Chapter 55: The Ninth Master

  Although I had hoped that the ghost would find something to take, it was clear that things wouldn't go as I had hoped. Until noon, there was no movement. Fortunately, by daybreak, everyone in the room had dispersed, leaving only Zhang Qianqian and the unconscious Wang Jing. Everyone believed that a ghost wouldn't dare come out during the daytime, but I knew it wasn't that simple. That thing wasn't a ghost; otherwise, under the light of day, I shouldn't have been able to see any yin energy.

  One yin soldier never dispersed, only when it was daytime, the temperature had risen significantly, and the sunlight blocked the yin energy. It wasn't that the yin soldiers didn't exist, but rather during the day, their power was relatively weak, suppressed by the yang energy, so they weren't as noticeable. Ghosts are everywhere, even in hospitals where four people often gather. Even on a sunny day, you can still see ghosts, it's just that during the day, ghosts aren't visible, and ordinary people can't see them.

  Yin Cha came to see me, but I wasn't awake yet, so he gave up. However, Zhang Yanhui never returned, and Yin Cha couldn't find him either. Among the thousands of yin soldiers searching, they couldn't find one person - where could Zhang Yanhui be? It's really too strange.

  But it wasn't until after lunch that the master rushed over, and he didn't come alone - there were four old Taoist priests with him, all of whom looked very old, with wrinkled skin and grey hair. I couldn't tell who was older than whom. I knew they were from the Quanzhen School, my master's uncles and aunts. When they saw me, apart from being a bit pale, I seemed fine, so the old priests relaxed a bit. But what followed next was the most troublesome time for me.

  Seeing that I was fine, the master let out a sigh of relief. However, he then began introducing several senior masters and pointed to the youngest one, who had relatively fewer wrinkles. The master said in a serious tone, "This is your Master Uncle Ma Tianyi."

  Although I didn't even have the strength to get up, I still didn't dare to be slow and hurriedly squeezed out a smile on my face: "Liu Hai has seen Master Shu Zu."

  My uncle's elder brother smiled and nodded at me, but only looked me up and down before turning to the oldest of the masters: "This is your Fifth Master Wang Fengchun."

  "Master Wu is great, I couldn't give Master Wu a thousand bows, please don't think it's strange." I was very helpless, but could only laugh desperately to express my admiration, even though I had never heard of it.

  "This is your Ninth Uncle Haoming." The master introduced this uncle with a seemingly indifferent tone, probably because the two of them didn't get along.

  "This is your nineteenth Shibo Tianming." The master actually got along very well with this Shibo, and the two of them even exchanged a smile, but I was depressed. This is already the nineteenth Shibo, so where did the master rank? I reckon my position isn't high either, and there are still many older brothers and sisters above me.

  I paid my respects one by one, not daring to be the slightest bit slow, and Master was quite satisfied with this. However, Master Shu Zu and the three Masters Bo didn't make me feel very good about it. No one said anything, but instead, the three Masters Bo searched me all over, making goosebumps rise on my skin. I hated that they suspected me of having a problem with the three Masters Bo. Fortunately, Master Shu Zu said, "This child's foundation is indeed not bad, very suitable for cultivating the Tao, but unfortunately, he can't find the second yuan Shen's energy mechanism. Chunyi, you've found a good seedling!"

  The master just smiled, the apprentice was praised by the master and naturally felt happy, let alone an elder. On the side, Fifth Master Wang Fengchun made a sound: "Master Shu, this kid's Tianlun is indeed abnormal, it's a natural divine eye, no wonder he can learn without a teacher, Chunyi Master has picked up a treasure."

  Shifu's uncle was taken aback for a moment, some things can't be seen with the naked eye. He walked over to me and touched my brow, couldn't help but burst out laughing: "Indeed, Tianlun is open, Shénmù is self-sufficient, perhaps it's true that you can spread Quanzhenjiao, good..."

  Three Shibo also laughed along, and the master also followed with a smile, but the master stretched out his hand to Shishu: "Master Shu, this is your first meeting with me, since you think this kid is good, shouldn't you also give him some meeting gift?"

  My master's uncle was taken aback, looked at my master with a glance and couldn't help but burst out laughing. He didn't seem to mind, and casually took out a copper bell from his sleeve and handed it directly to me: "Little Hai, take this as a gift from your master's uncle for meeting you. Otherwise, I'm afraid I won't be able to get rid of your master's nonsense. This copper bell is called the Soul-Capturing Bell, which can subdue all ghosts in the world. The bell has a spell to suppress evil spirits, and with just a thought, talismans will fly out. This was personally refined by the 16th generation of our sect's leader, Sun Ruida, and it's also a treasure of our sect. You must cherish it well."

  He didn't want Master to see that Shifu had given him something, but his eyes turned to the three Masters. At this point, one of them, who was not old and wise, saw Master looking over and shook his head with a bitter smile: "I knew that Chunyi was not easy to fool, fortunately I was prepared."

  As he spoke, he took out a net-like object from his sleeve, which appeared to be made of golden threads. I was not mistaken, and Nineteenth Master smiled: "Xiao Hai, this is the Seven Star Net. Although it's only the size of a palm, it's quite formidable when dealing with ghostly creatures. As long as you recite the incantation, you can trap countless ghosts within it, and even refine their yin souls. It's truly wondrous, but be careful not to use it recklessly."

  As soon as the words fell, Wu Shi Bo also came up: "I was in a hurry when I came, and I didn't have any preparation. Except for the Brimming Blue Steel Sword that appeared on my body, there were no other long objects. Xiaohai, don't laugh at Shi Bo, okay? Here, I still have a few talismans for you to take as a protective measure."

  He handed me five or six talismans with a pitiful look, which looked like the Five Thunderbolts Talisman. I didn't decline and thanked him politely, but then I heard the 19th Master's uncle say: "Little Hai, don't underestimate these few talismans, your fifth master is the best at drawing talismans in our sect, these five thunderbolts talismans are not that simple."

  It's clear that the Nineteenth Master is being so serious about these five thunder talismans, they're probably not simple at all. Now it's only left to Ninth Master, but his face doesn't look good at this time. I looked over and saw that the corners of Ninth Master's mouth were twitching, I don't know what he's thinking, whether he's unwilling to give or what, but it's clear that Master Shu, Nineteenth Master, and even Fifth Master are all prepared. Now looking at Ninth Master, he seems to have no preparation at all. At this time, Master suddenly said in a gloomy tone: "Forget it, Ninth Brother, I know you're not prepared, absolutely can't be so stingy as not to give out your hand, don't spoil the child at home."

  But this didn't seem to comfort him, and Ninth Master glared at Master with a fierce gaze, his eyes almost spewing fire. It was clear that he was truly angry. However, Master Shu and Lian seemed oblivious, still discussing my roots. I felt they were doing it on purpose; otherwise, why would Master have stopped looking at Ninth Master after speaking? This had infuriated Ninth Master to the point of exploding with rage. He let out a heavy cold hum: "This child is our next generation's sixth disciple, and I feel particularly close to him. However, as you all know, I've never had any magical tools, only this one sword. How about this? I see that Little Hai's injuries are not light, so I'll give him this Nine-Turn Revival Dan. If he takes it, his injuries will heal by more than half."

  As he spoke, he took out a jade bottle from his bosom and looked at the medicinal jade bottle. It was absolutely one of Jiu Shi Bo's treasured possessions, and it wasn't something simple either. Even Shifu Zu was moved by its presence. Seeing Jiu Shi Bo hand it over to me, I hesitated. This thing was different from a magic treasure; once consumed, it would be gone, and returning it wouldn't be possible either. After a moment's thought, I merely bowed my head and said: "Jiu Shi Bo, I don't have any major issues, just this little injury will heal with some rest, there's no need for something as precious as this...

  The Ninth Master took out all the Nine Turns Rebirth Pills, and his face changed. Although the Ninth Master was the best at refining pills, he had only refined two of these Nine Turns Rebirth Pills in his lifetime. One of them was given to Lei Yu Hang, a disciple of Mao Mountain's Qing Dynasty, to extend his life by sixty years. Speaking of Lei Yu Hang, he was a disciple of Mao Mountain, but also the third and fourth president of the Taoist Association. However, his identity was not enough to make the Ninth Master take notice of him. This Lei Yu Hang was a famous anti-Japanese hero at that time. He led three disciples in a bloody battle against the Japanese invaders at Yunlong Lake in Xuzhou, Jiangsu Province. Only Lei Yu Hang returned to Mao Mountain, barely alive, with his body severely injured. It was said that even the then-master of Mao Mountain, Zhenren Ma Si Jia, did not believe that Lei Yu Hang could survive. Although he survived, he was heavily damaged both physically and mentally. The young Ninth Master at that time offered a Nine Turns Rebirth Pill, which brought Lei Yu Hang back from the brink of death. This incident made the Ninth Master famous, but afterwards, no matter how hard he tried, he only managed to refine one more pill in his lifetime. Its preciousness can be imagined. It was not something that could be compared to a magical artifact like the Soul-Capturing Bell of the Master's uncle. The master, although teasing the Ninth Master, quickly stopped him: "Elder brother, you mustn't use this! This Nine Turns Rebirth Pill is very precious, and Xiao Hai doesn't have any life-threatening injuries. He will recover soon with just a few pills. Giving him one of these pills would be too much... absolutely not!"

  "Yes, Haoming, let's just keep it, who knows when it might save someone's life again—" Master Shu and the others couldn't bear to watch anymore, so they hastily came out to mediate, or else things would have become really difficult to resolve. Looking at this situation, Ninth Master was indeed furious, and if he really harbored resentment in his heart, that would be terrible. Even Shi Bo came to persuade him, but no matter what, this was too severe. They would rather Ninth Master give the Qinggang sword away, which would make things easier to discuss. But who could have predicted that Ninth Master was actually serious: "Don't try to persuade me anymore, it's settled like this—"