Chapter Thirty-Three: Changes After the Job Transition

Inside the main room of the village chief’s house.

After resolving the malevolent spirit, the village chief immediately asked his wife and daughter-in-law to prepare a table of food and wine to celebrate.

After several rounds of drinks, Li Yunfei solemnly addressed the chief, “Chief, your village is shrouded in an extremely dense miasma of yin energy, malignant aura, resentment, and ill fortune. The situation is not optimistic.”

“It won’t be an issue in the short term, but over time, there will inevitably be problems. What happened today is bound to happen again sooner or later. You must report the situation as soon as possible and make preparations.”

The chief hesitated and looked toward Master Chen and Master Yang.

Master Chen offered a wry smile and said, “There’s no need to ask us about this, Chief. Brother Yunfei is the real authority here.”

“If our Yin-Yang Eyes are like magnifying glasses, his Dharma Eye is a microscope—it can see far more than we ever could.”

Seeing the chief was still puzzled, Master Yang added, “Spirits are high concentrations of yin energy—our Yin-Yang Eyes can see spirits, but not the ‘aura’ unless it’s dense enough.”

“But the Dharma Eye can observe the rise and flow of all energies. When we read feng shui, we need to judge by the terrain and layout, but he only needs a glance to see the circulation of energies and immediately know the state of the feng shui.”

With this explanation, the chief finally understood and took the matter seriously.

He turned to Li Yunfei and asked with a furrowed brow, “Brother Yunfei, is there truly nothing we can do to change this?”

Li Yunfei pondered for a moment. “There are ways to change it, of course. But I am not capable—the level of cultivation required is far beyond me.”

“For your village’s situation, someone with profound mastery must be invited to perform a large-scale ritual to cleanse all the miasma and impurities and ferry the lingering souls. Then your village will naturally be at peace.”

“Though I cannot do it, there are many capable people in the country. Once you report this, someone will come to handle it.”

The chief nodded slowly, his face troubled. “Even if we report it, the authorities will need some time to respond. In the meantime, is there anything we can do to keep everyone safe?”

“Let me think,” Li Yunfei replied, adopting a thoughtful look as he actually consulted the ‘Shangqing Secret Canon’ and the ‘Maoshan Secret Records’ in his mind.

The others didn’t disturb him and quietly enjoyed their food and drink.

After a while, Li Yunfei returned to himself and said to the chief, “There are a few minor methods that can protect the villagers, but they’re only temporary solutions, not permanent ones.”

The chief immediately put down his chopsticks. “Please, tell me.”

Li Yunfei said, “First, you should encourage the villagers to keep more roosters and black dogs. These two animals can keep evil spirits at bay to some extent.”

“That’s also why the malevolent spirit only took hens and ducks for blood sacrifices and never roosters—because rooster’s blood and black dog’s blood are extremely yang by nature and restrain evil spirits.”

The chief’s eyes lit up in sudden realization, nodding repeatedly.

Li Yunfei continued, “Next, have every household hang a mirror on their door. Mirrors dispel evil and block malignant energies from entering the house. If you can get your hands on bronze mirrors or Bagua mirrors, that’s even better.”

“Hang two willow branches on either side of the door, best if they’re made into whips. Willow branches dispel yin energy—there’s a saying, ‘A willow whip lashes a ghost, and it shrinks three inches shorter.’ That’s why evil spirits are innately afraid of willow branches. If villagers must go out at night, they can carry one with them, or hold a rooster or walk a black dog.”

“Of course, it’s best not to go out at all at night, especially after eleven o’clock.”

“Cinnabar and the urine of a pure child also have exorcising effects. When writing couplets for the door, you can use cinnabar mixed with a child’s urine as ink.”

“There’s no need to add rooster’s blood, since without spiritual power, it’ll just coagulate and can’t be used for writing.”

After thinking a moment, Li Yunfei added, “That’s about it. Also, I have a batch of talismans for warding off evil. I’ll bless them with the ‘Ghost-Repelling Spell.’ Distribute them to the villagers—each family can paste one above their doorframe, or use them as amulets for personal protection.”

“But I’m afraid there aren’t enough for everyone. I’ll need to draw more tomorrow morning. Master Chen, do you have extra blank talisman paper?”

Master Chen nodded. “Yes, we’ve prepared plenty of blank talisman paper—hundreds of sheets. With fewer than two hundred households in the village, we have more than enough.”

Li Yunfei replied, “Good. Tomorrow morning at dawn, around five o’clock, I’ll draw more talismans for you.”

The chief was deeply grateful. “Thank you, Brother Yunfei—you are the benefactor of our village, truly.”

Li Yunfei quickly waved his hand. “You flatter me, Chief. My own abilities are limited—this is all I can do. The key is to report this to the township government as soon as possible and have the state deal with it.”

The chief nodded repeatedly in agreement.

Li Yunfei immediately took out the fifty remaining talismans from his Bagua pouch. With his right hand forming a sword gesture above the talismans, his left hand making mystical signs, he chanted, “Let paper block man, let mountains block ghosts. A thousand evils cannot enter, ten thousand cannot break through—by urgency of law, so let it be done!”

The effect of ox tears would last about an hour, so everyone’s Yin-Yang Eyes were still active.

Because Li Yunfei poured considerable spiritual power into the talismans, the energy was highly concentrated, and everyone saw a golden light radiate from the stack of papers.

Master Chen and Master Yang were filled with envy, while the chief and his son grew even more convinced of Li Yunfei’s abilities—he was truly someone with real skill.

After the feast, the chief arranged rooms for Li Yunfei and the others to rest.

As Li Yunfei had made it clear he needed to meditate and recover his energy and could not be disturbed, the chief gave him a room to himself. The others shared two rooms among five people.

...

Back in his room, Li Yunfei opened his character attribute panel, planning to assign his newly gained points.

To his surprise, there were no points to allocate, but his attributes had already changed.

Strength 34 (10), Agility 27 (8), Constitution 28 (10), Spirit 18 (7).

What astonished Li Yunfei was that both Strength and Agility had increased by two, while Constitution and Spirit had each gone up three points.

That was a total of ten attribute points.

“So, there’s this advantage after a successful class change,” Li Yunfei thought, overjoyed.

Indeed, this was the benefit of a class change.

Before, Li Yunfei was a nobody and could freely choose how to strengthen himself.

But after changing class to a Taoist, the techniques he practiced determined how his four basic attributes would improve.

Taoists were relatively balanced, though their methods slightly favored strengthening Constitution and Spirit.

Constitution represented physical strength; Spirit represented the strength of the soul.

If he had become a martial artist, the focus would likely be on Strength, Agility, and Constitution.

Depending on the cultivation style, one might emphasize Strength, or Agility, or Constitution.

For example, someone practicing the ‘Dragon Elephant Wisdom Technique’ would certainly be maximizing Strength.

Those cultivating the ‘Sunflower Manual’ would focus entirely on Agility.

Training in the ‘Divine Illumination Sutra’ would naturally emphasize Constitution.

Of course, there were balanced techniques, but they never boosted Spirit as much as the other three.

Sorcerers, on the other hand, were the opposite—their primary boost was to Spirit, with only minimal increases to the other attributes; sometimes, they might even end up with a 1-1-1-7 distribution.

Li Yunfei was quite satisfied with how the ‘Shangqing Grand Cavern Imperial Formula’ improved his four attributes.

In fact, he didn’t have to change class—he could keep leveling up without it.

But without a class change, he’d never learn any skills; his body would only keep getting stronger, and each level-up would grant only five attribute points—what a loss!

It was like playing a wuxia or xianxia online game without joining a sect and relying solely on base stats—how could anyone keep up?