Weird Cultivation, I have a five-organ temple

Chapter 661 has some scheming, but not much.

The three people from Tai Mo Academy spent half a day in the brothels "outwitting" their target, who only existed in their minds, before returning to Tianbao Tower to report to the doctor.

"Lost?"

Judging from his appearance, this doctor was a middle-aged man in his thirties.

But his voice sounded old, revealing that his actual age was definitely not as young as he appeared.

Upon hearing that the target had been lost, the doctor frowned slightly, but did not seem overly anxious. He asked in a calm tone, "How did you lose track of them?"

The three exchanged glances and said cautiously:

“We followed the man who bought the stone tablet all the way to the west of the city. That man went into a brothel to listen to music, but in reality, he was meeting with his accomplices to move the stone tablet out.”

"We planned to continue tracking them, but the contact noticed us and escaped before we could react."

The doctor squinted and remained silent.

Upon seeing this, the person standing next to him immediately burst into curses: "You managed to lose them? A bunch of useless trash!"

After the man finished cursing, the physician raised his hand, feigning concern, and said, "Rats are cunning; there's no need to be harsh. As long as they have the stone tablet, they won't escape our grasp!"

After speaking, the Grand Physician flipped his hand and conjured up an incense burner the size of a palm.

The stove lid is shaped like a hollowed-out flower.

However, as the doctor chanted the incantation, the bronze flowers suddenly "came to life," their petals like sharp needles piercing directly into the doctor's palm.

The doctor seemed to feel no pain, and even actively encouraged blood to drip into the incense burner along with the petals.

A wisp of smoke immediately rose from the incense burner.

After a short while, the wisp of smoke dissipated, failing to coalesce and take shape to indicate the direction.

At this moment, the physician's expression finally changed, revealing a hint of astonishment.

"What's going on? Why isn't my spirit Gu reacting? Has it been discovered? Impossible, absolutely impossible!"

The doctor's face darkened, and he switched to several other magical artifacts.

No matter how he made hand gestures and chanted incantations, there was no response.

At this point, the doctor could no longer remain calm, and his face turned extremely dark.

"It seems these rats are even more cunning than we imagined! They must have used some kind of secret method to seal the stone tablet, and also to block all the methods we used on it!"

The person standing beside the Grand Physician was startled upon hearing this: "Ah? What, what should we do?"

The doctor remained silent with a gloomy expression.

After a moment of contemplation, he looked at the three men responsible for tracking and following them: "When they met in the brothels, did they use any code words or gestures?"

"Yes, yes."

The three nodded in succession.

When Shang Lu was using the Ice Crystal Blue Lotus to shape their memories, he specifically pointed out these details in order to divert the trouble to the east.

"When they met, they first made these hand gestures."

The three of them talked and learned from the doctor.

These gestures include "raising the left hand to the chest and twisting the fingers three times", "raising the right hand above the head and patting the head twice", and "clasping the fists and placing them on the left side of the chest"...

Each gesture, taken individually, is quite ordinary; most people wouldn't even notice it.

But when they are combined, the meaning changes.

In particular, the phrase "raise your left hand to your chest and twist your fingers three times" made the doctor's gaze instantly sharpen.

After demonstrating their hand gestures, the three people from Tai Mo Academy began to talk about the secret code they had overheard.

"The person who bought the stone tablet, after confirming the contact person with a gesture, walked over and whispered, 'What color is the soul fire?' The person who contacted him replied, 'Black is supreme.'"

"They thought that because their voices were quiet and the noise in the brothel was loud, no one else would hear them, but little did they know that we had exceptional hearing and could hear them clearly."

The three of them spoke with pride, completely oblivious to the fact that they were being used.

"Soulfire? Dark Black?"

Upon hearing these two keywords and confirming them with the previous gestures, the doctor immediately made a judgment, and his face grew increasingly dark.

"They are from the State of Chu!"

"The Chu Kingdom's secret agents bought the stone tablet? Can they even read the words on it?" the man standing to the side asked in surprise.

The senior physician frowned and speculated, "Rumors circulate that the King of Chu has become a monster, but the information we have is that he obtained a secret method for achieving immortality from some mysterious and dangerous place... Could there be some connection between the two?"

Such a possibility cannot be ruled out. After all, the stone tablet was discovered in an ominous place and is related to the secrets of that great catastrophe in ancient times.

It was that great catastrophe that severed the path to immortality and godhood for all living beings!

The man beside him also realized this and was greatly alarmed. He said anxiously, "If the contents of the stone tablet are really related to immortality and becoming a god, and if the King of Chu can really understand it, wouldn't that be terrible?"

It's not just bad, it's a disaster.

No one would wish for a foreign monarch to be immortal and possess divine power.

In particular, this monarch was cruel by nature and liked to invade other countries!

The chief physician's expression was grave. He urgently ordered, "Launch a city-wide search! We must find them and retrieve the stone tablet!"

Before he could finish speaking, he suddenly realized that the three men who had returned with the news were acting strangely.

Before he could even utter a question, the three men burst into a sinister laugh, their voices and tones completely different from usual, as if someone else had seized their mouths to speak.
"Trying to capture us? Dream on!"

"We're right here in Qinglin Prefecture. Let's see if you can find us!"

"What Tai Mo Academy? It boasts so much, but the result is nothing special!"

"Puppet telepathy? That's a signature move of the Chu Kingdom's black sorcerers!"

The doctor's expression grew increasingly grim.

These three idiots were not only discovered while stalking, but they were also cursed.

He probably heard everything he said and made!

However, this time, the doctor made a wrong judgment.

Shang Lu didn't use any puppet transmission technique; instead, he left a key to the illusion in the minds of the three.

At this moment, the key was activated, causing the three of them to fall into a brief illusion.

Ironically, all of this does indeed look very similar to the "Puppet Transmission Technique" of the Discipline Black Witch.

Although the Grand Physician was annoyed by the incompetence of his three subordinates, he did not get angry. Instead, he cupped his hands and said sincerely, "Brother, why don't you return the stone tablet? Our two countries can study it together and find the way to become a god. Wouldn't that be wonderful?"

"Ha ha ha ha……"

The three from Tai Mo Academy burst into laughter. "Researching together? Do you believe that nonsense?"

"We paid for the stone tablet, why should we return it to you?"

"So this is how Tai Mo Academy does business? I've learned something new! We'll definitely help you spread the word!"

The doctor's face grew increasingly grim. Just as he was about to utter some harsh words, he saw the three men pounce on him simultaneously. Their movements were swift and ruthless, but their expressions were completely different—filled with surprise and fear, and they even screamed:
"what happened?"

Why is my body out of my control?

"Sir, get out of the way! Get out of the way!"

The doctor not only didn't dodge, but didn't even show the slightest sign of panic.

He simply raised his hand, pointed at the three people rushing towards him, and shouted sharply, "Suppress!"

A surge of spiritual energy, like a flood bursting its banks, erupted from his body and instantly pressed down on the three of them, pinning them to the ground.

They were truly "suppressed" and unable to move.

The doctor gave a light snort and was about to speak when a black light suddenly shot up from one of the people being suppressed.

The black light flashed like lightning, moving at incredible speed, and shot straight at the doctor's face.

The sneer on the doctor's face finally disappeared. He first opened his mouth and spat out a gust of spiritual energy, then activated his protective magic treasure, and finally blocked the attack.

The black light clattered to the ground, revealing itself to be a bloodstained coffin nail engraved with witchcraft runes.

"It's the execution nail of a disciplined black witch!"

As a senior physician who was able to serve at the Tai Mo Academy and manage the Tian Bao Lou, his vision was naturally extraordinary. He immediately recognized that the weapon that attacked him was a hidden weapon unique to the Discipline Black Witch.

If the previous clues only made the Grand Physician suspect the Black Witch of Discipline, then now, the appearance of the Punishment Nail has confirmed that his suspicions and guesses were correct.

The Grand Physician remained on guard cautiously for a long time. Seeing that the three people suppressed on the ground had no other means of sneak attack and that their minds had returned to normal, he finally removed the spell.

After the three of them stood up, they repeatedly apologized to the doctor.

What just happened gave them a real fright. Luckily, the doctor's cultivation was high enough that he wasn't ambushed. Otherwise, their fate would have been worse than death.

The Grand Physician ignored them and turned to the man beside him, ordering, "These Chu traitors must not have gone far. Immediately send men out of the city to pursue them!"

The man standing beside him was taken aback upon hearing this: "Weren't we searching the city?"

The Grand Physician sneered, "Didn't you hear what that traitor Chu said through those three? They claimed they were still in the city. Hmph, how could I believe such nonsense? They must have escaped to the outskirts of the city now. If we foolishly continue searching the city, we'll fall into their trap!"

The man beside him first looked enlightened, then clasped his hands and replied, "Your Excellency is wise! I will immediately send men out of the city to search for them!"

"Take this execution nail with you, and let the Qi-eating beast follow its scent to find the traitor Chu!"

With a wave of his hand, the Grand Physician sent the execution nails on the ground flying into his hand. He wrapped them in his spiritual energy and handed them to the person standing beside him.

"That scoundrel Chu wanted to use this thing to ambush me, so we'll just use it to find out where he is!" the Grand Physician sneered. "This is what they call 'using their own methods against them'!"

"Your Excellency is wise!"

Unfortunately, the wise Grand Physician was unaware that all his arrangements were part of Shang Lu's scheme.

Little did they know that all the events that had occurred in Tianbao Tower were being transmitted in detail to Shang Lu by the "eyes" hidden on the three people in Taimo Academy.

After adjusting the main search direction, the doctor thought for a moment and added:

"The search in the city must not stop! The contact has escaped, but the person who bought the stone tablet should still be in the city. We must catch him too!"

"Send people to search the entire city. Anyone with a cat, dog, fox, or other spirit pet should be the primary target of the search! The person who bought the stone tablet may have changed their appearance!"

The doctor's order was quickly carried out.

In Qinglin Prefecture, groups of cultivators led beasts that had memorized the scent of the Punishment Nails, checking every person whose identity was suspicious.

On his way to Tai Mo Academy, Shang Lu also encountered a group of cultivators who were checking people at the intersection.

However, the group of monks did not suspect anything when they saw him and the black fox he was leading, and waved for them to leave quickly.

The beast that was squatting to the side, its long, scarlet tongue lolling out, could neither smell the scent of the Punishment Nail nor the fox scent on the black fox.

That Executioner's Nail was one of the few remaining, barely usable, remnant magical artifacts that Shang Lu had seized from the Discipline Black Witch.

Before using them, the pokeweed used a gluttonous beast to devour the remaining traces of their aura.

Even with their keen sense of smell, the Qi-eating beasts sent out by Tai Mo Academy could never have imagined that Shang Lu was their target.

As for Black Fox, it was only because Third Sister secretly protected him; otherwise, even if he had transformed into human form, he would have been exposed.

Instead of investigating Shang Lu, the group of cultivators at the intersection approached him and asked what they were doing. Naturally, he was met with their impatient shooing: "It's none of your business. Don't pry. Get out of here!"

Shang Lu led the black fox away, muttering to himself as he walked, inwardly sneering, "A bit cunning, but not much."

The black fox was startled. If it weren't unable to speak and if Shang Lu hadn't specifically instructed it beforehand, it would probably have already jumped up and down questioning Shang Lu about whether he was out of his mind, since no one else had checked and yet it still insisted on getting close to him.

Soon, the man, the fox, and the ghost arrived at the Tai Mo Academy without any surprises or dangers.

Along the way, they encountered several other groups of people, but they either ignored them or simply checked them briefly before letting them pass. Not a single person questioned their identities.

At this moment, Black Fox finally understood that Shang Lu's curious state along the way was one of the reasons that misled the investigating cultivators—no one would expect that someone would not hide or be afraid when facing pursuit, but would actively approach them, so naturally no one would think that such a person was the target they wanted to capture.

Upon arriving at the Tai Mo Academy, Shang Lu presented his lecture invitation. He was initially worried that the people there might be able to discern the suppressed divine nature within the invitation.

But he soon discovered that his worries were unnecessary. The person in charge of checking the lecture notes simply glanced at the incantation patterns on them and waved him through.

As for Black Fox, since she was Shang Lu's "Dan Tong" (a disciple who had been brought along by Shang Lu), she was not stopped from entering.

Upon entering the Tai Mo Academy, the first thing that catches the eye is a huge stone tablet surrounded by incantations.

The stone tablet displays some of the lessons being taught today.

There are courses from various schools of thought, including Confucianism's "True Explanation of the Four Books," Legalism's "Source of Laws," and Agriculturalism's "Eight Methods of Animal Taming."

At the very top of the stone tablet, there was another line of text that read: "Two days until the start of the 'Hidden Secrets of the Great Cataclysm' course..."

Shang Lu chuckled and shook his head, thinking to himself, "Well, there are still two days until classes start. If I didn't look closely, I would have thought you were doing a college entrance exam pep rally."

However, in this Tai Mo Academy, various schools of thought compete to pass on their teachings, and even if they only teach some basic knowledge, it can still be described as a grand occasion.

After all, in many countries, even the most basic knowledge of spiritual practice remains a closely guarded secret.

After glancing at the courses listed on the stone tablet, Shang Lu turned to Black Fox and asked, "What kind of course do you want to take?"

Black Fox kept Shang Lu's instructions in mind and remained silent. He simply raised his hand and pointed towards the Farmer's "Eight Methods of Beast Refining".

"You're quite ambitious. Okay, then go listen to this lecture."

Shang Lu smiled and agreed, then led the black fox to the "Simultaneous Farming" class where the farmer's "Eight Methods of Beast Refining" was being taught.

In the "Fengtian" classroom, Black Fox listened attentively, while Shang Lu wandered around, using his silver tongue to whisper with the local Ba Kingdom shaman, trying to gather information...

(End of this chapter)