Refining and Saving the Departed

Ling Qing recited the Mysterious Essence Incantation, and only after reading it through three or five times did he carefully transcribe the annotations from the animal hide.

Afterward, he read, annotated, and corrected it again and again.

Although he had obtained the inheritance of a Druid, for one, his own cultivation level was low.

Many things were not just a case of knowing the "what" without the "why," but rather a state of being completely bewildered and ignorant.

A Druid is a mage who relies more on perception than on intellectual knowledge.

If the perception is correct, then naturally it is correct, and the power follows; there is no need to worry about so much else.

Secondly, he understood even less about the cultivation methods of the local gods, Taoism, and Buddhism.

Looking at those characters that were half-seal and half-clerical, they must have been from the Qin or Han dynasties, or perhaps even earlier.

If he hadn't chosen the identity of a scholar, allowing him to understand a little, he would be nothing but an illiterate here.

He was barely any better than the Land God.

Consequently, the scriptures he translated and annotated again could hardly compare to the original meaning of the Divine Script, which was as vast as mountains and seas.

Even compared to the annotations of Xu Shi, they were far inferior.

But fortunately, he knew his own limits; whenever he felt uncertain or sensed danger, he did not blindly guess, but chose to set it aside for the time being.

Combining his own inheritance, what he had learned, and the insights and experience of the Land God, he simplified them.

He did not seek great power, but only safety and ease of understanding.

After nightfall, Ling Qing stopped his work of organizing the scriptures and stood under a tree to watch how the Land God purified the spirits of the dead.

Originally, this matter should have been conducted within his divine domain.

This was partly to avoid the eyes of mortals, and partly to make use of the power of vows within the spirit pool.

But now, apart from Ling Qing, there was no one else in the entire village, and since Ling Qing was a participant, it didn't matter whether he was avoided or not.

Moreover, the spirit pool within his domain had already dried up, so there was no help to be borrowed from there.

With no other choice, he had to purify the spirits in the mortal world by borrowing the moonlight.

It was also because the two of them had been the first to organize the Sha Qi Refining Technique from the divine arts.

Furthermore, it was only by using the token refined from the Stone Tablet that they could do this.

Otherwise, how would an ordinary Land God have such means?

The Sha Qi Refining Technique was also a method from the Spirit Transformation arts, capable of refining all the murky Sha Qi in the world.

Not only could it extract and dissolve the Sha Qi in a given area, but it could also refine and purify this Sha Qi, allowing it to be manipulated at will, as easily as moving one's own arm.

Whether it was the Chang Ghost transformed from a person killed by the Tiger Demon, or the soul of the man-eating tiger itself, their minds and souls had been eroded by Sha Qi.

Such resentful ghosts could not enter the Underworld Administration to be reincarnated and could only linger in the human world.

If left unchecked, those Chang Ghosts would continue to harm people, and the tiger soul would turn into a demonic ghost, knowing only how to eat and harm others.

Originally, even if the Land God had obtained the authority to ferry souls, he could only ferry those spirits who were clear-headed and willing to be reincarnated to the City God's mansion.

Only then would the City God dispatch ghost soldiers to send them into the underworld.

When encountering such Chang Ghosts and resentful spirits, he mostly had no way to deal with them, as it was beyond his capabilities.

But with this Sha Qi Refining Technique and the token, it was different.

Those ghost-sha and resentment-sha were also forms of Sha Qi, which could be refined and captured by the Sha Qi Refining Technique.

The token could ensure that their soul bodies would not dissipate, and because it had been refined with the Golden Light Mantra, it could attract the essence of the sun and moon.

The lunar moonlight was the most capable of cleansing and nourishing ghostly souls.

The Land God waved his token, releasing the group of Chang Ghosts and the tiger soul, not waiting for them to act.

He formed seals and chanted incantations, extracting strands of black mist that emitted a bizarre, evil, and resentful aura from the resentful spirits.

This was the Sha Qi of resentment rooted within the bodies of the vengeful ghosts, which was most capable of eroding a person's mind.

"Ah~~~~"

"Roar~~~~"

The resentful spirits, having their Sha Qi extracted, immediately let out painful shrieks.

For a moment, the square in front of the Land God Temple was filled with the wailing of ghosts and the roaring of tigers, a scene like the underworld.

Ling Qing had long since recited the Incantation of Mind Purification and the Golden Light Mantra to protect his heart and body, shielding himself from their influence.

"Command, rise!"

When the black mist was exhausted and the ghostly souls were on the verge of dissipating, the Land God threw the token in his hand and pointed at it.

The token emitted a ghostly light, and strands of silver light gathered around it, growing more and more until a silver thread descended from the Jade Toad.

Passing through the token, it transformed into a silver tide like mist and haze, washing over the group of ghostly souls.

Upon contact with the silver mist, those ghostly souls immediately stopped dissipating, their faces showing expressions of comfort.

Not until all the ghostly souls had become as if woven from silver threads did he tap the token again and put it away.

The silver threads hanging from the sky shattered into specks of light and dissipated.

"A tiger! Run, run for your lives!!"

"Didn't I die?"

"Where is this place?"

"Roar~~"

"..."

As the silver light faded from the spirits, leaving them in the appearance of ordinary ghosts, the scene erupted into chaos.

Some were terrified at the sight of the tiger spirit, some had memories frozen at the moment they were killed by the tiger, and others had no recollection of how they had died at all.

Then there was the Tiger Demon, which remained as ferocious as ever even after regaining its senses.

"Silence!!"

A stern shout imbued with divine power quelled the chaotic scene. The Land God pressed his palm downward, pinning the soul of the Tiger Demon to the ground, rendering it unable to move.

He turned to the purified spirits and said, "You have all been tragically murdered by this Tiger Demon and turned into Chang Ghost. Today, this deity has subdued it and purged the Sha Qi from your souls. In a few days, I shall escort you to the Underworld Administration to be reincarnated."

"Many thanks, Land God!" Although some of the spirits were unwilling to accept their deaths, they dared not defy the majesty of a deity and could only respond in unison.

After all, unlike the living, ghosts possessed a much clearer perception of the aura emitted by divine beings.

This meant that the presence of a deity held a much stronger deterrent effect over ghosts.

Only a ghost consumed by Sha Qi, its mind clouded and devoid of fear, would dare to oppose a deity while under the command of another.

As for that Tiger Demon, although its Sha Qi had been extracted, the spirit of a tiger was naturally inclined to suppress spirits. Coupled with its inherent ferocity in life, it was the only one that dared to ignore divine authority.

"Hmm."

The Land God nodded, waved his token to draw the spirits back into it, and turned his gaze toward the Tiger Demon soul pinned to the ground.

"You have committed countless evils, led your pack to devour humans, illegally detained spirits to serve as Chang Ghost, and disrupted the order between the living and the dead. Your sins are grave. Furthermore, you remain stubborn and unrepentant. I hereby sentence you to serve under my command, to temper your temperament, atone for your crimes, and accumulate merit. Only then may you wash away your sins and seek reincarnation."

With that, ignoring the Tiger Demon's struggles, he cast a divine seal into its forehead.

When the Land God released the restraint, the Tiger Demon let out two angry roars. Though it remained resentful, it shrank to the size of an ordinary tiger and paced to the Land God's feet, where it lay down.

"I know you are unwilling, but once you have washed away your sins, this old man will naturally send you to be reincarnated."

Having said this, the Land God mounted the Tiger Demon and had it carry him toward Ling Qing.

"Congratulations, Land God."

"I owe it all to you, sir."

The two bowed to each other simultaneously, paused for a moment, and then burst into laughter.

"Hahaha~ Hahaha~"