Chapter Nineteen: Bone Demon's Empty Endurance

  "Did you remember?"

  Chong and Dao said: "Two years ago, our master was driven out of the Taoist temple that had been vacant for a long time..." As he spoke, his brow furrowed, clearly recalling unpleasant memories. He paused, then continued, "He took us, his disciples, northward, to the vicinity of Jishan, hoping to find an opportunity in the mountains. However, there were no Taoist temples on that side, only two Buddhist monasteries, which refused to take us in. As a result, we wandered around Jishan for several days, unable to find a place to settle."

  Cheng Jun nodded, he said it lightly, but Cheng Jun knew that wandering on Jishan was a miserable and difficult thing, and it was not an exaggeration to say that they were living from hand to mouth. He had also been a loose cultivator before, although it was hundreds of years ago, but the things that Chonghe said still evoked some similar memories in him.

  Chong and Dao said: "It wasn't until half a month later that we found a small pavilion on a desolate hill in Jishan, where the owner of the pavilion was also an unhappy loose cultivator named Song. The Daoist temple had no fixed gate, it was just a wild pavilion. The old man Song was advanced in years and not convenient to move around, but seeing our difficulties, he took us in."

  Cheng Jun Dao said: "Then who is the person you're talking about..."

  Chong and Dao said: "Song Yinsi has a young lady, not very old, with low cultivation, but it is said that she has a special talent, able to communicate with wild beasts. It seems there are also strange encounters. That young lady is very quiet, seemingly not good at communicating with people. When the master sees her, he often says a few more words to her, and after going back and forth, the two become close."

  Cheng Jun hummed and said: "That miss is also strange, your master obviously brought two handsome young men, but she didn't love you, instead fell in love with your master."

  Chong's face turned red as he said, "That young lady looks down on us, she only likes Shifu. Shifu has always been popular, it's not just a day or two. Besides, Shifu had also warned us before, don't get too close to that young lady."

  Cheng Jun smiled and didn't speak, thinking to himself: What does this Yue Hua look like? How can two young girls fall for him? Chai Huo Ni also has a crush on him. Is he really a remarkable person with extraordinary charm?

  Chong and Dao said: "We see such a situation, and we must have another Shifu's wife. The Shifu's wife is beautiful in appearance, gentle and kind in temperament, naturally the best choice. We also have a small idea that the Taoist priest in the temple is old and has only one daughter. If Shifu marries this girl, won't the temple belong to us in the future? Our branch will finally have a place to settle down, and these days of drifting without support are really unbearable. Originally, I thought Shifu had this plan too, but after a few days, the situation suddenly changed."

  "What's wrong?"

  "We lived in the mountains of Ji, usually going out separately to gather herbs, hunt wild beasts, and search for opportunities. Sometimes we would go out and come back on the same day, sometimes we would stay in the mountains for two days. The mountains were too treacherous, so we didn't dare venture too far, and wouldn't be gone for too long at a time. However, that one day, after the three of us went out separately, I returned on the same day, my junior brother returned the next day, but our master was nowhere to be seen for several days in a row."

  "At that time, we were so scared. The danger of the millet mountain was not to be underestimated, and it was common for people to go in but never come back. Although we believed that our master had great magical powers, after all, the danger of the millet mountain was something we had experienced before. Perhaps there really was some unexpected event, it's hard to say. Song Miss sat at the door, staring blankly at the front door, just waiting for Master's figure to appear."

  "Originally she was a woman with a foolish heart."

  Chong nodded and said: "Miss Song's feelings for Shifu are deep and true, without any falsehood. We waited for half a month, and my junior brother told me that perhaps we should make other plans. I also thought so in my heart, but didn't say it out loud. Who knew that on that midnight, Shifu suddenly returned, covered in fresh blood, and as soon as he entered the Taoist temple, he fainted to the ground."

  "We were initially shocked, but immediately felt delighted. We carried Shifu inside, cleaned his wounds, and only then discovered that Shifu's injuries were severe, nearly fatal. Shifu remained unconscious the whole time, relying on others to care for him. Miss Song accompanied Shifu for several days in a row, becoming gaunt and pale, her clothes loose-fitting. It's embarrassing to say, but although we had been disciples of Shifu since childhood, this time taking care of Shifu, our efforts were still not as much as Miss Song's. It wasn't until half a month later that Shifu finally woke up."

  "After waking up, Master's spirit was still dazed and he didn't enter the mountain. He lay in bed, staring blankly, and even Miss Song didn't take it seriously anymore. We once discussed Master's good fortune, saying that Miss Song took care of you every day, with deep affection and sincerity, truly a heavenly match. Master only said one word: 'I know.' and then ignored it."

  Cheng Jun shook his head and said, "Pitiful, pitiful."

  Master Dao had been in a daze for several days, but suddenly one morning he got up, full of energy and spirit. He went to the snowy ground, laughed loudly several times, and shouted: "The Way of Heaven is with me! Who can stop it?" He walked back to the Taoist temple, sat upright and solemnly, and called Chong and Chongyuan over, saying: "I have something for you two to do. This matter is extremely important, it's related to our branch's prosperity and our attainment of immortality. You two will go separately to do this task, whoever does it well, I will formally establish him as my legitimate disciple."

  "Could it be..."

  Chong and Dao said: "Yes, that's right. Within two years, we will find a suitable disciple with a good bone structure. The master also said that after two years, you should not come back here, but go to the Wan Yun Valley of Mount Wanma to find me. I will establish a sect there and build a Purple Cloud Temple, and surely create a great undertaking."

  Cheng Jun Dao said: "You say, he is in the Ji Mountain, and yet knows that there is a Wan Yun Valley in the Wan Ma Mountain, and also knows that he wants to establish himself there?"

  Chong and Dao said: "Exactly, isn't this a strange thing?"

  Cheng Jun Dao said, "Although strange things often happen in the world, if you think carefully, there are always clues to be found. It turns out to be like this - I have some ideas now." He showed a hint of sudden realization.

  I was shocked in my heart: I had been by Master's side for several days, thinking of many possibilities, but always feeling that something was not right. Could it be that this senior fellow really has an extraordinary mind, and can infer the whole story from just a few words? Thinking of this, I hastily asked: "Senior, do you know what's going on?"

  Cheng Jun didn't answer, and once again picked up the "Yi Jin Jing". He flipped through it page by page, each page seeming to be just a casual glance, but not a single page was skipped, at least not without a glance. After a while, he raised his head, his expression somewhat gloomy, saying: "Although I can't know everything, I can still make some guesses."

  Chong and Dao said: "I don't know if the senior can tell me a thing or two." He answered the questions with all his heart, although there were various reasons, but he also hoped that this senior could tell him a thing or two about the situation, to solve his confusion for many days.

  Cheng Jun Dao said: "This is a very important matter, do you want to know?"

  Chong Dao said, "I'm foolish and ignorant, but I have a feeling that there's something unfavorable to me behind this matter. If I don't wake up soon, perhaps the day when things are truly revealed will be the day of my death."

  Cheng Jun looked at him with a faint smile, lightly patted the book and said: "You're thinking too much."

  Just as he let out a sigh of relief, Cheng Jun said: "You will absolutely not live until that day."

  Chong and Zhi felt as if they had fallen from a high altitude of ten thousand miles, and couldn't help but tremble all over. He said: "I... I..." His mind was racing, he knelt down on the ground and said: "Please, senior, spare my life."

  Chong He, have you ever heard of "Gu Mo Kong Ren"?

  "Who?" Chong and Ah Ran exclaimed in unison.

  Indeed, it's Kotonami Kurenai.

  Cheng Jun also felt a bit depressed, and when he just heard the conversation between Chong He and Chong Yuan, he had already had some doubts in his heart. If it weren't for this, even if he had a good impression of Chong He in his heart, he wouldn't have rashly intervened in this matter.

  This name is really too loud, so loud that even 900 years later, even if some monks can't tell the names of the nine great Tiantai monks apart, but Kongrin's name and his deeds are still well-known. Without discussing right or wrong, this person is truly a pioneering figure in the cultivation world, influencing not just one generation?

  In fact, Cheng Jun had never seen Kong Rou before his previous life. Kong Rou's sudden appearance occurred before he stepped onto the stage of the cultivation world. Although Cheng Jun made rapid progress in his later years and became the youngest great cultivator in history, he actually experienced a period of stagnation in his early years, only becoming a True Person after more than 200 years, and it wasn't until 400 or 500 years later that he was able to establish himself as a major force in the cultivation world. By then, Kong Rou had long since turned to dust.

  However, this does not mean that the era of Kongrin has ended. On the contrary, the influence of Kongrin has just begun. In the following centuries, half of the great chaos in the cultivation world was caused by Kongrin.

  "Heaven's great chaos arises from Tian Tai, Earth's great chaos arises from Kong Rou."

  Kong Rong was a man of great tolerance. His name is enough to be mentioned alongside Tiantai, even if it's not exactly a good reputation, it's still something to be proud of.

  The name of Kong Rou comes from his nickname "Bone Demon", not because of the demon, but because of the bone. Although he also has a reputation for being ruthless and merciless, such as "killing people to fill the fields, exposing white bones, and stopping children's crying at night", this kind of inhumane demon is common in the demonic world, and it's not the reason why he became famous. What really made him famous are the two books he wrote: one is "The Great Method of Tempering Tendons and Bones", which shocked the demonic world, and the other is "The Theory of Immortal Bones", which completely overturned the pattern of the cultivation world. These two works were once read by Cheng Jun, who admired this person's boldness and creativity, despite their different paths.

  At this moment, Cheng Jun surprisingly saw Kong Rou's masterpiece again after rebirth - "Yi Jin Duan Gu Da Fa"! And he had just flipped through it once, reconfirming that it was indeed Kong Rou's handwriting without a doubt. Although the book is only part of the complete Yi Jin Duan Gu Da Fa in later generations, and obviously only a rough draft with many immature places, this concept is consistent with the previous life's world-renowned great method, and cannot be written by anyone else.

  Is this notorious Bone Demon really in the Wan Ma Mountains?

  Thinking carefully, this is not impossible after all. The Bone Demon Empty Ninja originated from the Man Horse Temple. In the past, there were two things that made the Man Horse Temple famous throughout the world. One was what Cheng Jun was looking for, and the other was the emergence of such a person. This empty ninja also became an excuse for the later generations of the Taoist community to besiege the Man Horse Temple - although everyone knew that the downfall of the Man Horse Temple was due to "guilty of possessing the jade", but with a ready-made noble and righteous excuse, why not use it?

  However, the timing is a bit off. Kongwen was not known to the world until at least 100 years later, and the two great works appeared even later, another 100 or 200 years later. Even then, Kongwen's realm was not much higher. Cheng Jun had calculated that this person should be of the same generation as himself, with an age difference of only 20-30 years. So why should he be unknown now? If at this time there was already a rough outline of the Easy Tendon Breaking Bone Great Method, why did it spread so late in later generations?

  Unless...

  Cheng Jun had some secret speculations in his heart, wondering if Kong Rou was not the author, but just the person who spread these two great methods? If that's really the case, then Cheng Jun would have to change his plan, because this could become a crucial trump card for him...

  Cheng Jun suddenly stretched out his hand, and a green light appeared at the tip of his finger. The green light was like a spiritual snake, coiling around the tip of his finger, sometimes visible and sometimes invisible. He raised his eyes to stare at Chonghe and said: "Yue Hua Dao Ren's plot is not small, he defies heaven and will surely suffer heavenly punishment. Although this is so, before he suffers heavenly punishment, he will also use your fellow disciples' lives to bury his own ambition. If you don't want your corpse to be incomplete and your soul to disappear, you must make a decision. I've come to ask you, are you willing to listen to my orders?"