The time of learning always flies quickly, and the climate of Yunzhou is really not clear in spring, summer, autumn and winter, when Pan Long was sketching on the street one day, he happened to see a few old people who were only wrapped in a white cloth carrying an altar larger than a person, all the way like a plague god version of people are afraid, so that the people on the road keep at least ten steps away, and walk slowly towards the outside of the village, only to suddenly realize.

"It's another year of Dragon Boat Festival!"

The custom of refining Gu is still spread in many places in Yunzhou, and the most common folk Gu refining is to put a variety of poisonous insects that have been fed with secret medicine for a period of time in the jar on the day of the Dragon Boat Festival and place them in a special crypt. Then pray to him often, either once every three or two days, or once every five or six days...... It lasted until a cloudy and rainy summer, and the altar was opened at noon when there was no rain or sunshine, and the poisonous insects that survived in the altar were the so-called "Gu".

This kind of Gu is not very toxic, and its main use is very interesting, it is used to "witness and swear".

Specifically, it is to feed this Gu with the blood of the Gu cultivator, and after about three years, this Gu will be able to channel. In the future, if you need to swear, let the oath and the Gu cultivator each take a drop of blood for the Gu worm to eat, and then the oath person will swear in front of the Gu cultivator and the Gu worm. If the oath is broken, he will be poisoned and die for no apparent reason.

As for what exactly is going on with this poison, there are different opinions.

Some people say that it was the Gu worm psychic, knowing that he had broken his oath, and specially went to bite him to death.

Some people say that a drop of his blood was eaten by a Gu worm, and he had a sense in the dark, once he broke his oath, the Gu poison could be transmitted to him through the air.

Some people also say that Gu refining actually comes from the Wutong Divine Technique a long time ago, and Gu worms are the prototype of the Wutong Evil God. Although it is only a prototype, after all, it is also a god and a ghost, and mortals who violate gods and ghosts will naturally die.

These claims are miraculous, but most of them are just boasting.

In today's Kyushu, most of the people who have studied Gu poison the most are not the Gu elders in these countryside, but Bi Lingkong, who has dealt with Gu immortals from all walks of life. She once said: "In fact, at least seven or eight points out of ten Gu techniques are boasting, and if it can really live up to its name, there may not be one out of ten times." Even if it's the kind that scares three points of medicine for seven points, it may only be one or two times out of ten. ”

"Mortals tend to be like that, they like to exaggerate what they don't understand, or what they fear. Concealing fear with exaggeration, or even concealing one's own cowardice and incompetence by spreading fear...... This is one of the common disadvantages of all intelligent beings, even if it is just a child, no one teaches him, he can learn without a teacher. ”

When she said this, she looked a little cynical: "In the past, the master always said that human nature is inherently good, and he must be wrong! How can human nature be inherently good? I have specially observed many children, when they do all kinds of selfish and cruel things, they do not have the slightest pity or uneasiness, but are simply relaxed and happy...... Human nature must be inherently evil, and it is very evil!"

Pan Long was going to talk to her about the idea of "the animality and sociality of human beings", but seeing her angry appearance and remembering her experience, he wisely closed his mouth.

Bi Lingkong's hatred cannot be resolved with words. The collapse of Confucianism dealt a big blow to her.

To be honest, she can still maintain her mental normality and not become a madman, Pan Long thinks she is already amazing and admirable.

During the time he followed Bi Lingkong to learn art, his understanding of the "demon god" also increased a lot. The so-called demon god, the most important thing is the obsession that crosses the boundary between man and god, once this obsession is broken, the result is either a quick death, or a madness and a monster.

Bi Lingkong was able to persevere despite the shattering of Confucian beliefs, and even found the obsession in Confucian thought that was enough to support himself to become a demon god, which was unbelievable in Pan Long's opinion.

It's like a person walking to a mountain of garbage stacked with abandoned cars, picking and picking, and using the parts found in various garbage heaps to piece together a world-class stylish sports car.

...... You can build a van, a jeep, a caravan or something, forget it. In the garbage mountain, where do you find the right parts for luxury sports cars? Not to mention anything else, for example, car logos, which have already been cut down and sold to collectors, okay?

But the pain in Bi Lingkong's heart is actually still obvious. She often touches the scene, because of certain things that think of the past, and then laughs at every turn, or is sullen alone. It can be seen that she can't let go of these past events, they are like stones, weighing heavily on her heart, and there is no need to relax.

Pan Long also once persuaded her: Emperor Jiazi is dead, and she is sulking now, but in fact, she can only hurt herself.

Bi Lingkong always smiled slightly, his face was full of melancholy, and he neither agreed nor refutated.

Pan Long had nothing to do about her, so he could only shake his head and sit on the side and watch.

After a long while, Bi Lingkong finally cleaned up his mood, turned his head to look, and found that Pan Long was painting.

On the painting, it is a woman wearing a scribe's robe, with a beautiful appearance and a free and easy posture, but her face is full of melancholy, which ruins the style and temperament of the whole person.

"Very well drawn. She said.

Pan Long shook his head: "The painting is not good at all, and I failed to capture the charm." ”

"Shen Yun?" Bi Lingkong smiled bitterly, "The Shen Yun of the lost dog, isn't it this kind of down-and-out appearance." ”

"It's just you who thinks you're a lost dog. ”

As he spoke, Pan Long hooked his hand and took a piece of the nearby river out of thin air, drawing a circle in the air.

The water light is as round as a mirror, and inside the mirror, it is Bi Lingkong's appearance just now.

She looked melancholy, but there was no weakness and confusion in her eyes, only strength and stubbornness.

"I've been learning to paint for so long, and I can only draw a rough idea, and I want people to see who the person in the painting is, whether he is sad or happy, and I can barely do it. But if I want to express those complex feelings and truly present a person with a rich heart on paper, I still can't do it. ”

Pan Long sighed, and with a flick of his fingers, the drawing paper turned into ashes and scattered all over the ground.

"I don't know exactly when I will be able to truly capture a person's subtle feelings with a paintbrush and record them faithfully......"

Bi Lingkong was silent for a while, then shook his head: "I think you draw very well." ”

"Not like it, but it's good?"

"Like is only secondary. Bi Lingkong said, "Your painting really shows my inner emotions. I don't know how many times more powerful than I am used to pretending to be. ”

She laughed as she spoke.

"It seems that you have completed the basic introductory cultivation, and starting tomorrow, I will teach you the real key to 'do what you want'. ”

Pan Long was taken aback and asked, "What is the 'real key'?

"Of course, what you learned before was also the 'do what you want' exercises, but those are just the basics. I don't know how much time and effort it takes to derive a truly complete 'from the heart' from those foundations. Bi Lingkong smiled and said, "One of the fundamental exercises of Confucianism, you don't think it's that simple, right? If this exercise is so simple, then why did we kill 26 anti-kings before and after and conquer 14 counties?"

"Confucianism was so prosperous back then?!" Pan Long was taken aback.

"During the Warring States Period, there were four major schools in the world. Among the six major scholars, I am led by Confucianism. How do you think the position of the top of the world's leading schools came about?"

Pan Long has nothing to say, only admiration.

Early the next morning, Bi Lingkong brought an extremely heavy armor for Pan Long to wear.

"What's the use of this armor?" Pan Long asked, "When it comes to defense, my own flesh and skin are much stronger than it. ”

Bi Lingkong was stunned for a moment, and poked his finger on Pan Long's shoulder.

The skin and flesh that had been quenched by the Nine Turns Xuangong didn't seem to have any defensive effect in front of her slender fingers, and the skin was punctured all of a sudden, and a small wound appeared.

Pan Long was a little embarrassed, but Bi Lingkong's eyes widened, looking at his wounds, and then at his fingers, with a look of disbelief.

"If I finger it, even a piece of iron can poke a hole out. Why did you poke you and just break a little skin?" she said in surprise, "Your skin is really stronger than your normal heavy armor......

Her eyes suddenly lit up and she said, "Have you ever considered peeling your own skin one piece at a time to make leather?" Over time, make up enough portions and make yourself a leather armor?"

Pan Long was stunned, he really hadn't considered this method.

It's a bit crazy, and no one with a good brain can do it.

But...... When you think about it, it seems like a pretty good idea.

Anyway, he can recover quickly after being injured, and even if he peels off a piece of skin, it is estimated that it will not take half an hour to grow again. Then the leather is nitrated, the material is accumulated, and the armor is made...... Seems completely doable.

With his current physical strength, the defensive power of ordinary heavy armor is no longer worth mentioning. But if he uses his own leather to make leather and then make armor, I believe that the strength must be far above that of ordinary heavy armor, which can help him somewhat.

Bi Lingkong saw that he was a little moved, and immediately said that he could help.

"Senior, you can also make armor?"

"How can I make leather? ”

"And how are you going to help me?"

"I can help you with anesthesia. Bi Lingkong said confidently, "It's anesthetized, and it doesn't hurt to peel the skin." ”

They really tried it, and after about a quarter of an hour, they got a piece that was incredibly hard, with a dull and dull sound when their fingers tapped it, and it was a thin piece that could be used to cut through the crust of ordinary metal.

Pan Long then asked an important question.

"What cobbler can make such a leather into armor?"

Bi Lingkong was also a little dazed, she recalled it carefully for a long time, and finally said that she could try to make it by refining magic weapons.

So she spewed out a flame and roasted the crust inside. While baking, while inputting mana, I saw words emerge in the air, and then flew into the flames one by one, blending into the crust.

After about half an hour, she put away the flames, and the crust had turned into about a heart goggle.

"Try it. ”

Pan Long took the leather heart shield that was still warm, pulled out a short knife, and stabbed it hard.

With a muffled sound, the steel dagger snapped in two, and there was only a small white dot on the leather heart guard.

"It's done!" Bi Lingkong smiled with satisfaction, "Next, as long as you follow this method, refine the various parts of the leather armor one by one, and when all the parts are gathered, and then cast a spell to combine them, it will be a complete set of armor." ”

Pan Long was also satisfied, but he ...... Thinking about "making armor for himself out of his own skin", he thought it was a little weird.

"Do you think something is not quite right?" Bi Lingkong saw his thoughts, smiled and stretched out his hand, letting him look at his sleeve, "See my dress? It is all made from the feathers on my own body. ”

She said happily, "For us demon gods, our own body is the best raw material for refining. The magic weapon and utensils that are refined with their own bodies as materials are the most suitable for our needs. ”

Pan Long frowned, he always felt that something was not quite right......

Fortunately, he is not a tangled person, and now is not the time to dwell on these details.

The matter of refining leather armor can be talked about later, and the most important thing today is to learn the real trick of "doing what you want".

Because he didn't need to wear armor, Bi Lingkong took Pan Long directly to a forest. She cast a spell that broke many thick branches, hanging them in the air, dangling and bumping around.

"When I was practicing the Fa, I used to practice in this environment. Pan Long said, "Just these branches, as long as I am not careless, none of them will try to hit me." ”

Bi Lingkong smiled: "You go over first." ”

Pan Long walked straight into the bushes, and thick logs came from all directions, and he easily dodged them, not even one of them could touch his side.

Seeing that he was so relaxed, Bi Ling pinched a magic trick in his empty hand and blew at him.

"Forbidden!"

Pan Long's eyes flickered, and he saw himself standing motionless between the countless thick logs, which kept hitting him, and then bounced to the side, the sound was like the builders with sledgehammers, nailing piles to the foundation of the house.

"You have understood that people's emotions cannot be connected, and you have learned not to use your emotions to speculate on others. But this is only the first step, and then you have to understand that the 'true self' and the 'self' are not completely connected, find the 'true self' outside of the object, and learn to use the 'true self' to observe the world and control yourself. ”

Bi Lingkong's voice came faintly, and when he turned his head to look, he saw a small crow, perched on a branch, tilting his head to look at this side.

"The ego can be deceived, but the true self cannot. Only by being clear about one's true self at all times can one truly not hesitate, regret, or fear, and never go against one's true heart in whatever you do. ”

The crow looked at him, his eyes were full of expectation: "This is the real 'do what you want', in the entire Confucian sect back then, there were not a few people in total who practiced, all those who practiced this finally cultivated into immortal Buddhas, even if they were eliminated for a while, there was a day when they returned." ”

"I can't do it, I can only cultivate into a demon god. I hope you can truly cultivate it and inherit the core Taoist system of our Confucianism!"