Master of Strange Dao

"Find all similar situations for me."

After giving this instruction, Wen Lingyou temporarily ignored it.

A few days ago, the dean of the Spirit Plant Institute had complained to him several times. The students in the academy were becoming increasingly useless, to the point that they couldn't even compare to pigs in relieving themselves.

In a fit of anger, he found a plant nearly identical to Jade Rice, the Seven-Day Intestinal Cutting Grass, and tossed it into the Jade Rice Field.

Initially, it was a spur-of-the-moment act, but it became a test of the students, to see if anyone could recognize it.

Unexpectedly, when the batch of Jade Rice was ready for harvest, not a single person identified it, which greatly infuriated the dean.

He himself mixed the Seven-Day Intestinal Cutting Grass with Jade Rice, cooking it into more than a dozen pots of porridge, poisoning thousands within a single day.

For seven consecutive days, the students of the Spirit Plant Institute were either in the latrine or on their way there.

Ironically, after the incident was exposed, those students could only pinch their noses and endure it, as the differences between the Seven-Day Intestinal Cutting Grass and Jade Rice had been used as a case study. The plant was even sown at the edge of the rice field, blatantly obvious.

The fact that nobody noticed only indicated their incapability, and they had to admit to their lack of skills when they got poisoned.

Had this happened outside the academy, they might not have even had the chance to learn from such a lesson and yet remain undying.

Wen Lingyou somewhat sympathized with those poor students, allowing them a moment of relief.

Initially, it was just a case of the dean venting his frustration with a minor prank, but upon discovering the students' lack of knowledge, his anger grew more intense.

At night, large groups of students were in classrooms flipping through books, one after another.

With several thousand people to drive forward, the search proceeded quickly.

In just a few days, more than twenty volumes of county records were laid in front of Wen Lingyou's desk.

"In the twenty-third year of Wenji, on the third day of the eighth month, in Kaiyuan County, at 1:30 a.m., three thousand people simultaneously awoke from nightmares."

"In the two hundred eightieth year of Wenji, on the third day of the first lunar month, in Linlin County, at 1:15 a.m., five hundred people simultaneously awoke from nightmares."

"In the six hundred sixty-third year of Wenji, on the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month, in Jitun County, fifteen minutes past midnight, three thousand three hundred people simultaneously awoke from nightmares, drenched in cold sweat."

...

There were thirty-three records within the county records that were similar to this incident.

However, the largest number was only just over three thousand people, and in a large county with a population of over a million, with hundreds of thousands within a city, there were no severe consequences. It was merely recorded as a curious incident in the county chronicle.

Unlike this time, in a small city of merely three hundred thousand people, a full fifty thousand awoke from a nightmare simultaneously.

According to those county records, five counties had such incidents occur twice, yet no conclusions were drawn, and the matter was left unresolved.

On one occasion, it was labeled as poisoning because it coincided with the local mushroom consumption season, leading to widespread incidents of poisoning.

Wen Lingyou sorted out all the data and looked at the map, roughly observing that the distribution was widespread, spanning the entire Dali, with more occurrences in the east.

All instances of it happening twice were in the eastern region.

In one place, it was considered a coincidence, but from the perspective of the entire Dali, it certainly wasn't.

Initially just casually investigating, the more Wen Lingyou delved, the clearer it became that this matter wasn't simple and surely had issues.

"Xiaohu, come with me to Kaiyuan County; it's not very far, let's see what's happening there."

...

"Big brother, this is roughly all I know; perhaps because my abilities are weak, I haven't obtained much inheritance, but maybe there will be more in the future."

In the Despair Abyss, Lou Huai recounted everything he knew about Devils to Yu Ziqing.

"You in your current form, are you a Devil or an incarnation? Can't you cultivate independently?"

"I can, as I am an incarnation that can form a physical body, but I'm also a Human Devil, and I can cultivate independently; I just don't wish to cultivate that Devil Path."

"You're a Human Devil, if you don't practice the Devil Path, what else would you practice?" Yu Ziqing chuckled.

"Ahem, actually, I wish to follow the path just like Big Brother. Being a Human Devil was not my choice, but I can choose to cultivate the Righteous Path." Lou Huai hinted heavily.

"You want to pursue Body Cultivation? Without a physical body, what would you cultivate with Body Cultivation?"

"Not that..."

"Hungry Ghost Dao?" Yu Ziqing sized up Lou Huai and shook his head: "Don't even think about it. It's not that I'm withholding it from you; you fundamentally cannot cultivate it."

He had no Dharma Method conducive to a Human Devil for the Hungry Ghost Dao.

It would be insane for a Devil to practice a Dao method where Devils are consumed; would they eat themselves first?

This would be akin to a living being born in magma, its flesh composed of magma, going on to cultivate the Great Evade of Icy Cold; they would undoubtedly refine themselves to death first.

Or if common human cultivators chose to practice Devilish ways, that was suicidal too.

It was determined by innate nature, with no choice available.

After pondering, Yu Ziqing thought of the White Sun Holy Scripture, which was modified into a bona fide Righteous Path method, grand and righteous, unbiased.

He had personally witnessed the birth of the modified White Sun Holy Scripture, familiar with its true intent and divine charm. Yu Ziqing planned to choose it should he need Qi Refinement for want of a suitable Dharma Method.

Now, passing it on to Lou Huai to try first.

After all, wasn't he determined to walk the Righteous Path? The Hungry Ghost Dao was righteous, and so was the White Sun Holy Scripture, encompassing both Qi Refining and Refining God practice.