Stealing the Power of Faith

Fang Mu, already familiar with the route, slipped silently into the Sacrificial God Hall and then made his way to the Dao Hall.

Hiding behind a divine statue, Fang Mu sensed his surroundings.

After confirming that no one was nearby, he began circulating the Demon Refining Mirror, absorbing and refining the power of faith within the divine statue.

Sure enough, all the divine statues had been sealed. Fang Mu watched as golden light emerged from the statue, pierced through several layers of light-screen barriers, and drew out wisps of the power of faith.

The golden light of the Demon Refining Mirror seemed able to penetrate the seals without damaging them, as though it merely opened a passage.

Seeing that the divine statue remained intact despite having its power of faith siphoned away, Fang Mu secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

At least outsiders should not be able to tell that someone had stolen the divine statue's power of faith.

After absorbing the power of faith from the dozen or so divine statues enshrined in the main hall, Fang Mu came behind the central statue.

It was a statue of an old man with crane-white hair and a youthful face. It was also the largest statue in the Dao Hall, positioned at the very center of the entire hall.

Fang Mu once again activated the Demon Refining Mirror and absorbed the power of faith within the statue.

The power of faith within this statue was practically like a mighty river, flowing without end.

It actually surpassed the combined total of the dozen or so divine statues in the hall.

Just as the Demon Refining Mirror was absorbing and refining the power of faith within the Dao Ancestor's statue,

a white light suddenly surged into Fang Mu's sea of consciousness, transforming into the image of an old man with crane-white hair and a youthful face.

The old man's image did not attack Fang Mu. Instead, it sat cross-legged and began chanting profound scriptures.

The scripture's voice, like the peal of a great bell and the toll of a huge drum, filled Fang Mu's sea of consciousness.

Terrifying sound waves enveloped Fang Mu's soul, as though countless people were chanting Dao text beside his ears.

What horrified Fang Mu was the sudden feeling of worship and faith toward the old man that arose in his heart.

It was as if the old man were a god and he were the old man's most loyal and devout believer, destined to prostrate himself before and support him.

As time passed, this feeling grew stronger and stronger, as though a demonic root had sunk deep into him.

"Is this purification, conversion, or perhaps the planting of a parasite?"

Fang Mu was terrified. He desperately tried to resist and hold fast to his convictions, struggling to remain calm.

But the old man was too powerful. Under the suppression of the scriptures, Fang Mu gradually began to lose himself.

Just as Fang Mu was beginning to lose himself, a small portion of the black mist drifting deep within his sea of consciousness suddenly transformed into black vapor and spread toward the image of light.

The black vapor spread with astonishing speed, giving the old man's image no time to react.

Amid a shrill scream, the old man's image was instantly devoured and refined by the black vapor, transforming into streaks of light that were absorbed by it.

A half-transparent sigil floating within Fang Mu's soul was also enveloped and devoured by the black vapor.

At the same time, far, far away, within a majestic Dao Hall, an old Daoist with crane-white hair and a youthful face sat cross-legged.

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

"There is actually an evil, dark power that devoured my Dao Seal."

"I want to see what kind of evil Outer Dao dares to act so brazenly as to target even the divine statues where I gather faith."

After muttering to himself, the old Daoist closed his eyes and began deducing the matter by manipulating his fingers. Spirit-patterned Dao light flickered around his fingers.

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

His face was filled with shock and horror, and his heart remained unsettled for a long time. He had actually been unable to deduce that person's origins and had instead suffered a backlash that seriously wounded him.

Fang Mu had no idea that he had narrowly escaped disaster. When the black vapor dissipated and returned to the depths of his sea of consciousness, his mind was still somewhat dazed.

Only after quite some time did Fang Mu finally regain consciousness. He anxiously inspected his sea of consciousness and discovered that the old man's image had vanished.

"Strange. Where did that image go? Was it refined by the Demon Refining Mirror? Did it save me?"

Fang Mu muttered to himself and glanced at the Demon Refining Mirror in his sea of consciousness, which remained utterly still.

After sensing his own condition, he found nothing amiss.

He also felt no trace of worship or faith toward that divine statue. Clearly, the old man had failed to achieve his aim and had not bewitched him.

Looking at his soul, which had absorbed a massive amount of the power of faith and was gradually solidifying, Fang Mu could not help but smile.

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

But Fang Mu had learned his lesson. He did not dare touch the principal enshrined statues again, absorbing only the power of faith from the subsidiary statues.

After absorbing a vast amount of the power of faith, Fang Mu's soul underwent a qualitative improvement and was almost completely solidified.

Not only had his perception become several times sharper, he could even close his eyes and extend his divine sense, sensing every disturbance within a radius of more than ten meters.

The feeling was extremely wondrous. Even without using his eyes, every stir and rustle within a radius of more than ten meters was fully reflected in his perception.

This delighted Fang Mu, but it also secretly horrified him.

Under such terrifying perception, almost nothing could escape detection. If he was careless, he might truly suffer a mishap, have himself seen through, and not even realize it.

"Looks like I can't casually use the Demon Refining Mirror outside in the future. It may very well attract covetous eyes." Fang Mu secretly reminded himself.

Suddenly, a faint sound of something cutting through the air came from outside.

Within Fang Mu's perception, he saw a black shadow flash past and shoot into the distance.

Finding the black shadow suspicious, Fang Mu's body turned ethereal and transformed into a shadow. After darting out of the main entrance, he silently pursued it.

With his powerful perception and his ethereal ability concealing his aura,

Fang Mu followed the black shadow like a ghost into a secluded bamboo grove.

This place was still within the territory of the Sacrificial God Hall, merely in a relatively remote location.

The black shadow warily turned its head and looked around, clearly afraid that someone had followed it in secret.

After sensing no one following, the black shadow entered the bamboo grove and came to a thoroughly unremarkable boulder.

The black shadow carefully pushed the boulder aside without making the slightest sound.

Beneath the boulder was another thick stone slab. After pushing it aside, the black shadow leaped down into the deep pit it revealed.

Fang Mu flashed to the edge of the opening, leaned over, and looked down, only to discover that it was actually an ancient well.

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

There should have been a passage beneath the dry well. Because the darkness pierced through his vision, Fang Mu could no longer see the black shadow that had entered it.

After hesitating for a moment, Fang Mu flashed into the dry well, wanting to see what was hidden inside.

After landing silently in the ancient well, Fang Mu discovered an opening in the stone wall on one side.

He carefully slipped through the opening. Before he had gone far, Fang Mu arrived at an extremely cold cavern.

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

It was the figure of a man. His aura was restrained, and not the slightest fluctuation could be sensed from him.

"Swoosh!"

Suddenly, a sound tore through the air. A streak of white light arrived in the blink of an eye, pierced through Fang Mu's ethereal shadow, and stabbed into the solid stone wall behind him.

Fang Mu broke into a cold sweat. Seeing the long sword pass through his body, he cautiously moved away and merged into the darkness on the ground.

The man who had shot out the sword turned back and looked around several times, frowning slightly.

He had clearly sensed a peering gaze, yet he had not expected his sword to strike empty air.

After carefully sensing the fluctuations around him and confirming that there was no outsider's aura, the man waved his hand and recalled the long sword, feeling that he had been overly cautious and suspicious.

Fang Mu, who had merged into the darkness and hidden himself, was so frightened that he did not dare reveal the slightest trace of his aura, much less spy on the man again.

The man could actually control a sword in midair. That was an ability possessed only by an expert of the Innate Realm, a level above the first rank.

In other words, that furtive figure was actually a top-tier expert of the Innate Realm.

According to the information Fang Mu had gathered, even the strongest Demon Slayer Division Chief Envoy in the entire Qingzhu City was only at the Innate Realm.