Chapter 150: Dark Chess

Zhenren Dingjing walked into Tianjie with a steady gait.

The monks in Tianjie were still talking and laughing. He walked straight past the monks, but it seemed that no one could see him.

His destination was the end of Tian Street, where an old talisman paper repair shop called Zhishumen stood. Compared to the ostentatious and ostentatious Baosehang, Zhishumen looked like a broken antique bowl. The wooden frame was painted with the glazed lacquer popular a century ago, and strings of yellow talisman paper hung under the porch as a sign.

The old dismantled door had only a few panels removed and was leaning casually against the wall, revealing a hole barely big enough for a person to pass through. From the hole, one could vaguely see a half-repaired mechanical doll under the flickering candlelight, its white eyebrows and eyes seemed drowsy.

The boss seemed disinterested in business. A servant emerged from the doorway, a handful of sunflower seeds in one hand and a stool in the other. He set the stool down and, yawning, ate some sunflower seeds. As he ate, he wondered why his boss, though he was enjoying his leisure time, was so indifferent to the affairs of the shop.

Beside him, Master Ding Jing looked down at him and stepped into the doorway.

Master Ding Jing walked deftly through the dim hall, stepping onto a floor paved with countless strings of copper coins. These rusted coins made no sound, their number constantly changing. Three, seven, one, nineteen, seemingly without pattern, and at one point, they vanished, leaving only the rows of nearly rotten strings, slightly disturbed.

When the black boots reached the last step, the copper coin staircase returned to its original shape. If you look back now, you can't see the stairs, only a giant python with its eyes closed, coiled in the darkness, hissing and spitting out its tongue.

Master Ding Jing looked at the now-empty room. It had eight sides, four of which were lined with bookshelves. Between every two bookshelves stood a life-sized golden statue. In the center of the room stood a wooden table, but no chairs.

There were no lights around, but the golden statue was emitting a faint golden light, illuminating a strange and vivid face of pain.

He was already used to all of this. Before anyone arrived, he went to the table and took out the storage bag Luo Xuanyi had left behind. The contents inside should not have been attractive to him, a Nascent Soul cultivator, but he still picked up something and examined it carefully.

That was the low-level mental method that Luo Xuanyi had left behind to bolster his credibility. Although it was a low-level mental method, a cultivation technique of the Demonic Sect and incompatible with righteous cultivation, Master Ding Jing read it very seriously.

"How can such a lowly and rubbish martial art be worthy of you?" A voice suddenly sounded behind him. The words seemed respectful, but were actually extremely sarcastic.

Without another word, Master Ding Jing waved his hand and sent him flying. He collected the things on the table and turned back. His dignified demeanor faded, his eyes blazing with murderous intent. "I told you to get someone else to take over."

"Cough!" The man spat out a mouthful of blood and climbed up from the ground, still smiling. "Master doesn't like me, I know that. But this is an emergency, right?"

"Besides, in your current situation, if more people know about it, wouldn't that be more leverage?"

"Then I can just kill you and go to the sea." Ding Jing Zhenren looked at him with an expressionless face. "Although my sword state of mind was damaged by the schemes of you evil cultivators, it is more than enough to crush you to death."

That's true. In fact, the visitor was still afraid of Ding Jing Zhenren in his heart. Even if Ding Jing Zhenren's sword state of mind was destroyed and his natal sword, Kong Ming Xin Yi Sword, was damaged, he was not someone he could mess with.

Ding Jing Zhenren was a stubborn person, so he could only offer a few cold and sarcastic remarks. If they really confronted him, he would be dead. Thinking of this, he suppressed his urge to mock him: "Hey, don't be angry. Let's talk about business, let's talk about business."

"Are you finally going to agree to the cooperation over there when you come here this time?"

Zhenren Dingjing's eyes flickered slightly.

Seeing that Master Ding Jing was already tempted, the visitor couldn't help but feel proud: "You are right. No one on the right side can give you the trickery cultivation method. All the evil cultivators of the Zang Yao Sect here are under control. You have no choice but to cooperate with us."

True Man Ding Jing smiled inwardly. His purpose for coming here had been achieved. He had wanted to test the other party's knowledge of another Zang Yao Sect cultivator out there. Judging by his boastful demeanor, he probably didn't know that another demon cultivator was under True Man Ding Jing's control.

Very good. Master Ding Jing simply couldn't trust this man, nor could he trust the demonic cultivators behind him. It was just that he couldn't show it right now.

"I told you, I don't trust the Demon Sect. You've already tricked me, so how can I know if what you're saying about the strange path of cultivation is true or not? Bring me the cultivation secrets first, then we can talk."

Yes, Master Ding Jing claimed that he could enter the realm of refining emptiness at any time. It was not that he was just missing that crucial step. In fact, he was struggling to contain himself.

When he was still in the Nascent Soul stage, struggling to improve his cultivation due to his mindset, his favorite student suddenly announced that he had discovered a secret area, the remains of the ancient Heavenly Sword School. He had originally intended to report it, but instead presented it to him.

He was also bewitched by a ghost for a while, and went to explore alone after hiding the ruins, and he actually found a book of the ancient Tianjian cultivator's secret.

This Heart Sutra could help strengthen a sword cultivator's understanding of the Way of the Sword, thereby achieving a breakthrough in their state of mind. It was exactly what he needed. Overjoyed, he began practicing, and indeed, his cultivation improved greatly. It wasn't until he was about to break through to the Void Refining Realm that he suddenly realized something was wrong.

At the moment of his breakthrough, his entire cultivation transformed into the energy of a resentful spirit, transforming him into a semi-ghostly cultivator! A destructive heavenly thunder descended, nearly strangling him. He relied on his Clear Mind Sword to barely repel the thunderstorm, but his own mind shattered, ultimately shattering his natal sword. He barely dared to attack himself, fearing that any such move would expose his status as a semi-ghostly cultivator and lead to his spurn and death by the entire righteous path.

He now lacked the cultivation techniques to fully unlock his path of uncanny cultivation, making it difficult for him to absorb dead energy for cultivation. Furthermore, he was completely intolerant of the Heavenly Dao, unable to absorb even spiritual energy. It was then that Zang Yaozong came to him, and he learned the truth.

It turned out that his good disciple was actually a spy planted by Zang Yaozong. The so-called ruins were also a trap carefully laid by Zang Yaozong to strangle Master Ding Jing. They wanted to kill Master Ding Jing without bloodshed and weaken the righteous faction, so they devised a trap where Master Ding Jing would kill himself with the tribulation thunder.

However, Master Ding Jing was incredibly powerful, and the lightning bolt failed to kill him. Zang Yaozong then thought about how to use him again, as Master Ding Jing had already embarked on a pirate ship.

It can only be said that Luo Xuanyi's temperament is completely determined by the insidious demonic sect Zang Yaozong.

The visitor cursed inwardly. If there really was a cultivation method that could transform Ding Jing Zhenren into a treacherous cultivator, Zang Yaozong would have revealed it long ago. Why would he have struggled with Ding Jing Zhenren for so many years?

It's said that over forty years ago, the remains of the ancient alchemist were finally excavated, along with the remains of the Yu clan. According to records, they should contain a large number of otherworldly and strange cultivation techniques. The advance team did indeed find a technique that could transform a person into a semi-stranger cultivator, and used it to trick Master Ding Jing with great success. Zang Yaozong then increased their investment in the remains.

Who would have thought that the ruins were somehow so deep that no one could get out. Zang Yaozong didn't take it seriously at first; they had plenty of people. But after over a hundred thousand people died in quick succession, the elders finally couldn't sit still anymore.

It's a shame it's no longer useful. The ruins seem to have been completely opened by blood sacrifices. If blood sacrifices aren't performed regularly, a curse will befall. Zang Yaozong has been incredibly frustrated in recent years, secretly cursing his ancestors for setting traps and trapping people, only to continue filling them with people.

This also made the plan to recapture Ding Jing Zhenren's power, which was originally planned, difficult to implement. The newcomer could only bluff and try to get something for nothing. Unfortunately, Ding Jing Zhenren was also an old fox who had lived for hundreds of years and would never fall for this trick.

While the two were arguing in the dark, Dong E and Yang Zongchun had already boarded the boat to Fu Jishan.

But what about Luo Xuanyi?

First update~ I just realized today is Wednesday, so including the one I didn't update yesterday, there would be two updates in total hh, but since I said yesterday there would be three in total, I will try my best to complete it~