Chapter 30: Beast Strength
“Please instruct this humble one, Your Excellency!” Li Qi immediately rose and bowed.
It didn't matter if he couldn't be a disciple for now. In his current situation, being able to cling to such a powerful figure, even if it was just grasping a single strand of hair from their leg, he couldn't give up. Li Qi thought this and thus decisively made his choice.
And Mister Zhu scrutinized Li Qi.
Furthermore, there was another point: as an Outsider, he could be confirmed to have a clean background and could not be a pawn laid by some great figure in advance.
Outsiders were not many, but not few either. However, all of them could be confirmed as having a clean background; there would be no situation where one was a pawn laid by some powerful being a thousand years in advance, with karma precisely calculated to strike you at this moment.
Since the grand ritual indicated that an Outsider could bring great auspiciousness, it was quite normal for him to make some investment.
This was the reason Mister Zhu appeared here.
Thus, he continued: “The spiritual art you practice is called the Bull Strength Art. You likely don’t know its origins, but I can tell you about it.”
“The Bull Strength Art is derived from the Ten Thousand Beast Art, and it is an agreement reached between the Grand Priests of Wushen Mountain and various earth deities.”
“The cultivation paths of Wushen Mountain are divided into three: human ghosts, earth deities, and heavenly spirits. Among them, human ghosts are the strongest, while heavenly spirits and earth deities have no superiority or inferiority.”
“Let’s put the other two paths aside for now and talk about the earth deities you are currently involved with.”
“So-called earth deities are the gods of myriad things. Mountains have mountain gods, watercourses have water gods, farmlands have agricultural gods, and various local deities, five household gods, such as door gods, kitchen gods, and so on, are all earth deities.”
“Most of these earth deities are evolved spirits or monsters. Mountain gods are mostly mountain spirits with profound cultivation in that mountain, and water gods are mostly the strongest water monsters in that stretch of water. They possess divine abilities and are worshipped by local residents, receiving the benefits of incense offerings, forming karma, and thus rooting themselves there, nurturing their golden bodies to become gods.”
“Therefore, earth deities are mostly birds and beasts, and these birds and beasts often possess extraordinary abilities, far surpassing ordinary humans.”
“Our Grand Priests of Wushen Mountain traveled across the land, seeking out earth deities, befriending myriad beasts, and reaching agreements with them. They offered their vital essence, and the Grand Priests of Wushen Mountain then used a grand heaven-and-earth sacrifice as a guide to construct a Myriad Beast Diagram. Within the Myriad Beast Diagram, there are fourteen thousand six hundred and thirty-two spiritual arts, each corresponding to an earth deity of mountains and waters.”
“Cultivating the Ten Thousand Beast Art means using this as a guide, even separated by thousands of li, one can still receive assistance from the corresponding earth deity, be empowered by them, and possess some special extraordinary ability.”
“The Bull Strength Art you cultivate comes from Li Prefecture, and the Barbarian Tribe, the earth deity worshipped by the local villagers. Its true form is a white bull, named Qiong, with four eyes. Its horns are curved and inward-pointing, long and undivided, hence its straightforward nature. It also has two eyes that close by day and open by night to illuminate things. Its hide is thick, allowing it to enter thorn bushes without injury. It possesses boundless strength, capable of carrying two mountains, and its body is massive, ninety zhang tall.”
“Each time you use the Bull Strength Art, you borrow the power of the Qiong Bull through the Myriad Beast Diagram, which is why your body can suddenly expand by a foot, your qi and blood become abundant, you gain the strength of a bull, and your skin becomes tough and impervious to blades and spears,” Mister Zhu rattled off a string of information.
“This is a unique spiritual art belonging to my ritual priest lineage of Wushen Mountain, and only our shaman lineage can cultivate it. Furthermore, this art is miraculous and has no side effects,” Mister Zhu said, stroking his palm with a smile.
“However, there is one point: all of this is predicated on you being a shaman.”
“If you are not a shaman, yet you have mastered the Bull Strength Art under my divine will inheritance, then when you perform it, there is no corresponding power to serve as an inducer.”
“However, within the human body, there is one thing that can serve as an inducer for all spiritual arts, and that is the Qi among the Three Three Innate Treasures.”
“The substance of Qi is formless and intangible. As the basis for nourishing essence and spirit, its existence is very wondrous, almost serving as a substitute for everything. The Bull Strength Art you activated earlier was forcibly started using the Qi of the human body, without the corresponding cultivation method.”
“Having said this, do you understand now? Why have you been feeling weak and feeble recently? In reality, if you continue like this, your Qi will be unable to support your essence and spirit. At that time, you will become increasingly weak, and eventually, you will die,” Mister Zhu said flatly.
Li Qi understood immediately after hearing all this.
No wonder he had experienced those symptoms. As expected… it was related to the Bull Strength Art.
This meant that if he hadn’t passed the test, or had run away, then… he would also have died soon due to this spell technique.
This Mister Zhu truly calculated death well.
However… if it was related to the Bull Strength Art…
“Young Master has been frank with this humble one! This humble one dares not conceal anything. Young Master, I have something to tell you: Previously, this humble one was unaware of the origins of this spiritual art and passed the cultivation method on to my gang members. Now, I fear their lives are in danger. I beg Young Master to take pity, grant this humble one some time, and allow me to return to warn them not to practice it! Lest they die prematurely!” Li Qi immediately pleaded!
He still held deep affection for the members of the Wave-Breaking Gang. So, after realizing that the Bull Strength Art without its corresponding cultivation method was a deadly thing, he immediately pleaded with Mister Zhu.
He certainly didn’t wish to return half a year or a year later to find the corpses of the Wave-Breaking Gang members.
Seeing Li Qi’s reaction, Mister Zhu was quite satisfied. Despite his intelligence, he wasn’t cold-blooded; he still had emotions, which aligned more with Mister Zhu’s own principles.
After all, the Shamanic Way required a clear mind and pure heart, and Mister Zhu himself was indeed a benevolent person. If Li Qi had shown no sentimentality, he would still have pushed him forward as a pawn, but he wouldn't have cared too much.
There was a difference between a pawn and an apprentice.
So he replied: “Of course, you may. As long as you don’t delay your journey to find Lady Luofu, whatever you wish to do is fine. But you must remember, if you cultivate the methods of Wushen Mountain without permission, at best nothing will come of it, and at worst, you will die.”
“Oh, no, not just Wushen Mountain, but the entire world. The more profound the method, the more this holds true. You must remember this well,” Mister Zhu said to Li Qi, his frivolous demeanor gone, replaced by seriousness.
“Next, I shall impart the method to you. Cultivate according to this, and you shall enter the gates of my Wushen Mountain, gaining your belonging. Let me confirm once more: accepting this means accepting the task. From now on, you are also an earth deity ritual priest of my Wushen Mountain.”
Li Qi, of course, had no objections and immediately nodded like a pecking chick.
Mister Zhu said no more, lightly tapping Li Qi’s forehead with a finger.
The familiar divine will inheritance.
Li Qi felt something extra in his mind.
But… it wasn’t like the memory-like sensation from before. Instead… it was a book?
In his mind, there was an extra book. He wouldn’t know anything unless he looked at it, but he could flip through it at will? Moreover, there was no feeling of his head being struck by a stick; instead, it felt very refreshing, light, and it even dispelled his drowsiness.
This… felt quite different from the previous divine will inheritance.
(Chapter End)