Chapter 552: I'm practicing Tengu eating the moon
The Mutual Aid Society headquarters consisted of several skyscrapers, serving as famous local landmarks, though the general public never knew what actually went on inside.
A group of cultivators living in the city naturally had various methods to acquire wealth, and these buildings represented just the tip of the iceberg of their riches.
Wen Quan served as a perfect example—after just a few months of cultivation, he could earn 120 million through gemstone gambling.
“Welcome, Senior Radiant Enlightenment, Senior Jiang Li, and Fellow Daoist Wen Quan!” The society president stood at the entrance, putting down the mooncake in his hand to warmly greet Jiang Li and the others.
Qin Yi had already informed the president of their identities through the long-distance communication spiritual treasure—a mobile phone.
Jiang Li looked at the bag of mooncakes in the president’s hand with some confusion. “Thank you, but we don’t eat mooncakes.”
The president awkwardly explained, “These mooncakes are for my cultivation practice.”
Jiang Li grew even more puzzled.
“You should know my master is True Person Howling Moon, a Heavenly Dog demon at the Unity Stage.”
“I just learned that.”
“The Heavenly Dog clan’s most famous supernatural power is the Heavenly Dog Devours the Moon—you should know about that too.”
“I know.”
“So I’m practicing the rudimentary form of Heavenly Dog Devours the Moon—Heavenly Dog Devours Mooncakes.”
“My master said eating mooncakes counts as cultivation.”
Jiang Li: “…”
He felt rather uninformed.
“Where is True Person Howling Moon?”
The president appeared somewhat embarrassed, unsure how to explain, but Radiant Enlightenment Daoist understood the dog’s temperament and nodded in comprehension.
Listen to the Wind Wanderer explained to Jiang Li and Wen Quan: “Due to cultivation methods, racial traits, and personality, Fellow Daoist Howling Moon only operates at night, conserving energy during daytime.”
Jiang Li wondered why he’d never encountered Heavenly Dog clan members in the Nine Provinces who only moved at night. Was it because the Nine Provinces’ Heavenly Dog clan hadn’t reached the Unity Stage?
“Has Senior Listen to the Wind told you about the Mutual Aid Society and the Destruction Alliance?”
Jiang Li nodded. “He just reached the part about the Mutual Aid Society’s establishment and your master getting beaten up.”
“…Then I’ll continue from there.”
The president thought for a moment, skipping over his master’s beating process. “The Jingyu World was destroyed by Earthly Immortal monsters, and since the monsters’ origins remain unknown, the seniors from Jingyu World considered what would happen if Earthly Immortal monsters attacked here, wanting to help us resist them.”
“This became the Mutual Aid Society’s founding purpose.”
Jiang Li finally understood that “Mutual Aid” didn’t refer to Jingyu World’s surviving cultivators helping each other, but rather mutual assistance between Jingyu World and Qixin World.
“We’re considering whether to promote cultivation methods to create a wave of universal cultivation. As preliminary preparation, we’ve released information by writing many novels about spiritual energy resurgence to help people mentally prepare.”
The president led everyone to another building dedicated specifically to research, with fifty-eight floors above ground and ninety-five underground.
“Simultaneously, we’re experimenting with how to integrate cultivation with technology. These are some of our technological achievements.”
“What’s this?” Upon entering, Wen Quan immediately spotted something the size of a playing card made of steel plate material, with unfamiliar patterns drawn on it that appeared to be talismans.
“This is an explosive talisman. In Jingyu World, cultivators would throw talismans to make them explode, but this involves force application techniques and spiritual energy usage methods that are too difficult for non-cultivators. Who can throw paper effectively?”
“Our researchers made slight improvements by changing the talisman material from paper to steel to make throwing easier.”
“This counts as integrating cultivation and technology?” Wen Quan stared in astonishment.
“No, this was a project researchers used to scam funding. I placed it in the most prominent position to warn subsequent researchers not to try clever tricks.”
“I rejected their follow-up projects too.”
“What were the follow-up projects?” Jiang Li asked curiously.
“Changing the steel plate into a boomerang shape to make talisman retrieval easier.”
“…”
Here, Jiang Li saw other products. Aside from the unreliable steel talismans, the remaining cultivation-technology integration products had commendable aspects.
Though not comparable to the Nine Provinces’ achievements, they represented full imaginative utilization.
After all, these people had cultivated for a relatively short time with limited cultivation bases, and Jingyu World’s cultivators couldn’t directly intervene, preventing the kind of Unity Stage practitioners directly researching mechanized talisman production seen in the Nine Provinces.
The president brought everyone to the reception hall, inviting them to sit while serving tea and water, showing no trace of presidential airs.
“However, not all Jingyu World seniors want to help our world. Some demonic path cultivators dislike our world—not just dislike, but they established the Destruction Alliance to destroy our world.”
“Initially we didn’t understand why, but after capturing several individuals, we learned their reasoning.”
“They envy our world. Our world hasn’t cultivated, everyone appears weak and fragile, dying at the slightest touch, with so-called technology being nothing but clever tricks without real power. Yet they wonder why our world remains safe and sound while their Jingyu World left no survivors.”
“We originally wondered if there might be some misunderstanding between us and the Destruction Alliance, thinking that as fellow Jingyu World cultivators arriving here, we should unite.”
“After learning the Destruction Alliance’s reasons, we realized there’s no possibility for negotiation or cooperation between the Mutual Aid Society and the Destruction Alliance.”
The president said regretfully, “Through numerous overt and covert clashes, we’ve won more than lost, but no matter how much advantage we gain, with Skeletal Devil Venerable backing them, it means we can’t do anything substantial against the Destruction Alliance.”
“Through years of development, we’ve secured important positions across various industries and begun cooperating with the government to jointly oppose the Destruction Alliance.”
“That bastard Skeleton’s jealousy remains as strong as ever—truly, a dog can’t stop eating filth! Does he want the disaster to replay here?!” Radiant Enlightenment Daoist cursed furiously, itching to battle Skeletal Devil Venerable.
“When I saw him fighting Earthly Immortal monsters alongside me before, I thought he’d turned over a new leaf. Now I realize he only allied with me out of necessity due to circumstances.”
“Where is Skeleton now?”
The president felt delighted—this meant Radiant Enlightenment Daoist stood on their Mutual Aid Society’s side.
“Skeletal Devil Venerable never acts directly, and we’ve never discovered his whereabouts. We once captured a Unity Stage member from the Destruction Alliance, but even they didn’t know whose body Skeletal Devil Venerable had possessed.” The president expressed regret, though it quickly vanished—with Radiant Enlightenment Daoist joining, their Mutual Aid Society’s foundation would strengthen significantly.
Thinking this, the president happily took a bite of mooncake.
Hmm, feeling like he’d progressed another step toward mastering Heavenly Dog Devours the Moon. Keep up the good work.
“Might Senior Radiant Enlightenment be willing to join the Mutual Aid Society? I’m willing to step aside and let Fellow Daoist Wen Quan become president.”
Wen Quan looked at Radiant Enlightenment Daoist, awaiting his master’s decision. Radiant Enlightenment Daoist looked at Jiang Li, awaiting Jiang Li’s decision. Jiang Li looked at Wen Quan, checking his opinion.
Seeing the three motionless, the president wondered if they’d been possessed.
Finally, Radiant Enlightenment Daoist broke the stalemate. “I can garrison the Mutual Aid Society, but if you want to defeat Skeleton, the focus shouldn’t be on me, but on Fellow Daoist Jiang Li.”
“Might I ask about Senior Jiang Li’s background?” the president tentatively inquired.
Radiant Enlightenment Daoist solemnly declared, “This Fellow Daoist Jiang Li comes from the Nine Provinces World, the most powerful among the myriad heavens and worlds. He stands as the Nine Provinces World’s strongest, capable of slaying immortals despite not having become one himself, having forged a new path on the journey toward immortality.”