Thirty-Three Lihentian

After a cool breeze swept past, Wu Xian opened his eyes again.

This time, he appeared in the place where he had first entered the Blessed Land.

Unlike last time, it was daytime. The countless evil spirits had all gone into hiding, and Wu Xian could finally see the place in its entirety.

It was a boundless, desolate wilderness.

It stretched as far as the eye could see, with scattered rocks and weeds growing everywhere. The sky was a clear blue, without a cloud in sight. The silence all around was unnerving. There was no wind, no birdsong, no chirping insects. He could even hear himself breathing.

Four statues stood around him.

Three of them were statues of the Three Officials, each on a silver pedestal.

So all their struggles in the Blessed Land were like a dangerous monkey show performed for these immortals and gods. When a monkey was in danger, they wouldn't help. Only after the show ended would they toss the monkey a few scraps if they took a liking to it.

"There are too many secrets in this wilderness. I'll explore them slowly another time."

For all he knew, this so-called Daoism Cultivation might affect the difficulty of the Blessed Land. The higher one's cultivation, the stronger the evil spirits one encountered...

As Wu Xian pondered these three attributes, the immortals and gods had finished their inspection of him.

Wu Xian gave a self-deprecating smile. "From now on, I should eat when I want and drink when I want. I have to be a little kinder to myself... After all, I'm practically up to my neck in dirt already."

All he had to do was tear up this invitation, and he could enter the Blessed Land directly.

Wu Xian continued looking around and soon noticed a few more strange signs.

Remaining Lifespan: 20 years

[Congratulations! You have earned the favor of 'Lord Cui,' who has granted you access to a Single-person Blessed Land. Survive in that Blessed Land, and you will receive Lord Cui's blessing.]

He liked this reward. Who didn't want a longer vacation?

Wu Xian's current Fixed Position was 0.

A group appeared in the wilderness.

[Congratulations, Devoted Wu Xian, on clearing the Blessed Land 'Ghostly Shadow Inn.']

[Congratulations! You have triggered 'Disaster Retrospection.' Based on your performance during the retrospection, you have been rewarded with three hundred Yin Virtue.]

Daoism Cultivation: 0

Fixed Position: 0

Blessing Slots: 3

Wu Xian froze for a moment.

He no longer had the courage to climb back up.

In terms of the Blessed Land's rules, the difficulty of starting from the beginning and starting from zero was completely different!

And with those two sticks of strange incense, he could worship the gods three times.

Wu Xian wasn't in a hurry to leave. He climbed onto his statue and took out a monocular telescope to look into the distance.

He had seen every one of those twenty-odd people before!

They were the surviving Original Inhabitants from the previous Blessed Land!

"Why are they here?"

Wu Xian didn't think that was how the Blessed Land worked.

Of all these rewards, the one that delighted Wu Xian most was the extra Fixed Position.

Fortunately, a message soon flooded into Wu Xian's mind.

It made Wu Xian feel a little uneasy.

Between the other four statues stood a familiar Gate: the entrance to Wu Xian's Detective Agency. Opening it would take him back to reality.

In the distance, he could see one Round Open Ground after another, each separated by a dozen or so meters. Every patch of open ground had a statue. Some also had pillars and walls. It seemed that each one belonged to a Devoted.

A moment later, the underworld runner stepped out through the Gate. He suddenly turned to look in Wu Xian's direction. Wu Xian jerked backward in fright and fell hard to the ground, his heart pounding.

The meaning of Fixed Position was harder to understand.

Lifespan was easy to understand: how many years he could expect to live in the real world, barring any accidents.

He hadn't expected that, at such a young age, he had only twenty years left to live. It seemed his previous lifestyle had really taken too much of a toll on his body.

The remaining statue was carved from stone and stood as tall as a person. It sat cross-legged on a rock, its shoulders bare where its arms should have been. A white candle burned at either side.

Wu Xian guessed this reward was given to everyone who cleared a Blessed Land. For at least thirty days, Devoted wouldn't be forcibly dragged into another Blessed Land.

A Fixed Position was one of the few ways a Devoted could grow stronger outside of items and blessings. Each Fixed Position let a Devoted bring one of their supernatural abilities, Magic Treasures, or talismans into the next Blessed Land.

Wu Xian licked his lips.

From a high vantage point, he could see that this place wasn't empty at all.

`Devoted, hello.`

Unfortunately, Wu Xian had only one Fixed Position. He could choose only one of the nine items to take into the next Blessed Land. The other two God Worshiping Items would go to waste here.

"Where are they going now?"

As for his lifespan... He wouldn't complain about getting more.

Once he had calmed down,

Wu Xian's eyes widened.

But even so, it was far better than having no Fixed Position at all.

`Please confirm your current status.`

Then what did Daoism Cultivation mean?

Would a high level of cultivation let him live longer? Or would it make him so strong he could slap an evil spirit to death?

At the head of the group was a ghost dressed in a black Long Robe and a black pointed hat. His feet didn't touch the ground. He was an underworld runner, leading a chain that was fastened to more than twenty people.

[Your performance in this Blessed Land was judged 'outstanding' by the immortals and gods. You have been rewarded with one Fixed Position, two sticks of premium incense, and one year of additional lifespan.]

He had just been fretting that he couldn't take the items he'd obtained into the next Blessed Land. Now, with this Fixed Position, he could choose an item to bring along!

Wu Xian rolled his eyes.

New text appeared on the Record of the Devoted.

[Reward: 30 days of rest.]

But Wu Xian searched twice and still couldn't find Su Huijin. All he found was a patch of open ground swallowed by weeds. A dilapidated stone statue lay there, only half its face remaining. Its outline bore a strong resemblance to Su Huijin.

`The place you are in is Thirty-Three Lihentian, a transit point between the Blessed Lands and the mortal world. Please wait. The immortals and gods are inspecting your performance in the Blessed Land to determine what rewards you should receive.`

Wu Xian was stunned.

Then he opened his Record of the Devoted, and new information appeared on its first page.

So even if someone performed well in a Blessed Land, they couldn't gain much of an advantage in the next one. Every Blessed Land was a hellish experience that started from zero.

Wen Chao was holding a magnifying glass and a small notebook as he examined a statue.

The statue's face was his own!

Wu Xian kept watching and saw the people enter a Gate. Beyond it, he could make out a white van, but not its license plate.

Once they entered the Gate, they disappeared.

Blessing Slots were straightforward, too: they showed how many blessings he could use at the same time. He currently had only one blessing, so he didn't need to worry about that for now.

Shi Ji had gotten his hands on something. He happily danced, shaking his hips between the statues.

As the text appeared, an invitation silently materialized in Wu Xian's hand.

So the scene he had just experienced was called Disaster Retrospection. It seemed not everyone got to experience it.

Wu Xian couldn't figure out the point of Disaster Retrospection, but three hundred Yin Virtue was still a great reward. The next time he ran into the Five Manifest Wealth Gods, he could turn that Yin Virtue into Underworld Money and go shopping at Many Treasures Tathagata's place.