Chapter 106: The Three Ghosts of Alchemy Whoosh! Bang! A breeze helped close the door. The fox was startled. It raised its head, looked at the door, then looked at Lin Jue, and then lay down again. Lin Jue took out the ancient book. "Wow..." Turn to the latest page. There is indeed one: Sound transmission is the method of recording and transmitting sound. When a beginner performs a spell, he can catch the spell with his hands and throw it far away. When he learns more, he can speak at will, and the sound will naturally spread far away. When a more advanced person speaks at will, even if there are ten thousand people far away, only one person can hear it. "It seems that the deeper the attainment, the farther the transmission distance can be, and the more precise the control?" Lin Jue said thoughtfully. "Wow..."

The art of archery is the method of shooting shadows, which is to hit people with their shadows. In ancient times, there was a strange creature called a snake, which would often shoot sand in the water at people. Those who were hit would develop sores and die. Even if only the shadow of a person was shot, he would still get sick. Later, someone developed the "shooting technique" that could shoot people with his shadow. If one has little attainment, when hitting a person's shadow, only one tenth of the force will remain, and the sharp weapon will become a blunt blow; if one has high attainment, the force can only be retained by a few tenths at most, because the shadow of a person is originally illusory, and if there is a cut or a stab, it will still become a blunt blow. Therefore, those who practice archery to attack others secretly often use blunt weapons. "Innuendo?" It turns out that the lizard used this spell at that time. I don’t know whether he figured it out on his own or learned it from somewhere. At that time, it used its tongue as a thorn and pierced through the ground, but when it hit Lin Jue's shoulder, it just felt like being stabbed by a round and blunt steel pillar. I don't know if it was because this spell would turn cutting and stabbing into blunt blows, or because the monster's attainments were not high, or both. This is a good and unexpected method, and it is very suitable to be used in combination with "Curse Defense". As long as you seize the opportunity, grasp the timing, and take the opponent by surprise, even if your attainments are not high or your strength is not great, you can still achieve good results. Combined with the fire magic, if it is at night, if you find the angle, you can also control the direction of the shadow. After going out, I gained a lot. Lin Juexue has gained new insights after learning this—— The art is the application and extension of the Tao. The reason why these spells have so many wonderful and mysterious effects and can be cast and take effect is obviously because they conform to the rules of this world and are the extension of the Tao. Therefore, there is a great way behind every spell. Senior brothers often say that skills can communicate with the gods. The "gods" here actually refer to heaven and Tao. Magic can also lead to the heavenly channel. It is naturally possible to realize the truth through techniques and to see the truth by pushing the door open. Suddenly I noticed something strange in the room. Lin Jue put down the ancient book and looked forward. The fox I raised was probably used to me reading books all the time, so it didn't react at all. At this moment, it just walked on the wall in a simple and ordinary way.

It was as if it was also practicing the spell it had just learned. Just like the monster in the temple. But it is not as scary as that monster—— One reason is that it did not transform into a human form, and the other reason is that it did not walk on its stomach like the monster, but maintained the body shape and posture of a fox, walking on flat ground like it was actually flying over eaves and walls. "..." Lin Jue couldn't help but fall into deep thought. I don't know where it got this skill from. If it came from that monster, I don't know when it learned it. As if sensing his gaze, the fox stood on the wall and stared at him. "Come down." "Woo~" The fox suddenly jumped, and its body seemed to be weightless, floating and flying in front of him. Its eyes were clear and ignorant, and it tilted its head to look at him. Lin Jue reached out and stroked it gently. "It's a good thing you only dig holes and catch mice. If you were able to tear down the house, you wouldn't even be able to keep the roof." The fox lay there motionless and silent. Lin Jue stroked the fox for a while, then pushed the door open and walked out. Go straight to the kitchen. The kitchen, which had been used by his senior brother for more than a month, was not very messy. However, the arrangement of many things was no longer what Lin Jue was used to. He was very patient and put everything back to its original place one by one before checking it. The flour was not touched at all, and the rice was almost gone. It seemed that these Taoists really didn't know how to make pasta. They ate almost a whole jar of pickled vegetables and salted vegetables, and only one piece of bacon was left. It seemed that they did listen to him, but it was better than what the third brother thought, at least they knew how to eat sparingly. There are no spring bamboo shoots at the moment, and winter bamboo shoots have not come out yet, but dried bamboo shoots are almost the same. The junior sister had already arrived in the kitchen and was sitting in front of the stove, with her head raised and chin raised, staring at him eagerly. Lin Juexian asked her to boil some warm water, add a little salt, and soak the bacon and dried bamboo shoots. Last year, I made my own bacon, and I chose one that was made when Yishan was at its coldest. There are some requirements for making bacon. The lower the temperature and the stronger the wind, the less salt you need to use, so the resulting bacon will be less salty and taste better. Yishan is undoubtedly a good place to make bacon. So just a simple soak will do. Then he began to knead the dough, and then tore it into even pieces. "laugh!" As usual, the bacon is fried first to bring out its aroma in the hot oil, then added with dried bamboo shoots to make soup, and the heat and aroma of the meat fill the entire kitchen. Through the hot air, Lin Jue and his junior sister looked at each other. "Come on, let's pull the noodles."

"Oh!" The junior sister agreed decisively, stuffed a few more twigs into the stove, stood up, washed her hands impatiently, and walked over quickly. Lin Jue had already divided the noodles and tore them into palm-sized flat pieces. Now he just had to pull them wider, bigger and thinner before putting them into the pot. The two of them worked together. After a few more talks, a few more people appeared around him. A group of people pulling together. The noodles are put into the pot and cooked in the soup. Nowadays, there is no need to use a large basin to serve the food and then distribute it outside. Everyone can fill their own bowl with food and then take it outside to eat. If it is not enough, they can just get more from the pot. Lin Jue took two bowls, one in each hand, and went outside under the ancient pine tree. He placed one of the bowls on the edge of the bench and sat next to it. The master and many of his fellow apprentices also sat down, holding a bowl, and the air was filled with steam and snoring. It was probably in the spring of this year when the fifth apprentice made a large bowl for everyone. I don't know when, the original small bowls were used less and less, and only when making delicate dishes would they be used to eat. Before we knew it, it's already late autumn. Pine needles fell overhead from time to time, but even if they landed in the bowl, no one cared. Even Lin Jue and the fox just looked up, threw the pine needles away, and continued eating. In a short while, the group of Taoists had eaten everything in their bowls, leaving not even a drop of soup. Except for the youngest sister who went to get more rice, the other Taoists were full. "Hiccup~" “I haven’t had such a comfortable meal in a long time!” "Very comfortable!" "It has to be a junior fellow apprentice..." "Let me tell you, you guys have been gone for half a month, and Junior Brother Seven thought he had some cooking skills, so he couldn't help but cook a pot of noodles." Junior Brother Six said, "Guess what happened?" "A pot of paste?" "To the birds~" They talked about when Fuyao's fur changed color, and whether it was white or grayish white. They also talked about what happened when they stayed in the temple. With the encouragement of several senior brothers, they finally cleared the bowls on the table, brought a sand table and placed it on the table, and hung the iron pen on the pine branch with a thin rope. However, it was not the Sixth Senior Brother who was holding the planchette. But it’s the master, Taoist Yunhe. "The medium that I'm on good terms with is the teacher of Lao Liu's medium. They are similar in terms of their breadth of knowledge and their ability to speculate and divine. But my old friend should be more daring in speaking." Taoist Yunhe said as he waved away all the fallen pine needles and then sighed: "It's been a long time since I last invited this old friend." "Snapped!"

Taoist Yunhe lit the incense stick and clasped his hands together. "Come on, old friend." Suddenly, a breeze blew through the yard. "Old friend, long time no see." "..." "Maybe another two or three years." "..." "Hahaha, of course you have something to ask." Taoist Yunhe spoke to the sand table and the iron pen, as if he was talking to himself, or as if he heard some response. He paused at the end, shook his head and smiled, then asked directly: "Before, my disciple went down the mountain to exorcise demons. He encountered some demons that stole silver in Yi County. Later, they were eliminated by Yili Divine Lord under the command of Jade Mirror Emperor of the Nine Heavens Fairyland. But a few days ago, when he came back from Mingzhu Mountain, he encountered some demon monks who stole silver in Anlin County. There seemed to be a demon behind them. I wonder if the two incidents are related? If so, does the Jixian know what the reason is?" The stylus paused for a long time, and the wind kept blowing. After a long time, the line and the pen started to move: "The old immortal opened the furnace in Chang'an, first taking water from the river and then from the mountain. A few mists and jade colors, half of the world and half of the elixir." "Snapped!" The string broke and the pen fell onto the sand table. There was obviously another gust of wind, whistling away. "gone?" Many Taoists looked outside. Although he didn't know why the spirit medium left in such a hurry, he knew it was probably a matter of great importance. Since he was willing to tell him, he must have done so out of friendship, so he quickly bowed. Then I read this divination poem again. If the medium makes a guess or divination, firstly, he is not sure whether his guess is correct, and secondly, he is afraid that explaining it in detail may cause trouble, so he usually gives a vague answer in the form of poetry or painting. "This poem tells the story of an ancient immortal who has passed away and was refining elixirs. It is said that the ancient immortal was refining elixirs in the capital at that time, not only to become an immortal, but also to bring peace to the world." Taoist Yunhe looked at the spirit writing and explained: "It is said that when the ancient immortal was refining the elixir, he took the essence of the heaven, earth, sun and moon, and the spirit of the mountains and rivers and dragon veins. It took him a full twenty years to finally refine the elixir. When the elixir was made, in addition to the mist and purple air, one could also see the mountains and rivers, the world and the human world in the mist. After he took the elixir, he became an immortal on earth, cleansed the demons, and opened up a period of peace." After hearing this, everyone naturally knew that this was just a quote. The specific answer was still in the poem. "Is it related to the capital?" "Or is it related to the world?" "Could it be that someone knew that the world was about to fall into chaos, so they used these monsters to collect money to pay for military expenses and to conquer the world?" The eldest brother said calmly. "What does 'half is human and half is elixir' mean? Can this silver be used to refine elixir?" asked the third senior brother. Then everyone looked at the second brother.

"Gold, silver, lead, jade, cinnabar and mercury are indeed the raw materials commonly used for alchemy, but even the best elixir wouldn't use so much silver, right? Unless he wants to make a lot of elixirs that use silver. I have heard of alchemists in other places who cheated people out of silver under the pretext of alchemy, but they were just scamming people for money." The second senior brother who was in charge of refining pills said this, and suddenly paused again, frowning: "In addition to refining a lot of pills that require silver, there is another possibility." "What's possible?" "Have you ever heard of the three ghosts of alchemy? Swallowing gold, eating silver, and chewing jade." "what is this?" "These are monsters created by alchemists during the heyday of ancient alchemy. The three are not the same, nor were they created by the same great master, but because gold, silver, and jade are listed together, they are often mentioned together." The second brother explained to them: "The gold-swallowing ghost swallows gold. Every time he swallows ten ounces of gold, he spits out a youth-preserving pill. If you eat it, you will stay young forever, and your hair will not turn gray until you die. "The silver-eating ghost swallows silver. Every time it swallows ten ounces of silver, it spits out a spiritual essence pill, which can increase the cultivation of Taoism. "The Jade-Chewing Ghost devours precious jade. Every time it swallows a bucket of jade, it spits out the Freedom Pill. After eating it, it can fly on the wind, like a fairy, freely traveling in heaven and earth!" "real or fake?" "Maybe it's true? Doesn't Xiao Yuan Dan use silver? But the rumors must be exaggerated. Either the effect is not that good, or you need to take it all the time." The second brother said, "Twenty years ago, the late emperor favored the imperial concubine and was obsessed with women. He couldn't extricate himself, so he sent out the strange men of Juxian Mansion to the four seas to find the gold-swallowing ghost." "did you find it?" "Who knows? Even if they find out, they won't tell you, right? After all, although the emperor is in charge of the world, the court is already corrupt. Moreover, there are women among the senior masters of spiritual cultivation. If they don't know how to make pills, they will still age even if their cultivation is close to that of a true immortal. Maybe some of them will be tempted by her." Second Brother said, and paused again: “But there are some rumors.” "What rumors?" "Even after the current emperor ascended the throne, he was also obsessed with women and took possession of the concubine of the previous emperor. This has always been a scandal in this dynasty, and both the civil and military officials despised it... That concubine should be around 40 or 50 years old, right?" When everyone heard this, they immediately became thoughtful. It seems mostly true. There are such wonderful ghosts in this world. (End of this chapter)