Chapter 80: Meeting Uncle Kiu
Chapter 80: Meeting Uncle Kiu (Requesting Recommendations from the Bigwigs)
The Mortuary was near Ren Family Town. After asking a few residents, Liam walked for only five minutes before reaching the Mortuary’s entrance.
Standing outside, Liam knocked on the door and called out, "Is Master Lin here, please?"
"Coming, coming." A voice echoed from the courtyard. Soon, the door opened, and a man wearing a patched homespun robe appeared. He looked to be in his thirties or forties.
"Who is it? What do you want with my master?"
Liam, dressed in an expensive suit, surprised Wencai, who was a straightforward man. In his experience, people dressed like Liam wouldn’t come to such a place.
"Wencai, who’s at the door?" a male baritone called from the courtyard.
"Master, it looks like a young master, maybe he’s lost."
At that moment, a man of average height and slightly slim build walked out of the courtyard. He wore a gray short robe and old cloth shoes. At first glance, he seemed ordinary, but a closer look revealed a steady and composed demeanor.
Though not exactly like in the movies, the ninety percent resemblance was enough for Liam to confirm that this was Uncle Kiu.
Liam, mimicking the gestures from TV, bowed to Uncle Kiu and said, "Greetings, Master. I am Liang Laien. I have studied Western magic since childhood and have achieved some success. I have returned to my homeland to seek my roots and ancestors. Additionally, I have heard from my elders that the Central Plains are home to many talented and extraordinary people. I hope to learn a thing or two. I heard that you are a master of the Way, so I have come to pay my respects."
Uncle Kiu returned the bow with a half salute and humbly replied, "The title of a master of the Way is just the praise of the locals. I don’t deserve it. Please come in, young friend. Wencai, bring some tea."
Uncle Kiu noticed that despite Liam’s young age, his cultivation was clearly on the righteous path. He had fine skin and carried an air of wealth, which was quite different from the Central Plains cultivators. However, he was certainly not a practitioner of dark arts. Uncle Kiu, being a man of integrity and a hater of evil, but not rigid, did not reject Liam for practicing a different method.
As they entered the courtyard, a handsome young man with a fair complexion walked out from the back, his chest bare and covered in sweat, likely from practicing just now.
"Qiusheng, we have a guest. Get dressed quickly." Uncle Kiu then introduced Liam, "This is my senior disciple, Qiusheng. The one earlier was my junior disciple, Wencai."
They took their seats in the room, and Wencai entered to serve tea. Liam quickly stood up to thank Wencai, which earned a nod of approval from Uncle Kiu. A humble and kind-hearted young man was a good sign.
Liam and Uncle Kiu began discussing cultivation, and the conversation was quite pleasant. Liam shared the knowledge he had gained from the Viking Wizards, whose magic aimed to maintain the balance between life and death, which resonated with Uncle Kiu.
Time flew by as they talked, and before they knew it, it was already dark.
Seeing that it was late, Liam and Uncle Kiu concluded their conversation. Liam told Uncle Kiu that he might need to stay for a while. Uncle Kiu, in turn, said that if Liam didn’t mind the gloominess of the place, he was welcome to stay as long as he needed.
Liam then gave Wencai some Silver Sikka to buy more food from the town, as he didn’t want to be a freeloader. After some polite refusal, Uncle Kiu allowed Wencai to accept the money.
Over the next two days, Liam stayed at the Mortuary, discussing cultivation with Uncle Kiu. Through these conversations, Liam learned that this world was in the Era of Decline, with the Gate of the Great Path closed. However, there was still a Path of Merit that one could cultivate.
To cultivate in this world, one needed to do good deeds to accumulate merit. Only then could one use this merit to refine the surrounding energies. Otherwise, given the world's predominantly dark and negative energy environment, directly absorbing energy would easily lead to a disastrous outcome.
No wonder this world was plagued by warlords and marauding demons. It was because the world as a whole was heading towards the end of the law. Once the human tide swept through, all Supernatural Powers were completely eradicated.
The Era of Decline had also severely degraded Supernatural Powers. For instance, Uncle Kiu's cultivation was highly specialized, requiring a large number of external aids and ritualistic spells to cast. This was far from the ease with which Liam could cast spells by simply chanting incantations.
After a thorough exchange, both sides gained a lot, and their bond deepened. One evening after dinner, Liam decided to share one of the reasons for his visit with Uncle Kiu.
"Master Lin, when I set out on this journey, I obtained an evil object in Europe. Could you help me examine it?"
"Oh? What is it?" Uncle Kiu asked with curiosity.
Liam took out an iron box from his Spatial Bag. Inside was the diary he had previously retrieved from the Multiverse General Store.
When Uncle Kiu saw the iron box being pulled out of a small pocket, he immediately warned Liam, "That seems to be a Spatial Pouch, a type of spatial magical artifact. In this era of decline, such treasures are very rare. Try not to show them to others in the future."
"Thank you for the reminder, but I trust that you, Uncle Kiu, are a man of integrity." After saying this, Liam opened the iron box. Uncle Kiu's attention was immediately drawn to the object inside.
"This..." Seeing Uncle Kiu about to reach for it, Liam quickly handed him a pair of Dragonhide Gloves.
"Master Lin, this object is extremely evil. It's best not to touch it directly."
Uncle Kiu put on the gloves and picked up the diary, examining it from all angles. He then said to Liam, "I can feel an extremely evil and twisted soul within. Do you want to destroy this thing?"
"Not exactly. My teacher at the sect has the ability to destroy it. The problem is that the person who created this object made several similar ones, and one of them was sent to my sect to try to break an ancient seal and release a monster to harm my fellow disciples. My teacher can destroy it, but he can't find any information about the seal or the monster. Even if this object is destroyed, the danger still remains. So I was wondering if you have any way to extract information from it."
After a moment of contemplation, Uncle Kiu looked up at Liam and said, "I have a method, but it requires some preparation."
Uncle Kiu then placed the diary back in the iron box and took out paper and a pen to write a long list. He handed the list to Liam and said, "I need to set up an altar to perform the ritual. You'll need to go to town tomorrow to gather these items. If you act quickly, we can start the ritual at noon."
"Thank you, Master Lin." Liam took the paper with both hands and put it in his pocket. After tidying up, the two continued to discuss cultivation issues before finally going to bed.
(End of Chapter)
Chapter end
Report
