Incense Seed

Incense Seed

[Four of Nine].

The eight-zhang Bodhisattva became five zhang tall.

Its strength fell.

[Five of Nine]

The five-zhang Bodhisattva became one zhang tall.

Its strength fell once more.

[Six of Nine]

Just before dawn.

The sky was turning gray.

The youth sat cross-legged at the foot of Manfeng Mountain, his entire body radiating an incomparably sharp, impatient aura.

At the instant the heavens brightened fully, he neither ran nor hid again. Instead, he suddenly opened his eyes, as though he had pinpointed the time exactly, gripped the zhang-long Beast Slaying Saber with all five fingers, and shot into the sky.

With a single Flying Swallow Mountain Collapse, he slashed at a spot in the empty air.

That place had clearly been completely empty, yet as the youth's blade cut through it, a one-zhang Bodhisattva suddenly appeared.

Upon seeing the blade light, the Bodhisattva brought its hands together, intending to catch the blade between its palms.

But how could that be possible?

Ning Xuan's blade was swift to the extreme. Compared to him, the Bodhisattva moved like a snail. This strike cleaved directly into the center of its brow.

A crack appeared on its forehead.

Ning Xuan did not even raise his blade. Only the sound of swallows chirping rang out between his muscles and bones.

Swallow Cry Force—within the space of a square inch, it could still erupt.

With a light press, it was equivalent to another Flying Swallow Mountain Collapse.

Boom!

The crack widened considerably.

Only after his two successive strikes did the Bodhisattva's hands finally close together.

Bang!

Yet that clap caught nothing but air.

Ning Xuan had already used the force of that press to leap upward.

Slash!

Another strike landed in the same spot.

One blade strike, followed by one force, then a second—though he had clearly swung only once, once it landed, the ensuing blade force surged forth wave after wave like a raging sea and furious tide.

Bang bang bang bang!

At last—

A crisp "crack" rang out.

Spiderweb-like fissures rapidly spread outward from the Bodhisattva's blue lotus spiral curls.

A savage smile curled across Ning Xuan's lips. He even wanted to throw back his head and laugh wildly.

He said nothing, asked nothing, and struck again.

Boom!!

The Bodhisattva shattered.

It broke apart into countless specks.

That full-moon face, those brows marked by a white curl, those lips concealing a greedy smile—all turned blank and still, then scattered and crumbled to pieces.

Ning Xuan felt an exhilarating rush.

He could not restrain the increasingly savage curl of his lips, nor the greed still beyond his control in his eyes.

He stared at those scattered fragments, then saw a gray, long-haired rat at their core.

The rat was no more than a foot long, its fur like steel needles and its eyes glowing a sinister green.

At this moment, those green pupils revealed an indescribable disbelief.

And in the instant those green eyes met Ning Xuan's, his blade had already thrust out.

The rat demon's claws repeatedly clawed at the air, but they were like carriage wheels mired in mud—no matter how hard they strained, they merely spun uselessly. It had not touched the ground, so naturally it could not tread upon the wind.

The blade tip became a spear, a streak like lightning.

Almost instantly, the blade tip pierced through the gray-furred rat demon's body. The force erupted within it almost at the same time as the rat demon's agonized squeals.

Squeak squeak squeak!

Boom!!

The rat demon exploded.

It turned into a dense, roiling mass of black smoke that flowed toward Ning Xuan.

At last, words appeared before his eyes.

[Heavenly Demon Scroll: Stealing Incense Rat (20/100)]

But it was not over.

The "(20/100)" began to climb at a furious pace, becoming "(100/100)" in almost the blink of an eye.

Then it flickered again, displaying the complete entry.

[Stealing Incense Rat]

[Heavenly Demon Nature Attribute: Order Rodent Class Incense Family Stealing Incense Species (Spirit): 5.0] (Only the primary attribute is displayed) (Can additionally provide 4.5 Nature attributes when summoned)

[Innate Demonic Art: Stealing Incense Technique: At night, it steals a wisp of smoke from the azure shrine; it masquerades as a Heavenly Venerable to receive the years, stealing incense offerings and turning them to its own use] (Minimum requirement: Spirit 5)

[Mastered Demonic Art: Humming-Haw Technique: Force becomes sound, impossible to guard against; one hum shatters courage, one haw erases form] (Minimum requirement: Physique 6)

As the Heavenly Demon Scroll was successfully refined, the world of black moon and white sun quietly collapsed.

The campfire leaped back into Ning Xuan's sight.

In the distance came the sounds of soldiers on patrol.

Inside the tent was Ugly Slave's steady breathing as he rested.

The cold branches in the fire crackled and popped, and light returned to Ning Xuan's eyes.

He took note of how seamlessly the surroundings had connected and confirmed one thing: while the nightmare scroll was being refined, time outside stood still.

He cast another deep look at the distant mountain, then closed his eyes slightly.

He had gained the Stealing Incense Rat's power, yet he had not gained that ten-zhang Bodhisattva's incense body.

Yet because of this, he had vaguely guessed quite a bit.

He had been born from the night.

Demons had been born from the day.

When night and day intersected, he and the demons would intersect as well.

And the [Heavenly Demon Scroll] would sense that intersection in advance. Then, through some mysterious means, it would forcibly snatch the life of the demon at the point where the two realms met, forcing him to refine it. If he succeeded, he would become one who controlled demonic power. If he failed, his soul would scatter and vanish.

That was why demonic power could be forcibly restored through secret arts during the day, but not at night.

The Stealing Incense Rat was a spirit-oriented demon, yet the Bodhisattva shell was physique-oriented. During the day, the Bodhisattva shell could recover without injury, but at night, it could only burn its own foundation, shrinking itself from ten zhang to eight, before it could use the "Humming-Haw Technique."

By the same reasoning, although he had gained the Stealing Incense Rat's power, he had not been able to obtain the Stealing Incense Rat's incense offerings.

Because incense offerings belonged to the side of daylight.

And he belonged to the side of night.

Even while refining the [Heavenly Demon Scroll], daylight would not permit him to take any additional incense offerings away.

As for why the Stealing Incense Rat could bring along an "incense Bodhisattva body," while the previous Mountain Crashing Bear Demon could not bring the "Blood-colored Incense Brocade Kasaya" into the nightmare, the issue presumably lay in the three words "Incense Seed."

The Mountain Crashing Bear Demon was an "Ordinary Species."

The Stealing Incense Rat, however, was an "Incense Seed."

Ordinary Species could not condense incense offerings and needed to worship Bodhisattva Statues to pray for incense treasures.

Incense Seeds, however, could condense incense offerings, making incense offerings a part of themselves.

As for how much incense they could condense, that depended on spirit—that is, Nature. This was the Divine Soul his elder brother had spoken of, a realm utterly different from flesh and blood.

Now that he had obtained the Stealing Incense Rat's power, his Nature could rise from its original "1.0" to "5.5." Then... could he possibly learn the Dragon Qi his elder brother had mentioned, first becoming a fangshi, and then a Celestial Master?

At the same time, although he had gained the Stealing Incense Rat's power, he would have to steal incense offerings himself.

And if he managed to steal incense offerings, making them a part of himself, did that mean he could bring incense offerings into the nightmare as well?

But... what exactly were incense offerings?

And where could he find them?

If incense offerings could become power, Ning Xuan believed that temples would already have filled the land around him, rather than this flourishing imperial dynasty.

Note: The original arrangement was not very reasonable, so it has been deleted. It will not affect the reading experience, whether you are following along or not.