Chapter 79: Chapter 78: Why Resort to Violence
Chen Xu didn’t want to doubt Master Wu, but couldn’t help it.
The way Master Wu spoke just now, was it because he feared that Chen Xu’s cultivation was insufficient, causing him to act recklessly and get killed outside in the future?
Does he really seem like someone with violent tendencies?
Chen Xu didn’t realize that he didn’t need to show violent tendencies; just by sitting here asking Wu Zhengze about cultivation methods, Wu Zhengze already began to worry about him.
As things stand, in Wu Zhengze’s eyes, Chen Xu was no different from a rare treasure.
He still underestimated the value of the Three Cyan Smoke Poems too much, not knowing that although his initial poems were all just cyan smoke, it was first because his rank was low and he had no title;
Secondly, even a truly astonishing work is unlikely to leap from cyan smoke to purple smoke upon initial completion.
This is because poetry and such emphasize being well-known.
No matter how well-written a poem is, without being well-known, it is merely self-admired beauty.
Lack of renown and no readers is the great taboo of writing!
Only by moving enough people’s hearts can cyan smoke become increasingly dense, until one day it crosses the boundary and turns into purple smoke.
In Wu Zhengze’s view, the three poems Chen Xu composed in the Ghost Market, the first one was uncertain, but the second and third ones... had the potential to become purple smoke.
Even the second poem, over time, might gather golden light.
"There is no idle farmland across the land, yet farmers still starve to death—"
Even now, recalling this line, Wu Zhengze still found his scalp tingling, as if every hair on his body stood on end, with an indescribable thrill seeming to burst from his head!
It was too shocking; perhaps it was a stroke of genius by the young man, or perhaps the old man in the Ghost Market was too pitiful.
Or perhaps it was because Chen Xu himself came from an impoverished background...
Wu Zhengze didn’t know if Chen Xu could write with such skill years later, but at this moment, he was determined to protect Chen Xu.
He couldn’t let this rising star fall before his eyes.
But in the end, he still told Chen Xu, "I’ve heard a bit about the Daoist Sect’s cultivation stages, namely Mortal Body, Meridian Passage, Condensing Pill, Gathering Spirit, and Void Transformation."
Chen Xu found out that the Daoist Sect’s cultivation stages indeed matched those mentioned in his Food God Technique Scroll.
However, in Wu Zhengze’s words, there were only five stages in the Daoist Sect.
But the cultivation stages mentioned in the Food God Technique Scroll totaled eight: Mortal Body, Meridian Passage, Condensing Pill, Gathering Spirit, Void Transformation, Entering the Microcosm, Returning to Truth, and Harmonization!
It was unclear whether Wu Zhengze’s knowledge was incomplete, or whether the Daoist Sect’s cultivation nowadays ended at Void Transformation?
The world is vast with endless mysteries; whether Master lacked knowledge or Chen Xu himself lacked knowledge, it was all perfectly normal.
Chen Xu couldn’t help asking, "Master, what about the combat prowess comparison between Daoist cultivators and Confucian cultivators..."
"Oh, you." Wu Zhengze shook his head,
There’s no need to ask about the combat prowess at the Meridian Passage Realm or the combat prowess at the Core Formation Realm, I don’t know either.
I’ve only heard that a Gathering Spirit Realm True Master from the Daoist Sect once set up a ritual to summon the wind and rain to irrigate an entire prefecture.
But a Great Scholar could hardly do that."
At this point, he paused again.
"This..." Chen Xu couldn’t help wanting to interject, wondering if Confucianism was inferior to Daoism?
But Wu Zhengze said, "Yet a Great Scholar can command the might of the bell and tripod, employing rituals and virtues to instantaneously subdue a Daoist True Master. Or they could rely on their writings and doctrines, using words as prisons to confine an area..."
Wow, is it really that powerful?
Seeing Chen Xu’s eyes widen, with his expression shifting vividly and honestly, Wu Zhengze laughed heartily.
The Master stroked the short beard under his chin and said, "Young man, where’s all the fighting and killing? If a Great Scholar did indeed go up against a True Master, the world would likely fall into great chaos.
Don’t fixate on one person’s temporary combat prowess; every person is different, and there’s certainly been instances where a Golden Core Stage sword pierced a Great Scholar.
Similarly, an Advanced Scholar might get angry and kill a Gathering Spirit True Master.
If you’re fixated on combat prowess, you might as well stop studying and take up martial arts instead."
After speaking, Wu Zhengze finally let Chen Xu return to his own room.
Unbeknownst to him, as Chen Xu left, Wu Zhengze’s features suddenly scrunched up, with a look of pain crossing his face.
It turned out that he accidentally pulled out a few of his own beard hairs just now.
Oh, it hurts!
Alas, his cultivation is still lacking, causing his mind to waver.
Wu Zhengze quickly smoothed his chin, calming his emotions, and regained his usual stern expression.
He glanced in the direction Chen Xu left, shaking his head silently, sighing, young people unwilling to live with their mentors is quite understandable.
Fortunately, Chen Xu’s room was arranged right next to his room, so if anything unusual happened during the night, he could wake up in time to help.
Shortly after Chen Xu left, Wu Zhengze handwrote a letter, sealed it with a secret technique, then summoned a spiritual pigeon circling in the sky by dripping his blood and chanting a spell.
In the dead of night, a snow-white pigeon fluttered down from the sky, landing on the inn’s windowsill.
Wu Zhengze took some grains from his bag to feed it, groomed its feathers a bit, and sighed softly, saying, "White Clothes, White Clothes, I’ve let you rest in peace for so long, but now it’s time to burden you once again."
The white pigeon tilted its head, rubbing its small head against Wu Zhengze’s palm.
Wu Zhengze sealed the secret letter with a copper tube and attached it to the white pigeon’s leg.
Then he fed it some Red Jade Spirit Rice and gave it a small backpack, packing it with the rest of Wu Zhengze’s Red Jade Spirit Rice.
The item is precious, and Wu Zhengze himself only had this small handful.
The white pigeon cooed softly and turned to flutter into the night sky.
After returning to his room, Chen Xu briefly sensed the surroundings. It was still early, and although night had fallen, it wasn’t yet time for sleep, and the inn was buzzing with noise.
The nearby streets were reportedly under curfew after people settled in, so everyone hadn’t yet gone to sleep, making it convenient for Chen Xu.
Chen Xu sat by the small table in the room, habitually picking up a book, and then, with a thought, used 100 Fireworks Value to enter the Fire and Smoke Kitchen.
He then proceeded to practice his energy control and mastered his rapidly increasing cultivation.
[Cultivation: Meridian Passage Realm Early Stage 52%]
At this level, the Innate Qi within Chen Xu had grown to resemble a mountain stream after rain.
As the Innate Qi circulated, he not only felt more precise control over his visceral and meridian energy but also gained a clearer perception of everything naturally occurring in the world.
Wind come, fire come, water come!
Chen Xu first meditated, then practiced the elemental arts of wind, water, and fire. When he got bored, he chopped wood or researched spiritual food.
The few spiritual materials he obtained from the Ghost Market were all interesting. With enough Fireworks Value, Chen Xu could freely unlock various recipes.
He found twelve hours insufficient, so he spent another 200 Fireworks Value to add twenty-four more hours.
In such pleasurable cultivation, time became irrelevant.
Later, Chen Xu carefully comprehended his new divine power, Netherworld, realizing the meaning of the Yin and Yang Realms.
Until, at a certain moment, he was suddenly jerked awake from an inexplicable emotion, instantly leaving the Fire and Smoke Kitchen.
Opening his eyes, he unexpectedly saw a middle-aged man with a gaunt face sitting next to him at some unknown time.
The man, holding a scroll, sat there like a neighborly mentor and friend, his hair slightly disheveled, gazing at Chen Xu with a profound look.