CHAPTER 203: CHAPTER 121: SAVING THE BABY AND THE AGED MOTHER, THE METHOD OF SILENT COMBUSTION_2

The old man never taught him, how would he know that skill?

Only by acknowledging apprenticeship and strengthening familial ties could he have the chance to learn the other person’s skills.

Thus, another two years passed, and the crippled old man finally imparted all his skills to Chen Mancang.

That night, Chen Mancang respectfully poured wine for the old man. When the old man was drunk and dazed, Chen Mancang excused himself to relieve himself. When he returned, he had a sheepskin in his hand.

The old man asked him, "What are you doing with that sheepskin?"

Chen Mancang replied with a smile, "Didn’t we agree that I would take care of you in your old age and see you off? I’m just fulfilling that promise, coming to see you off!"

Once touched, the sheepskin crafted through secret techniques began to shrink rapidly.

The old man struggled and screamed under the sheepskin, reaching for his smoking pipe but unable to grasp it no matter how hard he tried.

Chen Mancang held the old man tightly, giving him no chance to escape.

When he heard the feeble bleats of an old sheep in his arms, he finally loosened his grip.

The light in the tent flickered, and Chen Mancang took out the smoking pipe, lit it, and took two puffs while standing in front of the sheep oil lamp.

"Godfather has really aged; even the crude tobacco he used to smoke isn’t as strong as before..."

...

In the county town, Chen Mancang led the flock of sheep to the market.

He used a whip to beat a trembling old sheep while selling it to people one by one.

But everyone thought the sheep was too old, and the price was too high, so no one was willing to take the old sheep home.

Chen Mancang was not in a hurry; he led the old sheep, muttering continuously.

"Back then, you sold me for so much silver, but now I can’t even sell you for a single piece of silver."

The old sheep’s eyes had already lost their shine. It quietly followed Chen Mancang to the butcher shop, just watching the sheep inside being skinned.

"Shepherd, I’ve told you so many times; your sheep is too old. Who would be willing to spend a lot of money to buy such an old sheep?"

"You know wealthy men marry young concubines. Have you ever seen anyone spend money to marry an old crone?"

"I’ll sell it cheap!"

"Cheap? Will you sell it for ten copper coins?"

Chen Mancang took the ten copper coins and left the butcher shop without looking back.

Behind him, the weak bleats of the old sheep soon fell silent.

In the days that followed, Chen Mancang completely took over the shepherd’s role. He usually sold sheep either to people with special tastes or to those in Yin businesses.

When the number of sheep dwindled, he would go to suitable villages and towns to ’beat the wool,’ abducting those who were mentally unclear and using the Beast Creation Secret Technique to transform them into sheep.

One day, the now fifty-year-old Chen Mancang arrived at the Jin Sect. It was in this place that he met his new client, the Old Mother who Saves Infants.

The Old Mother who Saves Infants was originally a Venerable God worshipped at the Child-Giving Temple.

This god was extremely effective; any woman who came to make a wish and offered incense would surely conceive.

With such divine powers, it was unthinkable that this deity would seek out the shepherd to buy lambs.

Chen Mancang couldn’t understand the matter, but he didn’t need to.

Since the temple priest at the Child-Giving Temple was willing to take care of his business, he wouldn’t ask more or intervene.

Thus, Chen Mancang went to Xijing Mountain and began abducting children from the villages.

If you ask him why he ran to such a remote place like Xijing Mountain instead of a bustling town,

It was due to the laws of the Dayong Dynasty. Actually, not just Dayong, but several dynasties before had the same law: if the government caught someone indulging in practices like organ harvesting or Beast Creation Evil Technique, the person would be executed on the spot, regardless of the reason!

Despite Chen Mancang’s skills, he didn’t dare to act brazenly.

But no matter how he thought, he couldn’t imagine that Xijing Mountain would become his grave.

As the saying goes, good and evil will eventually be repaid; meeting Xu Qing was his end.

...

The Sutra of Salvation stopped flipping pages; the shepherd’s evil life came to an end.

Xu Qing came to himself, receiving two rewards.

One Nightmare Technique, which allows the transformation of humans into animals and understanding of the Beast Creation Technique.

In addition to Beast Creation, Nightmare Technique also includes some witchcraft that deceives and frightens people.

For example, using food as bait to lure someone into eating it, making the person mentally unclear and follow the caster involuntarily.

This Nightmare Technique is rare north of the river, but most common south of the rivers.

This technique also has a name, commonly called ’beating the wool,’ and south of Jianghuai, it’s called ’pulling the wool.’

It’s part of the Evil Technique that complements the Beast Creation Secret Technique, all lower-tier Daoist techniques.

After learning it, Xu Qing put it aside, as it wasn’t very useful to him, just handy for dealing with enemies occasionally.

If he had real enemies, he would probably choose to bury them in the Shuimen Bridge Villa rather than turning them into livestock.

After all, by burying them in the villa, he could refine them into Fierce Generals to work for him, unlike turning them into livestock.

Besides the not-so-useful Beast Creation Secret Technique, there was another Earth-grade reward called ’Yin-Burning Technique.’

The Yin-Burning Technique requires a breath of Yin Qi for cultivation. By spraying this Yin Fire onto any combustible material like tobacco, talisman paper, or lamp oil, it ignites the Yin-Burning Fire.

Yin-Burning Fire can scorch the soul and burn the internal organs; it’s also suitable for nurturing evil beings, a fire technique compatible with evil beings.

After getting the Yin-Burning Technique, Xu Qing’s expression turned peculiar.

Earlier, when he chose the zombie evolution path, there was only Black Corpse available. Yet, within a few days, he not only received the Mountain Herding Secret Technique suitable for Fur Demon, and now got the Yin-Burning Technique highly suitable for Fire Fiend.

The key is that Corpse Talk never recorded any zombie cultivating Fur Corpse, Black Corpse, and Fire Corpse simultaneously.

Xu Qing manipulated the small Yin-Burning Fire the size of a fingertip, tentatively activating it.

Using a breath of Yin Qi to cooperate with the fire seed, Xu Qing blew it toward the old sheep’s body on the ground. The sheepskin on the body started to burn quickly, like the yellow talisman paper burned in temples.

In no time, the sheep’s skin turned to ashes, and the old sheep regained its human form.

Xu Qing laughed at this sight, understanding that the Beast Creation Technique could not only be undone with the Water Injection Technique but violently removed with the Yin-Burning Technique too.

However, this method isn’t suitable for living beings.

Having tested the Yin-Burning Technique, Xu Qing tried using the Water-Soaked Bowl to perform the Water Commanding Technique.

The Yin-Burning fire seed within him wasn’t affected at all, even though his body was filled with abundant Water Element Qi—it did not cause any mutual repulsion.

Thoughtfully, Xu Qing instantly figured it out.

Yin-Burning Fire isn’t Yang Fire; it relies on Yin Qi in his body for activation. It’s like some cultivators can release Thunder Technique while performing Water Technique or Fire Technique.

Essentially, it’s decided by the origin magical power, not shown by external techniques.

In other words, as long as he doesn’t touch the techniques that contradict his body’s nature, he can cultivate multiple techniques simultaneously.

However, multi-technique cultivators are rare.

After all, human lifespan is limited, and the effort throughout life is somewhat finite. Simultaneously practicing multiple techniques will inevitably result in breadth without depth, potentially affecting the progress of one’s cultivation and thus longevity.

"So, as long as one lives long enough, they can master all techniques?"

Xu Qing grinned, thinking, what a golden opportunity!

Zombies are undying; he might not have a long lifespan, but he can persist in a semi-dead state forever.

...

With the shepherd dead, Xu Qing realized the significance of the Three Corpse Transformations brought to him. The gains from this trip were far greater than he had imagined.

Maybe this is what people mean by doing good deeds leads to good returns...

Xu Qing felt great; he got up and stored the shepherd’s body in the Box Garden.

Not far away, Xuan Yu was sitting on a high rock, guarding the unclaimed flock of sheep for him.

Beside Xuan Yu, the elderly yellow-haired rat was incessantly questioning her.

The black crow, previously circling in the sky, also landed nearby.

It had only seen an apocalyptic scene of smoke and fire in the forest stream, and once the smoke cleared, the shepherd was already captured.

The crow was more eager than the yellow-haired rat to know the details.

It was in a crow’s nature to be nosy, and it was no exception.

After greeting the yellow-haired rat and the black crow, Xu Qing turned his gaze to Xuan Yu.

"Profound Jade Immortal Family, do you want to learn the technique to turn these sheep into humans?"

Xuan Yu’s eyes lit up: "Xu Immortal Family, you know the technique to turn things into humans?"

Xu Qing gave a mysterious smile, gesturing for Xuan Yu to come closer.

The cold Yin Qi brushed Xuan Yu’s cat ears, making her involuntarily twitch the tips.

After hearing Xu Qing’s method, Xuan Yu widened her eyes in disbelief:

"So simple?"

"Just this simple!"