Chapter 39: The Seventy-Third House

I scanned the entire street and actually spotted two items that shimmered with a faint, pale light, suggesting they were artifacts of some sort. However, they lacked that authentic, pure Yang energy. Instead, I found something radiating a pure Yin aura—and it was an object I recognized.

It was the very same red cloth with golden threads that had covered the corpse's face in his tomb.

Everything became clear to me: Fatty Fang and his group had ditched me.

"Boss, how much for this cloth?"

"If you've taken a fancy to it, friend, let's say fifty thousand. That just covers my cost."

As I channeled my inner energy, the cloth shimmered with a faint green light. It was a Green-Grade artifact. It was then that I remembered Wang Qiang and his men had confiscated my checks and cash.

Wang Qiang seemed to sense my awkwardness and produced the check, handing it to me. I hesitated for a moment before taking it; I had to have this item. I had realized that when dueling with a cultivator of similar standing, this kind of green-grade artifact was incredibly useful, and its pure Yin spirit energy would be of immense benefit to my Bean Soldiers.

I couldn't help but reflect on the nature of things: in this world, everything has its counter. Nothing is absolutely good or absolutely evil; it all depends on who the opponent is.

"Brother Wang, you wouldn't be making a mistake, would you?" I asked, looking at the check.

He understood what I meant and smiled. "This was yours to begin with. It has absolutely nothing to do with making mistakes."

I nodded. From that one sentence, I understood a great deal. From Wang Qiang’s perspective, he hadn't broken any rules. He hadn't leaked anything to me; among clever people, some things need not be stated explicitly.

We went out to quickly process the cashing of the check. The money was transferred to my name, and the clerk provided me with a bank card and one hundred thousand in cash. Returning to the antique shop, I paid the money and took the cloth.

We left the antique street. I hadn't found a single antique with Yang energy there.

Back at the hotel, I sat in silence to summarize the events of the recent past. First, there was the matter of cultivation; sitting in meditation was clearly not my path. My current time and physical condition would not permit it.

Then there was the combat. I repeatedly pondered my battle with Han Cuiyun and felt nothing but regret.

First, when I entered, I had suppressed the aura of the God-Beating Whip. The opponent noticed that my constitution and strength were questionable and didn't take me seriously at all.

Second, upon entering, I summoned Huang Liulang to use magic, but he ended up being a bystander. In order to bolster his attacking power, I wasted most of my own magic on him.

Third, negotiation requires strength. Without standing on the same starting line, one has no voice.

Fourth, my magical power is too scarce and was not used reasonably.

The mere thought of this gave me a headache. If it weren't for the protective aura left by my great-grandfather, that battle with Han Cuiyun would have been my end—my first battle would have been my last.

In the evening, Boss Zhang returned. He looked terrible, and he ate dinner in the hotel room with Wang Qiang and me.

"Little Fang, I'm looking forward to your performance," Boss Zhang said suddenly while eating.

I didn't disappoint him. I formed the hand seals and chanted the incantation: "The six paths of reincarnation within the five elements, the true essence of the immortals lies herein. How can the six paths occupy the five elements? This extra path is not in vain. I summon you!"

A white light flew out from my body as I summoned Huang Liulang to appear. Boss Zhang just wanted to confirm if there was any truth to the legends of ghosts and gods, and I figured this would suffice.

As soon as Huang Liulang's phantom appeared, he stood beside me. Though his body was but a phantom of white light, his expressions and movements were indistinguishable from those of a living person. He stepped back in surprise, for he did not like the aura radiating from Boss Zhang.

Huang Liulang looked at me in astonishment. "Little Fang, what is the situation?"

"Brother Liu, it's fine. Didn't you want to come out for some fresh air? Do whatever you like."

Boss Zhang and Wang Qiang were stunned. They stared at Huang Liulang’s figure, their eyes wide.

I felt my magical power draining away continuously. I gauged it: if I used my power to maintain him and he didn't actively consume it, my current reserves could sustain him for half an hour. This was while I hadn't yet fully recovered my strength; if I were fully restored, an hour would be no problem.

I realized that ever since Huang Liulang came out, the physical burden on me had significantly lightened. From this, I gathered that he had been cultivating while inside my body.

Actually, I also knew a hand seal and incantation for summoning Bean Soldiers: "Body in harmony with the Dao, spirit in harmony with Qi, with my will, I invoke the Heavenly Dipper. Soldiers, appear!" This was the entirety of the magic I knew.

If I used this incantation, Huang Liulang would enter a state of combat—a combat incantation that would lead to a battle to the death.

My grandmother's method of summoning soldiers was different. She had to sing a summoning tune, and she could call soldiers from all eight directions. They were all incarnations of earth immortals, and their strength matched her own. My magic, however, was fundamentally the same as the Taoist arts, passed to me by my great-grandfather through my grandmother. It required a combination of hand seals and incantations to complete.

It was a helpless situation for me. My constitution was such that no immortal was willing to enter my altar to accept offerings. I believed my great-grandfather had racked his brains for my sake, carving out a specialized path just for me. My grandmother always said the path I cultivated was different from hers, that she couldn't help me and I had to forge my own way.

I trusted my grandmother, and I trusted my great-grandfather. The content of that little manual had already grown by half since I first saw it. It now contained eleven pages, and aside from the two spells, it was filled with many stories.

Boss Zhang and Wang Qiang exchanged glances. Wang Qiang asked, "Brother, can you make him attack me, to make me do something against my will?"

"Give me time, but it can only reach the level of controlling your mind; it doesn't extend to manipulating other objects."

"For example?"

"If I wanted to control you to draw your gun." I glanced at his waist as I spoke.

Wang Qiang was startled, his hand reaching for his waist.

I smiled faintly and continued, "You would wake up immediately." I shrugged and added, "My strength is only this high. If you want more, my strength will have to increase."

Boss Zhang looked at Huang Liulang and asked, "Little brother, is there any way to counteract this?"

"That is a confrontation between magical arts, a clash of one Dao against another. If one is not a practitioner of this path, knowing it is useless."

Boss Zhang nodded and continued eating, appearing to have relaxed significantly.

"Wu Zhuang is a newcomer, yet he uses this method to control quite a few people, even causing deaths. Doesn't anyone on the same path manage people like him?" Boss Zhang asked while eating, looking at the dishes on the table as if talking to himself.

I hesitated before saying, "Southern Dao and Northern Immortals—unless it involves personal interests, nobody usually crosses boundaries to interfere. You have to understand, you strike the small, the big ones come; there is no end to it."

"Who leads the Southern Dao and Northern Immortals?"

"It is said that the Southern Dao is led by the Wu family." I recalled Li Si's words; the Wu family had become the seventh family beyond the original six.

"The Northern Immortals have many families, all hidden among the common folk."

"How many families are there in the Northern Immortals?"

"Seventy-two large and small families, with the Hu, Huang, Bai, and Liu as the four major ones." This was my guess; I knew most Shamanic Immortals served these four halls.

Boss Zhang continued eating, and Wang Qiang interjected, "Little brother, which family are you from?"

I thought for a moment and said, "The seventy-third."