Chapter 21: Heavenly Gang Magic and Earthly Evil Magic to Catch Monsters What the hell is going on? Didn’t I let them leave on their own and return to the Five Ghosts Bag? They should go back to where they belong. Why would you think of moving the statue of Wutong Evil God that Li Zeyuan was worshipping? This thing smells bad, and you can tell it's not a good thing just by looking at it. Why carry it back? Tao Tie was puzzled and didn't understand why the five little devils acted on their own after receiving clear orders. The little ghosts refined by the Five Ghosts Moving Technique are not real ghosts in essence. In Taoist practice, there are many techniques and secret skills that emphasize "using my essence to combine with his essence. The two essences collide, and the spirit responds to it." The five little ghosts are the product of Tao Tie's own essence combined with the ashes of five paper figurines of "Spring", "Summer", "Autumn", "Winter" and "Center" and the essence of five plague god-faced men who were prayed for by witches and shamans.
In essence, the five little ghosts can be regarded as Tao Tie's clones, who can be controlled at will. This kind of situation of doing things on one's own should not occur. how…… Suddenly, Tao Tie thought of the most likely reason. The ashes of the gluttonous demon! There are only two differences between Tao Tie's Five Ghosts Moving Technique and the original inheritance carried by the all-blue storage bag/Five Ghosts Bag. One was to take the shortcut displayed by the information fragments of [Skills: Taotie Visualization Method + Five Ghosts Moving Technique], and the other was to integrate the ashes of the gluttonous demon into the five little ghosts. The former is unlikely to lead to the five little ghosts acting on their own, but the latter is very likely. Because the demon of gluttony represents and targets the "greed" in people's hearts. The ashes of the gluttonous demon that even Taotie cannot digest will naturally carry a strong sense of "greed". The Five Ghosts Moving Technique itself is a spell that is full of greed. It can be used for good purposes but also for evil purposes. After integrating the ashes of the gluttonous demon, the five little ghosts naturally became more greedy. After realizing this, Tao Tie's understanding and need for spiritual practice to be pure in mind and free from desires and to eliminate the three poisons suddenly rose to a higher level. From not being anxious and taking it lightly, to being urgent and extremely important! Because being too greedy is really not a good thing. "Hungry!!!" At this time, the Taotie phantom that appeared on its own initiative roared again, waking Tao Tie who was in deep thought. An urge to eat something inside the twisted tree root sculpture began to grow in Tao Tie's heart. Subconsciously, under the urging of the Taotie phantom, Tao Tie wanted to practice the Taotie Visualization Method, visualize Taotie, transform into Taotie, and eat the sculpture of the twisted tree roots. But just when he was about to take action, the stench forced Tao Tie to suppress the impulse in his heart and stop. "Hungry!!!!!"
Seeing this, the Taotie phantom roared again, urged, and also revealed a hint of anger. Tao Tie's eyes turned cold in an instant, and with a flash of anger, he shouted in a low voice: "Go back!" After an angry roar, the Taotie phantom struggled for a few times, but ultimately could not overcome Tao Tie's will and disappeared the same way it appeared. Tao Tie has always had a very clear understanding that he was just practicing the "Taotie Visualization Method", visualizing Taotie, transforming into Taotie, filling his deficiency with food, and thus embarking on the path of cultivation. It doesn't mean that he must become a glutton! Moreover, "I" is the main focus in everything. Tao Tie is the master of the Taotie phantom that he visualized, not its slave. Tao Tie has to eat whatever the Taotie phantom wants to eat. Rather, it depends on what Tao Tie needs to eat and what the Taotie phantom can eat. The master-slave relationship must not be messed up, otherwise all your practice will be in vain. After driving away the Taotie phantom, Tao Tie endured the stench and carefully observed the sculpture of twisted tree roots in front of him, which was the statue of Wutong Evil God. [Knowing Everything] is used again, triggering information fragments. The content is no different from what you have seen before. So, why does the Taotie phantom want to eat this stinking statue of the Five-Directions Evil God? Tao Tie was very confused, and then he followed the prompt of information fragment three, practicing the "Taotie Visualization Method", incorporating the statue of the Five-Directions Evil God into it, triggering new information fragments. [Strange Item: Statue of Wutong Evil God] [Information fragment 1: Rat, snake, pig, monkey, toad.] [Information fragment 2: The god of lust and evil, rampant in the countryside, raping other people's wives and daughters.] [Information fragment three: It contains a considerable amount of greed. Eating it can promote the growth of the Taotie phantom.] [Information fragment 4: Embers can be integrated into the Five Ghosts Moving Technique, increasing the variation range of the Five Ghosts Moving Technique and gaining inexplicable mysteries.] [Information Fragment 5: When you stare into the abyss, the abyss is also staring back at you.] After carefully reading the five pieces of information, Tao Tie's attention skipped over the contents of three and four and stayed on information fragment five. This sentence has appeared twice in the information fragments triggered by [Knowing Everything]. The first time was at the bottom of the Jade Belt River, before I picked up the Azure Storage Bag/Five Ghosts Bag, and it was triggered in the information fragments. The second time is now. It turns out that [Knowledge of All Things] will not randomly trigger any useless information fragments. Therefore, Tao Tie attached great importance to this piece of information. After thinking carefully for a while, Tao Tie made a decision not to let the Taotie phantom eat the greed hidden in the statue of Wutong Evil God.
If you want to speed, you can't reach it. After obtaining the "Taotie Visualization Method" from the jade carving of the Taotie mask, Tao Tie has made rapid progress on the path of cultivation. It takes ordinary people a hundred days to build a foundation. Not only did Tao Tie not need a hundred days to build his foundation, he didn't even need a hundred days to become a ninth-grade cultivator! This kind of practice can improve the speed quite quickly indeed. Going too fast will make it easier to lose control! Tao Tie decided to play it safe for a while, and immediately asked the five little ghosts to return the statue of Wutong Evil God to Li Zeyuan. It’s better to leave this “good” thing with a strong stench for Li Zeyuan to enjoy alone. Tao Tie didn't want to eat it, and even less want to hold it. The five little ghosts seemed a little reluctant and hesitated for a while, until Tao Tie frowned slightly, revealing a hint of anger, then they picked up the sculpture of twisted tree roots together, whooshed into the void, and fled towards the dock. In order to ensure that no mistakes would occur, Tao Tie attached his consciousness to the five little ghosts and accompanied them. Perhaps because of Tao Tie's supervision, the five little ghosts did not dare to do anything this time and obediently put the twisted tree root group sculpture back to its original position. I don’t know what Li Zeyuan was thinking, but he hid these vulgar items, such as gold ingots, silver bars, and copper coins, in a safe deposit box. The statue of Wutong Evil God was placed in a drawer next to the table without any defensive measures. Tao Tie was a little confused, then he noted the location of the drawer and ordered the five little ghosts to leave. After returning to his single dormitory, Tao Tie ordered the five reluctant little ghosts in a very stern manner to go into the storage bag/five ghost bag to rest. The five little ghosts hesitated for a while, seemed to be mumbling something, and reluctantly entered the Five Ghosts Bag, entering a state similar to the hibernation of snakes and bears. "Oh! Something's happened!" Seeing this, Tao Tie gently patted his forehead. After integrating into the ashes of the gluttonous demon, the five little ghosts could not only escape into the void, their whereabouts became more secretive and difficult to detect, but they also developed some intelligence. Although in terms of growth potential, five little ghosts with some intelligence are better than the confused and ignorant little ghosts. But the possibility of doing things on one's own like today has also greatly increased. The little devil is very naughty. It’s already like this now, and who knows what will happen in the future. "Ugh!" Tao Tie let out a long sigh, feeling both pain and happiness, then picked up three gold ingots and ten silver bars and left the dormitory. Not long after, Tao Tie arrived at the Security Department of the Mission Institute, took the initiative to make a self-criticism to the department, and handed over the illegal property he had obtained using the Five Ghosts Moving Technique. The instructor on duty at the Security Department today looked at Tao Tie with a rather strange look, accepted the three gold ingots and ten silver ingots that Tao Tie handed over, and then said: "You don't need to review it. You didn't commit a crime knowingly. You just didn't apply to the academy in time after reporting it to Instructor Huang Junshi. It's not a big deal. What's more, Instructor Huang has guaranteed you in his personal name and is willing to take all the responsibility." "Is that so?"
Tao Tie was deeply touched when he heard this, and then he said sincerely, "Thank you for your teaching." I don’t know who Tao Tie was talking to. Without staying in the Security Department for long, Tao Tie went straight to the library and went up to the third floor. "The students acted recklessly and caused trouble for the instructor." When he saw Instructor Huang Junshi, Tao Tie immediately bowed and performed a great salute. "It doesn't matter." Huang Junshi naturally knew what Tao Tie was talking about and responded in a calm tone. Tao Tie did not hesitate and bowed again, then stood up and asked respectfully: "Teacher, I have stabilized the ninth level and would like to receive the promotion benefits. Please give me some advice." "Ah." Huang Junshi nodded and said with appreciation, "You didn't rush to claim the benefits, but came to ask me first, very good. There is nothing much to say about the boy's talisman. We are a department of the Missionary Academy, not a pure Taoist sect, so we only receive the external talisman. You can just train and raise your own soldiers and generals, and just follow the crowd." "Yes, teaching." Tao Tie bowed and accepted it humbly. Huang Junshi continued, "The three spells and two yellow-grade lower-grade magic weapons are the most important. Tell me first what you plan to do next, and I will recommend it to you." Tao Tie replied frankly, "Teacher, I come from a poor family. There are four essentials for cultivation: Dharma, wealth, companions, and land. Dharma is provided by the imperial court and the missionary institute, so there is no need to worry too much. Companions and land can be discussed later. Wealth is the most important and the most urgent matter." "Ah." Huang Junshi nodded slightly and looked at Tao Tie gently, indicating that he should continue talking quickly. Tao Tie said: "It is not easy to learn a hundred arts, and it is even harder to make money with them. It is not something that can be achieved in a short time. So I thought, first register a name in the county government, the demon-slaying department, or the demon-exorcism department, and become a 'monster catcher', and earn some money by slaying demons and protecting the people." After a pause, Tao Tie bowed and asked sincerely: "I am a student with limited knowledge. I don't know whether this idea is good or bad, and whether it can work. Please give me some advice." "Well……" After listening to Tao Tie's idea, Huang Junshi pondered for a moment, then said, "This idea can't be said to be good or bad. If you are interested in joining the Demon Slayer Department or the Demon Exorcist Department, it is suitable. If you want to stay in the Missionary Academy system in the future, there are other ways. It depends on what you think." "The student wants to join the Demon Slayer Department or the Demon Exorcist Department." Tao Tie gave his answer without much hesitation. It's not that he didn't hear the hidden meaning behind Instructor Huang's words, nor is it that he didn't want to live a stable life, but a great catastrophe was about to happen, and the missionary school, which had been stable in the past, would certainly not be able to continue to be stable. In this case, why not take the initiative to face the disaster from the beginning? In this world, humans, demons, monsters, ghosts, monsters and gods live together. The great catastrophe of heaven and earth will inevitably involve all of them. For humans, what other catastrophe could be more cruel than the chaotic times before the founding of the Dayong Dynasty, when the human race suffered from the rampant attacks of demons, monsters, ghosts, and monsters? Therefore, Tao Tie has foreseen that in the near future, the main theme of the Dayong Dynasty will definitely be to slay demons and maintain world peace! Tao Tie chose to take the initiative to respond to the disaster, which means he chose to take the initiative to face the demons, monsters, ghosts and monsters directly, kill them, and enter the Demon Slaying Department or the Demon Exorcism Department, which was perfect. "in this way……" Huang Junshi took a deep look at Tao Tie, who was extremely determined, and said thoughtfully, "For the three spells, you can choose 'Passing Through the Ghost', 'Demon Slaying', and 'Swordsmanship'." "Tongyou? Killing demons? Swordsmanship?"
Tao Tie repeated the names of the three spells and asked in confusion, "Master, is this the Seventy-two Earthly Evil Spells?" "of course." Huang Junshi nodded, confirming Tao Tie's guess, and then explained, "Taizu established the Daoist Academy to collect various Taoist skills and magics from all over the world. Naturally, he would not miss the Thirty-Six Heavenly Gangs and Seventy-Two Earthly Fiends. Taizu was a genius, and considering that the Thirty-Six Heavenly Gangs and Seventy-Two Earthly Fiends were extremely difficult to practice, he divided them into nine levels, corresponding to the ninth grade of cultivators. It is very appropriate for a ninth grade cultivator to use the ninth level of the Heavenly Gangs or Earthly Fiends." Tao Tie was originally curious as to why the Missionary Academy took the spells so seriously as a promotion benefit when the spells could be exchanged on the second floor of the library. It turns out that the three "spells" that serve as promotion benefits refer to "Tian Gang Spell" and "Di Sha Spell". This is not surprising at all! "Thank you, Taizu!" After hearing what Huang Junshi said, Tao Tie immediately bowed in the direction of Kyoto without Huang Junshi's instruction. The same is true for Huang Junshi. This is not flattery, but a sincere gratitude to Taizu for his preaching. After sincerely thanking Emperor Taizu of Dayong Dynasty, Tao Tiexin had some doubts and didn't know whether he should ask. Huang Junshi saw through it, and without Tao Tie asking, he took the initiative to explain: "The reason why I asked you to choose Dishashu instead of Tiangangshu is because Tiangangshu is difficult to learn and master, while Dishashu is also difficult to master but easy to learn. Do you understand?" "I understand. Thank you for your instruction." Tao Tie bowed deeply to thank Teacher Huang for his good intentions. Huang Junshi accepted the gift calmly and continued, "For two yellow-grade lower-grade magical instruments, I'll choose a magic sword and a compass. The magic sword can kill monsters, and the compass can calculate feng shui and directions, as well as detect monster spirits, ghost spirits, demonic spirits, and strange spirits. It's very suitable for 'monster hunters'." "Thank you for your guidance, I will go and exchange it right away." Tao Tie followed suit, bowed respectfully, then left the second floor of the library and went to the Welfare Department of the Missionary Institute to register his information as a ninth-rank monk and receive his benefits. Not long after, Tao Tie left the Welfare Department and changed his clothes. The young man has equipped his sword and is ready to go out into the world of martial arts. (End of this chapter)