"Little Ten, you have the talent of a top scorer!" Under the old willow tree, Zhu Xiucai praised.
The county examination was approaching, and Chen Shi began preparing, visiting him daily for tutoring.
Zhu Xiucai was an open book, withholding nothing, and explained "The Analects," "Poetry," "Book," and "The Doctrine of the Mean" thoroughly. Chen Shi remembered everything diligently and felt immensely grateful, saying, "If I can excel in the future, I will surely erect a tablet for my teacher and offer sacrifices daily."
Zhu Xiucai was also very happy, saying, "I have imparted all my knowledge to you, the examination field will be your stage to shine! You will surely excel!"
"It’s all thanks to the teacher’s excellent guidance!"
"Ah, the main thing is you have a wise heart, intelligence, and perseverance!"
The two, a man and an apparition, complimented each other, both very satisfied.
When Chen Shi returned home, he continued transcribing the "Water and Fire Refining Technique"; the original he copied from was stolen by his grandfather from the True King’s Tomb. The book was ancient, and its pages had yellowed with age. He had already copied one for Xiao Wangsun, and this one was for Granny Sha.
The "Water and Fire Refining Technique" detailed how to become a Corpse Resolving Immortal. This method was very peculiar; one had to die once, either by drowning, burning, or being slain by a weapon. If one died, they were to be buried for seven hundred years without decomposing.
After seven hundred years, when the body began to decay, the exquisite aspect of water and fire refining came into play: heaven would descend true water to douse you, and if the bones remained after the washing, then, after another forty years, true fire would burn you.
If the bones still preserved in the true fire, the True Body would emerge from the flames, growing flesh, tendons, and organs, and transforming into an immortal body, known as the Corpse Resolving Immortal.
And the "Water and Fire Refining Technique" was to cultivate true water and fire in advance, refining the body, ensuring one could calmly face the great ordeal after seven hundred years, and not be refined to the point of complete annihilation of body and spirit.
"Is this the method Grandfather used to refine my body, preserving my corpse from decay?"
Chen Shi set down his pen and was lost in thought.
He must have been dead after being cut off from his Divine Embryo, buried by Chen Tang. His grandfather rushed home, exhumed his body to find more than seven days had passed and he couldn’t summon his soul back. So, he immediately breached into the True King’s Tomb, seizing the "Water and Fire Refining Technique" to preserve his corpse with its method.
Afterward, his grandfather sought other methods to revive Chen Shi.
"It wasn’t until two years ago that grandfather finally brought back my soul, allowing it to enter my body. However, I had already been dead for eight years, and all previous memories had vanished. Most likely, that’s the case."
Chen Shi exhaled deeply and pulled his book chest towards himself, taking out a stone casket and a jade seal, placing them aside. He also found a stack of silver notes and counted them.
There were five silver notes left, amounting to five hundred taels of silver.
After his grandfather’s passing, he realized how expensive his medicinal ingredients were; the herbs used daily for brewing medicines cost five or six taels of silver, amounting to one hundred and sixty taels per month.
The money he had earned before was nowhere near enough to cover the medicinal expenses.
"No wonder grandfather didn’t save any money."
Chen Shi put away the silver notes, toyed with the jade seal and stone casket—obtained from the Mountain Lord Temple and hung on a branch by Xiao Wangsun and then passed along to him by Zhu Xiucai.
Strangely enough, the day Chen Shi returned home and placed the jade seal beside the stone casket, the casket emitted a faint blue light.
As Chen Shi brought the jade seal closer to the stone casket, it emitted blue light again, flickering on and off as if breathing.
When he moved the jade seal away, the blue light gradually dissipated.
He set the jade seal aside, attempting to open the stone casket while it glowed blue. Yet, the casket remained tightly sealed, showing no signs of opening.
Chen Shi clenched his fist and hammered down several times, but the casket didn’t budge, and instead his knuckles were scuffed and pained.
He rubbed his knuckles, muttering, "What exactly is this stone casket? If it’s meant to deceive, why is it so firm, and why does it emit light? Is there really something inside?"
He shook the casket forcefully, but no sound came from within.
Just then, Black Pot’s barking was heard outside. Chen Shi looked through the window to see that the sun had unknowingly closed its eyes and moonlight spilled down.
He lit a fire to brew medicine for himself and cooked a pot of herbs, boiling some meat for Black Pot. After drinking his medicine, he soaked in it while Black Pot tended the fire.
During the time his grandfather was gone, he had gradually grown accustomed to living alone with his dog.
The following day, Chen Shi arrived at Gangzi Village, knocking on Granny Sha’s door.
"Little Ten, what brings you here?"
Granny Sha was astonished and hurriedly welcomed him in, saying, "I haven’t visited you these last two days; business has been booming here. Ever since the recent Demon Transformation, there have been many deaths, and a lot of people have come to summon spirits to see their loved ones. Have you come to summon your grandfather’s spirit?"
Chen Shi hesitated, "Can I?"
"No, it’s impossible."
Granny Sha shook her head, explaining, "Old Chen’s body is in the underworld, summoning his spirit would call his entire being to the mortal world, and without Xuan Shan’s suppression, he would likely immediately transform into a demon."
Chen Shi was downcast, then suddenly smiled, "I’ve come to deliver a book to Granny." He said, taking out the "Water and Fire Refining Technique."
Upon seeing the book, Granny Sha became so excited that her body trembled; she snatched it up and flipped through a few pages quickly before swiftly closing it again, her face a mix of emotions.
"Did your grandfather ask you to give this book to me?"
"That old Chen, still scheming against me after death!"
Granny Sha was furious, "He knew that if you sent the book, I would have no choice but to accept it, and then I would be bought by you. If you were in danger, I would certainly not be able to stand idly by! Hmph, hmph!"