owlsbooks Chapter 40: Good Martial Uncle
Chapter 40: Good Martial Uncle
After lunch, Gu Su hurriedly left. Judging from her expression when she left, she was probably going to settle scores with that senior brother from the Transmission Pavilion.
You swindler, you cheated me! Now enjoy the pampering from Uncle Gu.
Cao Xing felt no sympathy whatsoever for that fatso, but then again, what was his own situation?
"younger brother!"
Only after Gu Su left did Bixia speak with concern, asking, "Are you alright?"
"It's alright, it's alright, I'm perfectly fine." Cao Xing reassured Bixia not to worry about him. "What happened after I passed out last night?"
"Yes, I saw you were unconscious and I couldn't wake you up, but I felt that your breathing was not erratic, so I didn't dare to show myself. Around midnight, someone knocked on the door, but stopped after a while. It wasn't until noon that Gu Su came and called your name twice, but there was no response, that I saw you lying on the ground."
Bixia briefly recounted everything that happened after Cao Xing fell into a coma.
"Thank you for your hard work, sister."
Cao Xing thanked Bixia, thinking to himself, "Sister is indeed wise, possessing ancient blood. Not revealing herself makes it easier to protect herself; conversely, revealing herself increases the risk of exposure, even if there is no risk, she will create some."
As for the knocking on the door last night...
Hmph, I'm afraid those old devils can't wait any longer.
Cao Xing snorted coldly in his heart, closed his eyes, and carefully sensed it. He quickly detected the Yin spirit in his sea of consciousness.
At this moment, the state of the spirit is completely different from that of the [Inspiration Yin-Yang Degree].
The Yin spirit and the inner elixir were intertwined, neither as described in the Yin-Yang Calculation of Inspiration, nor as if they were fused together. Instead, it seemed to have achieved some kind of symbiotic relationship.
Exquisite relic inner elixir, sensing yin and yang, dark web...
After thinking about it carefully, Cao Xing probably figured out what was going on.
Based on his conversation with Qing'e and his own feelings after sitting in the chair, this dark web must be a place specifically prepared for some shady transactions.
Based on the shape of the chair, it's not hard to infer that there are not only gods and immortals inside, but also Buddhists, and possibly even demons.
The Linglong Relic Inner Core not only contains all of the Yellow Robe Monster's divine power, but also includes the ability to access the Dark Web.
By accident, I used the [Inspiration Yin Yang Dimension] to forcibly merge the two together with the power of Yin virtue. It seemed like I had gone astray in my cultivation, but I unexpectedly gained this ability.
Cao Xing sorted out all the information from this trip to the dark web and deduced a reasonable explanation.
But who created such a massive dark web?
Also, when I was on the dark web, the terrifying power I possessed, could it be that I absorbed all of Kui Mulang's power and turned it into my own?
Thinking of this, Cao Xing carefully observed his cultivation of the Pure Yuan Yin Spirit. Although it was a wrong cultivation, it did not seem to affect the strength of the Pure Yuan Yin Spirit. On the contrary, due to the inner core of the Linglong Relic and the blessing of his own Yin Virtue, the Pure Yuan Yin Spirit had reached the first level of perfection.
However, Cao Xing carefully sensed that he could not detect even a trace of Kui Mulang's divine power in Chun Yuan Yin Ling.
It seems I can only temporarily borrow Kui Mulang's power on the dark web. Well... something is better than nothing, right? I can impersonate Kui Mulang, and who knows, I might even be able to use his identity to scheme for myself in the future.
Thinking of this, Cao Xing's mindset immediately calmed down.
Gu Su returned around mid-afternoon.
"Take it."
Gu Su handed a package to Cao Xing, who opened it and took a look.
"Wow! This is for me?"
The package contained a thick stack of silver notes and a brand-new book.
Cao Xing glanced at the silver notes; each note was one hundred taels, and there were twenty of them. Cao Xing's breathing became rapid.
Two thousand taels?
Good heavens, this amount of money is absolutely like a windfall for Cao Xing right now.
As for the book, Cao Xing glanced at it and saw that it was called "The Complete Collection of Southern Dipper Talismans". Upon opening it, he realized that it was not a cultivation technique, but a book that specifically taught how to use talismans to exorcise ghosts and deliver the souls of the dead.
"Forget about cultivation techniques. Even if you were given the Chongyang Technique from the Upper Temple, you wouldn't be able to cultivate it effectively at your Qi Refining stage. You'd be better off learning some simple talismans and exorcism techniques. These will be useful even when you reach the Golden Core or Nascent Soul stages."
Gu Su was genuinely afraid that Cao Xing would mess around again and accidentally kill himself, so she simply didn't prepare any more cultivation techniques for him.
"As for the two thousand taels of silver, it is compensation from the Transmission Pavilion."
As soon as Gu Su finished speaking, Cao Xing immediately stood up and retorted, "What do you mean two thousand taels? It's clearly one thousand taels. This one thousand taels is for my uncle's service fee."
As he spoke, Cao Xing casually handed half of the silver note to Gu Sumian.
Seeing Cao Xing so decisively share half of the silver with her, Gu Su couldn't help but cast an admiring glance at Cao Xing, but she did not accept the money.
"No need. The two thousand taels is your money. The Transmission Pavilion will compensate me for my losses separately. Take this money with peace of mind, buy some pills, and improve your cultivation as soon as possible. If you can't advance to Foundation Establishment before the big exam at the end of the year, a high-interest loan will be forcibly imposed on you. Don't blame me for not being able to help you then."
"What?! They're forcing me to take out a loan at exorbitant interest rates?! Is this some kind of monstrous thing to do?"
Cao Xing was somewhat stunned. He thought that such a beastly method could probably only have been done by those unscrupulous banks in the era before his rebirth.
Gu Su was already used to this: "This is an incentive, to prevent some people from being poor and unambitious and getting into high-interest loans. It's a way of helping them out."
Gu Su noticed the dismissive look on Cao Xing's face, and suddenly pinched Cao Xing's chin with her slender fingers:
"Our Shangfang Temple is already considered moderate. As far as I know, other places have even more methods. For example, in Jieyang Mountain of Xiliang, those who are poor and unambitious are all sent to the breeding center to give birth. How about it? Do you want to experience it? People like you are very popular over there."
Cao Xing's expression changed drastically, and he hurriedly waved his hand: "How can a fine man like me be obsessed with women? Martial Uncle is right. This junior will definitely work harder and achieve Foundation Establishment as soon as possible."
Xiliang is no good place. Don't be fooled by the fact that the Xiliang Women's Kingdom in Journey to the West is the easiest challenge in the whole story. In reality, the waters of this challenge are not ordinary. It is one of the few challenges that even Cao Xing himself did not fully understand. It can be said that there are risks everywhere.
For example, in Chapter 53, "The Zen Master Swallows Food and Becomes Pregnant with a Ghost, Old Woman Huang Transports Water to Resolve the Evil Pregnancy."
This episode tells the story of how Tang Sanzang and his disciples accidentally drank the water of the Zimu River, resulting in pregnancy. They stayed at an old woman's house and, after receiving guidance from her, learned that there was an abortion spring on Jieyang Mountain.
There's a little incident here: Sun Wukong failed to bring back the abortion spring on his first trip, so he went back to ask Sha Wujing for help.
Tang Sanzang was immediately displeased, saying, "You two healthy ones have left, leaving the two of us sick here. Who will take care of us?"
At this moment, the old woman beside him said, "It's alright, I'm old, I'll take care of him, I won't harm him."
Sun Wukong was puzzled and asked her, "How can women like you harm people?"
The old woman didn't hide anything at all and told Sun Wukong directly that her family of four or five were all old and had no interest in romantic affairs.
But if you go to another house, where there are many people of all ages, the youngest will definitely want to have sex with you. If you refuse, they will kill you and cut off your flesh to make sachets.
The old woman suffered from not being informed. If she had known that Tang Sanzang could gain immortality by consuming the food, she probably wouldn't have been able to find even a trace of Tang Sanzang's bones by the time Sun Wukong returned.
From this, it's easy to see what kind of style the Western Liang Kingdom was. It wasn't a paradise for men. If you actually went there, it probably wouldn't be any easier than being in the Rakshasa Thousand Women Painting.
"Hmph, at least you know something."
Gu Su was very satisfied with Cao Xing's attitude of admitting his mistakes and correcting them. Seeing that it was getting late, she repeatedly urged Cao Xing to cultivate diligently before getting up and leaving.
After Gu Su left, Cao Xing stared at her retreating figure, his eyes gradually turning cold. He thought to himself, "How fortunate I am to have met such a kind and warm-hearted senior uncle in this cannibalistic Shangfang Temple."