Inside the Seven-Star dungeon of the Mortal Prison under the Demon Slayer Division, Fang Mu sat cross-legged, refining the high-grade Essence Blood Pill he had just obtained.
The high-grade Essence Blood Pill entered his stomach and transformed into thousands upon thousands of warm currents, suffusing every limb and bone.
The physical body that had long since undergone marrow cleansing and tendon purification several times once again expelled layer upon layer of impurities.
He could clearly feel that his physical body seemed to have undergone another round of transformation and strengthening.
His cultivation, originally at the seventh grade of the Martial Realm, also naturally stepped into the sixth grade after his physical body was further strengthened.
Fang Mu did not care much about his cultivation breakthrough. His physical strength had long since surpassed his cultivation; his cultivation was merely a cover to hide his true strength.
After leaving the Mortal Prison dungeon, Fang Mu looked at the pitch-black night and could not help giving a bitter laugh.
He had spent nearly the entire day slaying demons. Although he had obtained quite a few Essence Blood Pills, he was exhausted like a dog.
"Looks like, from now on, I'll have the other Demon Slayer Envoys kill demons below five stars. That way, I won't arouse suspicion so easily, and I won't have to tire myself out like this."
Fang Mu muttered inwardly before leaving the Demon Slayer Division and arriving on the streets of the city.
Following a rough, hand-drawn map, Fang Mu headed toward the Sacrificial God Hall.
With a clone and Xixi at home, Fang Mu felt relatively reassured. He planned to visit the Sacrificial God Hall overnight and help Qi Zhu search for clues about her origins.
The streets in the city were quiet and soundless. At night, one could barely see any commoners, and only patrol teams occasionally passed by.
Fang Mu hid in a dark corner at the street's edge, avoiding those patrol teams.
The patrol teams hurried past, merely going through the motions. They did not carefully inspect the area at all.
After walking along the broad streets for some time, Fang Mu finally arrived at the relatively secluded Sacrificial God Hall in the western part of the city.
The night had deepened, and the Sacrificial God Hall was utterly silent. The priests responsible for managing it had all gone to rest.
Fang Mu lightly tapped the ground with his toes and nimbly vaulted over the high wall like a spirit ape.
He had never been to the Sacrificial God Hall before. Looking at the five towering grand halls, he could only investigate them one by one.
When he arrived at the eastern grand hall, Fang Mu discovered that the characters Dao Hall were written on the hall's plaque.
The hall enshrined quite a few divine statues. At the head of the main hall sat an old man with a youthful face and white hair like a crane's.
Unable to discern anything useful, Fang Mu silently arrived at a Buddhist Hall on the western side.
The Buddhist Hall enshrined quite a few Buddha statues. Those statues were nothing like the Eighteen Arhats or the golden body of the Buddha Lord that he knew from his previous life.
Instead, they enshrined several Buddhas he had never seen before, most likely images fabricated by the commoners in the city.
After investigating the other two grand halls, Fang Mu found no useful clues.
He then arrived at the main grand hall, pushed open its heavy doors, and entered the pitch-black hall.
This grand hall was called Green Bamboo Hall. The divine statue enshrined inside depicted an incomparably beautiful woman.
She wore a jade-green dress of green bamboo, and her appearance resembled Qi Zhu's by seventy or eighty percent.
The woman held a green bamboo sword as thin as a willow leaf. The long sword pointed straight ahead, as though aimed at Fang Mu beneath the hall.
After carefully examining the divine statue, Fang Mu discovered that it truly looked extremely similar to Qi Zhu.
"Fang Mu pays his respects to the Sacrificial God. May I ask whether the Sacrificial God can reveal herself?"
After closing the hall doors, Fang Mu respectfully bowed to the divine statue.
But the divine statue showed no reaction. Fang Mu could not help knitting his brows in doubt as he cautiously extended his divine sense to investigate.
Fang Mu discovered a strange energy within the divine statue, but he found no living presence.
"How strange. Could the Sacrificial God not be in the divine hall?"
"Could that strange energy be the legendary power of faith?"
After hesitating for a moment, Fang Mu controlled his Vital Energy and extended it into the divine statue, hoping to wrap up some of the power of faith and examine it.
Yet he discovered that the power of faith had form but no substance. His Vital Energy easily passed straight through that energy.
He could not touch the power of faith in the slightest, much less draw it out of the divine statue.
Fang Mu was also left somewhat dumbfounded. Just as he was trying various methods and discovering that none of them could do anything to the power of faith,
the Demon Refining Mirror in his sea of consciousness suddenly shot out a beam of golden light that enveloped the divine statue.
The sudden change startled Fang Mu badly.
He was genuinely afraid that the Demon Refining Mirror would run wild and refine the divine statue. If that happened, it would cause a major disaster.
This was not outside the city. It would certainly alarm the higher-ups of the County Office and prompt an investigation.
Before Fang Mu could react, the golden light drew in strands upon strands of the power of faith and merged them into his sea of consciousness.
Fang Mu watched as countless strands of the power of faith merged into the dim, illusory soul within his sea of consciousness.
After fusing with countless strands of the power of faith, the illusory soul actually became somewhat more solid.
When he opened his eyes, Fang Mu discovered that his divine sense seemed to have grown much stronger, and his perception of his surroundings had become far sharper.
His five senses also seemed to have been enhanced. He could see the darkness more clearly and in greater detail, while his ability to smell scents and auras also seemed to have grown stronger.
At that moment, he faintly heard the sound of something tearing through the air, seemingly heading toward the grand hall. Fang Mu was startled.
With no time to think, he hurriedly flashed behind the divine statue, concealed his figure, and turned his body void.
Fang Mu secretly congratulated himself that the Demon Refining Mirror had not refined the divine statue. Otherwise, he would probably have invited a great deal of unnecessary trouble.
Just as Fang Mu was secretly congratulating himself, the doors creaked open, and someone pushed them aside and entered the hall.
Because the divine statue blocked his view, Fang Mu could not see the newcomer. He did not know the other party's purpose in visiting in the dead of night, so he concealed his aura as carefully as possible.
"Heh heh. It wasn't easy to come here and investigate. The divine statues of the four major sects all have restrictions placed on them, making their faith difficult to seize."
"But the Sacrificial God of the Sacrificial God Hall has disappeared without a trace and isn't cultivating inside the hall. That certainly benefits me. I can take away the power of faith."
A strange laugh rang out. After muttering to himself, the newcomer controlled a beam of light that enveloped the divine statue.
Hidden behind the divine statue, Fang Mu was struck by the light spilling over him, and it felt as though thousands upon thousands of needles were stabbing into his body.
Enduring the pain, Fang Mu did not dare make a sound. He silently avoided the area illuminated by the light and hid in the shadow of a divine statue to one side.
Soon, the light dissipated. The hall doors creaked again, and the person seemed to have left the divine hall.
Fang Mu secretly let out a sigh of relief and hurriedly flashed out of the divine hall.
After arriving outside, he carefully sensed his surroundings. Once he confirmed that no one was hiding in ambush, his figure sped toward the outside of the Sacrificial God Hall like a ghost.
Only after he had left the Sacrificial God Hall by some distance did Fang Mu secretly let out a sigh of relief.
He did not know who that unknown expert was, but Fang Mu had sensed a fatal threat from the other party. That person's strength should be extremely formidable.
Fang Mu did not want to clash with that expert. Since the other party had infiltrated the Sacrificial God Hall, they should have come to obtain the power of faith.
This made him understand that the power of faith was not something only he could absorb. Others had ways to absorb it as well.
From the meaning behind that person's words, the divine statues in the other four grand halls seemed to belong to the four major powers.
It appeared that all those divine statues had restrictions placed on them, preventing that person from stealing their power of faith.
"I wonder whether the Demon Refining Mirror can steal the power of faith belonging to the four major powers?"
Fang Mu muttered inwardly, feeling somewhat expectant, but this was not a good time to return to the Sacrificial God Hall.
He sped along the street ahead, leaving the area and heading toward the Slums.
The power of faith had already been seized by the Demon Refining Mirror and absorbed and refined by him.
Once that unknown expert realized what had happened and discovered that they had infiltrated the Sacrificial God Hall only to come away empty-handed, they would certainly fly into a rage and investigate.
Fang Mu did not want to bring trouble upon himself, so naturally, it was best to leave first.
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