Thistle Ridge is ho to the Wood Immortal Hermitage, which shelters six Demon Kings who have long acquired the ability to transform. Yet, they have not attained the Path of the Heavenly Immortal.
Over the years, these demons have resided quietly within Thistle Ridge, engrossed in poetry and philosophies, leading quite a pleasant life.
Among the six great demons, both male and female, they sat together to enjoy tea and discussed insights from their cultivation as well as exchanged thoughts on poetry. Suddenly, the only young female demon in human form rembered sothing and spoke up, "My brothers, where's Little Tao? I haven't seen him around these days!"
"Apricot Immortal, I gave him a task a few days ago, asking him to compose a poem. He's been missing for a while now, perhaps he's deep in thought," the oldest-looking Demon King, with white hair, interjected as the woman finished.
"Duke Guzhi, Little Tao has only begun his cultivation journey with us not long ago, and you've asked him to compose a poem on his own? Isn't that too challenging for him? What if he overstrains his spirit by thinking too hard? Wouldn't that be worse than futile?"
Hearing the words of this elderly white-haired figure, the young female frowned slightly and spoke with a hint of reproach.
"Yes, yes, Apricot Immortal is right!" As she voiced her concerns, both Master Lingkong and the Red Body Ghost on her side nodded in agreent, showing their approval.
"No, no, I still think Duke Guzhi is correct. When it cos to poetry, it's best to start cultivating that skill from a young age!" However, Duke Guzhi and Fuyunsou, two other demons, spoke in favor of what Duke Guzhi had said.
The six demons of Thistle Ridge each had their own stance, and soon enough, a debate arose among them.
However, such scenes were quite normal to these six demons.
Whether in the course of cultivation or even when composing poetry, they would often argue over the most fitting word to use.
Their noisy quarrels only added to the liveliness.
"Greetings, my masters, how are you all?"
Just as the six demons were stubbornly quarreling over their positions and opinions, Little Tao, with his body resembling a puppet, bounced over. Having grown used to such argunts among his six masters, he wasn't surprised and greeted them casually.
"Little Tao, you're back?" Upon seeing Little Tao, Apricot Immortal, perhaps being the only female, scrutinized him carefully and relaxed internally, seeing that he didn't look distressed.
"So, Little Tao? Master asked you to compose a poem, have you done it?" By contrast, Duke Guzhi adopted a strict ntor's deanor, eyeing Little Tao with inquiry.
"Master, I have finished it!" Tiny Tao nodded in response to Duke Guzhi's question.
"Oh?" This reply caused the six demons of Thistle Ridge to look at each other in surprise.
Composing a poem is no easy task. Could a re child manage to compose a worthwhile poem in just a few days? They were skeptical.
If Little Tao had admitted his failure, they wouldn't have been surprised, but the fact he had succeeded made them rather astonished.
"Well then, you've finished it? That's good. Recite it for us to hear; we'll offer so guidance!" Duke Guzhi recovered from his surprise and nodded in agreent.
Even though Little Tao claid to have completed the poem, it was expected to be a poor attempt, right?
Nevertheless, a poor attempt was still better than nothing. They could offer guidance and hope to help him learn sothing from the experience.
Duke Guzhi's words made the other demons, including Apricot Immortal, nod inwardly in agreent.
They all thought along the lines of Duke Guzhi, eager to see what kind of poem such a child could have possibly composed.
"Ahem, listen carefully, my masters. This poem is titled 'Visiting the Garden in Vain,' inspired by my feelings. I dedicate it to Apricot Immortal!"
Imitating what Jiang Liu had done before, Little Tao cleared his throat and then looked at Apricot Immortal.
Although he didn't fully grasp the entire aning of the poem, he could tell the last line was about apricots, and so, he took the initiative to dedicate the poem to Apricot Immortal.
"Indeed, my affection for you has not gone to waste!"
Regardless of the poem's quality, the fact that Little Tao had dedicated this piece solely to her brought a smile to Apricot Immortal's face as she contentedly said so, hugging Little Tao and giving him a big kiss.
Under the watchful eyes of the demon kings, Little Tao took a mont to rember the words, ensuring he hadn't forgotten anything before he began to recite: "Pity should be taken for the shoeprints on the green moss; the wooden gate is seldom knocked. Spring colors cannot be confined to the garden; a branch of red apricot blossoms beyond the wall."
"Ah!?"
They had all been expecting Little Tao's poem to be a poorly rhyd verse or maybe not even that, but such a poem stunned the demon kings into silence.
That was exceptional!
After years of studying poetry and appraising literary works, the demons possessed discerning tastes and imdiately recognized that this poem was indeed a fine piece.
"Spring colors cannot be confined to the garden? A branch of red apricot blossoms beyond the wall? What does this an? Does it imply that of all the spring colors in the garden, it's only the red apricot that cannot be confined? Is it praising the beauty of the apricot blossoms?"
Apricot Immortal, most intrigued by the last two lines, mulled over their aning several tis, and her face lit up with a smile of realization. She then hugged Little Tao tightly and planted a warm kiss on him.
"Hahaha, Little Tao, Master really likes this poem, very good, very good, you truly are a genius!" With a beaming smile, Apricot Immortal spoke.
"Wait a mont..." However, although all six Demons were astonished by the quality of Little Tao's poem, Duke Guzhi, standing beside them, suddenly spoke up, causing the atmosphere to turn solemn.
"Little Tao, when you wrote 'One should pity the imprint of clogs on the green moss,' which character is 'clogs'?" Duke Guzhi asked, staring intently at Little Tao.
"This..." Upon hearing Duke Guzhi's words, Little Tao's complexion couldn't help but change.
He had only heard Jiang Liu recite it once, and since Jiang Liu didn't write it down for him, how could he know?
"As far as I know, the character for 'clogs' is an obscure word, and none of us masters have taught you that, have we?" Duke Guzhi continued to stare at Little Tao, questioning him.
"Master, I, I was wrong..."
As Duke Guzhi uttered those words, Little Tao naturally realized his deceit had been exposed and imdiately knelt down, openly admitting his mistake without any thought of resistance.
"Right, I also felt sothing was off. The poem mainly talks about visiting a friend and finding the door unopened. Little Tao, here in Thistle Ridge, where would you have such friends? Of course, it wasn't your work!" Following Duke Guzhi's statent, Fuyunsou also ca to his senses and spoke.
"Alright, alright, don't frighten the child!" Seeing the stern looks from the others, Apricot Immortal protected Little Tao behind her and spoke with annoyance.
While speaking, Apricot Immortal turned her head to look at Little Tao and asked, "Tell your sixth master where this poem ca from."
"Sixth master, this, this poem I heard from the mouth of a Monk on the outskirts of Thistle Ridge! I begged him for a poem, and he gave this one off the cuff!"
"A fine poem just from the tip of the tongue!?"
Little Tao's words made Duke Guzhi and the other Tree Demons' eyes light up, looking at each other in astonishnt.
...
Jiang Liu and his group, naturally, were unaware of what was happening with Little Tao.
Anyway, he now had plenty of Skill Points, and seeing that the Soul-Returning Spell at the Primary Level could only resurrect a target with 10% of their Health Point and had a Cooldown Ti of an entire hour.
Jiang Liu pondered for a mont and decided to try investing another Skill Point into the Soul-Returning Spell, raising it to the Middle Level.
Indeed, once raised to Middle Level, the effects of the Soul-Returning Spell changed, with the Health Point rising from 10% to 20%, and the hour-long Cooldown Ti reduced by 10 minutes as well.
With this in mind, Jiang Liu had no intention of holding back and maxed out the Soul-Returning Spell to the highest level.
He then checked the Attribute Information of the Soul-Returning Spell, feeling satisfied.
Soul-Returning Spell (Great Perfection): When cast on a target that has been dead for no more than 3600 seconds, it resurrects the target with Life Value at 40% of their maximum Health Point, with a Cooldown Ti of 1800 seconds.
The Soul-Returning Spell at Great Perfection, which restores 40% of Life Value upon resurrection, was indeed satisfactory, much better than a re 10% as with the Primary Level, which could be said to be just a thread of health.
Moreover, the Cooldown Ti had decreased from an hour to just half an hour.
However, even though the Soul-Returning Spell was powerful, the fact that it could only resurrect targets who had died within the past hour weighed heavily on Jiang Liu's heart.
Clearly, the spell was of no use to Little White Dragon.
"Ah, if only I had tried a little harder earlier, and reached Level 60 by the ti Little White Dragon died, wouldn't I have been able to resurrect him imdiately?" This thought made Jiang Liu feel sowhat remorseful.
Despite having improved his Cultivation Level as much as possible along the way.
But the fact that he was just a bit short still caused Jiang Liu so self-reproach, thinking he should have tried even harder.
However, even though the Soul-Returning Spell can only be applied to targets within an hour of death, it seems that this only Skill's limitation is the ti since the target's death, without any restrictions related to identity, perhaps?
For example, a common person can be brought back to life with a single Soul-Returning Pill, pulling their Lost Souls out of the Netherworld, but when Immortals and Buddhas die, their souls fall into Ksitigarbha's hands, and resurrection becos extrely difficult.
But this Soul-Returning Spell seems to have no such restrictions!?
Moreover, whether reviving a commoner or an Immortal and Buddha, there must first be a prerequisite: the target must not have completely dissipated their soul; otherwise, no resurrection is possible at all.
Yet, this Soul-Returning Spell also seems to lack this restriction!?
If that truly is the case, then the Soul-Returning Spell is undoubtedly a Divine Skill, even more powerful than the abilities of the Great Jade Emperor and Tathagata!
Of course, whether Immortals and Buddhas can be resurrected or whether soone whose soul has dissipated can be brought back to life are just speculations based on what the Attribute Information shows.
Whether or not it can actually be done remains to be seen when such a target is encountered for a trial.
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