togophonebook Chapter 4 The Transmission of the Law
Chapter 4 The Transmission of the Law
The seven spiders that fell into the spring were not ordinary creatures; although they had no cultivation or magical power, they could still be considered spirits and monsters.
After a while, I got used to the temperature of the spring water, and perhaps because I was tired from the long flight, I actually fell asleep in the spring.
Lu Changgeng was speechless for a moment. He looked up at the sky, wondering where the seven spiders had come from.
Then came a headache. The original text stated that the arrival of these seven spiders meant that the seven fairies would not be coming again.
Of course, this also means that he will no longer have any way to obtain any cultivation techniques, supernatural powers, or magical abilities.
Over the past decade or so, he has come to know some of the wonderful uses of the Cleansing Spring.
Whenever a woman enters the spring and soaks for a while, whether for a short or long time, her cultivation techniques, supernatural abilities, or magical power will be fed back to Lu Changgeng.
You can only feed them once a day, and the food you feed them is random.
Seven spiders were currently occupying his spring, but they weren't providing him with any assistance, which made him want to drive them away.
But then a thought popped into his head: if he taught them to take human form and nurtured them into seven delicate and beautiful maidens, wouldn't they be able to replenish his magical power?
But then he thought again, if they were truly nurtured to the point of becoming great demons, when the pilgrim set foot in this place, they would probably encounter great calamity, and he himself would probably be implicated, and might even bear the blame.
What made him even more suspicious was whether he was also part of the Western saint's scheme to cultivate spider demons.
However, if this ordeal was preordained, then even if one ignored these spiders and drove them away, they would eventually become a force to be reckoned with elsewhere, becoming another obstacle for the pilgrims, and would be killed by the monkey with a single blow.
After much deliberation, Lu Changgeng decided to leave seven spiders behind.
Firstly, if he were to drive them away, his cultivation on his own would be a long way off, and who knows how long it would take before the next female cultivator came to soak in the spring.
Secondly, if I teach them carefully, I can surely guide these seven spiders onto the right path, make them good demons, and prevent them from doing the evil thing of eating people.
The original text records that when the pilgrims came to beg for alms, these seven spider demons actually served them human oil, human flesh, and human brains.
The monkey always hated evil, so the spider demons ended up being beaten to a pulp and executed.
Although these seven spiders are ugly and fierce in appearance, they possess only the pure spirituality of wild mountain spirits and have no trace of foul or demonic aura.
This was determined by Lu Changgeng using the Qi Observation Technique from the Celestial Immortal Manual. Unless they were extremely powerful and deeply hidden, but that possibility was obviously very small.
Having made up his mind, Lu Changgeng decided to use the spring water as a medium to teach him the cultivation methods from the "Celestial Immortal Technique".
However, he was not in a hurry and planned to let them air out for a while to observe their natural disposition.
As the sun sets and the moon rises, several months pass in the blink of an eye.
Lu Changgeng practiced the Celestial Immortal Technique every day without fail, yet his magical power did not increase.
Although anxious, there was nothing else I could do but take a long trip to relax in my spare time.
Now, as described in the "Celestial Immortal Manual," he can travel a hundred miles by divine sense, but that is only the limit. If he really travels a hundred miles, he can forget about coming back.
The area where Pansiling is located, Xiniuhezhou, is full of monster caves and demon caves. You might accidentally be discovered by a powerful demon and lose your life.
Therefore, he usually only wanders within a 20-mile radius, looking at the mountains, fields, streams, animals, and scattered rural houses.
Half a month ago, he learned by chance from a villager that the eastern land of Jambudvipa was said to still be under the rule of the Han Dynasty.
Lu Changgeng didn't know whether it was the Western Han or the Eastern Han Dynasty. The old man had only heard it from others. The Eastern Land was in the Southern Continent, which was 70,000 to 80,000 miles away from Pansiling. It was common for news to take a year to travel in the mortal world.
If it were the Eastern Han Dynasty, the monkey would have already been imprisoned under the Five Elements Mountain by then.
Therefore, it would be nearly five hundred years before the pilgrim arrived at his place.
Five hundred years—I wonder if I can train these seven spider demons to transform into human form.
Today, he intends to teach them the methods of cultivation.
After months of observation, it was discovered that the seven spiders were not inherently bad; they drank mountain dew in the morning and bathed in moonlight at night.
They do not understand the practice of nourishing the dead, nor do they understand the practice of refining evil spirits, and they do not harm birds or beasts.
Even when Lu Changgeng deliberately had a few rabbits and squirrels around, the spiders just played with them like companions, which saved Lu Changgeng from giving them a lecture.
However, before imparting the teachings, he first had to solve a problem.
That is status and legitimacy.
If these spiders ever become a force to be reckoned with, they'll eventually need to give each other a name.
However, he does not intend to reveal his presence for the time being.
Firstly, he wasn't sure about the background of these seven spiders. If they had some powerful connections, it would be bad to expose himself too early.
Secondly, imparting teachings is essentially a transaction of exchanging money for goods. He uses the spiritual energy of the spring water to help them cultivate, and their future transformation into human form to bathe in it is his reward to him. It's a fair trade, and he treats everyone equally, young and old.
Since it's not selfless dedication, there's no need to give him the title of "master".
After much thought, he decided that if he ever needed to appear in public, he would refer to himself as "senior brother".
We both practice the "Celestial Immortal Technique," and he entered the practice earlier, so it's perfectly reasonable for me to call him "Senior Brother."
It maintains intimacy without becoming too deeply entangled in cause and effect.
With the status determined, the next step is to choose a name.
Names are of utmost importance to demon cultivators; a name signifies roots, and roots signify spirit.
Many mountain spirits and monsters may cultivate for a thousand years but still not become famous, and can only call themselves wolf, insect, tiger and leopard spirits, which sounds rather pathetic.
After a moment's thought, he settled on seven names, each based on one of the seven colors of the rainbow.
"Red Silk" - the eldest son, silk refers to light gauze.
"Cheng Ying" - the second son, with the character "Ying" in his name, signifies that only when one's heart is attached to something can one find a place to belong.
"Yellow silk" - the third son, silk being plain silk, to be written on.
"Green Ivy" - the fourth one. Ivy is quiet and serene, yet exceptionally resilient.
"Qingman" - the fifth one. Man means unadorned silk, simple and unpretentious.
"Lanqi" - the sixth son, Qi means beautiful.
"Zi Ying" - the seventh and youngest of the sisters, Zi Ying shares the character "Ying" with the second sister Cheng Ying. It signifies the sisters' close bond and also expresses the hope that the older sisters will take care of and support her.
As for his surname, it naturally followed Lu Changgeng.
Once the decision was made, Lu Changgeng imprinted the seven names into the spring water with his divine sense, and then silently poured them into the consciousness of the spiders while they were soaking in the spring.
Having been given a title and a name, the next step was to impart the teachings.
He didn't rush to cram the entire "Celestial Immortal Manual" into his head.
These little spiders are far inferior to the celestial fairies. Although they have developed intelligence, they are only equivalent to seven or eight-year-old children. If we swallow them whole, it will only harm them.
He chose the midnight hour when the moonlight was at its brightest and slowly poured the first incantation of the Qi Sensing Chapter of the Celestial Immortal Manual into the spring water.
Moonlight filtered through the misty steam and fell upon the surface of the spring. The wisp of magic, like a silver thread, moved through the water, silently flowing over the bodies of the seven spiders.
The first plant to react was the pothos.
This lazybones was floating on its back as usual, but the moment the magic entered its body, its eight legs suddenly retracted, and its whole body felt like it had been electrocuted, flipping over and sinking into the water.
It took a while before it surfaced again, its eight legs slowly paddling, the rhythm of its movements synchronized with its breathing.
With each inhale and stroke, each exhale and retraction, one directly entered the realm of Qi sensing.