Reincarnated Adept

A Daoist identity was actually this useful?

Deng Baiyi noticed that the Fengsui City resident official's expression was clearly much friendlier than before!

That made sense. The Daoist sect was practically the highest-ranking sect in the Great Chu Dynasty.

Over the past century, only the Great Grain Sword Palace had been able to stand alongside it.

For the past ten years, the Sword Palace had sealed its gates while the Daoist sect had retreated from the world. Disciples of these two sects rarely emerged and almost never showed their faces before ordinary people.

Yet their reputation and standing remained.

Deng Baiyi extended both hands and steadily received the talisman. Her eyes flickered as countless thoughts raced through her mind.

Xie Zhen had currently taught her only two talisman-drawing methods, called "Silence" and "Detonation." Yet that resident official had just called the Detonation Talisman a "One Qi Talisman"... If this was a secret Daoist transmission, could she infer that Xie Zhen was actually a Daoist?

As Deng Baiyi silently pondered.

A voice condensed from vital energy entered her ears.

"Don't misunderstand. I'm not a Daoist, I merely know a little of the Daoist talisman arts."

With a single glance, Xie Xuanyi could guess what Deng Baiyi was thinking. He patted her shoulder and transmitted softly, "This isn't over yet. There will be an 'inspection' next. Revealing a Daoist identity doesn't mean we'll definitely be allowed into Fengsui City."

Deng Baiyi came back to herself.

Only then did she notice... the atmosphere in Fengsui City tonight seemed exceptionally grim and murderous. Large numbers of Bronze Scale Guards patrolled back and forth atop the walls!

"Did you notice? Something is happening in Fengsui City tonight."

Xie Xuanyi spoke blandly. "Security here was never this tight before."

"Since you are friends of the Daoist sect, you should understand the rules."

The tall resident official slowly wiped the smile from his face.

He straightened up and said in a deep voice, "To enter the city, your identities must be verified!"

As soon as he spoke.

The Bronze Scale Guards retreated to both sides, clearing a broad open space.

The tall resident official extended one hand and pulled a huge lantern from where it stood atop the city wall. With his other palm braced against the stone wall to support himself, he leapt forward and dropped from the battlements.

Boom!

Snowflakes scattered before Fengsui City's gates.

Though the resident official was enormous, he moved with the agility of a leopard as he flipped through the air. The instant he landed, he was incomparably light-footed. It looked thunderous and imposing, but it only stirred a few layers of snow dust. The ground where he landed remained perfectly level.

With his build, smashing a huge crater into the ground would have been effortless.

"This resident official is much stronger than Reverend Heavy Mist... He's at the peak of the Qi Guiding Realm."

This detail caught Xie Xuanyi's attention.

It made him even more certain of his previous suspicion.

Fengsui City's patrol force had definitely been reinforced tonight!

The resident officials responsible for verifying identities at Fengsui City in previous years would never have possessed such strength!

"Close your eyes."

The resident official gave only a simple warning before lifting the enormous lantern and shining it upon the Deng Household's group. In the darkness, countless streams of vital energy rushed into the lantern. Its core suddenly erupted with brilliant light, and in an instant, the flame in the resident official's hand blazed like the sun!

"Ah..."

How could the people of the Deng Household have ever seen such a sight?

Those whose reactions were a little slower met the lantern's light with their eyes and immediately cried out in agony, hastily covering their eyes.

The next moment, everyone shrank back, turning their backs toward the lantern.

Shen Yan curled up inside the carriage, trembling all over beneath the scorching radiance...

Deng Baiyi's face was pale. Relying on her meager vital energy, she barely managed to keep herself from collapsing.

At this moment, she finally realized just how immense the gap between cultivators could be!

The oppression brought by this Fengsui City resident official was unprecedented!

Just looking at him made it hard for her to breathe. Compared to him, those so-called great demons of Jade Pearl Town were simply a joke!

After being targeted by the enormous lantern, only two people present showed no change in expression.

One was Xie Xuanyi.

He remained as calm as the wind and light clouds, gazing serenely at the lantern. He even stared directly into its core. Deep within those black eyes seemed to lie a bottomless pool; the searing light entered them like a mud ox sinking into the sea.

Xie Xuanyi watched with interest for a moment.

"So it's a Soul Separation Lamp... Though it's an imitation of the genuine artifact in the Imperial City, judging by its quality, it should count as a seventh-grade treasure."

This treasure had been meticulously replicated by the Weapon Forging Division of the Great Chu Imperial City. Every year, imitations of varying quality were produced.

They were distributed in batches throughout border garrisons.

The genuine artifact enshrined in the Imperial City was said to be able to illuminate the souls of all great demons, separating the souls of every living thing from their fleshly bodies!

These "imitations," naturally, also possessed part of that effect.

At border checkpoints, resident officials typically used the Soul Separation Lamp to inspect whether the "souls" of those entering the pass were clean. If a shapeshifting demon was illuminated by the lamp, it would immediately reveal its true form!

Of course... that also depended on the demon's cultivation and strength.

Other than Xie Xuanyi, the only one who showed no reaction beneath the Soul Separation Lamp was Jiang Huang, who was sleeping soundly.

The little girl slept sweetly in her nanny's arms, not even opening her eyes beneath the intense light.

Seeing this, the tall resident official's heart suddenly skipped a beat. He sensed that something was wrong.

The white-robed youth was one thing.

But that little girl who was sleeping so soundly... just what was her background?

"Now do you understand why the Daoist sect went to the Northern Prefecture?"

Xie Xuanyi's vital-energy transmission entered the resident official's ears at precisely the right moment.

He said faintly, "How could a promising seedling valued by the All-Under-Heaven Pavilion be disturbed by a mere 'Soul Separation Lamp'?"

"The Daoist sect? The All-Under-Heaven Pavilion?"

A cold sweat faintly seeped down the resident official's back.

The Daoist sect was immense, its presence spread across the world. Among its various branches, the most powerful was the All-Under-Heaven Pavilion!

When disciples of the All-Under-Heaven Pavilion traveled abroad, they usually did not call themselves Daoists. Instead, they would precisely state the name of their pavilion.

You can't play it like this!

The resident official's expression was complicated as he looked toward Xie Xuanyi, once again confirming that there was no vital energy around the youth.

If there was no vital energy, there were only two possibilities.

First, he had not cultivated and was merely an ordinary Qi Refiner.

Second... his cultivation realm far surpassed the resident official's.

At first, the resident official had naturally assumed that this white-robed youth belonged to the former category.

But he no longer thought so. He knew that the Daoist sect possessed an art of Liberation by Violence. Before their deaths, many great Daoist figures would choose to undergo Liberation by Violence on their own initiative, gifting all their insights and realms back to heaven and earth before passing away. Yet this was not the end. Daoist disciples traveling the world would occasionally bring back certain "promising seedlings." Most of these people were extremely young, yet their soul foundations were incomparably solid. After being brought back to the Daoist sect and receiving its baptism, they would awaken before long.

From then on, they would soar all the way upward, beginning cultivation at astonishing speed. None could stop them until they reached the summit.

Within the Daoist sect, such people were called "Reincarnated Adepts."

Some Daoist cultivators firmly believed that because their forebears had voluntarily undergone Liberation by Violence, the departed ancestors had won heaven's pity and been fortunate enough to live again, beginning a second life. Others believed that the ancestors had bestowed their insights upon heaven and earth before death, causing their fate to plummet and land upon some fortunate person, thus leading to their later awakening. The dead could not be revived; this phenomenon could only be called "inheriting an ancestor's legacy," not reincarnation.

The resident official gritted his teeth and shone the Soul Separation Lamp upon Jiang Huang once more... confirming that she was merely a six- or seven-year-old child, yet entirely unafraid of the blazing lamp light.

The more he shone it on her, the more sweetly she slept.

"This one... could she be the legendary...?"

The resident official could hear his own heart pounding wildly.

He drew a breath and cautiously transmitted his voice.

But before he could say the four words "Reincarnated Adept."

"There's nothing legendary about it. It's exactly what you think."

Xie Xuanyi smiled faintly and asked in return, "At this age, fearless before the Soul Separation Lamp's light—who else could she be?"

"This..."

The tall resident official's face abruptly turned pale, and he immediately withdrew the lantern.

The intense radiance faded.

That overwhelming pressure vanished in an instant like smoke scattered by the wind.

Everyone below the city wall felt as though a heavy burden had been lifted, releasing long breaths.

The calm beneath Fengsui City lasted only a few breaths.

The resident official's imposing voice sounded again—

"Since that is the case... I was truly presumptuous just now."

No one had expected that the fearsome Fengsui resident official would now assume such a humble posture. He actually gave Xie Xuanyi a slight bow and spoke in an exceptionally gentle tone, "I failed to recognize Mount Tai before me. Please forgive my disrespect."

"???"

The Deng Household's people were pale with shock, finding it utterly inconceivable.

The Bronze Scale Guards and halberd soldiers were even more unable to believe their eyes.

Lord Resident Official was apologizing?

"Let them through!"

The tall resident official looked solemn and waved his hand. The Bronze Scale Guards hastily withdrew, opening a path for the convoy.

Xie Xuanyi signaled with his eyes that everyone could enter the pass.

"We got through... just like that?"

Deng Baiyi felt somewhat dazed.

Shen Yan, who had been frightened into a cold sweat by the Soul Separation Lamp, was even paler, still shaken to the core.

Xie Xuanyi stood alone beneath Fengsui City's iron walls, shoulder to shoulder with the tall resident official. He was in no hurry to leave, instead watching as the convoy proceeded ahead.

A moment later, the sound of hoofbeats gradually faded into the distance.

The Bronze Scale Guard halberd soldiers withdrew one after another, leaving the two men a quiet space to talk.

Only then did Xie Xuanyi smile and say, "Resident Official, how should I address you?"

"This lowly one is surnamed Yue. Yue Chen."

The resident official spoke quietly, keeping his posture extremely humble.

"Lord Yue, I'd like to ask something."

Xie Xuanyi raised his brows, glanced around, and asked gently, "When I came in the past, Fengsui City was not like this... Why is security now so strict?"

Hearing this, Yue Chen sighed helplessly.

"My lord, you may not know."

He said in a grave voice, "It isn't just Fengsui City. Across Azure Prefecture now, throughout the Eight Hundred Li Forbidden Zone, it is all like this! An urgent order came down from above: Azure Prefecture's Eight Hundred Li Forbidden Zone must strictly investigate anyone entering the pass... The number of resident officials has doubled. Every person entering must have their 'travel documents' rigorously checked, and every Qi Refiner must be illuminated by the Soul Separation Lamp! Only after their identity is confirmed beyond doubt may they pass!"

"Oh? This is the first I've heard of it..."

Xie Xuanyi raised his brows and continued, "Does Lord Yue know the reason for these strict inspections?"

"My lord, please don't make things difficult for me."

Yue Chen gave a bitter smile. "This is an order from King Youhai of Azure Prefecture. I am merely a resident official in the Qi Guiding Realm—how could I know the reason? Even if I rose another two realms, I doubt I would be qualified to know."

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