Chapter Thirty-One: The Incense Burner Transmits Sound

  Xiao Qiu realized the truth on her way out of Laozu Peak's Taiyuan Temple.

  In front of Zong Shi Ning Qiwei and Zhuo Liu Ying, Xiao Qiu's incantation indeed took effect, causing the air to vibrate slightly, making the fireball explode, and then Zhuo Liu Ying immediately gained complete control over him, knowing all his memories and thoughts.

  Xiao Qiu didn't like this experience, and after Xiao Dao Shi explained the technique of controlling one's heart to him, he liked it even less.

  "This isn't even a particularly powerful spell, most Daoists who have reached the level of Cangxia can learn it. At the same time, as long as you can condense your dan, you will naturally develop resistance to spells like Heart Control Technique. Defense is always easier than offense, so using Heart Control Technique requires a significant gap in strength, and for most Daoists, it's not very useful, only able to bully someone of your level, a small child."

  Xiao Qiu began to recall the events before he fell asleep. He was reciting an incantation in the Wu Zu Tang, and at that time, the feeling was very clear. As soon as the five words "Wu" or " Luo" were uttered, a numbness spread from his heart to his fingertips, and the fireball was fixed in place. He could even feel the weight of the fireball, which seemed to be there but not quite there.

  Going further back in his memories, when he was cornered by Xīn Yòutáo in the courtyard of the pavilion, although he also recited the incantation, it didn't produce any similar strange sensations.

  Repeating his thoughts, Xiao Qiu finally confirmed that it was the first time his incantation had taken effect in Wuzutang, and Xinyu Tao's fireball explosion had nothing to do with him.

  If it wasn't him, then it could only be Fangfang.

  Xiao Qiu's heart lifted, he had just woken up and vaguely heard the sect master and the head seat arguing about a word. At that time, his brain was not fully awake, and he didn't understand a few sentences, but he could hear something related to curses.

  "What is mind?"

  "So you were using the Heart Incantation, no wonder." The little Taoist was suddenly enlightened and saw that Little Autumn's expression was different. He patted his shoulder and comforted him: "It's not a big deal, when the Three Ancestors created the Dao system, they invented many techniques, all sorts of types existed, but later in practice, it was discovered that the Five Elements type of technique was the most useful, so the Five Elements gradually became dominant, while other types were either lost or buried in piles of old papers with no one to cultivate them. The Heart Incantation is one of those types, a rather special one, as long as you have a Dao foundation, you don't need an inner elixir to recite incantations and cast spells, unfortunately, its power is not great, so it has never been prosperous, now that the Five Elements are flourishing, no one cultivates it even more."

  The little Taoist looked towards the direction of Mirror Lake Village, sighed regretfully and said, "Before Mei Chuan An fell into demonic possession, he had been diligently studying an obscure and abandoned ancient art, hoping to turn waste into treasure and excavate another vein that could rival the Five Elements spell. Alas, what a pity for such a talented Taoist! He paid such a great price, but it was just... Did the first seat say that this incantation is new?"

  Xiao Qiu shook his head, remembering clearly, "The first seat said that this was a small spell from the Ninth Ancestor's time, practicing it would be of no benefit, and told me not to waste any more time on it, so as not to delay my proper cultivation."

  The little Taoist let out another sigh, and felt even more sorry for Mei Chuan'an. "The First Seat is right, you'd better forget about it. There's another reason why the Taoists have forgotten the Nian Xin technique: evil thoughts are often born from the heart, and the Nian Xin technique is precisely on the edge of Taoism and demonism. Its power is not great, but it's extremely easy to become demonic, and indeed, practicing it is useless."

  Master Ning Qiwei also said so, Xia Qiu nodded, very grateful to this little Taoist priest, feeling that his tone of speech was a bit old-fashioned and couldn't help but ask: "How old are you? The Secret Chief looks like he's seventeen or eighteen years old, but in fact he's several hundred years old, what about you?"

  The little Taoist's smile was just like that of an ordinary child, "There are many things on Laozu Peak that you can't see through, wait until you've at least opened your spiritual aperture and passed the gateway before coming to ask again."

  ……

  Xiao Qiu told Fang Fang everything that had happened on the mountain. "By the way, the little Taoist priest told me that Xin Yu Tao didn't have an internal elixir at all. He was using a hidden talisman, which he stuck to his waist. When he stretched out his right hand, his left hand secretly invoked the talisman. His fireball technique was also very low-level, it just looked scary, even if it burned on your body, it wouldn't cause too much damage."

  "It turned out that way, it looked quite scary at the time." Fangfang tilted her head and pondered over the words "hiding talisman".

  "You still haven't told me whether it was you who cast that spell or not?"

  "I muttered a sentence in my heart." Fangfang's expression was somewhat dazed, at that time she rushed forward without hesitation, all her attention was on Xia Qiu, and she couldn't quite recall the feeling at that moment. "Before this, I had experienced that... tingling sensation from my heart to my fingertips, and also saw something transparent in front of me flashing, didn't expect it could stabilize the fireball."

  Fang Fang showed a apologetic expression, if she had known earlier that her own spell was effective, she wouldn't have let Xiao Qiu take the blame.

  Xiao Qiu smiled slightly, of course he wouldn't blame Fang Fang, his heart was only filled with gratitude. "Don't use it again in the future."

  "Uh-huh."

  Xiao Qiu stood up, thought for a moment and sat back down, "I have a feeling... Mei Chuanan telling us the incantation is not as simple as it seems."

  "What were you thinking of?"

  "Zuo Liu Ying always wanted to prove that there was still a demon breed left in our bodies, and Mei Chuan An used to be his apprentice. He came to the mansion for no reason and spoke a curse before he died, which is strange because Granny Mei took care of him for ten years and never heard anything like that from him."

  Xiao Qiu wasn't suspicious of Zuo Liu Ying for the first time, so Fang Fang didn't find it unexpected. She closed her book and thought for a while, "As long as she doesn't use that spell again in the future, everything should be fine, right?"

  Two teenagers, a boy and a girl, couldn't think of a better way to deal with the first peak of Laozu. Xia Qiu said: "That's right, we won't use this spell again, let Zuo Liu Ying hurry up. By the way, I saw a young qilin on the mountain..." Fang Fang immediately became interested.

  In another room in the front yard of the mansion, Wang Zixin lay alone on the kang, curled up into a ball and shivering with fear due to today's disastrous defeat.

  The plan was originally going smoothly, Xinyu Tao easily won the majority of children's following, forcing the Wild Lin Town teenager who understood his true nature to split, but just as he tried to gnaw down the last hard bone, he was choked, and ended up losing miserably, handing over the victory that had been within his grasp.

  The young men of the Ye Lin Town reunited, but the other children had all forgotten the prince's kindness and instead looked at him with suspicious eyes. Even the two most favored attendants only stayed in his room for a short while before hastily taking their leave.

  Living alone in a room was originally a privilege of princes, but now it has become a symbol of loneliness and helplessness.

  There are also the unfair higher-ups on Laozu Peak, who did not punish Mu Xiuqiu for displaying his strange magic techniques. However, he was severely reprimanded for secretly using a small talisman, and all of his talismans were confiscated. The strict law enforcer even destroyed them in front of him.

  As the prince of Western Xia, Xinyu Tao could do without armor and friends, but he couldn't do without his talisman. He curled up on the kang, forgetting how much he missed soft beds, feeling smooth all over, ashamed to be seen by others, while listening intently with his ear, afraid that Shen Hao and Xiao Qiu would suddenly rush in to take revenge on him.

  Dinner time arrived, but Xin Youtao didn't go to the dining hall. The food here was bland and tasteless, and he wasn't fond of eating in the first place. Today, he had even less appetite.

  As night fell over Jinghu Village, Wang Zixin and Tao Yu re-energized.

  "It starts with small things, and if I can't even conquer a group of kids, how will I do big things later?" He stretched out his limbs, speaking in the most determined tone, as if whispering to his closest friend lying opposite him. "Games are war, I see further than they do, this is my advantage, they're still just kids, but I'm not, I won't be a kid again."

  He jumped down from the kang, put on his leather boots and walked to the door, looking out through the crack in the door. The night was already deep, most of the children had returned to their rooms to rest, only a few people were still outside, either chatting or practicing boxing, occasionally bursting into laughter. Xin Youtao bit his lip, since he didn't consider himself a child, he naturally didn't want to envy the friendship between children.

  "It won't be long before they disintegrate, either becoming strangers or fighting each other to the death." Xīn Yòutáo spoke in a low voice, making a prediction and looking down on the friendly scene outside.

  Fewer and fewer children were outside, until only three boys from Yelin Town remained: Mu Xingqiu, Shen Hao, and Erliang Shen Xiuyi. They continued to practice their boxing moves tirelessly, having lost count of how many times they had done so.

  "A country bumpkin who has never seen the world." Xīn Yòutáo didn't notice he had been staring for too long, muttering to himself, "Even a set of iron bone fist is practiced with such vigor."

  At last, these three people also returned to their rooms to rest. As midnight approached, the entire building fell silent, and even the chirping of insects could not be heard.

  Xin Yutao couldn't sleep, sat on the edge of the bed in a daze, suddenly heard outside again the sound of opening the door, so quietly ran to the door and looked out again.

  Zhang Lingsheng walked out of the room and sneaked towards the martial arts arena between the main house and the east wing, after returning from Yangshen Peak during the day, he had been hiding in the house without seeing anyone, nor did he come to visit Wangzi, apparently he was scolded by the Douchuang.

  Xin Yutao's face showed a look of disdain. He had looked down on this Zhang Daoshi from the start, and now he felt that this person was completely useless.

  Zhang Lingsheng arrived in front of the stone bench under the tree, knelt down on both knees, first placed a small stove slightly larger than his palm on the bench, and then inserted an incense stick into it and lit it.

  Cigarette smoke rose straight up, appearing and disappearing in the night. Zhang Ling waited for a while, as if listening to something, before speaking in a low voice with an extremely respectful tone, "It's my fault, my methods were too soft, I couldn't force their demonic kind out, I'm incompetent... Tomorrow, Nurturing Spirit Peak will send someone to teach... I'll think of another way, this time I won't be lenient. Hmm... hmm... I only have one wish, just one, help me condense the elixir, my requirements aren't high, as long as I reach the Breath Ingestion Realm it's fine."

  Zhang Lingsheng knocked his head against the incense burner, was about to put things away, but changed his mind, got up and took a look at the corner of the wall, and left directly.

  As soon as Zhang Lingsheng entered the house, Xin Youtao walked out of the shadow in the corner of the wall and slowly approached the incense burner, staring curiously at the rising smoke, vaguely guessing that this was a means of communicating with Old Ancestor Peak.

  A voice echoed in Xin Yu Tao's mind, "You are an ambitious person, you want to make a name for yourself on Mount Pong and then return to Xi Jie City to fight for your own share of family glory."

  "It's me." Xīn Yòutáo said, no longer feeling surprised about it.

  "You have made up your mind to stop at nothing."

  "By any means necessary."

  "You don't care about others' lives and deaths, you just want to achieve your own goals."

  "I don't care."

  "Go ahead, let the evil seed reveal its true face, force it to show up. If all else fails... then help it show up."

  (Collection needed, recommendation needed)