The Lord of Void and Real
Chapter 862

Chapter 862: Chapter 859: Old Matters of Years Past Chapter 862: Chapter 859: Old Matters of Years Past “It's absolutely true. That year, Zhenyuanzi's ginseng fruit tree was once knocked down, and it was the Guanyin Ancestor Master who saved it by using the Yangliu Branch combined with the Sweet Dew Water from the Jade Purification Bottle,” the Black Bear Demon said somewhat proudly.

“To revive the dead, to bring forth all creatures, to revive the dead…” Shen Luo muttered to himself, then his eyes suddenly brightened as he recalled something.

“Protector Elder, earlier, on the Mount Putuo square, Wei Qing colluded with demons and ambushed Master Qinglian, mentioning a name called 'Golden Scale.' Do you know who this person is? Judging by the reactions of the other elders of your sect, this name seems to be of no small importance,” he immediately asked again.

Bai Xiaotian and Nie Caizhu had also been curious about this matter and looked over as Shen Luo spoke.

“Golden Scale!” The Black Bear Demon's body shook, and his face quickly darkened.

Seeing this, Shen Luo knew his guess was not wrong; this Golden Scale indeed involved some major affair.

“Protector Elder, I don't know what affair this Golden Scale is involved in, but now Mount Putuo is in imminent danger. If we can find the reason behind Wei Qing's betrayal, perhaps we can find a semblance of a chance to prevail,” Shen Luo said with a cupped fist salute.

“Sigh, since Friend Shen speaks so, I will conceal it no longer. Golden Scale was a golden fish monster spirit on Mount Putuo many years ago, who gained Spiritual Wisdom after listening to lectures by the Guanyin Ancestor Master. He had profound cultivation and was very kind-hearted, much beloved by the disciples of Mount Putuo,” the Black Bear Demon sighed and said.

Shen Luo's eyebrows twitched, but knowing that the Black Bear Demon must have more to say, he remained silent, waiting quietly.

“The Bodhisattva is full of compassion, enlightening countless beings; truly, her merits are boundless,” Bai Xiaotian said with hands pressed together, showing a look of deep veneration.

“To speak of the affair of Golden Scale, we must go back over a hundred years. At that time, the leader of Mount Putuo was not Fairy Qinglian, but her elder fellow disciple, the Green Moon Immortal. That year, during the Dragon Boat Festival, Mount Putuo traditionally held its annual competition among disciples. The inner disciples were assessed on their cultivation progress over the past year, and it was even more important for the common servant disciples who had yet to be taken as students. Those who distinguished themselves in this competition could be chosen to join the ranks of Mount Putuo and practice more advanced Daoist arts. The competition was more than halfway through when suddenly, chaos erupted; a servant disciple displayed the inner sect Daoist arts during the competition and severely injured his opponent. The elders of Mount Putuo were enraged and confined that person in a water prison. After a deliberation, they decided to cripple his meridians and expel him from the mountain,” the Black Bear Demon slowly said.

“Merely injuring a fellow disciple during a competition led to such severe punishment? That seems rather excessive,” Shen Luo frowned slightly.

“The heavy punishment on that servant disciple was not because he injured a fellow disciple during the competition, but because he had stolen the Daoist skills. Mount Putuo is extremely forbidding toward the secret learning of skills, and once discovered, the offender's meridians would be immediately crippled, and they would be expelled from the sect,” the Black Bear Demon explained.

“Although all sects frown upon the secret learning of skills, this seems a bit too harsh,” Shen Luo said, shaking his head in disapproval.

“Cousin, what you don't know is that the reason why Mount Putuo has such rules is because of an extremely vile Feng Feng incident hundreds of years ago, which caused our Sect a great hidden loss,” Nie Caizhu suddenly interjected.

“The Feng Feng incident?” Shen Luo was startled.

“Roughly four or five hundred years ago, Mount Putuo had a servant disciple named Feng Feng who did chores in the Spirit Beast Hall. The steward disciple there was brutal and often beat and bullied the servant disciples like Feng Feng. After suffering severe injuries several times, almost losing his life, Feng Feng, being sly by nature, didn't retaliate but instead stole Mount Putuo's cultivation methods and silently practiced them. Feng Feng indeed had exceptional talent. After years of hiding, he astonishingly developed a formidable Dao-Practice on his own. Upon mastering his skills, Feng Feng killed the steward disciple of the Spirit Beast Hall with a single strike. Then, he sneaked into critical areas of Mount Putuo, killed the guarding Elder, and stole numerous treasured artifacts of the Sect. The whole Sect was shocked and sent out experts to capture him, but they still underestimated Feng Feng's strength. Two Elders and several core disciples were slain by him. Although Feng Feng was gravely injured in the process, he ultimately escaped and disappeared without a trace,” Nie Caizhu explained.

Upon hearing such a bloody history, Shen Luo took a slight breath.

“Because of Feng Feng, Mount Putuo suffered greatly, remaining silent for nearly a hundred years before recovering. Since then, the Sect established strict rules, prohibiting disciples from stealing and learning skills. Discoveries of such actions were met with meridians being destroyed at best, death at worst,” the Black Bear Demon continued.

“So that's how it is, no wonder. What happened to that servant disciple who was locked up in the water prison? Oh, what was his name?” Shen Luo said in realization, then asked.

“His name is Mu Yi, and he is the son of an outer Sect Steward who handles mundane affairs for Mount Putuo. On the night before Mu Yi's execution, Golden Scale suddenly sneaked into the water prison, knocked out the guard disciple, rescued Mu Yi, and fled Mount Putuo with him. It was only at this moment that many Elders of Mount Putuo realized that it was Golden Scale who had privately passed on the Dao methods to Mu Yi. Moreover, the two had been in each other's company for a long time and had even developed a forbidden romance,” the Black Bear Demon said indignantly.

Shen Luo frowned slightly; given today's strict social customs, even those sharing the same surname could not marry, let alone the love between a human and a demon of different races. Moreover, since Golden Scale had taught Mu Yi the Dao, she was considered to be his half-Master, making their romantic involvement even more contrary to propriety.

“Stealing the Dao methods is a serious crime, and a human-demon romance is even more at odds with social decorum. The Green Moon Sect Master personally led a chase and finally caught up with them at the Great Tang Border. After a fierce battle, both Mu Yi and Golden Scale were severely injured, but Green Moon Sect Master and the others also learned the reason why Mu Yi had stolen the Dao methods,” the Black Bear Demon said and then suddenly let out a deep sigh.

“Could it be that there's more to this incident?” Shen Luo, seeing the Black Bear Demon's expression, couldn't help but ask.

“Indeed, although Mu Yi is of the Human Race, he carries the Yin Bloodline, same as his father, said to be a hereditary trait in their family. If this bloodline manifests in a woman, it is a stroke of luck, enhancing a woman's Yin Qi and promoting the growth of her cultivation level. But in a man's body, it is harmful; the power of the Yin Bloodline conflicts with a man's Yang Qi. Without a proper method of harmonization, survival past adulthood is difficult,” the Black Bear Demon continued to narrate.

“The Yin Bloodline…” Shen Luo's eyebrows twitched slightly; he had seen records of this bloodline in ancient texts and it was indeed as the Black Bear Demon had said.

“Mu Yi's father, an outer Sect Steward, had some cultivation level and had been forcefully exerting his skills to suppress the Yin Veins in Mu Yi since his childhood. However, the father's cultivation was limited, and after years of exerting his Skills, he eventually induced his own Yin Vein backlash. In order to save his father, Mu Yi took a great risk to steal and learn the Sect's Dao methods,” the Black Bear Demon said.

“From what you say, Mu Yi was fulfilling his duties of filial piety. But why didn't he inform the Sect of his situation and seek permission to learn the Dao of Mount Putuo openly? Given Mu Yi's special family circumstances and that his father was a Mount Putuo Steward, surely your Sect would not stand by and watch him die,” Shen Luo asked, puzzled.