Chapter 281: The Id, the Ego, and—
Daoist Da Zhuang- no, Xuan Ming, felt he had made a grave mistake.
To avoid further exposing his identity, blend in better with this group, and observe the enigmatic Demon Sect Holy Saint, he reluctantly accepted Luo Wusheng's "brilliant plan."
He would create a new identity—one that allowed him to carry out his tasks while maintaining cover.
Thus, he became Zhang Da Zhuang, a supposed hireling of Luo Wusheng, assisting in extracting the power of mountains and rivers to craft jade stones.
At first, Xuan Ming didn't think much of it. In fact, he found the setup quite convenient for achieving his goals.
His role allowed him to venture deep into the mountains, while Luo Wusheng, per his request, distracted the Taoist Sect Chief Disciple, Ji Yanyao, under the guise of debating Daoist principles. This arrangement gave Xuan Ming the freedom to prepare his transmission without interference.
The false employer-employee relationship also provided Xuan Ming opportunities to probe further into the Demon Sect Holy Saint, helping him decide whether to join the camp of his two trusted colleagues.
Initially, everything went smoothly.
As planned, Xuan Ming used his greatsword to break through to the source of the mountain and river's power, drawing it out. Meanwhile, Luo Wusheng kept the Taoist Sect Chief Disciple occupied with philosophical debates while consolidating the extracted energy into jade stones.
During this time, Xuan Ming completed his arrangements and sent out a message.
The transmission confirmed that the person he had encountered was indeed the Demon Sect Holy Saint, updated relevant intelligence, and provided a brief summary of the current events.
Finally, he added a few personal thoughts regarding his colleagues' schemes.
'But I underestimated something...'
It wasn't until the Demon Sect Holy Saint casually remarked, "With Daoist Da Zhuang's help, today's goal of crafting 100 jade stones from mountain and river energy should be easily achievable," that Xuan Ming realized he might have oversimplified the situation.
Now that he had created this new persona, leaving after a single mining session seemed… unlikely.
He had to keep up the act.
Recalling his initial shock at those words and the voice transmission from the young man that followed, Xuan Ming found himself in deep contemplation.
He couldn't tell if this Holy Saint was deliberately messing with him.
His mind wandered back to the intelligence reports he'd seen, mentioning the Demon Sect Holy Saint's peculiar fondness for collecting rare stones and gems...
'Forget it. It's just 100 jade stones condensed from mountain and river energy. It's not too difficult for me.'
Still, it was tedious work and somewhat beneath him. But at least only the Demon Sect Holy Saint—who wasn't too familiar with him—knew his true identity as a Six Gate Bureau Golden Ranked member.
It was acceptable.
Cough. If his colleagues or, worse, the Empress herself found out that a Six Gate Bureau Golden Ranked member was toiling away here on someone else's orders, his life might as well be over.
His identity absolutely couldn't be exposed again!
…
Luo Wusheng stored the freshly crafted jade stones in his storage bag, his eyes brimming with satisfaction.
He had always said this muscular man's mastery of the greatsword was particularly suited for mining.
As expected, his judgment of people was spot-on.
'Though… this must be the influence of the Greed Attachment acting upon me...'
As time passed, Luo Wusheng finally began noticing something off about himself.
For instance, introducing the Empress's direct subordinate from Six Gate Bureau as his temporary laborer to the Taoist Alter Ego—right in front of her, no less.
And all of it was just to have the muscular Xuan Ming help him craft jade stones!
If Luo Wusheng had not awakened his memories, there might have been a chance for such simplicity... but now, with his awakened control over the greed for jade stones, he should have been able to restrain himself.
However, Luo Wusheng quickly pinpointed the root of the anomaly.
The side effects of refining the Greed Attachment through the Buddhist Golden Body technique had finally caught up with him.
The diminished greed was manifesting in a peculiar way—making him subconsciously enjoy taking small advantages.
This mainly expressed itself in coaxing the straightforward Daoist Da Zhuang into laboriously handling the most tedious and energy-intensive step of condensing mountain and river jade stones.
Yes, very fitting for a Demon Sect Holy Saint.
As for other effects...
Upon hearing Xuan Ming suggest continuing forward, Luo Wusheng gave a slight nod.
"You're right. Let's move to the next spot."
As he spoke, he glanced at the stunning young woman beside him.
And so, his hand was gently grasped.
The scenery before them shifted several times, and they arrived in another forested area.
At a distance, Xuan Ming said nothing as he carried his greatsword into the forest to locate the source of this area's mountain and river energy.
Meanwhile, Luo Wusheng felt the soft hand holding his release him, and Ji Yanyao's calm voice reached his ears.
"Continue our discussion of the Dao. Earlier, I shared my thoughts on your Demon Sect techniques. It's your turn now."
"Hmm..."
Luo Wusheng hummed softly in reply, a contemplative look appearing in his eyes.
Currently, their three-person journey was proceeding just like this: Daoist Da Zhuang teleported on his own, while the kind-hearted Miss Yanyao brought along poor Luo Wusheng, the helpless Golden Core cultivator, through teleportation.
Cough. Luo Wusheng hadn't revealed his ability to teleport, deliberately holding it as a trump card.
During the Soulblade Specter subjugation, his teleportation had been attributed to the assistance of his dear wife.
He really wasn't trying to take advantage of the spiritual energy spent on teleportation... really.
As he reminisced about the sensation of the soft hand that looked identical to the Empress's from the imperial palace, Luo Wusheng mused silently.
While he had realized he was under the influence of the Greed Attachment side effects, he still couldn't suppress the rising thoughts and actions.
It's truly terrifying. I wonder what absorbing the Indulgent Attachment would be like...
On the other side, Ji Yanyao blinked her enchanting eyes, observing the young man before her.
'He has such a side to him...'
Recalling Luo Wusheng's earnest yet nonsensical rhetoric earlier—when she, who saw through everything, stood right in front of him—Ji Yanyao felt an unusual sense of amusement.
The last time she'd felt this way was when her Mortal Alter Ego had entered this young man's dream and was about to experience a woman's joy without any mental preparation.
'If he ever discovers that both the dream and all his actions now have been witnessed by "me," I wonder what expression he'd show...'
Hiding the identity of her subordinate from her own Taoist Alter Ego, performing so convincingly, and secretly using said subordinate to indulge in his jade-stone hobby... it would surely be awkward if all of this were exposed.
Upon reflection, perhaps there were advantages to being younger. At least this rare display of youthful behavior from the young man made things more entertaining than she had anticipated.
'I even heard during my time in Daybreak City that he's quite skilled at storytelling...'
Ji Yanyao's thoughts churned, but her serene demeanor remained flawless as she quietly waited for the young man to speak.
This method of travel was naturally approved by her. The reason she willingly waited as he crafted jade stones was their ongoing Daoist discussions.
Both were peerless talents of their generation, and their insights into cultivation techniques and philosophies benefited one another profoundly.
At this moment, Luo Wusheng seemed to have finalized his thoughts, beginning to speak slowly:
"Unlike Daoist Yanyao, my knowledge of the techniques from various sects is quite limited. However, regarding Taoist Sect techniques..."
"I've heard of a supreme art called Empyreal Qi Synthesis: Trinity of Pristine States."
"Though my understanding of it is minimal, I've attempted to theorize some possibilities of one transforming into three. Of course, this is merely conjecture, so take it with a grain of salt."
"To start, I categorized the three aspects into the Id, the Ego, and—"
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Note: Link to the character Illustration:
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1lkIcPnCxeyuyZA4Kkb621dPC05UvWjhD
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