Yellow Skinned Taoist Master

Chapter 4: The Five Viscera Temples

Chen Huangpi was very disappointed.

He had known for a long time that he couldn't cultivate.

Today, it seemed he had grown a year older.

His master's madness also seemed to have improved, and he was going to teach him the method of immortal cultivation.

But things didn't go as he wished.

In the end, it all came to nothing.

"First Master, I'm going in."

Chen Huangpi's voice was low as he listlessly jumped into the alchemy furnace.

"Huangpi'er, do you feel it?"

"Yes, I feel it.""It's stuffy and hot, but my skin is thick, I can take it."

"What?"

The purple-robed old Daoist was astonished. He scratched his head and said, "You don't feel any changes in your body?"

That shouldn't be...

Could it be that the fire wasn't strong enough?

"Huangpi'er, you wait. Master will make the fire even stronger."

As he spoke, the purple-robed old Daoist formed a hand seal with one hand.

"Fire, come!"

From the void, a cluster of blue flames appeared and entered the alchemy furnace.

If a cultivator were here, they would probably exclaim in shock.

When a cultivator reaches the Golden Core stage, they must ignite their true fire to refine the Golden Core.

The higher the temperature of the true fire, the more obvious the color change.

Fire has seven colors.

A blue true fire could probably burn a hole in space itself.

Inside and outside the alchemy furnace, the blue flames exploded out of thin air.

It surged like boiling magma.

"Huangpi'er, how do you feel now?"

"First Master, I feel like I'm about to be cooked!!!"

Inside the alchemy furnace, Chen Huangpi was red all over.

Black smoke was constantly rising from his body.

But strangely, his skin showed no signs of being burned by the flames. It was just very red, and that was all.

Other than that, his head was a little dizzy.

Because it was too stuffy.

Chen Huangpi had never refined pills.

But he was very experienced in being refined.

He knew this was because there was no fresh air in the furnace, which was why he was starting to feel dizzy. He couldn't stay in any longer, or he wouldn't be able to go out and patrol the mountains today.

"First Master, I want to get out."

"No, you have to hold on a little longer. You will definitely be able to feel your master's way of cultivation."

"Alright."

Chen Huangpi couldn't bear to disappoint his First Master, so he calculated the time and planned to stay in the furnace a little longer.

But gradually, more and more black smoke billowed from his body, and his head became dizzier.

He even saw twisted characters, like flowers, birds, fish, and insects, appearing on his arms.

"It's over, I'm hallucinating from the heat."

Chen Huangpi only glanced at the characters before his mind exploded.

A familiar yet strange chanting sound began, like his First Master was calling.

"First refine the five viscera temples, then invite the gods!"

"The five viscera are the essence of life, consisting of the heart, liver, spleen, lungs, and kidneys, collectively known as the five temples."

"The kidneys are the foundation of the five viscera, the root of the innate. They belong to the water element. Water benefits all things and allows them to grow naturally. Therefore, the five viscera spirit refining method should start with the kidneys. The kidney qi is endless, forging the temple grounds day and night. Then the five elements will cycle, and one can refine the spirit and ascend to immortality."

Chen Huangpi listened in a daze.

But he could understand the meaning of every word.

His body even began to cultivate involuntarily according to the method. A ball of barely-there qi gradually brewed between his two kidneys in his lower back.

...

The Hundred Thousand Mountains bordered Xu Province.

At this moment, it was noon.

The sun hung high in the sky, the scorching heat causing the earth to steam.

As far as the eye could see, the vast Xu Province City seemed to have no end.

The city was bustling with people, a lively scene.

If a cultivator were here and wasn't afraid of death, they would only need to open their yin eye to see wisps of gray qi rising from every mortal.

That gray qi was human qi.

A layer of gray shadow shrouded the sky above the entire Xu Province.

Within the shadow were thousands of blurry silhouettes.

Some had a thousand arms, like gods or demons.

Some looked like scholars, like ordinary people.

Every moment, wisps of gray qi were being inhaled by them.

"Their appetites are getting bigger and bigger."

Governor Song Tiangang of Xu Province withdrew his probing gaze and said meaningfully, "What percentage of the taxes set by the imperial court for Xu Province this year has been collected?"

A servant beside him said, "Replying to my lord, more than sixty percent has been collected."

"Only sixty percent..."

Song Tiangang shook his head and said unhappily, "There are only three months left until the end of the year. How can we collect the remaining forty percent?"

"These taxes are higher every year."

"I think this dynasty is about to fall."

"My lord, why do you say that?" the servant asked, puzzled.

Song Tiangang said with great interest, "This dynasty has two mouths to feed, inside and out, and it also has to feed those things in the sky. But in the last ten years, the activities of evil entities have become more and more frequent, yet the taxes collected are higher every year. It's like cooking with oil over a raging fire, it will ignite at the slightest touch."

The servant said, "Does my lord have intentions?"

Song Tiangang laughed loudly, "What does it matter if I have intentions or not? Dynasties come and go, but the noble families are as solid as iron. My Song family has produced nine dukes in ten generations. No matter who takes the throne, how can they shortchange my Song family?"

The servant said, "My lord is wise."

Song Tiangang seemed to have lost interest. He waved his hand, changing the subject. "Let's talk about the taxes. Has there been any news from Lin Ye and the others today?"

"I was just about to tell my lord. There has been no news since dusk yesterday."

"Hmm? Still no news?"

Song Tiangang frowned.

Previously, he had sent Lin Ye and others to the Hundred Thousand Mountains to find the source of corruption, in order to artificially create a disturbance on the border of Xu Province as an excuse to increase taxes.

For this, he had not only given them a geomantic compass but also a deity statue to protect them and to transmit information.

The darkness of the Hundred Thousand Mountains would block any information.

But it was daytime now. Could something have happened?

Thinking of this, Song Tiangang's figure flashed and disappeared from his spot.

When he reappeared, he was outside a ten-meter-high temple.

Then, he respectfully stepped inside.

Inside the temple were pillar-like giant incense sticks and candles that took two or three people to encircle.

A huge statue of a deity in a bright red official's robe and a black gauze hat stood in the main hall.

Seeing this, the temple keeper was about to bow.

"Get out!"

Song Tiangang's face was expressionless. He was in no mood for pleasantries.

The temple keeper dared not say more and hurried out.

After the temple keeper left, the statue suddenly opened its eyes and said in a booming voice, "Tiangang, I already know why you've come. The men you sent are already dead."

"Seventh Grand-uncle! Do you have an image of what happened?"

This statue was one of Song Tiangang's grand-uncles. After he came to Xu Province to take office, he had built a temple for him and invited him over from the capital.

The statue did not speak, but two beams of light shot out from its eyes.

The two beams of light entered Song Tiangang's eyes.

Song Tiangang then saw the scene he wanted to see.

From the moment Elder Lin and the others left Xu Province and entered the Hundred Thousand Mountains, they used the geomantic compass to find a huge mountain peak. Inside the peak was a hollow space that led straight underground. The group went down the hollow space and saw something that even Song Tiangang found incredible.

Inside the underground hollow were countless massive, broken deity statues. One of them, with a head full of tumors, a large mouth on its chest, and vertical eyes in the palms of its hands, was gnawing on the other statues.

It was the mutated deity.

Suddenly, the statue turned its head and noticed Elder Lin and the others.

In just a single breath, it appeared in front of them.

Elder Lin summoned his deity statue, but it was swallowed in one gulp by the latter.

"What exactly is that place?"

Song Tiangang's expression was dazed.

"There's more."

The statue of the Seventh Grand-uncle opened its mouth and once again shot out a beam of light.

Song Tiangang then saw the scene of night falling, the mutated deity spitting out the swallowed statue, then punching it to pieces and chewing on it.

"An evil entity that feeds on gods!"

"Why does this mutated deity look so familiar..."

Song Tiangang frowned, frantically searching his mind for related information.

His intuition told him that this time, when he sent Elder Lin and the others to the Hundred Thousand Mountains, they seemed to have encountered something extraordinary.

The next second, a flash of an image appeared in Song Tiangang's mind.

It was the spring of the fourth year of the Qingli era. When he went to the capital to report on his duties, there was a statue in the imperial palace that was somewhat similar to this one.

No... it was an identical statue.

It was said that the current emperor had spent a huge price to invite that statue, and it held the secret to becoming an immortal.

And it was also from that year that taxes had been increasing every year.

The world had changed.

Spiritual qi had disappeared, and cultivators could only rely on human qi to cultivate.

The same was true for gods.

But with such a cultivation path, the Nascent Soul stage was already the limit.

And their lifespan was only eight hundred years.

To advance further, they could only create a deity statue and sit in a temple for the rest of their lives, seemingly high and mighty, but in reality, sitting on pins and needles.

If one could become an immortal, who would want to be a god?

As for the statue in the imperial palace, let alone Song Tiangang, even the Song family dared not have any ideas about it. Otherwise, the current emperor would really take your life.

But this one...

Song Tiangang suddenly chuckled, "My path to the Dao is complete."

...

Chen Huangpi was patrolling the mountain.

The Daoist robe that originally fit him well had now become a size smaller.

"I'll have to ask Second Master to alter it for me later."

Chen Huangpi felt that he was getting older and had reached an age where he should pay attention to his appearance.

At this moment, the brass oil lamp hanging from his waist suddenly opened its mouth.

"Chen Huangpi, are you still not running away?"

"You've grown a year older. The old Temple Master will definitely eat you."

"Huang Er, you're trying to drive a wedge between me and my master again."

Chen Huangpi was very unhappy.

Huang Er was his good friend, but his master was his own master.

Both were important to him. He was in a difficult position and didn't want to be biased.

The brass oil lamp said, "What I'm saying is true. We're family, I wouldn't lie to you."

Chen Huangpi said, "Master won't eat me."

"He even taught me a cultivation method."

"Then have you succeeded in cultivating?"

"Of course I have!"

"I don't believe you!"

"Then try me!"

As Chen Huangpi spoke, he threw a punch at the brass oil lamp.

"Pfft..."

The brass oil lamp spat out a mouthful of lamp oil.

"Chen Huangpi, what kind of method is this? How did you get so strong? Have you already reached Foundation Establishment, no, Golden Core?"

"I don't know."

Chen Huangpi shook his head. The five viscera spirit refining method had no realm divisions.

One only needed to refine the five viscera into temples.

Then invite five deities in.

And the method would be complete.

He had only just started and hadn't even forged the kidney temple yet. It probably wasn't Foundation Establishment.

But his strength had indeed increased a lot.

And he didn't know if he had practiced a certain part wrong, but as his kidney qi continuously forged the kidney temple, he always felt a little itchy down there.

Perhaps a spiritual root was about to grow!

The brass oil lamp looked at Chen Huangpi and exclaimed, "You're this strong without even reaching Foundation Establishment? When you do, won't you be able to kill me with one punch?"

Chen Huangpi said, "I won't, Huang Er. You're my good friend. I won't kill you."

The brass oil lamp breathed a sigh of relief.

"Chen Huangpi, family doesn't lie to family. You have to keep your word."

"Of course! I will never lie to you!"

Chen Huangpi didn't really understand the brass oil lamp's thoughts.

It seemed to have been in the Pure Immortal Temple since he could remember. All the brass oil lamps were its avatars.

Logically, its relationship with his master should be very good.

But strangely, it was always very afraid of his master and always thought about running away. But when he told it to run on its own, it didn't dare and only dared to incite him.

However, Chen Huangpi didn't know.

At this moment, the brass oil lamp was muttering to itself, "The Temple Master's position in Chen Huangpi's heart is too high. It seems I'll have to plan long-term to get him to run away with me. But now that he can cultivate, it might be better to..."

Thinking this, the brass oil lamp said, "Chen Huangpi, you're so good to me. As family, I have to help you. Here, take out that little booklet from your clothes. I'll teach you something good."

(End of Chapter)