Hunwu County's yamen was piled high with treasure chests, the gold, silver, and jewels dazzling the eye.
Qin Sang was arranging for people to inventory them.
"These land deeds all belonged to commoners around Hunwu County. Those bald thieves must have obtained them through clever plunder and open robbery. Chuanzong, take them to the Hunwu County magistrate and return them to the people."
The treasury on the surface of Xuanji Temple had nearly been emptied. Among its contents was a small box of land deeds. Qin Sang flipped through them and found that they all concerned land around Hunwu County.
Qin Sang handed the box to Wu Chuanzong, but seeing him hesitate as though he wanted to speak yet held back, he could not help feeling secretly puzzled.
"Chuanzong, what are you thinking? Speak your mind."
Wu Chuanzong was a clever boy with sharp instincts. Qin Sang found him useful and had kept him at his side to run errands.
Moreover, Wu Chuanzong had decent comprehension and knew how to work hard. He never stopped reading or practicing martial arts. Though he had missed the best age for martial training, with proper guidance, he could still achieve something.
"Yes, sir."
Wu Chuanzong had always called Qin Sang "sir." "I'm only afraid the commoners may not be willing to take the land deeds back."
Qin Sang asked in surprise, "Why?"
Could someone actually not want their land returned?
"There was also a temple in Chuanzong's hometown. I heard that many people voluntarily donated their land to it. During the drought two years ago, the local commoners could barely survive, but the temple's tenant farmers still had something to eat. They said temple lands did not need to pay land tax. Every year, the people only had to donate some grain to the temple. In disaster years, if they could not turn in the full amount, the temple would make allowances, and sometimes they could even receive relief. But when paying the government, even a single dou less was unacceptable. There were also all those weighing fees, loss allowances, and furnace losses. Teacher used to say that many people were not starved to death—they were driven to death by the government."
Qin Sang was even more surprised upon hearing this. He had finally tried to do a good deed, yet he had nearly turned cleverness into clumsiness?
Qin Sang looked at the others. "Is it like this everywhere?"
Zhang Wenkui gave a light cough. "Reporting to the Hall Master, things vary from place to place. There are indeed eminent monks of great virtue, but there are also quite a few evil monks who seize land and oppress the people. If a temple is powerful enough, even the government can do nothing to it. Whether Xuanji Temple is good or evil remains to be seen."
"Then investigate it." Qin Sang flung the land deeds to Zhang Wenkui and Wu Chuanzong. "You have one day. The two of you will get to the bottom of this. Whether the deeds are returned to the people or sent back to the temple will be up to you."
Seeing Zhang Wenkui's long face, Qin Sang laughed and scolded, "Who are you making that miserable face for? There'll be no shortage of benefits for you!"
After arranging the manpower, Qin Sang had Zhou Mingguang and the Water Monkey oversee the inventory. He himself could not wait to return to his quarters and shut the courtyard gate tight.
The material of this talisman was completely different from the Talisman Paper Daoist Master Jixin had used. It was white as snow and exceptionally tough, even better than the finest xuan paper.
The Talisman Paper was covered in lines Qin Sang could not understand, far more complicated than Daoist Master Jixin's fraudulent talismans. Qin Sang studied it for a while but failed to make heads or tails of it.
According to Venerable Yuanjue, after that Immortal Cultivator released the water curtain, the Talisman Paper had shattered. It was likely single-use. Since he had only this one, Qin Sang was reluctant to experiment carelessly, fearing he would ruin it too.
Holding the purple bell and the Jade Slip in both hands, Qin Sang recalled the process of controlling the Yanluo Banner. He only needed to drive the energy within his body into the Yanluo Banner, and the Yanluo Banner's incantation would appear in his mind.
Yet there were exceptions like the Ebony Sword. No matter how much energy he poured into it, it vanished like a stone sinking into the sea.
Qin Sang did not know why there was such a difference.
After hesitating for a moment, Qin Sang recalled how the purple bell had killed people. It was probably like the Yanluo Banner—not a good thing. This Jade Slip, however, gave off a soft, warm, endearing glow. He might as well try it first.
Setting down the bell, Qin Sang gripped the Jade Slip and guided a thread of energy into it experimentally.
Unexpectedly, the Jade Slip suddenly broke free of Qin Sang's hand and pressed itself tightly against his forehead.
Qin Sang felt as though his consciousness had been sucked into the Jade Slip. Startled, he recalled the Yanluo Banner as a precedent, but did not panic too much and remained calm.
Could there be another world inside the Jade Slip?
As Qin Sang muttered to himself, he discovered that the Jade Slip actually contained a passage of text, and his spirits immediately rose.
Half an hour later, Qin Sang, who had sat motionless beside the table the entire time, raised his hand and removed the Jade Slip. Opening his eyes, he stared at it, excitement flashing in his gaze.
Now he understood. This Jade Slip was not a weapon, but a vessel for recording text. The writing inside explained the bell's abilities and how to control it.
The bell was called the Purple Soul Bell. It was a high-grade magical artifact capable of confusing souls and bewitching minds. If a cultivator was powerful enough, it could even directly destroy an enemy's Primordial Spirit.
The Purple Soul Bell was simple to use. No incantation was required. A cultivator merely needed to use spiritual power to activate its chime, then control it with divine sense for it to take effect.
The Jade Slip described the process of controlling the Purple Soul Bell in great detail.
When first learning to use it, a cultivator would not be proficient in controlling the Purple Soul Bell. He had to use divine sense to control the bell's chime and focus all his efforts on a single enemy in order to bring out the Purple Soul Bell's power to the fullest.
Once he could wield the Purple Soul Bell as easily as an arm or finger, the magical artifact could display its greatest might. Bewildering three or four people at once would be no problem.
Qin Sang eagerly picked up the Purple Soul Bell. Following the method in the Jade Slip, he sent his divine sense into the magical artifact, then used the energy within his body to activate it.
His movements were not yet practiced, and he had to try several times before becoming familiar with them.
Unexpectedly, the Purple Soul Bell was like a bottomless abyss. Even going all out and exhausting all his spiritual power, he only barely succeeded.
Ding-ling-ling...
The Purple Soul Bell moved without wind, its crisp chime echoing through the room.
Qin Sang wiped the sweat from his forehead. The spiritual power in his body had been swept completely clean, leaving him incomparably weak, yet his face was full of excitement.
Obtaining a miraculous magical artifact was certainly cause for joy, but what excited Qin Sang most was the text itself.
The energy in his body was the spiritual power described in the Jade Slip!
The Netherworld Scripture truly was an Immortal Cultivation art!
The heart Qin Sang had kept in constant anxious suspense finally settled.
In addition, Qin Sang had learned much from the Jade Slip.
The souls of Immortal Cultivators seemed to differ from those of ordinary people. They were called Primordial Spirits.
Divine sense was also something the Netherworld Scripture had never mentioned. Only now did Qin Sang learn of its existence. According to the Jade Slip, once one began cultivating, divine sense could arise within the Primordial Spirit. Divine sense could not only control magical artifacts, but had other marvelous uses as well. Qin Sang would have to explore those slowly on his own.
Thinking of this, Qin Sang hurriedly took out the Ebony Sword and the other items he had obtained earlier.
Qin Sang picked up the Ebony Sword and extended his divine sense into it. Unfortunately, the Ebony Sword remained like a bottomless abyss. It accepted both divine sense and spiritual power without discrimination, yet showed not the slightest reaction.
When he sent his divine sense into the Yanluo Banner instead, Qin Sang finally gained something new.
Although Yanwang possessed an instinct for seeking fortune and avoiding calamity, its intelligence was not very high. When Qin Sang had used the Yanluo Banner before, he could only designate people within his field of vision for Yanwang. Otherwise, he had no way at all to restrain Yanwang's actions.
Now, he could completely lay his divine sense over Yanwang and command it at all times.
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