The Regional Examination for Demon Transformation

The heavy rain still poured down in torrents.

Ren Qing had only just reached the mouth of the alley beneath his oil-paper umbrella when he noticed quite a crowd gathered there.

A clamor rose and fell before the residence.

His brows drew together slightly. The widow's home, where trouble had broken out last night, now had a corpse hanging from it. That ruffian Zhang San, who had run wild, was already dead.

The state of the corpse was particularly strange. The sharp point of the courtyard wall had pierced through the flesh at the back of his neck. His skin was swollen like dough soaked until it had risen, and his limbs hung down in a stiff posture.

How should one put it? He looked like livestock prepared for sale at a butcher's shop.

A faint gleam flickered in Ren Qing's eyes. He lowered his head with a frown, seemingly by chance. Inside the corpse's stomach and intestines, a badger was crouching.

More precisely, it was a badger with a human face, gnawing on the corpse's heart.

"What a sin." An old man sighed, yet did not dare step forward.

Widow Zhao broke into sobs, her shoulders trembling without stop.

Someone beside her consoled her, "Sister Zhao, don't panic. Zhang San had always been tyrannical and overbearing. He deserved to die."

"Exactly. At least he won't harm the neighbors anymore."

Someone else suggested, "How about we report it to the authorities? Send the body to the yamen."

"Report it to the authorities? Is there even anyone left in the yamen to handle matters these days?"

Ren Qing could already confirm that the thing in the corpse's guts was a badger demon.

In only a short while, the badger demon had digested the five viscera and six bowels. Then, as if no one else existed, it crawled out through the corpse's mouth without drawing the crowd's attention.

The badger demon wagged its tail in satisfaction as flesh and bone reshaped themselves.

In the next instant, it transformed into a scholar dressed in literary robes, blending into the crowd and vanishing without a trace.

"So it really is the Great Demon Court. But why disguise themselves as scholars?"

Ren Qing did not linger. He made his way slowly to the marketplace.

Yet when he reached a corner, he saw two more wolf demons standing with the townsfolk before a notice board. They too wore the refined garb of scholars, spouting zhi hu zhe ye from their mouths.

Notice boards were usually used by the yamen to post wanted notices.

Now, one freshly drawn portrait after another was pasted there. The ink had likely only dried recently.

Ren Qing swept his eyes over them and immediately spotted several familiar faces among the wanted men: Su Huo, Daoist Beisu, and, ah, the woman he had encountered once before Wish-Fulfillment Abbey.

Clearly, anyone who had participated in the Immortal Ascension Assembly could not avoid being placed on the wanted list.

"Impossible."

Ren Qing heard a murmur from nearby. Glancing over from the corner of his eye, he saw a plump middle-aged man standing there in silk robes, his face slick with grease.

Even without using divine sense, Ren Qing could recognize Daoist Beisu merely from the greasy stench wafting from him.

Daoist Beisu's brows were tightly furrowed as he scanned the wanted notices one after another in disbelief, over and over again. Deep uncertainty and alarm showed on his face.

Why was that person... not among them?

He could interfere with the Immortal Ascension Assembly, yet did not need to compete for a place as an outer sect disciple. What sort of background did he have?

Daoist Beisu had originally hoped to use the wanted notices to find Ren Qing, but the latter had utterly kept himself out of the matter. The thought alone made his scalp prickle.

Could the immortal behind him stand far above Three Incense Lady?

"Make way! Make way!"

A loud shout rang out as two guards from the Fuyang Chamber of Commerce shoved through the crowd.

Without a word, they tore down Li Yao's wanted notice and swiftly departed.

A cold smile curled at Daoist Beisu's lips, his eyes full of mockery. The Immortal Ascension Assembly was said to be an immortal opportunity to enter the Immortal Ascension Sect, but with the prefect soon arriving, everything had to be handled according to the rules of the Great Yao Court.

That junior had torn down a wanted notice. Who knew how many more days she could live.

With a sweep of his gaze, Daoist Beisu found two scholars keeping close at his left and right. They were both wolf demons in transformed form, clearly having locked onto him as they quietly closed in step by step.

"The Immortal Ascension Assembly through which we seek the Dao is also the Regional Examination for the transformation of all demons."

"Even though the time for the Regional Examination has yet to arrive, the demons are already unable to hold themselves back. This Immortal Ascension Assembly looks even more dangerous than imagined."

Daoist Beisu remained outwardly calm. He knew every cultivator was in the same situation.

In that case, if he could cooperate with that person who stood apart from it all, his chances of attaining the Dao would increase by at least thirty or forty percent. The rest of his fellow cultivators would likely also seek ways to contact him.

Daoist Beisu failed to notice that the Ren Qing he had been thinking about day and night was passing right by him.

Ren Qing looked back once at the notice board. After selecting four ginseng roots more than ten years old at the market, he headed for Wish-Fulfillment Abbey, all while noticing that there were no few demons within the city.

Without exception, every demon was dressed as a scholar.

Ren Qing learned that Water Mouth City would soon hold a Regional Examination, and these scholars had all come for it.

"A Regional Examination?"

The imperial examination system was divided into the child examination, Regional Examination, metropolitan examination, and palace examination. It was more or less the same in both his past and present lives.

"Boundless Heavenly Venerable, could it be that the Great Yao Court passed down the Dao lineage for demons through the imperial examinations? So every official is a Great Demon?"

A chill ran through Ren Qing. Evidently, the examination questions for the demons' Regional Examination were the Immortal Ascension Assembly.

His thoughts churned endlessly. By the time he came back to himself, he had already arrived at Wish-Fulfillment Abbey.

Wish-Fulfillment Abbey remained open. The main hall was empty, and the statue being worshipped was merely a rough outline.

The statue had only a vague human shape. Its body lacked any details, making its true appearance impossible to discern, but Ren Qing guessed it was likely proof of Three Incense Lady's descent.

The discussions among the worshippers indirectly confirmed this.

The statue seemed to have grown from the altar by itself. At first it had been only a lump, then its limbs had gradually extended. Three Incense Lady's methods were plain to see.

"What does it have to do with this poor Daoist? Let evil demons and Outer Dao slaughter one another. They won't drag this poor Daoist into it, will they?"

Ren Qing inwardly planned the details of going into seclusion. At the same time, he realized that no matter what demons regarded mortals as, the court imposed certain restraints upon their beastly nature.

Otherwise, Water Mouth City truly would not be enough for the demons to ravage in a single meal.

After Ren Qing returned home, the Black Rat Dao Child had already opened up a medicinal field in the corner of the courtyard.

The soil had been turned loose and level. The four ginseng roots were quickly buried within it, with several slightly wilted leaves exposed at their tops. Beside them were bamboo shoots just beginning to emerge, their tender yellow tips barely breaking through the earth.

Without needing any instruction, the Black Rat Dao Child skillfully loosened the soil and drove away insects.

"There are too many uncertainties in keeping the medicinal field underground. This poor Daoist cannot remain in the cave dwelling at all times. Mm, the temporary cave dwelling must also be filled in, leaving only a hidden passage leading outside the city."

Ren Qing opened his mouth and exhaled. Water vapor turned into a fine rain that shrouded the medicinal field. Then he took out the bone powder prepared earlier and mixed it with his own bloodwater to irrigate it.

The ginseng leaves instantly unfurled, becoming exceedingly plump, while the roots buried in the soil spread wantonly.

The bamboo shoots shot upward into emerald bamboo. Their stalks were crystalline and translucent, as though carved from jade.

Ren Qing carefully examined the medicinal field, yet his expression only grew more disappointed. "Boundless Heavenly Venerable, why are there no signs at all of transforming into humans? Aren't the spiritual materials of heaven and earth in the Immortal Realm all living beings that transform into humans? These of this poor Daoist's are truly utterly ordinary."

"I'll water them for a few more days."

"Sin, blessing, karma, and cause are the shell of yin and yang. If you emerge from the shell of yin and yang, then there shall be no sin, blessing, karma, or cause."

"This poor Daoist refuses to believe that if I devote myself wholeheartedly to pure cultivation and secluded meditation, karmic disasters can still come looking for me."

A scholar moved through the streets, seeming to have arrived in Water Mouth City only recently.

He had a pointed monkey-like face and high cheekbones. His small eyes constantly swept over the passersby, and whenever he saw children at play, he would always stop for a moment, his gaze revealing an indescribable greed.

The scholar hurried along, inadvertently turning into a dark corner.

The instant shadows covered him, his appearance abruptly changed.

His cheeks lengthened, fur grew wildly, and his mouth and nose thrust forward into a pointed rat's snout. His hands and feet became thick and sturdy, his nails sharp as claws.

He was unmistakably a rat-faced, human-bodied creature.

"Great medicine!"

"In such a remote little city, there is actually great medicine?"

"If I had not been born with the divine ability to seek medicine, I nearly would have missed it!"

The rat demon quickened his pace. He paused briefly before the marketplace notice board, his nostrils flaring rapidly as if distinguishing the source of the scent.

"I can't find the exact location."

The rat demon scratched at his ears and cheeks, his tongue licking his eyeball. "The medicinal potency should only be forty or fifty years, but it is very suitable for consuming during transformation at the Regional Examination."

"No!!!"

He let out a shrill hiss and excitedly clawed at the wall.

"Eighty years! No!! Ninety years!!"

"Why has the medicinal potency of the great medicine surged for no reason? Could there be some blessed land and hidden grotto concealed within the city?"

"Keep looking. It definitely cannot hide from me!!"

The rat demon panted heavily and crawled into the depths of the streets on all fours.