"Are you brave enough?"
Hu Ma noticed that Calculation seed a little frightened but rely squinted his eyes, not agreeing. He even thought to himself, That’s exactly right; this thod is still not potent enough...
Since the other party had planted sothing in his Divine Soul, and he could suppress it with the Great Mighty Heaven Master General Seal, why not seize this rare opportunity to refine it now?
If this succeeded, there would be several benefits.
First, he could achieve a breakthrough to the Three Column Tao, making many things much more convenient in the future. Second, since it was originally the opponent’s possession, having it in his hands ant he would have leverage against them. This would offer many unexpected advantages in future duels.
He could understand it as having a knife specifically for felling the opponent.
He had actually conceived this idea after consulting Senior Brother No-eating Cattle. However, due to issues with his identity, he couldn’t discuss it in such detail with his senior brother; otherwise, it would be tantamount to openly revealing his identity to others.
With Calculation, however, he could be more straightforward and ask for a reliable idea.
Many people in the world had broken through to the Three Column Tao, but each used a different thod. What he needed to find now was the thod most suitable for himself.
"No..." Calculation was startled, but he couldn’t help but follow this line of thought and elaborate. His face grew increasingly grim as he said, "I don’t even know if your thod would work. The key is that it’s incredibly difficult..."
"Isn’t that obvious?" Hu Ma glanced at his own knife and said, "If it weren’t difficult, why would I co over... why would I co to ask for advice on behalf of my friend?"
"It’s not that kind of difficulty..." Calculation adjusted his attitude slightly and said, "You’ve underestimated their thods..."
"Think about it. Why would your friend’s elder—willing to sacrifice their own blessing—choose to stand guard instead of simply solving this problem for him?"
"The arts of this world—strange skills and abnormal magic—each have different intricacies. Not all are as simple as you Shousui people cutting others down with knives..."
"Damage to the Divine Soul is irreversible."
"When the other party planted their thods in your friend’s Divine Soul, they took this into account. If that elder wanted to save him, they would have to risk your friend’s Divine Soul being damaged. But if that happened, your friend might survive, but they wouldn’t be able to learn their skills."
"Alternatively, it would an shortening their own lifespan. But then, would your friend still be able to inherit the family business?"
"Of course, taking a huge step back, no one wants to provoke those evil things. I, an old man, am telling you these things, and that’s already quite considerate. If I say more, I’m afraid I’ll get entangled in so karma myself..."
"...It was really that complicated?" Calculation’s words made Hu Ma’s expression turn grave, a cold stone seeming to press down on his heart.
Previously, when his Divine Soul abilities were not yet developed, he had sensed this thing but couldn’t get a hold of it, and he was constantly worried. Later, when he cultivated his Dharma Form and could suppress it, he thought of the thod of using its own power against it and was full of anticipation.
But hearing this now, he realized there would be such complications?
He didn’t have a deep understanding of these intricacies concerning the Divine Soul and could only listen quietly. After a long pause, he finally said in a low voice, "The more this is the case, the fewer choices my friend has. So things simply cannot be avoided."
"He cannot choose to harm his Divine Soul or shorten his own lifespan to solve this problem. He has important things to do. Old brother, please suggest a way!"
"...Huh?" Hearing Hu Ma’s earnest tone, Calculation’s face clearly showed a hint of bitterness. He said with difficulty, "I’m just an old Worship responsible for accounts. Of course, I’m also quite an expert on Blood Food. For example, I can tell its quality with just one bite..."
"That can’t be right, can it?" Hu Ma chuckled and said, "I rember you know quite a lot, old brother."
"Back in Zhu n Town, during the duel between Red Light and Green Clothes, when soone used paper money to buy my life, wasn’t it you who helped ?"
"You said there was a piece missing from my lifespan and used a top-quality dog-skin plaster to patch it up for ..."
"...And you collected twenty Blood Food Pills from , have you forgotten?"
"...Huh?" Calculation’s mouth fell open upon hearing this. "Twenty pills? That many?"
"More than that, actually," Hu Ma said. "Blood Food Pills are precious items. Since they were given out, interest must be calculated on them constantly. We are honest people and usually don’t deceive others, but others shouldn’t deceive us either."
"For example, if soone initially owed one hundred Blood Food Pills, I would record it using the thod of ’nine out, thirteen return.’ I wouldn’t be in a hurry to collect, but instead, let the interest compound repeatedly. Isn’t there a profit to be made there?"
"And when I finally decide to collect!"
"... " At this point, Hu Ma paused. He took the knife from his bundle and plunged it into the table.
"SHINK!"
The thick, hard pearwood tabletop in this blood food mine was instantly pierced, groaning under the pressure as the blade emitted a sinister, tallic ring.
Hu Ma looked at Calculation and smiled amiably. "What do you think he’ll do if he refuses to pay?"
"You..." Calculation was thoroughly frightened. He stared wide-eyed at the knife embedded in the table for a long ti before forcing a weak smile. "We were just talking about your friend. How did we end up on past matters? Back then, you were our Red Lantern Society’s little shopkeeper..."
Hu Ma replied, "A junior manager, not yet a Shopkeeper. Do you know how difficult it was for a junior manager to save up those one hundred Blood Food Pills?"
Calculation choked for a mont, then said, "...Anyway, helping you was the right thing to do, wasn’t it?"
"As for your current friend..." His face turned slightly bitter. "It’s not that I’m unwilling to offer advice. It’s just that such matters are not only extrely difficult, but even discussing them damages one’s yin virtue..."
Hearing this, Hu Ma’s face was already showing an expression of impatience. Calculation’s voice softened and slowed, and he mumbled, "Like, like..."
"...human pillar!"
"... " Hu Ma’s heart stirred. He pressed on, "Can this thod help my friend?"
"More than that..." Calculation mumbled. "The thing sewn into your friend’s Divine Soul can be used as a pillar. This would not only eliminate this calamity but also make it convenient for your friend to cultivate the fourth incense stick. Moreover, you’d gain leverage against the other party, to harm them in return..."
"Then what are we waiting for?" Upon hearing this, Hu Ma was suddenly overjoyed. "Wouldn’t my friend make a huge profit then?"
"Yes, they’d make a huge profit..." Calculation looked at Hu Ma awkwardly. "But the person performing the skill would be in terrible trouble..."
"This human pillar is inherently an evil skill. Furthermore, it’s tainted with such an evil entity. The person who helps you perform the skill would probably have their negative karma multiplied tenfold..."
"... " Hearing this, Hu Ma’s heart stirred. He stared wide-eyed at Calculation. "How could it be like that?"
"There’s no way around it; that evil thing is just that formidable..." Calculation said with a pained expression. "If I have to explain, you could understand it like this: a bandit cos to seize your family’s property. He has backing and isn’t afraid of you reporting him to the authorities. But if you rise up and kill him, then you’ve committed murder, and the official will co to behead you."
"You might not be afraid and can go into hiding; it’s like being killed once by soone. But the crucial point is, the person who helps you perform the skill will have to bear the sins..."
"Where do you plan to find such a person?"
"... " For a mont, Hu Ma was stumped. He couldn’t say anything else and fell silent for a long ti. He had no choice but to let Calculation off the hook for now and slowly ate his food by himself.
Calculation was also clearly frightened. He sighed softly and quietly retreated, not daring to disturb Hu Ma at this mont.
After Hu Ma finished his al, he didn’t show anything on his face. He just casually asked if Zhou Datong and the others at the mine had encountered any recent problems. He then went to check on Wuya, who was still in that deep, unending slumber, her Divine Soul fragnted. Then, he silently walked back.
「That night」
After his practice, he quickly fell asleep, waiting quietly. Indeed, around the third watch of the Zi period (midnight), the ti of the Lifebound Spirit Temple, sweet potato’s excited and expectant voice sounded as expected: "Senior, Senior..."
"I’m here! What good things do you have for ?"
"...I can’t say I have any special favors, but I’m quite familiar with that person from Mingzhou, so opportunities are plentiful."
Hu Ma took a shallow breath; he had already prepared his speech in his mind. He said, "I’ve invited you here this ti because I have so urgent matters to discuss with you. Since you are of the Execution Soul Path, I wonder if you’ve ever heard of an evil dharma thod called the human pillar?"
"Human pillar?" Sweet potato was taken aback upon hearing this. "My Master ntioned it. It’s a skill that severely damages one’s yin virtue!"
"If perford poorly, one would lose their life. Even if perford well, one would still incur a huge karmic debt..."
"Let put it this way: according to my Master, performing this skill once, even if successful, is equivalent to killing ten innocent, living people in broad daylight... even if they were great benefactors."
"And although our Execution Soul Path has thods to evade karmic debts, the backlash from this particular skill is unavoidable. Every bit of it is recorded in the Karma Soul. If it’s not repaid while alive, it will be tallied up bit by bit in the underworld after death..."
"...Exactly..." Listening to sweet potato’s explanation, Hu Ma also sighed softly. Inwardly, he felt increasingly worried.
Sweet potato’s lineage was already quite nefarious. Things like yellow official paper and Paper Money Buys Life were all evil skills, specializing in harming people. If even she considered this skill extrely evil, one can only imagine how demonic it must be. How could he possibly ask her to do it?
"However..." Internally conflicted, he still slowly said, "I have a big job here that needs to be done."
"But as it happens, the initial preparations require just such a thod. Of course, the price for this is quite high. If you know any friends..."
"...Ah, then pick ..." Sweet potato responded, suddenly becoming agitated. "Senior, Senior, you absolutely cannot leave out of this big job this ti!"
"?" Hearing this, Hu Ma found it rather bizarre. "Didn’t you say that performing this skill would make one bear karmic debt..."
"Yes..." sweet potato said. "But I’m already shouldering a lot of karmic debt. I owe who knows how many hundreds of millions in the underworld. Who cares about this trivial amount anymore?"
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