Afternoon.

The dark clouds gradually dispersed, and the light rain gradually stopped.

Although the observatory at the headquarters of the Exorcism Division is open-air, there is an invisible canopy made of spells on top of it, and even after a heavy rain, the ground, low tables, and futons here are still dry and spotless.

Luo Chuan waved his hand lightly.

Gu Xu followed his instructions and sat on the futon opposite him.

"This is the 'Baiwei Tea' that I asked Dean Li of Longmen Academy to come," Luo Chuan pointed to a teacup on the table and said to Gu Xu with a smile, "Do you want to try it?" ”

Gu Xu read through all kinds of classics, and naturally knew that "Baiwei Tea" was a unique specialty of Longmen Academy, which was of great help to monks like him who were climbing towards "Wangxiangtai" and needed to experience human emotions.

"Thank you, Lord!"

Gu Xu didn't refuse, lifted the teacup and took a sip gently, then closed his eyes.

A mysterious sensation immediately rose from the depths of his soul. Many pictures are like a movie, accompanied by many emotions such as joy, anger, sadness, and happiness, which emerge in his mind one after another.

These include his first practice, the first time he drew talismans, opening the box and seeing the snow ginseng that Chen Jisheng gave him, listening to the spirit of the "Jinghong Pen" in the Lu family's murderous mansion telling about the past, watching Shi Xiaohan laugh and kick the shuttlecock with a group of children by the Yihe River, and being forced to practice the "Zhao Ming Forbidden Technique" by the empty Xuansan people next to the black altar in Yishan......

When he opened his eyes again, he felt like he had woken up from a big dream, and in a trance he seemed to relive the memories of the months since he had traveled to the present.

His intuition told him that tonight's cultivation should be very smooth.

"How does it taste?" Luo Chuan asked with a kind smile.

"It's like tasting all the flavors of the world."

"How many steps have you climbed on the 'Homesick Ridge' now?"

"Eight hundred and eighty-six."

"In less than a month, I climbed nearly nine hundred steps...... The speed of your cultivation is really terrifying," Luo Chuan chuckled lightly and commented, "You must know that a recognized genius like Chu Fengge had spent nearly half a year climbing the eight hundred steps at the beginning. ”

"Maybe it's because I stumbled upon a little trick!" Gu Xu said modestly.

"Have you ever thought about how you're going to climb the 'Broken Soul Cliff' in the near future?" Luo Chuan then asked, "According to your cultivation speed, it will most likely only take one or two months to reach the 'Broken Soul Cliff'.

"I think if you can climb the 'Broken Soul Cliff' before the 'Luoshui Conference' begins, the odds should be greater."

"'Broken Soul Cliff'......" Gu Xu silently recited the word in his heart.

According to what he learned from the texts, the path to climb the "Homesick Ridge" can be called a majestic and dangerous one—the distance he has traveled so far is actually just the beginning.

When he reached the 1,999 steps, he would face a cliff like an axe. There were no roads, no stairs, and he had to rely on his own strength to climb them with his bare hands.

Because in the history of the Great Wilderness, many cultivators and predecessors accidentally fell from this cliff in the process of cultivation, and fell into the abyss filled with the howl of ghosts and wolves, and finally went mad and lost their souls.

That's why this cliff is called the "Broken Soul Cliff".

However, after thousands of years of exploration, the monks gradually found a way to deal with the "Broken Soul Cliff", and the casualty rate dropped significantly.

It requires the monk to find a specific environment that matches the attributes of the exercises—for example, monks who practice the Ice attribute exercises often choose to retreat on snow-covered mountain tops; For example, monks who practice wood attribute exercises often choose to go to the primeval forest with ancient trees towering to the sky; For example, monks who practice thunder and lightning attribute exercises often choose to practice during the season when thunderstorms are frequent......

Even if it is the most basic cultivation of the "Returning to the Yuan Jue" without special attributes, the monks will find a unique place for feng shui and use the formation to build an ideal environment for unobstructed breathing.

With the help of the environment and the power of the exercises, the monks were able to construct ropes on the "Broken Soul Cliff" or carve out a ladder to cast, so that they could continue to move forward on the "Homesick Ridge".

Of course, the "Broken Soul Cliff" is just an illusion constructed by the monks in the world of consciousness.

Its essence is actually an all-round and leapfrogging enhancement of the true element in the monk's body, and it is a qualitative change naturally caused by a quantitative change.

For example, Gu Xu's current cultivation of the "Red Flame True Technique" can make his true yuan with the effect of flame burning, then after he ascends the Broken Soul Cliff, the maximum temperature that his true yuan can reach will be multiplied, and there is even a chance to have characteristics such as exploding, breaking through defenses, or inhibiting the enemy's wound healing.

For example, Chu Fengge and Shangguan Jin, who cultivated the "Stars Formula", were able to obtain a more refined star power after climbing the "Broken Soul Cliff", which could not only make the true yuan attached to the attributes of the main star of the Upper Destiny Palace, but also use a series of martial arts such as "Meteor Walking to the Moon" and "Yunhai Xinghe Sword" created by Luo Sishou more skillfully.

"I thought about arranging a formation in the house that can maintain a high temperature environment," Gu Xu replied, "Because I have just recently comprehended the 'Burning Sky Seven Style' and the second form of the 'Bright Candle', it shouldn't be difficult for me to do." ”

"I have a better idea here," Luo Chuan showed a mysterious smile on his face, "I wonder if you're interested in hearing about Gu Xiaoyou?" ”

"Please also ask the head for advice."

"In Dagu Pass, south of Luojing, there is a grotto underneath the ground, and there is a hot magma river in the grotto—it is a very ideal place for monks who practice fire attribute exercises."

Gu Xu did not respond immediately.

…………

He is no stranger to the place name "Otani Pass".

It is recorded in ancient books: "Dagu, fifty miles south of Los Angeles, the old name is Tonggu." ”

This valley is a gateway to the south of Luojing City, and it is also an important pass to Nanyang, Ruzhou and other places, its terrain is precipitous, the peaks are cut up, the shrubs are thick, and the heavy troops can be ambushed in wartime, and the north-south traffic is cut off.

Of course, the reason why Gu Xu was silent was not because Dagu Pass was a military stronghold that was easy to defend and difficult to attack.

Rather, it was because it was once the headquarters of a sect known as the "Demon Cult", the "Longevity Sect".

According to the book, this sect was once rampant, not only practicing evil methods, but also secretly recruiting followers, storing incense, and performing bloody rituals.

Therefore, in the third year of Tianxing, Emperor Tianxing sent the Praetorian Guards and the Exorcism Division to serve it in one pot, and no one survived, whether it was the sect master, elders, ordinary disciples, or miscellaneous servants; Its mountain gate was also burned clean by a fire.

All traces of the "Longevity Sect" in the world have almost been erased.

If it weren't for the fact that there were still a few short sentences in the book about Emperor Tianxing's great exploits in destroying the Demon Sect, I am afraid that the world would have completely forgotten the existence of this sect.

In this regard, Gu Xu once secretly sighed in his heart: His Majesty, the emperor of the Great Qi Dynasty, is really indecisive in dealing with ghosts and monsters, and he is heavy in dealing with the human race.

It stands to reason that the Kongxuansan people at their peak were extremely jealous of the Tianxing Emperor, which obviously showed that the strength of the Tianxing Emperor far exceeded that of ordinary Eighth Realm cultivators, and he might even have the combat power of the Ninth Realm.

But now, not only are there "fierce god" level ghosts in various provinces that are harming the people, but also only about a hundred miles away from Luojing, and the "ghosts and monsters of Pishan Mountain" are still monopolizing the mountain and claiming hegemony.

However, when encountering the Qingzhou Lu clan who committed "treason", or the Longevity Sect, which was regarded as the "Demon Sect", Emperor Tianxing was not merciful at all, and killed them all, leaving no grass behind.

Gu Xu once complained: Could it be that Emperor Tianxing also believes that "if the old husband wants to go outside, he must first settle inside"?

…………

Seeing that Gu Xu didn't respond for a while, Luo Chuan smiled and said, "Gu Xiaoyou, I know what you're thinking. The lava river I'm talking about does have something to do with the 'Longevity Cult'.

"Since the 'Longevity Sect' also cultivates fire attribute exercises, the monks in the sect often retreat in that grotto.

"But now, the 'Longevity Sect' has been completely erased by His Majesty, and that magma river has also become a resource shared by all the monks of the Great Qi Dynasty, but it has not yet been made public to the masses.

"Some of the monks at the headquarters of the Exorcism Division and some teachers and students of the Longmen Academy occasionally choose to go there for meditation, and the children of the Zhao clan in Youzhou regard it as their practice ground, and every time they come to Luojing City, they will go there for a few days - after all, their Youzhou people once believed in the 'God of Fire', and they are basically very good at playing with fire, and the environment there will be a great help to their cultivation.

"You can go there and cultivate without the slightest scruples.

"I really hope that you can break through the 'Broken Soul Cliff' as soon as possible, and then achieve a good result in the 'Luoshui Conference', and once again give our Exorcism Division a higher face."

Gu Xu nodded, and at the same time decided to go back and check some more information about the Daguguan Grottoes.

On the path of cultivation, if you want to go further, you need to walk calmly and solidly at every step. Because Gu Xu is determined to become a saint, he needs to strive to do his best at every stage and leave no troubles.

He came from an ordinary background, and he used to live in a small remote county like Yishui, where he didn't have particularly good cultivation conditions, and almost everything needed to be fought for by himself.

But now, since he had the opportunity to share the same place of cultivation and practice with the children of the Zhao clan in Youzhou, he would naturally not be polite.

"By the way, Gu Xiaoyou," after a short silence, Luo Chuan continued to speak, "Actually, I'm curious, I haven't asked you to practice the 'Stars Technique' with Chu Fengge and Shangguan Jian before, have you ever been dissatisfied in your heart."

"After all, the place where the power of the stars in the entire Great Qi Dynasty is strongest is this stargazing platform under your feet - if you are cultivating the 'Secret of the Stars', you can easily climb the 'Broken Soul Cliff' in this yamen, and you don't need to be so troublesome at all."

"No," Gu Xu shook his head, "I once read from the book that the top-grade exercises contain the true meaning of the Great Dao of the saints, which is essentially a shortcut opened up by the predecessors for the future generations, so it can speed up the cultivation of the future generations. But at most, it can only enable people to cultivate to the sixth realm.

"If you want to cultivate to the seventh realm, you must open up your own 'path'. Taking shortcuts won't work.

"Now "Red Flame True Recipe" is very suitable for me."

"You're right," Luo Chuan smiled and said, "For monks who aspire to become saints, the Superior Grade Exercises are indeed a shackle that hinders progress.

"However, the 'Stars Technique' is not an exercise created by me, but an exercise created by the Emperor Ziwei of the Central Heaven Arctic for believers and put in my mind in the form of a dream.

"Its true meaning is to conform to the will of heaven and obey fate, which really does not match your will to 'change your life against the sky'."

"Actually...... I just want to live a little longer. Gu Xu sighed lightly and sighed silently.

Today, he got confirmation from Luo Chuan's mouth: Luo Chuan's "Tao" is indeed related to "conforming to the mandate of heaven", which is completely consistent with his previous conclusion.

It's just that he has an inexplicable relationship with Luo Chuan's "Dao".

Although he didn't agree with this kind of "Dao", everything came from Luo Chuan's spells and martial arts, and he could learn it almost at a glance.

"I almost forgot an important thing," at this time, Luo Chuan suddenly spoke, interrupting Gu Xu's thoughts, "Gu Xiaoyou, today you created a talisman like the 'Fire Character', which will be extremely useful for our future ghost killing plan."

"Would you like to teach the monks of the Exorcism Division how to draw it? In terms of meritorious rewards, the Exorcist Division will not treat you badly. ”

"Of course you can," Gu Xu replied without thinking, "My original intention in designing the 'Fire Character' was to hope that all monks would be able to use it. ”

He was well aware that in the battle between a monk and an evil spirit, sometimes a single sigil could turn the tide of battle, help the monk escape from danger, and save the lives of one or even many people.

These people are likely to be people he knows, or even close to.

For example, the "Taishang Arctic Town Demon Killing Talisman" that he improved at the beginning once helped Ma Qin defeat the ghost "Bag" and escape from death.

Today, when he designed the "Fire Character", he didn't really think about what the return would be.

But now, since the head of Luo Si mentioned the meritorious award, he naturally will not shirk.

After all, he is in great need of merit now.

"It's just that the 'Fire Character' is not in the existing Fu Seal system, nor has it been used in actual combat, so it is difficult for us to measure its value and directly calculate the corresponding merits," Luo Chuan continued, "So, I will consider giving you a basic reward of 1,000 meritorious deeds first."

"After that, if any monk kills a goblin with the 'fire character' nationwide, you'll receive an additional merit bonus - the merit value will be calculated based on the specific situation and the level of the goblin killed.

"What do you think?"

PS: On the last day of November, ask for a monthly pass!!

…………

Exegesis:

(1) "Big Valley, fifty miles south of Los Angeles, formerly known as Tonggu." ——Jin Luji, "Luoyang Ji"

(2) "If the deceased husband wants to go outside, he must first settle inside." —Song Zhao Pu

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