Chapter 519 (1/2)
Chapter 519: The Taoist Priest without Bottom
Long Qing had been a servant in Zhishou Abbey for a long time . Every day he climbed up to the vine-covered Red Mountain and sent things to the old taoist priests who were in the strange caves . He was extremely exhausted, not only physically but also mentally . He was especially exhausted by the old taoist priest whose waist was cut, who treated him like a dog or a pig, constantly humiliating and torturing him until he gets seriously injured and spits out blood .
Although he was tortured over and over again, his life was not threatened . Throughout all these days Long Qing had guessed that although the old taoist priests in these caves were deformed physically, they clearly knew about his origins and did not dare to really kill him . So he endured the hara.s.sment, and sometimes even took the initiative to talk to them .
The taoist priests who were confined to these caves were almost certainly lonely . According to the what he learned from stories in books, if he spoke to them more, he might foster a good relations.h.i.+p with these taoist priests and would naturally gain benefits from them .
This kind of expectation seemed to be childish . So far, apart from questions about things happening in the field of cultivation in recent decades, these taoist priests only mocked at his poor cultivation state or got angry that he still could enter the abbey while being so weak .
Nevertheless, he got some information from these conversations at least . For instance, the surname of the disabled old taoist priest who made him spit out blood and broke one of his ribs for staring at him was Ho . This old taoist priest Ho called himself Halfman Taoist, which was obviously not his real name but self-mockery . In accordance with the generations, he should be the uncle of the hierarch of West-Hill Divine Palace . No wonder he had such an unfathomable state .
With his old clothes floating in the windless air, both of Halfman Taoist's hands were caught in the fur of a Snowfield Direwolf . His face was as cold as a stone but his eyes were filled with misery and despair . Looking at Long Qing who wiped off the blood and stood up laboriously, he said . ”On the first day you came here I had already told you that you were a waste . What right do you have to talk to me? F*ck off . ”
Long Qing did not leave the cave silently as he did before, because he heard something different from the words of his predecessor . The old taoist priest was in obvious despair; He knew the despair well so he walked to the wolf leather couch, kneeled down and said, ”If I were a waste, the abbey dean wouldn't allow me to come here, nor would I have the opportunity to meet you . ”
Hearing the name of the abbey dean, Halfman Taoist gradually calmed down and looked at Long Qing who was kneeling in front of him . He laughed and said, ”But you are indeed a waste . ”
”I am a waste now but it doesn't mean that I will always be . ”
Long Qing replied calmly, with a slight bow . His eyes were covered with a pale gray gloss .
”It is indeed unfair to say that you are a waste . ”
Halfman Taoist stared at him without emotions and said, ”Even though you are humiliated by me every day, you still insist on coming into the cave . This shows that you have a firm will . I can tell from the recovery speed of your injuries that you have a strong body . You have been practicing Gray Eye, trying to find a chance to absorb my skills . Whether you do it by cheating me or by moving me, you are wicked and merciless . ”
Hearing this, Long Qing's body quavered out of shock . He did not expect this old disable taoist priest who was seemingly insane could see through his intents so clearly from the very beginning . Suddenly he felt endless fear and wanted to run away from this splendid but extremely dark cave .
However, without knowing why, he did not move . Maybe it was because his body was stiff, or he knew that he would not be able to run faster than the speed of the old taoist priest's eyes . Or maybe he just wanted to gamble on it .
He was still kneeling in front of the old taoist priest, but bowing his head lower than before .
”Gray Eye is truly a marvelous skill . After the transformation by predecessors in Haotian Taoism, compared with the original devil skill— Tao Tie, Gray Eye can absorb the Psyche Power of cultivators without devouring their flesh and blood . It is indeed one of the best choices for sneak attacks . ”
Looking up at the top of the cave as if looking at the sky, Halfman Taoist recalled many past events and he said slowly, ”In fact, after such transformations, Gray Eye doesn't look b.l.o.o.d.y anymore but will have other losses instead . Compared with Tao Tie, the Psyche Power and even the spirit that Gray Eye suppresses cannot be blended with your original world easily, which will cause many problems . So Gray Eye is not as powerful as the real Tao Tie . Unfortunately, the Practice of Taotie in Devil's Doctrine has long been lost . Now Devil's Doctrine has gone into a decline, there might be no one in the world who knows the practice . ”
This powerful old taoist priest whose cultivation state had almost broken Five States did not know that Master Lotus had long managed to restart the Practice of Taotie in secret .
Long Qing got serious for he had already seen relevant records in ”Sha” Handscroll of Tomes of Arcane but he did not pay too much attention to it . On hearing what Halfman Taoist said, he realized that it was an intractable problem . What confused him most now though, was that Halfman Taoist did not kill him or drive him away after seeing through all his intentions, but instead began to teach him as if he were his student .
Halfman Taoist moved his eyes from the top of the cave down to Long Qing and said calmly, ”You have a firm will, strong body, tactical ideas, sinister plots, great ambition and durable endurance . You seem to meet all the requirements of success . Do you know why I still say you are a waste?”
”I don't know . ”
”I heard about your experience the other day that you were famous in the past but eventually ruined in the hands of a disciple of the Academy . Now let me ask you, in which aspect are you inferior to the disciple?”
Hearing this question, Long Qing sank into silence for a long time . In fact, he had already asked himself many times and he did not understand why Ning Que was better than him - he was Divine Son of West-Hill who was almost perfect while Ning Que was just a p.a.w.n in City of Wei . The reality was that he was defeated by Ning Que in consecutive battles and each time he lost more miserably than last . What on earth was the answer to this question?
”You are not cheeky enough . ”
Halfman Taoist looked at him and said in a faint voice, ”In other words, you still try to preserve your last pride and you simply don't understand that if you want to be the most powerful cultivator, you have to know exactly when you abandon your pride and sink yourself into some dirty mud . ”
Long Qing raised his head and said with a frown, ”I don't think I have any pride right now . ”
Halfman Taoist lifted his hand, pointed at his knees, and said, ”You are kneeling in front of me, but in your heart, you are still standing upright . ”