The weight on his chest made Xu Qing a bit dazed.
Why did the big axe thrown by the preacher in the dream suddenly turn into a cat’s head?
Xu Qing reached out, wanting to hold Xuan Yu’s armpits to lift it up, but before he could stretch his hand, Xuan Yu lightly jumped onto the edge of the coffin.
"You’ve been asleep for a long time."
"The rooster has crowed twice."
"Two days then..." Xu Qing remained in a half-dream, half-awake state in the dream, able to sense the changes outside, including the cries of the Golden Simurgh echoing through the mountains and clouds.
However, due to the dream, this sensation produced an unreal filter, like soaking in a hot water tub during winter, with the hazy steam isolating all visuals, while sounds from the outside could still be heard.
"Is the Profound Jade Immortal Family acting as my Protector?" Xu Qing asked curiously.
The black cat sat on the edge of the coffin, its tail swinging unconsciously.
"I thought you were dead."
Xuan Yu’s tail stopped swaying, it jumped down from the coffin edge, landing in front of Xu Qing, fixedly looking at him, and said, "But your scent is the same as before, so I knew you were only asleep."
Xu Qing reached out to rub Xuan Yu’s head, this time the other party did not dodge, but slightly tilted its chin, allowing Xu Qing to stroke it.
"Sorry to let Xuan Yu worry, next time I go into closed cultivation, I’ll write a little note, draw a small fish on it, and stick it on the outside of the coffin, then I’ll be asleep, and Xuan Yu can just wait for me to wake up."
"How long until the next closed cultivation?"
"Maybe two months, or perhaps longer."
Hearing Xu Qing’s words, Xuan Yu immediately became vigilant: "Next time in closed cultivation, are you going to face the tribulation?"
Xu Qing nodded: "I already have nearly five hundred years of cultivation, considering the three disasters and five tribulations, it’s indeed time to face the tribulation."
Xuan Yu jumped onto the coffin edge again, its tail swaying uneasily.
"The hall has three thousand incense offerings, remember to use them when you face the tribulation, I won’t be watching the shop these two days."
Xu Qing asked in surprise: "Where are you going?"
Xuan Yu looked at Xu Qing, like a mother cat looking at her kitten: "I need to go to the home of the Incense Master worshipping the Cat Immortal, to help them get rid of rodent infestations, if possible, I can help out wherever there’s a rodent plague, that way I can gather a lot of incense offerings for Xu Immortal Family to use in the tribulation."
Three thousand incense offerings are still too few in the face of a cultivation tribulation.
Xu Qing frowned: "Xuan Yu already has four hundred years of cultivation, not far from facing its own cultivation tribulation, if you give me all the incense offerings, how will you resist your own tribulation in the future?"
"Um..." Xuan Yu blinked, and said earnestly: "Have you forgotten, cats have nine lives, I’m not afraid of tribulations, even if I can’t avoid them, I can still survive. But Xu Immortal Family only has one life..."
Xu Qing was speechless for a moment.
In his eyes, Xuan Yu valued its remaining lives extremely highly, otherwise it wouldn’t have dared to leave Jin Sect after losing one life before.
The affection of a cat is hard to repay, if because of him using the incense offerings from Cat Immortal Hall, Xuan Yu fails in its future tribulation, his mind would certainly not be at peace.
"There’s no need to worry about the incense offerings for now." Xu Qing shook his head: "Facing the tribulation is a big matter, before that, if I can find other ways to deal with the tribulation, it would be beneficial for the Profound Jade Immortal Family as well."
Xuan Yu asked in confusion: "Isn’t it true that when the time for the three disasters and five tribulations comes, one must face it? Besides incense offerings, are there other ways to cope?"
Xu Qing chuckled speechlessly: "Who would be so careless when facing a tribulation? Since it’s a cultivation tribulation, there must be traces left by predecessors, if we can find these traces, follow the guidance of their experiences, we can naturally increase the chances of overcoming the tribulation."
"It’s just a pity, those who have survived a cultivation tribulation are extremely rare, maybe I can ask Daoist Yizhen, she cultivates at the Five Elders Temple, it’s said there once was a True Cultivator there..."
Xuan Yu mused: "I’ve heard that human tribulations and those of yokai and demons are different, humans have natural advantages, making it easier to avoid tribulations compared to yokai."
At this point, Xuan Yu’s eyes visibly brightened: "Xu Qing Immortal Family is human, in the future you will certainly be favored by the heavens and avoid the tribulation."
Xu Qing clicked his tongue, zombies belong to a different category, they are grouped with yokai and demons, without the privileges of the living!
"Xuan Yu, do you remember White Immortal Lady of Moonlight Mountain?"
"White Immortal Lady, you mean the big white snake that invited you as a guest?"
Xu Qing nodded: "White Immortal Lady seems to have avoided one cultivation tribulation, it is also an incarnated yokai or demon, perhaps we could ask for its advice."
Xuan Yu looked at Xu Qing, after a moment of silence, it rubbed its head against Xu Qing.
Xu Qing was momentarily stunned, then quickly understood.
The cat possibly thought he was seeking White Immortal Lady purely for its sake.
But could Xu Qing tell Xuan Yu that seeking White Immortal Lady actually benefits himself greatly?
"I’m most afraid of snakes, if it weren’t for the Profound Jade Immortal Family, I definitely wouldn’t go to Moonlight Mountain."
The cat rubbed against him even more vigorously upon hearing this.
The Thirty-Six Heavenly Astral Techniques correspond to thirty-six axe techniques, Xu Qing wielded the mountain-opening axe in the backyard, practicing with great vigor.
The three-hundred-pound axe felt light as a feather in his hands, while the Golden Simurgh in the chicken coop looked on in amazement, afraid that the axe might strike its head.
"What exactly did that preacher see?"
Xu Qing recalled the last axe strike of the white-robed youth which cleaved toward the mountains in the dream.
Though it seemed like the axe was meant to split the mountain, Xu Qing could sense that the white-robed youth’s gaze was always focused beyond the mountain.
Out of the thirty-six axe techniques, Xu Qing could only execute the first nine forms with full power; the later techniques, although he knew how to perform them, lacked the strength to back them up, making them nothing more than showy moves without the profound charm embodied by the white-robed youth.