably losing a pound of silver. In the end, they got things like dead man's hair, zombie teeth, and a female ghost's red dress...

Both of these Qingming Festival paintings could actually be included in the artwork, but Uncle Tie would never do something so reckless.

He warned Zhao Hao: "The strange realms are all incredibly bizarre. If you encounter anything dangerous or strange, you're almost guaranteed to die. Don't be reckless!"

Zhao Hao certainly wouldn't court death. He didn't even want to get close to the two paintings. He asked from a distance, "Uncle Tie, what should we do with these? Should we hand them over to the Bureau of Mysteries?"

Uncle Tie turned his head and said, "Those useless or even dangerous monsters should naturally be handled by the Bureau of Mysteries. We don't need to deal with these that we can use and that are under our control to a certain extent!"

That's true, how can good things be handed over to the public?

As evening approached and it was time to close, Uncle Tie called Zhao Hao to the back room and took out a small, handwritten booklet bound in thread.

"You can now copy scriptures in one go, which is much faster than I expected. You've passed the first hurdle, and now you can try cultivating spiritual energy."

"The fact that you obtained this ambergris today means your opportunity has arrived. And coincidentally, I have a cultivation method here that's suitable for you..."

"Taoism is the most diverse. Huangdi, Laozi, Liezhuang and others all advocate tranquility and non-action, while Chisongzi and Wei Boyang only talk about cultivation and nourishment. Lu Sheng and Li Shaojun only talk about food and drink, and Zhang Daoling only talks about talismans. All of these have attained enlightenment."

Afterwards, Uncle Tie gave him a brief introduction to the Incense Avenue!

The path of incense offerings has two interpretations. The first is the method of becoming a god! It emphasizes the offering of incense and the spread of faith, which is the way of the gods.

The cultivation method involving incense refers to enhancing cultivation through the aid of incense. While it may not be considered a fundamental cultivation technique, it is still a decent introductory cultivation method.

Zhao Hao took the yellowed, frayed booklet; it was practically falling apart. Uncle Tie had instructed him to copy it himself. The cover of the booklet bore the title "Hibernating Dragon Sleeping Elixir Technique"!

This is a type of sleeping exercise, which involves practicing while sleeping! Isn't it beautiful?

The practice of sleeping has a long history, originating from human social labor. After physical fatigue, it is necessary to sleep and rest in order to restore physical and mental strength.

Through continuous rest and practice, the essence and secrets were refined and finally summarized into the art of sleeping, which is why the art of sleeping has been passed down for a very long time.

Confucius said, "To sleep with one's arm as a pillow is a source of joy," which refers to the art of sleeping.

The most famous practitioner of Taoist meditation known for his sleeping meditation is undoubtedly Chen Tuan, the hermit of Mount Hua. He once lay in bed on Mount Hua for days on end, and later attained enlightenment in his sleep. There is also a legend that Chen Tuan won Mount Hua by playing chess with Emperor Taizu of Song, Zhao Kuangyin.

Chen Tuan passed on his teachings to the Fire Dragon Taoist, who in turn passed them on to Zhang Sanfeng. Zhang Sanfeng composed the poem "The Hidden Dragon's Chant" to commemorate this, which reads: "Who can continue the lineage of Tu Nan (i.e., Chen Tuan)? By the slovenly Taoist Zhang Fengxian."

According to Li Daoshan's "A Brief Biography of Master Li Hanxu", Li Hanxu, the first patriarch of the Western School, once "met Lu Zu (Lu Yan) and Feng Zu (Zhang Sanfeng) in a Zen temple on Mount Emei, where they secretly transmitted the original teachings to him."

In his book "Tianle Collection", Xuanjingzi Xu Haiyin also said: "Hanxu Zhenren first met the immortal master Sanfeng, and then met the Daoist ancestor Chunyang. He combined the spiritual transmission of the Wenshi and Donghua schools, and after achieving the Dao, he founded the Jiangxi School of the Great River".

His lineage traces back to Zhang Sanfeng – Li Hanxu – Wu Tianzhi – Wang Dongting – Xu Haiyin. Therefore, Chen Tuan's Sleeping Dragon Kung Fu, passed down through generations of the Western School, is a closely guarded secret…

However, this method is not without its drawbacks; it requires more assistance, otherwise progress will be very slow.

Come to think of it, people do their homework, cultivate, practice the Dharma, and preside over rituals day and night, working themselves to the bone, while you think you can get the same benefits as a human just by sleeping? You must be dreaming.

To achieve mastery of this sleeping technique, many aids are needed, one of which is incense.

Uncle Tie passed on to Zhao Hao a method of making incense, which involved turning the ambergris into a kind of incense stick to be lit while sleeping to aid in cultivation.

This piece of ambergris, worth tens of thousands of dollars, will only last for a little over three months even if used sparingly!

Uncle Tie patted Zhao Hao on the shoulder: "Now you know the benefits of money, right?"

------------

Chapter 27 Psionic Cultivation and Martial Arts

"The Hidden Dragon's Chant" by Zhang Sanfeng

Sleeping Immortal, Sleeping Immortal, lying high on the rock, forgetting his years, the three lights sink into oblivion, his nature is perfectly fulfilled.

The breath returns to the mysterious aperture, and each breath follows its natural course.

Do not be scattered, but remain calm and tranquil. Nurture your mercury nature until it is round and full, and wait for its lead flower to appear.

No one gets lost, and there are precautions in place; the true timing is crucial, and the process is in the middle.

The seven reversals are not difficult; the nine transformations are not to be lamented.

Observe the battle between dragons and tigers in silence, and secretly reverse the balance of Yin and Yang.

People say I'm a confused fool, but I'm still half asleep.

Once mastered, one attains true reclining meditation. Once cultivated, one attains true embryonic essence. When the reclining dragon rises, it ascends to heaven.

Who taught me this method of hibernation? I rest my head on my arm on Mount Ni, finding joy in it that no one else understands.

Five dragons leaped out of the deep pool, and Heaven transmitted this method to the south.

Who can succeed the Tu Nan school? The slovenly Taoist Zhang Fengxian.

At night, Zhao Hao would fall asleep using a specific posture and breathing technique, while also maintaining a certain mental visualization.

In a small incense burner sponsored by Uncle Tie, a piece of incense the size of a soybean was burning very slowly.

The faint smoke was actually swirling around Zhao Hao's head...

Just making this incense consumed more than a dozen kinds of herbs and two kinds of minerals, costing more than $200! And that doesn't even include the main ingredient, ambergris.

This was Zhao Hao's first time cultivating, and to be honest, he didn't feel anything special. Because he was asleep!

There was a warm current flowing through my body, my lower abdomen felt full, and a "little mouse" was scurrying around inside me... but nothing happened.

He just felt that he had slept so well, floating around as if he were about to become an immortal! Even when he woke up, he felt a little reluctant to leave!

Uncle Tie said this is the first stage. Only when you can realize that you are sleeping in your dreams, and then meditate and practice while sleeping, can you be considered to have entered the first stage!

I don't know when I'll be able to awaken my Qi and spiritual energy!

Only when that time comes can one be considered an extraordinary being.

Therefore, Uncle Tie specifically instructed him not to take the wrong road!

Uncle Tie: "The first stage of cultivation is developing one's own Qi, which is awakening Qi or awakening spiritual energy. The Qi and spiritual energy of heaven and earth originally have no attribute bias, but when it comes to an individual, due to differences in physique, intelligence, personal experiences, cultivation methods, and so on, biases arise..."

"The second stage of cultivation is to absorb external spiritual energy, which requires the consumption of certain resources. Some people cultivate in seclusion in famous mountains and rivers to absorb the spiritual energy of heaven and earth; some people refer to the sun and moon to absorb their essence; some people walk in the world and experience the mortal world to absorb human energy... There are also those evil and crooked paths, unorthodox methods, those methods are very bad."

"For example, those in the Wild Maoshan Mountains practice the art of corpse cultivation, not only refining zombies but even turning themselves into zombies. There are also those who raise ghosts and practice Gu poison... I've heard that Voodoo cults in South America have similar methods, and necromancers in Europe are similar as well. They use secret methods to absorb residual spiritual energy from corpses and death..."