The distance to the winter solstice is getting closer and closer.

    Chen Yun, who was hiding in the mountains, could feel the thick festive atmosphere.

    In ancient times, the winter solstice was a very important solar term, and also one of the "Four Seasons Eight Festivals" in the traditional Chinese nation's festival culture.

    There was a saying in ancient folk that "The winter solstice is as important as New Year's Day," which reflects the importance of this solar term.

    It is worth mentioning that during the Tang Dynasty, the winter solstice was a legal holiday.

    Generally, officials were granted a seven-day leave, while official slaves and maids were allowed three days off.

    Additionally, in the history of ancient China from Chen Yun's past life, emperors would also hold the highest prayer ceremony on the winter solstice, known as the Ancestor Sacrifice to Heaven on the Circular Altar.

    Of course, this world is slightly different from Chen Yun's past life. Now the highest level of prayer ceremony is the Universal Great Sacrifice, and the Ancestor Sacrifice to Heaven on the Circular Altar is included in the Universal Great Sacrifice.

    "With the winter solstice approaching, I must go down the mountain to buy some offerings for the deities and generals. The fruits of White Monkey are almost gone, and the meat diet of Flying Snake also needs to be replenished. I need to make all preparations."

    After morning practice, Chen Yun pondered for a moment in silence.

    Soon after, he decided to take the White Monkey down the mountain to buy some things for the festival.

    …

    At the foot of Mount Emei.

    After enduring self-torture for more than a month, Yin Wuji looked like a zombie with his entire body withered.

    His eyes were hollow, his face had no trace of blood, and his whole body was covered in dirt.

    If someone were to see him at night, they would surely believe there was a ghost.

    "Kill! Kill Chen Pu!"

    Yin Wuji's mental state had been abnormal for over a month.

    Now, another month has passed, and he has completely gone mad due to his obsession with killing Chen Yun in order to prove himself to his master and sister Xie Lingxiao.

    There are many material or spiritual difficulties in the practice of cultivation.

    For instance, Chen Yun is facing the temptation of desire.

    Yin Wuji, on the other hand, is in a mental obsession.

    What is a mental obsession?

    This calamity is dangerous. When cultivators reach the mental obsession, they become obsessed with their spiritual world and believe that everything in this world will change according to their thoughts.

    Exactly because of his obsession with his spiritual world, others might think he is mad, but only those who have gone through such a trial know that they are not mad.

    If one fails to overcome it, madness is a minor matter compared to the possibility of perishing.

    But if one can successfully pass it, not only will they not be deceived by various illusions of the world, but their mental state will also greatly improve, leading to significant progress in cultivation.

    There are generally two methods to overcome the mental obsession.

    The first is to break through the stubborn emptiness by realizing emptiness.

    Although this phrase comes from "Journey to the West," it is not only referring to Sun Wukong, who can break through the trial, but also refers to taming the mental monkey within oneself and breaking through so-called "obsessions."

    The second method is to solve the root cause of attachment.

    That's right. Yin Wuji can successfully break through the trial by killing Chen Yun, just as Chen Yun previously killed Lin Feiyun.

    "I must kill this little guy! Kill Chen Pu!"

    Yin Wuji spoke and the whole person was surrounded by black qi, becoming very terrifying. The two hollow eyes glowed with sinister blood color, as if he were about to fall into the realm of demons!

    ...

    The Guozhou city, not far from Jinqu Mountain, is a state-level city.

    The city is much larger than the West Creek city, with a population of three hundred thousand households. If calculated by an ancient custom of five people per family, the population is at least one and a half million.

    The difference between the Guozhou city and county-level cities is not just in the size of the city and the population; it is said that there is a huge transportation array in the city, which opens once every seven days and can allow people to be rapidly transported to other places.

    Simply put, it is a transmitting array.

    Chen Yun has only heard of it, but he does not know where the transmission array is.

    Just after buying the things with White Monkey, Chen Yun kept warning him, "Don't run around, don't scare people, or else I won't bring you down the mountain next time."

    White Monkey, like a little kid, made a whiny noise, slightly impatient. As if he dislikes Chen Yun's chattering.

    Although White Monkey seems impatient, it is a good labor.

    Just then, after buying many things, because the storage ring and his sleeves were full, White Monkey automatically picked up the shoulder poles and loaded two baskets with things.

    Suddenly, a woman's voice with a slightly hoarse tone echoed in his ear, "My friend, your white monkey is so obedient. It is truly a spirit beast born naturally."

    Chen Yun turned his head to see a tall woman dressed in a pink long dress smiling warmly at him.

    This woman is estimated to be around 1.78 meters tall, with a slender figure, beautiful appearance, and sharp eyes. Her appearance is comparable to Wang Siyan's.

    White Monkey seemed to dislike this beautiful woman very much. As soon as he heard the voice, he leaned closer to Chen Yun and made a whining noise.

    Knowing that the other party addressed him as "friend," Chen Yun realized that they were also cultivators. He glanced at White Monkey, then bowed and said, "Chen Chongyong greets the friend. I don't know how to address you?"

    "Chén Dàoyǒu, please forgive me." The woman bowed and returned a greeting, saying, "I'm Ling Xiāo. I happened to see you with your spirit beast passing through the bustling city today and felt surprised, so I came up to greet you. Please forgive my impoliteness."

    She spoke with a smile on her face, and her eyes also appeared to be very clear, as if all her words were coming from the bottom of her heart, but in reality, it was not the case.

    The woman who calls herself "Lingxiao" is actually named "Xie Lingxiao." She is the daughter of Xie Wuyang and the younger sister of Xie Wuiming.

    Of course, her coming to find Chen Yun today is not for the sake of avenging her brother.

    Xie Lingxiao left Hunan primarily because Yin Wuji had been out of contact for two months without any news.

    Xie Wuyang had divined that she would come to avenge her brother on Chen Yun, so he sent his daughter out to find someone to bring Yin Wuji back.

    She has already found Yin Wuji, but upon seeing him acting wildly and repeatedly shouting "Kill Chen Pu," she realized that Yin Wuji and Chen Yun must have come into conflict, but Yin Wuji did not succeed.

    This caused Xie Lingxiao to develop a strong interest in Chen Yun.

    In her intelligence, Chen Yun was just a seventh-order mage.

    Now he could escape from Yin Wuji's grasp?

    She wants to find out from Chen Yun whether he could have killed Yin Wuji, so that she can become the sole inheritor of the Yinshan Sect.

    After a period of search, Xie Lingxiao finally heard in the area near Jinqu Mountain that there was a young Daoist who seemed very similar to Chen Yun. This was why she waited here like a rabbit waiting for a tree to fall, and today she finally waited. She used White Monkey as an excuse to strike up a conversation and try to find out more about Chen Yun's strength.

    "Lingxiao?" Chen Yun smiled slightly, "A good name."

    Xie Lingxiao blinked and asked, "How is it a good name?"

    Chen Yun recited a poem spontaneously, "Even if the branches grow up to the highest clouds, the roots are still firmly grounded. Not because the flowers bloom on other trees, but because they climb high to compete with the bright sun. As your name implies, you are like the morning glory flower that can compete with the bright sun."

    This poem was written by Yang Hui of the Song Dynasty, originally intended as a self-comparison with the morning glory flower.

    The morning glory flower is not a rootless vine. It is good at taking advantage of opportunities and borrowing from others, but still insists on itself.

    However, to Xie Lingxiao, it seemed as if he was complimenting her beauty. But it was forged into a poem, which made her smile uncontrollably and her two eyebrows like crescent moons, "I didn't expect that you have such talent, Chen Daoist friend, speaking spontaneously."

    Chen Yun walked forward while laughing, "This poem is not mine. I happened to hear and remember it. Today, upon hearing the beautiful name of the friend, I couldn't help but blurt it out."

    White Monkey was still making a racket, occasionally showing his teeth and growling at Xie Lingxiao.

    Chen Yun quickly took out a pear from the basket and handed it over, then patted White Monkey's head, indicating that he should not be impolite.

    In the past, White Monkey would be happy to eat pears even if it was hurt, but today it acted differently. Although it took the pear, its eyes were still hostile, but it stopped making noise.

    Xie Lingxiao is well-read in poetry and books, but she has never heard this poem before. She thinks Chen Yun is being modest, so she doesn't reveal the truth and just continues the conversation, saying, "Brother Daoist, you have a broad knowledge and strong memory. I guess your cultivation is very profound."

    Chen Yun humbly said: "So-so, so-so."

    Xie Lingxiao sighed, "I have been practicing the Yin Shen method for over twenty years, and I am only at the middle stage of a medium-grade mage. Brother Daoist seems younger than me, and it seems like your cultivation is not at all behind mine. You must be a high-level student from a famous sect."

    Chen Yun always feels like there is an intention to explore his cultivation level from Xie Lingxiao. However, since Xie Lingxiao didn't use techniques like "Guanchi Qigong" to detect people's cultivation levels, he doesn't mind it much and answers casually, "I am not as good as your cultivation level, my praise was wrong."

    Xie Lingxiao noticed that Chen Yun's words were defensive, and she couldn't help but feel cunning in her eyes. She didn't pursue any further questions, instead pointing to the front of the inn and saying, "It's rare to meet a Daoist in the mortal realm. It happens to be near noon. Brother Chen, would you please be kind enough to have lunch with me?"

    The other person was polite, and Chen Yun was not one to reject people without reason.

    While shaking his head to reject her invitation, he explained the reason, "I'm sorry, Lingxiao Daoist. I have been in a period of fasting and am not consuming any grains. It would be difficult for me to join you for lunch."

    Hearing this, Xie Lingxiao could only give up and not continue to pester him. "If that's the case, I will go have a meal and say goodbye to you here, Daoist friend. May we meet again in the future."

    Chen Yun bowed, "Ling Daoist, farewell."

    After saying that, he walked with White Monkey in the direction of the city's outer area.

    Xie Lingxiao of course didn't go to have lunch, but instead took an interest in watching Chen Yun's back thoughtfully. "I didn't use my divine sense to probe into Chen Yongzhu's cultivation level, but I know that he is currently in the fasting stage. I assume his cultivation level is quite high. I remember that cultivating internal essence can only result in true fasting after refining out the Golden Pill. He is obviously not yet refined out a Golden Pill, so he may have cultivated breath control or other similar fasting techniques as well. His cultivation level may be higher than what I know of the seventh-order mage and may be close to the middle-stage mage."

    The mystery in her heart suddenly cleared up, and she finally understood why Chen Yun could escape from Yin Wuji's grasp.

    Internal essence naturally restrains Yin Shen.

    In theory, a medium-level cultivator is a whole level lower than an upper-level cultivator, and it should not be possible to match them no matter how much they are restrained.

    However, a medium-level mage who cultivates internal essence indeed has the possibility of escaping from an upper-level mage's grasp, as long as he or she practices some powerful secrets.

    Xie Lingxiao pondered that as a direct disciple of Zhongli Quan, Chen Yun must have practiced some powerful techniques.

    "If what I suspect is true, then he has the possibility of killing Yin Wuji."

    Xie Lingxiao narrowed her eyes slightly, "But the difference in cultivation levels is still one whole level, so this possibility is not very great, unless I help him!"

    Thinking of this, she revealed a ruthless expression on her face, "Anyone who stands in my way, dies! Yin Wuji, as the direct disciple of my father, even if my brother dies after his father passes away, the possibility of inheriting his father's cultivation remains higher than mine. I must seize this opportunity to help Chen Pu kill the master brother. In addition, I need to prepare an array in advance so that my father cannot deduce that I am helping Chen Pu kill the master brother. I need to carefully consider how to proceed."

    "Regarding how to deal with Chen Pu after killing the master brother..."

    Xie Lingxiao suddenly smiled, "He's already helped me gain the chance to inherit my father's cultivation tradition, and he's so scholarly and talented. Why would I want to harm him?"

    ...

    Mountain Path.

    Chen Yun looked down at White Monkey, "Little fellow, do you also think that woman is suspicious?"

    White Monkey, carrying a basket, made a series of clicking sounds and nodded repeatedly. Its empty hand kept moving as if it were saying that the woman made it feel very uncomfortable.

    Chen Yun had already noticed that the woman seemed to have an ulterior motive when she approached him, "Hmm, even you feel she's not right. Next time if we encounter her again, we should keep our distance."

    Only then did White Monkey show a smile, and it made clicking sounds to express its happiness.

    Chen Yun laughed heartily and patted its head. However, he was still thinking about why Xie Lingxiao was approaching him, and he couldn't figure it out.

    He had no idea that Xie Lingxiao, although she harbored a "fratricide" grudge against him, not only had no intention of seeking revenge, but also wanted to help him one step further to completely eliminate Yin Wuji!

    Chen Yun pondered for a moment, but since he couldn't think of anything, he decided not to think about it anymore.

    He then thought about it, calculating that the Winter Solstice was approaching, and after the birthday of Yuanshi Tianzun passed, he would probably return to Jinqu Mountain.

    Once Xie Ziran returns, he could go with him to fight against the wood spirit to invigorate his cultivation energy.

    Chen Yun was very excited about what kind of body he could obtain with the cultivation energy manifesting itself.

    (End of this chapter)