Cultivation: Starting from a Fighting Cock

Chapter 76 Zhao Yang
The blind Taoist priest lit two torches on the stone wall of the cave, illuminating the interior. A group of bats were startled and flew out, squeaking.

After the rag stuffed in his mouth was removed, Zhao Kun coughed violently.

He coughed for about ten minutes, his face turning red and then pale, before gradually calming down.

The blind Taoist priest sat on a stone stool opposite him, chuckling, "Little fellow, how do you feel about being captured on your wedding day? Despair?"

The blind Taoist priest was dressed in a black robe, and the cave was dimly lit, but the torches on both sides still illuminated his sinister and terrifying old face.

Especially those blind eyes, which looked white in the darkness, were quite eerie.

"You...cough cough...what do you want to do?"

As soon as Zhao Kun opened his mouth, he couldn't help but cough again.

He was already physically weak, and after the ordeal of the past two days, he was only holding on by his strong willpower, otherwise he would have fainted at any moment.

Fortunately, he was exceptionally clever. He didn't shout or struggle in vain, but remained calm and talked to the blind Taoist priest.

"Haha, that's a good question. I'll tell you what I'm planning to do."

"First, I will search your soul. Do not resist. Of course, with such a weak soul as yours, resistance is useless."

"By searching your soul, I will learn about you and all the relevant information about the Zhao family. After that, I will refine you into a Yin puppet and then control you to return to the Zhao family."

With the blind Taoist's cultivation level, he was not yet able to possess others, so he had no choice but to refine Zhao Kun into a Yin puppet to control him.

"Refine me into a Yin puppet... What do you intend to do to my Zhao family? Could it be that you also covet my Zhao family's immortal elixir inheritance?"

Zhao Kun thought that the blind Taoist priest and Zhou Mu had the same goal, or that Zhou Mu had instigated this.

"The inheritance of immortal pills? Hahaha, laughable! This kind of thing can only fool a fool like Zhou Mu!"

"Wha...what?"

“Your Zhao family has never had any elixir inheritance. Oh, no, perhaps they have, but that's not the purpose of this old Taoist’s trip.”

"What is the purpose of your trip, Taoist priest?"

Zhao Kun was shocked; he realized that the blind old Taoist priest had revealed a tremendous amount of information.

"It's not worth mentioning to an ant like you."

The blind Taoist priest waved his hand with a cold laugh.

He saw that Zhao Kun was a pitiful person, so he didn't mind talking to him a few more times. But Zhao Kun wouldn't understand things like the Nascent Soul Immortal Treasure.

Seeing that he couldn't get any information out of him, Zhao Kun calmed down for a moment and asked again, "May I ask, Daoist Master, do you have any grudge against our Zhao family?"

He added, "Master, I just don't want to die without knowing why."

“You junior are both courageous and intelligent, but unfortunately you were born into the Zhao family and suffered retribution from your ancestors. Even if I don’t kill you, your days are numbered.”

The blind Taoist tapped his bamboo pole on the ground. After this brief interaction, he had developed a certain appreciation for Zhao Kun.

Among his peers, it would be difficult to find even one in ten people who could remain as calm and composed as Zhao Kun.

With such a mindset, if given the opportunity to embark on the path of cultivation, their achievements would certainly be remarkable.

"What makes you say that, Taoist priest? What do you mean by suffering retribution from your ancestors?"

"Fine, considering you're about to be turned into a Yin Puppet by me, I'll let you die knowing why."

"Let me ask you the simplest question: Do you know who I am?"

The blind Taoist priest muttered to himself, a look of reminiscence appearing on his face.

Zhao Kun shook his head; he naturally didn't know.

"Since you are aware of your Zhao family's elixir-making tradition, you must have heard that your Zhao family had a Foundation Establishment stage alchemist in your ancestor. Do you know his name?" "Zhao... Zhao Yang?"

Zhao Kun remembered that Fairy Su had mentioned this name.

Four hundred years ago, the Zhao family produced a prodigy named Zhao Yang, who possessed spiritual roots and had outstanding talent in alchemy. He eventually became a Foundation Establishment alchemist and was renowned throughout the region.

However, Zhao Yang had made a powerful enemy outside, and his descendants died one after another. Only a few survived and secretly fled to a remote place, where they lived ordinary lives under assumed names. This is the Zhao family of Wuzhen today.

"Sigh, it's been so many years since anyone called me by that name."

The blind Taoist sighed, leaned on his bamboo cane with both hands, and sat up straighter.

Zhao Kun was deeply shaken. What did this mean?
Is this blind old Taoist priest Zhao Yang?

"Ancestor!"

Zhao Kun reacted quickly, immediately struggling to kneel before the blind Taoist priest, "Ancestor, I am your descendant! Why are you treating me like this?"

Unexpectedly, the blind Taoist suddenly burst into laughter and said, "Although you are descendants of Zhao Yang, you are not descendants of me!"

Upon hearing this, Zhao Kun was stunned. What did that mean? How many Zhao Yangs were there?

He couldn't help but cough again.

"At first, I was Zhao Yang. Later, Zhao Yang was no longer me. Kid, do you understand?"

"Ancestor, later you were possessed, and someone else became Zhao Yang?"

"You are indeed smart."

The blind Taoist priest spoke in a sinister tone as he recounted events from four hundred years ago to Zhao Kun.

At that time, the Zhao family, where the blind Taoist belonged, was a mortal branch of the main Zhao family lineage. At that time, the main Zhao family lineage already had a Nascent Soul True Monarch who had lived for several hundred years and whose influence shone throughout the entire Ji Kingdom. That person was Zhao Chen.

The blind Taoist was born into the Zhao family, a branch of the mortals, and was named Zhao Yang. He was found to possess spiritual roots.

The Zhao family was overjoyed. Two hundred years had passed since they branched off from the main lineage, and after ten generations of descendants, they had finally produced a child with spiritual roots.

When this news reached the main branch of the Zhao family, Zhao Yang received cultivation from the main branch and obtained a large amount of cultivation resources.

At that time, Zhao Yang was naive and did not understand the wickedness of people's hearts, nor did he understand the sordid affairs of cultivation families. He was being targeted by an old man from the main branch of the Zhao family whose lifespan was about to end, but he was completely unaware of it.

As he gradually revealed his extraordinary talent in alchemy, a pair of eyes shone brighter and brighter in the shadows.

After that, Zhao Yang was completely unprepared when the old man, whose lifespan was nearing its end, possessed his body.

But by a stroke of luck, Zhao Yang's soul escaped and survived, becoming the Blind Taoist Priest of today.

After possessing Zhao Yang's body, the old man married and had children, eventually becoming a Foundation Establishment alchemist.

Unfortunately, the blind Taoist priest, having survived a great calamity, was destined for good fortune. He had a fortuitous encounter, cultivated to the Foundation Establishment stage, and through scheming, personally killed the old immortal who had possessed his body.

According to the information revealed by Fairy Su, Zhao Yang had made a powerful enemy outside, and his descendants died one after another. This was the work of the Blind Taoist.

"Your Zhao family of Wuzhen are descendants of that old codger. Tell me, what grudge do we have against each other?"

Inside the cave, the blind Taoist priest stared at Zhao Kun expressionlessly.

Throughout his life, he dedicated himself to exterminating all people with the surname Zhao in the world, and the Zhao family of Wuzhen was certainly not someone he would spare.

Not only that, he also plotted against Zhao Chen in his second life, wanting to seize the Nascent Soul Immortal Treasure, and the ancestor Zhao Chen deserved to die.

Although there is no connection between Ancestor Zhao Chen and the incident of possessing Zhao Yang's body, Zhao Chen may not even know about it.

The blind Taoist believed that the evil of the Zhao family's main lineage originated from the Nascent Soul ancestor Zhao Chen, and that he deserved to die.

(End of this chapter)