Bizarre Cultivation: Starting from Being Beaten Up by Reality

Chapter 194 Cao Zifan

Swish, swish, swish.

The rice grains fell like arrows, and Lin Fan barely managed to raise his saber to block his face. The rice grains that hit the saber made crisp sounds.

Lin Fan's coarse cloth clothes were quickly torn to shreds, revealing the soft armor underneath. The rice grains that hit the soft armor fell off with a rustling sound and stopped flying up.

Lin Fan felt as if he had been struck by countless hammers in an instant, his body staggering back several steps. Fortunately, his soft armor shielded him from most of the damage, and his body was strong enough. He removed the saber that was blocking his way; it was covered in dents the size of grains of rice.

Although the entire body was riddled with dented, bloody holes, the pain was no problem for the Soul-Suppressing Pearl.

Lin Fan stared in surprise as he saw a trickle of blood flowing from the corner of Zi Yue's mouth.

"Acheng, this rice can damage more than just the physical body."

Lin Fan immediately understood what she meant, and while retreating, he asked with concern, "Are you alright?"

"Well, it's not a big problem, it just means I'll have to stay inside your body for a while."

Swish.

The black blade flew back to the black scabbard at Lin Fan's waist, and Zi Yue's figure disappeared.

What she said must be true, right? There's no need for her to lie to me.

Lin Fan suppressed his unease and continued to retreat outside the county government office.

"Where did you come from, you country bumpkin? Haven't you heard that the common people can't fight against officials? We could let that guy surnamed Zhan go, even though he was a lowly military officer, he still had an official title. What are you? What right do you have to yell at me, a disciple of the emperor, to fight and kill me?"

Magistrate Cao slowly walked out, and all the rice surrounded him, gradually enveloping Lin Fan.

Lin Fan retreated cautiously, "I am indeed a country bumpkin. May I ask what supernatural powers the magistrate has cultivated? They all say that Confucianism is more prevalent than Taoism and Buddhism. It turns out that it's not just about your status, but also that you are superior in supernatural powers."

Upon hearing this, Magistrate Cao shook his head. "There is no such thing as Confucianism, and what we have learned is far superior to that of Confucian scholars who have not yet achieved official rank. This is no secret, so I'll let you die knowing the truth."

"What I have learned is the most renowned and prestigious school of thought in the world, created and passed down by the Emperor himself. It is no longer the outdated doctrine of the Confucian sage. It gathers the strength of the people, unites their wishes, and wins their hearts. It is impervious to water and fire, free from swords and spears, and can ward off evil spirits. Upon mastering it, one can refine one's spirit, unite with the Dao, and ascend to become an immortal!"

"Pfft." Although the situation was critical, Lin Fan still laughed out loud. "No, what kind of fake wine did you drink? Instead of thinking about benefiting the people, you officials are thinking about becoming immortals. How come everyone has this kind of mind?"

Lin Fan had read the Enlightenment Classics, which differed slightly from those of the present day, but the general meaning was the same. However, this "prominent school of thought" seemed to have replaced "Confucianism" and was clearly problematic.

It seems that not only the various folk religions and sects we've encountered before, but also the official authorities of this world have been influenced by certain individuals.

However, now is not the time to think about such distant things, as Lin Fan is already surrounded by countless grains of rice.

Learning from their previous failure to defend against a frontal attack, they prepared to launch a full-scale attack from all sides, attempting to find a weakness in Lin Fan.

breathe.

The accumulated "blade energy" was struck onto the Crane Spirit Wood Greatsword.

He gripped the greatsword tightly with one hand, diverting a small portion of his mental energy to his navel.

Swish!

Invisible spider silk activated.

Just a moment before Magistrate Cao was about to beat Lin Fan into a sieve with grains of rice.

Suddenly, Lin Fan, a one-armed man, emerged from the shadows.

The remaining Mi began to defend, while the Mi surrounding Lin Fan began to retreat. But no matter what they did, they were no match for the one-armed Lin Fan, who appeared as if by teleportation.

boom!

At a speed so fast that it was almost invisible to the naked eye, the giant sword swept away some scattered grains of rice and threw them directly at Magistrate Cao.

Magistrate Cao was sent flying backward and thrown into a room, amidst a flurry of smoke and wood chips.

One-armed Lin Fan, leaning on his sword, gagged a few times. He felt like he had hit a metal plate; his right arm was still numb from the shock. Luckily, the greatsword made of Crane Spirit Wood was sturdy enough; if it had been an ordinary sword, it probably would have broken long ago.

Its power and durability are undeniable; it's just a pity it lacks sharpness. Otherwise, that sword strike wouldn't have just sent Magistrate Cao flying but would have cleaved him in two.

Lin Fan never underestimated this county magistrate from the beginning, so the Lin Fan who appeared at the beginning was a clone, and the one-armed one now is the real body.

Lin Fan, in his clone form, rushed over to check on the magistrate's condition. The man was in a terrible state; his entire body was caved in, a bloody mess stuck to his official robes. Even his chin was crooked, his mouth distorted. An ordinary person would certainly not have survived.

A few white grains of rice floated around his body.

No, the quantity is wrong.

Lin Fan, the clone, then realized that a large amount of rice grains were filling his wounds, and his shrunken body was visibly recovering.

"Not bad, a very good feint, but I have been in the officialdom for decades and have accumulated some experience. It would take at least ten more times to kill me with this kind of tactic."

Lin Fan, of course, wouldn't listen to his nonsense. As long as he could take advantage of the fact that the man was unable to move, he would cut off his head. He couldn't possibly stick it back up with rice, could he? Although his initial goal was to find out about Zhan Peng's situation, seeing how powerful his opponent was, he couldn't afford to hesitate at all.

rustling.

Before Lin Fan could get close, a new change occurred. This time, it was black rice, appearing suddenly from nowhere. Compared to the previous white rice, this black rice was much faster, giving him no chance to dodge.

Lin Fan, in his clone form, brandished his black sword and saber, attempting to scatter the black rice. He succeeded; the black rice offered no defense and crumbled into two clumps upon contact, and with a few more strikes, it was divided into numerous smaller clumps.

However, like grease, they could be cut without any effect, and some had even stuck to the knife and started spreading to Lin Fan's clone.

No, these things are about to crawl all over my body, giving me a slippery, sticky, and disgusting feeling, like I've been covered in moving snot.

Lin Fan, the clone, steeled his heart and decided to give up on getting rid of these things on his body, slashing at the county magistrate with his sword.

The whole process actually took only the time it took for Magistrate Cao to say one sentence, because the black rice was so fast that it instantly enveloped the person in front of him, and the knife hanging in mid-air did not fall.

Seeing that another one-armed assassin who looked exactly like him at the door was also wrapped in black rice, Magistrate Cao finally breathed a sigh of relief and muttered under his breath, "Corruption."

With a whoosh, most of the black rice in front of me lost its sheen and became no longer soft, scattering like ordinary grains of rice.

Lin Fan, still covered in a layer of black rice, looked bewildered.

He looked at his suddenly regained left hand with a puzzled expression, and after a moment of stunned silence, he realized, "Yes, I am a clone." The attack must have been some kind of mental attack, which had instantly affected his memories. However, thanks to the Soul-Suppressing Pearl, they collapsed instantly.

This slight memory lapse didn't have much of an impact, and Lin Fan quickly picked up the black knife and stabbed it into Magistrate Cao's throat.

After severing his head, Lin Fan's clone confirmed that the man before him was truly dead, yet his body was still covered in a considerable amount of still-active black rice. It seemed as if the rice was trying to crawl back onto Magistrate Cao's body, or perhaps it wanted to devour his corpse. However, with a tug from Lin Fan's clone, the rice simply reattached itself to his body like clothing.

Lin Fan couldn't care less about his clones anymore; he needed to hurry back to save his main body.

Peeling back the oily black rice, the clone Lin Fan laboriously took out the Soul-Suppressing Pearl from his personal clothing and stuffed it into the mouth of his main body.

When he saw that some of the black rice on his main body had fallen off, revealing a face that looked exactly like his own, he was also confused. Only then did the clone Lin Fan finally breathe a sigh of relief.

Before the main body could say anything, the black rice on his body seemed to be driven away by the Soul-Suppressing Pearl, and it fled frantically, surging towards the clone.

The black rice moved extremely fast, and Lin Fan's clone was quickly enveloped again. The black rice flowed into his seven orifices, and he felt his mouth and nose filled with sticky black rice with a milky and light milky aroma. Lin Fan felt like he was about to vomit.

vomit!

In a moment of dizziness, the clone Lin Fan lost consciousness.

It seemed like only a moment had passed when the black rice on his face disappeared, and he saw the real body holding a black knife with the blade pointed at his eyes.

"who are you?"

"Who else could I be? I'm obviously you, what the hell are you talking about?"

"Old Niu, go find a mirror. If you can't find one, take a piss and let him see."

At this moment, chaos erupted outside the county government office, with the sounds of swords clashing constantly. Niu Dadan had grown wings and flown in, but even so, he still had some arrows stuck in his body.

Niu Dadan didn't urinate; instead, he successfully found the mirror.

Lin Fan, the clone, picked up the bronze mirror and looked at himself. He was stunned. He had become that county magistrate!

Ignoring the knife still pressed against his neck, he turned to look at the magistrate's corpse. The headless body was still lying there, blood flowing everywhere, but the head that had been in his hand just moments before was gone.

"What... what happened to me?"

"Let me ask you this," the original self asked itself, "odd changes, even remains the same."

"Symbols look at the quadrants!"

"Concrete No. 42."

"Mix pasta!"

Even so, the doubts in the eyes of the original body were not dispelled in the slightest. "I don't want to be God O Ryuka's dog anymore."

Lin Fan, the clone, was stunned for a moment, then roared, "Don't try to trick me into telling you anything. You've never even played O God."

The original user put down the knife this time. "At least the memories are correct; they are indeed mine. Do you have the memories of that county magistrate?"

Lin Fan, the clone, shook his head.

Niu Dadan chimed in, "If we pay commercial taxes with copper coins, how many coins are equal to one string of copper coins?"

"Isn't a string of cash always a thousand coins? Otherwise, why would it be called a string of cash?" Lin Fan, the clone, asked in confusion.

Niu Dadan nodded toward Lin Fan's true form.

"No, so how much is a string of cash exactly?"

"1,500 coins."

“It’s so dark!”

The two frowned at each other, wondering what had happened.

"By the way, what's that noisy noise outside?" Lin Fan, the clone, asked.

"Hmm, speaking of which, I need your help to resolve this." The main body pointed outside, "Second Brother's men and the helpers the magistrate called are fighting outside. Go put on the magistrate's clothes, and we'll go and settle things together."

Lin Fan, the clone, glanced at his blood-soaked clothes and frowned slightly.

Just as Niu Dadan was about to help undress, his clone Lin Fan called out to him, "Wait, I have a better idea."

As he spoke, he moved his mind, and the black rice surged onto the magistrate's clothes, then returned to his clone Lin Fan.

Black rice bubbled and swelled on Lin Fan's clone, gradually turning green until it finally transformed into the green official robe. He picked up the official hat from the ground and put it on, making Lin Fan look exactly like Magistrate Cao.

Niu Dadan raised his sword and looked warily at the "resurrected" magistrate.

Lin Fan reached out and pressed down on his sword. "It shouldn't be. If he really was the county magistrate in disguise, he should have kept his supernatural abilities hidden."

As Magistrate Cao and Lin Fan walked outside hand in hand, all the 'misunderstandings' were immediately cleared up.

That evening, Magistrate Cao hosted a banquet at the county office for Lord Duan and his entourage, as well as those who had come to their aid. Fortunately, although the fighting outside had raged for a long time, everyone had shown mercy, and no one had been killed. Therefore, they quickly shook hands and made peace.

By evening, only a few key figures remained in Magistrate Cao's room.

"We've found Zhanpeng's body, and the murderer is indeed the commander of Crab Mountain," Doctor Lei said first.

Cao Zifan, Magistrate Cao, who is also Lin Fan's clone, continued, "It's that bastard again. No, we have to do something. We can't just let him get away with this."

The one-armed Lin Fan looked at him and said, "You're right, but we can handle this. You don't need to get involved."

All eyes were on Cao Zifan; it could be said that his situation was now the most complicated and troublesome.

Cao Zifan himself knew that, in theory, he was just an avatar, and even if he wasn't injured, he would naturally dissipate after two days. But the situation was clearly different now. He didn't feel like he was about to disappear; instead, he felt like his original self.

How to explain it, to use the content of Miaozhuzi's notes, is a feeling of having all three souls and seven spirits.

Lin Fan said, "Your situation is strange. It's not that I don't trust you, but I'm afraid that Cao might have some tricks up his sleeve."

Cao Zifan looked at Duan Ye and asked, "Second Brother, do you know if there is any magic in this popular science that allows one to take over another's body after death?"

Duan Ye shook his head. "I don't know. The so-called prominent school of thought was created by a prime minister of the Great Qian Dynasty who combined his family's rice-based teachings with the new learning of the time. It replaced Neo-Confucianism and became the foremost school of thought in the world. As for its mystery, I, who have no official rank, have only heard some rumors about it."

Considering the potential threat, Cao Zifan said, "Why don't we kill me now to prevent any risks?"

Lin Fan, the one-armed man, and Duan Ye exchanged a glance. Lin Fan said, "I don't think we need to be so cautious. Your identity is very convenient for us. If you were in this position, you could be of great help. Even if you were truly possessed, we could just kill you again. There's no need to rush things now. However, just to be on the safe side, we can't take you with us on our next plan."

Cao Zifan understood.

Duan Ye added, "Brother Cao, may I call you that? I'll need your help with Wujiang County. Please help me gather manpower to attack Crab Mountain, and also organize the defense of the county town."