Chapter 303 - 294: Spirit Awakening and Entering the Dao, Arrival

Chapter 303: Chapter 294: Spirit Awakening and Entering the Dao, Arrival

"Alright, that’s enough for today. You may go back for now."

In the brightly lit and elegantly decorated private room, Fu Juemin waved his hand casually.

"Yes, sir."

Chen You put on his clothes and answered obediently. His head was bowed, his expression hidden. He backed all the way to the door, turned to open it, and then turned back one last time to gently pull it shut.

Fu Juemin could feel the thick aura of resentment radiating from Chen You.

Anyone treated like a guinea pig and dissected for four or five days in a row would hardly be in good spirits. Stitches from today would be torn out tomorrow, before the wound could heal, just so they could peel back your flesh again to study the bizarre patterns growing in the seams of your bones...

No one would find that pleasant.

The more "docile" Chen You appeared now, the more ferocious his eventual retaliation would be.

But Fu Juemin didn’t care. After Chen You left, his gaze fell casually on Gu Shouyu, who was at a desk lost in thought. He spoke faintly, "Have you made any progress these past few days?"

Gu Shouyu habitually rested a hand on the Oil Paper Umbrella he never let out of his sight and nodded. "Having a living example to reference has certainly made many of the previously obscure parts much easier to understand."

He paused, a helpless look on his face. "However, instead of expecting me to fully comprehend this Nine Spirits Filth Loading Technique, you’d be better off finding a master proficient in Sanskrit.

"I’m just a temporary ’Meditation Monk.’ This kind of work is far too strenuous and thankless for me."

"I never intended to practice this wicked Demon Technique."

Fu Juemin shook his head. He picked up a silver spoon from the table, dropped a sugar cube into the tea before him, and stirred it slowly.

He didn’t drink, but simply watched the sugar cube slowly dissolve and disappear into the hot tea.

"What I’m truly interested in are the ’symbols’ you mentioned before. There should be some common ground between the Nine Spirits Filth Loading Technique and the Talisman lineage of the Dragon Tiger Mountain Celestial Master Dao.

"If you can help me find them, it would be of great help to my cultivation."

"I almost forgot now that you mention it... Celestial Master Dao... Talismans..."

Gu Shouyu’s eyes suddenly lit up. He shot up from his chair, paced back and forth a few times, then grabbed his things from the floor and headed for the door.

"I’ll go back and look into it right now...

"Oh, right."

Halfway there, Gu Shouyu stopped abruptly and turned back to Fu Juemin. "There’s something I have to tell you.

"This thing on Chen You, although it’s also called a ’Fake Internal Energy Method,’ is far too crude compared to the Nine Spirits Filth Loading Technique we have...

"I’ve looked it over. His is, at best, a simplified version of just one section of the Nine Spirits Filth Loading Technique.

"You should keep this map yourself. I have a feeling that if they knew we had this... it wouldn’t be a good thing."

With that, Gu Shouyu hurried away.

’A simplified version?’

A glint flickered in Fu Juemin’s eyes.

’From what Gu Shouyu said, did this mean that the Demon Spirit Contamination Skill held by the Demon Capital Nine Banner Clans was actually incomplete?’

’Is that why the people from Toad Palace would be so desperate to get this map if they found out?’

He shook his head, pushing the stray thoughts aside for the moment.

These past few days, he had been acting as Gu Shouyu’s assistant, helping him study the Dirt-Loading Method on Chen You. He would sometimes casually question Chen You, and had come to a better understanding of Martial Artists like him, who had Demon Flesh and Blood implanted in their bodies.

According to Chen You, at least half of the Martial Dao experts active in Yingjing practiced this "Fake Internal Energy Method."

In the circles of Dirt-Loading Martial Artists, implanting the flesh and organs of Demon Fiends into one’s body was known as "Spirit Awakening," or "Entering the Dao."

The difference between a Martial Artist before and after Entering the Dao was like night and day.

A Martial Artist who had undergone the process could easily crush others of the same level.

If the implanted Demon Flesh and Blood and organs were of a high enough grade, killing someone several minor realms, or even an entire major realm, above them was a common occurrence.

This group of Dirt-Loading Martial Artists was tightly bound to the Demon Capital Nine Banners. The Nine Banner Families helped them "Enter the Dao," and in return, they willingly served the Nine Banners, becoming the families’ thugs, Nursing Home, and lackeys.

’After the procedure, a Martial Artist’s potential is completely unlocked. Setting aside the superpowers from their body’s demonization, their strength, speed, endurance, and healing abilities are also dramatically enhanced. Ordinary Martial Artists truly can’t compare.’

’But once Demon Flesh and Blood enters the body, a person’s Life Barrier is also broken.

’Without regularly consuming Human Pills to supplement it, they won’t live for more than a few years.

’It’s a different kind of ’parasitism,’ a true ’cultivation by devouring people’...’

Fu Juemin looked up and out the window.

Through the pitch-black darkness, the blurry night scenery rushed past. In the distance, the occasional light flickered and vanished.

Ever since the Western World’s ironclad warships broke through the ports and cannons began to run rampant, the Martial Dao has been like a setting sun.

There would always be a group of people who, whether out of fear or unwillingness to accept this decline, would delude themselves into thinking they could find another path to restore their former glory.

To this end, they were even willing to cast aside their basic human decency, becoming servants and accomplices to Demon Fiends....

’Remnants of the Nine Banners, the Esoteric Sect, the Old Martial Arts...’

Fu Juemin lightly stroked the warm side of his teacup, his expression serene, betraying no hint of his emotions.

He had not yet reached the Demon Capital, but it was as if he could already see the shadowy, malevolent specters standing on the path ahead.

...

There were few stops along the way, and they took a special route. A journey that would have originally taken six or seven days was completed in just three.

「Three days later」

The train carrying Fu Juemin and his party stopped at a manor outside Yingjing.

Fu Juemin disembarked and saw the northern sky—it was a murky, grayish yellow, like the yellowed, curled edges of an old newspaper.

The surrounding mountains were also bare. Although it was already spring, there was little greenery to be seen.

As far as the eye could see, there was no sign of life.

The group got off the train, and before they had walked far, they saw the people waiting to receive them outside the manor—four or five men with braided queues, wearing old-fashioned long robes and jackets.

The leader was a man in his early forties, dressed in lavish clothes, with a jade thumb ring on his left thumb. His expression was cold, and he stood at a distance, carrying himself with a certain dignified air.

Fu Juemin withdrew his gaze from them and turned his head to look at Chen You, his tone flat. "You know what to say, don’t you?"

Chen You, his cheeks slightly sunken and his face pale, forced an ingratiating smile and nodded. "Of course. You can rest assured, Sir."

After speaking, Chen You took the initiative and walked toward the group.

The moment he turned his back to Fu Juemin, the humble and subservient look on his face vanished without a trace, replaced only by a venomous hatred.

Chen You walked up to the men with the queues, and Fu Juemin activated [Yao Ling], listening in casually.

After a short while, he saw Chen You and the middle-aged leader of the group mount their horses and gallop off in one direction.

After Chen You and the other man left, the remaining men came forward. They first escorted Fu Juemin’s group into the manor. Then, a man with shrewd eyes and a slick face walked up to Fu Juemin and bowed politely.

"This humble one is Ma Liu. Greetings, Young Master Fu."

The man said with a beaming smile, "Steward Mu has taken Grand Marshal Chen to see the Patriarch. He specifically instructed this humble one to stay behind and attend to you, Young Master.

"Would Young Master Fu like to rest in the manor, or shall I take you into the city for a look around?"

Fu Juemin asked, "Did Chen You tell you what I’m here for?"

"Grand Marshal Chen said you are an honored guest."

The man said respectfully, "He said that you and your friend are both highly skilled, and that you have come this time to enter the Patriarch’s service as Tributors.

"But as you know, it’s not up to Grand Marshal Chen to decide, and even Steward Mu doesn’t have that much authority.

"We must first report to the Patriarch and then have you two introduced..."

Upon hearing this, Fu Juemin nodded in "satisfaction."

"Then take us into the city for a look around."

He glanced around. "This manor... there’s not much to see anyway."

"Right away."

The man responded with a grin and quickly ran off to prepare the horses.