Chapter 663: Accumulating Virtue and Stealing Treasures
This is rare!
In order to ensure that he would not get away empty-handed, Sun Lingtong read a large number of books and secretly controlled the black market. He learned and put his knowledge into practice. With a broad vision, he was familiar with most of the materials in the underworld.
But the precious materials here were all in his blind spot of knowledge, and he had no idea about them at all.
Zeng Jide noticed Sun Lingtong's doubt and eager expression. He put his hands behind his back and walked slowly to the shelves. "This storehouse is the essence of Wangchuan Immortal City."
"The River of Forgetfulness is the most famous river in the underworld. When a soul falls into it, it gradually leaves behind its memories and emotions. As these memories and emotions are discarded, the soul is like shedding a heavy burden, becoming lighter and lighter until it floats to the surface and eventually reaches shore."
"And the soul that comes ashore remembers nothing. It's like a newborn baby, ignorant and curious about everything."
"So, some people also call the Forgotten River the River of Cleansing and the River of Rebirth."
After introducing them, Zeng Jide brought the topic back to the topic: "These precious materials all come from the Wangchuan River. They are local specialties and are rarely found in other areas."
"So, it's normal that you don't know him."
"For example, this one is called the Heart-Entwined Lotus Root."
Sun Lingtong looked over and saw a pile of lotus root nodes, each about half a foot long, gray and dead. The surface of the lotus root was entwined with numerous translucent, grayish-white threads.
If you look closely, you will find that these silk threads are wriggling on their own, intertwining with each other, emitting a sad atmosphere that makes people feel stuffy in the chest and want to cry.
Zeng Jide pointed to another spot and said, "This is the Angry Fire Glaze. It's similar to the Heart-Entwined Lotus Root of Sorrow. It's formed at the bottom of the Forgotten River, from the accumulation and condensation of countless angry thoughts."
Sun Lingtong took a few steps and saw the treasure that Zeng Jide pointed to. Suddenly, she felt as if her eyes were stabbed.
It was a fist-sized, irregularly shaped crystal. Its entire body was crimson, as red as blood, and within it seemed as if a raging flame was burning and leaping, constantly emitting subtle crackling sounds, while radiating a violent, angry desire to smash everything.
Then, Zeng Jiede introduced the Fearful Cold Crystal, the Poisonous Miasma Flower, and the Iron of Obsession.
The Soul-Fearing Crystal is an ice-blue prismatic crystal that emits a chilling aura that makes people panic and fear.
The petals of the poisonous miasma flower are as black as ink, layer upon layer, but the stamens are a strange purple-red.
The obsession iron looked unremarkable, just a bunch of heavy, inky black iron blocks. If it were placed before Sun Lingtong's eyes, it would be mistaken for just an ordinary piece of iron. But in reality, this iron block was extremely heavy, the core precious material for forging top-level defensive magic weapons.
Zeng Jide stopped in front of a shelf, his eyes gleaming with brilliance.
He said in a surprised tone, "Oh? There's actually Red Child's Tear Gold here."
This is liquid gold, served in a bowl. It is pure and spotless, exuding an ultimate warmth, attachment and hope, like the rising sun.
"These are the purest and most flawless souls, shedding pure and true tears."
"Under normal circumstances, it's very rare for such a soul to appear. However, the Forgotten River can completely cleanse the soul, making it seem like a new life, which greatly increases the probability of this happening."
Sun Lingtong was amazed.
Zeng Jide finally stopped at the deepest shelf, fixed his gaze on it, and said, "Found it."
"This is the target of my theft this time—the Eye of the Lethe Vortex."
"Vortex Eye?" Sun Lingtong knew this.
Any flowing object that forms a vortex over a long period of time may form an eyeball at the center of the vortex. This is the vortex eye.
Zeng Jide said, "These are the vortex eyes you know, but these are different. They are vortex eyes formed in the Forgotten River."
"You must know that the Forgotten River contains the way to forgetfulness, which can cut away emotions and memories. Every drop of the Forgotten River water has this effect and can be considered a precious material. This is of no small value."
"The previous few rows of shelves were nothing more than the accumulation of countless emotions. This Lethe Vortex Eye is formed by the essence of the Lethe River. These are two different levels."
"The Forgotten River is a vast river of precious materials. The precious materials nurtured within these precious materials are complex and profound in their principles, harmoniously integrated, and often become natural magical instruments!"
Sun Lingtong's eyes couldn't help but light up.
He had heard of natural magic weapons a long time ago, but they were all on paper or in the form of legends told by other people. Now he finally saw the real thing.
Zeng Jide stood in front of the Wangchuan Vortex Eye and made a series of finger gestures.
Every time the fingertips touched the ground, a circle of extremely fine ripples would appear on the light film covering the gap.
Mysterious talismans appeared one after another, and then dimmed silently, as if the lock was "prised" open by the most sophisticated tool.
Ten breaths later, a gap was opened in the light film, and the talismans on the edge twisted and disappeared continuously, but no alarm was triggered.
Zeng Jide reached in, easily grabbed a few Wangchuan Vortex Eyes, and brought them out.
Zeng Jide carefully examined these vortex eyes and found that only one of the best quality became a natural magic weapon.
The remaining few are still some distance away from being magical weapons.
Zeng Jide looked at the vortex eyes on his fingertips and said, "Then the purpose of my trip has been achieved."
Sun Lingtong: "Ah? Senior, you came all the way to Wangchuan Immortal City and took such great risks just to steal this?"
Zeng Jide nodded, then shook his head: "Whenever I commit theft, I will openly send a visiting card stating that I will be visiting a certain place in the near future to steal something."
"This time is no exception."
"In the visiting card I sent to Lord Wangchuan, I specifically mentioned the person I wanted to steal Wangchuan's Whirlpool Eye."
Sun Lingtong's pupils dilated upon hearing this, and he was greatly surprised: "Your thief style... is truly unique!"
Zeng Jide chuckled: "I feel like you're looking at me as if I'm a fool."
Sun Lingtong put her hands behind her head and said, "Hehe, I can't do such a stupid thing. Why should I do something so thankless? Since it's just stealing, I will be very careful and try my best to make it invisible."
When Zeng Jide heard that his behavior was being evaluated as stupid, he felt that Sun Lingtong was more to his liking: "You little brat, you're not polite."
"Haha, I'm not afraid to tell you that I've done stupid things like this many times."
"Every time I succeed, my thieving skills improve significantly! If the benefits weren't substantial, do you think I would do something so ostentatious?"
Sun Lingtong's eyes widened again. This was the first time he had heard of such a cultivation method. He immediately said in disbelief, "The art of stealing is also a form of magic. Besides increasing your realm, it just requires diligent practice. Are there other shortcuts to cultivation?"
"Yes, little ghost," Zeng Jide said, "I have read Buddhist texts and practiced Buddhist techniques. I can make wishes, fulfill them, and repay them."
“Every time you send out a visiting card, you are making a wish.”
"If a theft is successful, it will fulfill a wish."
"Finally, I'll fulfill my vow. All the techniques I use in stealing will be rapidly improved!"
"This kind of practice is far more efficient than my hard practice."
Sun Lingtong was immediately enlightened: "Is there such a way in Buddhist practice?"
Zeng Jide stroked his beard and smiled, teaching him: "The hundreds of arts, thousands of schools, and myriad methods of cultivation are essentially methods of cultivation. As long as it is useful to you, then use it."
"Why do you care whether it's Buddhist or Demonic?"
"A cultivator should be open-minded, flexible, and adaptable, turning everything into their own use. They must not be rigid."
Sun Lingtong nodded repeatedly and took the words to heart.
Zeng Jide took away all the vortex eyes, achieving the purpose of his trip, and did not leave immediately.
"Since we're here, senior, you might as well take a little more." Sun Lingtong suggested.
Zeng Jide nodded and said seriously, "Yes, all of this is predestined for me. In Buddhist practice, we emphasize both vows and fate."
Zeng Jide made a series of moves, sweeping away all the precious materials on the shelves.
"Huh? There is a secret room here!" Zeng Jide made an unexpected discovery.
He used several stealing techniques in succession before he finally opened the door of the secret room.
The secret room is not big, and it only contains three kinds of precious materials, namely Wuwang Zhenlu, Qiqing Jinyu, and Kongshi Yuepo.
There is only one drop of the true dew.
It is suspended in the center of the jade bottle. The dewdrop is clear and transparent, as if it does not exist, yet it does exist.
It exudes an aura of "nothingness" that is extremely pure and transcends everything, as if it can cleanse all delusions and dust.
Zeng Jide's eyes were filled with complexities as he explained, "Under very rare circumstances, the Wangchuan River will form the Wuwang Daochang. The Wuwang Zhenlu is the only treasure left after the Wuwang Daochang naturally disappears."
"It can purify inner demons, dispel illusions, and stabilize the heart of the Tao. It is a sacred object for practicing top-level righteous techniques and overcoming inner demonic tribulations. Even a single drop is enough to cause a frenzied fight among both righteous and evil cultivators!"
There are seven pieces of Seven Emotions Embers Jade, each with a different color and shaped like glass jade. They are naturally stacked together to form a colorful hill.
"Seven Emotions Embers Jade!" Zeng Jide took a deep breath. "Joy, anger, sorrow, fear, love, hate, and desire—the seven fundamental emotions accumulated to their extremes, condensed into jade under certain special conditions! Each piece contains the fundamental power of an extreme emotion! It is the supreme sacred object for practicing the Seven Emotions Magic Art, and the core material for top-level illusion arrays, emotional attack, or defensive magic weapons. Gathering all seven pieces is said to activate the essence of the seven emotions, with endless power and magical uses!"
"This is a thing of the utmost emotion and nature, 'washed' and 'precipitated' from countless lost souls over countless ages by the Forgotten River."
Sun Lingtong immediately understood.
Many of the treasures I had before were also the product of accumulated emotions, such as the Heart-Entwined Lotus Root, the Angry Flame Glaze, the Fearful Cold Crystal, the Poisonous Miasma Flower, the Iron of Obsession, and so on.
The Seven Emotions Embers Jade should be the most advanced of these precious materials!
Kongshi Yuepo is like a crescent moon sealed in ten thousand year old black ice.
The crescent moon is a strange blue and translucent color, emitting a strange fluctuation that traces back to the past and reflects the past.
"The Buddha said, the four elements are empty."
"This is the essence of 'emptiness' condensed from the Forgetful River, embodying the true meaning of 'emptiness'. It's a treasure for cultivating top-level Forgetfulness techniques like 'Supreme Forgetfulness' and 'Nirvana Heart Method'. It's also a useful aid for crafting spatial artifacts or comprehending the laws of space. However, direct contact with it carries the immense danger of losing oneself and becoming utterly nihilistic."
"Rumor has it that Yun Xiao used this thing to burn himself to death and create the Kong Hui Raft."
"It is said that the Abyssal Moon Soul he used at the time was as large as a small mountain, extremely astonishing. It is probably the most abundant and largest treasure of its kind accumulated in the Forgotten River!"
Sun Lingtong's heart was touched: "This is too coincidental. Yun Xiao happened to encounter Kong Shi Yue Po when he wanted to rescue his Taoist partner. This is exactly what he needed to achieve this condition."
Zeng Jide nodded slightly: "So, there is another story about Yun Xiao."
"It is said that the heavens of the underworld do not want to see the Forgotten River become a restricted area, and they want to create a method to cross the river for the creatures of the underworld to cross."
"Thus, as fate dictated, the two cultivators, Yun Xiao and Yue Yi, were arranged. Ultimately, Yun Xiao sacrificed himself, and many Forgotten Love Ferry and Empty Return Chariots were created."
“This is the theory of fate.”
Sun Lingtong remained silent, but thought in his heart: The fact that he came to Wangchuan Fairy City this time and met Zeng Jide and received his help was probably due to the change of fate.
He asked Zeng Jide: "Mr. Zeng, I am very interested in fate!"
"Can you teach me?"
"I have a good idea. I want to practice the method of destiny and then integrate it to create a new stealing technique."
"With my new stealing technique, I can directly steal destiny. Then, I might encounter treasures after taking a few steps, and my enemies will kill each other. I will be completely smooth sailing and follow the God of Wealth! Don't let life be too easy."
"Hahaha." Zeng Jide was amused and laughed three times.
He stretched out his finger and tapped Sun Lingtong's forehead from a distance: "You wish too much, kid."
"I don't have any knowledge of divination or destiny."
"Even the Lord of Wangchuan, the ruler of a country, doesn't have it. If he wants divination, he has to seek help from the Gray Bone Old Man."
"There's a secret in this!"
Sun Lingtong asked, "What secret?"
Zeng Jide said: "If you want to obtain destiny and divination, you can't force it, you have to rely on following the will of heaven!"
"God wanted you to have this, so he made this arrangement."
"Otherwise, the more powerful the existence (person or force), the less likely it is to obtain this method."
"Because of learning this method, it is easy for it to become a stubborn disease that becomes difficult to eliminate, threatening the natural cycle of birth, aging, sickness and death."
Sun Lingtong frowned: "If that's the case, then from another perspective, the stronger a person is, the less likely they are to obtain the methods of destiny and divination?"
Zeng Jide nodded: "Yes."
"The strong here also refers to people like you who have a bright future. Although you are weak now, as long as you continue to grow, you will definitely become a strong person."
"So, your search for destiny and divination methods is almost impossible."
At this point, Zeng Jide sighed, "Alas, I've tried it. If I had a method of divination, combined with my vow-making technique, I could calculate the likelihood of success or failure, as well as the risks involved, before submitting each visiting card."
"Then my cultivation speed will undergo a complete transformation, and becoming a famous thief who goes down in history will be just around the corner."
"Therefore, any cultivator who obtains the method of destiny and divination often has weak destiny, or suffers from frequent disasters, and often has three shortcomings and five disadvantages."
"From what I know, fortune-tellers also place great importance on their own destiny, always maintaining it between an upper limit and a lower limit. It's very particular."
(End of this chapter)
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