Volume 3, Chapter 73 – Memories (Two-in-One)

Evil corpse?

Bai Xiang’s thoughts drifted for a moment and she instinctively connected it to some of those “prehistoric-cultivation” webnovels she had read.

Very soon she realized it was not that at all. This should be a term of art, or an alias.

In those prehistoric webnovel cultivation systems, if a being wanted to become a Saint and prove the Dao to the Hunyuan, they had to cut away the three corpses of good, evil, and self.

Previously, when she had been investigating the On the Five Worms , she had found a Daoist text in her own memory called The Taishang Scripture of Eliminating the Three Corpses and Nine Worms to Preserve Life . It spoke of “three corpses” within the human body: the Upper Corpse Peng Ju, the Middle Corpse Peng Ju, and the Lower Corpse Peng Jiao.

The Upper Corpse Peng Ju dwelt in a person’s head and, if nourished, made them dull and stupid.

The Middle Corpse Peng Ju dwelt in the chest cavity and, if nourished, made them depressed and wretched.

The Lower Corpse Peng Jiao dwelt in the belly and, if nourished, made one not only greedy and gluttonous, but also obsessed with matters of sex.

The author of The Taishang Scripture of Eliminating the Three Corpses and Nine Worms to Preserve Life held that the Five Grains were the condensation of Heaven and Earth’s primal qi. When people ate the Five Grains, they were providing that primal qi to the three corpse worms. As long as the primal qi did not cease, the three corpse worms could not die. Only by grain-avoidance, cutting off the Heaven-and-Earth primal qi provided by the Five Grains, could one starve those vermin to death.

Grain-avoidance could make one’s brain keen.

Grain-avoidance could make one’s spirit terrace clear and still.

Grain-avoidance could make one sever the root of desire, free from the drive of lust, carefree and unbound.

By comparison, the theory of the three corpses of good, evil, and self pursued transcendence on the level of thought and realm. The “three corpse worms” theory was much more concrete. It pointed directly to the filthy maggots inside the body and even gave a method for cutting corpses and removing worms.

There were similar scriptures passed down in the Nine Provinces of Great Yu, and in history there had indeed been people who cultivated according to them, but the results had never been good.

This was the clearest truth imaginable. The world was material. Living beings needed to consume energy to survive, and eating was one of the fastest ways to obtain energy. You could not truly believe such folk prescriptions and simply stop eating. The only end to that was being starved to death.

If you could not stop eating, and so could not truly avoid grains, how were you supposed to cut away the three corpse worms?

This idea had been evolving from ancient times to today. In the end it had gradually shifted toward the theory of the three corpses of good, evil, and self, toward talking about the metaphysical, about eradicating desire, about the state of the Taishang, which forgot emotions. There were many folk tales used to support it.

For example, some people loved alcohol, loved it to a deranged degree. The folk counterpart was the idea of a “wine worm,” saying that such a person had been possessed by a wine worm and that their daily binge drinking was the wine worm controlling them.

Or those who had a sex addiction, who were excessively obsessed with the desires of the lower abdomen. Stories said they had a “lust worm” inside.

Summed up, all such stories hammered on the word “desire.” They taught people to “cut away desire.” In Bai Xiang’s eyes, that behavior was essentially converging with “slaying the three corpses.”

She had simply never thought that any cultivator would truly walk this path.

Qin Wuyang was actually the evil corpse Chu Weiping had cut away.

Even so, she felt no fear of him. The first thing she did was rise into the air with her Dao Lord’s dark robe billowing, looking down from above.

“Fellow Daoist Qin.” Her voice echoed across the platform.

“This temple is small.”

“Why don’t we change locations and talk things over in detail there?”

Qingping Dao.

No matter who they sent, they could not possibly have come only to say a few words to her.

They were bound to cross hands. She had no intention of letting the fight wreck her sect’s mountain gate.

The silver-haired old man clapped his hands and laughed. “That suits me very well.”

Bai Xiang nodded and was the first to slip away.

The silver-haired old man blurred, his figure turning into an afterimage as he swiftly followed.

“I’ll go have a look.” Xiang Xian glanced at Guo Rongzhi, and, seeing him give her a small nod, turned and told Bai Shengju frankly, “I’ll help you keep an eye on him.”

Bai Shengju nodded.

Without forming a qi core, one could not soar into the sky. He would have loved to chase after them and watch the fight, but since he could not fly, he had no choice but to pin his hopes for protection on Xiang Xian.

“You all stay here!”

Seeing Xiang Xian fly off behind them, Abbess Li Sheng also turned to instruct her disciples before hurriedly shooting into the sky in pursuit.

And so, one powerful cultivator after another followed closely, including Kong Tianbao and Kong An, leaving a crowd of non-fliers in front of the audience hall staring at each other and murmuring in discussion.

“Qing’er!”

“Where do you think you’re going!?”

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Bai Shengju had barely exchanged a few polite words with the Shangqing group. When he turned his head, he saw Bai Zhuqing trying to sneak off behind everyone’s backs.

Caught in the act, Bai Zhuqing did not panic. She gathered her courage and said, “I want to go up front and straighten out the guest rooms, so that we don’t end up in a mess when everyone needs to be settled and the numbers don’t match.”

Is that so?

Bai Shengju gave her a long, suspicious look. Seeing that her expression was calm and her gaze steady, he finally relaxed a little.

Qing’er was usually steady enough. She should not be lying at a time like this.

Besides, there was no need for her to lie. She could not soar into the sky. Even if she slipped out alone, she would never catch up.

Thinking of that, Bai Shengju nodded and called Bai Guanshan and Zhu Ying over, telling them to accompany Bai Zhuqing.

With her parents along, Bai Zhuqing lowered her face in secret misery.

She had a secret. Even she was not sure it was workable, but her secret was that she might not be unable to soar into the sky.

Whatever tricks Sword Dao used, she did not care. The sky-flight arts on the path of qi were, in the end, about manipulating qi.

She was extraordinarily gifted in that area. If she could condense a “sword pill” and make it fly up and down, why should she not try to treat herself as a sword pill and throw herself out the same way?

Her cultivation had surged. She had already reached the seventh layer of Refining Qi and was not far off from a false core.

Up until now it had just been a fantasy, and she had not had the chance to experiment. But seeing that Bai Xiang might be in danger, of course she wanted to go after her.

She worried too.

Sister Xiang’er, you must be alright.

Elsewhere, the delegations that had come to offer congratulatory gifts were still talking, and you could see the shock written clearly across one face after another.

“Evil corpse? What is that?”

“Chu Weiping? Wasn’t Qingping’s master always this Qin Wuyang?”

Their original intent had been to stay and mingle rather than retreat early to the guest rooms. They figured that later, when greater sects arrived, it would be better to stay and be seen, and they would have more stories to tell once they returned.

They had not expected to witness the congratulations of Jingzhu Sword Dao, Hantian Sword Dao, Shangqing Sword Dao and the host sect, and then on top of that see Qingping Sword Dao arrive to give gifts too. Qingping, the most mysterious of the Nine Daos, with the strongest air of legend around it.

“Father?” Pei Xuan could not help looking back at his father. “What are they talking about?”

The Pei family ran Huanxi Sword Dao. Previously, because he had refused to cooperate, Pei Xuan had had his leg broken by the Clean-Robes Gang. The injury had still not fully healed, but Pei Jian had still chosen to bring his limping son up the mountain, clearly intending to cling tightly to the Bai family’s thigh.

Asked by his son, Pei Jian’s white brows knit slightly.

Many acquaintances were also watching him. In the past, he might have felt a little proud of the attention, but when it involved the Nine Daos and, in particular, the two supreme Daos among them, he could only shake his head and refuse to explain.

Not that he had no idea at all.

He was an old hand in the trade. At his age, Pei Jian had of course heard a few rumors.

He simply did not dare speak.

Even in front of an Earthly Immortal, with that much distance between them, he still feared disaster born from careless words.

He did not dare, but on the other side, Kong Tianbao had no such scruples.

Perhaps it was that he had seen through many things after surviving tribulation, but as they flew, Kong An had asked him much the same question. Kong Tianbao had shaken his head and said directly, “The mortal world takes Qingping Dao to be led by Qin Wuyang. In truth, that is just an avatar.”

An avatar?

Kong An had already learned from Kong Tianbao about the sinister truth hidden in the Saint-Transition Pill and Saint-Heart Pill. He had developed a measure of resistance toward Suzhen Dao and the Court, and had little affection for Qingping Dao either, as another of the supreme two Daos. He could not help asking, “Is it like that Chan Master Daokong?”

For those who did not understand the details, that was indeed the direction they would think in.

In his pursuit of longevity, Daokong had fallen into the demonic path, ripping his own polluted soul into many fragments. Each fragment contained his desire for the path of longevity. That was, in a sense, a kind of avatar too.

It all sounded far too fantastical. Kong An had only taken on the position of Dao Lord in haste and knew few secrets. He simply felt that the method was sinister and sounded very much like those split-off fragmentary souls and Yaosui.

“It is not that easy.” Kong Tianbao snorted. “If you ask me how he did it, I cannot tell you.”

After all, he had not even touched the threshold of the Innate, so how could he understand the cultivation of realms beyond that.

“I only know that it is a strange art, called The Taishang Slaying-Emotions Life-Preserving Scripture . Chu Weiping swept across the world on the strength of that method.”

As he spoke, Kong Tianbao could not help thinking back to very old memories.

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That had been many years ago. He had gained fame young and grown proud, thinking that with the Wind-Riding Frightened-Bamboo Sky-Evasion Sword Scripture in hand, even if he could not beat someone, he could always flee into the sky. His peers simply did not concern him.

Su Jiexi of Jinlin Dao, Fan Qian of Red Dust Dao, and that little bald donkey Wang Ran of Shangqing Dao were nothing worth mentioning in his eyes. Only Wu Mengzi was a lifelong rival.

Reality had proved far harsher than any dream. The rival of those days was now someone he could only look up to. He could not even beat that man’s disciples.

He was getting off track. Kong Tianbao shook his head, letting his thoughts settle on a night when he had been eighteen.

It had been a covert operation led by Suzhen Dao. Wu Mengzi was in charge, and he had gathered a number of talented young cultivators, including Kong Tianbao. It seemed they were going to kill someone.

Kong Tianbao did not accept Wu Mengzi’s authority and had kept prodding sideways along the way, trying to pry the target’s identity out of him.

Wu Mengzi had let something slip in a careless moment. Only then did they learn that their mission was aimed at Qingping Dao.

They said that Qingping’s old Sword Lord, Han Yinshan, had recently passed away, and Suzhen Dao intended to take the chance to eliminate future trouble.

“Is trickery all Suzhen is good for?” Kong Tianbao had sneered back then. “How long has it even been since Elder Sword Lord Han took that disciple of his? Half a year? You can’t tolerate even such a fledgling? That is pettiness to the extreme.”

After speaking, he had looked at the others, thinking that at least someone among them, the hypocritical little bald donkey Wang Ran at the very least, would back him up.

To his surprise, no one answered.

They all just gave him a strange look, then lowered their heads and kept leaping through the forest, focused on making speed.

“Idiot.” Wu Mengzi had slanted him a contemptuous glance.

“Looks like someone is completely in the dark. The body is dragging the brain along. I really do not know how you managed to comprehend a supreme sword scripture. Careful you do not fail to understand it one day and fall into deviation.”

“What did you say?” Kong Tianbao had flown into a rage. “Say that again if you dare!”

“Amitabha.” The little monk in the group had chanted a Buddha name and softly tried to mediate. “Whether we can remove the threat of Qingping concerns the stability of the Nine Provinces. It is an important matter for the people. Senior Brother Tianbao, please do not make trouble.”

An important matter?

Kong Tianbao had been completely lost.

That kid, he seemed to be called Chu Weiping? He was around their age but had only been taken in by Han Yinshan half a year ago. At that point, he had obviously started sword training far too late.

Kong Tianbao had not thought him worth any special concern.

Of course, he had long known that the Nine Daos were not nearly as close as the outside world thought. Shangqing and Benling did not get along. Red Dust saw Suzhen as a mortal enemy, and all the Daos, Suzhen included, seemed to harbor some dread of Qingping’s Dao lineage.

Why dread it?

He had never given it any thought before.

To him, the reason was obvious. Naturally it was because Elder Sword Lord Han had been unmatched in the world. Alone with one sword, he had beaten an entire generation of the Nine Daos bloody, making every sect look bad, which was why they all feared him.

He had grown up on stories of Han Yinshan. Of being surrounded and blood-soaked by the demons at twenty and cutting his way out. Of being betrayed by the Daos, who sold his information. Of proving the Dao at thirty and then going from sect to sect, challenging each mountain gate in turn. He had heard stories like that too many times.

Perhaps because Jingzhu Sword Dao had never provoked Han Yinshan and had not been beaten at their own gate back then, he had found the senior pleasing enough and had vaguely taken him as a life goal, wishing the protagonist of the stories had been himself.

For the young Kong Tianbao, “Sword Lord” had been a distant, but not unattainable, title. So he had not thought much of the fact that Qingping frequently produced Sword Lords, nor did he understand why they seemed to have become public enemies, facing hostility even from the other Nine Daos besides Suzhen.

Wang Ran, that little bald donkey, even treated cutting off Qingping’s threat as “an important matter for the people.”

He had not understood.

He truly had not understood.

“Your father did not tell you anything at all, did he?” Wu Mengzi had sneered at him.

“Tell me what?”

“About Qingping’s threat, of course.” Wu Mengzi had snorted. “Do you not feel that Qingping’s Dao lineage is a little different from ours, that it does not fit?”

Qingping Dao really was odd, Kong Tianbao had thought.

Among the Nine Daos, they alone refused to open the lineage and always kept to the pattern of one master and one disciple.

Such a single line of transmission would have been very unstable for any other sect. No one could guarantee they could take on a talented disciple, or that a talented disciple would not die young. So all the sects opened their lineages wide and would sometimes even lower themselves to poach people, going to other states to recruit geniuses.

Yet Qingping Dao had managed to survive.

It had not only survived, it had kept Suzhen, which everyone hated, under its thumb. People from Qingping often proved the Dao as Sword Lords and beat Suzhen’s stinking Daoists so badly they cried and howled.

So what?

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Suzhen produced Sword Lords too.

“It is not the same.” Wu Mengzi had shaken his head. “My Suzhen methods are a grand and proper path. From entering the Dao to the peak, every step is solid. At the very least, there are tracks you can follow.”

“But Qingping is a demonic Dao. They soar ahead on the strength of one evil art. Once they succeed, they go half mad, their moods unpredictable. You never know what they will do in the next moment.”

Kong Tianbao had held his tongue.

He had not believed Wu Mengzi. He had thought it was just rhetoric to excuse their own ambition, that at its core, Suzhen simply did not want any threats to its dominance.

“He is telling the truth.” Wang Ran had added at the side. “If you knew some of Elder Han’s behavior, you would find it terrifying as well.”

Put bluntly, the Nine Daos saw Qingping as an aberration.

Kong Tianbao had suddenly felt chilled. Tracing his memories back, he realized he could not remember when Qingping Dao had joined the Nine Daos.

It seemed it had always been that way.

Like the Three Bonds and Five Constants, like moral rites and law. It gave you the sense that it was simply meant to be. But how had they risen in the first place?

Qingping’s history was clearly not as old as Suzhen’s. Suzhen had had the early lead, and with its bullying way of dealing with the other Daos, how could it have allowed Qingping to grow up?

There was something wrong.

That piece of history had been erased by human hands. Something was deeply wrong there.

“We are here.”

Wu Mengzi had suddenly stopped.

Everyone else had stopped with him and saw a clearing appear in the bamboo forest ahead. There was a small thatched house with a yard in the clearing, and a stream ran across the front of the house.

There was someone in front of the house.

A young man in white clothes was kneeling there. In front of him was a simple grave marker with a few crooked lines carved into it, illegible from where they stood.

“They are here!”

The youth had his back to them. Kong Tianbao had seen his shoulders tremble and heard an excited shout.

“Just as Master calculated. They really came!”

“Kill them all!”

“Peel off their skin!”

“Pull out their bones!”

“Offer all their blood, essence, and guts to Master!”

What was that supposed to be?

Everyone had frowned.

What was this?

Rambling madness under a fit of insanity?

Judging the fight was about to start, Kong Tianbao had steeled himself, drawn his treasured sword, and prepared for battle.

He himself did not know why he did it. By all rights, someone who had trained only half a year would, in most cases, not even have forged their sword and could not compare to prodigies like them. Yet he had reacted that way on instinct.

Right then, the feeling the youth gave him shifted again.

“You must not be disrespectful.”

“The Nine Daos have made mistakes, but their existence is also for the protection and peace of the land. Killing people will not solve any problem. It will only keep hatred going…”

Though the youth’s back was to them, Kong Tianbao could clearly feel his aura calming. In an instant, he had changed from a bloodthirsty, deranged killer into a realized master.

That shift in qi presence was very hard to take. Kong Tianbao had felt a chill under his skin for no reason.

“Human?”

“Human?” The voice had laughed wildly. “You still think they are human?”

“They have all cultivated demonic arts. How are they different from aberrations? In the end they will all be taken over by pollution. How are they different from demonfolk?”

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“They ought to be killed.”

“Killing them is helping them. It frees them.”

“Kill, kill, kill.”

“Kill for freedom.”

“Kill for the true self.”

In that instant, a dense baleful aura flooded the bamboo forest. Everyone pressing in, Kong Tianbao included, felt the hairs on their bodies stand up, gooseflesh rising uncontrollably.

All movement was locked. They should have been facing an opponent who barely scraped into the Sword-Forging stage, yet they could not even raise their swords.

“Does it frighten you?”

No one knew when the white-clothed youth had vanished. Only his voice echoed through the forest.

“Do not be afraid, livestock.”

“I am you, and you are me.”

“You will end up like this in the end. I am only helping you find release sooner.”

“Town.”

All at once, there had been a shout of fury in their ears. Wu Mengzi had a talisman in his hand. He had bitten his tongue and spat blood on it, then flung the talisman outward.

In an instant, a chill gale howled in everyone’s ears, as if countless ghosts were wailing beside them. In front of them, they could see blood-red skulls and shades drifting on all sides. It was as if they had stepped into another world.

“We have no ill intent.”

Wu Mengzi had forced the words out.

“This is the Heart-Calming Talisman Elder Han bestowed.”

“Junior Brother.”

“Wake up.”

Whoosh.

Every strange vision vanished.

Kong Tianbao had frozen for a moment. It felt as if only an instant had passed. The youth in white was still kneeling before the grave and had never moved, as though everything just now had been an illusion.

Until he saw the youth stand, turn toward them, and show them an utterly ordinary face, a face that nonetheless made one’s heart seize.

He still remembered the expression on that face.

There had been no joy, and no grief either. It was literally devoid of all emotion.

It had no human warmth.

It had looked like a moving idol.

“Senior Brothers.”

The youth had cupped his hands in salute.

“I am Chu Weiping.”

“I would like to exchange a few moves with you, to see whether this path still holds any variables.”

His mind blurred for an instant.

When he came back to himself, Kong Tianbao found he was standing on the top of a mountain peak, staring far off at the confrontation above the sea of clouds.

“I am Qin Wuyang.”

The silver-haired old man cupped his hands with a cheerful smile toward Bai Xiang.

“I would like to exchange a few moves with Dao Lord Bai.”

“To see whether this path still holds any variables.”