Chapter 41 Part 1

Li Pinghu was a Soul Transformation cultivator, so he could naturally take disciples as he wished.

He sent a rune message to the Sunset Death Gate Master, formally accepting Xie Linlang into the Sunset Death Gate.

“You’re called Xie Yu now?”

“Yes.”

Li Pinghu said, “Linlang for Jade is a bit too conspicuous. Once you display your pill refining talent, it’ll be easy for people to recognize you. Unless you switch to cultivating some other miscellaneous path, it’s best to take another dao name.”

Li Pinghu wasn’t actually called Li Pinghu; Pinghu was the courtesy name he had given himself. Those familiar with him addressed him by his surname directly, while strangers called him the Pinghu Scholar.

Xie Linlang smiled. “No, Xie Yu will do.”

What he wanted was precisely that sense of familiarity yet difference.

Li Pinghu had only made a suggestion. Seeing Xie Linlang insist, he didn’t say anything more.

After accepting Xie Linlang as a Sunset Death Gate cultivator, he passed on the sect’s secret arts to him.

Morning Hearing Dao, a secret art with a chance of sudden enlightenment, though that chance was purely down to luck. As far as he knew, very few in the sect had truly comprehended the Dao with it; it could only be considered a method for absorbing demonic qi. Its one merit was that absorbing demonic qi with it produced little disturbance, making it ideal for healing and replenishing qi while being pursued by enemies without being detected.

After passing the secret art to Xie Linlang, Li Pinghu also gave him a small booklet.

“Here, this is the secret art You Me He for converting the curse into a soul power mask. Study it first, and come ask me if there’s anything you don’t understand.”

With Xie Linlang’s half-step Tribulation Transcendence aptitude and divine soul power, he didn’t need a teacher’s guidance to study these secret arts. Thus, Li Pinghu didn’t put on any airs as a venerable. After handing over the items and receiving two Zhu Yan Pills in exchange, he left.

Xie Linlang stayed at the Sunset Death Gate for around ten days.

He still primarily cultivated the Treasure Tree Scripture. It made his demonic qi less restless and bloody. Moreover, since the Treasure Tree Scripture could summon heavenly demons, Xie Linlang’s demonic qi carried an illusory, dreamlike allure with extremely strong deceptive power.

However, Morning Hearing Dao could serve as a supplementary technique. Not to mention anything else, just the ability to absorb demonic qi to replenish himself while being chased without detection from enemies was enough for Xie Linlang to study it seriously.

As the introductory technique of the Sunset Death Gate, Morning Hearing Dao wasn’t difficult. Xie Linlang deduced it a couple of times and entered the door. He spent two days and successfully refined his demonic qi to be even more delicate and gentle. If someone who didn’t know him saw him, they might even mistake him for an orthodox cultivator.

Li Pinghu praised him repeatedly as a genius. Xie Linlang smiled faintly. “If recultivation doesn’t reach this level, then I’d have endured that heavenly tribulation for nothing.”

After mastering Morning Hearing Dao, Xie Linlang began studying You Me He.

Since this technique involved ghost path secret arts, Xie Linlang fired up the pill furnace and refined a batch of Soul Returning Pills.

Even cultivators who consumed a Soul Returning Pill would fall into a daze, losing all sense of their body’s pull and floating ethereally like a lone soul or wild ghost between heaven and earth.

Xie Linlang had indeed been a lone soul wild ghost during his failed tribulation transcendence and ensuing daze. Revisiting that sensation now brought genuine insights, allowing him to clearly sense the curse power entwined around his divine soul.

…Right, the Nine Spirits Sect Master had long fallen, leaving only a remnant soul—wasn’t that precisely a malicious ghost curse?

Xie Linlang steadied his mind, and a strong sense of self-affirmation welled up naturally. He smoothly began cultivating the You Me He secret art.

The most crucial part of this secret art was finding the “I,” using the “I” to see the “you,” then from the “you and I” perspective to see the “he”—all while frequently switching between you, me, and he, yet constantly maintaining affirmation and persistence toward the true self.

Xie Linlang entered a cultivation state, and Li Pinghu came to guard him.

Though useful, this secret art carried risks when cultivated alone, easily leading to chaos. One slip, and the divine soul might completely sever its link to the body, becoming a true lone soul wild ghost—that would be trouble.

Just as Li Pinghu was guarding Xie Linlang, the Sunset Death Gate Master suddenly sent him a message, saying that Silent Night Palace was seeking him out to discuss purchasing some spirit pills, especially those left behind by Linlang Dao Lord before his death.

Li Pinghu: “…”

He looked at Xie Linlang, who was deep in cultivation with all six senses closed, and raised his long brows high.

He hesitated briefly, then penned a letter, folded it into a paper crane, and watched as the crane turned into a streak of light, vanishing into the thick black-purple mist.

On another peak of Futu Mountain, midway up the slope in a small pavilion, the Sunset Death Gate Master caught the paper crane, opened it, and smiled broadly. “Brother Pinghu has agreed, but he’s currently studying a calligraphy piece and comprehending its profound intent, so he can’t spare his mind for now. Would fellow daoist wait a few days?”

A Silent Night Palace cultivator sat across from him, sent on the Palace Lord’s orders to buy pills from the Sunset Death Gate. Hearing the response, he readily agreed. “No problem. A few days is no trouble.”

Sunset Death Gate Master: “However, this old man is puzzled. Why has Night Senior suddenly taken an interest in Linlang Dao Lord’s pills? It’s a pity Linlang Dao Lord fell over a year ago; the remaining pills dwindle with each one consumed.”

Silent Night Palace cultivator: “I’m not clear on the details either. It was the Palace Lord’s personal instruction—perhaps he has his own plans.”

The Sunset Death Gate Master asked no more. The two sat and discussed the Dao, chatting about cultivation matters.

Seven days later, Xie Linlang successfully comprehended the first layer of You Me He. The curse from the Nine Spirits Sect Master gradually transformed into another unfamiliar divine soul power, forming a faint, mask-like hazy planar network that lightly floated over his divine soul.

Afterward, Xie Linlang only needed to continue cultivating and refining it. Once he advanced to the third layer step by step, he could fully resolve this curse.

Joy appeared on Xie Linlang’s face. He solemnly thanked Li Pinghu. “Many thanks, Big Brother Li.”

Li Pinghu: “No need for thanks. If one day you successfully refine an Immortal Feather Pill… Er, no, that’s too precious. If you can share a bit of pill liquid with me to let me experience the immortal realm, I’d be content.”