Yellow Skinned Taoist Master

Chapter 175: This River is Entirely Filled with Heaven Toxin Pills

At the southernmost reaches of the Hundred Thousand Mountains.

Existed a river that stretched boundlessly beyond the limits of sight; the length of this river was completely impossible to discern.

When Golden Horn was being dragged all over the place within the Hundred Thousand Mountains.

It had personally seen a stone stele erected upon this river.

And now, after several hours, Chen Huangpi and the Crosser of Torments' group of monks arrived at this very location.

This river was extremely deep, appearing just like an abyss.

Even the river water was pitch-black.

"When Guanzhu (Temple Master) dragged me to the edge of that river, a stone stele emerged from within that river. Merely, my eyelids were so tired I couldn't even keep them open back then, and so I didn't see whether or not there were any characters carved upon that stone stele."

Golden Horn roughly remembered the location where it saw that stone stele, leaping down from Chen Huangpi's embrace, before earnestly searching the surroundings for landmarks.

Very quickly, it arrived before two withered trees growing crisscrossed together.Chen Huangpi walked over to the front of these withered trees.

And indeed, beneath the trees he saw faint, almost imperceptible drag marks.

Then, turning around, he gazed toward that black water river before him—called a river, but in reality as vast and boundless as an ocean.

Upon the surface of the river, black mist had currently already begun rising up.

Merely, Chen Huangpi failed to spot that stone stele.

Much less Master's fishing rod.

"Almsgiver Chen, what river is this? Why is it so bizarre and eerie!?"

The Crosser of Torments approached the riverbank, looking with deep dread at that boundless pitch-black river water and that black mist.

River water upon which not even a goose feather could float was Weak Water.

But how could Weak Water emit black mist?

Chen Huangpi shook his head: "Although I grew up in the Hundred Thousand Mountains since childhood, this is my first time visiting this place. I only know the fishing rod I seek should be located here."

The Crosser of Torments stated: "Almsgiver Chen is unaware; this river water is bizarre and strange. It appears to be Weak Water, but in actuality it differs greatly. Have you noticed those black mists!?"

"Is there something wrong with the black mist?"

Chen Huangpi's expression was somewhat unusual.

There were many types of mists within the Hundred Thousand Mountains.

Purple mist, white mist, azure mist.

This black mist...

Could it possibly be the handiwork of that Evil Daoist who purported to be his Master but didn't even share his surname?

But the Evil Daoist wasn't inside the Hundred Thousand Mountains.

Besides, the feeling given off by this black mist wasn't right either; it lacked that specific sinister/evil nature.

"This black mist is poisonous."

The Crosser of Torments spoke to the other monks in a cautious and solemn tone: "You may all search for that fishing rod upon this riverbank, but absolutely do not presume that possessing Arhats as Dharma Protectors allows you to recklessly enter the water. Not only that mist, but even the water itself is poisonous."

"We understand."

The multitude of monks nodded, and then not a single one approached the river water any further.

Having finished giving these instructions, the Crosser of Torments then patiently explained to Chen Huangpi: "The Bodhisattva informed this little monk that this black mist contains a great/severe toxin; touching it brings death, contacting it leads to demise. Within three breaths, one's soul will shatter and scatter, incredibly terrifying."

If it were merely this black mist, simply refraining from touching it would be fine.

But this river's water was Weak Water.

If one fell in, they could absolutely extinguish any thought of ever escaping.

No matter how powerful your cultivation, even an Immortal couldn't fly over it; daring to cross would immediately result in plunging into the water.

Moreover, the black mist was emerging specifically from within this Weak Water.

If the black mist was already this poisonous, the Weak Water was probably even deadlier.

If an Immortal fell in, they would also be poisoned to death.

However, listening to this Crosser of Torments' words.

Chen Huangpi was completely dumbfounded.

Not just him, even the Brass Oil Lamp and the Life-reaping Ghost were the same.

"Original Family (Master), why does what this old bald donkey says sound so familiar?"

"Heaven Toxin Pill..."

The Life-reaping Ghost spoke in a highly complex tone: "Contract Master, if I haven't remembered incorrectly, the medicinal efficacy of the Heaven Toxin Pill seems to be exactly this, no?"

"Exactly identical."

Chen Huangpi replied inwardly in his heart: " Merely, the Heaven Toxin Pill I refined last time was incorrect—day and night were inverted. I should have reverse-refined it instead. Just... such dense and concentrated poisonous mist—exactly how many Heaven Toxin Pills would need to be thrown into this river to create this?"

Across this entire River of Weak Water, black mist was everywhere.

That black mist flowed along with the river's surface, yet didn't leak out half a speck beyond the banks.

Furthermore, the width of the river surface and the length of the river course were fundamentally limitless to the eye.

Likely, tossing in a million Heaven Toxin Pills wouldn't necessarily result in such terrifying circumstances.

The Life-reaping Ghost couldn't hold back from saying: "Contract Master, the previous time we visited the Underworld Yellow Spring, the 'One Hundred Deaths, No Lives' people seemed to have gone entirely extinct. Could it possibly be that the Temple Master excavated them all clean, refined them all into Heaven Toxin Pills, and cast them here?"

Although the refining technique for the Heaven Toxin Pill was somewhat complex.

The requirements for ingredients were simple to a hair-raising degree.

The only difficult thing to track down was the 'One Hundred Deaths, No Lives' person.

This thing grew in the Underworld Yellow Spring just like weeds swaying in the wind, but the last time they went, they genuinely hadn't seen a single one.

Chen Huangpi had once suspected that Yi Qingzhou's corpse—namely the 'One Hundred Deaths, No Lives' person in the hands of that tall, slender evil spirit—was likely procured from the Underworld Yellow Spring very early on, and was highly likely the very last stalk within the Hundred Thousand Mountains.

However, who would expend such tremendous effort to manufacture so many Heaven Toxin Pills and toss them into this River of Weak Water?

Chen Huangpi didn't think it was his Master's doing.

"Master is like me; his heart is kind and benevolent, he wouldn't do something like this." Chen Huangpi silently stated in his heart: "At most, I dynamite fish. But tossing Heaven Toxin Pills into a river, every single living creature would be driven to extinction. Master rarely even kills evil spirits, much less take action against mortals. Perhaps it was someone else."

The Brass Oil Lamp also chorused in agreement: "Correct. If Guanzhu wished to tamper with this River of Weak Water, he possesses a thousand—nay, ten thousand methods. There's fundamentally no need to expend such tremendous effort."

One must know, Guanzhu was a Dao Lord.

Whatever an existence of this caliber wished to accomplish, only a single thought was required.

The Life-reaping Ghost said softly: "But the Heaven Toxin Pill is recorded upon the Seven-Jeweled Esoteric Elixir Scripture, and that Elixir Scripture was given to the Contract Master by Third Master under the guise of Xu Qingshan's hand. To claim there is absolutely no relation between them is definitely impossible."

"Truly not necessarily so."

Chen Huangpi shook his head, staring earnestly at the River of Weak Water before him.

The Seven-Jeweled Esoteric Elixir Scripture back then had been written out for him on the spot by Xu Qingshan inside the Old Temple's Scripture Pavilion.

Although after reverse-refining the Heaven Toxin Pill he indeed poisoned First Master and Second Master over.

That didn't mean Third Master was the one who instructed him to do so.

Chen Huangpi asked Xu Qingshan, yet Xu Qingshan merely wrote eight words on the paper: Dare not make reckless assumptions, the elixir recipe contains no errors. (不敢妄议，丹方无错)

Later on, Chen Huangpi brought up the matter of that elixir recipe again.

Yet Third Master claimed it was because upon leaving the Old Temple, he became contaminated by some things—invisible, untactile, simultaneously existing and not existing—and furthermore, because he refined the Heaven Toxin Pill, therefore leveraging those things to take action.

Which was to say, Xu Qingshan writing out the elixir recipe for him was actually tacitly approved by Master.

Rather than Third Master commanding him to do so.

"It couldn't possibly be Xu Qingshan who did it, right?"

The Brass Oil Lamp maliciously speculated: "Back in the day, I already found this brat extremely displeasing to the eye. Other people sculpt one deity statue, but he absolutely had to sculpt two, making it seem as if he was very adept at handling matters/currying favor. Furthermore, since the Seven-Jeweled Esoteric Elixir Scripture was given by him, he definitely knows how to refine elixirs."

Chen Huangpi stated: "That Seven-Jeweled Esoteric Elixir Scripture was originally within the Scripture Pavilion. Merely, along with all the cultivation methods, it got erased. Just because Xu Qingshan knows of it doesn't mean other Daoists are unaware."

"Both his divine soul remains trapped within the Scripture Pavilion, and the whereabouts of his corpse are unknown."

"I suspect it was done by another Daoist."

"The Great Qian Immortal Dynasty!?"

"The Great Qian Immortal Dynasty sealed itself away shortly after the Heaven and Earth Mutation began. How could someone possibly run out to do this kind of thing?"

Chen Huangpi also didn't believe it was related to the Great Qian Immortal Dynasty.

Furthermore, the Great Qian Immortal Dynasty was far too distant from the Hundred Thousand Mountains. Even if Immmortals broke through the seal and ran to the Hundred Thousand Mountains to do such things, it was impossible for Master to ignore them. Even assuming he ignored them, exactly what would those Immortals be plotting/scheming for?

And right at this moment.

Golden Horn actually rolled its eyes, desperately biting onto Chen Huangpi's trouser leg and tugging back and forth.

That Crosser of Torments couldn't help but speak up: "Almsgiver Chen, this Auspicious Beast seems to want to express something to you."

Only then did Chen Huangpi lower his head to look at Golden Horn.

Golden Horn gestured with sign language: "Huangpi Daddy, this damned place wasn't like this."

The last time it was dragged here by the purple-robed old Daoist, it was nighttime.

At night, this river was incomparably clear.

Moreover, one could see the bottom of the water in a single glance; it was as if another world existed at the water's bottom.

Furthermore, this black poisonous mist didn't exist.

This time, the Bodhisattva within the Crosser of Torments was also observing Golden Horn.

That Bodhisattva wanted to know exactly what this Golden Horn was gesturing.

And why the Divine Embryo could understand its meaning.

Yet after Golden Horn finished gesturing, that Bodhisattva still sighed in disappointment.

What this Golden Horn gestured didn't look like sign language at all.

Sign language at least possessed a pattern/rules, but this thing merely kept waving its claws around in the air at random, fundamentally lacking any traces to follow. Sometimes it even looked like it was incessantly digging at the ground. Even employing a mix of blind guessing and inferring yielded absolutely no comprehension of its meaning.

Chen Huangpi, however, said thoughtfully: "Crosser of Torments, Golden Horn says that when night falls, this river will become different. Not only will the black mist vanish, but it will instead become clear enough to see the bottom. Perhaps at that time, we'll be able to see my fishing rod."

He suspected that fishing rod might have fallen into the river.

If this was not the case, with this river bounds and limits completely unknown, where else was he supposed to go to search for his fishing rod?

Hearing these words, the Crosser of Torments relaxed slightly within his heart/felt a sense of relief, speaking up: "This little monk once heard the evil spirits in the Hundred Thousand Mountains are numerous, and incredibly bizarre and absurd matters frequently occur. Looking at it now, it indeed truly is so."

"If the Weak Water river turned clear, that signifies perhaps we can ride a boat to cross the river, and search for that fishing rod within the river."

"Ride a boat across the river?"

Chen Huangpi couldn't help but grow somewhat curious.

This River of Weak Water couldn't even keep a goose feather afloat; wouldn't a tiny skiff just sink entirely straight down?

The Crosser of Torments chuckled, saying: "This is Buddhist Dharma. Buddha Lord says: The physical body is merely a skin sack, the sea of bitterness is boundless, Thus one must ferry across relying on a boat. This boat possesses no bottom, yet biasly manages to travel upon the water; it is summoned forth as the Skin-Flesh Boat."

Relying upon the physical fleshly skin sack transformed into a bottomless Skin-Flesh Boat.

One could exactly treat this Weak Water as a Sea of Bitterness to be ferried across.

Chen Huangpi asked curiously:"Since there's so many of us here right now, exactly how many Skin-Flesh Boats would need to be manufactured to suffice?"

The Crosser of Torments replied: "The Buddhist Dharma is boundless. For sentient beings to ride the boat, naturally it will be one boat per person."

Chen Huangpi shook his head: "Old monk, although I am proficient in Buddhist scriptures, I don't understand Buddhist Dharma. This method of the Skin-Flesh Boat is something I do not comprehend."

The Crosser of Torments furrowed his brows slightly, yet they immediately smoothed out.

Because he realized this was perhaps a prime opportunity for Chen Huangpi, this Divine Embryo, to comprehend he was indeed a Buddha.

Hence, he smiled amiably and stated: "You are different. You can share a single boat together with this little monk. When the time comes, you can take a look at the bottom of the Skin-Flesh Boat. If this Weak Water truly turns clear when night falls, you perhaps might be able to see some rather interesting things."

Chen Huangpi blinked his eyes, saying: "A bottomless boat. That would clearly just be seeing the water's surface, and the water's bottom. What else could there possibly be? Don't tell me it'll let me see my original appearance (本相)?"

The Crosser of Torments merely smiled without speaking.

Not merely seeing his original appearance, but additionally seeing the true body (真身) of this Divine Embryo.

When the times arrives, it would become clear exactly whether or not this Divine Embryo was the Present Buddha Lord.