On the Way

Liu Jin nodded slightly, saying nothing more, and simply picked up his teacup and took a sip. Zhao Fengnian, however, couldn't help but interject.

"Master Mingshan, your fetal breathing technique sounds quite mysterious. It can even summon spirits and such. My elder brother researched similar methods before, but he didn't use them much later."

Ming Shan shook his head and frankly said that the fetal breathing and circulation of qi method is indeed the orthodox method of Laoshan. It emphasizes using breathing to draw in the qi of heaven and earth and circulate it throughout the body. With long-term practice, one can produce a yin spirit. The yin spirit is a soul that is solidified to the point that it can briefly leave the body and travel thousands of miles at night.

But this path is not suitable for Liu Jin.

He could see that Liu Jin's body was no longer an ordinary physical body; his Qi and spirit were completely united, without distinction between them. This level of attainment had already transcended the realm of Yin and Yang spirits.

To be frank, it's not about the emergence of a Yin spirit, but rather the fusion of the soul and body into one, a higher level of cultivation than the Yin or Yang spirits.

......

"This 'resurrection' operation is too cunning. They stuff the soul into the underworld before the official documents arrive, so when the judge comes, he can only remove an empty vessel. This isn't exploiting a loophole; it's exploiting a bug."

"Master Mingshan looks like a veteran programmer."

"However, he said that the credit should go to Liu Jin. Without the Taiyin Star Fire nourishing the souls in advance, the two ghosts would not have survived the return to their places. So the truth is: Liu Jin was responsible for saving their lives, Ming Shan was responsible for the operation, and the City God was responsible for turning a blind eye in the underworld."

"Sanyi Temple, City God Temple, and Laoshan Mountain jointly enforced the law."

"It's interesting if you compare Liu Jin's and Ming Shan's methods. Ming Shan follows the orthodox Xuanmen path, using techniques like embryonic breathing, talismans, Yin spirits, and resurrection techniques—all operating within the rules, and any loopholes he exploits are also loopholes in the rules. Liu Jin, on the other hand, directly burns the rules. Samadhi True Fire incinerates all things, Red Lotus Karmic Fire burns away sins, and Moon Illusion Light strikes the soul—all methods outside the rules."

"So Mingshan said that Liu Jin is a higher-level form than Yin God and Yang God. It's not modesty, there's really no comparison. One is still practicing how to separate the soul from the body, while the other has already fused the soul and body into a ball of fire."

"The way Ming Shan looked at Liu Jin was like an old craftsman seeing a lost secret technique."

......

He then turned to Zhao Fengnian and said that Daoist Zhao was following the path of the Dragon Clan, where the physical body was the foundation, and that cultivating the dragon body to its ultimate level was the Great Dao. He added that if he were to be distracted by studying the divine soul, he would fall behind.

One of them had already reached a point where he no longer needed to walk this path, while the other never needed to walk it at all. In cultivation, there is no best method, only the method that best suits oneself.

Liu Jin put down his teacup. He had originally held some expectations for the trip to Laoshan, hoping to draw some nourishment from the most orthodox Xuanmen methods in this world to supplement his own system, but Ming Shan's words were tantamount to telling him in advance that the Laoshan path was useless to them.

He wasn't disappointed, but he felt that the trip had been somewhat unnecessary.

Mingshan seemed to have seen through his thoughts, put down his teacup, and unconsciously softened his voice.

"Master Liu, please don't be disappointed. What I just said was what I could teach. But what I can't teach, my master might be able to. My master, the True Man Xuancheng of Shangqing Palace on Mount Lao, may not be as skilled as you two Daoists in terms of cultivation, which has reached the pinnacle of fire magic and dragon body, but he has lived for nearly two cycles of sixty years and has seen far more cultivation methods than I have. If you two wish to go to Mount Lao, my master can certainly offer some useful advice."

Liu Jin hesitated for a moment, then agreed.

Zhao Fengnian originally wanted to go with them, but Liu Jin said that Sanyi Temple could not be left unattended. Moreover, he had just obtained the Water Flowing Skill and was in the critical period of laying the foundation. He had not yet digested the demon core he swallowed on Black Mountain. Going on a long trip now would mean that the accumulation of the previous two months would be wasted.

Zhao Fengnian thought about it and felt that it made sense, so he did not insist on it.

He stuffed the jar of medicinal wine and a bag of dry rations for the journey into Liu Jin's hand, and also slipped a stack of talismans he had drawn himself into his sleeve. They were crookedly drawn, but full of spiritual energy.

Before leaving, the City God called Liu Jin aside. He had something else in his hand: a short sword with a black sheath. The blade was narrow and thin, and it made a very faint hum when it was drawn. The blade was covered with fine inscriptions.

The City God said that this was a magical artifact he used when he was young. Although it could not compare to Liu Jin's flames in slaying demons, it was more than enough to deal with some evil little demons.

He was going to Laoshan with Mingzhen and Mingshan. If they encountered any demons or monsters on the way, they couldn't solve everything with fire. If they accidentally burned something they shouldn't have, it would be a problem.

Liu Jin took the short sword and tested its weight. The hilt was slightly cool to the touch, and the inscriptions on it briefly lit up upon contact with his Qi-transformed skin before disappearing. He sheathed the sword and thanked the City God.

Zhao Fengnian escorted Liu Jin all the way to the foot of the mountain, standing by the official road watching his figure recede into the distance. Mingzhen led the way, while Mingshan walked side by side with Liu Jin, their gray Taoist robes and moon-white gauze dresses gradually blurring in the twilight.

Zhao Fengnian stood there for a long time before turning around and going up the mountain. Back at Sanyi Temple, he sat alone in the empty courtyard, looking at the unlit oil lamp on the stone table, and suddenly felt a little lonely.

He carried out a large wooden basin, filled it with well water, took off his shirt, sat inside, closed his eyes, and began to practice the Water Circulation Technique.

The scales gently opened in the moisture, and the two scales on the shoulder blades had flattened out a lot, with the edges no longer sticking up and the arrangement much more regular than before.

After soaking for an hour, he stood up from the basin, dried himself off, and went to the kitchen to prepare dinner.

There was only one person on the menu tonight, but the way he chopped vegetables was as efficient as ever. The extra portion was saved to be reheated and eaten tomorrow.

The road to Laoshan wasn't too far, but Mingzhen and Mingshan weren't in a hurry. They walked, resting in towns and sleeping in the mountains.

Liu Jin followed them for a few days and gradually figured out the way the Laoshan Taoists did things. They were not like the Sanyi Sect cultivators who secluded themselves for years of arduous cultivation, nor were they like the ghost messengers of the City God Temple who were busy with official duties.

They are more like people who walk, observe, and cultivate themselves amidst the everyday life of ordinary people.

On the evening of the third day, the three passed through a small town. At the entrance of the town, an old woman was burning paper money by the roadside. The firelight illuminated her wrinkled face as she muttered incantations.

Ming Shan stopped, took out a talisman from his sleeve, folded it into a paper crane, and tossed it into the air.

The paper crane fluttered its wings and flew to the top of the old woman's head, circled three times, and then landed on her shoulder, gently pecking at her collar.

The old woman raised her head, her eyes blurred with tears, and looked at the paper crane on her shoulder, then at the three Taoist priests not far away. Suddenly, she burst into laughter through her tears and said to the paper crane, "I know, I know."

Mingshan didn't go up to speak, but just nodded slightly and continued on his way.

Liu Jin glanced back at the old woman. The rhythm of the flames dancing in the fire where she was burning paper money had changed. It was no longer a chaotic, disorderly dance, but had a gentle cadence, as if someone was gently patting her back in the fire.

That wasn't magic, just an illusion. It used paper cranes to create a false "response," making an old man who missed his deceased lover feel that his words had been heard.

But Liu Jin noticed that the old woman's movements as she wiped away her tears were gentler than before, and her shoulders were no longer trembling.

Illusions themselves cannot change any facts, but the comfort they bring is real.

"What is real may be fake, and what is fake may be real," he suddenly recalled this saying. Illusions are fake in the eyes of cultivators, but in the old woman's heart, that paper crane was real.