Chapter 278: Technique

Chapter 278 Cultivation Technique

That night, the magistrate of Pi County ate and played to his heart's content, not waking until the sun was high in the sky.

Upon learning Li Huowang was leaving, he finally dragged himself up, hungover head and all, bringing his wife and children to see him off.

"Immortal, safe travels. Regarding yesterday's events, I shall certainly report them in detail to those above. Wishing you a bright future and smooth journey!"

Yang Hongzhi, smiling, repeatedly bowed his hands toward Li Huowang, even though the wound on his chin still oozed blood.

Regardless of what he thought inside, the posture he displayed left no room for anyone to find fault.

Hearing this, Dogwa in the crowd pursed his lips; Yang Hongzhi spoke well enough, yet regarding Li Huowang's departure, he expressed no real sentiment.

"Magistrate Yang, might you issue a travel permit? Mine was soaked and ruined by wine last night."

Through Bai Lingmiao, Li Huowang knew this differed from other places; the Great Liang Kingdom was vast with many cities and many rules.

Small places were fine, but in some major locations, without a permit, one couldn't even enter the city walls.

Though such a trivial matter couldn't stump Li Huowang, it wasn't worth making Bai Lingmiao climb walls every time for it.

"A permit? Fine, fine, fine!"

The trouble in Pi County was resolved, his official hat secured; issuing a few permits was simply negligible.

With the trouble gone, naturally, he wanted to hurry and send this plague god away.

As a parental official, in the eyes of the people of Pi County, Magistrate Yang had clearly done his duty, seeing them off for three or four li before reluctantly turning back slowly.

"Seeing him off so diligently, one might think he was sending off his own father, yet he didn't even offer some travel funds for the fathers." The scholar spat heavily on the ground, speaking with great disgust.

"Smack!" A copper smoking pipe with embers struck directly against his mouth.

Li Huowang was too lazy to mind the affairs of the Lu father and son; his mind was filled with last night's conversation with the Knife Peddler.

He had finally taken the first step, making contact with the Sky Monitoring Bureau, yet this step was incredibly difficult.

The other party merely said they would report back, neither agreeing nor refusing, leaving him unsure of their response.

To be safe, he best prepare two plans.

If they simply refused, it would be fine; the fear was that this fellow was an impostor from the Sitting Forgetfulness Path, which was most fatal.

The monk beside him reached out and touched the coin mask on Li Huowang's face.

"Rest assured, it's fine. These past few days, you haven't even taken this off while sleeping; they won't discover you are a Heart Pure."

"As long as they don't discover it, we have a way out."

Facing the monk's comfort, Li Huowang felt no peace; relying solely on a mask to conceal his identity was too risky.

He needed to find other ways quickly to add another layer of insurance to his identity to ensure his safety.

What the monk said earlier was indeed correct; as long as others didn't discover he was a Heart Pure, everything had a retreat path.

"The most important thing is strength; with sufficient strength, none of these are problems."

A permit was not just a pass, but also represented a temporary identity; with this, Li Huowang and others could count as half citizens of Great Liang.

"Clang clang clang clang~~" In an ordinary large village of Liang, someone was performing opera.

Accompanied by Dogwa constantly beating the gong, Lu Juren dressed as a young scholar lifted the curtain, walked to the front, and began singing.

This newly composed opera delighted the tenant farmers below the stage, who threw grain and tips onto the platform.

Some half-grown youths picked up a basket of loaches and tossed them onto the stage, startling Luo Juanhua dressed as a beggar, drawing bursts of laughter from the audience.

By the muddy roadside, the smiling Lu Zhuangyuan was reconciling accounts with Zhao Wu, copper coin by copper coin.

Beside him, Li Huowang looked at the strings of copper coins already tied next to Zhao Wu on the carriage, feeling somewhat surprised.

Since the Lu troupe changed their singing style, they earned far more than before; as the owner, half belonged to him.

The current Lu troupe might not be a hen laying golden eggs, but at least they were hens laying double-yolked eggs, and these double yolks would continue indefinitely.

"Hey! Brother Zhao Wu, our accounts are settled. We've made money, let's eat something good tonight, loaches drilling through tofu!!"

The loaches were ready; what Lu Zhuangyuan called eating something good was merely buying some tofu from the village.

But having been together so long, Li Huowang knew his character. "Master Lu, where was the Scholar during the performance just now?"

Upon hearing mention of his youngest son, Lu Zhuangyuan's previously smiling face immediately drooped.

"Him? Forget it. Even if this boy truly masters supernatural powers, I can't rely on him to support me in old age. In the future, we must rely on our Junior Scholar, right? My good grandson?"

Watching Lu Zhuangyuan coaxing his grandson, Li Huowang walked toward a large stone in the distance where Lu Xiucai was practicing.

As he approached, Li Huowang heard the scholar chanting incantations, "Purple Qi Clear Spirit Loudly Great Qi Original True Mouth Descends Induction All Present Void Seize!"

The copper coins placed side by side on the stone before him, with a snap, instantly stacked together.

As he stomped his foot hard, with another snap, the joined coins instantly flipped over and separated.

Practicing for so long, relying purely on rote memorization, Lu Xiucai, who didn't recognize a single character, had truly learned it.

Seeing him, Li Huowang finally understood how much suffering Dan Yangzi endured in the past to reach that level before death.

"Master!"

"Practiced well. How do you feel recently?" Li Huowang asked this while observing the other's demeanor.

"Very good! Extremely good!"

Feeling he had mastered supernatural powers, Lu Xiucai's face was ruddy and his voice loud, completely different from his former self.

Li Huowang felt somewhat disappointed yet also relieved.

Disappointment stemmed from his previous guess seeming slightly off; compared to other sects, the Luo Sect's technique did not seem to drive away the malice within Lu Xiucai.

Relief came because Lu Xiucai had practiced this far, yet nothing bad had happened.

Thus, it proved there was no trap left by the Nascent Soul in this technique, and he could begin practicing it too.

"Practicing well is fine, but why don't you go help your father sing opera?"

Hearing this, Lu Xiucai showed extreme contempt on his face. "I am now a master of supernatural powers; can I go back and huddle with them as low-class entertainers?"

Hearing this, Li Huowang frowned involuntarily. Truly, the current Lu Xiucai was annoying; he hadn't turned his luck around yet, and already looked down on his father and older brother.

But he was destined to be disappointed; this so-called power required a Coin Sword to function. He only learned a technique to wield the Coin Sword; without the sword, the technique was utterly useless.