On the Path to the Great Dao

Ding Ding was heading this way when she saw the two facing off, their auras growing ever stronger. She hurriedly stopped in her tracks.

Black Pot came to her side and gave her a light nod, signaling that she could stand with him.

Ding Ding felt puzzled but still stood beside the dog. An inexplicable sense of security welled up in her heart.

"This man is the one who caused the deaths of over a thousand people in Three Harmony Village and turned Godmother into an evil? Why is he provoking Young Master Chen of his own accord?"

She puzzled in her heart.

"If he didn't provoke Young Master Chen, he could have kept wreaking havoc in Three Harmony Village without Young Master Chen ever finding out."

"Could he want to borrow Young Master Chen's hand to eliminate the Godmother of the jujube tree?"

"The jujube tree Godmother turned into an evil spirit because of the azure-clothed scholar and has always been killing the talisman monsters he created. There is indeed a deep conflict between the two."

"No! Though the jujube tree Godmother is incredibly powerful and her spirit form is profoundly eerie, she poses no threat to a talisman master of his caliber."

"His real target is Young Master Chen! He lured Young Master Chen here, planning to gauge his strength during the clash with Godmother!" Ding Ding felt a thought suddenly emerge in her mind—one that perfectly answered her earlier questions.

But was this really her own thought?

She sensed that the idea had been forcibly shoved into her head by someone else. She hadn't come up with it herself at all!

Horror gripped her.

"Who planted this thought in my mind to answer my question?"

Ding Ding quietly edged a bit farther from the dog.

Black Pot looked up at her with a look of resentment.

Ding Ding scooted closer again. In her heart, she thought:

"Maybe the dog is fine, and I'm just overthinking things. I probably didn't sleep well last night and keep seeing ghosts everywhere. Hold on—is this thought mine, or did Black Pot force it on me?"

For a moment, she couldn't tell.

Why does this dog seem more like an evil spirit than Godmother?

"Chen Shi, I bear you no grudge. Someone simply commissioned me to come kill you."

The azure-clothed scholar gave a faint smile and spoke leisurely.

"The one who hired me must dread the West Capital Butcher immensely and suspects he faked his death. So they're using me to flush him out."

"If he truly lives, then seeing his grandson about to die by my hand would surely force him to intervene."

Chen Shi frowned in confusion.

"If my grandpa really isn't dead, wouldn't that put you in grave danger?"

The azure-clothed scholar let out a sigh.

"They offered far too much—too much to turn down."

"Besides, the thrill of the hunt excites me. I dearly want to experience the Northern School's supreme talisman arts."

"Northern School talismans?"

Chen Shi wasn't entirely clear.

"The talismans of the world divide into two schools. The Northern School hails from the Qianyang Mountain folk, who claim to embody the orthodox tradition of talismans and seals. Their talismans derive from Daoist arts, divided into talismans, incantations, and seals—corresponding to divine forms, divine names, and divine speech."

The azure-clothed scholar clasped his hands behind his back.

"The Northern School's founder, the Qianyang Mountain Man, compiled the *Compendium of Talismans and Incantations* for the imperial court. It's long been an essential text for cultivation practice. It's even tested heavily in the autumn provincial exams and spring metropolitan exams."

"Fail those, and you can't become a juren."

"Chen Shi, you are a Northern School talisman master."

"You've mastered the contents of the *Compendium*. I just watched you draw with the speed of flight, your mind and spirit flowing seamlessly through brush and ink. You already carry the air of a Northern School grandmaster."

"Take the juren exam, and you'll land in the top three ranks!"

Chen Shi straightened his chest, brimming with pride, yet he replied humbly.

"My talisman work is merely passable. My true strength lies in the literary exams."

"Then what of the Southern School?"

The azure-clothed scholar replied.

"The Southern School is the hidden lineage—mine."

"The Southern School's talismans, incantations, and seals have shattered the constraints of Northern talismans."

"Northern talismans are rigid, forever bound to divine forms, names, and speech. They lack flexibility, merely depicting spirits."

"Our Southern School delves into the essence of life itself—even creating life, forging gods, birthing evils! We command spirits. We surpass them!"

He smiled with pride.

"Our Southern lineage reveres the Five Lakes Loose Practitioner as its founder."

"The Five Lakes Loose Practitioner compiled the *Talisman Creation Treasure Mirror*, the supreme treasure canon of our school!"

Ding Ding's face filled with doubt as she thought to herself.

"Five Lakes Loose Practitioner? That name rings a bell. It seems like Madam mentioned it once."

Chen Shi's expression turned solemn.

"A man facing death speaks kindly."

"You talk better than the ones I killed before."

"What's your name?"

The azure-clothed scholar was just about to reply when darkness fell over his vision. Chen Shi's figure had already closed to within a zhang, flipping midair. His right leg, infused with surging blood qi and thick as a temple's main pillar, hacked down toward the scholar's neck!

So fast!

Shock crossed the azure-clothed scholar's face. At the same time, light erupted from beneath his feet, an intricate talisman pattern surfacing on the ground.

Thunder roared in his ears—that was Chen Shi's movement technique at work. His sweeping kick whipped the air like a cracking lash, booming like thunder!

Boom!

The thunderclap jolted his spirit. The talisman underfoot stuttered!

In that brief hesitation, Chen Shi's leg smashed into his neck.

"So heavy!"

The azure-clothed scholar felt his brains nearly rattle loose from the blow. He heard the crack of bones in his neck and cast aside all talk of Northern and Southern schools. He hurriedly crushed the substitute talisman inscribed on peach wood.

Bang!

Chen Shi's leg swept the scholar's head flying. It whistled through the air, morphing into a wooden head as his body turned to a peachwood post.

His true form reappeared several zhang away. He coughed up blood in great heaves, clutching his neck with both hands.

His substitute talisman had been a touch too slow, failing to fully deflect Chen Shi's leg.

"Substitute talisman? Aren't you of the Southern lineage? Why resort to a Northern seal?"

Chen Shi's voice rang out. The azure-clothed scholar looked up to see exploding stars, then plunged into darkness. His heart filled with dread—that was Chen Shi's fist compressing his blood qi, starving his brain of blood!

"Take this punch, and I'm dead!"

He had planned a proper duel of talisman masters. His talisman activations were blisteringly fast, even aerial drawings quick enough to outpace many Golden Core cultivators' spells. But they were no match for Chen Shi's fists and feet!

Boom!

Amid the thunderous roar, Chen Shi's fist arrived before him. A massive clang echoed as colossal force sent the azure-clothed scholar flying. In midair, the bell-shaped barrier of his Golden Bell Talisman shattered to pieces.

He still hadn't managed to unleash a single Southern talisman. He could only rely on the Northern school's despised Golden Bell Talisman to block the strike!

Chen Shi tilted his head upward to regard him. Light flickered behind Chen Shi's skull, blurring the air in an instant.

The azure-clothed scholar, still airborne, knew he was in dire straits. He triggered every protective talisman on his body!

Next instant—Life-Preserving Talisman, activated!

Life-Preserving Talisman, shattered!

Canopy Incantation, activated!

Canopy Incantation, shattered!

Eight Trigrams Body-Protection Incantation, activated!

Eight Trigrams Body-Protection Incantation, shattered!

The azure-clothed scholar's body shuddered violently, successive waves of immense force grinding him farther and farther away. His arsenal of life-saving talismans dwindled rapidly.

To his shame and fury, he hadn't unleashed a single Southern talisman. Instead, the Northern ones he scorned had saved his life.

His body hurtled over a hundred zhang from the impact. As the azure-clothed scholar plummeted, Three Harmony Village lay below.

He finally breathed a sigh of relief.

"Chen Shi's sword qi reached eighty-six zhang in the county exam assessment."

"Now it's a hundred zhang—clearly improved, with formidable power."

"Unfortunately, that's his limit."

In that moment, an invisible sword qi flickered past. The azure-clothed scholar felt a sudden scalding heat at the roots of his thighs. Then he watched his legs drop away, plummeting just a touch faster than his body.

Hot blood poured from the stumps of his legs. The sword qi that had sliced them bore a trail of crimson glow, flying another dozen or so zhang before dissipating!

The azure-clothed scholar and his severed legs crashed to the ground with a thud. Horror seized him. On impact, his hands plunged into the pooling blood. He silently chanted a divine incantation. Blood flowed outward in all directions, swiftly forming a talisman on the ground with his own vital essence!

Behind him, Chen Shi came howling in pursuit, his speed terrifying!

Cold sweat beaded on the azure-clothed scholar's forehead. He didn't want to die!

He had always held himself in the highest regard his entire life—scorning the exams, scorning the scholar and juren titles. He believed his Southern talismans were the world's strongest arts; the imperial examinations could never measure his true skill.

He looked down on those scholars and juren. He brimmed with vast learning and bold ideas, yet the world failed to appreciate him, leaving him without a stage.

He had even once tested Chen Yindu, crafting a Wire-Pulling Worm and releasing it into the Qianyang Mountains to see if this grandmaster of Northern talismans could deal with it.

Chen Yindu had failed. The worm had survived for years.

He took pride in that, convinced his talisman genius had surpassed the West Capital Butcher.

He still harbored grand ambitions yet to unfold. He hadn't shown the world the might of Southern talismans. He hadn't achieved earth-shaking feats. How could he die here?

His goal on this trip had been to make Chen Shi—this grandmaster of Northern talismans—witness the superiority of Southern arts. How could he die just like that?

He didn't want to die!

Never had he imagined Chen Shi would eschew talisman contests for bare fists, feet, and spells!

His body twisted grotesquely. Blood still flowed from his leg stumps, morphing as it went.

Chen Shi barreled after him, his mind empty of all but one thought: eliminate the foe at once.

If the enemy wanted to duel talismans and he obliged, that would be folly.

Grandpa had once told him: When an opponent comes bare-handed for a fistfight, have a knife ready.

When an opponent wields blade or sword for a weapon duel, carry a three-barreled matchlock instead.

So when the azure-clothed scholar sought to compare Northern and Southern talismans, Chen Shi answered with fists and feet.

Chen Shi burst out of the village to see the azure-clothed scholar's body slowly rising.

Pale-faced, the scholar loomed from above, gazing down at the onrushing Chen Shi.

His upper body remained human, but his lower half had transformed into a structure akin to a Wire-Pulling Worm—thick as a dragon's torso, segmented into joints, each sprouting leg-limbs like human arms. Slender yet broad-jointed, clawed at the tips: seventeen segments in all, thirty-four arm-like legs.

Hatred burned in the azure-clothed scholar's eyes as he stared at the charging Chen Shi. He hesitated no longer, striding forth on his thirty-four legs—thud thud thud—rushing straight into the sky!

Chen Shi leaped after him. A whooshing tear of air came from the little shrine behind his head. The azure-clothed scholar's body jolted, his tail segment severed and tumbling down.

Like a centipede, he was dead yet unyielding. Though a chunk of his body lay severed, he lived on, treading the air with his remaining limbs to flee.

"Chen Shi, I sought a fair duel with you, yet you disregard all rules! Once my wounds heal, I'll come for you!"

Chen Shi pursued, but the scholar's form climbed higher and higher, vanishing from sight. He could only halt.

Ding Ding hurried up, cradling her pipa, glancing at him with hesitation.

"This azure-clothed scholar will surely seek revenge once healed! Black Pot, can you track his scent?"

Chen Shi said to Black Pot.

Black Pot sniffed at the bloodstains and shook his head.

Having turned to insect and fled into the sky, his scent trail was broken—untraceable.

Chen Shi frowned slightly. It was his first time encountering someone who survived being bisected. It felt troublesome.

"Southern talismans are indeed potent—not so easy to deal with. Next time, lop off his head and see."

As the thought crossed his mind, Ding Ding ventured cautiously.

"Young Master Chen, Madam once mentioned that your grandpa left the court and secluded himself amid the Five Lakes, thereafter calling himself the Five Lakes Loose Practitioner."

Chen Shi's mind thundered. It took him half a moment to recover before he cried out in shock.

"My grandpa is the Five Lakes Loose Practitioner? You're saying the ancestor of the Southern talismans is actually my grandpa?"

Ding Ding nodded.

"Madam also said that before adopting the name Five Lakes Loose Practitioner, your grandpa compiled talisman classics for the court under the alias Qianyang Mountain Man."

The revelation left Chen Shi's mind in a daze.

With Northern and Southern talismans locked in fierce rivalry, were the founders of both schools actually his grandpa?

What else had Grandpa done that he didn't know about?

"Madam once said she saw you at a Loose Practitioners' gathering."

Ding Ding continued.

"She spotted you at Mirror Lake Manor and asked about it."

"Don't you remember?"

Chen Shi's ears rang. His lips and throat went dry. He steadied himself.

"When was this gathering?"

"The Loose Practitioners' gathering happens once every decade."

Ding Ding wasn't entirely sure.

"Madam was injured this time and came to Mirror Lake Manor precisely for the upcoming gathering."

"So the last time she saw you must have been ten years ago?"

Chen Shi's eyes bulged.

Grandpa had taken him to a Loose Practitioners' gathering?

How many secrets was Grandpa still keeping from him?