Starting Cultivation During a Trip

Chapter 36: Chapter 36: Fallen Genius, Northern Emperor Evil Ghost

”My primordial spirit...”

Zhang Fan’s gaze grew focused. He looked down at his own hands, a trace of confusion appearing on his face.

He couldn’t tell whether he’d just entered an outer vision and hallucinated, or if he’d simply overtrained recently, letting a Heart Demon take root.

Ever since his fight with Wen He, his primordial spirit had, for the first time, come under such massive pressure. From then on, he started dreaming frequently, and even during the daytime, scenes from that night ten years ago would bubble up in his primordial spirit.

Zhang Lingzong had told him that it was on that night his mother died in a car accident.

As for Zhang Fan, he’d been deeply traumatized, too. Zhang Lingzong said he developed trauma-induced selective amnesia, and over the next couple of years, he visited many hospitals.

That car accident had basically changed the destiny of the whole Zhang family. After that, he depended on Zhang Lingzong for everything.

”I’m not gonna end up crazy from cultivating, am I?”

Zhang Fan muttered to himself, rubbing his temples as he returned to Night is not bright.

As soon as he walked in, Zhang Fan noticed Jiang Lai sitting at his workstation, as if they hadn’t just met moments ago.

”Was it just me by myself just now?” Zhang Fan stared at Jiang Lai, his expression a bit odd.

”Bro, you’re not into her, are you?”

At that moment, a faint voice piped up from the side—Jiang Hu had appeared out of nowhere like a maggot.

”No... No way.” Zhang Fan answered steadily.

”Let me give you a word of advice: stay away from her... That woman’s seriously dangerous.” Jiang Hu glanced at Jiang Lai, a trace of lingering fear in his eyes, lowering his voice in warning.

”Why, what do you mean?” Zhang Fan couldn’t resist asking.

”You see this?”

As he spoke, Jiang Hu suddenly opened his mouth wide and pointed inside.

”One slap—took out two of my wisdom teeth!”

After saying this, Jiang Hu looked a little aggrieved as he peered in Jiang Lai’s direction. ”This chick’s hands are pure evil.”

”What did you do to her?!” Zhang Fan asked suspiciously.

”First day on the job, the boss made me show her around...”

A wave of unpleasant memories flooded Jiang Hu’s mind.

”That day at lunch, we were eating at this restaurant. I noticed there was a pretty girl at the next table, and I complimented her offhand...”

”And she just slapped me on the spot!”

Talking about it, Jiang Hu couldn’t help but touch his face, as if he could still remember the pain.

”What exactly did you say?” Zhang Fan pressed him.

”All I said was...”

”A woman who licks her chopsticks clean after eating definitely gets bonus points!!!”

”...”

”Come on, tell me, was my compliment really that wrong?” Jiang Hu said, heartbroken.

”Let’s be real, you kind of deserved it,” Zhang Fan muttered under his breath.

”What was that?”

”N-Nothing...”

Zhang Fan gave a dry laugh, then withdrew his gaze, turning back to his computer screen.

”Bro, I heard from Sister Wen you’re a Daoist from Zhenwu Mountain? Big shot from a reputable sect.” Jiang Hu asked, already making himself at home.

”And you? Which sect are you from?”

Zhang Fan felt a flicker of curiosity.

At Night is not bright, not counting the boss, there were four people in total—Zhang Fan himself, plus Jiang Lai and Old Yu, whom he didn’t know well.

Wen He specialized in Training Divine Evil, as for Jiang Hu, he obviously wasn’t an ordinary person, but Zhang Fan didn’t know which Dharma Lineage he’d inherited.

”Talismans!”

Jiang Hu leaned back in his chair, stretched lazily, and spat out two words.

”Talismanic Sect?!”

Zhang Fan couldn’t help but look at Jiang Hu more carefully. In Daoist history, the Talismanic Sect and the Dan Ding Sect were among the earliest and most widespread schools.

Nowadays, almost every mountain and temple’s Dharma Lineage includes both Dan Ding and Talismanic techniques.

The most famous ones are the Talisman Magic of the Maoshan Shangqing Sect and Dragon Tiger Mountain Celestial Master Tao.

”So which mountain did you train at?” Zhang Fan pressed.

”Honestly, I never liked those Talismanic arts. What I really wanted to learn was fortune telling...”

Jiang Hu changed tack, ignoring Zhang Fan’s question and rambling on by himself.

”I made up my mind as a kid—I wanted to be the greatest Divination Master in the world...” Jiang Hu cheerfully recalled his childhood ambitions.

”So that someday, after you climb all 96,300 stone steps, you’ll come begging me for a fortune—and I’ll tell you: 1800 yuan for a bed, hot water included, meals not.”

”...”

”It’s a pity, though—went down the wrong path and ended up studying talismans.” Jiang Hu sighed.

”So, who’s your master?”

”By the way, bro, you’re starting to learn magic now, right? Got something good for you...” Jiang Hu sidestepped again.

”Fanfan, don’t bother asking—Hulu has no Sect inheritance.”

At that moment, Wen He walked over.

”No Sect inheritance?” Zhang Fan echoed, confused.

”He used to, but later he got expelled—so now he doesn’t.” Wen He smiled softly.

”...”

”Come on, Sister Wen, can you not bring that up?” Jiang Hu grumbled, pouting.

”Uh...”

Zhang Fan hesitated. He really wanted to ask Jiang Hu why he got expelled.

”Hulu was a prodigy—by age sixteen, he’d mastered every one of the 360 Talismanic Magics in the Sect!”

Wen He seemed to see Zhang Fan’s curiosity, and smiled.

”Three hundred sixty Talismanic Magics?!” Zhang Fan was shaken.

He knew there were Sects where, even summing up all their Talisman Magics, they didn’t reach 360. To master all that at sixteen—talent like that was rare.

”By age eighteen, Hulu only remembered a hundred and twenty.”

”Huh?!”

”Nineteen years old, only ninety left.”

”Why fewer and fewer?” Zhang Fan looked even more confused.

”Hulu, how many do you remember now?” Wen He asked casually.

”Eight or nine, I guess.” Jiang Hu rolled his eyes, answering without care.

”A fallen prodigy?!” Zhang Fan’s expression grew weirder. He couldn’t help but say, ”There’s no way they kicked you out just because you forgot stuff.”

”Not exactly.” Wen He shook her head. ”It’s because...”

”Sister Wen, I think the boss is calling for you.”

”Really?”

Jiang Hu gave a glance, then sent Wen He off. He leaned closer to Zhang Fan, hooked an arm around his shoulders, and glanced at the post on Zhang Fan’s computer screen.

”Bro, you’ve passed the Qi Worker stage—are you getting ready to start cultivating magic?”

”Still groping around,” Zhang Fan nodded.

Cultivating magic wasn’t like picking herbs—it wasn’t as simple as grabbing any random spell to practice. He still had no clue where to begin.

”I’ve got a solid method,” Jiang Hu suddenly said, all mysterious.

”Weren’t you expelled? ”

Leaking your Sect’s techniques after being expelled would be a massive taboo in Daoist circles.

”What’s so great about those talismans anyway?” Jiang Hu shook his head. ”Even a dog wouldn’t bother learning them.”

”When I got expelled and left the mountain, I met a master while traveling. I followed him for half a year before he finally taught me a technique...”

”Man, I went through so much trouble learning it.”

”You want to teach me?” Zhang Fan raised an eyebrow.

First day meeting someone and he wanted to share a magic art—it sounded like a scam.

”I learned it, but I didn’t master it.”

This time, Jiang Hu’s face sported a hint of tragic defeat.

”That old master said, if I couldn’t master it, I’d have to pass it on. If I still haven’t done that by age twenty-eight, I’ll suffer a great tribulation.”

”Not passing it on means your whole family dies?” Zhang Fan asked, stunned.

”I’ve looked for so many people all these years, nobody’s succeeded.” Jiang Hu gave a bitter smile.

”Are you sure you weren’t getting scammed? And you believed it?” Zhang Fan looked at him oddly.

”The Daoist Skill the master taught me—it’s insane. Brutal, even,” Jiang Hu said, lips curled bitterly.

”I have no choice but to believe.”

”Say what?” Zhang Fan blurted out.

”Northern Emperor Ghost Killing Technique!” Jiang Hu spat out a name.