Chapter 575: Leaving the Crystal-Clear Water Pavilion for a stroll!
Translator: G.o.dBrandy Editor: Kurisu
The western monk was a man that knew that favors should be returned. Although he was a soul ferrying madman whose hobby was to ferry souls, he clenched his teeth and didn"t refuse when the ghost spirit asked him if it could try to ferry the soul of the dead this time.
After arriving at the destination, the western monk didn"t immediately head toward the house where they had to perform the ceremony to ferry the soul of the elder to the afterworld. He first bought some equipment for Song Shuhang"s ghost spirit. It was equipment that buddhist monks used to prepare the ground for the ceremony.
Then, the western monk finally headed to the house of that family where the elderly person had pa.s.sed away.
After a simple exchange, the western monk started to make his arrangements.
As first thing, he arranged the altar to ferry the soul and properly prepared the ceremonial ground. Of course, all these preparations were just for the sake of ordinary people. If he wanted to ferry the soul of an ordinary person, the western monk needed but a thought to activate ❮Ksitigarbha"s Soul Ferrying Scripture❯ and stretch out his hand, ferrying the soul to the afterworld.
But if the preparations weren"t meticulous enough, the "client" might not feel relieved.
To tell the truth, along with science and technology developing further and further, most of the "clients" that requested monks to come over to ferry the souls of their dead relatives to the afterworld didn"t do so for religious beliefs but to show their extravagance! The vast majority of the people thought that they could show how much they cared for their loved ones only through a grand and extravagant ceremony, turning the death of their family members into a great spectacle.
As such, if the preparations weren"t meticulous and the scene extravagant enough, the western monk might not get other opportunities to ferry souls.
In order to leave a good impression and receive as many requests of this type as possible, the western monk had to spend a lot of time and effort to prepare the altar and the ceremonial ground.
He really had no choice in this matter.
What made things even more difficult for him was that the sect he belonged to was a daoist one. Therefore, he had to spend a lot of time to figure out how buddhist monks arranged the ceremonial ground in the first place!
After the preparations had reached a sufficient degree of extravagance, the western monk wore the kasaya and started to silently read the religious text he had brought along. Just he was beating the wooden drum in his hands with a stick and silently chanting the text, the religious text in front of his body started to glow faintly.
This religious text was something the western monk had written down from memory while he was in prison. It was something akin to a talisman, and it was possible to rip it apart to release its power to attack while dealing with ghost-like creatures.
This was one of the reasons the western monk was better than ordinary monks when it came to showing extravagance. His skills were real, and each of his stage props could emit holy light. In addition, whenever he was reading his religious texts, the mood of the nearby ordinary people would calm down. Moreover, he looked incredibly solemn and holy while beating the wooden drum with a stick.
When he started to chant the religious text, the weeping family members that were kneeling on the edge of the coffin immediately settled down, and the sorrow in their heart for the loss of their loved one was instantly wiped out.
At this time, no one dared to look down on the western monk.
To tell the truth, when they saw that the western monk had come over all alone and hadn"t brought with him other monks, most of the family members were somewhat disgruntled. The reason was that the scene wasn"t extravagant enough with only one monk there.
Although the western monk was good at reading religious texts, he was just one person. Could he really be compared to a whole group of local buddhist monks?
But after witnessing the scene unfolding before their eyes, no one dared to look down on him anymore, because the western monk was undoubtedly a true "senior monk" with an incredibly profound and deep knowledge!
Right at this time, Song Shuhang"s ghost spirit started to take action.
It gently floated and arrived above the coffin.
Each place had its own customs. In here, it was customary to arrange a mourning hall for two or three days after a relative had pa.s.sed away. Afterward, the body would be cremated.
When Shuhang"s ghost spirit fluttered until the coffin, it noticed that a pale ball of light had appeared above the coffin. It was precisely the soul of the deceased person.
It was a very ordinary soul that had the shape of a pale ball of light. It was lingering above the coffin, seemingly reluctant to part with its body.
This soul hadn"t committed any wrongdoings during the course of its life and had put more emphasis on doing good deeds and leading a peaceful life. For this reason, although it was somewhat reluctant to part with its body, it wasn"t showing any sign of transforming into a resentful ghost.
As soon as it sensed the arrival of the ghost spirit, the ball of light was terrified and retreated a few steps. It almost felt as though it had met its natural enemy.
Actually, Song Shuhang"s ghost spirit was indeed the natural enemy of ordinary souls and resentful ghosts.
After all, its menu consisted mainly of resentful ghosts. Since it could eat resentful ghosts, it could obviously eat ordinary souls as well. However, Song Shuhang"s ghost spirit did nothing of the sort.
It stretched out its finger and mentally read the text of ❮Ksitigarbha"s Soul Ferrying Scripture❯, poking the soul.
The ghost spirit had no idea if it could use the Soul Ferrying Technique. After all, although Song Shuhang knew magical techniques such as the "Lightning Palm" and the "fire controlling art"—even though it knew the theory behind them, the ghost spirit was unable to use them due to the limitations of its body.
Luckily, the Soul Ferrying Technique was different than the Lightning Palm and such magical techniques.
As soon as the ghost spirit poked the ordinary soul with its finger, the soul was astonished. Soon after, the feeling of surprise turned into one of joy.
Then, just in this fas.h.i.+on, the soul started to transform into particles of light and disappear.
The soul had been successfully ferried.
The power of virtue between heaven and earth condensed and fell onto the body of Song Shuhang"s ghost spirit.
The power of virtue split into three portions. The first portion changed into a thin layer of "light of virtue" that shrouded the body of the ghost spirit. This layer of "light of virtue" was very thin. One had to ferry something like a thousand souls to make it visible, and it would undergo a qualitative change only after ferrying 100,000 souls.
Another portion fused with the mind of the ghost spirit, strengthening its mental energy. Such an increase of mental energy was almost negligible for a ghost spirit of the Second Stage rank.
The last portion fused with the body of the ghost spirit, enhancing its const.i.tution. As before, the increase was negligible.
After ferrying the soul of the deceased person, the ghost spirit hovered midair, carefully savoring the feeling of the light of virtue fusing with its body. At the same time, it transmitted the feeling to Song Shuhang through their shared senses.
The western monk, who was currently reading aloud religious texts, joined his palms together and shouted, "A great service was rendered!"
The ghost spirit looked at the western monk and slightly nodded. Then, it said goodbye to the western monk, "Fellow Daoist, let us meet again."
The western monk silently nodded.
Then, he kept reading the religious text and beating the wooden drum with the stick just for show. The ceremonial ground had already been prepared. Such being the case, he couldn"t casually leave after reading scriptures for just a few minutes, right?
He should read the religious text at least ten times before leaving.
Otherwise, the scene wouldn"t be extravagant enough, and the client wouldn"t be satisfied!
This d.a.m.ned society where outward appearance was all that mattered had made others, and himself, go through a lot of trouble!
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The ghost spirit set out and flew high in the sky.
Before getting too far, it also shot a glance at the surrounding area. It was really unfortunate, but those ghost cultivators that were chasing after the western monk didn"t come over to this place.
Those ghost generals were really delicious. Anyway, since they hadn"t come over, it could only leave it at that. They were lucky and had survived a calamity.
Next, it shot a glance at the western monk, who was sitting straight and beating the wooden drum. Although the monk looked somewhat simple-minded, the ghost spirit knew that he was no fool. The only problem was that his thinking mode was rather abnormal and different from that of ordinary people.
Since those ghost cultivators were chasing after him, the western monk would naturally not stay in the same place for too long. From the looks of it, he would hurry over to his sect once the ceremony was over.
Such being the case, there was no need for the ghost spirit to worry about the western monk.
The ghost spirit set out and finally headed toward Song Shuhang"s house.
At the same time, it also transmitted this thought to the main body: I get the feeling that the Soul Ferrying Technique can be very useful to me.
Perhaps it will be the key that will allow me to become a high-rank ghost spirit!
When the power of virtue between heaven and earth split into three portions and fell onto its body, the ghost spirit got the feeling that it would eventually have the chance to break through and become a high-rank ghost spirit if it kept using the Soul Ferrying Technique to acc.u.mulate power of virtue!
It was a realm that was worth pursuing!
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Time City, in the Lower City.
After concluding his daily practice, Song Shuhang received the message of the ghost spirit. "The Soul Ferrying Technique can actually help the ghost spirit to advance in rank?"
Song Shuhang knew that there was a difference between middle-rank ghost spirits and high-rank ones. The difference was that the strength of a middle-rank ghost spirit was capped, and it could reach the Sixth Stage realm at most.
On the other hand, a high-rank ghost spirit could be compared to a very talented cultivator and could likewise practice until the Ninth Stage Tribulation Transcender Realm. In addition, it could also learn extraordinary ghost-type magical techniques. In short, it was a very loyal super clone.
If the ghost spirit could break through and become a high-rank one, Song Shuhang could do nothing and still reach the Fifth Stage Realm just by relying on the push the ghost spirit was giving him. Of course, it was only if he could survive the heavenly tribulation.
This was the difference between a normal cheat and a super cheat!
Such being the case, Song Shuhang issued the following thought to the ghost spirit: Meet with Yu Jiaojiao and see if she needs help with anything. Afterward, the matter about ferrying souls takes priority! You can act freely before I return to Earth!
After replying to the ghost spirit, Song Shuhang shot a glance at his hands... there wasn"t any change to Song Shuhang"s main body after the ghost spirit ferried that ordinary soul.
From the looks of it, the "light of virtue" of the ghost spirit was something independent that belonged to the ghost spirit alone... or perhaps the light of virtue shrouding the body of the ghost spirit would merge with Song Shuhang as soon as the former returned to his body?
"What are you thinking about?" At this time, Senior Sister Ye had finished giving pointers to Chu Chu, returning to Song Shuhang"s side. Then, after seeing his pensive look, she asked this question.
"I"m thinking about something related to the light of virtue," Song Shuhang replied with a smile. Next, he told Senior Sister Ye about the ghost spirit testing the Soul Ferrying Technique.
After telling her the whole story, Song Shuhang also asked, "Senior Sister Ye, are there any souls waiting to be ferried to the afterworld in the proximity of the Crystal-Clear Water Pavilion?"
The Crystal-Clear Water Pavilion was placed amidst the vast s.p.a.ce. However, the starry sky was also a place where cultivators fought amongst themselves. Such being the case, there were perhaps some souls to ferry in the surroundings of the pavilion?
"In the proximity of the Crystal-Clear Water Pavilion? I never paid attention to this." Senior Sister Ye pondered for a moment and suddenly clapped her hands, saying, "In that case, I can just bring you along for a stroll outside the Crystal-Clear Water Pavilion. We have stayed underground for such a long time. It"s time get out and breathe some fresh air!"
For some unknown reasons, she hadn"t set foot out of the Crystal-Clear Water Pavilion for a very long period of time.
She was already a Fifth Stage Spiritual Emperor and had long ago met the conditions to leave the sect. She could leave the Crystal-Clear Water Pavilion at any time to take a stroll outside if she wanted to. However, she had never even considered the thought of leaving the Crystal-Clear Water Pavilion during the past few years.
It was a rather strange matter.
Anyway, since Song Shuhang had brought up this matter today, she decided to seize the opportunity and take a stroll outside!