Starting Cultivation During a Trip-Chapter 55: Smoke Without Harm, Daoist Sect Inner Scenery
The night was endless, the torrential rain pounding down.
The experience from when he was twelve was like a nightmare, especially in recent days, tormenting Zhang Fan endlessly.
But the most recent dream had brought him a new vision.
In the darkness, he vaguely saw before him a high mountain, undulating and shrouded in mist, at the foot of which stood an ancient, weather-worn stone tablet, inscribed with three large dragon-and-snake seal characters:
Dragon Tiger Mountain!!
"How does he know?"
Zhang Fan stared dumbfoundedly at the word box from [Thousand-Year-Old Demon], six characters that made him forget the shattered teacup clutched in his own hand.
"What happened? Ran into an idiot online?"
Beside him, Jiang Hu came closer at the sound.
Zhang Fan shifted pages with both hands, and tossed the broken teacup directly into the trash.
"Nothing!" Zhang Fan replied absent-mindedly, shaking his head.
"Don’t let your consciousness get agitated. When you meet an idiot online, you should be happy, actually." Jiang Hu hurried to comfort him.
"Happy? Why?" Zhang Fan was caught off guard.
"It means the times are changing, the nation is developing, people’s living standards are improving rapidly. It’s not that more people online have turned into idiots, it’s that the internet has finally reached deep into the idiot population!"
"This flourishing age is just as you wished."
"..."
Zhang Fan narrowed his eyes slightly, watching Jiang Hu: "You’re good at comforting people, huh."
"I can do better than that..."
Jiang Hu looked around, then fished out a flyer from his pocket and stuffed it into Zhang Fan’s hand.
"A new foot massage parlor has opened at the square. Let’s go after work and relax?"
"Contentment Brings Happiness!?"
Zhang Fan saw the name of the foot massage parlor, then noticed two bold lines of promotional slogans printed on the flyer:
Bathe and welcome all guests, health gifts for heroes.
"See that? Contentment brings happiness..." Jiang Hu stamped his foot, seeming a little excited.
"Let’s wait until payday."
Zhang Fan handed the flyer back. Now was not the time to go get his feet rubbed.
Originally, after returning from Zhenwu Mountain, Zhang Fan’s goal was simple: work hard at cultivation, reach the [High Skill] rank as soon as possible, restore the lifespan lost from awakening Divine Techniques, and if he could, someday attain the [Celestial Master] rank and return the Zhenwu Jade Scroll to Zhenwu Mountain—so much the better!
Carrying this thing around, he always felt like he was lugging a time bomb that could draw trouble at any moment.
Zhang Fan turned around and opened his chat with [Thousand-Year-Old Demon]...
"What do you mean?"
"Say something!"
"Who the hell are you?"
Zhang Fan fired off three messages in a row, and at that moment, the pitch-black avatar of Thousand-Year-Old Demon turned gray.
"Offline!? Fuck..." Zhang Fan cursed under his breath, taking a deep breath, trying to calm his agitated consciousness.
"Forget it!"
In this world, the two words people fear most are: forget it!
"Screw it, I’ll just get back to training."
Zhang Fan stayed clear-headed; for him, what mattered most now was hard cultivation and growing stronger.
If he could muster enough power, then when facing masters like Wang Tao, Zhang Fan wouldn’t be scrambling for solutions and needing Jiang Lai to risk their life for him.
As for how well Jiang Lai was recovering now, he had no idea.
"I count as a [Technique Apprentice] now!"
Among Daoist’s Nine Major Ranks, crossing [Qi Worker] ranked one as a [Technique Apprentice].
Zhang Fan had just mastered the [Northern Emperor Technique]’s [Celestial Pig Fang], making him officially a Technique Apprentice.
"Still not enough!!" Zhang Fan felt the pressure mounting.
Above Technique Apprentice is Profound Master, then Spirit Department; and above Spirit Department, High Skill...
Zhang Fan still had a long way to go.
The only thing to be grateful for was that [Night is not bright] gave him a relatively safe and stable space and time to grow.
"If only there was a shortcut to leveling up."
Zhang Fan pondered all the way until the end of his shift, packed up his things, and headed out.
...
Night gradually consumed Yujing City.
"Is there any quick way to achieve High Skill?"
On his way home, Zhang Fan muttered internally.
"Zhang Fan!"
Just then, a voice called out from a nearby alley.
Zhang Fan stopped and turned, spotting a familiar figure.
"You’re... the client from earlier?" Zhang Fan looked at the young Daoist before him and recognized him instantly.
"My name’s Cao Wushang, from White Crane Temple."
Cao Wushang introduced himself, walking slowly out from the depths of the alley: "Been waiting for you here, got a few things to ask."
"Ask what?"
Zhang Fan grew wary; these days he had no choice but to take White Crane Temple’s name seriously.
"Someone saw you being quite close with Wang Tao before the He Family incident." Cao Wushang said coolly.
He was in charge of the He Family case and had all the intelligence from the very beginning.
"I didn’t know who they were," Zhang Fan explained.
Who’d have thought his delicate senior Wang Tiantian would turn out to be Wang Tao, the Hai Pig King among the Thirteen Zodiacs!?
Because of it, Zhang Fan had felt sick for ages.
"Mm, ignorance is innocence..." Cao Wushang nodded. "However..."
He changed tone and added, "I even brought it up in front of Bai Buran today, but they brushed it off like it was nothing..."
"If there wasn’t anything fishy, he could easily clarify..."
"Two possibilities..."
Cao Wushuang raised two fingers: "Either you’re involved with the Wuwei Sect—so the ’misunderstanding’ isn’t about misunderstanding..."
"Or you have issues of your own, which is why Bai Buran tried to cover for you..."
As he spoke, a sly smile crept onto Cao Wushang’s face: "Personally, I lean toward the second!"
"But whether you’re actually connected to Wuwei Sect, we’ll know after an investigation..."
Saying this, Cao Wushang moved toward Zhang Fan: "Come with me."
"Come with you? Do you even have authority for that?"
Zhang Fan raised his brow, voice chill.
"Sounds like you’re determined to take some punishment then?" Cao Wushang stood firm, his robes swirling with no wind.
Bzzz...
At almost the same instant, Zhang Fan turned into an afterimage and vanished from view.
"Celestial Pig, Celestial Pig—Nine Elements Evil Child!"
...
Curse words vibrating, hands forming seals, thick yin qi turned swiftly destructive, two tusks materialized, sprouting from Zhang Fan’s shoulders, then stabbed out, lunging at Cao Wushang.
"Northern Emperor Technique, Celestial Pig Fang!"
Cao Wushang’s pupils shrank dramatically, his entire body, under the onslaught of [Celestial Pig Fang], shot forth like a cannonball, smashing into the depths of the silent alley, shattering a wall and kicking up a cloud of dust.
"Still coming with me?" Zhang Fan said coldly.
"Grand Sect Law—Smoke With No Harm!!"
Right then, a mocking voice echoed out from the swirling dust; next, Cao Wushang walked out gently, smoke curling around him, but not a scratch upon his body, clothes unscathed.
"So you’re the North Emperor heir stirring up all the fuss in Yujing City!"
Cao Wushang’s gaze toward Zhang Fan changed sharply, the previous contempt replaced by a chilling glint of excitement.
"Bai Buran’s little temple really does hide a bunch of freaks."
His excited words thundered in Zhang Fan’s ear; Zhang Fan’s eyes danced as dust swirled—Cao Wushang fluttered down before him like a dead leaf.
"Today, I’ll show you, on Bai Buran’s behalf, what true Daoist Skill means!"
"Grand Sect Law—Appearance and Spirit Divergence!"
As he said it, Cao Wushang pointed toward Zhang Fan’s brow, to the inch-sized space where the primordial spirit dwelled.
Appearance and Spirit Divergence: the appearance remains, the primordial spirit shifts...
This is the magpie-nesting method: the practitioner sends his own primordial spirit into another’s body, probing secrets from within.
Bzzz...
Instantly, Zhang Fan’s body shuddered violently, his brow burning as if on fire.
The next moment, Cao Wushang’s primordial spirit entered him.
Bzzz...
Rain poured down, thunder roared, and Cao Wushang’s primordial spirit was stunned by the scene around him.
"This is Inner Scenery!?" Cao Wushang froze.
A Daoist cultivator initiates the primordial spirit to witness the eight thousand visions of Outer Scenery: all the sun, moon, stars, and clouds of the universe changing shape.
But inside, one can also gaze upon their Inner Scenery—blood, flesh, sinews, organs, primordial spirit.
Rumbling...
Lightning flashed, wind howled, but only mad rain raged in the void—all else pitch black, not a single ray of light; a crushing sense of nothingness surged from every direction.
"This...this is...Great Night is not bright!?"
"How could it be!?"
Suddenly, Cao Wushang’s primordial spirit turned sharp with alarm. For the first time, deep shock and terror showed on his face.
