At 3 a.m. (Yin time), on the periphery of "Wangren Town."
The moon was dark, and the wind was high. Among the piles of bones and coffin boards, ghostly green fires flickered on and off.
Thud! Thud!...
In a clearing that had temporarily formed in the woods due to fallen old trees, a dull thudding sound continued to resonate.
If a bystander happened to pass by here, they would probably be petrified, imagining that a corpse was knocking on the coffin wood, attempting to crawl out from inside it.
Only when the ghost fire flickered could one vaguely see a dark figure busily circling a mound of earth, apparently engaged in some mysterious activity.
It was Wang Yuan who, having slept for only four hours, returned above ground and constructed a square Dharma Altar with yellow earth.
The suspicious thuds were produced as he used a shovel to pat down and smooth out the Dharma Altar.
"Just like what's written in the book, this should work," he murmured.
Wang Yuan first rinsed his hands with water from a water pouch, then spread a yellow cloth painted with a Vermillion Talisman over the altar and lit a white candle at each of the cloth's four corners.
With a complete set of loot collected from Wild Dog Daoist, he successfully constructed a rudimentary Dharma altar.
He opened the Taoist book and repeatedly checked to make sure there were no mistakes.
Only then did he retrieve from his sack a pale yellow tiger tooth, shaped like a dagger and collected by his Grandma, stabbed his finger, and drew a "Kun" character with his blood on it.
He then wrapped it in a "Tame Tiger Talisman" and placed it atop the altar.
At that moment, Wang Yuan's face appeared intermittently bright and dark under the flickering candlelight, giving him an eerie look.
If he were to practice this spell in the city, he would probably be doused with stinking black dog blood and accused of being a demon if discovered, immediately dragged to the government office.
But in Beimang Mountain, being captured by a "demon" and not sent to the underworld was lucky enough.
Wang Yuan timed the ritual precisely, each foot on the "Kui Gang" square, his left hand forming the Thunder Seal and his right the Sword technique, he inhaled the Heavenly Spirit Qi from the east, chanting the "Tame Tiger Spell" aloud:
"As the sun rises from the east, the electricity shines like golden light; obey it and you will bow, retreat and it will hide; defy it and misfortune shall not delay..."
He recited this seven times.
Although no divine phenomenon occurred, Wang Yuan did not rush; he simply sat down on a fallen tree trunk.
"Practicing this Gathering Beasts Magic Skill requires subduing dragons and taming tigers. Yin time for the tiger, but I must wait until two hours later (7 a.m.) to subdue the dragon.
Unfortunately, the Transformation into Tiger Technique requires practice specifically on the Yin day and Yin time. Tomorrow is the Yin day, and a living tiger is not yet on hand, so nothing can be achieved immediately," he sighed.
The path to immortality in this Divine Deceit World is vastly different from the 'Daoist Skill follows nature' spiritual path Wang Yuan revered in his previous life.
Not only must one strictly adhere to various Precept Taboos, but daring to directly comprehend the 'Dao' was not something people dared to do.
It seemed that within the origin of the great Dao, something immensely dangerous and terrifying lurked; to touch it was to die!
Thus, practitioners needed to obtain one magic technique from the Dao, keep a clear and diligent mind throughout their lives to establish the foundation of Daoist Skill, and thereby receive a Divine Talisman granted by the Taoist Lineage.
After merging these two elements into one, they could nurture their own unique Divine Power Talisman and formally achieve the rank of Red Seal Mage.
Then, through four stages and twelve levels of progressive cultivation, one might move from the technique to the skill, from the skill to the Dao, and finally pluck an Immortality Dao Fruit.
However,
Wang Yuan had also learned from Wild Dog Daoist's notes that the grade of the spell used during Daoist Skill Foundation Establishment determined one's highest "achievement" in life; he had to be extremely cautious.
In orthodox cultivation, there are four grades of Daoist Skill:
Heavenly Department Dao Skill is called "The Chapter of the Undying for Three Days," also known as "Wisdom Longevity Secret." Attaining it could allow one to become a Corpse Dissection Immortal and pluck an Immortality Dao Fruit from the manifested "Undying Tree" of the great Dao."
The Earth Department Dao Skill is called "Green Record Purple Chapter," also known as "Jade Scroll Green Talisman," and attaining it could allow one to become a Green Seal Sage.
The Mystical Department Dao Skill is called "Yellow Seal White Scroll," also known as "Golden Jade Talisman," and attaining it could allow one to become a Yellow Seal Mage.
The Yellow Department Dao Skill is called "Cinnabar Chapter Mystical Document," also known as "Black Scroll Red Text," and also known as "Red-Eyed Stone Record." Attaining this could allow one to become a Red Seal Mage.
Any other spells could only be considered Mixed Skills, which couldn't even cross the threshold of Enlightenment.
"These three Dao Skills recorded in the Taoist Book by Wild Dog Daoist.
If I can completely acquire the Gathering Beast and Taming Bird Skill, it could at least be ranked in the Mystical Department, enabling one to cultivate all the way to Yellow Seal Mage, and even ranking in the Earth Department isn't impossible.
Next is the Peach God Tao's Human Face Painting Skill; although its initial combat power is low, it too could rank in the Mystical Department.
On the other hand, the Transformation into Tiger Technique, which immensely boosts combat power once mastered, can only barely be ranked in the Yellow Department. After advancing to a Mage, there is little potential for further progress.
Fortunately, before officially entering the path with the Receiving Talisman, one could still abandon their achievements and start over."
Hearing Wang Yuan boast smugly after gaining an advantage, Huang Wu, who could only stay inside the mirror, furiously scolded:
"Hmph, Xiao Yuan, you heartless maggot, you don't care about your sister at all.
I'm leaving, play here by yourself, just be careful not to be carried away by a tiger," she said.
Huang Wu couldn't even emerge from the mirror, no matter what mystical Daoist Skills she saw, she couldn't reach them. She couldn't even begin to practice.
Not to mention being picky like Wang Yuan.
After speaking, she vanished directly from the mirror.
Wang Yuan breathed a sigh of relief. As long as she didn't cling to the clues he knew, whatever petulance arose could easily be soothed later.
Because he realized that the two of them, sharing a similar plight, also had some strange commonalities.
Fifteen years ago, he was born; fifteen years ago, Huang Wu transformed into a ghost and arrived at "Wangren Town."
His cousin's situation was even more dismal than his own.
At Grandma's request, not only did she have to hide for fifteen years like him, but her hiding had to be even more concealed.
She couldn't leave "Wangren Town," not even emerge from the mirror.
It seemed as if revealing even a trace of her whereabouts would lead something terrifying to discover her.
The danger he faced was due to his inexplicable connection with the Owl God Tomb at birth, but what about her?
"This is no different in essence from the time during the massacre when two children were stuffed into a cellar.
Rest assured, I will never let you die before me."
Buzz——!
Once again, his body resounded with rumbling thunder, the sound waves driving the qi-blood and power to forge his marrow, blood, and viscera like countless hammers continuously pounding.
Just that compared to before the "Bone and Flesh Outer Appearance" reached great success, now "Tiger Roar" mainly focused on refining the marrow.
Wang Yuan had already laid the foundation for the next step "Refining Marrow and Changing Blood" into the non-human realm.
Although practicing Daoist Skills could lead to the Great Dao, he wasn't prepared to abandon the "White Tiger Military Art" either.
Even if one were a Red Seal Mage who had achieved enlightenment, without practicing special skills, their bodies had no substantial difference from mortals.
Once someone got close enough to stab them, blood would still spill three feet.
The Taoist Book of Wild Dog Daoist also noted that unless one became a Yellow Seal Mage, most magicians would practice military skills to compensate for their weaknesses.
When immersed in cultivation, time always passed quickly.
As the morning light gradually brightened in the woods, the time slowly approached 7 a.m., and the sky, clear for only half the night, once again filled with dark clouds.
Wang Yuan stood up, changing the candle.
He took out a morbidly white python skull, also known in the Taoist Book as a "dragon bone," and wrote the character "乾" on it with fresh blood from his fingertip.
He wrapped it in a Dragon Subduing Talisman and placed it beside the previously set tiger tooth.
Then, stepping on the characters "Kui Gang," what he chanted was no longer the "Tame Tiger Spell" but the "Dragon Subduing Spell":
"Divine dragons of heaven, flood dragons of earth, venomous dragons of humanity, those who descend shall submit, those who are summoned will immediately comply, those who are called will arrive, their forms manifesting upon use…"
He still repeated it seven times.
He took a brazier filled with dry pine wood, first placed a fireproof ceramic plate on it, and then set the wrapped talisman paper along with the tiger tooth and snake skull on the ceramic plate.
He immediately lit the pine wood.
Wang Yuan circled the blazing brazier, walking counterclockwise forty-nine circles, chanting the "Tame Tiger Spell" and burning a "Tame Tiger Talisman" with each circle.
Then he walked clockwise another forty-nine circles, each lap chanting the "Dragon Subduing Spell" and burning a "Dragon Subduing Talisman."
The majority of these talismans were left by Wild Dog Daoist, with only a very small part being Wang Yuan's own achievements. Fortunately, he had enough reserves for practicing this spell.
As the last Dragon Subduing Talisman burned to ash, only sparse sparks remained in the brazier, and the "dragon bone" and "tiger bone" on the ceramic plate had already turned into a pile of white bone ash.
Wang Yuan closely examined for a while, yet still couldn't find any trace of the divine in that pile of bone ash.
Having reached this step, there was no room for hesitation; he directly scooped up a handful of bone ash and swallowed it down with some rootless water collected from tree leaves while it was still hot.
One breath, two breaths, three breaths... after silently counting to ten breaths.
Roar!
Suddenly, the sound of Tiger Roar and Dragon Roar echoed by Wang Yuan's ears, and immediately a blistering hot surge rose steeply from his stomach.