Chapter 14: The Ninth Turn of the Primordial Chaos Formula

  "Long hair fluttering: "Tongzi, long time no see, how have you been lately? Fang Xinyu is getting married, did you know that? The date is set for August 18th, and all our classmates are going. They're also taking the opportunity to hold a class reunion, did you receive the notice? I hope you can come, your original phone number isn't reachable, and you never attend our gatherings either. Zhongping and I both miss you! This time you must come! Here's my phone number 187xxxxxxxx, be sure to give me a call! Otherwise, Zhongping and I will ignore you from now on!"

  A name that hadn't been mentioned for a long time suddenly appeared before his eyes, and Ma Tong couldn't help but become distracted: Those days of attending university in the capital city were probably the happiest days of his life.

  Fang Xinyu was Ma Tong's girlfriend during his university days, the class beauty of their batch, and also a fellow Sichuan native. Perhaps because they were from the same hometown or for some other reason, Fang Xinyu had taken a liking to the ordinary-looking Ma Tong at that time. The two got along incredibly well, like honey mixed with oil, and Ma Tong even had a "if not you, then no one" attitude towards her.

  Unfortunately, at the end of the first semester of senior year, Ma Tong severely beat the department head who wanted to secretly expel Fang Xin Yu. As a result, Ma Tong was not only expelled from school but also detained for 15 days, which completely ruined his future prospects.

  Although Fang Xin Yu was deeply moved by Ma Tong's words, she did not give up on him. However, her family strongly opposed their continued relationship. After a year of persistence, Fang Xin Yu finally could not withstand the pressure from her family and let go of Ma Tong's hand. Ma Tong, being someone who would rather die than lose face, did not actively try to retain Fang Xin Yu. As a result, the two eventually parted ways and became strangers.

  At that time when Ma Tong just broke up with Fang Xin Yu, he was very depressed and spent his days drinking to drown his sorrows. He hung out with a group of rascals in the capital city, although he didn't steal or cheat, fighting and brawling were common occurrences. Fortunately, two other good friends from university did not give up on him and often consoled and helped him. With thoughts of his elderly mother at home, Ma Tong finally came to his senses after two months and packed his bags back to Xi Hua.

  Those two friends were Zheng Tengteng, also known as "Long Hair Lightly", the former class monitor of their class, and Wang Zhongping, a close friend from Marton's upper bunk, who called himself "Zhongzheng Pinghe, the King's Way". Both of them were from Beijing and were a couple. They got married right after graduating from college. At that time, Marton was short of money, so although he served as the best man at their wedding, he only gave 200 yuan as a gift. Even now, he still feels guilty about it!

  After some deliberation, Ma Tong still took out his mobile phone and dialed Zheng Tongtong's number. After a melodious ringtone, the call was answered, and a familiar female voice came from the other end of the line: "Hello, who is this?"

  Ma Tong's voice was slightly low as he said: "Tongtong, it's me, Ma Tong!"

  "Ma Tong!!! You heartless guy finally called! Where have you been all these years? Why didn't you come to Beijing to see us? Zhongping and I almost went to Xihua to find you!"

  In front of Zheng Tongtong, Ma Tong shed all his pretenses and sighed: "Life is tough, isn't it, Big Classmate? You think I'm like you guys, one with a golden rice bowl in a state-owned enterprise, the other a white-collar worker in a Fortune 500 company? It's just a matter of time before I'm stuck with a tile on my butt, who has the mood to run around the world?"

  "Get out! You'll cry poor! This time you have to come, at most I'll reimburse the transportation fee. After you arrive, I'll cover all your expenses for food, accommodation and entertainment! If you dare say no to me again, I'll definitely make you pay! You heartless thing!" Zheng Tongtong scolded loudly, Ma Tong could almost see Zheng Tongtong standing with her hands on her hips, yelling at the top of her lungs on the other end of the phone. Back in the days when he was messing around, Zheng Tongtong had never spared him from such scolding!

  However, Ma Tong was particularly fond of Zheng Tengteng's approach. Although it didn't sound pleasant, it felt warm and cozy. With a smile, Ma Tong said: "Let's talk about this later, I might need to change jobs soon, and when that happens, I won't be able to take time off right after starting work, will I? Besides, Fang Xinyu got married without inviting me, wouldn't it be awkward for me to attend? You know I'm the kind of person who values face the most!"

  Zheng Tongtong on the other end of the phone was silent for a moment before saying: "Tongzi, don't tell your sister that you're still single now?"

  "You've hit the nail on the head!"

  "Unbelievable! Are you still thinking about Xin Yu? You're really sentimental!" Zheng Tongtong exclaimed.

  "I've asked the head of the class, it's not what you think!" Ma Tong said helplessly: "You also know my situation, I have no money and no looks, which girl would look at me?"

  "What's with the depressing talk? I'm used to seeing your usual proud self! I believe you're a gold nugget, and you'll shine eventually!" Zheng Tongtong cheered Ma Tong over the phone: "I'm still on shift, won't chat more with you, just remember, as long as you can take time off, you must come!"

  "Got it, Class Monitor!" Ma Tong reluctantly responded and hung up the phone. He let out a sigh, stood up from in front of the computer, lay down on the bed, and began to lazily flip through "Lingbao Jian".

  Who would have thought that with this glance, Ma Tong suddenly became interested: it turned out that this small booklet recorded many of the flying swords, magic treasures, and spiritual elixirs that had appeared in various myths and legends. Not only did it include their origins, uses, and the people who had used them, but even included methods for creating imitations and concocting medicinal pills! For example, things like the Dinghai Pearl, the Qiankun Fog Net, the Bundling Immortal Rope, and the Solid Foundation Cultivation Pill... and so on and so forth. It was just like a strategy guide for some online games, making Ma Tong, who had always liked fantasy novels, feel like he'd hit the jackpot, and he even wanted to try creating some imitations according to the methods recorded in the booklet!

  Unfortunately, the materials and methods used to refine those counterfeit goods made Ma Tong dismiss this idea: what's the use of using so much Taiyi Jingjin, so much gold, so much silver, so much Yumi, so much Xuan Tie...and then using Samadhi True Fire in such and such a way...

  Apart from gold and silver, everything else is like ghosts - heard of but never seen!

  Ma Tong flipped through it for a while, feeling somewhat bored, and threw the "Lingbao Mirror" to one side, preparing to get up and wash his face. At this moment, a yellow paper that he had not noticed before, which was inserted between the pages of the "Lingbao Mirror", caught his attention.

  Ma Tong carefully pulled out the worn and nearly torn paper, only to see the five big words "Nine Turns Mixed Yuan Formula" written on the top.

  Is this really the Taoist's magic? Ma Tongxin said that the strange old Taoist from just now was quite professional, even bringing out these things.

  With his interest in Xian Xia, Ma Tong patiently read on. The paper was not large and the number of words on it was not many, so Ma Tong quickly finished reading it. After finishing, Ma Tong found that this Nine Turns Mixed Yuan Technique was actually a bit unusual, at least it wasn't copied from those so-called cultivation methods on the internet, and even many of the cultivation methods were completely opposite to what he had seen online, it should be original.

  This made Ma Tong admire the old Taoist's professionalism at the same time, and also raised a doubt: if he really practiced according to this method, wouldn't he practice himself to death?

  After thinking for a while, Ma Tong sneered at himself: he was indeed a self-inflicted neurotic, anyway, he wouldn't really go practice, what's the point of thinking about these things?

  Just as Matong was struggling with himself, his phone rang. He picked it up and heard Lü Dahai's voice: "Tongzi, it's about time, have you booked a seat? You need to book in advance at the Lingyun Hotel!"

  "Alas, look at this brain of mine, it really forgot!"