Chapter 34: Body Refinement of the Four Spirits

Du Yehu was the son of a butcher. Because there was plenty of fat to go around, he had been stout and strong since childhood. He frequently chased down seven or eight children his own age to beat them up, earning him the title of the "Little Tyrant of Du Family Town." Because of this, Old Du would beat him senseless every few days, but the more he was beaten, the sturdier he became.

Old Du had used two whole catties of offal to trade with an old monk just to get his name.

The State of Zhuang held Taoism as its state religion, so the circumstances of Buddhism were naturally not very good. The old monk guarded the only dilapidated temple within a hundred-mile radius, living from one meal to the next. When he saw pig offal, it was like a cat seeing fish; his eyes would glow with golden light, as if the Buddha himself were manifesting.

At the time, Du Yehu had clung to those two catties of offal for dear life, refusing to let go. He was greedy, too. Although he was a butcher's son and had plenty of exposure to meat, the scraps and trimmings were never enough to satisfy him.

He cried and screamed that he didn't want any grand name; he just wanted to eat pig offal. He said he could be called Zhuzi, or even just "Pig Offal."

Old Du felt he was losing face. He picked the boy up and gave him a brutal beating. By the time Old Du grew tired of hitting him, little Du was still clutching those two catties of offal.

The old monk immediately offered to split the offal with the boy, fifty-fifty, and remarked that the boy had a strong, untamable character, so "Yehu" (Wild Tiger) was a perfect name.

Du Yehu had a formal name now, but he still refused to do anything productive. Ever since he met the old monk, he followed him around like a shadow every single day. The old monk had all sorts of "businesses"—fortune telling, praying for rain, exorcisms—various forms of deception and trickery. But Du Yehu only learned how to drink from him.

Old Du worried his son might accidentally join the clergy, so he would occasionally bring his butcher's knife to the dilapidated temple to check on him. Fortunately, it wasn't long before the old monk left. He departed silently, without even a word of farewell.

Later, the dilapidated temple was torn down and converted into a Land God temple.

Not long after that, something happened to Old Du.

It started with something very small. A constable in town felt that the meat he had purchased was underweight and scolded Old Du for shortchanging him. Normally, the matter would have ended with Old Du compensating him with two taels of meat, but Old Du was a stubborn man. He grabbed his butcher's knife, slammed it into the cutting board, and declared that the man could weigh it anywhere he liked, but there would be no cheating him.

The constable felt insulted. In a moment of impulse, he stabbed Old Du, who died on the spot.

Madam Du went to the yamen to file a complaint. The case was actually quite simple; there were witnesses and physical evidence. However, the constable's brother-in-law happened to be the high official in the small government office of Du Family Town.

With a little maneuvering, the case was twisted. It became a matter of the butcher Old Du committing an assault with a knife, and the constable being forced to defend himself, resulting in accidental manslaughter. In the end, Old Du was sentenced to half a year's forfeiture of salary.

The poor Old Du had slaughtered pigs his whole life; how could he have the courage to kill a person? Madam Du could not swallow the injustice and threw herself against the walls of the yamen until she died.

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

He picked up the butcher's knife his father had used to slaughter pigs, rushed into the yamen in broad daylight, and in front of everyone, hacked the constable and his brother-in-law to death right in the courtroom.

That year, he was only thirteen.

The case eventually drew the attention of the City Lord's manor. After an investigation, the old City Lord granted Du Yehu a special pardon, declaring him innocent, and even broke protocol to recruit him into the Taoist Academy.

That was the story of Du Yehu. He had been stubborn since childhood; once he decided on something, no one could change it. There was no helping it—his father and his mother were both just as stubborn.

...

"The cultivation technique... I should have given it to you by now, right?" Jiang Wang thought for a moment and asked.

Du Yehu pulled a small booklet from his robe and tossed it casually onto the table in front of Jiang Wang. "Here. The White Tiger Body Refining Manual. It's an incomplete version. They say it's the standard version used in the military."

Such a technique certainly could not be passed on to outsiders, but Du Yehu absolutely did not believe Jiang Wang would harm him.

Jiang Wang picked up this military cultivation technique and flipped through it casually. Without saying much, he stood up and said, "I have some business to attend to. Wait for me a moment."

Leaving Zhao Rucheng to converse with Du Yehu, Jiang Wang stepped out, found an empty room, entered, and locked the door. Then, he activated the Void Key and entered the Great Void Illusion.

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

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

Of course, this was also because, although this manual was incomplete, it was still a military cultivation method. A true transcendent technique had a much better foundation than the Purple Qi from the East Sword Manual, and thus its upper limit was naturally much higher.

Once the deduction was complete, Jiang Wang took the brand-new technique and looked at it. He found that it had not only completed the missing parts of the White Tiger Body Refining Manual but had also undergone expansion and evolution. It was now divided into four chapters: Azure Dragon, White Tiger, Vermilion Bird, and Black Tortoise. Finally, when the four spirits merged into one, its power would be incomparable to what it was before.

Jiang Wang exited the Great Void Illusion, picked up the manual, and left. Just as he pushed the door open, he saw a beautiful lady in red standing at the entrance. Her eyes were like dark ink, shimmering with autumn waves; even a fleeting glance from her carried an endless, subtle charm.

Her eyes were full of affection, and her red lips moved slightly, as if she were about to say something.

"Excuse me." Jiang Wang walked past her.

It wasn't that Jiang Wang was truly so insensitive to beauty, but rather that he had just emerged from the Great Void Illusion and felt a sense of panic, as if his secret had almost been discovered. No matter how beautiful a lady was, he could not appreciate her at that moment.

*Drinking really does get in the way of things,* Jiang Wang thought, inwardly warning himself. He had actually entered the Great Void Illusion in a place as chaotic and worldly as the Three Parts Fragrance Pavilion; he had been completely losing himself.

Jiang Wang hurried back to Zhao Rucheng's private room. After waiting for a while and ensuring no one was following him, he breathed a sigh of relief and sat back in his seat.

He returned the White Tiger Body Refining Manual to Du Yehu. The newly deduced Four Spirits Body Refining Manual existed only within the Great Void Illusion and would need to be transcribed separately.

"When are you leaving?" Jiang Wang asked.

"Tomorrow morning," Du Yehu said.

"We will see you off tomorrow..."

*Knock, knock, knock—* An untimely knocking sound rang out.

"Come in," Zhao Rucheng said casually.

The person who entered was the madam of the Three Parts Fragrance Pavilion, a woman heavily made up with thick powder.

"Oh my~ Our Young Master Zhao is getting more and more handsome by the day." The woman teased, reaching out as if to touch Zhao Rucheng's face, acting very familiar.

Zhao Rucheng stepped back, intentionally glancing at the half-exposed snowy skin of her cleavage. "Don't get too close. I'm faint at the sight of breasts."

The madam gave a theatrical, coquettish laugh. "How naughty~ You didn't have this ailment before~"

"Before, your Three Parts Fragrance Pavilion wasn't this standoffish!"

The madam frowned. "Is there some part of our service that was inadequate? Was it those lowly maids who neglected our distinguished guest just now?"

Zhao Rucheng watched her with interest. "What do you think? I've thrown so much silver around today, and you still won't let Miaoyu come out to see me? The Three Parts Fragrance Pavilion is famous throughout the world; is this the only way you have to keep your patrons hanging?"

The Three Parts Fragrance Pavilion was a truly world-renowned place of pleasure, with branches in many kingdoms. The owner was elusive, but her reputation for beauty had reached the ears of heroes everywhere, claiming she was the most beautiful in the world.

Any man who had seen her was willing to be a subject under her skirt. Among them were powerful generals, noble scions, and even legends of kings and sect leaders who remained infatuated with her.

The foundation of the Three Parts Fragrance Pavilion was undoubtedly formidable. This small branch in Maple Forest City, while lacking high-level masters, was the most prestigious pleasure house in the city based on the name alone.

It was precisely because of the background of the Three Parts Fragrance Pavilion that the madam was so confident. But it was also because of this background that she dared not let the reputation of the pavilion be tarnished. Consequently, her expression instantly soured.

"Is it possible..." At that moment, a voice so sweet it could make one's bones go soft interrupted the conversation. A woman dressed in a bright red gown stepped in gracefully. Red is not an easy color to wear well; it can easily slip into vulgarity. But she suited it perfectly—or rather, she was the best personification of the word "allure," and the color could not overshadow her.

She walked into the room, her autumn-like eyes sweeping over everyone present, before finally landing on Zhao Rucheng with a shy, smiling gaze. "Could it be that it wasn't Mother stopping me from seeing you, but rather that I simply didn't want to see you?"

She was, naturally, Miaoyu.