Chapter 1 A Favor

After witnessing those mysterious abilities and falling for Zhou Jing's calculated manipulation, the Ye family members' attitude changed drastically, becoming respectful and no longer daring to act presumptuously.

Ye Heng, after experiencing a bit of a dressing-down, didn't hold a grudge. Instead, he developed endless curiosity toward Zhou Jing's skills, realizing that there were more than just martial arts in the world.

However, he didn't dare casually inquire about it, and couldn't help but feel an itch of impatience.

Seeing that his family members finally understood the situation, Ye Shunzhong heaved a sigh of relief and spoke in a clear voice, as if making a public statement:

"Daozhang (lit. Daoist priest) has been cultivating for many years and rarely sets foot in the mortal world. This is his first time coming to Ningtian Prefecture, so the Ye family will take care of all trivial matters for the Daozhang."

"That's right, Daozhang can freely use the Ye family's servants."

Upon hearing this, the others no longer resisted and echoed in agreement, creating a lively atmosphere.

At this moment, Zhou Jing's heart stirred, and he said, "I do have something that requires your assistance."

"Daozhang, feel free to give us your instructions,"

The others' eyes lit up, and they hurriedly responded.

Zhou Jing pondered for a few seconds and asked:

"Are you all aware of why this humble Daoist has come to Ningtian Prefecture?"

Everyone shook their heads, feeling quite curious but not daring to interrupt, listening quietly.

Ye Shunzhong had heard Zhou Jing mention it before and tentatively asked, "If I remember correctly, Daozhang said yesterday that he came to Ningtian Prefecture to seek the Heavenly Secret?"

Zhou Jing nodded and said solemnly:

"That's right, what I need you to do is related to this matter."

"What does Daozhang want us to do?" Ye Shunzhong asked respectfully.

Hearing this, Zhou Jing tapped the table and said slowly:

"The Heavenly Secret is formless and elusive. The birth and death of events are all predestined. This humble Daoist only knows that the Heavenly Secret will manifest in Ningtian Prefecture, but I do not know who, what, when, or how. I can only act according to fate. I hope that you will inform all the people in the city about my search for the Heavenly Secret. If anyone encounters any strange event, they should come and inform me, acting as my eyes and ears. I wonder if you are willing to help me with this task?"

"This…"

Ye Shunzhong hesitated slightly. This was equivalent to mobilizing all the people in the city, which would cause quite a stir. Even with the Ye family's influence, it wouldn't be easy to accomplish and would also cause controversy.

He thought for a moment and asked cautiously:

"I wonder what the purpose of Daozhang's search for this Heavenly Secret is… I dare to ask, and I hope Daozhang won't be offended."

Zhou Jing chuckled and said seriously, "The Heavenly Secret cannot be revealed. All I can tell you is that this matter is of great importance. If it is found, it can ensure sixty years of good weather for the world. If something goes wrong, hehe…"

These words were ambiguous, and everyone seemed to understand but also seemed not to understand, feeling inexplicably impressed.

Ye Shunzhong hesitated for a while before finally making a decision and nodding:

"Daozhang, please rest assured. This matter is not difficult for the Ye family. We will guarantee that all the people of Ningtian Prefecture will know what Daozhang is seeking, and we will also use rewards to entice them. The people of Ningtian Prefecture will surely be willing to be Daozhang's eyes and ears."

Zhou Jing nodded in satisfaction and started to make promises:

"Very good. If this humble Daoist finds the Heavenly Secret, the Ye family will also have a share of the credit. The benefits will naturally be plentiful. Not to mention anything grand, at the very least, your descendants will have abundant wealth and prosperity for three generations. This is the predestined fate I mentioned yesterday, and the Ye family must seize it well."

Upon hearing this, everyone's spirits lifted. They preferred to believe it was true and excitedly agreed.

After tricking the Ye family into vigorously creating momentum for him, Zhou Jing stopped while he was ahead and said no more.

After the banquet, everyone insisted on escorting Zhou Jing back to his room before respectfully taking their leave.

Zhou Jing didn't stay in the room for long before the Ye family's steward came to the door, bringing many precious items, all gifts from the various branches of the Ye family, with clear intentions of currying favor.

Zhou Jing didn't refuse and accepted them all, piling them casually in the room.

At this moment, he seemed to suddenly remember something and stopped the steward who was about to leave, saying, "I have a small matter that I need you to do."

The Ye family's steward quickly bowed, feeling extremely nervous, and said, "Daozhang, please speak."

Zhou Jing didn't stand on ceremony and instructed:

"Go to the pharmacies in the city and buy several portions of various medicinal materials and send them here to me. Also, buy some common medical books and prescriptions. I would like to study them."

The Ye family's steward didn't dare to ask any questions and immediately agreed, ordering a servant to do it.

Afterward, the steward bid farewell to Zhou Jing and went back to find Ye Shunzhong to report the matter.

After listening, Ye Shunzhong was slightly stunned and muttered to himself:

"What does Daozhang want so many medicinal materials for? Could it be that Daozhang is also proficient in medicine?"

As he thought this, he suddenly had an idea.

Perhaps, he could ask Daozhang to treat the Old Master…

Ye Shunzhong had this thought, but after thinking about it, he still didn't dare to rashly trouble Daozhang. Zhang Jinduan was still treating the Old Master, and he decided to wait for the results before deciding.

If this renowned physician who enjoyed a good reputation in the medical circle was also helpless… Ye Shunzhong made a decision.

…

Two days passed in a flash.

The story of Zhou Jing's arrival across the river had spread throughout the city, and the Ye family's servants had also revealed Ling Fengzi's name, making him the talk of the town for the people of Ningtian Prefecture.

Countless people were curious about who this Ling Fengzi was, but after this person moved into the Ye family, he lived in seclusion, and many people couldn't even get a glimpse of him, and even the officials and nobles didn't come to visit.

At this critical moment, the Ye family suddenly mobilized its servants to spread Zhou Jing's so-called search for the Heavenly Secret, and even claimed that anyone who discovered strange events and reported them would receive a reward, which caused a stir in Ningtian Prefecture.

The people in the city were talking about it, not knowing what was going on, and they were even more confused about the so-called "Heavenly Secret" and "strange events," not knowing what would be considered as such.

While the rumors were flying outside, Zhou Jing stayed in the Ye family and waited to see what would happen, while also using this time to seize the time to practice witchcraft.

With accelerated cultivation, practicing witchcraft was quite fast, and "Basic Meditation" also had an increased cultivation efficiency - this was a skill that Bill had developed by persistently practicing witchcraft during his years of idleness, and the higher the meditation level, the faster the cultivation.

Zhou Jing mostly meditated, and he could get more than 10 development points in a day.

In other words, he only needed ten days to get 1 witchcraft skill point, and three months to max out the first level of the Whirlwind Spirit's witchcraft skill tree, which was extremely fast progress.

With Bill's rapidly increasing magic aptitude, he probably wouldn't encounter the bottleneck of the \[Elemental Sorcerer] system for a long time, and now was the fastest stage to improve his strength.

As for the time outside of cultivation, Zhou Jing basically used it to study the medicinal materials of this world.

The Ye family itself had a pharmacy business, and the types of medicinal materials were quite complete. The steward didn't dare to neglect Zhou Jing's instructions and brought over every kind of medicinal material in the inventory.

Zhou Jing used the item analysis function to identify them and thoroughly understood the properties of many medicinal materials, even more deeply than the doctors of this world, making rapid progress.

Knowing the detailed medicinal properties and having lv8 \[Pharmacology] and lv9 \[Herbalism], a large number of pharmaceutical ideas emerged.

- Knowing what each medicinal material is used for, then setting a target effect, and finally knowing how to use techniques to combine and match medicinal materials to achieve this effect, then naturally, a prescription is born.

Although he hadn't actually used the medicinal materials of this world to make medicine, many pharmaceutical prototypes had already sprouted in his mind.

He had the basic ideas for making medicines for healing wounds and stopping bleeding, recuperating deficiencies, replenishing Qi and strengthening the body, potent and slow poisons, and drugs for increasing virility.

One morning,

Zhou Jing was in the courtyard, reading a medical book seriously.

Suddenly, Ye Shunzhong came to visit, his steps hurried.

"Greetings, Daozhang. I have come to pay a special visit this time, as I have something to discuss."

Zhou Jing put down his book, sat still in his chair, and looked at Ye Shunzhong, who walked into the courtyard, and asked:

"Layman Ye, what is it that you seek from me?"

Ye Shunzhong respectfully bowed and said:

"I shouldn't be troubling Daozhang, but my family's Old Master is seriously ill, and his condition has deteriorated in recent days. Doctor Zhang has already given up. I have heard from the family steward that you have been regularly sending medicinal materials to Daozhang recently. Could it be that Daozhang is proficient in medicine?"

"I know a little bit."

Zhou Jing casually replied, understanding what was going on.

It seemed that the famous doctor Zhang Jinduan had not cured the Ye family's Old Master. And he had recently asked for a lot of medicinal materials, causing others to misunderstand, so Ye Shunzhong could only come to him and try his luck.

Hearing this, Ye Shunzhong was overjoyed and was about to speak.

But Zhou Jing interrupted him and added:

"However, I have lived in the mountains for a long time and rarely see people, so I don't have the opportunity to diagnose and treat patients, and I'm afraid I'm a bit rusty. Moreover, I only have a superficial understanding of medicine. What I'm really proficient in is the art of alchemy."

"Alchemy?"

Ye Shunzhong was stunned, this answer surprised him quite a bit.

Daoism had the theory of alchemy, which could lead to immortality and ascension, and was rumored to be miraculous, but in reality, no one had ever proven it.

On the other hand, many fake Daoists used the name of alchemy to cheat people, so the word "alchemy" was often associated with scams, and its reputation was not very good. Even genuine Daoists didn't claim to know alchemy skills.

But Ye Shunzhong had great faith in Zhou Jing, and although he was muttering in his heart, he didn't doubt the truth of it. He simply bowed down and pleaded:

"Daozhang, my family's Old Master is in critical condition, please save him."

He really had no choice and decided to try anything.

Seeing this, Zhou Jing stood up and sighed:

"Since you have come to me for help, I will go and take a look. I don't know if I can succeed."

Ye Shunzhong was overjoyed and quickly got up, leading Zhou Jing all the way to the main house in the backyard, to the Ye Old Master's room.

As soon as Zhou Jing entered the door, he smelled a strong medicinal scent.

Zhang Jinduan was also in the room. Seeing Ye Shunzhong arrive, he looked ashamed and helplessly said:

"This old man is powerless to save him and has failed to live up to the trust placed in me."

Ye Shunzhong couldn't blame him either, he sighed and then gestured to Zhou Jing, explaining: "Doctor Zhang has done his best, so there's no need to be like this. Daozhang Ling Fengzi also knows a bit of medicine, so I asked him to come and see if he could find anything."

Hearing this, Zhang Jinduan quickly bowed to Zhou Jing and then curiously asked:

"So Daozhang is also proficient in medicine. It's a pity that I have been busy treating illnesses these past few days and haven't had the chance to talk to Daozhang in detail. I wonder what kind of medicine Daozhang is good at?"

"I'm good at alchemy."

"Al-, alchemy…"

Zhang Jinduan was dumbfounded.

As a renowned doctor, how could he not know that alchemy was a harmful scam? However, coming from Zhou Jing, who truly had supernatural powers, he didn't know how to respond.

He certainly didn't dare to despise it.

But to make him believe it… that was really no different from lying through his teeth and would be a disgrace to his medical skills.

Zhou Jing waved his hand, changed the topic, and preemptively asked, "Doctor Zhang, what have you diagnosed?"

Zhang Jinduan came back to his senses, didn't suspect anything else, and quickly explained everything in detail.

'Couldn't diagnose the disease, and everything seemed like he was dying of old age?'

Zhou Jing looked at the Ye Old Master's withered and blackened face and found it hard to believe this diagnosis.

He took a few steps forward and planned to personally take his pulse.

Woo…

However, as he got closer, a cold aura suddenly struck him.

Zhou Jing frowned and quietly activated his perception, realizing that the Ye Old Master was emitting an invisible aura that made him instinctively uncomfortable, cold and clammy, like rotten mud.

He looked back and found that everyone else in the room was completely unaware.

"…Interesting."

Zhou Jing suddenly became interested.

He originally thought that the Ye family's Old Master was just suffering from a difficult disease, but now he realized that things weren't that simple.

Zhou Jing carefully sized up the Ye Old Master, but couldn't see anything special, but the cold aura in his perception couldn't be fake.

"Not the feedback from the five senses… but spiritual sense?"

Zhou Jing's heart stirred, and he switched to elemental vision, trying to see what was going on.

In the next moment, the world in his eyes revealed colorful elemental particles.

And in his sight, a mass of black aura was entwined around the Ye family's Old Master, like a mass of sludge, still wriggling unconsciously.

'What… is this?'

Zhou Jing was shocked.

This was the first time he had encountered this situation.

This mass of black aura was clearly not like elemental particles. It was the first time he had seen other unknown things with elemental vision.

'This is probably the Ye Old Master's disease.'

Zhou Jing frowned slightly, unsure of what this mass of black aura was, and after thinking about it, he used his mental power to blend with the wind element and cautiously touched it.

In the next moment, he suddenly felt a mental feedback.

In the mental contact, this mass of black aura conveyed negative emotions such as resentment and hatred, but it itself seemed to be an unconscious thing.

At the same time, this mass of black aura was poked by his mental power, as if it had been attracted, and a wisp of it attacked him.

'Want to attach to me?'

A green light flashed in Zhou Jing's eyes, and the wind element, containing mental power, directly pounced on it, crushing and obliterating the attacking wisp of black aura without any effort.

And the large mass of black aura didn't react, seemingly only automatically infecting the objects that came into contact with mental power.

'Perhaps this is an unknown hidden side of this world… This black aura may be the same as the natural spirits, a unique thing that is a certain non-material existence?'

Zhou Jing had some understanding.

At this time, Ye Shunzhong saw Zhou Jing standing motionless in front of the bed and couldn't help but ask strangely, "Daozhang, have you found anything?"

Hearing this, Zhou Jing turned his head to look at him, his tone subtle:

"You're lucky, I can really cure him."

Ye Shunzhong was stunned, then overjoyed, and hurriedly asked, "Daozhang, what disease does my family's Old Master have?"

Zhou Jing shook his head and deliberated:

"This may not be a disease… In my opinion, he may have been infected with an evil spirit."

"Evil spirit?"

Ye Shunzhong and Zhang Jinduan were stunned at the same time.

…

At the same time, outside another high-profile mansion in Ningtian Prefecture.

An old Daoist and a young boy were across the street, looking at the mansion's high walls and the guards at the gate, their expressions complicated.

The boy blinked his eyes and turned his head to look at the old Daoist:

"Master, are you sure that the place found by the Qi Observation and Tracing Technique is here?"

The old Daoist sighed: "There's no mistake, that demonic Daoist is currently in this mansion."

The boy swallowed and stuttered: "Then Master, should we pay a visit, sneak in, or just barge in?"

The old Daoist glanced at him like he was an idiot and said angrily: "You've had enough of living, but I haven't. Paying a visit would mostly be throwing ourselves into a trap, sneaking in would be too easily discovered by that demonic Daoist, and barging in is even more impossible. Do you think your master is the Soul-Reaping Yama from the Lu River area? I don't have that kind of ability!"

"Then, then what do we do?"

"Stir-fry! Go back to the inn and sleep!"

The old Daoist turned around and left.

The boy quickly followed, squirming for a while, and couldn't help but ask: "Master, are we not going to do anything about this demonic Daoist?"

The old Daoist sighed and explained helplessly: "That demonic Daoist has mostly bewitched a wealthy family and obtained protection. I am alone and weak, and I have you as a burden. I can't do anything about him for the time being, so I can only make long-term plans and wait for the opportunity."

"…Master, I'm not a burden, I think your evaluation of me is biased."

"Have you mastered the Qingling Immortal Escape? Have you understood the Golden Light Exorcism Talisman? Can you use the Qi Observation and Tracing Technique? Can you open the Psychic Eye? Tell me yourself, how many years have I taught you? If you were even a little useful, you wouldn't be completely useless."

"Oh…"

The old Daoist scolded the boy as he merged into the crowd with him.