Stealing the Power of Faith

With the practiced ease of someone familiar with the routine, Fang Mu silently infiltrated the Sacrificial God Hall and then proceeded to the Dao Hall.

Hiding behind a divine statue, Fang Mu took a moment to sense his surroundings.

After ensuring no one was nearby, he began to activate the Demon Refining Mirror, absorbing and refining the power of faith within the divine statues.

As expected, all the divine statues were protected by restrictions. Fang Mu saw golden light emanating from them, passing through several light barriers before drawing out wisps of the power of faith.

The golden light from the Demon Refining Mirror seemed capable of penetrating the restrictions without damaging them, as if merely opening a passage.

Fang Mu breathed a sigh of relief, looking at the divine statues, their power of faith gone but otherwise intact.

At least, outsiders shouldn't be able to tell that the power of faith in the divine statues had been stolen.

After absorbing the power of faith from the dozen or so divine statues enshrined in the hall, Fang Mu moved to the one in the very center, the main idol.

This was a divine statue of an old man with white hair and a youthful complexion, the largest statue in the Dao Hall, situated at the very heart of the entire hall.

Fang Mu activated the Demon Refining Mirror again, absorbing the power of faith from this statue.

The power of faith within this statue was like a ceaseless, surging river.

It was actually more than the combined total of the other dozen statues in the hall.

As the Demon Refining Mirror absorbed and refined the power of faith from the Dao Ancestor's divine statue, a beam of white light suddenly surged into Fang Mu's sea of consciousness, transforming into a spectral image of the old man with white hair and a youthful complexion.

The spectral image of the old man did not attack Fang Mu. Instead, it sat cross-legged and began reciting profound scripture.

The sound of the scripture, like great bells and resonant drums, filled Fang Mu's sea of consciousness.

The terrifying sound waves enveloped Fang Mu's soul, as if countless people were reciting Dao text in his ears.

What terrified Fang Mu was the sudden surge of reverence and faith he felt towards the old man.

It was as if the old man was a god, and he was his most loyal and devout follower, meant to worship and uphold him.

As time passed, this feeling intensified, like a demonic root taking hold.

"Is this purification, or salvation? Or perhaps a curse?"

Fang Mu's heart filled with terror as he desperately tried to resist, to hold onto his beliefs and maintain his composure.

But the old man was too powerful. The suppression from the scripture caused him to gradually lose himself.

Just as Fang Mu was beginning to lose his sense of self, a wisp of black mist, drifting in the depths of Fang Mu's sea of consciousness, transformed into black energy and spread towards the spectral image.

The black energy spread with incredible speed, giving the old man's spectral image no time to react.

With a piercing scream, the old man's spectral image was instantly engulfed and refined by the black energy, transforming into streams of light that were absorbed by the black energy.

A semi-transparent rune imprint, floating within Fang Mu's soul, was also enveloped and consumed by the black energy.

At the same time, far, far away, in a majestic Dao Hall, sat an old Daoist priest with white hair and a youthful complexion.

The old Daoist, who had been cultivating cross-legged, suddenly opened his eyes, a sharp glint flashing within them.

"An evil, dark force has actually devoured my Dao Seal."

"I want to see what kind of demon or heretic has the audacity to have designs on my divine statues, which I use to gather faith."

As the old Daoist finished speaking his self-recrimination, he closed his eyes and began to calculate with his fingers, which danced with streams of spiritual patterns and Dao light.

"Pfft!" Suddenly, the old Daoist let out a muffled groan and spat out a mouthful of blood.

The old Daoist's face was filled with shock and horror, his heart unable to calm down. He found it impossible to deduce the origin of the person, and instead suffered a backlash that severely injured him.

Fang Mu was unaware that he had narrowly escaped. As the black energy dissipated and returned to the depths of his sea of consciousness, his mind was still somewhat hazy.

After a considerable amount of time, Fang Mu finally regained his senses. He anxiously examined his sea of consciousness and discovered that the old man's spectral image was gone.

"Strange, where did that spectral image go? Was it refined by the Demon Refining Mirror? Did it save me?"

Fang Mu muttered to himself, glancing at the motionless Demon Refining Mirror in his sea of consciousness.

He then sensed his own body and found nothing amiss.

He no longer felt any sense of faith or reverence towards the divine statue. It seemed he had not fallen prey to it, nor been corrupted by it.

Looking at his soul, which had gradually solidified after absorbing a large amount of power of faith, Fang Mu couldn't help but show a hint of a smile.

After leaving the Dao Hall, he infiltrated the Buddhist Hall and the remaining two halls.

However, this time Fang Mu had learned his lesson. He did not dare to lay hands on the main idol, only absorbing the power of faith from the subsidiary divine statues.

After absorbing a large amount of power of faith, Fang Mu's soul underwent a qualitative improvement, becoming almost solid.

Not only were his senses several times sharper, but he could even close his eyes and project his divine sense to perceive any disturbance within a radius of over ten meters.

This feeling was incredibly profound. Even without using his eyes, he could sense every rustle of leaves within a ten-meter radius.

This filled Fang Mu with delight, but also a secret sense of dread.

With such terrifying perception, he was almost completely exposed. If he wasn't careful, he might truly capsize, being seen through without even realizing it.

"It seems I can't casually use the Demon Refining Mirror outside anymore. It might attract covetous gazes," Fang Mu reminded himself.

Suddenly, a faint whistling sound of air being broken came from outside.

In Fang Mu's perception, he saw a black shadow flash past, darting rapidly into the distance.

Finding the black shadow suspicious, Fang Mu's body flickered, transforming into the shadow. After swiftly exiting the gate, he silently pursued the black shadow.

With his powerful perception and the ability to conceal his presence by becoming incorporeal, Fang Mu followed the black shadow like a phantom into a secluded bamboo forest.

This area was still within the Sacrificial God Hall's territory, just a rather remote section.

He saw the black shadow turn back cautiously, looking around as if fearing it was being followed.

After sensing no one was tracking it, the black shadow approached a seemingly ordinary large rock within the bamboo forest.

The black shadow carefully pushed aside the large rock, making not the slightest sound.

Beneath the large rock was a heavy stone slab. After pushing aside the slab, the black shadow leaped down into the revealed deep pit.

Fang Mu flashed to the edge of the opening and peered down, discovering it was an ancient well.

The ancient well was over ten meters deep. There was no water at the bottom, clearly indicating it was an abandoned dry well.

There should be a passage beneath the dry well, as Fang Mu couldn't see the black shadow that entered the well through the darkness.

After a moment of hesitation, Fang Mu flashed into the dry well, wanting to see what was inside.

Landing silently in the ancient well, Fang Mu found an opening in the stone wall on one side.

He cautiously infiltrated the opening. Not long after, Fang Mu arrived at an extremely cold and gloomy cave.

Inside the cave, the black shadow that had infiltrated earlier was now standing beside an ice coffin.

It was the figure of a man, his aura contained, giving no hint of any fluctuation.

"Whoosh!"

Suddenly, a sound of piercing air broke the silence. A white light arrived in an instant, piercing through Fang Mu's incorporeal shadow and embedding itself into the thick stone wall behind him.

Fang Mu broke out in a cold sweat. Looking at the long sword that had passed through his body, he fearfully and quietly moved away, merging into the darkness of the ground.

The man who had shot the sword turned back, looked around a few times, and frowned.

He had clearly sensed a prying gaze, but his sword strike had missed.

Carefully sensing the surrounding fluctuations and confirming there were no external auras, the man waved his hand and recalled his sword, thinking he was being overly cautious and suspicious.

Hidden in the darkness, Fang Mu was so terrified he didn't dare reveal the slightest aura, let alone try to spy on the man again.

He could actually wield a sword telekinetically. That was an ability only possessed by experts of the Innate Realm and above.

In other words, that sneaky figure was, damn it all, a top-tier Innate Realm expert.

According to the information Fang Mu had gathered, the strongest individual in Qingzhu City, the Commander of the Demon Slayer Division, was merely at the Innate Realm.