The Mirror Master

After the Lu Residence was expanded, Lu Bai had a relatively private room in the west wing with a decent-sized courtyard just outside the door.

Lu Bai did not light any lamps after returning to his room.

The night was dark and all was silent, but Lu Bai’s eyes were exceptionally bright, without a hint of drowsiness.

So much had happened since he first arrived. Although he had temporarily dealt with the Brick Mourning’s Evil Technique, the unease in his heart remained. How could he possibly sleep?

Moreover, when he discovered the Mourning Brick, he suddenly remembered the Peach Talisman on his person, which made him even more restless.

Before his father, Lu Ziheng, died, he had told Lu Bai to flee the city to avoid disaster. He actually had a destination in mind.

In his youth, Lu Ziheng had secretly pledged his life to a young woman from his village named Shen Qiuyun.

But later, Shen Qiuyun was chosen by an Immortal to be a disciple and left to cultivate on an Immortal Mountain.

The two lost contact after that.

Over a decade ago, Shen Qiuyun returned to Cyan Ox Village.

Things had changed. Lu Ziheng was already married, and Lu Bai was four years old.

Shen Qiuyun returned a sachet Lu Ziheng had given her, left behind a sum of silver taels, and severed her worldly ties, departing gracefully. She was never heard from again.

The Lu Family was able to leave their remote village and establish a foothold in Liuxi Town all thanks to that money.

Very few people knew of this matter; not even Lu Ziyuan’s side of the family was aware.

A few days ago, sensing his end was near and fearing the Lu Family line would be extinguished, Lu Ziheng took out the sachet, placed a letter inside, and told Lu Bai to seek out this old acquaintance for refuge.

However, Lu Ziheng had no idea where Shen Qiuyun was. All he knew was the name of an Immortal Mountain, located somewhere to the west.

As for the exact location of this Immortal Mountain, he didn’t know that either. Lu Bai would have to find out for himself.

Hearing that Lu Bai was leaving the city, his older cousin, Lu Yao, came to see him off and gave him a Peach Talisman as a special gift.

She said that Madam Li had obtained it from a temple and that it had been blessed. She urged Lu Bai to carry it with him at all times, as it would ensure a safe journey.

Lu Bai, suspecting nothing, placed the Peach Talisman into the sachet and kept it hidden close to his body.

Unexpectedly, on the night he left the city, Lu Bai had a nightmare. Terrified, he bolted out in a frenzy, running all the way to Black Tiger Stream, where he fell off a cliff.

The previous owner of this body died under strange circumstances.

When he had found the Mourning Brick, Lu Bai’s thoughts immediately jumped to this Peach Talisman.

Although the Brick Mourning’s Evil Suppression Technique was bizarre, it had a limited range. The original Lu Bai had left the city to escape disaster, so he should have been outside the technique’s effective area.

Yet, the original Lu Bai still died an accidental death.

Lu Bai reached into his robes, took out the old sachet, and then felt inside for the Peach Talisman.

He began to examine it by the faint light in the darkness.

The Peach Talisman was an inch wide and two inches long. The four characters for ’Shen Tu’ and ’Yu Lei’ were written on the front and back. It was cold to the touch, but there was nothing else unusual about it.

Just then, the Black Dog lying nearby seemed to sense something. It shot up, stared at the Peach Talisman in Lu Bai’s hand, and let out a low growl from deep in its throat, its eyes glinting menacingly.

Legends say that black dogs can ward off evil and see many unclean things that mortals cannot.

’The Peach Talisman really is the problem!’

A chill went down Lu Bai’s spine.

At that moment, a strange stir came from Lu Bai’s chest.

He sensed something and focused his mind. It was as if he could see the foreign object that had been embedded in his chest at the bottom of the cliff.

It seemed to be an Ancient Mirror, perfectly replacing the sternum that had been pierced through.

At this moment, a line of text slowly materialized on the surface of the Ancient Mirror—Bone Supreme Profound Scripture!

Lu Bai had only ever heard of the White-headed Supreme Profound Scripture. What the hell was the Bone Supreme Profound Scripture?

Just then, a voice suddenly echoed in his mind.

"First scroll: No self, no others, no living beings, no life-span. All that has form is illusory—the Eye of Illusion."

Just as Lu Bai was feeling utterly confused, an indescribable enlightenment flooded his mind like a torrential river.

Before he could react, a flash of light crossed his eyes.

The next moment, the world in his vision underwent a subtle change.

But when he looked around, he didn’t find anything out of the ordinary. Everything was as it was.

"Hm?"

Lu Bai’s expression darkened as he caught sight of the Peach Talisman in his hand out of the corner of his eye.

A distorted, illusory shadow was attached to the Peach Talisman, emitting a faint Yin Qi. It was staring at Lu Bai with a face full of venomous hatred.

Lu Bai was certain he absolutely had not seen this thing a moment ago.

It had only appeared after the text materialized on the mirror’s surface, causing some strange change in his vision.

’An evil spirit? A Ghost Soul?’

Realizing what was happening, Lu Bai’s gaze sharpened.

The evil spirit on the Peach Talisman seemed to sense danger. It detached itself from the talisman and drifted toward the door.

The Black Dog was already waiting by the door. Seeing the evil spirit trying to escape, it lunged forward.

The Black Dog passed straight through the evil spirit, and the illusory figure clearly faded a little.

Lu Bai thought he could almost hear a shrill, miserable scream from the evil spirit.

Lu Bai strode forward, reaching out to grab the shadowy evil spirit.

However, his hand passed through the illusory figure, grasping only empty air. It was completely intangible.

This evil spirit had no physical form at all.

The Black Dog, due to its special constitution, was a natural counter to such evil beings and could actually inflict some damage on it.

But a mortal like Lu Bai, with his ordinary methods, couldn’t harm the evil spirit in the slightest.

Seeing the evil spirit about to escape through the window, Lu Bai grew anxious. In a moment of desperation, a sharp pain suddenly shot through his chest.

The next moment, he felt the Blood Qi throughout his body surge uncontrollably toward the Ancient Mirror in his chest.

Stimulated by Lu Bai’s Blood Qi, the Ancient Mirror suddenly unleashed a powerful suction force.

In an instant, Lu Bai seemed to transform. His entire demeanor changed, his gaze growing dark and profound. His chest felt like it had become a bottomless, dark vortex, spinning endlessly.

Seeing Lu Bai’s new appearance, the Black Dog instinctively lowered its head, a look of awe in its eyes.

The venomous hatred on the evil spirit’s face had long vanished, replaced by endless terror.

It struggled desperately to escape, but it couldn’t resist being devoured by the dark vortex.

Under Lu Bai’s watch, the illusory evil spirit was devoured bit by bit by the powerful suction, sinking into his chest and disappearing without a trace.

Lu Bai’s legs trembled. He was drenched in sweat, gasping for breath, his face deathly pale.

The process had seemed slow, but in reality, it all happened in an instant.

Although the evil spirit had been devoured by the Ancient Mirror, Lu Bai felt a wave of weakness, almost unable to stand.

In that brief moment, he showed signs of Blood Qi deficiency!

The Black Dog walked over and nudged its head against Lu Bai’s thigh, as if asking about his condition.

"I’m fine. I owe you one for this."

Lu Bai smiled and gently petted the Black Dog’s head.

Hearing Lu Bai’s praise, the Black Dog gave a slight wag of its tail.

When Lu Bai first met this Black Dog, he hadn’t noticed anything unusual about it. For some reason, however, it had been following him ever since.

Having just arrived in this world, Lu Bai hadn’t yet adapted. Seeing that the dog wasn’t noisy, he let it be and didn’t drive it away.

He never expected that after returning to the Lu Residence, the Black Dog would prove so miraculously helpful time and again.

Lu Bai took a deep breath and wiped the sweat from his face.

The changes just now had happened too quickly; he hadn’t had a chance to study the Ancient Mirror in his chest.

This Ancient Mirror seemed to have the ability to devour Ghost Souls and evil spirits, but it required stimulation from his own Blood Qi to activate and came with a certain cost.

After standing quietly for a moment to calm his Heart and Spirit, Lu Bai focused his attention on his chest. Several lines of text appeared on the mirror’s surface.

[Mirror Master: Lu Bai]

[Realm: Root Bone Stage, First Level—Skin Refining (Incomplete)]

[Cultivation Techniques: Bone Supreme Profound Scripture: Ultimate; Fierce Tiger Stance: Profound (Unmastered) (Repairable)]

[Martial Techniques: Five-Step Fist: Yellow (Entry); Eight Sword Skills: Yellow (Entry)]

[Secret Technique: Eye of Illusion]

Lu Bai let out a soft sigh of relief.

’It’s finally here.’

’This thing is the foundation of my survival!’

According to the original Lu Bai’s memories, Martial Arts were broadly divided into Cultivation Techniques and Martial Techniques, which were categorized into several tiers: Yellow, Profound, Earth, and Celestial.

Above the Celestial Tier were the legendary Ultimate Skills.

The Five-Step Fist and the Eight Sword Skills were both basic Yellow Tier Martial Techniques.

That was why the word ’Yellow’ appeared after their names.

The Fierce Tiger Stance, on the other hand, was considered the Chen Martial Arts Hall’s most prized technique, not easily taught to outsiders.

Though it was just a Martial Arts Posture Training, it was a Profound Tier Technique that could temper the flesh, build strength, and solidify one’s form—a whole level above the Five-Step Fist.

The reason Hall Master Chen Tieshan had taught the Fierce Tiger Stance to the original Lu Bai was because of the engagement between their two families.

However, the original Lu Bai hadn’t put his heart into it. After a few failed attempts to grasp the method, he had given up.

Lu Bai stared at the word ’Ultimate’ after "Bone Supreme Profound Scripture," his heart pounding.

’It seems this Cultivation Technique is a legendary Ultimate Skill!’

’My starting situation was pretty miserable. I only had a dog, and I’d pretty much lost both my parents...’

Lu Bai couldn’t help but sigh. ’I wouldn’t say every cloud has a silver lining just yet, but at least I have an Ultimate Skill now.’

’Besides, the voice in my head said that the Eye of Illusion was only the first scroll.’

’There’s a high chance there’s a second, a third...’

’Things are looking up.’

Unfortunately, this Ultimate Skill only came with a Secret Technique. There was no inherited Cultivation Technique, so there was nothing to master and nothing to practice.

He didn’t know if it was because his Realm was too low or for some other reason.

Lu Bai tossed and turned the thoughts in his mind, feeling more and more awake. He decided to just start practicing the Fierce Tiger Stance.

If he wanted to protect himself, he ultimately had to increase his own strength.

Neither the Suppression Technique nor the evil spirit in the Peach Talisman would have appeared out of thin air.

The person behind the scenes was the real, hidden danger!

The foundation of the Martial Dao was the Root Bone Stage, which had three levels: Skin Refining, Yijin, and Bone Forging. The focus was on improving one’s root bones to enhance one’s Martial Dao aptitude.

Only when one’s root bones reached a certain level could one truly step onto the path of Martial Dao cultivation, moving from external to internal, learning Inner Strength, cultivating the internal organs, and stimulating the body’s Nine Acupoints.

This was the Martial Arts First Realm, the Inner Strength Realm.

Martial Artists at this Realm were called Inner Martial Artists. You could count the number of Inner Martial Artists in all of Liuxi Town on one hand, and Chen Tieshan, the master of the Chen Martial Arts Hall, was one of them.

After the Inner Strength Realm was the Martial Dao’s second realm, the Innate Realm. Martial Artists of this realm were known as Innate Martial Artists. Liuxi Town had no experts of this level.

Some people with extraordinary skeletal structures or innate Divine Power could even skip the Root Bone Stage and directly enter the Inner Strength Realm to cultivate Inner Strength.

Generally speaking, different Realms in the Martial Dao corresponded to different Cultivation Techniques.

The Fierce Tiger Stance was a Pile Skill for improving one’s root bones.

Upon reaching the Inner Strength Realm, one had to cultivate other Inner Strength techniques.

In the Innate Realm, one cultivated Innate Techniques.

’It’s a bit like learning from different textbooks for different grades in my past life.’

The original Lu Bai had mediocre Martial Dao aptitude and disliked practicing Martial Arts. He hadn’t even reached the First Level of the Root Bone Stage.

Lu Bai followed the mnemonic chant for the Fierce Tiger Stance, mimicking the posture of a fierce tiger perched on a mountain, imagining himself transformed into that tiger, poised to strike.

He held the stance for a while, adjusting his posture several times, but couldn’t find the right feeling.

He practiced like this for nearly two hours, but it was still no good.

The Fierce Tiger Stance was a Profound Tier Technique, after all.

Even a Martial Dao genius couldn’t possibly master it in less than three to five days.

With this kind of Pile Skill, the slightest deviation in posture would result in a world of difference in its effect.

If practiced incorrectly, not only would it fail to increase one’s strength, but it could also cause injury.

What’s more, the original Lu Bai’s root bones were far too ordinary. Even with diligent practice under the guidance of a famous master, it would likely have taken him three to five months to cultivate.

’At this rate, when will I ever master it? When will I reach the First Level of the Root Bone Stage?’

Lu Bai frowned to himself.

Once the forty-odd day deadline he’d agreed upon with Lu Ziyuan’s family was up, he would probably have to find another way out.

Lu Bai focused his Heart and Spirit on the Ancient Mirror. Seeing the words ’Incomplete’ and ’Unmastered’ was deeply frustrating.

"Hm?"

Just then, Lu Bai discovered an extra ball of light in the corner of the mirror’s surface.

Trapped inside it was a motionless shadow.

The entire ball of light resembled a piece of translucent amber, glowing faintly.

’Is this what that Ghost Soul, that evil spirit, turned into?’

Lu Bai guessed as much.

’What use is this Soul Light?’

An idea struck Lu Bai. He tried to control the ball of Soul Light, directing it toward the line: [Realm: Root Bone Stage, First Level—Skin Refining (Incomplete)].

Visit and read more novel to help us update chapter quickly. Thank you so much!