socalfunplaces Chapter 57 After 45 days of taking the medicine, my body feels light and I seem to have wings.
Chapter 57 After 45 days of taking the medicine, my body feels light and I seem to have wings.
"Are you a tomb raider?"
This is the most authentic skill in determining auspicious burial sites.
Upon seeing this, even the usually composed Partridge Whistle's expression changed, and his gaze toward Huang Bai became more solemn.
Huang Bai's expression remained unchanged; he simply smiled faintly.
"That's truly the skill of a tomb raider."
He neither nodded in agreement nor denied it outright.
After all, this is just one of the less noticeable of his many identities.
What outsiders can see at present is only one layer; the yellow and white are actually on a higher layer.
"No wonder……"
Partridge Whistle never expected that a young Taoist priest he met along the way would possess the legacy of a tomb raider.
Chen Yulou dropped his previous nonchalant demeanor, gently closed his folding fan, and fixed his gaze on the sallow face, saying:
"Is Master Huang also here for Ping Mountain?"
It's not easy to encounter even one of the four major tomb raiding schools on ordinary days, but now, at Ping Mountain, the three groups of tomb raiders—Mountain Moving, Ridge Unloading, and Gold Touching—have gathered together all at once.
He didn't believe such a coincidence could really happen.
Chen Yulou appears carefree on the surface, but he is actually the leader of the Unloading Ridge gang, commanding tens of thousands of members. His mind is far from being as careless as it seems.
Huang Bai glanced at him and smiled.
"I seek the elixir, not wealth."
Luo Laowai listened from the side, secretly gave Chen Yulou a wink, patted the gun at his waist, raised an eyebrow, and his meaning was very clear.
They have men and guns on their side, so they're not afraid of Huang Bai and Partridge Whistle turning against each other at any moment.
"Welcome. I, Chen Yulou, am not a greedy person. The main purpose of this tomb raiding is to provide relief to the disaster victims."
"He always leads with benevolence and righteousness."
Seeing that the atmosphere had eased, Luo Laowai immediately tried to smooth things over, laughing heartily:
"That's more like it. Everyone seeks their own gains – some like elixir of immortality, others like pearls, and still others like wealth. We all get what we need, and nobody gets in anyone's way. Once we're done here, Lao Luo will treat everyone to a good drink!"
He spoke with great confidence, but he was actually quite confident.
With several hundred soldiers stationed here, he wasn't afraid of a potential conflict.
After everyone had discussed and decided on the plan, the command for this tomb raiding trip unknowingly fell into Huang Bai's hands.
Huang Bai raised his hand and pointed to a spot on the mountain ridge.
"Blast it open from here, and you'll see the entrance to the underground palace below."
Luo Laowai waved his hand, and his soldiers immediately brought over explosives.
boom!
Hundreds of kilograms of explosives were detonated simultaneously, causing rocks to crumble, smoke and dust to billow, and a dark underground palace to be revealed.
Waaah!
A cold wind swept out from the depths of the cave entrance, causing everyone's robes to flutter and their necks to feel chilly.
Chen Yulou stood at the cave entrance, glanced inside, then turned to look at Huang Bai, and couldn't help but sigh:
"The tomb raiding techniques of the Tomb Raiders are indeed well-deserved."
Now he was truly convinced.
When it comes to the skill of finding tombs and recognizing burial sites, the tomb raiders are indeed a cut above the rest.
"You've overrated the head."
Huang Bai stood still, watching the Unloading Ridge group clear obstacles and explore the way, feeling quite satisfied.
Sure enough, professional matters should be handled by professionals.
Even if I were to do it alone, it would take a lot of effort.
Now that he has the forces of the Unloading Ridge faction and the warlords working hard ahead, he can rest easy.
As for the goods, they were to take them.
What Huang Bai truly valued were only the elixirs and ancient methods found in the tomb.
At this moment, a scout ran up quickly, clasped his hands in greeting, and reported:
"Chief, Master Huang, the entrance to the underground palace has been cleared!"
"Please." Chen Yulou raised his hand, gesturing for Partridge Whistle and Huang Bai to accompany him.
"Please." Partridge Whistle nodded as well.
The three walked forward side by side.
As Chen Yulou walked, he examined the Five Elements Array Plate on Huang Bai's back, and finally couldn't help but speak:
"Master Huang, is this ritual implement also used for geomancy and feng shui?"
Huang Bai shook his head.
"No, this is for exorcising demons and monsters."
Chen Yulou was taken aback, a strange expression appearing on his face.
"This thing looks bulky; it's probably inconvenient to carry it into the tomb. If we really need to use it, we can just have one of our men carry it. Why bother carrying it ourselves?"
Huang Bai smiled but didn't explain further.
The group of people from the Unloading Ridge Sect raised their torches high, illuminating the originally dark tomb passage.
While walking further in, Partridge Whistle finally asked the question that had been bothering him.
"The lineage of tomb raiders is extremely strict. Who is Master Huang's teacher? I might have even heard of him."
Huang Bai remained calm and casually replied:
"When I was a child, I met a wandering Taoist priest and learned some skills from him. As for his name, I don't know."
This sounds perfunctory, but there's nothing wrong with it.
You can't exactly tell Partridge Whistle that you learned your tomb raiding skills from his future grandson-in-law, can you?
Seeing that he was unwilling to say more, Partridge Whistle did not press him further.
The underground palace was extremely dark, with the flickering torchlight casting intermittent light on the walls on both sides.
Boom! Boom!
Explosions could be heard intermittently ahead.
The Xieling lineage can break through walls and blow up doors. Quicksand, flip boards, and heavy stones are no longer so mysterious in the face of explosives.
Huang Bai watched the whole way, and couldn't help but nod in approval.
Sometimes the simplest methods are the most effective.
As the group ventured deeper into the underground palace, its full extent gradually came into view.
This place was so vast that it resembled an underground city. On both sides, glass lamps were inlaid with luminous pearls, emitting a faint, cold light that made the surroundings appear even more mysterious and strange.
Huang Bai's steps suddenly slowed down.
His gaze fell on the mural to the side, and he seemed to be drawn in by something.
The mural depicts a man guarding an alchemy furnace.
The man traveled through mountains and rivers, visited famous mountains, collected herbs and refined elixirs, and finally refined a pill that resembled a human eye.
"This is... the Muchen Pearl?"
When Partridge Whistle saw the pill, his heart skipped a beat, and he subconsciously thought of the treasure that the Zaglama clan had been searching for for generations.
Huang Bai didn't respond, but continued looking ahead.
In the next mural, the man takes a pill, white feathers grow from his abdomen, and wings sprout from his back. Then, he gradually transforms into a winged being, as if he is about to ride the wind and ascend to immortality.
"This doesn't look like a Yuan Dynasty tomb." Chen Yulou frowned, noticing something was wrong at first glance.
Huang Bai stepped forward, his gaze fixed on the mural of the ascension to immortality.
"Of course not."
"This tomb dates back even further, at least to the Qin and Han dynasties."
As he said this, there was an unspeakable strangeness in his voice.
Because what he saw was not just murals, but the Outer Alchemy Path he had been searching for.
"After Qin Shi Huang unified the six kingdoms, he sought immortality but could not achieve it. By the Han Dynasty, emperors and generals were even more convinced of the magic of immortals, and the whole country took pride in taking elixirs to become immortals."
"Only then did the custom of seeking immortality in life and giving elaborate funerals in death arise."
Huang Bai raised his hand and gently stroked the patterns on the mural, whispering:
"These paintings depict exorcising evil spirits and warding off plagues, as well as taking elixirs to ascend to immortality."
The path of external alchemy is never as simple as swallowing a single pill.
After consuming the elixir, unusual phenomena often occur. The man in the mural transforming into a winged being is not some kind of mutated monster, but rather a sign of ascending to immortality after consuming the elixir.
The Chu Ci (Songs of Chu) records: "The feathered man stayed in Danqiu, remaining in his old homeland of immortality."
Similar strange phenomena were described in Han Dynasty poems and prose: "After taking the medicine for four or five days, one's body becomes light and one grows wings."
The mural ends abruptly at the point where the man grows white feathers; whether he ascends to immortality or dies suddenly after taking an elixir remains unknown.
Hua Ling listened with great curiosity and couldn't help but ask:
"Becoming an immortal means growing feathers? Wouldn't that make you a monster?"
Huang Bai was in a good mood. Hearing this, he turned to look at her and patiently explained a few words.
"Not just feathers."
"Later on, it may grow a beak, claws, and tail. This process is called metamorphosis. Just like a pupa breaking out of its cocoon to become a butterfly, the physical body changes first, and then we can talk about ascending to immortality."
Of course, ascension is not the end. In the future, the strange phenomena will gradually disappear, the feathers can become feather robes, the claws and beaks can become Dao patterns, and even turn into colorful clouds, lingzhi mushrooms, and precious light.
The origin of the term "immortal" is found here.
"This is true sublimation and transformation of life, it is wonderful beyond words."
As he spoke, he let out a soft sigh.
The essence of cultivating immortality has never been about stuffing all the so-called spiritual energy of heaven and earth into the body.
That's just technique, not the way.
True cultivation of Tao and immortality inevitably involves changes in the essence of life, and even a certain degree of "Tao-ification".
As Huang Bai gazed at the mural, a premonition began to form in his heart.
If nothing unexpected happens, this trip to Ping Mountain will yield far more than just a few remnants of pills; I might even discover a more systematic method of alchemy.
Seeing his expression, the people around him who had initially doubted his claim that he "only wanted the pills" now believed him completely.
This person has absolutely no interest in gold, silver, or other valuables.
Chen Yulou watched from the side, thinking to himself:
"This world really has all kinds of people. Tomb raiders, pearl seekers, immortal cultivators—today we've got them all."
As everyone was lost in their own thoughts, a scream suddenly came from ahead.
"ah!!"
From the gaps on both sides of the tomb passage, countless centipedes surged out like a tidal wave.
The person bitten didn't even have time to struggle before turning into a puddle of pus, dying a gruesome death.
"retreat!"
Someone yelled, and the scene instantly descended into chaos.
Just then, the chicken coop on the old foreigner's back suddenly burst open.
The Angry Rooster flapped its wings and soared out, its wings spread out like clouds, straight up into the sky above the tomb passage.
"Coo coo coo!!"
A long cry echoed throughout the underground palace.
In an instant, a rooster crowed and the world turned white.
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