Above the Great Dao
Chapter 432 - 209: Codename: True King (Happy Mid-Autumn Festival)_2

Chapter 432: Chapter 209: Codename: True King (Happy Mid-Autumn Festival)_2

He lifted his hand, pointing toward the wooden cart.

He had suffered a loss at Chen Shi’s hand before when the treasure of the Lu Ban Sect, the Pivot of Mechanism, had been easily turned against them by Chen Shi, which truly made him envious.

Chen Shi smiled and said, "This is a Southern Taoist Talisman, comparatively niche, and not easy to learn. However, with me, talismans make no distinction between southern or northern schools; they’re all one and the same. If you want to learn, I’ll teach you."

Situ Wen was both surprised and delighted, and Chen Shi simply passed on the ghost house sort of talismans to him.

Situ Wen indeed had a foundation in drawing talismans, but those of the Southern Sect were somewhat sinister and difficult to get the hang of in a short period of time.

On the contrary, with the complete Dragon Trace Technique, he had learned it in a short time, and his cultivation advanced by leaps and bounds, covering great distances in a day.

His Nascent Soul, originally a foot tall, was at the brink of the Divinity Transformation, only lacking the subsequent cultivation techniques to break through.

Now, with the complete Dragon Trace Technique activated, he felt his Nascent Soul stir, showing signs of transforming into a Divinity!

At this pace of cultivation, breaking through to the Divinity Transformation Realm and achieving a Primordial Spirit seemed just around the corner!

"You’d best solidify your foundation and not rush to break through to the Divinity Transformation Realm,"

Chen Shi advised, "Your original Dragon Trace Technique had too many missing pieces, the Nascent Soul, the Golden Core, the body—many areas have not been refined. Now that you have the complete cultivation technique, polish them more at the Nascent Soul Realm. When there are no more deficiencies, then proceed to break through."

Situ Wen agreed.

Seeing that he had too many gaps in his knowledge of talismans, Chen Shi said, "I have a friend named Yu Tiancheng, a great master of talismans. You’ll have difficulty learning the Southern Taoist Talismans in the short term. Yu Tiancheng is the Hall Master at the Red Mountain Hall of the Talisman Master Association. I’ll write you a letter, and when you go to Gongzhou to see him, he will certainly teach you all he knows. Once you have a solid foundation, learning the Southern Taoist Talismans will be much easier."

Situ Wen joyfully said, "The Hall Master of the Red Mountain Hall of the Talisman Master Association, Yu Tiancheng? I’ve also heard of his great reputation; he’s a hero in Gongzhou! However, the Talisman Master Association is of the ninth rank; I’m afraid he might look down on me."

Chen Shi shook his head, "Yu Tiancheng is not that kind of person."

Situ Wen continued, "Master, in the past, the annual surplus of the Lu Ban Sect was always subject to the scrutiny of the son’s chief steward. Now that the Lu Ban Sect has broken away from the son, to whom should we hand over the surplus?"

Chen Shi was inwardly moved, "The son takes money from you guys?"

Situ Wen nodded, saying, "The son doesn’t take much. The Lu Ban Sect has an annual surplus of over thirty thousand taels of silver, from which the son takes ten thousand, and the rest is managed by the Lu Ban Sect itself. Our Lu Ban Sect is relatively poor, but the earnings from Rouge Lane are much more substantial. Just the Rouge Lane in Yudou earns over two hundred thousand taels of silver each year. As for Mingfeng Pavilion, the Red Lady Society, and Joy Forest, the surpluses vary."

Chen Shi hesitated, the Heavenly Court was merely a makeshift organization with no one in charge of finances.

When grandfather was alive, he was so poor it was painful, showing that the Heavenly Court had no surplus funds.

Granny Sha could only rely on her witchcraft to scrape by, while Hu Xiaoliang, the Clan Leader of the Fox Clan, had no worries about food and drink. The green sheep went to live in a mountain village as an Evil Spirit, getting by on whatever he could, showing that he was also broke.

There might be others in the Heavenly Court, but none who managed finances.

"Shao Jing has a set of management skills; perhaps he could handle the finances," Chen Shi thought to himself.

But the matter of money was not urgent for the moment, especially since Chen Shi didn’t possess much wealth at present.

"The surplus of the Lu Ban Sect, you keep it for now. The time when we need money hasn’t arrived yet," Chen Shi said.

Situ Wen hesitated before saying, "When I was coming here, Aunt Xue from the Red Lady Society mentioned that she had already found out about Master’s hometown and was planning to level Huangpo Village."

Chen Shi raised his eyebrows, his expression a mix of amusement and nonchalance, "To learn the Dao in the morning and die in the evening would be enough. Aunt Xue’s methods are still too slow. Sect Leader Situ, what exactly does the Red Lady Society do?"

Situ Wen replied, "The Red Lady Society is in the business of matchmaking and connecting men and women; it’s split into two types, matchmakers and marriage brokers."

Chen Shi was surprised, "Aren’t matchmakers and marriage brokers the same?"

Situ Wen shook his head, "They’re different. Marriage brokers primarily focus on matchmaking, finding out which families have daughters of marriageable age, then propose marriage and introduce suitors.

"There are also rules involved. If the girl’s family gives a lot of money, the broker will match her with a decent family. If they give less or don’t satisfy the broker, she’ll be matched with a wealthy family as a concubine or even be slandered as being promiscuous or the like.

"Moreover, if a powerful and wealthy family takes a fancy to a girl, they’ll send a broker to propose marriage. Even if the girl’s family is unwilling, the broker always has ways to make them agree. Therefore, it’s a profitable business as well."

Chen Shi inquired, "And what about the matchmakers?"

Situ Wen smiled, "Have you ever read ’The West Chamber’, Master? In ’The West Chamber’, the character Hongniang is a maid in the household of a high official, Cui Yingying’s maid, who helps the love affair between Cui Yingying and Zhang Sheng by secretly connecting them. Matchmakers are those who work on linking men and women together like that."

Chen Shi pondered, "This is indeed good news."

Situ Wen shook his head with a smile, "Sometimes it’s good news, but other times not necessarily. For instance, if I took a fancy to Aunt Xue, but Aunt Xue were already married, a wife to someone, and I wanted to be intimate with her, I’d need to find a matchmaker from the Red Lady Society to draw us together."

Chen Shi raised his brows, "How would they draw us together?"

Situ Wen explained, "The Red Lady Society would get close to Aunt Xue, befriend her, sing my praises in front of her, and create various opportunities for me to get closer to Aunt Xue. After one thing led to another, we would end up in bed. Normal matchmakers don’t make much money; it’s this sort that really brings in the big bucks."

Chen Shi’s eyes widened in astonishment, "That can actually be done?"

Situ Wen continued, "Every year, the Red Lady Society brings in a profit of over a hundred thousand silver to the young master. Their business in Yudou is not the best; it truly flourishes in the Western Capital. Aunt Xue is just an Incense Master of the Red Lady Society in Yudou, but I’ve heard that the president of the Society is a big shot in the Western Capital, someone very close to the young master. As for someone like me, I can only look up to them."

He laughed, "It’s often the case that such influential figures fall into the hands of the Red Lady Society. The Society can then accumulate many connections for the young master. However, even though Aunt Xue is only an Incense Master, she had cultivated the Seven Transformations Heavenly Dance Technique, rumored to have been passed down by the young master himself, and is extremely formidable, matching me in prowess."

Chen Shi nodded slightly; knowing Situ Wen’s strength was formidable; if it came to a direct confrontation, he likely wouldn’t be Situ Wen’s match.

However, he had come across the Seven Transformations Heavenly Dance Technique in the True King’s Tomb Stele Grove, named the Shenzhou Seven Transformations Heavenly Dance Scripture; he wondered if it was the same cultivation technique.

Chen Shi hadn’t committed this cultivation technique to memory and now could only recollect seventy to eighty percent of it in passing.

Situ Wen mentioned, "Aside from contacting me, Aunt Xue also reached out to Joy Forest. Joy Forest is a gambling den and also the young master’s enterprise. The head of Joy Forest is called Du Shenshou, who has cultivated the Silent Illuminating Divine Transformation Skill, also said to be passed down by the young master, and is incredibly powerful."

"Silent Illuminating Divine Transformation Skill?"

Chen Shi felt a stir of interest; he had seen a skill named "Silent Illumination Divine Transformation Samadhi Scripture" among the steles, and wondered how it compared to the young master’s Silent Illuminating Divine Transformation Skill.

Situ Wen added, "Aunt Xue also invited Manager Qiu of Mingfeng Pavilion, who practices the Thunder Body Technique, which is fierce and overbearing, even more forceful than my spells in many ways!"

Chen Shi pondered; he had also come across the Thunder Body Technique among the steles.

He was curious how Manager Qiu’s Thunder Body Technique compared to his own.

Chen Shi asked with a smile, "Are they planning to come to Huangpo Village to kill me?"

Situ Wen replied, "I’ve tasked a mechanician to monitor them, and they are still at their respective headquarters, they haven’t set off yet."

Chen Shi sought guidance, "Where is the Red Lady Society’s incense hall? And what about Joy Forest, Mingfeng Pavilion? How do you get there? Please, Sect Leader Situ, inform me of the routes."

Situ Wen stood up, "I shall lead you there."

Chen Shi shook his head, "You go to Red Mountain Hall in Gongzhou and lay low. In Yudou, I fear something big is about to happen."

He stood up and stretched his limbs, with a smile that was not quite a smile, he said, "They want to go to Huangpo Village? The Master said, ’A gentleman should be slow in speech but swift in action.’ Clearly, they still lack a deep understanding of the Master’s teachings!"

Hearing this, Situ Wen was filled with admiration, "You truly are a teacher, so good with words!"

He hastily offered, "I’ll have the mechanician lead the way for you!"

As Situ Wen was about to take his leave, he suddenly remembered something and said, "Since we are an organization of the Heavenly Court, I can’t just keep calling you ’teacher.’ You need a resounding title; otherwise, it’s unfitting to address you without it."

Chen Shi contemplated for a moment and said, "The title ’young master’ has been taken by someone else, and I’m too embarrassed to use it..."

Situ Wen ventured, "How about using ’True King’ as a code name?"

"Code name: True King?"

Chen Shi was pleased, "That title has a nice ring to it! Good, let’s go with True King!"

Situ Wen was inexplicably excited, feeling even more motivated, "The True King indeed harbors thoughts of rebellion! I haven’t followed the wrong person! Unlike the young master, who hesitates in his revolt, acting like a woman!"

Chen Shi’s emotions surged within him.

Every long journey begins with a single step.

He thought of an ancient saying, "The sage who is even older than the Master said, ’When you know the enemy is miles away, you should hurry to them and kill them at once! And Aunt Xue and the others are right here in the city!’"

—On Mid-Autumn Festival, I wish everyone a happy and joyous time with family!!