This Immortal Realm, Inauspicious

"Stop, stop… What is this nonsense?"

Meng Po was furious and shouted, "How could my soup be diluted with water? Even a deity would get dizzy and forget their past and present lives after drinking my soup. You clearly drank too much and got a taste for it."

As she spoke, she suddenly realized and quickly said, "Your Excellency, please forgive me. It's just that my soup is absolutely not diluted."

The person holding Meng Po's Soup, holding a green paper umbrella, floated away, gradually disappearing into the misty haze.

In the world of the broken temple, Xu Ying suddenly leaped from the great bell and landed on the immortal mountain below. The young man moved swiftly through the mountain forest, evading the search of the four stone dragons in the air. The great bell followed closely behind him, arriving at the nearest altar.

Beside the altar, although the stone statue was broken into several pieces, its proud posture from back then could still be seen. It must have been majestic and divine, exuding an imposing aura even in stillness!

Strangely, the stone statue was entwined with a dense incense qi, even more potent than that of the City God Xue Lingfu!

"The deity is dead, but the incense qi hasn't dissipated yet. This is truly strange," Xu Ying murmured, puzzled.

It was common knowledge that after a deity died, their incense qi would scatter.

Xu Ying walked closer to examine it. He heard faint noises, the lingering echoes of prayers from sentient beings left within the incense qi.

Sentient beings prayed to deities, seeking favorable weather, blessings for their descendants, lasting peace, or abundant harvests and many children. These thoughts were similar to the contemplation of Qi Refiners and Nu Masters. When combined with incense qi, they became Magic Power.

The Magic Power of a deity depended on two factors: first, the age of their worship; the older the worship, the stronger the Magic Power. Second, the number of worshippers; the more people who worshipped the deity, the stronger the Magic Power.

Xu Ying examined the broken parts of the stone statue. The breaks were irregular, likely caused by weathering and falling. However, the break at the top of the statue's head did not seem to be from weathering.

The crown of the stone statue was broken open, revealing a hollow interior. Judging by the marks on the crown, it appeared to have been broken from the inside out, forcing the crown to burst open!

"The deity's head is hollow! But why is it hollow?" Xu Ying was surprised.

There was no need for a deity's head to be hollow; they didn't need to store a brain. They only needed their soul to enter the divine statue!

Xu Ying half-immersed himself into the statue's head and discovered peculiar patterns on the inner wall, resembling writing but not quite. It was too dark to see clearly.

Xu Ying pulled himself out and said to the great bell, "Grandpa Bell, shrink a bit."

The great bell reduced its size, becoming about two feet tall.

Xu Ying grabbed the bell's handle and, with half his body inside the statue's head, shook the bell forcefully. The great bell seemed to understand, and strange patterns appeared on its surface, emitting a faint glow.

Using the light, Xu Ying could finally see the script and patterns on the inner wall of the statue's head.

He realized he didn't recognize any of the characters.

The great bell recognized them and said, "It's an incantation for summoning souls, written in the script used by ancient Qi Refiners for talismans! This kind of incantation is used to gather wandering spirits. However, the incantation on the inner wall of the head is not orthodox; it's more like an evil way to summon souls, using ghosts to refine magical treasures or elixirs. Some of the characters are even written incorrectly, indicating that the person who wrote the incantation was not an ancient Qi Refiner."

"Ancient dark arts?"

Xu Ying, holding the bell, withdrew his body and asked, puzzled, "If this is the immortal realm, why are there deities here? And why is there an incantation for summoning souls?"

Deities needed incense from sentient beings. No one in the immortal realm should be worshipping deities, right?

Furthermore, what was the purpose of summoning ghosts and spirits in the immortal realm? Were there ghosts in the immortal realm?

"Then, were the ones preaching in the great temple truly immortals?" Xu Ying looked up at the great temple surrounded by five immortal mountains in the sky.

Suddenly, he paused and looked at the other immortal mountains. He exclaimed, "Grandpa Bell, look at the arrangement of these five immortal mountains. Doesn't it resemble the five organs in the Realm of Serenity?"

Upon hearing this, the great bell burst into laughter, "The Realm of Serenity, the five organs? How is that possible? This should be the immortal realm, and there were even immortals preaching in that great temple just now…"

It stopped abruptly. Compared to the immortal realm and immortal preaching, the Realm of Serenity seemed more plausible. After all, even in its era, even its master had never seen the immortal realm, let alone immortals.

It chimed, using the echoes of the mountains to survey the surrounding geography, and only then did it realize Xu Ying was not mistaken. This place did indeed resemble the Realm of Serenity.

In the Realm of Serenity, the five organs were like mountains hanging upside down in the sky, and the five immortal mountains here also had their bases facing the sky and their peaks pointing downwards. The five immortal mountains were originally buried underground in this manner. Although they now circled the temple after ascending, their overall posture remained unchanged.

The five immortal mountains were arranged at different heights, following the order of the heart, lungs, liver, spleen, and kidneys. The shapes of the five immortal mountains also resembled the forms of the five organs.

More importantly, the huge rocks that had fallen from these five immortal mountains had hair-like substances interspersed in the gaps. If these were truly immortal mountains, such things should not be present.

These five immortal mountains seemed to be in a petrified state, and they had been invaded by external evils, causing mold and decay!

After the bell chimed, Xu Ying quickly took the great bell and went into hiding.

Shortly after they left, two stone dragons, treading on clouds and mist, arrived together. They frowned, having failed to find Xu Ying.

"It would be good if we had a few Earth Gods," one of the stone dragons sighed.

Xu Ying led the great bell towards the second stone statue. Suddenly, someone in the sky cried out in alarm. Xu Ying quickly looked up and saw that deities from the Underworld Court and officials under the governor were clashing. The two sides were fighting fiercely on the suspended giant rocks, their divine abilities colliding, turning the sky and earth dark.

The one who cried out was an official who had inherited the Zhou family's legacy. He was heavily injured and immediately activated his Ni Wan Secret Treasury, intending to use its vitality to heal his wounds. Unexpectedly, the vitality within his body suddenly flowed out uncontrollably and was absorbed by the giant rock beneath his feet!

The giant rock had grown hair. Upon contact with his secret treasury vitality, the hairs could not help but flutter. With a sizzling sound, countless hairs pierced the official's body, wriggling as if drinking water.

The official felt his secret treasury vitality rapidly draining away. Filled with terror, he opened his mouth and let out a piercing scream. As he screamed, his entire body shriveled, quickly turning into a skeleton.

He had originally been a man of seven feet, but after becoming a skeleton, he was thin and small, only two to three feet tall. Even the vitality within his bones had been completely absorbed.

After the official died, the giant rock turned bloody red, like flesh and blood, oozing with blood. Countless hairs, like tentacles, danced in the air, grabbing several officials and deities who couldn't dodge in time. The hairs made sizzling sounds as they pierced their bodies!

It was one thing for deities, as deities who became gods through worship were not flesh and blood. Only deities of the Demon Race were flesh and blood. However, those officials and guards were all humans, disciples or descendants of the Zhou family, who had opened their Ni Wan Secret Treasuries and possessed astonishing vitality.

Their own vitality drained rapidly, and in an instant, four or five more people were reduced to dried husks!

Those engaged in the battle were stunned.

The giant rock, having absorbed the vitality of these people, regained the elasticity of its hairs, which turned out to be blood vessels of varying thickness extending from the flesh and blood.

The blood vessels, of different lengths, waved in all directions, grabbing another giant rock and attaching themselves to it, transferring some vitality.

The giant stone also suddenly grew hair and grabbed a demon god that was fighting, "eating" it.

Xu Ying looked up and saw chaos in the sky. "Giant stones" roamed the sky, their hair flying, snatching people everywhere and sucking them dry.

Some were even forced to leap, attempting to reach the immortal mountain, but their strength failed, and they fell from the sky with screams.

"This immortal realm is ominous!" Xu Ying's heart pounded with fear.

The Great Bell said worriedly, "Many people have already entered the great temple to listen to the immortal's teachings. It seems Yuan Qi has also gone there."

Xu Ying frowned slightly and walked to the second altar. This altar was more intact. It was located at the intersection of two mountain paths, with a platform protruding from the cliff below, which was extremely regular.

The statue stood beside the altar, its four arms holding the edge of the altar, looking down at the center of the altar as if something there had attracted its gaze.

This statue had four arms, wore a crown of fire, had a blue face and fangs, wings on its back, and was entwined with a blue dragon.

The stone on its body had turned golden, shining brilliantly, as if it were made entirely of gold!

"This deity has achieved the Golden Body, making it more powerful than the City God!"

Xu Ying was greatly shocked. He had seen the City God of Lingling, Xue Lingfu, fight Zhou Yihang. When the City God Xue Lingfu used his magic power, his shrine floated, and the people chanted, which had given him immense shock and pressure!

But this divine stone statue exerted even greater pressure on him!

Its cultivation was likely even more profound than Xue Lingfu's, and its Golden Body was even superior!

From afar, he could hear the chanting of the people emanating from its body, the sound coming and going!

As Xu Ying approached to examine it, a dragon's roar suddenly echoed from the sky. A stone dragon, ten to fifteen feet long, stepped on green clouds and galloped rapidly, whistling down between Xu Ying and the altar!

As the stone dragon landed, incense qi swirled around its body. Its form began to change, transforming from a dragon into a human. It became a man with a dragon's head and a human's body, about ten feet tall, with a faint golden sheen on his skin.

A faint sound of reading could be heard from his body, the thoughts of all beings, but much weaker than that of the divine stone statue.

"Xu Ying. I am the Stone Dragon Son of the Confucian Temple. I am here on the City God's orders to take you back!"

The dragon god, Stone Dragon Son, condensed incense qi into a flying sword, which floated before him, and said indifferently, "You had best not resist, because the City God has ordered that you can be killed and your soul taken back."

Just as Xu Ying was about to speak, two more dragon roars sounded, and two more stone dragons descended from the sky. They also transformed into tall, thin men with dragon heads. One stood to the left and slightly behind Xu Ying, and the other to the right.

These two dragon gods gathered qi into swords and stood silently, forming a tripod with the Stone Dragon Son.

Xu Ying looked up at the sky. Another stone dragon was circling above, its feet on green clouds, blocking his escape route.

Xu Ying recognized these four stone dragons. They were carved on the stone pillars of the Ningyuan Confucian Temple. The Ningyuan Confucian Temple had several large stone pillars, dozens of feet high, with stone dragons coiled around them. Scholars would go there to offer incense, praying for success in their studies, which was why the incense qi on the stone dragons carried the sound of reading.

Xu Ying had also been to the Confucian Temple, but he was simply not suited for studying, so he had not offered incense.

"I killed Zhou Yihang and Zhou Yang using swordsmanship."

Xu Ying gathered qi into a sword, sword energy swirling around him, and said calmly, "Four of you, you have committed no evil deeds and have a good reputation among scholars. Do not force my hand."

The four stone dragons were inwardly awed. Zhou Yang's cultivation and strength were similar to theirs. Xu Ying killing Zhou Yang meant that in terms of strength, he could definitely kill any one of them.

But Xu Ying killing Zhou Yihang meant that Xu Ying was on the same level as the City God!

The City God, who had achieved the Golden Body, enjoyed incense for five hundred years, with extraordinary magic power!

Even if the four of them joined forces, they might not be able to win!

Xu Ying felt uneasy. His cultivation had not yet recovered. The Great Bell had carried him flying earlier, and it needed to steal his vital energy to maintain its flight, so his cultivation had decreased instead of increasing.

If the four dragons attacked, he would likely be in trouble.

Suddenly, the Stone Dragon Son knelt on the ground with a thud, a strange smile on his face. He kowtowed repeatedly to the four-armed statue, muttering strange prayers.

The two stone dragons behind Xu Ying's expression changed drastically, and they shouted in unison, "Xu Ying, what have you done to our fourth brother?"

Xu Ying secretly gathered a breath of vital energy and shook his head, "I didn't do anything!"

One of the stone dragons, while guarding against Xu Ying, cautiously moved closer to the Stone Dragon Son, calling out, "Fourth brother, what's wrong? Who ambushed you..."

Just as he was about to help the Stone Dragon Son up, a strange smile also appeared on his face. He knelt on the ground with a thud, kowtowing frantically to the four-armed statue, chanting the same prayers as the Stone Dragon Son.

"Ah Ying, this statue and altar are strange!" the Great Bell whispered.

Xu Ying's heart was also pounding.

Deities gathered faith and incense qi to gain divine powers, thus becoming deities. The Stone Dragon Son of the Confucian Temple had enjoyed strong incense for four hundred years. How could such powerful incense qi suddenly lead him to worship another deity and become a believer of this stone statue that had no soul inhabiting it?

The two stone dragons knelt there, their chanting speeding up, their smiles becoming more distorted. Then, with two dull thuds, the heads of the Stone Dragon Son and another stone dragon exploded from the inside out!

Xu Ying quickly circulated his divine sense and opened his Heavenly Eye. He saw the souls of the two stone dragons fly out of their shattered heads and towards the altar held in the four-armed statue's embrace!

The altar was very high, blocking his naked eye's line of sight, but within the Heavenly Eye's view, everything about the altar was clear!

The center of the altar had a furnace-like structure, with a bead floating in the center of the furnace, rotating up and down.

The souls of the two stone dragons arrived at the center of the altar, suddenly shattered, their souls dispersed, leaving only a trace of inextinguishable primal spirit, which flew into the bead!

"Ah Ying, even if there are immortals in this Realm of Serenity, they are Evil Sword Immortals!"

The Great Bell cried out, "He is refining the Myriad Spirit Pill with the inextinguishable primal spirits of souls to repair his Primordial Spirit!"