Chapter 96: Four Hundred Years Ago, The Wuliang Daoist
Being in this heaven and earth, Hong Yuan would naturally not be pretentious about romance, nor would he shrink back hesitantly after clearly taking an interest.
Hong Yuan was originally a worldly man; even if his martial power was gradually becoming extraordinary now, he would not claim to be unmoved by beauty, power, or gold and silver wealth.
Even immortals and Buddha could not achieve that.
Before one could indifferently claim to regard power as passing clouds, beauties as white bones, and gold and silver as dirt, one must at least have possessed them once.
The increase in comprehension naturally brought an improvement in state of mind, but that was restraint as one pleased, not being desireless.
Moreover, with her so close at hand yet not taken into his room, how could the Tao Family devote themselves wholeheartedly to their tasks?
It was too troublesome to painstakingly cultivate his own confidants himself; it was better to let others proactively attach themselves and become confidants.
After all, if the ultimate goal was achieved and 【Great Year Blessed Land】 was opened, his martial power would surely already be extraordinary and saintly, so there would be no need to worry about his subordinates’ forces growing too large.
After bathing and changing clothes, Hong Yuan carried Tao Xiyue back to her room, tucked her in, and she fell into a deep, exhausted sleep.
Hong Yuan, refreshed, returned to the library.
“Young Master!”
Xu Qingjing’s mind had gradually calmed, but upon seeing Hong Yuan’s figure and recalling her bold words from before, a blush appeared on her tender white little face.
After curtsying gracefully, she hurriedly placed a pile of books on a low table in the room, head lowered, and said: “Young Master, these are the books related to sorcery records that Qingjing has temporarily sorted out.”
“You’ve worked hard!” Hong Yuan smiled and nodded, sitting down on the cushion behind the low table.
Xu Qingjing was very close; besides a girlish fragrance, there was also a seductive unusual scent, making him glance at her involuntarily.
Xu Qingjing’s ears instantly turned red, her gaze evasive as she stammered: “Young Master, why are you looking at me?”
Hong Yuan beckoned and patted the cushion beside him. “Come, let’s read together.”
Xu Qingjing bit her lip, both shy and somewhat pleased, and slowly moved her steps to sit beside Hong Yuan.
The two were very close; Xu Qingjing could even feel the heat from his body, hotter than the charcoal in the copper furnace.
Hong Yuan sat upright, eyes straight ahead, fully focused on the scroll in his hand, studying it intently and flipping through the pages rapidly one by one.
Xu Qingjing’s gaze followed the pages too, but her reading speed was far slower than Hong Yuan’s, and she was not actually interested in the content.
Thus, after watching for a while, she gradually fixed her eyes on Hong Yuan’s face, seeing his refined features like jade, his eyes shimmering with starlight, and she became dazed in fascination.
Suddenly, Xu Qingjing’s body trembled.
She felt a large hand slip in through the collar of her jacket skirt, toy with it for a moment, then slide downward, and with a rip, his fingertips undid the ties of her jacket skirt.
Xu Qingjing let out a soft cry, her body going limp as her arms wrapped around Hong Yuan’s neck, hanging on him like a possum.
Hong Yuan frowned slightly, a bit displeased at her disturbing his reading, but he didn’t dare to be distracted; sorcery was profound and worth great mental effort.
Many books only had fragmentary records, but after looking at a few, Hong Yuan discovered some records about 《Xuan Dian》 afterward.
After the Sky Calamity, 《Xuan Dian》 was mostly destroyed, with only a small portion scattered among the people, causing great chaos in the world for the next hundred years.
Until over four hundred years ago, a Daoist who called himself ‘Wuliang’ appeared out of nowhere, entering the Capital City alone and subduing the many princes, nobles, and noble families of the imperial capital in just three months.
Later, the Wuliang Daoist was summoned by the emperor of the time; after an all-night discussion between one emperor and one Daoist, three days later, the emperor decreed from the golden throne to appoint the Wuliang Daoist as the state sorcerer of the dynasty, and established a ‘Supervisory Heaven Office’ under his control.
After becoming the state sorcerer, the Wuliang Daoist vigorously collected the lost various sorceries, removing many vicious and poisonous methods, keeping the essence and discarding the dross, ultimately leaving over one hundred eighty sorcery methods, compiled into 《Hundred Sorceries Catalogue》, stored in the Supervisory Heaven Office.
However, recalling his recent readings, Hong Yuan remembered that the Supervisory Heaven Office had been abolished over two hundred years ago due to a certain state sorcerer defiling the rear palace, and he didn’t know if the 《Hundred Sorceries Catalogue》 still existed.
Hong Yuan flipped through the book in his hand, and on the last page, surprisingly, there was a passage he had seen before copied down.
“What man cannot do, sorcery can; yet sorcery is not the Way, sorcery is theft!”
“Steal wind and bone to ascend heights, pilfer yin soul to hide form, cut flesh and blood to feed spirits, pawn spirit and soul for a moment.”
“All sorcery is debt; the one who casts it is merely a thief who borrows life.”
Hong Yuan had seen the first sentence of this passage in Qin Fuzi’s 《Miscellaneous Notes》, but no source was noted.
But this book finally revealed the answer: it was that Wuliang Daoist’s annotation on the 《Hundred Sorceries Catalogue》.
“Cut flesh and blood to feed spirits…” Hong Yuan thought of the ‘Grass on Wings’ technique in the 《Miscellaneous Notes》, which required venerating a snake as mother and feeding it with essence blood.
At that time, Yang Erhu called it a ‘treasure technique’ and was quite tempted, only because the backlash was extremely low, fully within acceptable limits.
Hong Yuan continued consulting the other books, piecing together from the fragmentary mentions in each, gaining more and more information.
Sorcery types were numerous.
There were five elements techniques, mechanical arts, poisonous gu secret techniques, as well as talisman and incantation methods, medical incantations… these were the most common; the truly profound ones were celestial phenomenon secret techniques and spirit secret techniques.
In the interlayer of one book’s pages, Hong Yuan found a celestial phenomenon sorcery named ‘Mist Locks Linked Cities’; after completing the corresponding ritual, this technique could create a miasmic fog within several li.
Ordinary people breathing this miasmic fog would not die but would suffer dizziness and fatigue, and even entering force martial artists would experience some stagnation of qi and blood.
It might be useless against true masters, but on the battlefield during a clash of two armies, it would be a trump card.
However, casting this technique required multiple sorcerers, and it backlashed on the lungs, with many aftereffects.
Hong Yuan was perusing book after book, but for some reason, Xu Qingjing beside him was restless, twisting and turning, her eyes moist as if dripping water, biting her lower lip as if enduring something intensely.
Just as the longing in her eyes grew stronger and she was about to be unable to hold back, heavy footsteps suddenly came from outside the courtyard, followed by a steady voice from outside the door: “Lord, this subordinate Xie Yansheng has important matters to report.”
Xu Qingjing let out a soft cry and quickly covered her mouth; a strong sense of shame surged over her, then she suddenly went limp in Hong Yuan’s arms, resting lowly for a moment before supporting herself on the low table to stand, fleeing in panic into a side study.
“Come in!” Hong Yuan called.
Soon, Xie Yansheng entered, holding a letter with both hands: “Lord, this is a letter sent from Crouching Tiger Manor.”
