Taichu Yandao: Starting from the Villain

In the blink of an eye, another half a year has passed.

Qian Xiaoyi's originally thin face became plump again. He himself was unaware of it, but it did not escape the eyes of those who were paying attention.

After dinner that day, Qian Xiaoyi scraped the remaining porridge from the wooden barrel again as usual, but since he was not that hungry, he scraped it perfunctorily.

On the side, Xiong Ditai saw all this, his eyes turned, and he sighed, "It is said that practicing is good, it can make you transcend the mundane world and not eat the five grains of the world. But I think that we, the Qigong cultivators without background, are no better than ordinary people."

Qian Xiaoyi laughed and said, "Here, we are not only inferior to ordinary people, but even worse than pigs and dogs."

"Even if we are outside, it's not much better. Many of my fellow Taoists who went to collect herbs with me before were killed by ferocious beasts and didn't live as long as ordinary people."

"That's true. Even if you are outside, you have to think about earning spirit stones all day long."

Xiong Ditai continued to complain: "Forget all these. What I am most dissatisfied with is that each sect determines the rank of a person based on his or her talent. Those with a poor foundation are not even qualified to practice a complete set of skills."

"Yes, you don't even give me a chance to make up for my shortcomings."

The two chatted casually until Xiong Ditai suddenly changed the subject and said:

"You brothers are actually quite lucky. In the entire mine, your skills are the highest in quality. When you rescued Elder Yao that day, I saw that Deputy Captain Zhao remained calm from beginning to end. He was really amazing!"

Xiong Ditai said this and gave a thumbs up.

Qian Xiaoyi smiled and said, "It's not a powerful technique, it's just that Daoist Zhao has a good talent."

"I don't believe it. Most of the independent practitioners in Jin State only have a few books on their techniques. For example, the one I practice is the "Eternal Spring Secret". This technique can only be practiced to the great perfection of Qi training. What to do after the foundation is established is a blank."

When talking about the technique, Qian Xiaoyi immediately remembered Zhao Rui's previous request, so he asked, "Brother Xiong, are you willing to sell this technique?"

Xiong Ditai looked puzzled and asked, "We have different spiritual roots. If I remember correctly, you and Deputy Captain Zhao both have fire spiritual roots. What do you want wood-based skills for?"

"Well! Daoist friend Zhao and I are actually hermits. We have only practiced the techniques passed down by our master. We just want to see other people's techniques and verify them."

"Well, this is a solution if you encounter a bottleneck." Xiong Ditai nudged Qian Xiaoyi with his elbow and asked, "Since you are practicing in seclusion, you must have extraordinary skills. Tell me about it."

Qian Xiaoyi had something to ask of the other party, so he said, "We are practicing the Heavenly Fire Sutra."

Xiong Ditai laughed loudly, and after a while he said, "Fellow Daoist Qian, don't deceive me. Even if the Taoist master practices the common stuff like the Heavenly Fire Scripture, he can't cultivate the magic power of Deputy Captain Zhao."

Qian Xiaoyi's face changed drastically, and he asked, "Is the Heavenly Fire Scripture very ordinary?"

Xiong Ditai said: "In the Qi training stage of Jin State, eight out of ten people with fire attribute spiritual roots practice the Heavenly Fire Sutra. Isn't this just common stuff?"

Qian Xiaoyi frowned deeply, but thinking that his master was just an independent cultivator and that it was normal for his skills to be ordinary, he quickly calmed down and changed the subject:

"Actually, Daoist Fellow Zhao and I do not have the same master. I call his master Uncle Shi. As for the technique, he should be practicing the Five Elements Return to Origin Technique."

"I've never heard of "The Five Elements Return to the Origin Art". It sounds very powerful." Xiong Ditai frowned.

Seeing that the time was almost right, Qian Xiaoyi asked again, "So how about your technique for fifty spirit stones?"

"Okay! It's settled." Xiong Ditai agreed without thinking.

"As the saying goes, compare three stores before buying. Why don't you ask others? But I'm not the one paying for the spiritual stones..." Qian Xiaoyi didn't expect the other party to be so straightforward, so he had to bite the bullet and said, "Then how do we trade?"

"No hurry, I need to spend a few days to memorize the exercises, we can talk about it then!"

"Okay, don't forget it."

The two of them blew for a while before they dispersed.

Qian Xiaoyi returned to his own cave, but did not go in. Instead, he continued to move upwards and entered Zhao Rui's cave.

Zhao Rui sat cross-legged in the dim light. Seeing Qian Xiaoyi coming hurriedly, he asked, "Fellow Daoist Qian, what happened again?"

Qian Xiaoyi smiled and said, "Fellow Daoist Zhao, I found the wood-type technique for you."

Zhao Rui stood up suddenly, grabbed Qian Xiaoyi's arm, and said, "Have you got it? Let me see."

Qian Xiaoyi shook his head repeatedly, and recounted the agreement with Xiong Ditai. At the end, he said, "I'm afraid he won't sell it, and the price he offered is a bit high. How about asking someone else?"

Zhao Rui shook his head and said, "The fewer people who know about this, the better. He is Mr. Yao's man, and we know each other, so let's do it this way. But... you can give him 30 yuan first, saying that this is all we have for now, and you can pay him back the rest within six months."

Qian Xiaoyi nodded and praised: "This is indeed safer and will not arouse suspicion."

Zhao Rui took out a black cloth bag from the side and said, "I'll give you the spirit stones first. You still need earth attribute skills. Please."

Qian Xiaoyi took the bag of spirit stones and said, "In the past six months, I have never met an earth-type cultivator. I wonder if there is any reason for this. I will find out more."

Zhao Rui frowned and said, "Is that so? What Elder Yao is practicing is an earth-attributed technique, but it should be of a very high grade."

"When we first met Elder Yao, he was leading his team to escape. If there were no restrictions deep underground, this place would be a paradise for earth-type cultivators. Do you think this could be related to this?"

"Now that you mention it, it's possible. I can go and find out if there's a chance. It's very boring in this cave anyway."

"It's more than boring. It's completely uninteresting."

The two chatted for a while before Qian Xiaoyi took his leave and returned to his cave.

Not far away, just as Qian Xiaoyi had just entered his cave, Xiong Ditai showed his head.

He squinted his eyes and observed for a moment. After making sure that there was no one around, he climbed up a wooden stake beside him and headed straight to the top floor of the cave.

He moved swiftly and slipped into Yao Yi's cave in a few flashes. If no one had noticed, it would have been as if nothing had happened.

In the cave, two oil lamps flickered, illuminating a skinny figure who occasionally coughed, echoing throughout the cave.

"Mr. Yao, is your health still not well?" Xiong Ditai asked.

Yao Yi turned sideways, spat out a mouthful of thick phlegm and said, "It's an old illness. I'm afraid it won't be cured without a few precious medicines."

Xiong Ditai sighed and said, "If it were outside, this wouldn't be a problem, but it's really difficult here."

"You won't die for a while, what are you doing here?"

Xiong Ditai clasped his fists and saluted, saying, "I have found out what you ordered. Deputy Captain Zhao is practicing the Five Elements Return to Origin Art."

Yao Yi frowned and said, "I've never heard of the Five Elements Return to Origin Secret. Have you found out their background?"