Chapter 229 Volunteering
"Heavenly Water Glue!" Yuan Ming's eyes lit up when he saw the contents of the jade box through the Soul Crow.
When he first entered the East Region, he heard a shop owner talk about this thing in the market. He said that this Heavenly Water Glue was produced at the bottom of the deep sea. It could only be formed when spiritual power, earth veins, temperature, water pressure and other conditions were met. It was very rare. A small piece would cost seven or eight hundred spirit stones to buy, and it was in short supply.
"Elder Bai, please put this thing away. I am the master of Xuanhua Temple. I am responsible for the will of the ancestors of all generations. I dare not forget anything. The incense making books of this temple will never be sold." Xuanhua Zhenren shook his head firmly and said.
Bai Lin's face darkened, and he said in a cold voice: "Fellow Daoist Xuanhua, I have already offered you the conditions to this extent, please do not be ungrateful! The root of this matter is that you failed to complete the 100 "Seven Steps Down" commissions on time, which ruined Bai's big plan, and this led to the current situation. Even if you go to Tieyun Temple to confront, you have no reason at all!"
Xuanhua Zhenren's face flushed red, and he stammered and could not speak.
"The beast has been frightened and is hiding in its lair and refuses to come out. The only way now is to use your Xuanhua Temple's incense making books and ask fellow Daoist Lanxi for help, so that it is possible to hunt down the beast. If this fails, you and I will be in danger of death. If you die, Xuanhua Temple will disappear, and how can we talk about inheritance?" Bai Lin's eyes were cold and frightening, and he said word by word.
Xuanhua Zhenren's face turned pale with every word he heard. After Bai Lin finished speaking, fine cold sweat broke out on his forehead.
"I will give Daoist Xuanhua one more day. I will come again tomorrow. I hope Daoist Xuanhua will not let me down, otherwise don't blame me for being ruthless." Bai Lin said, put away the jade box and storage bag, and stood up to leave.
Xuanhua Zhenren's face was pale, and he sat down on the chair in the front hall in a very dejected manner.
A sound of footsteps sounded, and it was Yuan Ming who walked in.
"Daoist Yuan, why are you here?" Xuanhua Zhenren stood up and asked.
"Daoist Xuanhua, please don't blame me. I have a secret technique that can listen to sounds from far away. I accidentally heard the conversation between the two of you just now, so I thought of coming to discuss this matter with Daoist You." Yuan Ming bowed his hands to apologize.
Xuanhua Zhenren was startled, then waved his hand tiredly and sat back down.
"Fellow Daoist Xuanhua, from your conversation just now, it seems that you and Senior Bai Lin fell into a dilemma because you failed to hunt a fierce beast. What is the whole story of this matter? Yuan doesn't dare to take on other things, but when it comes to hunting fierce beasts, I think I still have some means, maybe I can help." Yuan Ming sat down on the chair next to Xuanhua Zhenren and asked.
"You? Hunting fierce beasts?" Xuanhua Zhenren looked at Yuan Ming in surprise, obviously not believing it.
This is no wonder. Incense makers have been busy making incense in secret rooms for many years. They need others to buy materials for them, and they have no chance to fight.
Yuan Ming smiled slightly and pointed out the formula.
A chair not far away suddenly split into two halves. The crack was unusually smooth. Xuanhua Zhenren didn't see what happened at all.
"I didn't expect that Fellow Daoist Yuan had such means, but I'm afraid you can't help in this matter." Xuanhua Zhenren was very surprised, but still shook his head and said.
"Why not tell me about it." Yuan Ming did not give up and continued to ask.
"Okay, let's start from a month ago." Xuanhua Zhenren sighed and spoke slowly.
A month ago, Bai Lin came to the door with a big business, refining 100 seven-step incense sticks. The price was quite high, but it had to be completed within ten days.
Xuanhua Zhenren was raising spirit stones to prepare spirit herbs to refine foundation-building spirit incense, and he agreed immediately.
With Xuanhua Zhenren's incense-making level, it was more than enough to make 100 seven-step incense sticks in ten days. However, things did not go as planned. On the seventh day, his old brain disease suddenly broke out, and he was in a coma in the secret room for two whole days before waking up, which greatly delayed the incense-making process. In the end, he only refined more than 80 seven-step incense sticks and failed to meet Bai Lin's requirements on time.
Bai Lin wanted 100 seven-step incense sticks to hunt a whirlpool beast in the sea. The beast's strength had reached the peak of the second level, and it was only half a step away from the third level. Its temperament was also extremely cunning, and it had been hiding in the undercurrent whirlpool on the seabed for many years without showing up.
Bai Lin used some unknown means to lure it to the sea surface and trapped it with a magic array. At the same time, he used a large number of Seven Steps to fascinate it in the large array and took the opportunity to kill it.
But the number of Seven Steps was not enough. The vortex beast woke up at the critical moment, broke free from the magic array and fled back to the bottom of the sea. After that, no matter how Bai Lin teased it, it never showed up again.
The reason why Bai Lin hunted the vortex beast was because he was ordered by a Jindan stage cultivator on Bailong Island. The Jindan stage cultivator had a violent temper. If he could not bring the vortex beast's body back on time, Bai Lin's life might not be saved.
In desperation, Bai Lin had to ask for help from a powerful casual cultivator, Lan Xi, near Ningcheng. Lan Xi's cultivation reached the middle stage of foundation building, and the skills he practiced were good at underwater activities. He also had an underwater spirit beast to assist him, which was enough to resist the vortex beast and perhaps lure it out again.
However, the blue lizard proposed that the condition for his help was to obtain the secret book of incense making from Xuanhua Temple, otherwise he would not help. That was why Bai Lin came to force him.
"Does fellow Daoist Xuanhua have a brain disease?" Yuan Ming asked after hearing this.
"Well, it's an old problem. I'm restless and irritable. When I'm emotional, I tend to get irritated. I've been taking medicine to suppress it for years, and I haven't been sick for a long time. But recently, for some reason, I've often been inexplicably restless, and the day and night incense making has triggered the old disease." Xuanhua Zhenren sighed.
Yuan Ming opened his mouth, wanting to say something but stopping, with a hint of apology in his eyes.
Xuanhua Zhenren's restless thoughts during this period may be due to the influence of his thoughts after being possessed.
"What are you going to do, fellow Daoist Xuanhua? Do you really want to hand over your sect's secret book?" Yuan Ming asked again.
"Even if I die, I will never hand over our sect's secret book to others!" Xuanhua Zhenren's eyes were determined.
"In this case, the only way is to hunt that vortex beast. I wonder if fellow Daoist Xuanhua knows where the vortex beast's nest is?" Yuan Ming paused and asked again.
"I heard Bai Lin say once that there is a coral island a hundred miles southwest of here. Do you really want to hunt this beast? I appreciate your kindness. The vortex beast is very powerful. Even if several foundation-building cultivators join forces, they may not be able to defeat it. What's more, you and I are Qi-refining cultivators. I'd better ask Tieyun Temple to handle this matter. At most, I'll spend some spiritual stones. I don't believe that I can't handle this matter." Xuanhua Zhenren shook his head and said.
"It's naturally impossible to rely on me alone. Yuan has several powerful companions. If they take action, there should be a good chance of success." Yuan Ming said.
"Do you really have confidence?" Xuanhua Zhenren showed some hope on his face when he heard this.
Although he just said that he would pay Tieyun Temple to come forward, he was actually not sure at all. He was in the wrong in this matter. He didn't have any close friends in Tieyun Temple. Tieyun Temple would not support him with some spiritual stones and make enemies with the elders of Bailong Island.
"Of course I'm not 100% sure, but I'm 50% or 60% sure." Yuan Ming thought for a moment and said.
"If you can really kill the vortex beast, you will be the benefactor of my Xuanhua Temple. If you ask me for anything in the future, I will never refuse!" Xuanhua Zhenren bowed deeply and promised solemnly.
"Xuanhua, you are too kind. If I take back the body of the vortex beast, I think I can exchange it for Tianshui glue from the man on Bailong Island. If you can make more than two foundation-building incense sticks, I hope you can share the profit with the next one." Yuan Ming returned the bow and said.
Whether it was to express his apology or to refine the foundation-building incense, he was determined to hunt the vortex beast.
This beast may be tricky for others, but Yuan Ming has many means, especially with the body of Tianshe Shangren who has merged with the white ape skin. As long as he is not fighting directly with a Jindan stage cultivator, he is not afraid.
And listening to the conversation between Xuanhua Zhenren and Bai Lin just now, the most difficult part of hunting this beast is to lead it out from the bottom of the sea. In this matter, he has a unique secret method.
Xuanhua Zhenren naturally agreed.
"From what you said, the vortex beast is cunning. I may not be able to come back tomorrow. If the cultivator from Bailong Island comes again, Daoist Xuanhua can try to delay it for a few days." Yuan Ming said.
"No problem, just leave this little thing to me." Xuanhua Zhenren replied.
Yuan Ming nodded, stood up and walked outside, and Xuanhua Zhenren saw him off in person.
Yuan Ming did not go through the main door he had entered before, and asked Xuanhua Zhenren to take him out through the back door.
His soul crow detected that Bai Lin had sent people to guard outside the main door. Yuan Ming did not want to contact the people from Bailong Island yet to avoid trouble.
The two passed through the courtyard behind the front hall, and an attic appeared in front of them. From here, they could see some tablets placed inside, candles burning, and incense wafting in all directions.
"That is the ancestral hall dedicated to the ancestors of this temple." Xuanhua Zhenren noticed Yuan Ming's sight and explained.
Yuan Ming looked at a tall incense burner in the ancestral hall, which was full of incense ash, and his eyes suddenly lit up.
The amount of incense ash in the hall before was too small, and he didn't expect there would be more here.
Yuan Ming didn't ask for it, and continued to move forward, and soon left Xuanhua Temple through the back door.
Half a minute later, a blurry figure that was hard to see with the naked eye flashed into the ancestral hall of Xuanhua Temple and came to the incense burner.
The man took out a large jade pot, took out nearly half of the incense ash in the pot, and then left.
A disciple of Xuanhua Temple came with a broom, and his footsteps suddenly stopped.
He seemed to see a figure flash by just now, but when he looked carefully, he saw nothing. He shook his head and muttered, didn't take it to heart, and cleaned the ancestral hall.
The figure left Xuanhua Temple and soon came to a deserted alley nearby, lifted a gray cloak, and revealed his true identity. It was naturally Yuan Ming.
Looking at the jade pot in his hand, he showed joy on his face.
With so much incense ash, it will be enough for a long time to come.