Chapter 81: Chapter 79: Song Ciwan’s Life-bound Illusion Text

Song Ciwan was not a Scholar!

But at this moment, under the night sky, as the Spiritual Light descended, a bright, clear, azure light flickered to life within the Spirit Platform of her Sea of Consciousness.

Inside her Sea of Consciousness, there was the Heart Sutra Fire of the Samadhi True Fire, the Illusory Demon Seed of the Void Illusion Demon Sword, her own unformed Divine Soul Power, and now, an inch of Spiritual Light had been added!

When the Spiritual Light formed, her own Life-bound Illusion Text appeared at the same time.

Song Ciwan opened her palm, and two pale-gold seal-script characters slowly materialized within it: Dao, Strong.

Not "self-strengthening," but "Dao" and "Strong."

’Is this Heaven and Earth’s way of acknowledging my claim that the highest Dao is "self-strengthening"?’

’Right, why wouldn’t Heaven and Earth acknowledge it?’

Heaven and Earth gave birth to all things, and none fail to strive upward.

Take the tiny ant, for instance. To find food and survive, it can lift objects hundreds of times its own body weight. Or take the wild grass; it can grow in open fields or in the cracks between stones under immense pressure.

Or the mayfly, born in the morning to die at dusk; in its short life, is it not always pursuing a brilliant, fleeting moment of glory?

On Bibo Lake, when the Flood Dragon shed its blood, even the Water Demons who vied to bathe in the Dragon Blood at the cost of their lives and souls were also striving upward.

This is demonic nature, but is it not also the nature of all things?

The two characters, "Dao" and "Strong," fell back into Song Ciwan’s palm.

The "Dao" character silently faded away, but the "Strong" character radiated a strange power that flowed into Song Ciwan’s entire body. It gradually soothed her aching frame. Her skin, bones, flesh, meridians... every part of her was nourished by it and rapidly enhanced.

This included the Heart Sutra Fire in her Sea of Consciousness, the Illusory Demon Seed, the inch of Spiritual Light, and even her own Divine Soul.

All of them were significantly strengthened when the "Strong" Life-bound Illusion Text returned to its place.

Song Ciwan took a breath and immediately formed another hand seal, unleashing Escape into the Night.

She escaped into the ubiquitous shadows of the night, vanishing from her spot in an instant. Her speed was now clearly more than thirty percent faster than before!

In the sky, the thunder ceased and the clouds dispersed. Only the Inn remained under the night sky, standing just as it was in the mortal world.

Behind the Inn, in one of the crudely built dormitory-style guest rooms, a world-weary, burly man reeking of alcohol suddenly sat up.

He had looked drowsily drunk when lying down, but now that he was sitting up, his gaze was surprisingly clear and sharp.

"Where did you just go?" he asked in a low voice, his hand gently stroking the top of an ancient-looking gourd at his waist.

The gourd didn’t react. The weathered-looking Third Master Luo said in a deep voice, "All cities in the Great Zhou are monitored by Arrays. The Mountain and River Mirror is everywhere. If you act too brazenly, you’ll surely be captured, and I won’t be able to protect you then!"

After he said this, the gourd suddenly vibrated gently.

Only then did a faint voice drift out from within: "Someone told me that the Celestial Dao has a high path, a middle path, and a low path. Asking for help is only the middle path, not the high path. It is the logic of the Celestial Dao that you cannot protect me, so how could I place my hopes in you?"

Third Master Luo was taken aback. He asked casually, "Then what is the high path?"

The faint voice chuckled softly. "I’m not going to tell you!"

Third Master Luo: ...

After leaving with her Escape Technique, Song Ciwan wandered around half the city.

She still hadn’t calmed down inside and felt jumpy, seeing enemies in every shadow.

The appearance of that mysterious being had been truly terrifying. ’I have no idea where it came from, or how it knew about the Divine Envoy’s Dharma Transmission.’

’After all, I taught the Fist Technique to Yu Lin in a dream, not in reality! In reality, the "Divine Envoy" had merely stood silently by the mortal boy Yu Lin’s bedside for a while.’

’Did the strange entity also enter Yu Lin’s dream, or did it spy on his dream from the outside? Besides knowing I’m the "Divine Envoy," has it also discovered my real identity? Although I managed to coax it away with a Dharma Transmission, will it appear again later?’

All these questions were a source of great anxiety.

This was something that even a moment of Enlightenment couldn’t soothe.

Song Ciwan could only leave the Inn for now and ponder as she wandered.

Within her Scholar’s Illusion Text, the "Dao" character circulated unseen, forming a unique current of energy in the background that soothed Song Ciwan’s various anxieties.

’That’s right. The strange entity probably hasn’t discovered my true identity. What alarmed it wasn’t anything else—it was clearly the Dharma Transmission Skill I used when teaching the Fist Technique to Yu Lin in the dream!’

’Techniques should not be transmitted lightly. The sages of old truly did not deceive me.’

An hour later, Song Ciwan returned to the courtyard gate of the Inn.

This time, she didn’t activate Bright Vision, nor did she use the Measurement System or take out the Tongyou Mirror—the Tongyou Mirror could only reveal Village Level or lower Mysterious Ghost Spirits and Yin Qi entities, so it was useless against more profound opponents anyway.

This time, Song Ciwan only used her naked eyes to look, but the world appeared different to her now.

She felt as though she saw something, ’there, in the courtyard behind the Inn, the one with the row of large dormitory-style buildings!’

But after just one glance, Song Ciwan immediately looked away.

She turned and once again cast Escape into the Night, fleeing from the Inn.

A moment later, Song Ciwan donned the Puppet Paper Clothing she had just acquired and used her Escape Technique to return to the Inn once more.

Her voice, her aura, and even the shadow created by her Escape Technique became invisible in the night, truly leaving no trace!

This was the effect of the Puppet Paper Clothing. Although it was only at the Two-star Level, its invisibility ability actually surpassed its own rank. With the enhancement from Song Ciwan’s "Strong" Illusion Text, the power of this Puppet Paper Clothing was quite satisfactory.

The only pity was that it could only be used once, and it would automatically become useless after a quarter of an hour.

Fortunately, despite the dangers tonight, her gains had been substantial.

Song Ciwan returned to her room at the Inn without a sound. Inside, Aunt Jin Hua and Yu Chan were still fast asleep.

’What an eventful and wondrous night.’

On the Insight Technique panel, it read: Side Door Taoist Skill: Dharma Transmission (First Layer, Skilled 515/1000).

After transmitting the Dao to a Great City Level Mysterious Ghost Spirit, her Dharma Transmission Skill had jumped directly from Beginner to Skilled!

As for the Mysterious Ghost Spirits she had harvested, she would have to wait until after Midnight tomorrow to sell them.

The next day, Song Ciwan bid farewell to Aunt Jin Hua and the others.

The Situong Escort Agency was only staying in Huailing for one night. On the second day, they would set out on their journey to Pinglan.

Sometimes, the intersections of people’s lives are just that brief and shallow. Like a gust of wind, they blow past each other, becoming mere passersby in each other’s journeys.

Aunt Jin Hua was reluctant to see her go but didn’t try to make her stay. She stuffed the dozen or so remaining vegetable buns from her bundle into Song Ciwan’s hands. This time, Song Ciwan didn’t refuse, accepting them all readily.

Cradling her goose, she took out two small pouches from her sash bag.

She pressed the pouches into Aunt Jin Hua’s hand and said, "These pouches contain Exorcism Talismans. I got them from our Su Yang City God Temple. Auntie, you and little sister Ah Chan should each wear one."

Aunt Jin Hua opened her mouth to refuse, but Song Ciwan simply placed the pouches in her hand, picked up her goose, turned, and strode away.

She walked toward the Situong Escort Agency’s convoy and spotted Third Master Luo, the storyteller from last night, in the crowd.

Song Ciwan paid him no mind, her gaze sweeping over him casually before she met up with Master Wei, who had come personally to greet her.

Just then, the Heaven and Earth Scale appeared again, collecting another cluster of emotions from Aunt Jin Hua’s family.

[Human Desires: Joy, Worry, Regret. One jin and two taels. Exchangeable.]

[Human Desires: Joy, Worry, Love. Eight taels and nine maces. Exchangeable.]

[Human Desires: Love, Worry, Regret. Six taels and three maces. Exchangeable.]

...

In the Mortal World, there is parting, but there is also true affection.