"Ascension? Dao Lord Biluo of Biyou Palace? The strongest in the history of the You Kingdom?"
Li Qingyun was astonished, and he could not help committing this Dao Lord's honorific title deeply to memory.
This was definitely a supreme mighty being!
It was his first time seeing Dao Lord Biluo's statue. He had not seen one back in Qinghe County either, and the marquis's estate did not worship this one. It seemed this was indeed not someone ordinary people could invite!
Besides, this was also the first time he had heard cultivators of this world mention the word "ascension." It vaguely corresponded to something from his previous life.
Was ascension not becoming an immortal? But why was "immortal" such a great taboo in the Shadowed Domain, forbidden even to mention?
"Don't be envious, Junior Brother. The Dao Lord patriarch of our Lingbao Temple is no worse. Here, catch!"
Zhao Yifan chuckled and took a small nanmu-wood Daoist statue from the satchel at his chest. With a gentle push of mana, he sent it floating before Li Qingyun.
"I can see that you truly lack travel experience, Junior Brother. You came down the mountain without even bringing a Dao Lord statue!"
Li Qingyun nodded his thanks without offering any excuse.
Taking the nanmu statue, he recognized it as one worshipped in Lingbao Temple. Its revered name was Dao Lord Lingbao Chunyang, and he was also the presiding lord of the temple's Hall of Seeking Offspring.
He infused a wisp of mana into the nanmu statue and silently recited:
"Disciple of Lingbao Temple respectfully invites the patriarch's divine might!"
Hum!
The statue of Dao Lord Lingbao Chunyang suddenly trembled with patterns of light, releasing a circle of pale golden radiance that enveloped Li Qingyun, Big Black Cat Yuanbao, and the yellow-maned horse beneath him.
To outsiders, it was merely clear radiance. Yet in Li Qingyun's "vision," it diffused the majesty of a blazing sun—fierce, overbearing, and domineering.
"The divine might of Dao Lord Lingbao Chunyang from our temple truly isn't weak either..."
He could not help thinking.
Once cultivators activated the clear radiance of a Dao Lord Dharma Idol, they only needed to focus their thoughts and inject another wisp of mana to instantly invite down divine might.
For mortals, inviting a Dao Lord's divine might depended on steadfast daily worship, offerings of incense and fire, and sincerity maintained until "a sincere heart would be answered."
When they needed the statue, they simply had to hold sincere thoughts and repeat that Dao Lord's honorific title several times.
Cultivators like Li Qingyun and the others barely had enough time for their own cultivation. How could they spend years making offerings and worshipping? Naturally, they used a wisp of mana as a guiding thread to swiftly and conveniently invite divine might.
Among them, the Dao Lord patriarchs of one's own sect were the easiest to communicate with and the easiest to invite.
Yet even a Dao Lord statue with respectable majesty was costly, worth no less than ten gold.
Li Qingyun was currently short of money, so naturally he could not afford one. But there was no need to tell Zhao Yifan that.
Ordinary commoners could not afford better Daoist statues either. Most carved them themselves from memory or imagination, or bought cheap goods from statue shops.
Yet such unconsecrated Daoist statues, though people invited them into their homes and offered incense to them year after year, rarely showed any spiritual light. At best, they offered a little comfort to the heart.
Ordinary people mainly pasted up all kinds of divine talismans and Dao Talismans in hopes of peace.
Merchants and travelers who roamed the four seas and spent all year away from home were mostly not ordinary people, and they could afford to acquire a Daoist statue.
"Woo..."
Night had only just fallen when rustling sounds and vicious, low snarls began to rise from the dense thickets on both sides of the official road.
Corpse Dogs and Rotten Wolves ran out from their hiding places, concealing themselves amid the bushes and darkness, their eyes like rows of green lamps.
Foul-smelling drool streamed from their mouths, green light glowed in their eyes, and they stirred restlessly.
Once their numbers grew, they began to approach, provoking and probing along the edge of the Dao Lord's clear radiance.
Whoosh! Whoosh!
The sizable Four Seas Pavilion caravan ahead began to act. Its guards drew their bows and loosed arrows, the shafts gleaming with talismanic light as they shot at Corpse Dogs daring to approach and pounce!
Some Corpse Dogs shrieked as they were focused down by several arrows. Their calf-sized bodies, covered in swollen pustules, collapsed by the roadside and twitched.
But the Corpse Dogs and Rotten Wolves were not frightened away. They let out low, bloodthirsty roars and instead grew even more excited.
Before long, wavering masses of ghostly yin shadows appeared around the outer edges of the Corpse Dog pack that followed relentlessly.
"Crash!"
Li Qingyun's fingers itched. Wanting to test the power of his lightning arts, he completed the hand seals and incantation in an instant.
A bolt of lightning as thick as a finger suddenly flashed through the night sky and struck the Rotten Wolf in the distance that had been eyeing him like a tiger watching its prey, faster than one could cover one's ears!
The Rotten Wolf did not even have time to howl before rolling to the ground, smoke rising from its scorched body as it died instantly!
The thunderclap rang out like divine might, making the merchants and travelers ahead and behind turn to look.
Having just invoked lightning, Li Qingyun faintly emanated the aura of thunder. His handsome face, star-bright eyes, and black hair streaming in the wind drew praise from the merchants and passersby.
What an extraordinary Daoist feathered adept!
"May I ask if you two masters are disciples of Lingbao Temple? I am Qian Fuguan, steward of the Pengcheng Branch of Four Seas Pavilion. Might I have the honor of inviting you two to travel with us? There is an abandoned temple over ten li ahead. It would be safer for everyone to travel together through the night..."
The caravan steward of Four Seas Pavilion, a plump, prosperous-looking middle-aged man dressed in brocade robes, approached Li Qingyun and Zhao Yifan under the guards' protection. With several degrees of respect on his face, he warmly invited them to join the night journey.
At this time, every merchant and traveler within sight on the official road had Dao Talismans pasted to their bodies and held weapons and torches as they crowded toward the renowned Four Seas Pavilion caravan.
Seeing the two experts from Lingbao Temple—especially the handsome and unrestrained young feathered adept, who was skilled in lightning arts—everyone's expressions brightened with a little more joy.
With two more Daoist feathered adepts holding the line, surely nothing would happen over these dozen li of night road!
The Four Seas Pavilion caravan also had more than twenty burly men. Among them were two gaunt old men in gray robes whose auras were far from ordinary.
Li Qingyun swept them with his Spiritual Eye and saw familiar fluctuations of Killing Intent on the two elders. It resembled the Yang Sha Refining he had nearly cultivated back then, though it was far stronger than his had been. These two had likely already entered the Dao through a side path!
But they had only entered through side paths. Without obtaining the true method, the price of cultivation and spellcasting was enormous.
This sort of "castrated version" of a transcendent method would damage one's lifespan and vital essence if used too many times.
In the middle of the caravan was an even more luxurious and exquisite carriage, its curtains kept lowered. No one knew who sat inside.
Yet Li Qingyun could sense a mana fluctuation within the carriage that could not be underestimated. The person inside had cultivation higher than Zhao Yifan's!
"Junior Brother, let's travel with them. The temple has orders: when disciples of Lingbao Temple journey abroad, we should look after mortals whenever we can!"
Zhao Yifan looked at Li Qingyun as he spoke.
"Alright!"
Li Qingyun naturally had no objection. He nodded without saying more.
Pleased inwardly, Zhao Yifan immediately urged his horse closer to the Four Seas Pavilion caravan.
"Junior Brother and I will clear the way ahead. You all protect the two flanks. Sorry for the trouble, but the two from Four Seas Pavilion will bring up the rear. As for the fellow Daoist in the carriage, you may provide support from the center..."
Amid the respectful greetings from the Four Seas Pavilion caravan and the other merchants and travelers, Zhao Yifan lifted his chin slightly in response, then unhesitatingly began making arrangements.
For the moment, his cultivation was the highest among everyone present, so he naturally assumed the bearing of one in charge.
"Agreed."
A calm female voice came from the luxurious carriage of Four Seas Pavilion.
She was a female cultivator!
Li Qingyun remained silent as he walked alongside Zhao Yifan, secretly pinching a lightning seal while an incantation hovered at his lips, ready to burst forth.
He was a little excited.
His first test of the lightning arts had just killed a vicious Rotten Wolf with a flick of his fingers, and he now had confidence in his heart.
Rotten Wolves, Corpse Dogs, and the like were common ferocious beasts of the wilderness.
They fed on human and animal corpses, becoming tainted with corpse qi. Over time, they became half-corpse, half-demon, incomparably vicious. Ordinary blades and swords could scarcely kill them even after severing their heads, and common weapons needed Dao Talismans attached before they could deal with them properly.
Back in Qinghe County, he had once tempered his courage and fighting skills against these Rotten Wolves under the support of the marquis's estate guards. But killing a Corpse Dog or Rotten Wolf had still required considerable effort, and he had needed to proceed with utmost care lest he become tainted by corpse qi and demon qi—enough to leave mortals gravely ill or even dead.
How could it compare to now? With a seal formed and thunder roaring, he crushed them with ease in the blink of an eye!
Before you continue