This principle, William Grant did understand.

“No wonder they say the ways of spirits and ghosts are not fit for the halls of elegance—turns out there are so many taboos.” Hearing these conversations, William Grant gained an even deeper understanding of the immortal path of cultivating the spirit.

“The immortal path of cultivating the spirit has too many restrictions, it’s hard to get started, and it’s extremely dangerous. No wonder it’s not popular in the world, while the martial path flourishes.”

It turns out that to cultivate the spirit, the first step is to calm the mind, focus the spirit, and dispel all distracting thoughts. Only then can one use visualization to leave the body. But to first calm the mind, focus the spirit, and dispel all distractions—these are not things ordinary people can achieve.

Even if one manages it and leaves the body, it’s like someone who can’t swim jumping off a boat into the sea—immediately facing disaster.

William Grant guessed that many practitioners, during cultivation, would have their souls scattered after leaving the body.

And even if one succeeds in leaving the body, there’s still no self-protection ability. Only after learning to control objects does one gradually gain the ability to protect oneself, which is far inferior to martial arts. With a month or two of martial training, one can easily knock down a person or two.

“No wonder the Daoist scriptures, when recording visualization methods, never mention lighting a stick of sandalwood incense. Turns out the hidden malice is to send practitioners to their deaths.”

William Grant had figured out some of the flaws in the cultivation methods recorded in the Daoist scriptures, even suspecting deliberate malice.

The Daoist scriptures were compiled by the Great Qian Dynasty from all the books in the land. The dynasty did not want people to cultivate immortal arts, as that would undermine its rule.

“In that case, the martial scriptures might also have many intentional omissions. But I think there must be two versions of both the martial and Daoist scriptures—one in the royal library, and another circulating among the people. And perhaps the emperor of Great Qian still found this unsatisfactory, so he ordered the books banned.”

William Grant did not read books mechanically; he tried to fathom the author’s thoughts, even their life experiences. More than that, he sought to understand the time when the book was written, to examine the author’s environment and state of mind. Only then could he truly comprehend a book, communicating soul-to-soul with its creator.

Now, with a little thought, he understood: though the martial and Daoist scriptures of the Great Qian Dynasty were profound, they also contained many flaws, even traps meant to lure people to their deaths.

“No wonder the highest realm in the martial scriptures is only Martial Sage—there is no Human Immortal!”

Having figured this out, William Grant felt a wave of clarity in his heart.

“Xiao Sang, Little Susan, Xiao Fei, do you of the pure fox clan all cultivate according to these Daoist scriptures?” William Grant suddenly asked.

“Yes, that’s how it was at first. But after a few elders went mad and died, Mr. White came once and said there was a problem with these Daoist scriptures, so he gave Elder Tu some guidance,” Little Susan replied.

“Mr. White? Who is Mr. White?”

This was the first time William Grant had heard of Mr. White.

“Mr. White is called David White, he’s quite famous—one of the Eight Great Demon Immortals in the world.”

“What are the Eight Great Demon Immortals?” William Grant asked.

“They’re the eight most outstanding and powerful non-humans. But I don’t really know, I just overheard Mr. White talking with Sister Yuanfei last time,” Little Susan shook her head again.

“Oh, the incense is about to burn out, Big Brother William, you’d better return to your body, or you won’t be able to take it. When your spirit is stronger, Big Brother William, you can come out and play with us. Later, Big Brother William, you can even go into town and buy us some things to play with, okay? I really want to go shopping in town.”

The three foxes and one human all returned their spirits to their bodies.

William Grant opened his eyes. There was nothing before him except three little white foxes looking at him, their eyes blinking. The conversation with the three little girls just now felt like a dream.

“Jiji, jiji.”

The three little white foxes called out again, picked up the dried fruits on the stone table, and brought them to William Grant.

William Grant cracked open a peanut, and sure enough, it was crisp and fragrant. He peeled a sweet potato, and it was deliciously sweet—he had never tasted anything so good.

Taking a sip of steaming hot tea, William Grant watched the three little foxes hopping about, recalling the three girls who had called him Big Brother William when his spirit left his body, and a wave of warmth rose in his heart.

Such warmth could never be felt in the marquis’s manor, where human relationships were as cold and sharp as swords and frost.

Chapter 10: The Perilous Fox Hunt

These days, William Grant lived deep in the western mountains, in this valley, playing with tens of thousands of volumes of books, almost forgetting all the troubles of the world.

The collection of books in the stone chamber of the valley was richer than that of any wealthy noble family—almost rivaling the royal library. Poor William Grant had studied for over ten years, borrowing and copying books to read, but had never encountered such a situation—an entire room full of books at his disposal.

“Did you empty out the library of the Great Zen Temple? How did you manage to bring out so many books?”

After three days of reading, he had finally managed to classify about half the books. Taking a break, William Grant once again let his spirit leave his body to chat with the three little white foxes.