"Indeed... this is a victory for Voldemort!"
Inside the hastily established cave abode, Zhong Shenxiu sat cross-legged, contemplating the process from learning the news to leaking it to the White Bone Scholar, then letting the Protector Mansion know, mobilizing the war, struggling to survive until now, and finally seizing the opportunity for a successful assassination. He confirmed that he had indeed grasped the opportunity, laughed last, and, furthermore, had not revealed too many flaws.
The impression that the Dragon and Tiger True Man had left on him was simply too profound.
Thus, Zhong Shenxiu had not even considered capturing him alive; his move was a direct kill.
After all, he could Soul Search after the kill.
At this moment, by sensing with the abilities of a "Pastor," he realized that his quota for enslaving souls... was full!
A Dragon and Tiger True Man’s residual soul actually held almost the same weight as the Headless Earl, making Zhong Shenxiu feel as heavy as Taishan.
It seemed that, after this, he would have to relinquish some of the miscellaneous Yin souls he had previously found to gain a bit of leeway. However, he would no longer have the capacity to undertake a third Divine Power Practitioner’s Divine Soul unless he released either the Headless Earl or Zhang Taiyi.
"Let me take a look..."
With his prior experience in Soul Searching the Spiritual Crane Daoist, Zhong Shenxiu did not immediately go for the Daoist Skills but browsed some knowledge about the Second Yan Han Empire and the common sense within the Cultivation World.
This was knowledge that he sorely lacked, secrets that only a True Inheritor like Zhang Taiyi would know.
A huge flood of jumbled information emerged, almost as overwhelming in terms of information flow as the time he had just transcended and accepted Su Daoshi’s memories.
The Second Yan Han Empire, the three sects of the Daoist path, the six paths of the Demon Sect, independent Loose Cultivators, the various powers of Outer World Buddhism...
The eight major realms of cultivation: Acquired, Innate, Gang Sha, Divine Skills, Primordial Pill, Primordial Spirit, Dharma Body, and becoming an Immortal through the dissolution of the physical body...
The Supreme Dragon and Tiger Sect, the Zhang Family, and the silhouette of a woman...
"Love and affection, I’ll pass."
He merely glanced at the entanglements of affection and looked no further.
He was concerned with some secrets of cultivation and Zhang Taiyi’s background: "The Supreme Dragon and Tiger Sect is one of the three sects of the Daoist path, and it strongly supports the Second Yan Han Empire, holding sway among the righteous factions. The Zhang Family also has significant influence in the Supreme Dragon and Tiger Sect. Even though this man had left and renounced his teaching, no one must know that he died at my hands, or immediate catastrophe would befall me..."
"Outer Elixir Method? Somewhat novel, but I don’t have your concerns, so if I’m not human, then so be it... So many Cultivators follow this method of cultivation, and so many Primordial Spirits and Dharma Bodies, even Immortals who have achieved longevity through the dissolution of the physical body, rely on it to remain in the world. There shouldn’t be a problem."
"I wonder if there are realms beyond becoming an Immortal through the dissolution of the physical body, but these are levels not even the Dragon and Tiger True Man could reach..."
Zhong Shenxiu categorized the intelligence one by one.
Then, unable to resist, he turned to the True Inheritor’s Daoist Skills of the Supreme Dragon and Tiger Sect.
In the next moment, his expression became stunned, and a thought flashed through his mind—he had hit the jackpot!
Zhang Taiyi, truly a scion of a major clan, didn’t have to abide by the rules that ordinary disciples had to follow.
A wealth of books, scriptures, and incantations emerged one by one.
Although several core texts were still entangled with seals, there were some he had viewed through various means to create the Outer Elixir Method, which remained unsealed!
"The Supreme Dragon Tiger Sect, along with the Miao Ji Zhen Sect and Taiping Sect, are known as the three great Daoist sects, the sources of the righteous path, and their fundamental body of doctrine is—the ’Taiyi Dragon Tiger Control True Seal Divine Method!’ This cornerstone text is such that without becoming a Primordial Spirit, one cannot fully inherit it. This is an ironclad rule... From this fundamental text, many methods have been derived, such as the ’Dragon Tiger Pill Book,’ ’Shenxiao Thunder Method,’ ’Supreme Dragon Tiger Tribulation Suppressing Scripture,’ and so on..."
"Disciples of the Supreme Dragon Tiger Sect start as members of the Outer Sect, practicing the Ten Directions Beast Skill, progressing to the Ten Thousand Beasts Technique, tempering their foundations. Once they enter the Inner Sect, only then can they learn the many Daoist Skills. The ’Dragon Tiger Pill Book’ is of the highest caliber, with its teachings directly pointing to the Primordial Pill, and includes alchemy methods... It was not the main focus of Zhang Taiyi, however. From an early age, he had been intensively nurtured, identified as a True Inheritor, cultivating both the ’Supreme Dragon Tiger Tribulation Suppressing Scripture’ and the ’Shenxiao Thunder Method.’ Within the Supreme Dragon Tiger Sect, these are methods that typical disciples can only hope to be taught after they’ve cultivated to the Primordial Pill—what a pity that they’re sealed."
"As for his assault on the inheritances of other sects to acquire their texts, what he got was extremely fragmented and limited. After all, they were sealed by divine consciousness. This man, in his quest for the Primordial Pill, had already gone down the path of demons..."
"However, the ’Dragon Tiger Pill Book’ was different. After Zhang Taiyi obtained his divine powers, he killed a Supreme Dragon Tiger Sect disciple who transmitted the teachings using means outside of the rules, acquiring it without the protections of divine consciousness... Hehe, Feng Xixi once tempted us struggling Innates with the Ten Directions Beast Skill, but now, it seems that the Ten Directions Beast Skill is merely the introductory part of the ’Dragon Tiger Pill Book’... This method, cultivated all the way to the Primordial Pill, can perfectly align with the other scriptures of the Supreme Dragon Tiger Sect. The hope for the Primordial Spirit Dharma Body is real, and if one were to obtain the ’Taiyi Dragon Tiger Control True Seal Divine Method,’ even transcending to become an immortal through corpse liberation might not be out of reach!"
Zhong Shenxiu clenched his fists.
He felt that all his enduring patience and efforts were finally being rewarded.
Wasn’t his reluctant refusal to break through the Gangsha state all for the sake of obtaining a true major doctrine that pointed directly to immortality?
Now, he had finally seen a glimmer of hope!
"It looks like, after I return, I need to strive to get official permission to pass on the Ten Thousand Beasts Technique," Zhong Shenxiu thought to himself.
From Zhang Taiyi’s memories, he had learned many secrets.
For instance, the Supreme Dragon Tiger Sect originally rose to prominence supporting the Support Dragon Court and had very good relations with the Second Yan Han Empire, not only widely spreading the Ten Directions Beast Skill but also having agreements.
Once someone from the official circles cultivates the Ten Thousand Beasts Technique to attain mana and receives a recommendation, passing the test would allow them to be admitted into the Supreme Dragon Tiger Sect as an Inner Sect Disciple to be trained equally.
In fact, in the Supreme Dragon Tiger Sect, there is no shortage of disciples from official families.
Zhong Shenxiu now also had this idea.
His identity was not entirely spotless. It was taboo in the court, but it might not matter in the Daoist sects.
Moreover, he needed a facade to cover up his cultivation of the ’Dragon Tiger Pill Book.’
Even, once he succeeded in being admitted into the Supreme Dragon Tiger Sect, leveraging Zhang Taiyi’s cultivation experience and understanding of the sect’s secrets, he would surely be like a fish in water, and even rise to become a True Inheritor, with a slim chance of obtaining the ’Taiyi Dragon Tiger Control True Seal Divine Method.’
"The path of the Great Dao now has a clear plan, haha."
Zhong Shenxiu was overjoyed, but immediately felt some regret: "Alas, I cannot view the ’Supreme Dragon Tiger Tribulation Suppressing Scripture’ and the ’Shenxiao Thunder Method...’"
To say he didn’t envy Zhang Taiyi’s divine power would certainly be false.
But after just a glance at the ’Dragon Tiger Pill Book,’ Zhong Shenxiu sighed inwardly.
Although this Daoist method was also considered superior, of the divine skills recorded within, only the ’Dragon-subduing and Tiger-suppressing Divine Seal’ is in line with the Dragon and Tiger True Man tradition. Beyond this, the opponent’s abilities to transform living beings, divide realms, and even Time Manipulation Divine Power, were completely absent, clearly not part of the ’Dragon Tiger Pill Book’ inheritance.
"Forget it, am I just being greedy?"
Zhong Shenxiu laughed self-deprecatingly: "To have received the ’Dragon Tiger Pill Book,’ I should be content... Compared to the White Bone Dao Book, it is undoubtedly superior by a thousandfold. As long as there is potential for advancement in the future, my weaknesses in spells and divine powers are nothing..."