Chapter 105 - 104 Daoist Companion

For a moment, Tie Dan could not possibly digest the lifetime inheritance of an Old Xuan Sect member, he merely skimmed through it.

Since the other party deliberately concealed their origin and sect, some sections involving Mystic Sect secrets and Inner Sect true teachings were clearly deleted, and some top-level elixir prescriptions, talismans, and array formulas were also kept secret. But essentially, it was a complete inheritance of the Five Arts curriculum. Printed out, it could be used to compile a full tutorial outline for a Cultivation University.

According to Kun’s stamp identification, it was at least of the grandmaster level.

Hmm, not bad, a grandmaster!

A Mystic Sect person who delves into one path and reaches the pinnacle with profound achievements, capable of establishing a school and passing it on to later generations, is referred to as a grandmaster!

And as there is no second in martial arts, no first in cultural arts, Mystic Sect grandmasters also hold regular gatherings to exchange what they’ve learned. One who can awe the masses with shocking knowledge is called a Great Grandmaster!

Among them, the Five Arts—arithmetic, array, elixir, artifact, talisman—are must-studies for Mystic Sect True Disciples, and the Five Grandmasters are held in the highest esteem, with the most revered status!

Therefore, although not explicitly stated, historically, to sit as the leader of the Nine Great Xuan Sects, head the sect, or become the Sect Leader Alliance Hierarch, one must at least hold the title of a Great Grandmaster to maintain order and convince the immortals.

Thus, this old man must have been an elder of a Mystic Sect in the Divinity Transformation Realm, having mastered and reached the peak in the Five Arts of arithmetic, array, elixir, artifact, and talisman! At least at the grandmaster realm!

As for whether he is a Great Grandmaster, it is unknown, as he deliberately concealed his name. It wouldn’t do to reveal a Great Grandmaster’s widely-known name in the Mystic Sect, claiming he was caught by a Demoness in the Demon Palace and beaten up for hundreds of years, that would be too disgraceful, even in reincarnation, one wouldn’t be able to mix in the Dao...

Furthermore, those top-level inheritances mostly involved sect secrets, with many deletions, and Tie Dan, a rookie only capable of hacking away, naturally couldn’t fathom the depth of this person.

However, one thing Tie Dan did notice, was that within the alchemy furnace inheritance left by this old man, there was a large number of elixir prescriptions and medicine testers for simulating an external pill.

Yes, simulating that metal ball-like external pill of the Immortal Palace.

After all, the Mystic Sect inner core is a Qi knot, without a physical entity, at most condensing a bit of high-concentration Daoist energy crystal. This mysterious and void, invisible and intangible thing is indeed hard to study from a third-party perspective, so it relies on disciples to comprehend it by themselves. Even if the Qi is off, the elder can’t help you.

Hence, this old man experimented with simulating the Immortal Palace’s golden core, though lacking that special metal, he used various lead and mercury gold essence, spiritual materials, demon cores, and human essence blood, to forge a human flesh external pill.

It’s essentially still the same set of inner core Qi Refining Technique, but with the physical entity of the Immortal Palace’s golden core. It can evolve continually with the realm’s advancement, without time limitation, and theoretically, it can transform from Nascent Soul to True Infant, giving birth to a perfect True Man Dao Body within oneself.

Got to admit, this idea is quite rare. After all, including Tie Dan, Mystic Sect disciples generally look down upon the Immortal Palace’s External Elixir Dao, thinking it’s useless in a fight and doesn’t live long, pure garbage.

But this old man, a grandmaster, didn’t have such arrogance. Instead, he seriously experimented with various possibilities, genuinely wanting to deduce and explore a new Alchemy Dao. It’s clear the reason why he became a grandmaster.

So, no wonder this old man ended up in the hands of the Demon Palace, neither able to live nor die. This fundamental method of others was touched, how could they easily spare you?

Yet from this, it seems that perhaps this old man’s involvement with some Demoness in the Demon Palace isn’t purely because he was infatuated with her body... Well, infatuation with playing with the pill inside her belly might also count as a kind of infatuation with her body...

By the time Tie Dan came back to his senses, it was late, and then he heard the sound of water and frowned as he pushed open the door to the inner room,

"Are you not done bathing yet?"

Zhen Baiyu was indeed done, but she didn’t groom or dress, just stood up from the bath barrel, standing in front of Tie Dan, her eyes glaring intensely at the man before her. It seemed she had made up her mind after a long thought.

"Brother Tie, am I beautiful?"

Tie Dan nodded, "Beautiful."

Zhen Baiyu stared intensely at him,

"Don’t you want me?"

Tie Dan shook his head.

"Why!"

Tie Dan looked at her calmly, without any hint of hiding,

"Tang Tong is my friend."

Zhen Baiyu’s face flushed, rushing forward,

"I! I am just talking with him! Not even a word in the eight characters yet! How can it count!?"

Besides, taking me to find my mother was not him, it was you, Brother Tie!

I, I mean it! Brother Tie! I am willing to become your companion in cultivation, to be partners both day and night..."

Tie Dan looked at her coldly.

"You’re not worthy."

Zhen Baiyu froze, her eyes shimmering with tears, slowly lowering her head,

"So, this is how you see me... Do you also resent that I’ve been with the Imperial Music Bureau... do you also resent my body..."

Tie Dan nodded,

"Indeed, as long as you know. Your body is too weak. Simply unqualified to enter my group."

With tears about to fall from her eyes, Zhen Baiyu suddenly sensed something was amiss...

"...Weak? Group?"

Tie Dan disdainfully scrutinized her body,

"Look at you, tender skin and flesh, chest muscles, thigh muscles, buttocks, it’s all fat, not a reliable muscle cultivated through battle. You bruise and scar at the slightest touch, and except for a few Primordial Spirit Methods, which I have already learned, they are basically useless.

For someone like you who gets dizzy at the sight of blood, collapses in the wind, to participate in sword fighting is a burden. Anyone not blind would use you to threaten me. At least they could bind you, search your soul, and trace my origins.

With your current ability, I’m afraid you wouldn’t last..."

Tie Dan calculated using the arithmetic he just learned,

"...three months."

"Mus...muscles...so you prefer that kind..."

Zhen Baiyu wiped away her tears, biting her lip and glaring at him,

"How many women in this world practice the horizontal Refining Gang Fist! According to you, only women capable of self-defense are qualified to be with you?

But, but Brother Tie, I can also cultivate, I can also become strong, and I really, I truly..."

"I understand, you wish to be my Daoist companion."

Tie Dan looked up into the distant north,

"Wolf Head taught me that what matters is not what a woman looks like, but whether she can be strong enough to survive in ice and snow.

Because if she can’t persist, then her offspring won’t survive either.

I almost didn’t survive, so the day I walked out of the ice field I made a decision.

I must survive.

My life is my own. It’s not given by heaven, not a charity from Lady Yuan.

So whoever tells me to die, even if it’s Lady Yuan telling me to die, I won’t do so.

Whoever prevents me from living, I will take their life.

So if one day, I also wish to build my own pack like Wolf Head, I surely must find a woman who can survive even in ice and snow."

Then he turned back, glanced at Zhen Baiyu,

"Do you have what it takes?"

Zhen Baiyu was dumbfounded.

Tie Dan turned around,

"If you truly want to enter my group, then try to keep up.

I don’t need a burden who always hides behind me, needing my constant protection and care.

I’m searching for a partner who can stand shoulder to shoulder with me, as reliable as my sword, accompanying me all the way forward.

If you lack this resolve, then give up, because no matter what, I will keep moving forward, and will not stop to wait for you."

He then walked out, leaving Zhen Baiyu alone in the room.

Tie Dan believed he had made himself clear. With Zhen Baiyu being so beautiful, adjectives enough to fill a poetic scroll, she naturally wouldn’t have trouble marrying, at worst ending up as Tang Tong’s sixteenth wife, surely not necessary to keep entangling with him.

Unexpectedly, she was even more addicted.

This time, Zhen Baiyu only thought for a moment, then dressed up and followed Tie Dan into his room.

"Brother Tie, I’ll sleep with you."

Tie Dan silently observed Zhen Baiyu, who was no longer in palace dresses, but dressed in men’s clothing.

"Are you done yet?"

Zhen Baiyu smiled,

"You think I am not worthy of being your Daoist companion, but you’re so concerned about ’brotherhood’, let’s not be Daoist companions but brothers. Eating together, sleeping together, being an inseparable bond.

Besides, even if we sleep together, you wouldn’t touch me, right?"

Tie Dan closed the door.

Zhen Baiyu quickly said,

"Hold on a second. I may be a burden, but right now Ye Capital is in chaos, what if I’m kidnapped!

Didn’t you promise to take me to White Deer Peak! Then it’s safest to always be by your side, Brother!

If anything happens to me, how could you face your Brother Tang!"

This made sense, Ye Capital was indeed chaotic. After all, not long ago he annihilated the beggar guild, killed four playboys and one hundred forty-six personal soldiers, blowing up an entire Imperial Music Bureau.

Now Tie Dan was ready to wash up and sleep, to have a good rest, and hit the road early tomorrow morning, but the Gen Army on duty had gone crazy.

This one saying the Kan Army had attacked, that one saying the Demon Sect had come, some were packing up to flee, others were gearing up to surrender the city, various forces in Ye Capital were fighting each other in the dark, shouting and killing echoing all around, illuminating Tongguan Palace in gold and red. Chaos would not be surprising if rogue soldiers broke in to loot. At that time, having to run back and forth to rescue someone would be a hassle.

Tie Dan allowed her in through the door.

"Don’t sleep on the bed."

Zhen Baiyu complained, "You refuse to sleep with me and you want a lady to sleep on the floor?"

"Sleeping on the bed makes it easy to get your head cut off."

Tie Dan remained expressionless, pointing to the beam of the house, then to a newly-dug hole under the bed.

"Choose yourself."