Chapter 11: Yin Yu Grass

The rules of this competition state that as long as a puppet leaves the circle, it is considered a loss. At this moment, not only has the tall boy’s puppet gone outside the circle, but he himself has also fallen out.

The tall boy glares unwillingly at the sleeve blocking his view, wanting to stand up and rush into the circle to throw a few punches at Yan Jin Chang. However, he injured his knee when he fell, and now his sand-covered knee is bleeding.

His parents hurry over, carrying him aside to tend to his wound while glaring fiercely at Yan Jin Chang, who remains standing in the circle.

The village chief’s repeated warning to never provoke noble people, for fear of leaving a bad impression that would prevent them from returning to select talented children from the village. If it weren’t for that reason, the boy would have charged in.

These nobles are quite generous, if they select someone, they will leave some good things for the village. If not, they will still leave behind some grains.

The man in blue asks: “Is there anyone else who wants to come up for a challenge?”

Upon hearing this, the children who had previously been defeated by the tall boy perk up again. The rules state that once someone loses to a particular person, they cannot challenge that person again. But it doesn’t prohibit them from challenging others. This means those previously defeated by the tall boy can still try again.

With the puppet he controlled damaged, Yan Jin Chang selects another puppet. In less than a cup of tea’s time, he sends all the challengers’ puppets flying out of the circle.

Seeing no one else able to challenge him, the man in blue approaches Yan Jin Chang and raises his hand, proclaiming: “The champion has emerged.”

No one around cheers, only the sounds of defeated children sobbing can be heard.

Yan Jin Chang remains indifferent, and the man in blue is too lazy to comment further, stating the routine rule: “The champion receives a spirit herb and half a month’s worth of rations.”

Yan Jin Chang looks up and asks: “Excuse me, is it the Yin Yu Grass?”

(引玉草 – Yin Yu Grass/Guiding Jade Grass: A special kind of grass with magical or guiding spiritual energy properties..)

The Yin Yu Grass is one of the herbs that helps ordinary people draw in spiritual energy, but it is relatively inexpensive.

The man in blue replies: “The champion’s reward is the Ye Ling Grass, which is much more valuable than the Yin Yu Grass. Are you sure you want to exchange it for the Yin Yu Grass?” 

(野靈草 – Ye Ling Grass/Wild Spirit Grass: A type of grass with a connection to wild, natural, or spiritual forces)

The Ye Ling Grass is used by cultivators to refine their dantians after drawing in energy, which is useless to Yan Jin Chang at his current stage.

Yan Jin Chang asks: “Is it possible?”

The man in blue pulls out three stems of Yin Yu Grass and a palm-sized bag from his robe and hands them to Yan Jin Chang.

The man in blue explains: “This is a qiankun bag, it contains half a month’s worth of rations and has no extra space. If you want to put more things inside, you need to take some of the rations out. You can go home to gather your things and say goodbye to your friends and family. Come back here tomorrow, and we will take you to the sect.”

(Qiankun bag: Refers to a magical or mythical bag that can hold vast amounts of items beyond its physical capacity)

Yan Jin Chang quietly thanks him, accepting the three stalks of Yin Yu Grass and the bag, returning the puppet doll he was holding.

The man in blue wants to say something more but sees Yan Jin Chang suddenly take a deep breath and raise his voice, exclaiming: “Wow, is this the spirit herb? I’ve never seen one before! So the underside of the spirit herb’s leaves is dark red, and there are thorns on top!”

The man in blue: “……”

After Yan Jin Chang loudly finishes speaking, he turns and runs away.

The woman in blue looks bewildered and whispers: “Senior Brother, does he really not know the difference in colors? Isn’t the back of the Yin Yu Grass white?”

The man in blue watches Yan Jin Chang disappear around a corner and replies: “Perhaps. Or maybe he sees things too clearly at such a young age.”

“Hey? Senior Brother, is there something stuck in this puppet you’re holding?” The woman in blue tugs at the neck connection of the puppet then she pulls out a piece of paper.

“It says: Thank you for your kindness. I am immensely grateful, and I will take my leave here. May we meet again if fate allows… Ah! Senior Brother! That kid doesn’t want to come to the sect with us!”

The man in blue: “……”

……

Yan Jin Chang quickly runs back to the small forest where he usually stays. He then places the three stalks of grass resembling the ones he had just described loudly on the tree, where he often visits. These weeds are non-toxic, but they cause diarrhea if eaten, which sets in immediately and takes two or three days to recover from.

After placing the weeds, he pours some grass juice on the tree. Once dried, this grass juice will solidify and feel very slippery when someone touch it. After pouring out all the prepared grass juice, he piles up several stones and thorny grass under the tree, covering them with other weeds before hurriedly leaving the area.

————————————————————————

Chapter 12: Drawing Energy into the Body

Yan Jin Chang arrives at the mountainside on the other side of the village and selects a tree to rest for the night. From this tree, he gazes into the distance and can faintly see the small forest where he was before, even the tree he has “prepared”.

He has excellent eyesight. Even though he hasn’t yet drawn energy into his body, he can still see faraway objects clearly. In his previous life, after establishing his foundation, he could see even the details in the distant sky due to the enhancement of his own spiritual energy.

Unfortunately, because of some trivial matters within the sect, he gets injured in the eyes. Although he later recovers and can open his eyes again, he can no longer see the distant mountains clearly again.

Leaning against the tree to rest, Yan Jin Chang unties the white cloth strips he had wrapped around his face and body. He takes out the herbs he picked and crushes them to apply to his face.

His facial injuries haven’t healed, he should be resting more. However, he needed to wrap the cloth strips around himself to go out for the spirit herb. He doesn’t have a mask or anything similar with him right now. If he goes out with this face covered in cursed incantations, letting others see these spells wouldn’t be good for him.

Yan Jin Chang takes one stem of Yin Yu Grass from his qiankun bag. He examines it under the light filtering through the leaves for a while before putting it into his mouth.

A refreshing taste spreads through his lips and teeth in an instant. He immediately sits up straight, adopting the Five Hearts Facing The Heavens Posture. (Five Hearts Facing The Heavens Posture: A meditative and spiritual posture practiced within Taoism and certain forms of martial arts)

A breeze rustles the leaves around him, accompanied by the sounds of insects and birds. The natural energy flows slowly, brushing against Yan Jin Chang’s body. He closes his eyes, adjusting his breath until he synchronizes with the natural energy, allowing himself to merge with it.

The Yin Yu Grass in his mouth attracts the spiritual energy from nature, entering his body with his exhalations, sinking into his dantian, flowing through his body, and circulating continuously.

After two hours, Yan Jin Chang slowly opens his eyes, looking at the scenery before him. At this moment, he feels lighter and more comfortable than ever.

He reaches out and feels nothing but only dirt on his hands, all of which are the impurities expelled from his body. Since he still cannot use the cleansing technique, he jumps down from the tree and heads to a nearby pond to wash himself.

As he removes his clothes, he touches a hard object and suddenly remembers the black fragment. He jumps into the water, leans over the edge of the pond, and uses the black fragment to pound against the surface, causing a white light to emerge once more. He quickly finds the story with a protagonist who shares his name.

In the story, the protagonist also participated in the puppet competition. However, since it was his first time using a puppet, and the quality of his puppet was inferior to that of the tall boy, so he was unable to last long and finally lost the battle.

Nevertheless, the noble people who came from the town saw potential in both of them and decided to take them away. The protagonist entered a sect called Jin Yun Sect under the guidance of the nobles, where he learned the art of puppet manipulation and began his cultivation.

In his previous life, Yan Jin Chang was brought into Xuan Yao Sect by Xiao Ming Ran, while the protagonist in this story is taken into Jin Yun Sect by different people.

Although they are two different sects, the trivial matters within the sect are plentiful. Conflicts arise not only with Senior Brothers and Sisters but also with Junior Brothers and Sisters, leading to contradictions, schemes, and manipulations everywhere. Which meant punishments come often.

Yan Jin Chang thinks to himself: “Thank goodness I didn’t agree with those people just now. Otherwise, wouldn’t I be jumping from the dragon’s lair into the tiger’s den?”

Yan Jin Chang puts away the black fragment and sinks into the water. When he gets on the water again, he is holding a fish. He swings his hand and throws the fish onto the shore.

He quickly swims to the shore, runs a few steps, then catches the fish that is flopping and thrashing on the ground. However, he notices several footprints nearby in the dirt that clearly do not belong to him. The footprints are also stained with blood.