Chapter 1 The Strange Man

“There are so many strange people in the world…”

Inside the tavern, Daoist Chang Lin sighed softly.

“Strange people?”

Ming Xin, the Daoist child, scratched his head, not seeing anything strange about it.

Daoist Chang Lin had no intention of explaining, instead testing his disciple: “Nourishing Qi to receive the Lu, nurturing to transform into one's Natal Soul, entering the Dao to become Real, transcending Tribulation to transform into the Yuanshen, ascension to reach the heavens, the nine passes to reach the heavens, the nine heavens of cultivation, what is the most important?”

Without hesitation, the little Daoist Ming Xin said, “Naturally, it is receiving the Lu from the heavens.”

The five paths of cultivation—Daoism, Buddhism, Demonic, Heretical, and Ghosts—are all the same. Cultivators, and even some mortals who admire cultivation, all know this.

Without receiving the Lu from the heavens, no matter how you cultivate, you will at most be an enemy of a hundred people, with a lifespan of no more than a hundred years, and nothing else to speak of.

“Yes, receiving the Lu from the heavens is of utmost importance, like a bird to the sky, like a fish to water, like blood to flesh…”

Daoist Chang Lin's eyes were deep:

“What if there is no Lu?”

“Then naturally, a hundred years will be in vain.”

Ming Xin, the Daoist child, replied.

Without the Lu, one cannot cultivate. The five paths of Daoism, Buddhism, Demonic, Heretical, and Ghosts are no exception.

“Yes, without the Lu, one cannot cultivate. Without magic power, how can one reach the heavens? But…”

Daoist Chang Lin looked outside the tavern, muttering to himself:

“That person doesn’t seem to have any magic power fluctuations…”

“What?”

The little Daoist Ming Xin leaned forward, seemingly not hearing clearly.

“It’s nothing.”

Daoist Chang Lin regained his senses, glanced at the three demon ghosts who were busy working, and finally focused his gaze on the steaming wine and dishes on the table:

“It’s time to eat, or it will get cold…”

The little Daoist Ming Xin rolled his eyes at his master:

“You can enjoy it yourself.”

…

An Nuo County, although just a county,

is the only city within a radius of three hundred miles, so the flow of people is naturally high and extremely prosperous, occupying a considerable area.

Gathering crowds to seek nothing more than physical and mental security.

Compared to the tall and majestic city walls, which is safer, a village surrounded by fences in the wild is self-evident.

How small the villages in the countryside are, so large is this county town.

At this time, the sky had just dawned, and the city gates seemed to have just opened, and the villagers from many nearby villages had already flocked in, firewood, charcoal, various medicinal materials, game, wild vegetables, and grain, continuously being sent into the city.

Then exchange them for three or five copper coins, some salt, cloth, and the like, and return.

Siphoning the popularity of three hundred miles to gather in one city, its prosperity is naturally incomparable to the countryside.

“The place where popularity gathers is indeed different.”

At the end of the official road, An Qisheng looked towards the city.

Between the opening and closing of his eyes, all kinds of Qi flashed, among which, there was a pure white Qi that made his eyes slightly condense.

In that white Qi, he could vaguely perceive countless mixed thoughts, fear, prayer, praise, worship, seeking peace, seeking offspring, and so on.

That was the Qi of incense.

The Qi of incense came from all directions, eventually gathering in a certain part of the city.

The Earth God?

The City God?

Where there are ghosts, there are naturally gods. This is not a difficult thing to understand.

It's just that these gods should also have the prefix "ghost," making "ghost-gods" a more appropriate term.

In the world of Huang Tian, resentment and bad luck filled the air. The souls of people in it would soon be eroded, either becoming ignorant lonely ghosts, or transforming into vengeful spirits.

However, where there are difficulties, there are naturally solutions.

The Qi of incense is the means to protect souls from being eroded by the resentment and evil Qi of the world.

Earth Gods, City Gods, and other ghost-gods all rely on the Qi of incense to survive, protecting humans to obtain the Qi of incense, and obtaining the Qi of incense to survive.

Humans and ghost-gods coexist; this is the path of humans in this world.

And all of this originates from the leader of the ghost-gods in this world, the legendary You Ming Fu Jun.

Legend has it that You Ming Fu Jun is the creator and master of this path, and there are even rumors that the You Ming Underworld was opened up by him.

Of course, rumors are just rumors; there is nothing to believe.

“Although the place is good, it is not easy to live here.”

Sa Wuling shook his head slightly.

The place that everyone wants to go to is naturally not a place that everyone can go to. Living in this county town is extremely difficult, and ordinary villagers cannot enter the city in their entire lives.

The two entered the city and went to the brokers first.

Living in the county town is not easy, but for ordinary people, there are more people who can go from the county town to the prefectural city, the county city, so there is no shortage of house sales.

There were not many brokers, and the old woman broker was not very enthusiastic when she saw the visitors.

Only when Sa Wuling took out the silver notes did her attitude greatly change.

An Qisheng had no money, and Sa Wuling had no money, but the old eunuch outside the Yizhuang was very rich.

A full one hundred and twenty taels of silver, enough for an ordinary family of five to work hard for two lifetimes, was exchanged for a small courtyard facing the street in the south of the city.

After buying the courtyard, An Qisheng was not in a hurry to see it, letting Sa Wuling go to clean it up, while he took the yellow dog and strolled on the street.

The yellow dog had been with him for a long time and had become intelligent, but in order not to disturb others, he still tied a rope around its body to lead it.

This made the yellow dog very uncomfortable, shaking its head and wagging its tail, always wanting to get rid of the rope.

An Nuo County was indeed lively and much safer. Walking in the crowd, he had a bit of the illusion of returning to Jiu Fu Realm.

However, this is not Jiu Fu Realm after all.

Ta ta ta~

A steed galloped on the street, its rider raising a long whip and shouting: "Wanted! Wanted! The great thief Xu You has committed another blood crime, another blood crime!"

The steed trampled the street, and many pedestrians stepped aside.

Letting the rider gallop past, to the middle of the street, in front of a huge wall.

On the wall were dozens or hundreds of portraits, most of which were abstract, but there were also many lifelike ones, and Xu You was one of them.

It seemed that the clarity of the portrait showed the ferocity of the criminal.

"Captain Lin, what crime did this Xu You commit again?"

Someone stepped forward and asked the rider who was posting the wanted notice.

The rider was dressed in black, with a long knife hanging from his waist, tall and strong, and was none other than Lin Yi, the captain of An Nuo County.

"Prison cart! The prison cart transporting an important criminal of the imperial court was ambushed on the road yesterday."

Lin Yi posted the wanted notice, turned and swept across the crowd of onlookers:

"Recently, pay attention to all foreigners. That Xu You is proficient in disguise. If he kills you, this captain can't save you!"

"What the captain says is true."

"The captain is working hard. Our An Nuo County is so safe thanks to the captain."

"Captain Lin, these are freshly baked buns. You've worked hard all the way, have a couple?"

A group of people flattered and pleased, surrounding him in a circle.

Lin Yi was not polite, took two buns casually, turned over and mounted his horse, and hurried away again.

"Alas, An Nuo County is not peaceful either. I heard that many people have died in nearby villages recently. I don't know if they were ambushed by bandits or by demon ghosts…"

"Human lives are as cheap as grass. If Xu You hadn't killed an official, he probably wouldn't be wanted."

"It's not all like that. Wasn't there a big event in Clear Water County in the neighboring county before? Thousands of people died, and the government is chasing after them…"

"Hush! Keep your voice down, it won't be good if you are heard."

A group of people surrounded the wanted notice, talking about various things.

However, these people had limited knowledge, and talked about only a few nearby counties, where someone died, and where someone died again. Although there were many sighs, there were not many who were frightened, and they seemed to have become accustomed to it.

An Qisheng stopped and listened for a while, then led the yellow dog away.

Along the way, he ordered several sets of clothes, bought a lot of sundries, had a meal in a restaurant, and when the sun was gradually setting, he slowly returned to the small courtyard in the south of the city.

Although it was said to be a small courtyard, it was actually not small, with more than a dozen rooms in front and back.

When he returned, Sa Wuling had just finished running errands, and was leading more than a dozen people to clean the courtyard.

"Senior."

Sa Wuling greeted him: "The house has been cleaned up."

"Go and add some more things. If I'm not mistaken, we won't be leaving the county town for a short time."

An Qisheng glanced at Sa Wuling.

His transformation of Sa Wuling was very smooth. His aptitude was nothing to him at all. Although he did not absorb the spiritual Qi of this world, he was very clear about how to absorb the spiritual Qi of heaven and earth.

Under his transformation, this Sa Wuling did not show anything at this time, but if he received the Lu, he would definitely make rapid progress.

"Yes."

Sa Wuling also had expectations in his heart. The ten-year period was coming soon, and the method of receiving the Lu that he had dreamed of was finally about to be obtained.

After saying a few casual words, he released the rope and let the yellow dog frolic in the yard.

An Qisheng returned to the house unhurriedly.

The house was cleaned very cleanly, and the beds were also replaced with new ones.

An Qisheng sat cross-legged on the bed, and then began to test his ideas.

In his view, 'Receiving the Lu from the Heavens' was a 'certificate' to intercept the essence of heaven and earth and swallow the essence of the sun and moon.

Without this 'certificate', it was impossible to absorb the essence of heaven, earth, sun, and moon. This was also the place where An Qisheng felt strange.

All things are born between heaven and earth, and there should be no restrictions, because all things originate from heaven and earth, and living beings are not tumors. Why should heaven and earth restrict living beings?

An Qisheng did not know the secrets involved, and he had no intention of exploring them at this time.

What he had to do at this time was to try to replace 'Receiving the Lu' with Qi Seed, and replace the spiritual Qi of heaven and earth with the ubiquitous aura, to derive his own unique 'magic power'.

Then, replace the old method with the new method, and display the various magical Dao techniques of this world.

In fact, even if the spiritual Qi of this world did not make him feel strange and dangerous, he would probably still take the path of 'Qi Seed', because the latter was his own path.

It was the fundamental Dao that could be cultivated even in the spirit-depleted land like Xuanxing.

Hu!

An Qisheng slowly closed his eyes and entered his dream.

Taking himself in the dream as a basis, he comprehended the Bone Man Magic, the old eunuch's Kan Water Yin Corpse Method, and the Golden Bell Building Method of Daoist Chang Lin he encountered in the tavern, and Yan Xiake's Myriad Swords Technique.

Although the methods of receiving the Lu for these cultivation methods were different, they were similar.

The manifested Bone Man Demon, or the flying sword, was not important. However, they all used this as a basis to absorb the spiritual Qi of heaven and earth to nurture themselves, so as to exert various magical powers.

For An Qisheng, there was a path to follow.

Take his Qi Seed as the foundation, absorb the aura between heaven and earth, so as to achieve the effect of receiving the Lu.

However, whether it was feasible or not needed to be tried one by one.

And An Qisheng had enough conditions to try. If it didn't work once, then try it billions of times!