I attained immortality in the real world.

Chapter 10 The Secret of Formation
In Zhu Zicheng, the market entrance in the west of the city was bustling with people. Against the gray brick wall at the entrance of the east alley, there was a row of fortune-telling and face-reading stalls.

Li Bansian's shop is twice as big as others', and he has a reputation for being inaccurate nine out of ten times. No business comes to him. He chats with a few of his peers, and last time he told them to their faces that they were just making a living and had no future, he didn't get beaten up and they could still have a good chat.

Chen Jing admired Li Banxian's social skills, but upon closer listening, he realized it was simply due to his well-chosen topics.

An old man with a white beard argued animatedly, "If we're talking about who's the best, it has to be Widow Li from East Street..."

A thin old man wearing a leather hat looked up and saw Chen Jing approaching. He winked at Li Banxian, who was listening intently, and said, "Li Banxian, your apprentice is here!"

The old man, who was using fortune-telling as a front, stopped his lewd talk and said with a sly smile, "You black-hearted bastard, you used a blank book that was just used to prop up a table corner to swindle someone out of three ingots of silver. I bet they'll come back to you for their money back when they wake up."

Li Banxian reluctantly withdrew his neck and bluntly retorted to his colleague: "Bullshit, I teach real stuff. If you can't figure it out, it's because you're not talented enough."

The old man remained unfazed: "Even swindlers use squid ink to write IOUs, and you can't even spare squid ink? What kind of wisdom do you have?"

Zhu Kui's foolish behavior was seen by others as that of a naive fool who had been scammed, and the wordless book really was wordless.

However, the extraterrestrial demons are beyond the comprehension of the natives of the Formless Realm. The absence of words does not mean they cannot comprehend anything.

Li Banxian, too lazy to argue with his peers, turned to Chen Jing and asked, "Have you mastered the art of physiognomy?"

Chen Jing nodded: "I have already written the Wuxiang Secret Manual. My physiognomy skills are not very profound, but at least I have moved beyond the beginner level. That's why I came here to ask my master for further training methods."

Li Banxian glanced at Chen Jing's brow, paused, and said, "No rush! Let me test you first, but you are forbidden to use your third eye."

Chen Jing has a golden dark mark between his eyebrows. Activating it will connect him to the physiognomy system. However, like the light screen that the main god pops up, the dark mark does not belong to this world and cannot be seen by the natives. However, Li Banxian seems to be an exception.

Chen Jing lightly touched his brow with his finger, and the invisible dark pattern instantly disappeared. He replied, "Please feel free to test me, Master."

"........."

"Now that you've learned physiognomy, let me first analyze your past self," Li Banxian said after stroking his beard and pondering for a moment.

The image of Zhu Kui, Chen Jing recalled the Void Prince he saw in the bronze mirror when he first arrived in the Realm of No Form. He used the image to refer to the three chapters of the No Form Manual: Body, Qi, and Spirit. After a pause, he said: "Weak body, high talent, great ambition, poor luck, arrogant, and petty."

Li Bansian remained noncommittal and continued to ask, "I once described you as a person without form. What is form? What is formlessness?"

Chen Jing closed his eyes and pondered for a moment before slowly replying after organizing his thoughts: "Appearance is the way of judging people by their appearance. By observing a person's subtle characteristics, one can discern the various qualities they possess, such as physical strength, illness, harmonious family, internal strife, compassion, tyranny, arrogance, or humility..."

"If a person possesses a variety of qualities that do not conflict with each other but rather complement each other, then he or she is considered a person with qualities."

"Possessing qualities such as a scholarly family background, longevity, exceptional talent, and shrewdness in maneuvering, he is likely to be a high-ranking official nine times out of ten."

"Possessing traits such as being from a poor family, being shrewd, resourceful, persevering, greedy, and stingy, one is suited for business but lacks a broad perspective, and can barely be considered to have a modest fortune."

"Those who possess congenital deficiencies, are plagued by illnesses, come from impoverished families, and have many children as their parents may be considered to have a 'favorable appearance,' but it is not an auspicious appearance; rather, it is an ominous appearance that indicates an early death and a tendency to perish."

"If a person's various qualities conflict with each other, like having an arrow but no bow, or a blind man wandering through a mountain of gold, then he is a person without form."

“A person like me, with a weak body and great talent, will not live long; with lofty aspirations and meager fortune, I am like someone who walks on clouds; with pride and a small mind, I suffer many hardships; like gold being sifted from sand by the great waves, the more I gain, the more I lose, the best example of a person without form.”

"........."

As times change, ancient physiognomy books often used coded language and metaphors. After all, they had spent more than ten years writing these books, so naturally they wanted to pass them down through generations to benefit future generations, wishing that only their children and grandchildren could understand them.

Chen Jing wrote the Wuxiang Manual in just four days. The manual is simple and easy to understand, and anyone who gets it can start using it directly.

This passage contains a partial understanding of 'physiognomy' and can be considered part of the mental cultivation method. It is definitely a secret that physiognomists do not pass on, and it was given to several fortune tellers and word interpreters to listen to attentively.

"Good! Very good! Excellent! I knew I wasn't wrong about you; you are truly a master of physiognomy!"

Li Banxian stroked his beard and smiled with satisfaction. He bent down and took out three secret manuals on how to prop up table corners from the other three corners of the table stall.

The covers are titled "The Secret Manual of Physiognomy - Part 1", "The Secret Manual of Physiognomy - Part 2", and "The Secret Manual of Physiognomy - Part 3".

The reason it failed the exam was because of the word "相" (xiang).

As long as one can change their appearance, passing the imperial examination will be as easy as taking something out of a bag.

Chen Jing was about to reach out and take the three manuals when Li Banxian stopped him, saying, "The Wuxiang Sect has three methods of changing appearances. The lower level requires neither talent nor effort; the middle level requires neither talent nor effort; and the upper level requires both talent and effort."

Chen Jing: "…………"

The "Emotional Levels" are not a set of three volumes (upper, middle, and lower), but rather a classification of quality levels.

He pulled out a gold ingot and tried to break the rules: "Can't I have them all, and then pick a suitable one to practice?"

Li Banxian used another trick, accepting the gold and shaking his head: "I can give you the low-grade and medium-grade manuals, but the high-grade manual requires you to complete a test."

test?

Finally, it's following the usual game formula: NPCs give out side quests?

Chen Jingxian accepted the two manuals, one lower and one middle, because he couldn't let the money go to waste, even if it was money from the virtual reality world.

He casually flipped to a page and saw the same blank page as always. He tossed the book onto the stall and asked calmly, "Does this mean I have to figure these out and write them myself?"

Li Banxian rubbed his hands together, looking embarrassed, and said, "No, that's not it. If everyone were to figure everything out on their own, wouldn't you become the Wuxiang Patriarch?"

"I've been a bit busy lately, and I haven't had time to write the two manuals yet. But the content isn't too complicated, so it's more effective to just dictate them. Books are inanimate, but people are alive."

After saying that, he didn't forget to turn to the first page of the third manual.

A lifelike lotus flower was drawn on it, proving that the manual was not a blank page.

He paused for a moment and then asked, "Do you think it's easy to be a minister but difficult to be a minister?"

Chen Jing nodded and then shook his head: "It's neither difficult nor difficult."

Li Banxian quickly closed the manual and acknowledged, "That's right! Taking a knife and cutting your face, leaving a fierce scar, can be considered changing one's appearance. It's as simple as it gets. But changing one's appearance to an auspicious one is difficult, and changing one's appearance to that of a high-ranking official or an emperor is even more difficult."

"The lowest level of face-changing secrets is the method of cutting flesh and scraping bones. Although it can successfully change your face, at most it will put you at the bottom of the Tai Sui list."

(End of this chapter)