Gaining the Hungry Ghost Path Divine Ability

The Nine-Story Pagoda collapsed with a thunderous roar, sending up billowing clouds of dust. Hanyu stood outside White Bone Temple, gazing at the shattered ruins as the dust settled, letting out a sigh.

After the two of them hurried out of the pagoda, Cousin suddenly turned around to go back inside.

"The Underground Passage is always a hidden danger. I'm afraid someone might follow it into the tomb. Better to destroy it."

With that, Cousin went back in, and not long after, the pagoda collapsed.

Hanyu stood outside the temple waiting, while Little Glazed's voice chattered incessantly in his mind.

"Hanyu, the bottle is acting up again. Just give it to it!"

The Glazed Bottle shook violently in his mind, like a child throwing a tantrum.

"How can I give it away? It's someone else's. How will I return it later?"

Hanyu flatly refused, worried the bottle might cause trouble. Still uneasy, he pulled it from his chest and gripped it tightly in his hand.

But to his surprise, the moment he held it, the Glazed Bottle suddenly leaped up, its mouth tilting downward, emitting a suction force.

It seemed something was sucked into the bottle's mouth. Hanyu's clenched hand suddenly felt lighter. He quickly opened his palm and stared dumbfounded at the empty space.

"Why did you hold it in your hand? Don't you know you can use your hand to take pills from a distance, and it can also snatch things from your hand?" Little Glazed said with schadenfreude.

"Make it spit it out now, hurry up. I still have to return it later." Hanyu was frantic and urged the little Artifact Spirit.

"Impossible. If it eats something, getting a scrap back is already generous."

Little Glazed's voice was childish and seemed delighted.

After swallowing the Sarira, the Glazed Bottle finally calmed down. A cloud of mist rose from its mouth, gathered above its head, and swirled. Suddenly, a blaze of fire appeared beneath the bottle, continuously refining it.

Golden raindrops began to fall from the mist, striking the bottle and the flames. In an instant, the fire surged even more fiercely, and the bottle began to emit a faint glow.

After a full quarter-hour of refining, the mist stopped raining, and the flames gradually receded. The Glazed Bottle flashed with a faint light before returning to its original form.

Hah—ptui—

At the bottle's mouth, the Glazed Artifact Spirit spat something out with great disdain.

A stone the size of a quail egg rolled a few times and stopped. Hanyu's face darkened as he reached out to grab it. The originally jade-like, glowing Sarira was now a dull gray-white, its color faded, like an ordinary broken stone.

"You guys suck it dry, wipe it clean, and then give me back the trash, right!"

Hanyu said angrily in his mind.

Uh...

Little Glazed let out a few burps. No wonder it hadn't stopped him earlier—the bottle eating meant it was eating too.

They were practically in cahoots.

"Hanyu, you ate too. You had a share," Little Glazed retorted indignantly.

"When did I eat?" Hanyu's face darkened as he was about to argue, but the mist in his mind suddenly trembled, then swept down and transformed into a massive Hungry Ghost Path Contemplation Diagram.

Xuan Yin's Hungry Ghost Diagram only depicted a group of hungry ghosts, but the one in Hanyu's mind was a sea of people, almost endless—this was what a true hellscape looked like.

"Who knew the leftovers of the Sarira were the Hungry Ghost Path cultivated by a high monk! You've got a whole new divine ability now!" Little Glazed exclaimed happily.

Hanyu's expression turned strange, caught between tangled emotions and a bitter smile.

Damn it, he really did get a share too. How was he supposed to explain this to Cousin?

On the other side, Cousin emerged from the pagoda's rubble, covered in dust. Spotting Hanyu, he hurried over.

"Cough, cough! I only meant to blow up the well and the Dungeon, but I accidentally hit the pagoda's foundation too. Almost got crushed to death."

Cousin's face was awkward.

Hanyu's face was awkward too. He hesitated, then finally sighed and opened his palm, revealing the stone-like object.

"Sorry, it seems I damaged the Sarira."

Cousin leaned in to look, his expression unchanged. He just muttered, "It's completely lost its Buddha nature. If you like it, keep it as a souvenir."

He didn't show much emotion about the Sarira, which only made Hanyu feel more embarrassed.

"Damn!"

After a few more jokes, Cousin suddenly slapped his forehead with a panicked shout, nearly startling Hanyu.

"I almost forgot about the commoner."

He looked at Hanyu and explained that five days ago, he had arranged to meet the commoner at Hidden Moon Peak to explore the tomb together. The commoner was supposed to arrive two days ago but never showed.

Later, Cousin couldn't wait and entered the tomb alone, only to get trapped in the burial chamber and then captured in the Dungeon.

"Maybe he was just delayed?"

Hanyu asked with a light laugh.

But Cousin shook his head gravely. "He's always punctual. Besides, he was only going to Hidden Moon Peak to gather herbs. Unless something happened, he wouldn't be two days late."

Hanyu's smile faded. Cousin rummaged in his chest and pulled out a small, square wooden box.

The box was thrown to the ground and suddenly grew larger, then slowly opened to reveal various small iron pieces, seemingly of the same material as the ones Cousin had taken out before.

Cousin crouched down and began assembling them. In just half an hour, he pieced together a two-meter-tall Iron Bird.

Hanyu watched the strange bird with curiosity, finding it quite amusing.

"This is an Iron Kite. I tinkered it together. Load it with Spirit Stones and it flies faster and longer than a Flying Sword. The downside is it's not sturdy enough—useless for an escape." The cousin patted the Iron Kite as he introduced it.

The mention of speed and endurance made Hanyu's eyes light up. His persistent weakness had always been his inability to fly, and this Iron Kite seemed like it could let him experience high-altitude flight for once.

"I'll be off then." The cousin stuffed a small Spirit Stone into the Iron Kite's belly, hopped on, and waved at Hanyu.

"Since I've nothing to do, I might as well tag along."

Just as the cousin was about to take off, Hanyu suddenly stopped him and spoke.

When the two sat together on the Iron Kite, a pair of two-meter-long iron wings spread out. With a single gentle flap, they shot into the sky.

Hanyu felt a surge of excitement. This was his first time in the air—the agony of a pure Body Cultivator, no one else could understand.

Below the Iron Kite, scenery flashed by, and a strong wind lifted his spirits.

Just then, Little Glazed's untimely voice laughed in his mind. "Hanyu, you lost your second ox too!"

Damn! Hanyu's face darkened instantly. He mimicked his cousin and slapped his forehead—too caught up in the experience, he'd forgotten his ox.

Another Big Yellow Ox had left him...

Lu Dayou was feeling quite irritable today. As he'd expected, the Tianshui Sect had come in force to demand an accounting. Several elders led over a hundred disciples straight into Minzhou City, making a grand show as they stormed the Xiao Mansion.

Fortunately, thanks to Lu Dayou's earlier warning, by the time the Tianshui Sect crowd arrived, only rubble remained, and the Xiao Family had long since vanished.

An elder, enraged at finding nothing, sought out the local Prefect—Lu Dayou himself.

"When it rains, the sky weeps; when a girl marries, her mother agrees. If people move, what's it to me?" Lu Dayou replied flatly.

"Our sect's disciple reported that you were present that day." The elder said angrily.

Lu Dayou maintained his indifferent tone. "I am a Prefect of this prefecture. When someone stirs trouble, I intervene—that's in accordance with national law."

"I hear there was also a Little Alchemist stirring things up?" The elder pressed rudely.

Lu Dayou shook his head, claiming he hadn't seen anything and didn't know.

"Truly don't know, or deliberately shielding him, looking to oppose my Tianshui Sect?" The elder's gaze swept over him, his tone threatening.

Lu Dayou's temper began to rise. He snorted coldly, "If you want to throw your sect's weight around, how about I send a letter back to my own sect and ask if they're afraid of your Tianshui Sect?"

The elder's face flickered with uncertainty. He dared not push further and finally turned to leave in a huff.

The crowd came in a flurry and left in a grand procession.

"So, the Tianshui Sect has its eyes on the Little Alchemist too. They must be after the pills." Lu Dayou murmured to himself, hands clasped behind his back as he watched the morning glow.

He'd thought that taking a post in a remote backwater in the southern region would mean fewer troubles, but he'd forgotten—it's never people seeking trouble; trouble always finds people.

The Iron Kite flew for a full two hours before slowly landing.

The cousin's face was pale, and Hanyu's cheeks were trembling.

"This is my first time flying so long at high altitude. It's a bit rough." The cousin leaned on the Iron Kite, his legs shaking.

Hanyu's sturdy body spared him the leg tremors, but after drinking wind for two hours, his stomach was in agony.

The massive Iron Kite quickly drew a crowd of onlookers outside Shuzhou City, many pointing and commenting.

"I think I saw them riding this thing down from the sky."

"How does a lump of iron like that even fly?"

The cousin couldn't stand being gawked at. He reached under the Iron Kite's belly, found a small raised slot, and pressed hard. The entire Iron Kite instantly collapsed into a pile of iron sheets on the ground.

Hanyu endured his discomfort and crouched down to help pick them up, then asked quietly, "Aren't you going to save someone? Why are we here?"

The cousin packed the sheets away before replying, "Most of my tools are stored with my cousin sister. I need to pick them up—better to be prepared."

Just then, several Prefectural Guards emerged from the city. They walked over, dispersed the crowd, clasped their fists, and said politely, "The Prefect invites the two of you to the mansion for a talk."

Why was he dealing with a Prefect again?

Hanyu sighed helplessly and glanced at his cousin.

The cousin gave him a reassuring look and explained in a low voice, "The Prefect here is my cousin sister."

Hanyu was speechless. A female Prefect—that was a first for him.

Then, under the guards' lead, the two entered the city and went straight to the Prefectural Yamen.

Once there, the cousin was clearly familiar with the place. He led Hanyu through the courtyard, into the inner quarters, and to a main hall where a graceful figure was evidently waiting for them.

"Cousin Sister!"

Cousin stepped forward and called out.

Only then did that graceful figure slowly turn around. She had black hair, pink makeup, and a pair of willow leaf eyebrows. Her bright eyes were like the Star River, truly a peerless beauty. She wore a purple tight suit that outlined an impressive swell at her chest.

Cousin approached eagerly, and the woman gave a light smile—even Hanyu couldn't help his heart racing a little faster.

"You're finally here..." the woman said in a soft, sweet voice. But no sooner had the words left her lips than she lifted a shapely leg and kicked Cousin in the stomach, sending him flying...

Watching Cousin embedded in the wall, the woman dusted off her hands with satisfaction.

"If you hadn't shown up, I'd already have written the arrest warrant."

Hanyu stared dumbfounded at Cousin plastered against the wall, at a loss for what to do.

Save him or not?

Many people ask me where Hanyu's divine skill is. There is no divine skill—the divine skill is on the way. By the way, I'm also asking for recommendation votes. If you, dear readers, have any to spare, please support me. If you have extra monthly votes, even better. And feel free to comment and critique.