The old goat turned its head and looked at the little rabbit on its back, then instantly spoke in human language. Its voice was aged, having reached a certain age.
"That is the summary that the ancients made about people's mysterious bodies. In order to make it easier to remember, they composed it in the form of rhyming songs."
"This is just like children's nursery rhymes. Later, people called this the Mysterious Root Song Formula."
Then, without the little rabbit needing to ask, the old goat continued. "Humans and demons are different. Humans who want to become powerful cultivators place importance on their cultivation talent."
"People with strong cultivation talent will far surpass others in absorbing, learning, and comprehending the way of cultivation."
"Almost all powerful cultivators have strong cultivation talent, and cultivation talent refers to the mysterious body. In modern times, people like to call this kind of body suitable for cultivation the Mysterious Study Body, also known as the Mysterious Heaven."
"The Mysterious Root Song Formula is a summary of these mysterious bodies that are suitable for cultivation."
At this moment, besides the little rabbit, there were also a few small demon spirits around the old goat.
"Grandpa Goat, mysterious bodies are so powerful. Then, can a person change their mysterious body? If they can, wouldn't that make them invincible?" A sparrow spirit chirped.
The old goat couldn't help but smile. "Changing the mysterious body is not an easy thing to do. This is defying the heavens and changing one's fate. Because whatever mysterious body a person has, it is determined from the moment of birth. Because—ah—mysterious bodies are determined by a person's birth date and eight characters."
"Every person's birth year, month, day, and hour represent their birth date and eight characters. So, whatever mysterious body a person has is innate and cannot be easily changed."
At this moment, listening to the old goat's words, the little rabbit spirit interjected. "The birth date and eight characters can also determine the mysterious body? I always thought a person's birth date and eight characters were only used for marriage matching."
As it spoke, its gaze looked into the distance, toward the abandoned village at the foot of the mountain.
Before the 1980s, this village was still inhabited by many people. When it had just become a spirit, it often sneaked in to eat the villagers' corn and radishes.
During that time, the little rabbit spirit often heard inside the villagers' houses, where the elders sat by the heated brick bed, calculating the birth date and eight characters for young men and women to see if their birth characters matched.
Thinking of the ordinary villagers, who in its eyes were as weak as people without the strength to truss a chicken, the little rabbit spirit said, "Grandpa, doesn't that mean ordinary people can determine their mysterious body just by calculating their birth date and eight characters based on their birth year, month, day, and hour?"
"Yes." The old goat nodded. It had noticed the little rabbit spirit looking at the former village and also looked into the past as it spoke.
"Even ordinary people can determine their mysterious body based on their birth date and eight characters. Because everyone has eight characters, and the eight characters are the method of determining the mysterious body."
"The eight characters refer to the heavenly stems and earthly branches of a person's birth year, month, day, and hour."
"In other words, the heavenly stems of the birth year, month, day, and hour, as well as the earthly branches of the birth year, month, day, and hour—eight in total—these are a person's eight characters."
"Among them, the heavenly stems are: Jia, Yi, Bing, Ding, Wu, Ji, Geng, Xin, Ren, Gui—ten heavenly stems."
"And the earthly branches are: Zi, Chou, Yin, Mao, Chen, Si, Wu, Wei, Shen, You, Xu, Hai—twelve earthly branches."
"The heavenly stem and earthly branch of the birth year form the Year Pillar, and so on for the Month Pillar, Day Pillar, and Hour Pillar, representing the Four Pillars."
"The year stem, month stem, day stem, hour stem, year branch, month branch, day branch, hour branch, as well as the Year Pillar, Month Pillar, Day Pillar, and Hour Pillar—these are collectively called the Eight Characters and Four Pillars."
"The mysterious body is determined by the Eight Characters and Four Pillars."
The little rabbit spirit nodded. It had some impression of this. It had often peeked through windows to spy on the village elders sitting on the heated brick beds, calculating birth dates and eight characters.
It said, "The birth date and eight characters determine the mysterious body, and there are many types of mysterious bodies. The ones suitable for cultivation are the mysterious bodies mentioned in the Mysterious Root Song Formula, right?"
"Eh~ that's right." The old goat nodded with a smile and once again looked at the sky.
"The Mysterious Root Song Formula, for example, says 'Heavy canopy layers have mysterious roots,' referring to those who possess the Canopy Mysterious Body. Another phrase, 'Tai Chi palace must be the Divine Palace,' represents those who possess the Tai Chi Noble Person Mysterious Body..."
"Each phrase represents a type of mysterious body that is suitable for cultivation."
The little rabbit spirit suddenly understood and immediately said, "Grandpa, according to what you said, could it be that Old Master Hu San is looking for someone with a mysterious body to become his Spirit Medium, so he can pass on his teachings?"
This time, the old goat did not give a clear response. The old goat merely gazed at the sky and said, "Who knows? Maybe, or maybe not. If Old Master Hu San was looking for a successor, I feel like there would be no need to keep chanting the Mysterious Root Song Formula like that."
———
In the sky, the situation was still continuing.
During this time, Old Master Hu Ba had not given up on communicating with Old Master Hu San. However, no matter how he tried, Old Master Hu San only looked at him with difficulty while repeatedly murmuring the Mysterious Root Song Formula.
Even as the seconds and minutes passed, Old Master Hu San's worsening condition was visible to the naked eye.
"Ah!!!" Old Master Hu San let out a painful groan. His whole body trembled violently, and, as if drooling, black, thick liquid overflowed from his mouth.
Two or three minutes later, not only from his mouth, but black, thick liquid also seeped from his eyes, nostrils, and ears—from all seven orifices.
"Hu San!" Old Master Hu Ba looked on, his eyes bloodshot.
This was his biological older brother. They had lived together for countless ancient years. To watch his own kin suffer and be in pain—no matter how dangerous the situation, he ultimately could not remain still.
"Don't go over! Hu Ba, my friend, stay calm!"
Old Daoist Li Hanguang moved quickly and stopped Old Master Hu Ba, who was about to step forward.
"But that's my brother Hu San! Do you expect me to just watch him die like this?" Old Master Hu Ba's gaze never left Old Master Hu San.
At the same time, Old Master Hu San's condition took a sudden turn for the worse. He had already stopped murmuring, his whole body convulsing violently, continuously oozing black, thick liquid.
Meanwhile, unlike Old Master Hu Ba, who was eager to save him, Old Daoist Li Hanguang lowered his gaze and looked downward. He saw the black, thick liquid dripping from Old Master Hu San onto the forests of Changbai Mountain.
Drip!
The black, thick liquid landed on a pine tree's leaf. The next second, the lush green leaf withered rapidly.
And it didn't stop there.
Just like the infection of the Black City God, the "virus" seemed to spread, instantly spreading across the entire flourishing pine tree. The leaves turned black, then the whole tree ignited and turned into ashes.
Drip, drip…
The black, thick liquid continued to drip.
Falling on mountain stones and plants, on the earth's soil—without exception, terrifying scenes unfolded. The stones and plants burned to ash, the ground itself scorched into pits.
Even living creatures were not spared.
A caterpillar on a flower was touched by a drop of the black, thick liquid. One second, it was an ordinary caterpillar. The next second, after being infiltrated by the black liquid, it let out a shocking roar.
Seeing this scene, everyone, from Old Daoist Li Hanguang to the ancient great demons in the forest, was shocked.
"What is that thing?" The little rabbit spirit tilted its head, using its tiny hands to cover its three-parted rabbit mouth.
Even the ancient great demon, the old goat, showed a look of surprise. It stood up, transformed into human form, and gazed at the black, thick liquid ahead.
While it was still astonished, the sparrow spirit spoke.
"Grandpa, was I just imagining things? That caterpillar suddenly felt like a demon who had cultivated for hundreds of years."
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