"Brother Zhu Lihan, the former Zongbo of the Fu Department in Honshu, became immortal on the 13th day of the second month of the Jiachen year, at the age of 298..."
"At his request during his lifetime, Ye Luo returned to his roots and will return to Hanchi County in the near future."
Zhao Lin's heart moved when he saw this obituary.
Although the obituary is short, there is nothing missing.
The original meaning of Yuhua is to transform into an immortal, which is a euphemism for the death of a monk.
If he died at the age of two hundred and ninety-eight, and the word "year old" is used, it means that he must be a monk in the late stage of foundation building.
Because the lifespan of a monk in the late stage of foundation building is around 300 years old, a person who can live to be 298 years old is already a long life.
Zongbo is the highest position in the Talisman Department. Being able to take charge of a state's Talisman Dao as a foundation-building monk must be outstanding in Taoism.
After all, this is the world of cultivating immortals. Talent and ability alone are not enough, they must be backed by strength.
A late-stage foundation-building monk with extraordinary strength, his body will soon be returned to Hanchi County...
This is the information Zhao Lin read from the obituary.
"For monks in the late stage of Foundation Establishment, their longevity is one generation longer than that of the Qi Refining Stage. They have a lot of time to perfect their spells and Taoist skills."
"The reason why Miao Kefa is rare is because he has mastered two perfection-level spells as a Qi Refining Realm. But such an achievement is not that difficult for a Foundation Establishment monk."
Zhao Lin secretly speculated that this senior Zhu might be able to cultivate several perfection-level spells.
If this is the case, the spiritual chart can come in handy to "trace" his magic spells from his body for his own use.
But...how do you get access to the body?
Zhao Lin stared at the obituary and pondered for a moment.
Attending a funeral is not difficult, but getting close to the body is difficult.
During his lifetime, Zhu Lihan was an important official in the state government and a monk in the foundation-building realm. He was an outsider. Any behavior that deviated from the norm would be disrespectful to the deceased.
"Is there any way to have access to the remains in an open manner?"
Zhao Lin recalled the funeral process in the mortal world. After thinking for a while, he suddenly had an idea, "Yes, carry the coffin!"
The funeral customs in the world of immortals are similar to those in the mortal world. The funeral process includes the steps of enclosing and entering the coffin.
The body of the deceased is placed in a coffin and transported to the cemetery.
The pallbearers must be juniors of the deceased, preferably young and strong.
By becoming a coffin bearer, you can take the opportunity to touch the body during the burial and trace Zhu Lihan's magic.
"That's it!"
Thinking of this, Zhao Lin took a look at the date in the newspaper and estimated that the body had arrived in Hanchi County, and there were still at most three days left before the burial.
"Go visit Zhu Mansion today and try to become a coffin bearer."
Zhao Lin stood up, returned to the market along the way, and asked people about the location of Zhu's mansion.
The Zhu family was just a small cultivating family, but after all, there was a late-stage foundation-building cultivator like Zhu Lihan. Zhao Lin quickly found out: Zhu Mansion is located on the back mountain of Songyu Peak.
"Without further ado, I hope the pallbearers have not yet been decided."
Zhao Lin left the market and strode towards the back hill, stopping after a few steps.
He thought of a problem: he was not related to the Zhu family, so he came to the house and asked to carry the coffin of the deceased. His behavior was too abrupt, and he might be fired upon.
There must be a reason.
Zhao Lin paced back and forth for a few steps, his eyes inadvertently passing by Daofeng on the opposite side, and he came up with an idea.
He immediately changed direction and walked down the mountain towards Daofeng.
"Mr. Xu, may I ask where the works of the foundation-building monks in this county are kept?"
Zhao Lin came to the library and asked the old man who guarded the library.
After monks achieve the foundation-building realm, most of them will write books.
On the one hand, it is to pass on experience, and on the other hand, it is to leave a good reputation and earn some good deeds at the same time.
Zhao Lin guessed that Zhu Lihan should not be exempt from the custom.
"There is a sequence of learning Taoism, and there are specializations in arts. The books in this pavilion are all classified according to exercises, spells, and Taoism, and are not differentiated according to the realm of the author."
After hearing Zhao Lin's question, the old man surnamed Xu shook his head, paused, and asked, "Whose book are you looking for?"
Of course, Zhao Lin would not say Zhu Lihan's name directly, but said with a smile: "I want to find a few books on wind, water, and ice magic. It is best to write them within the past three hundred years. The author is based on the foundation-building realm Zifu." The environment is better.”
He had just inquired at the market that Zhu Lihan had three spiritual roots: wind, water, and ice. He limited his spells to these three types, plus his cultivation level and years of experience. There should not be many people who could meet these conditions at the same time.
The old man surnamed Xu was a little dizzy because of Zhao Lin's several conditions. He was startled for a moment, pointed to a row of bookshelves on the north side of the library and said, "Look over there. All the old books are there."
Zhao Lin thanked him and walked over quickly.
The books in the library are divided into two types: one is traditional paper books, and the other is jade slips.
Jade slips are easy to preserve and can be copied at will. Today, most sect classics are preserved in the form of jade slips.
However, jade slips only became popular on a large scale in the past hundred years, so the old books in the library are still mainly made of paper.
There are rows of books displayed on the bookshelf. Because they are old and not many people read them, many book covers have a layer of dust on them.
Zhao Lin looked carefully and found Zhu Lihan's name.
The name of the book is: A Preliminary Study on the Two Elements of Water and Ice Spells.
Zhao Lin felt relieved, gently blew the dust off the book, and started reading carefully.
Although the title of the book contains the word "preliminary exploration", the content is actually very in-depth.
Zhu Lihan listed nine spells such as water control, water net, wave, ice hammer, and ice shield, and explained these spells one by one, analyzing their advantages and disadvantages.
It can be seen that Zhu Lihan has deep knowledge of water and ice magic.
Although Zhao Lin had a special purpose, after watching it for a while, he became immersed in it unknowingly.
An hour has passed since I finished reading the last page.
"Mr. Xu, I would like to borrow this book to read for two days."
Zhao Lin took the book, walked up to the old man named Xu and said.
"Okay, return the book within ten days for free. If it exceeds ten days, one spiritual coin will be collected every three days, up to one month."
Mr. Xu glanced at the cover of the book and wrote it down.
"Thank you, Mr. Xu."
Zhao Lin walked out of the library and rushed to Zhu's Mansion while it was still dark.
Zhu Mansion is located high on the mountainside of Songyu Peak. It is not large in scale, but it is surrounded by mountains and rivers and has a very quiet environment.
Zhao Lin stepped forward and knocked on the door of Zhu Mansion.
"Excuse me, Master Immortal, what do you do for a living?"
The person who opened the door was a middle-aged man dressed as a butler, wearing a white mourning belt around his waist. He looked Zhao Lin up and down and asked with some confusion.
Zhao Lin looked solemn and said in a low tone: "I came here to express my condolences after hearing the news about Senior Zhu's emergence."
"May I ask your immortal master's surname and how to address him?"
"I am Zhao Lin, a disciple of Lingdao Academy."
"Please wait a moment, I will notify the palace master immediately."
The housekeeper cupped his hands, turned back to the house, walked into the mourning hall, and said to an old man wearing sackcloth and wearing mourning, "Master, we have a visitor."
Elder Dai Xiao, whose surname is Zhu and given name is Huaishi, is now the head of the Zhu family.
Zhu Huaishi raised his head and asked, "Who is coming?"
The steward replied: "He is a disciple of Lingdao Academy, and his name is Zhao Lin."
"The leader and elders of Lingdao Academy have already come to express their condolences this morning. Why is there another disciple here?"
Zhu Huaishi looked confused and looked around, "Which of you has heard of this person?"
There were more than a dozen Zhu family monks in the mourning hall, and they all shook their heads when they heard this.
"Hong Feng, go and take a look."
Since there was nothing to do, Zhu Huaishi called a junior to receive him.
"Wait!"
A person stood up in the mourning hall, walked to Zhu Huaishi, and whispered: "Taiyue, you'd better go in person."
The speaker was Zhu Huaishi's grandson-in-law Hu Zhicheng, who worked as a steward in the Shanggong Hall and came to watch the funeral as a relative.
Zhu Huaishi was a little displeased, "You're just a disciple of Lingdao Academy, and you want me to receive you personally?"
Hu Zhicheng said quickly: "This person is not an ordinary disciple of Lingdao Academy. He just won the first place in the small meeting of the three academies, and he is also a martial arts practitioner."
Zhu Huaishi snorted, "So what? No matter what, he is just a disciple who has practiced Taoism for less than three years and has not yet become famous."
Hu Zhicheng knew that he couldn't explain it in a few words, so he made a confession and asked Zhu Huaishi to walk out of the mourning hall and said: "What if Zhao Lin went out to perform two missions and the total number of good deeds exceeded five thousand?"
Zhu Huaishi's eyes widened and he blurted out: "Impossible, how could a disciple of his have such great ability? What kind of task can earn so much good deeds? Is it a purple level task?"
Good deeds represent a monk's qualifications and abilities. They can not only be exchanged for cultivation resources, but also serve as a step towards advancement.
The sect has always strictly controlled good deeds. It would be difficult for an ordinary Qi Refining Realm monk to accumulate so much good deeds in less than five or eight years, let alone a disciple of the Spiritual Dao Academy.
Hu Zhicheng patiently explained: "My son-in-law works in the Shanggong Hall and knows these inside stories. How could he deceive Taiyue?"
"Zhao Lin's first gold-level mission was when he captured two bandit cultivators in the late stage of Qi refining and killed the ghost cultivators in Yinfeng Valley."
"At the end of the year, I carried out another white-level mission, killing fourteen Dark Sect monks in a row. Do you think this is something ordinary people can do?"
"This man is a genius in magic. He is highly regarded by the headmaster and elders of Lingdao Academy. His future is limitless."
Hu Zhicheng finished speaking in one breath. Zhu Huaishi was shocked and didn't speak for a long time. After a while, he said: "On the journey of cultivating Taoism, those who are masters come first. I will go to see him now. You can join me."
After saying that, he straightened his clothes, walked quickly to the door of the house, and said to Zhao Lin enthusiastically: "I wish Huaishi, my dear friend, is Zhao Lin from the Spiritual Dao Academy?"
Zhao Lin did not expect that the master of the palace would come out to greet him in person, and felt a little surprised. Seeing Hu Zhicheng on the side, he understood a little bit, and said with a cupped hand: "When I entered Zhao Lin at the end of my studies, I met the master of Zhu Zhu, senior brother Hu."
"please!"
Zhu Huaishi introduced him and invited Zhao Lin into the house. As he walked, he said: "I heard from the housekeeper that I am here to pay homage. I wonder how I know my ancestor?"
Zhao Lin said: "I've never seen it before."
Zhu Huaishi and Hu Zhicheng looked at each other, wondering which song Zhao Lin was singing.
Zhao Lin took out a book from his arms and sighed: "Although Zhao has never met Ling Zu, he has benefited a lot from Ling Zu's works."
"It can be said that my cultivation today is all due to the guidance in Ling Zu's book."
"I wanted to have the opportunity to express my gratitude in person, but I didn't expect it to be done in a sonorous way. It's so sad..."
When he got to the emotional point, he covered his face with his hands and choked up, unable to speak. (End of chapter)
