Chapter 28: Preaching and Teaching

  The sky was bright, Lin Xiao had just memorized the incantation of 'Thunderbolt Fire Technique', when Hua Feng'er kicked open the wooden door with a loud bang and rushed into the room.

  Lin Xiao casually stuffed the jade piece into his cuff and stared blankly at Hua Feng'er, asking: "Hua Shijie, what's this?"

  Hua Feng'er grasped Lin Xiao's sleeve with one hand and pulled him along as they walked out: "Don't dawdle, Master wants me to take you to the Cold Spring Clear Mind Cave on the back mountain to teach you about medicine and the Way. Alas, little brother, I've followed Master for so many years, but I've never seen her be so diligent before - she can entrust me with bringing you to listen to the teachings at such an early hour, you're really honored!"

  Hua Feng'er shot Lin Xiao a slightly jealous glance, and Lin Xiao awkwardly chuckled a few times before hastily using his divine movement technique to catch up with Hua Feng'er. The two couldn't have imagined that Dan Xia had become so diligent, but it was actually because he feared that Dan Ying Dao Ren would find an excuse to forcibly take Lin Xiao back into the sect, and thus had no choice but to muster his spirits and keep a close eye on Yao'er and Lin Xiao. Of course, this was also because Dan Feng Sheng had other important matters at hand, and Dan Xia was forced to take action himself; otherwise, it would likely still be up to Dan Feng Sheng to pass down the Dao techniques.

  In the back mountain of Huichun Valley, there is a small pool surrounded by mountains. The pool is roughly circular in shape, with a diameter of about 100 zhang and a depth of over 1,000 zhang. The entire pool is silver-white, like a pool of mercury. When the mountain wind blows, the water doesn't show even a slight ripple. For thousands of years, this pool has been as still as death. There isn't even a single small shrimp in the pool, it's just a dead pool. Even goose feathers will sink to the bottom of the pool, and if you throw a stone into it, not even a single water flower will bloom, and the sound of the splash is like thin porridge being stirred.

  The icy pond is three miles in circumference and has been frozen all year round. The closer you get to the icy pond, the lower the temperature becomes. Within a hundred feet of the icy pond, not even a large stone can be found, only fine sand and dust everywhere, stretching out as far as the eye can see like a yellow expanse, without a single blade of grass. The Qingxin Cave where Dalianda punished his errant disciples is located at the foot of a cliff less than fifty steps away from the icy pond.

  The cave entrance is extremely narrow, only allowing one person to enter or exit at a time. As you step inside, it's just a narrow tunnel, with the top of the tunnel inlaid with thumb-sized bright pearls, and the dim candlelight makes the tunnel look hazy. Looking ahead, all you can see is that the tunnel stretches deep into the mountain cliff, and who knows how far it goes? On both sides, countless small cave entrances have been opened up, and right now, there are dozens of cave entrances with faint light shining out from within. These caves with light emanating from them are where the disciples of the Great Luo Dan Taoist sect are being punished to face the wall.

  Hua Feng'er led Lin Xiao along the familiar path, circling around several times within the tunnel before finally arriving at a small opening at the end of the tunnel. With one push, she sent Lin Xiao tumbling inside.

  Lin Xiao was already familiar with the dim candlelight inside the cave, but he didn't expect that the ground inside the cave was a foot and three inches lower than the entrance. He was busy examining the interior decorations, but didn't notice that his foot had stepped into empty space, almost causing him to fall to the ground. "Hehe!" Danxia's voice suddenly came: "Good Xiao doesn't need to be polite, this place is not big, no need to pay respects to Shifu's wife."

  A gentle force surged forward, and Lin Xiao's body was about to hit the ground when he suddenly straightened up, narrowly avoiding embarrassment. Lin Xiao turned his head back in extreme frustration, only to see Hua Feng'er making a face at him and lightly saying: "Little Shidi, where is my Ziye Lan fruit?"

  It was as if a basin of snow water had poured down from his forehead, and Lin Xiao's grievances were washed away. He quickly turned his head to look at Danxia, who was sitting on a futon in the cave, and bowed his head in respect: "Master!"

  Tan Xia looked at Lin Xiao with a smile, and lightly waved her hand towards Hua Feng'er. Hua Feng'er glared fiercely at Lin Xiao's back, let out a cold snort, and turned around to leave slowly. Tan Xia then laughed and said: "The Master's wife has called you over because the Master's brother is punishing Medicine to face the wall for a month, but also wants the Master's wife to teach Medicine various forbidden techniques. The Master's wife thought that since Xiao had never learned any Taoist skills before, it would be better to teach them all at once and save her from having to take extra steps in the future."

  This remark was quite straightforward, it's just that he was afraid of wasting a move in the future! Lin Xiao obediently nodded and responded with a sound, looked at Yao who was sitting on the meditation mat opposite Danxia with an unhappy face, and obediently sat down next to Yao with his knees together. Yao, whose face was stiff with anger, turned her eyes around and secretly stretched out her hand to pinch Lin Xiao's soft ribs fiercely.

  Lin Xiao looked at Yao'er with a bitter face, Yao'er was staring back at him with big innocent eyes, looking "innocent and kind". Lin Xiao sighed and turned to look at Danxia. Danxia seemed not to have noticed the small movement of Yao'er's hand, but slowly took out a Taoist book from a blue cloth package beside her, smiling and saying: "Well, now Master will teach you the essence of Taoist doctrine... Hmm, Xiao'er, as a junior brother, you should listen more to Yao'er's words, after all she is your senior sister, you should give in to her!"

  Lin Xiao opened his mouth, wanting to say something, but couldn't get it out. Dan Xia, on the other hand, continued with a smile: "Don't think that just because you've formed a Golden Elixir, you can bully Yao'er. Master's wife won't allow it. Hmm, you have to listen obediently to what Yao'er says; if Yao'er tells you to do something, you must do it; if Yao'er doesn't let you do something, you're not allowed to do it. Hmm, towards Yao'er, you should be like your master is towards Master's wife - not a single bit of disobedience is allowed, got it?" As Dan Xia spoke, the smile on his face grew even brighter.

  The corners of his mouth twitched, and Lin Xiao nodded his head: "Master said it's right! Disciple understands!" Lin Xiao was so suffocated in his heart. He used to be bullied by Yao'er, when did he dare to bully Yao'er again? To tell the truth, even if he had the ability to bully Yao'er now, he wouldn't dare to touch a hair on her head!

  He turned his head and stared blankly at Yao, who had already sat up straight with a serious expression, her eyes fixed intently on Danxia as she prepared to listen attentively to his explanation of the Taoist teachings. Lin Xiao was lost in thought when suddenly he felt a loud thud on his forehead, which was actually Danxia slapping him hard on the head from afar. "Ah!" Lin Xiao let out a sharp cry, his face flushing red as he lowered his head, placing his hands obediently on his knees, quietly listening to Danxia's lecture on the subtleties of Taoist teachings and the transmission of various practical spells.

  But the Taoist methods in this world are divided into many types according to the five elements and their derived energies, however, the methods that each practitioner can use are not entirely determined by their innate attributes. A fire-attribute practitioner can also cast ice-based spells; a wood-attribute practitioner can also trigger the power of earth; a metal-attribute practitioner may even be able to cast "All Trees Revive" - a wood-attribute recovery spell.

  However, after all, cultivators have attributes, and general cultivators will choose to cultivate the Taoist methods that match their own attributes. Therefore, the true yuan cultivated is also marked with the five elements of each attribute. Therefore, cultivators can use Taoist methods that are completely opposite in attributes, but due to the relationship between the true yuan attributes, using opposing attribute Taoist methods will have a very poor effect.

  For example, Lin Xiao, a pure fire-attribute cultivator, also cultivated the true yuan of fire. If he uses fire or thunder attribute spells, if he can easily destroy a small mountain, then if he uses cold ice attribute spells, maybe he can only freeze a cup of tea! However, after all, he can use cold ice attribute spells, which is beyond doubt.

  The Taoist method, the Taoist method, is nothing more than using one's own cultivation to mobilize the power of heaven and earth; even a pure fire-type true yuan can also mobilize a bit of cold air between heaven and earth, it's just that the cost is extremely high and the gain is extremely small.

  "The power of the five elements is not entirely opposing. You must understand the ultimate principle of the five elements' generation and restraint, in order to master the five elements' Taoist methods with ease." Danxia explained the fundamental principles of the Taoist method to the two of them, then looked at Yao'er with a smile: "But Yao'er doesn't have this kind of problem. Yao'er's innate talent is exceptional, and all five elements' Taoist methods are completely unobstructed for her."

  Lin Xiao made a ghostly face and gave a thumbs up.

  Yao'er jumped up and down with excitement, her eyebrows dancing with joy. Then, Yao'er suddenly thought that Lin Xiao was a pure fire-type cultivator, and his skills would not be as effective as others. She realized she might have been mocking him by being too proud in front of him. Her eyes rolled around, and she naturally reached out to tidy up the scattered hair on Lin Xiao's shoulders. Lin Xiao just smiled at Yao'er, foolishly forgetting that Danxia was sitting right in front of them, less than three feet away.

  Dan Xia's face wore a smile as she lowered her head, pretending not to see the affectionate interaction between Yao and Lin Xiao. She was lost in thought, reminiscing about some past events with Dan Feng, and couldn't help but blush slightly, muttering under her breath: "This silly fool, after all these years, still so foolish! Brother asked you to go to Dan Fang's place, didn't even bother to get that purple grass for me, just rushed off like that... truly a silly fool! If I don't manage to cultivate the yuan ying in the future, you'll be stuck with this old lady forever!"

  Her eyes fluttered, and Danxia gently stretched out her fingers to caress her smooth, wrinkle-free cheek, and couldn't help but let out a soft sigh.

  "Of course, in ancient times, there were those profound and subtle Daoist classics that could cultivate extremely mysterious Xianjia true yuan regardless of the cultivator's attributes. They could use various Dao methods at will." After a while, Danxia lightly coughed and startled Yao'er and Lin Xiao, not looking at Yao'er who was puffed up with anger and Lin Xiao who was blushing, continuing to speak on her own: "However, those Daoist classics gradually disappeared due to the continuous dissipation of spiritual energy in the cultivation world over the past few thousand years."

  "Lost?" Lin Xiao didn't have any feelings about this legendary Taoist treasure, but Yao'er was tense and exclaimed: "How could it be lost? Hmm, Master, if we can find that kind of treasure and let Little Shixiong cultivate it, won't he be able to cast various spells like me too?"

  Lin Xiao's heart moved slightly as he looked at Yao who was extremely serious, and without noticing Danxia in front of him, he couldn't help but stretch out his hand and gently grasp the small fist that Yao had clenched tightly.

  The young one didn't react, but Danxia rolled her eyes and thought to herself: "These days' young people are so unreserved! The master's wife is right in front of them! Ah, back then when I was with Dafu Sheng that silly melon... we were being affectionate in the medicine garden, Master must not have seen us! Hmm, hmm, he definitely didn't see!"

  A red glow appeared on Jade's face, and Danxia narrowed her eyes, coughing loudly several times before saying in a loud voice: "This, Medicine Child, think about it. Those important treasure manuals and secret books, aren't they all stored in the most heavily restricted treasuries of each major sect? Aren't there countless restrictions and seals set up outside? And on top of that, aren't powerful restrictions applied to the treasure manuals themselves to prevent theft?"

  "Hmm, yeah?" Yao'er tilted her head and said seriously: "It's just like the time Xiao Shidi roasted a mountain chicken for me, I carefully hid it away when I brought it back, afraid that Hua Shi Jie would steal it!"

  Lin Xiao's face revealed an awkward smile as he stared at Dan Xia's continuous foolish grin.

  Danxia couldn't help but roll her eyes and continued, "Alright, now that you understand this, it's easier for Shifu to explain. Those treasure manuals have so many restrictions, all of which require a cultivation level close to flying ascension to take them out. If the cultivator's abilities aren't enough... well, wouldn't they be unable to take out those treasure manuals?"

  With a light sigh, Danxia shook his head and said: "Thousands of years ago, many sects' seniors with high cultivation simultaneously disappeared. The disciples in the sects were not strong enough to take out the precious treasures and scriptures stored within the sect's gates. Moreover, the spiritual energy in the cultivation world began to dissipate at that time, causing later cultivators to have lower and lower cultivation..."

  "In the ancient times, there were many great gods and those who had achieved some success in their cultivation all possessed at least one low-grade immortal artifact. But now? Even a slightly good treasure is hard to come by in the cultivation world. These Daoist techniques and formulas are naturally the same...". Danxia gently shook his head and softly sighed.

  "Alright, let's not talk about these irrelevant things. The mistress is now formally teaching you various spells, regardless of whether you have the cultivation to use them or not. In a month's time, you must remember them thoroughly." Danxia especially warned Lin Xiao: "Xiao'er, with your Golden Elixir stage cultivation, it won't be long before you'll definitely be sent out of the mountain gate to collect spiritual herbs at various sacred mountains and great rivers. If you don't practice these Taoist spells carefully, how will you protect yourself? So, while Medicine can be a bit sloppy this time, you must be careful and diligent."

  Lin Xiao knew that Dan Xia was right, so he hastily and respectfully agreed.

  It's said that this time the Dharma transmission is also related to Lin Xiao's safety, Yao'er hurriedly sat up straight and didn't utter another word, listening attentively as Danxia lectured on the subtleties of various Daoist methods.

  In the blink of an eye, seven days have passed.