Scripture of Days Past

After hearing what the monkey fiend had to say, Chu Qiguang began forming some new theories on the attack on Jade Face Mountain.

Qiao Zhi had been listening the entire time as well, and he wondered, Who exactly is this Layman Evergreen? It sounds like he has a lot of power and influence.

You’ve never heard of him? Chu Qiguang asked. If he orchestrated the attack on Jade Face Mountain, shouldn’t he be very well-known?

”Are those two fiends as well?” the monkey fiend asked, referring to Qiao Zhi and Chen Gang.

Chu Qiguang nodded, then reverted to his human form in the blink of an eye.

”What’s your name, monkey?” he asked.

”My name’s Da Zhi,” the monkey fiend replied. ”I came here from the Shu Continent with Layman Evergreen and the others, and—”

His voice was abruptly cut off as Chu Qiguang sprang forward without warning and slammed his palm into Da Zhi’s chest.

Caught completely off guard, Da Zhi felt as if all his internal organs had been damaged. He threw up a huge mouthful of blood before collapsing to the ground.

”Wh... Why...” he asked, his eyes wide with shock.

”You know too much,” Chu Qiguang explained with a smile.

After knocking Da Zhi unconscious, he instructed Chen Gang to take the monkey fiend to Hidden Fiend Village with Chitter and Chatter’s help and lock him up.

Following Chen Gang’s departure, Chu Qiguang turned to Qiao Zhi and said, ”We have to figure out what these fiends are planning, but I can’t leave Jade Face Mountain for long, so I’m going to need your help, Master Qiao.”

”You want me to infiltrate their ranks and stop them from attacking Jade Face Mountain?” Qiao Zhi asked.

”No,” Chu Qiguang replied with a shake of his head. ”Why would we stop the attack? Once they attack Jade Face Mountain, I’ll have an opportunity to contribute to the resistance efforts and impress the Demon Vanquishing Department. Besides, I need to beat those fiends into submission first before I can subdue them and make them work for me.”

”So that was your plan all along?” Qiao Zhi asked. ”Aren’t you playing with fire here? If these fiends dare to attack Jade Face Mountain, then they’re bound to be extremely brazen and powerful. Subduing them may not be so easy, and there’s also a good chance that a Dao Comprehension-state cultivator is pulling the strings behind the scenes.”

”Even if there’s a Dao Comprehension-state cultivator involved, that’s something for Zhong Shan’e to worry about,” Chu Qiguang replied. ”Besides, I don’t intend to subdue all the fiends. I’m only going to pick out the ones that could be valuable to me and are capable of being reformed.

”Those fiends will be taken to the village, while the rest will be killed. For now, I need you to go to the location Da Zhi just revealed, and all you have to do is infiltrate their ranks and gather intelligence. There’s no need to stop them, nor do you have to do anything to help them...”

After they settled on a plan, Qiao Zhi turned his gaze toward the still-unconscious Zhang Jitian and asked, ”What’re you planning to do with him?”

”I’m going to use the Heavenly Fiend Foundation Establishment Technique to turn him into a fiend. Once I do that, I’ll have leverage over him, and I’ll make him work for me,” Chu Qiguang replied.

”Is that really a good idea?” Qiao Zhi asked with a concerned expression. ”This guy’s a real nasty piece of work. Aren’t you worried that he’ll betray you?”

”Think about it this way, Master Qiao,” Chu Qiguang said with a smile. ”How do you think he survived his encounter with that monkey fiend the first time around if he didn’t run into us?”

Qiao Zhi was immediately stumped by this question.

He’s right! How did this guy survive last time? He goes on to become a very important military figure, so he definitely didn’t die here...

”Judging from what you’ve told me about him, he’s clearly an extremely selfish and unscrupulous person who’s willing to stoop to any low to accomplish his objectives,” Chu Qiguang said. ”In all likelihood, he pledged his allegiance to the fiends in order to survive. He may even have been forced to kill someone as a show of loyalty to the fiends. That’s probably also why he abandoned the city he was stationed at when it was attacked by the northern fiends.”

Qiao Zhi’s eyes lit upon hearing this theory. That did indeed sound exactly like something Zhang Jitian would do.

”Selfish people are very easy to use because everything they do is motivated by self-interest,” Chu Qiguang continued. ”As long as you have enough leverage over them, they’ll never dare to betray you for fear of dooming themselves. As long as I keep him on a tight leash, he’ll have no choice but to serve as my lapdog for the rest of his life.”

***

Several days later, the ten advanced school trainees for the month were gathered on the training grounds.

Standing before them were Zhong Shan’e and Yang Ling. Zhong Shan’e had taken some time out of his busy schedule to personally instruct the trainees.

The advanced school trainees took turns demonstrating the progress they had made recently, while Zhong Shan’e pointed out the areas they still needed to work on.

Even though Jiang Longyu had only recently reached the fourth state, he was already attempting to direct his qi and blood into his brain in preparation for a breakthrough to the fifth state. Zhong Shan’e was very pleased to see this, and he gladly shared his own experience of reaching the fifth state with Jiang Longyu.

After that, he assigned a batch of five Seven Treasure Pills to Jiang Longyu, and those pills alone were worth several thousand taels of silver.

”His Majesty sent someone to deliver ten Seven Treasure Pills to me last month, and now you’re giving me another five,” Jiang Longyu said in exasperation. ”There are too many for me to finish!”

”It’s fine, just take them slowly,” Zhong Shan’e said with a smile. ”The sooner you reach the fifth state, the sooner I can report the good news to His Majesty.”

Next, it was Li He’s turn. He had recently decided to abandon his spear techniques to focus solely on advancing his cultivation base, a decision that earned Zhong Shan’e’s approval.

”It’s quite impressive that you’re able to assess yourself objectively and set your priorities straight at such a young age,” Zhong Shan’e praised. ”I’m sure it wasn’t easy to give up the spear techniques that you’ve spent so many years cultivating, but I assure you that you’ve made the right decision.

“You’ve been at the fourth state for quite some time now, and you’ve made significant progress over the past half a year. I think you have a decent chance of reaching the fifth state before you leave the mountain, but in order to get there, you’re going to have to work hard.”

Li He was thrilled to receive such glowing praise from Zhong Shan’e, and he immediately nodded and replied, ”I’ll be sure to do my best!”

When it was Chi Shude’s turn, he demonstrated his finger techniques, movement techniques, and a meditation technique he had learned from the Heavenly Master Religion.

”Your finger techniques and movement techniques have already reached a very high level, so there’s no need to make any further improvements there,” Zhong Shan’e appraised. ”At your age, your top priority should be advancing your cultivation base. That meditation technique will serve you very well.

“It’ll allow you to draw upon the power of the Profound Origin Dao Lord to assist you in making a breakthrough to the fifth state, so keep it up. You have a unique advantage over your peers in that you’re an accomplished Dao artist as well as a promising martial artist. If you continue to make strides in both fields, I may consider allowing you to cultivate the Silent Shadow Step.”

In Zhong Shan’e’s eyes, Chi Shude was an exceptional candidate to become a Dao soldier, and his glowing appraisal immediately drew everyone’s attention.

So what if he meditates? I’ll start meditating tomorrow, and I’m sure I can do it better than him, Jiang Longyu harrumphed inwardly.

After that, it was Chu Qiguang’s turn. He demonstrated the second level of the Heavenly Demon Vanquishing Palms, as well as the second level of the Star Shifting Shadow Movement Techniques.

The other trainees watched in awe and astonishment as he displayed a combination of formidable palm strikes and wraith-like movement techniques.

However, the more Zhong Shan’e saw, the more displeased he became. After Chu Qiguang finished his demonstration, he asked in a cold voice, ”Are the Heavenly Demon Vanquishing Palms and the Star Shifting Shadow Movement Techniques all you’ve been working on recently, Chu Qiguang?”

Chu Qiguang nodded, and Zhong Shan’e immediately snapped, ”You fool! Who told you to spend so much time on this stuff? Your top priority right now should be advancing your cultivation base!”

”That’s what I’ve been telling you this entire time!” Yang Ling hurriedly interjected. ”Why are you still working on these techniques when you should be focusing on your cultivation? You must think you’re really impressive for cultivating the Primordial High Zenith Qigong, the Heavenly Demon Vanquishing Palms, and the Star Shifting Shadow Movement Techniques to the second level in just half a year, don’t you?

”While you’ve been wasting all your time on this useless nonsense, Chi Shude has already reached the fourth state. He could kill you with a single finger right now! How many times do I need to tell you? As a third-state martial artist, you need to focus on advancing your cultivation base! You should only start trying to master more martial arts techniques after you reach the fifth state, do you understand?”