Chapter 34: Four Spirits Body Refinement

Du Yehu was a butcher’s son. Since there was never a shortage of greasy food at home, he had been fat and sturdy from childhood, often chasing seven or eight children his age around by himself. He was known as the Little Tyrant of Du Family Town.

Because of this, Old Du beat him every few days. The more he got beaten, the sturdier he became.

His name had been traded for with a full two jin of pig offal by Old Du from an old monk.

The State of Zhuang revered Daoism as the national religion, so Buddhism naturally had a hard time surviving. The old monk guarded the only broken-down temple within a hundred-li radius, starving one meal and eating the next. When he saw pig offal, his eyes gleamed like a cat spotting fish, as though Buddha himself had manifested.

Back then, Du Yehu clung stubbornly to those two jin of offal and refused to let go. He was greedy for it too. Even though he was a butcher’s son and never lacked meat scraps, the leftovers were nowhere near enough to satisfy him.

He cried and shouted that he did not want some grand name, only the pig offal. He said being called Pillar was fine, even Pig Offal would do.

Old Du felt utterly humiliated and picked him up for a brutal beating. By the time Old Du himself was exhausted, Little Du was still clutching those two jin of offal.

The old monk immediately declared that he could split it evenly with Little Du, half for each of them, and said that the boy had a stubborn, untamed personality. Calling him “Wild Tiger” suited him perfectly.

Thus Du Yehu gained a proper name, but he still never did anything proper. Ever since meeting the old monk, he followed behind him every day. The monk dabbled in every sort of business—fortune telling, praying for rain, exorcisms, all kinds of swindles and scams.

But the only thing Du Yehu learned from him was how to drink.

Old Du worried that his son might accidentally become a monk, so every now and then he carried his butcher knife to the ruined temple to check on things.

Fortunately, before long, the old monk left.

He departed silently, without even a word of farewell.

Later, the ruined temple was demolished and turned into a Land God shrine.

Not long after that, Old Du met disaster.

The cause was merely a tiny matter.

A constable in town thought the meat he bought weighed less than it should and accused Old Du of cheating the scales. Normally, giving him another two liang of meat would have settled the matter, but Old Du was stubborn too. He slammed his butcher knife into the chopping block and declared that they could weigh it anywhere they wanted, but if the man wanted to take advantage of him, no chance.

The constable lost face and, in a moment of impulsive anger, stabbed him.

Old Du died on the spot.

Madam Du ran to the yamen to report the case. The case itself was simple, with both witnesses and evidence complete. But unfortunately, the constable’s brother-in-law happened to be the magistrate of that tiny local office in Du Family Town.

After some manipulation of the case, the story became that Butcher Du had attacked with a knife, and the constable had only defended himself in desperation, accidentally killing him.

The punishment: half a year’s docked salary.

Poor Old Du had slaughtered pigs all his life, but where would he have gotten the courage to kill a person?

Madam Du could not swallow this injustice. She rammed her head to death inside the yamen.

That day, Du Yehu had led a group of children to catch fish in the river of a neighboring town. When he returned home, his home was gone.

So he picked up the butcher knife Old Du used for slaughtering pigs and, in broad daylight, charged into the yamen.

In front of everyone, he hacked both the constable and his magistrate brother-in-law to death inside the court hall.

That year, he was only thirteen.

The case later reached the city lord’s office. After investigating, the old city lord pardoned Du Yehu and even made an exception to recruit him into the dao academy.

That was Du Yehu’s story.

He had been stubborn since childhood. Once he made a decision, no one could change it.

It could not be helped. Both his father and mother had been just as stubborn.

…

“They should already have given you the cultivation method, right?” Jiang Wang thought for a moment and asked.

Du Yehu pulled a small booklet from his chest and casually tossed it onto the table before Jiang Wang.

“Here. A White Tiger Body Refinement Art. Still an incomplete copy. They said it’s the standard version used in the army.”

Such cultivation methods naturally could not be passed around casually, but Du Yehu absolutely trusted that Jiang Wang would never harm him.

Jiang Wang picked up the military-path cultivation manual and flipped through it casually. Without saying much, he stood.

“I’ve got something to take care of. Wait for me a bit.”

Leaving Zhao Rucheng and Du Yehu chatting together, Jiang Wang rose and left, casually finding an empty room. He entered, locked the door, then activated the Void Key and entered the Taixu Illusory Realm.

He summoned the Dao Deduction Platform and placed the incomplete manual on it to begin deduction. The merit points on the sundial continuously decreased until they finally stopped at 190.

The deduction of this cultivation method had consumed a full 3,400 merit points, nearly twice as much as the Purple Qi Comes from the East Sword Manual. It had also reached the current limit of the Dao Deduction Platform.

Of course, this was because although the method was incomplete, it was still a true military-path cultivation art—a genuine transcendent cultivation method. Its foundation was far superior to the Purple Qi Comes from the East Sword Manual, so naturally its upper limit was much higher as well.

When the deduction was complete, Jiang Wang picked up the entirely new cultivation method and examined it.

He discovered that it had not merely completed the missing sections of the White Tiger Body Refinement Art, but had also expanded and evolved it. It was now divided into four sections: Azure Dragon, White Tiger, Vermilion Bird, and Black Tortoise.

In the end, the Four Spirits united as one, its might incomparable to before.

Jiang Wang exited the Taixu Illusory Realm and left with the cultivation method.

The moment he pushed open the door, he saw a beautiful woman in red standing outside.

Her brows were like painted ink, her eyes rippling like autumn water. Just one hurried glance from her carried endless hidden charm.

Her eyes were filled with emotion, her red lips slightly parted, as though she wanted to say something.

“Excuse me.”

Jiang Wang brushed past her.

It was not that Jiang Wang truly lacked appreciation for beauty. Rather, he had just emerged from the Taixu Illusory Realm and was seized by panic at almost having his secret discovered. No matter how beautiful the woman was, he had no mood to admire her.

Drinking really does lead to mistakes, Jiang Wang warned himself inwardly.

He had actually entered the Taixu Illusory Realm inside a place like Three Fragrance Tower, a chaotic den of pleasure and vice. He truly had become somewhat carried away.

Jiang Wang hurried back to Zhao Rucheng’s private room. After quietly waiting for a while and confirming no one had followed him, he finally relaxed and sat back down.

He returned the White Tiger Body Refinement Art to Du Yehu. The newly deduced Four Spirits Body Refinement Art existed only within the Taixu Illusory Realm and would still need to be copied out separately.

“When are you leaving?” Jiang Wang asked.

“Tomorrow morning,” Du Yehu answered.

“Tomorrow we’ll see you off…”

Knock knock knock~

The sound of knocking interrupted at the wrong moment.

“Come in,” Zhao Rucheng said casually.

The person who entered was the madam of Three Fragrance Tower, a heavily powdered woman dressed in gaudy finery.

“Oh my~ Young Master Zhao is becoming more handsome by the day.”

The woman teased him while reaching out as though to stroke Zhao Rucheng’s face, clearly very familiar with him.

Zhao Rucheng leaned backward, deliberately glancing over the half-exposed snowy swell of her chest.

“Don’t get too close. I get dizzy from large breasts.”

The madam let out an affected laugh.

“How hateful~ You didn’t have this illness before~”

“And your Three Fragrance Tower wasn’t so aloof before either!”

The madam’s brows furrowed.

“Could it be that our service was lacking somewhere? Did those little sluts neglect our honored guest?”

Zhao Rucheng simply looked at her with amused interest.

“What do you think? I spent so much silver today, and you still refused to let Miaoyu come see me even once? Three Fragrance Tower is famous throughout the world. Is this really the sort of trick you use to string customers along?”

Three Fragrance Tower truly was world-famous, with branches across many nations.

Its master was elusive, appearing only in fleeting glimpses, yet her beauty was renowned among heroes everywhere, said to surpass all beneath heaven.

Any man who had seen her willingly became a servant beneath her skirts.

Among them were powerful generals, noble aristocrats, and even, according to rumor, rulers of nations and sect masters who remained hopelessly devoted to her.

The foundation of Three Fragrance Tower was undoubtedly terrifying.

Although this small branch in Maple Forest City had no true experts overseeing it, the mere name of Three Fragrance Tower alone was enough to make it the most prestigious pleasure house in the city.

Precisely because of Three Fragrance Tower’s backing, the madam was extremely confident.

But for the same reason, she absolutely could not allow the reputation of Three Fragrance Tower to be damaged.

Thus her expression instantly became ugly.

“Could it be…” At this moment, a voice so alluring it softened the bones took over the conversation.

A woman in a bright crimson dress stepped gracefully into the room.

Red was not an easy color to wear well. It easily became vulgar and gaudy.

But on her, it was perfectly fitting.

Or rather, she herself was the best embodiment of the word “alluring,” impossible to overshadow.

As she entered the room, her autumn-like eyes swept across everyone present before finally settling on Zhao Rucheng with a shy smile.

“Could it be that it isn’t Madam stopping me from seeing you… but that I simply don’t want to see you?”

Naturally, she was Miaoyu.

(End of Chapter)