Weird Cultivation, I have a five-organ temple

Is Chapter 654 about the revival of spiritual energy, or is there more to it than meets the eye?

"No matter what, these people still remember me, and they can still light incense and burn paper money for me, and shed a few tears. It's not in vain that I've wasted my breath these past few days."

Shang Lu shook his head and smiled, while simultaneously suspending surveillance of the valley to avoid being detected by those high-level cultivators who could then trace him back to him.

Not only that, he also crawled out from underground.

Before interrupting the surveillance, he saw that among those high-level cultivators, some were tearing paper to perform a ritual, conjuring countless flying birds, while others were using a magical artifact similar to a seismograph to probe the earth's veins.

The bird that the talisman transformed into was extremely sensitive to fluctuations in energy.

The most crucial element is the person who uses magical artifacts to explore the earth's veins.

If the pokeweed continues to use its earth-遁 (earth-遁 is a technique used to escape into the ground), it will be easily discovered and locked onto, causing a lot of unnecessary trouble.

Emerging from underground, Shang Lu changed into the attire of a Legalist cultivator, then used the Hundred Transformations Mask to further alter his appearance and physique, and concealed his cultivation level using witch talismans and the faces of the Zongheng family.

After this whole process, Shang Lu transformed into a Qi Refining Realm cultivator.

This time, however, he was a Legalist official, not a Confucian scholar.

Shang Lu quickly found the official road and swaggered off towards Qinglin Prefecture, where the Tai Mo Academy was located.

During this period, the news that Tai Mo Academy was going to talk about the "Secrets of the Catastrophe" spread far beyond the Jiang Kingdom.

Cultivators from several neighboring countries also heard about this and rushed to Qinglin Prefecture, resulting in a far greater number of cultivators appearing in Jiang Kingdom during this period than in previous days.

It's not uncommon to see low-level cultivators traveling on official roads.

Those few disciplined black witches took this opportunity to sneak into the Jiang Kingdom.

After the pokeweed was on the official road, about half an hour later, several paper birds flashing with talismanic light flew over from a distance.

The paper bird quickly spotted the pokeweed and circled twice above its head.

Shang Lu raised his head and looked at the paper bird with a surprised expression.

The paper bird didn't notice anything wrong with the pokeweed and quickly flew away.

Before these paper birds could even scout ahead, Shang Lu had already sensed several unusual fluctuations of magical power underground, which he quickly scanned.

Fortunately, he escaped underground in advance and took good cover, otherwise he would have been easily exposed.

Once the paper bird had flown far away, Shang Lu began to examine the spoils of this battle.

Although he didn't manage to kill the Soul-Eating Captain, that guy still died in the end.

Moreover, after Shang Lu used the supernatural powers of the Mountain Ghost Nuo Mask to glimpse the situation of the Soul-Eating Captain's head "self-destructing," he was even more grateful that the Captain had left in time.

Otherwise, even if they weren't blocked by the high-level cultivators of Jiang Kingdom, they would still be tainted by the King of Chu's curse and be marked and targeted by him—the explosion of the Soul-Eating Captain's head did not produce ordinary witch energy, but a special kind of curse.

Those who are afflicted by this curse will receive the "favor of the King of Chu".

The King of Chu was by nature vengeful, not to mention that he had now been transformed into a monster, suffering daily torment and becoming increasingly deranged!

Those whom he hates and who are cursed by him will inevitably suffer his repeated revenge.

Although Shang Lu was also hated by the King of Chu, he never revealed his true identity, so even if the King of Chu wanted to take revenge on him, he couldn't find a target.

But if one falls victim to the King of Chu's curse and mark, then it will be dangerous.

The King of Chu will definitely send men to capture him and take him back to refine elixirs!

With the curse and mark on him, even if he wanted to escape or hide, there was nowhere to run or hide.

Those Jiang Kingdom cultivators must have also noticed this situation, but they didn't understand King Chu and didn't care about the curse and mark they were under. They just thought it was the Soul-Eating Captain's struggle before death and simply released a few dispelling and purification spells.

The fate of the Soul-Eating Captain led Shang Lu to a conclusion.

"The King of Chu went so far as to implant a Gu pill into the body of the sorcerer, which suggests that his condition is becoming increasingly dire."

I wonder when the King of Chu will "show his strangeness in front of everyone" and let the whole of Chu know that he has really turned into a monster?

I guess it will be soon.

Unless the King of Chu can find a way to resolve this.

Thinking of this, Shang Lu suddenly raised an eyebrow, thinking to himself, "Could this be the purpose behind the King of Chu's alliance with Ba to attack Deng?"

The creation of this rotten and perilous land was achieved by the King of Chu through war, sacrificing souls and flesh.

Since the King of Chu has such a method of offering sacrifices to obtain secret realms, could he repeat the same trick and create another rotten and ominous place? Or perhaps a similar secret realm?
The reason why King Ba abandoned past grievances and joined forces with the Chu witch was because he was lured and misled by claims of "immortality" and "becoming a god".

I heard that King Ba is quite old, his cultivation has not improved, and his lifespan is running out.

Even if it weren't for the chance to "achieve immortality" or "become a god," he probably wouldn't want to miss any opportunity to extend his lifespan.

But why couldn't Da Zhu persuade him?
Shang Lu did not believe that Da Zhu would be tempted by the conditions offered by the King of Chu.

The Great Sage was not pursuing immortality for himself; he was a man who would "tread upon the bones of nobles and officials throughout the heavenly streets."

For the Grand Sage, the king's longevity was not a good thing.

At a critical moment, it's not surprising that the Grand Master would do something like "ask the King to die."

So, Da Zhu encountered trouble? Perhaps even that the King of Ba contacted the King of Chu to have him detained?

Shang Lu's mind was filled with speculation.

Unfortunately, he couldn't use the Impermanence Token to send a message to Zishu Xunshou and the others to inquire about the situation—although the Soul-Eating Captain and his gang had been killed, the King of Chu did not stop monitoring the Impermanence Token's flying message wave.

If Shang Lu uses the Impermanence Decree to send a message again, he will inevitably be exposed once more, attracting a new round of pursuit.

Even now, Shang Lu cannot say that he has completely escaped the pursuit. He must find a way to completely eliminate the flying spiritual waves emitted by the Impermanence Token.

It was for this reason that Shang Lu decided to continue his journey to Qinglin Prefecture.

Not only is there the Tai Mo Academy there, but also cultivators and merchant caravans from all over the country. All sorts of strange and wonderful materials and treasures are available there. You might even find a way to completely eliminate the flying spirit waves.

Moreover, Shang Lu was also very curious about the "catastrophe secrets" that Jiang Guo Da Nuo was going to tell, and even more curious about their purpose.

Shaking his head, Shang Lu cleared his mind of the chaotic thoughts and began to circulate the "Heart Sutra of Supreme Goodness Like Water".

"My mind is in turmoil. Could it be a side effect of the mental lashing from the Soul-Eating Captain?"

Shang Lu guessed to himself.

The Soul-Eating Captain's mental whipping was indeed powerful. If Shang Lu hadn't had strong mental resistance and treasures like the Mind Image and the Ice Crystal Blue Lotus, he probably would have gone mad after being whipped.

"It's a pity we couldn't capture his soul, otherwise, if we could have extracted his cultivation method from him, it would have been another powerful killing move," Shang Lu sighed.

This time, Shang Lu not only failed to capture the soul of the Soul-Eating Captain, but also failed to capture the souls of the other Discipline Black Witches.

Their souls were instantly burned by the earth fire. Shang Lu tried to capture them, but he couldn't outrun the earth fire.

"What a pity," Shang Lu sighed again.

These few disciplined black witches, whether they speak nicely or not, each possess extraordinary abilities. If we could extract their secrets from them, even if we couldn't learn them, we could still sell them for a good price.

It's such a pity!
Shang Lu didn't even have time to touch the magical talismans, artifacts, and other treasures they carried...

Thinking about it this way, I felt even more cheated, and could only comfort myself by saying that at least the pursuers had been eliminated, so there was no need to be afraid for the time being.

However, just as Shang Lu was frowning, San Niang suddenly pulled out several items as if by magic.

"what?"

Shang Lu initially thought it looked familiar, but after a moment of surprise, he looked closer and recognized it: "Isn't this the magical artifact of those Discipline Black Wizards?"

Feng Ping's Death Sword, Wei Song's Horror Bell, and even the command flags Zhao Guang used for setting up the formation were all in San Niang's hands.

"When did you get your hands on these treasures?" Shang Lu asked, overjoyed.

The speed at which Third Sister looted corpses and collected treasures had increased significantly compared to before.

The couple, one in charge of killing and the other in charge of stripping... their teamwork is becoming increasingly seamless!

"Third Sister, thanks to you, otherwise we would have suffered a huge loss in this battle." Shang Lu smiled broadly and praised her repeatedly.

In this battle, Shang Lu not only consumed many witch talismans, but also lost the tortoise shell shield.

As for the Ice Crystal Blue Lotus and the Calamity Lamp exhausting their spiritual energy, that's nothing. Originally, I thought I was going to suffer a loss, but I didn't expect Third Sister to be so quick and manage to bring back so many spoils of war.

With these treasures, much of the damage can be made up for.

Shang Lu praised San Niang for being a virtuous wife while checking the harvest.

The seized items were mostly witchcraft artifacts, remnants of spirits, and a small amount of money; there were almost no other items such as witchcraft talismans or elixirs.

As these disciplined black witches lay dying, they were all engulfed in earth fire, and the talismans and pills they carried were instantly burned away by the earth fire.

The money was burned and its shape was altered.

Even witchcraft artifacts and remnants of spirits were mostly burned.

I tried the pokeweed, but it was almost unusable and needed to be repaired first.

Some of them are even beyond repair and can only be used to refine materials.

This was a great pity for Shanglu, who could only console himself:

"It's better if we can't use them. Maybe the Black Shamans of Discipline have some means to track us down. Once we get to Qinglin Prefecture, we'll sell them all and buy another protective magic artifact."

At that very moment, Shang Lu discovered a token among the treasures destroyed by the subterranean fire: "Huh, this is... the Black Witch Token?"

Shanglu was surprised.

Logically, the Black Witch's Token of the Discipline Black Witch should be the same as the Black Robe Token of the Black Robe Guard; the token exists as long as the person is alive, and disappears when the person dies.

But now, several Disciplined Black Witches have been burned to death by the earth fire, yet this Black Witch Token is still here, which is truly strange.

Shang Lu suddenly remembered that on the other side of the valley, high-level cultivators from the Jiang Kingdom had also discovered the Black Witch Token that had not collapsed.

This situation is unusual.

Shang Lu frowned and hurriedly examined the Black Witch Token carefully. After a moment, he breathed a sigh of relief, and his brows relaxed.

The Black Witch Token did not collapse not because of any trap, but because the witch runes and incantations were burned away by the earth fire, causing the "self-destruct" function to temporarily fail, which is why it did not collapse.

"This thing is broken, but it might come in handy sometime."

After considering it for a moment, Shang Lu decided to keep the Black Witch Token.

Having already impersonated a member of the Black Guard, he wouldn't mind impersonating a Disciplined Black Witch as well.

Shang Lu collected all the spoils that San Niang had found into the Impermanence Token.

Strangely enough, several days have passed since the last time I communicated with Zishu and the others.

During this time, he did not send any messages, and neither did Zishu Xunshou and the others send any spiritual messages.

"Could something have happened?"

Shanglu thought to himself with concern.

But he quickly shook his head, denying the guess.

"It shouldn't be anything serious, otherwise, given Senior Brother Lü's personality, he would definitely have sent me a message immediately..."

There's no use in being anxious now. The only way to contact Zishu Xunshou and the others is to reach Qinglin Prefecture and find a way to eliminate the flying message wave.

Otherwise, the only option would be to circle back to the Kingdom of Ba and then head to Mount Wu to find the Rat Hunting the Rat.

Having made up his mind, Shang Lu continued his journey towards Qinglin Prefecture.

He used the art of paper cutting to create a tall, magnificent horse for transportation. He also used his painting skills to draw eyes on the horse and added auspicious blessings such as "traveling a thousand miles a day" and "a peerless steed" to the paper horse with Confucian proverbs. Finally, he used his novelist skills to describe and embellish the horse.

Sure enough, after employing these methods, the paper horse not only increased its speed, but also, according to the novelist's description, became indistinguishable from a real horse, no longer the strange, deformed creatures with uneven legs that Shang Lu had previously torn apart.

"Why didn't I think of combining the techniques of a novelist with the art of turning paper into soldiers before?"

As Shang Lu rode on horseback, feeling an unprecedented sense of stability, he couldn't help but exclaim in amazement.

Riding this horse is so comfortable; it's completely unlike the bumpy ride I used to get with paper horses.

This visit to various schools of thought and the acceptance of diverse perspectives made Shang Lu realize that he could integrate these diverse schools of thought into one.

In the previous battles against the Black Shaman of Discipline, Shang Lu used various methods from Confucianism, Legalism, novelists' notes, and even military and shamanistic schools.

Although the degree and power of the fusion are not as good as imagined, all of this is still in the exploratory stage.

Now, once you've mastered the method, all that's left is practice.

Once you've mastered the technique, its power will naturally increase!

On the way to Qinglin Prefecture, Shang Lu stopped traveling with the other cultivators and continued practicing his skills as he traveled.

It was along this route that Shang Lu was surprised to discover that a new secret realm had been born.

After leaving Peng County, Shanglu entered the territory of Ninghe County.

After passing Ninghe County, and then through Dongzao and Menggao Counties, you can enter Qinglin Prefecture.

Shang Lu's original idea was to take the shortest route—crossing Tai Xuan Lake from the east and entering Dongzao County.

Before they even reached Tai Xuan Lake, still dozens of miles away, they were stopped.

"The road ahead is closed. If you want to get to Tai Mo Academy, take a detour from the north."

Those who wanted to cross Tai Xuan Lake were mostly cultivators who wanted to take a shortcut to Qing Lin Prefecture, so when they stopped Shang Lu's group, they didn't ask about their identities or backgrounds and simply told them to change their route.

This group included both monks and county soldiers.

Although the cultivator's rank was not high, he was wearing an official robe—Shang Lu was all too familiar with this kind of attire and equipment.

When the secret realm first appeared in Luoshui County, the wizards responsible for patrolling and guarding it wore similar attire and equipment.

Is there a hidden realm in Tai Xuan Lake? And it was only recently discovered?
Shang Lu immediately came to a guess.

Only when a new secret realm is being explored and developed does it require patrols to keep unrelated people away.

Once the various mechanisms and formations have been set up in the secret realm, there is no need to make these arrangements anymore.

Faced with being driven away, Shang Lu bowed and cooperated.

However, by secretly using his silver tongue, he managed to learn from the cultivator that a new secret realm had indeed been discovered beneath Tai Xuan Lake more than ten days ago.

Pokeweed stopped there and didn't ask any further questions.

On the one hand, this cultivator's level is too low, and he doesn't know much about the situation.

On the other hand, he sensed divine thoughts sweeping across the area.

Clearly, there are high-level cultivators stationed at Tai Xuan Lake.

Shang Lu didn't want to join the crowd, nor did he want to get into trouble, so he immediately turned around and took a detour to Dongzao County.

But his heart was filled with doubt.

Since the Dark Ages, many secret realms have been created in this world. However, according to the information Shang Lu had previously encountered at the Witch Academy, these realms are rare, with only one appearing every few years, which has led to a shortage of cultivation resources.

However, recently, secret realms have been appearing one after another in various places.

This phenomenon is quite strange.

It's like someone suddenly throwing bait into a stagnant pool.

It's not just about breaking the existing situation, but about making this stagnant pool boil and getting all the "fish" scrambling for food.

But where did these secret realms come from?

Are they sects or cave dwellings from before the Great Cataclysm?
But since they were all destroyed in the cataclysm, how could they possibly reappear on earth?
Their arrival was naturally occurring?

still is……

Man-made?

(End of this chapter)