Chapter 98: The Xiao Family's Old Residence (Part 1)

  Xiao Ziyang was speechless for a long time after reading the Nine Sons' Demon Infant's Cultivation Method, he really couldn't believe that there would actually be people in this world who would cultivate such a terrifying thing.

  He unhesitatingly wielded the flying sword he had just learned to control and cut the jade slip into powder.

  The contents of the Taoist's storage bag at Qingyang Gate were even more shabby, apart from a few bottles of elixir, a few stacks of talismans, over a hundred spiritual stones, there were only some strange and bizarre things, such as animal bones, animal hides, metal scraps, and even stone blocks. It was truly inexplicable.

  For two months, Xiao Ziyang carefully studied the methods of using several artifacts in his spare time; both "Zi Yu Sheng Yan" and "Wu Xing Dao Shu Chu Jie" have recorded some common methods for sacrificing and controlling artifacts.

  The vast majority of low to mid-grade artifacts have simple, practical and universal spell arrays engraved on them, so it is rare for them to be unable to be activated. Only some high-end and top-tier artifacts will have unique spell arrays.

  After conducting experiments, Xiao Ziyang found that the method of controlling and manipulating instruments in "Wu Xing Dao Shu Chu Jie" was extremely obscure, while the method in "Zi Yu Sheng Yan" was far superior to the former in terms of flexibility, speed, and power. Taking the Ling Chuan as an example, using the method in "Zi Yu Sheng Yan" to control and manipulate it, the flight speed of the Ling Chuan actually increased by a full 30%.

  After comparison, Xiao Ziyang put "The Initial Understanding of the Five Elements Taoist Techniques" aside. After two months of practice, he had a good grasp of these three magical tools.

  Magic control is relatively simple because of the existing magic array, but learning spells makes Xiao Ziyang's head ache.

  The three first-class spells mentioned in "Zi Yu Sheng Yan" are, apart from the simple and easy-to-learn Wàng Qì Shù, the other two being Wu Xíng Dùn Shù and Wú Xíng Zhǎn. As for Xiao Zi Yang, even now he has only grasped a bit of the doorway; not to mention that the speed of casting is extremely slow, sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't, basically it can't be used in actual combat.

  The so-called spellcasting is actually condensing the law power into a Taoist scripture in the dantian, then combining several Taoist scriptures together and releasing them through hand seals.

  If, while casting a spell, one also uses the vibration of lips, tongue and throat to utter the corresponding Daoist sounds, not only can the success rate of the spell be increased, but its power can also be increased by 10-20%. This is the origin of the saying that when immortals cast spells, they need to recite incantations.

  In "Wu Xing Dao Shu Chu Jie" and "Zi Yu Sheng Yan", each contains a basic Taoist scripture; the basic Taoist scripture contained in "Zi Yu Sheng Yan" contains more than 3,000 Taoist scriptures, which is twice as many as those contained in "Wu Xing Dao Shu Chu Jie".

  The Taoist texts are complex, consisting of dozens or even hundreds of strokes combined in a peculiar way. When condensed, they cannot be off by a single thread, otherwise the condensed text will be meaningless.

  The simplest first-level spells listed in "Wu Xing Dao Shu Chu Jie" are all composed of three Taoist characters.

  The nine-character mantra that makes up the Intangible Slash is already quite complex, and the twelve-character mantra that makes up the Intangible Escape Technique is even more intricate, no wonder Xiao Ziyang had a hard time mastering it.

  In "Zi Yu Sheng Yan", there is also a chapter called "Basic Array Method". However, after studying for more than ten days, Xiao Ziyang still couldn't understand it and had to give up.

  If it weren't for a few more magical artifacts propping up his image, Xiao Ziyang would probably have to resort to using mortal martial arts when encountering enemies.

  The flying boat is faster than a running horse, and there is a canopy to protect the passengers inside. Although this canopy does not have great defensive capabilities, blocking strong winds is no problem at all.

  Xiao Ziyang looked down for a while, and after the freshness passed, he withdrew his gaze, sat cross-legged in the boat, and attentively controlled the flying boat to rush towards Zhongshan City.

  Xiao Ziyang's own magical power was shallow, and if he were to use his own magical power to propel the flying boat, his magical power would be exhausted within a hundred miles. Fortunately, this flying boat was actually powered by spirit stones, and cultivators only needed to consume very little magical power to control it.

  This is also the biggest feature of the law enforcement agency. The power of the law enforcement agency itself is entirely provided by the spirit stone, and the control is entirely dependent on the formation method.

  Only after a master has formed the golden elixir and opened the purple mansion can he slowly refine a treasure that communicates with his heart and spirit using the elixir fire within the purple mansion.

  Even if someone could refine a magical artifact more powerful than the Law of the Treasure, it would be impossible to compare with the Law of the Treasure. In front of the freely moving Law of the Treasure, a magical artifact is nothing but an object being toyed with.

  This airship can travel thousands of miles in one night, consuming a wind spirit stone. Along the way, Xiao Ziyang traveled at night and rested during the day, returning to Longkou Town again on the second night.

  Xiao Ziyang slowed down the speed of the Lingzhou in a place with sparse population more than ten miles away from Longkou Town, and as the speed decreased, the spiritual light emitted by the Lingzhou gradually converged until it was faintly visible.

  He landed on a desolate riverbank, retracted the spirit boat, and flew towards Longkou Town with his body technique.

  The old house of the Xiao family seems to be still the same. In the late spring season, the mugwort grows more and more luxuriantly.

  Xiao Ziyang followed his memory, treading on the grassy tips, and after a few ups and downs, he arrived at that empty space in his memory. There was a mound of earth, several withered incense sticks, and the wormwood on the ground seemed to have been cleaned up by someone again.

  He stood silently in front of the mound for a moment, unfolded his body method, and patrolled around the house. Except for the small road that had been cleaned up by someone, no other traces were found.

  Xiao Ziyang arrived at the front of a small building closest to the mound, flew up to a window on the second floor, grasped the rafter under the eaves, pushed open the window and flipped inside.

  Into the room, Xiao Ziyang slowly walked around, carefully observing the floor and walls. The house was empty, except for a few old books scattered on the ground that had already become moldy and rotten, leaving only dust all over the floor.

  Xiao Ziyang carefully looked around the room and suddenly a mysterious smile appeared on his face, as if he had already found the answer he was looking for.

  He cleared a piece of clean ground, spread out a coarse cloth, and sat cross-legged with his eyes closed.

  Xiao Ziyang remembered that when he was a child, every year on April 3rd, his father would take him to the backyard to burn some paper money. After burning the paper money, they would both kowtow respectfully towards the southeast. Every time Xiao Ziyang asked his father who they were burning the paper for, he would remain silent and not answer.

  Now that I think about it, those should be the paper money for grandfather. April 3rd is probably grandfather's death anniversary.

  Today is already March 27th, and there are still seven days until April 7th.

  The seven-day period passed in the blink of an eye.

  A crescent moon hangs at the edge of the sky, with dense stars twinkling, and the night color gradually deepening.

  Xiao Ziyang, who had been meditating with his eyes closed, suddenly opened them.

  Behind the old mansion of the Xiao family, a small boat docked at the pier. In this quiet and deep night, the sound of the boat hitting the shore was heard from far away.

  The person poling the boat was a man in black, wearing a bamboo hat. He jumped lightly onto the dock, tied up the rope, stepped over the collapsed back door and walked into the desolate Xiao family mansion.