Zhang San, Officially Certified Deity of Hogwarts

The Daoist masters who had come to Hogwarts to pay their respects were all highly accomplished cultivators. What they lacked least was strength.

Especially Zhang San's senior brother, the current Celestial Master of the Celestial Masters' Mansion—Zhang Da. That guy had puffed out his cheeks and blasted the suona for an entire afternoon.

Hogwarts Castle had truly been tormented that day by that hooligan instrument from the ancient East. Even the professors, veteran wizards all, could not block out the sound of Zhang Da's suona, infused as it was with true essence, using Silencing Charms.

During class, the thing was nothing but pure noise pollution. As a result, a certain Savior could not remember a single thing taught that day, yet he could hum Hundred Birds Paying Homage to the Phoenix as soon as he opened his mouth.

As soon as night fell, the Daoist masters briskly packed their equipment back into the vehicles. After changing into formal attire, they strolled into the Hogwarts Great Hall in small groups, ready for the feast.

Headmaster Dumbledore, the host, had already prepared a lavish banquet. To respect the dietary restrictions of the Complete Truth Sect, the house-elves had specially made many light vegetarian dishes, making the reception meal suitably impressive.

Zhang San could no longer keep floating beneath the ceiling, cosplaying as a mural. So many big shots from the Chinese Daoist community had traveled thousands of miles to Hogwarts to handle his funeral; as the star of the occasion, he naturally had to come down and greet the guests.

"Greetings, Daoist Meng!"

"Greetings, Sect Master Li!"

"Greetings, Headmaster You!"

"Greetings, Leader Liang!"

"Greetings, President Yuan!"

"..."

When the Daoist masters saw Zhang San's ghost, their faces were full of disdain. Liu Hui, head of the Great Unity Sect, gave an indescribable assessment. "What kind of state are you in? Neither human nor ghost, covered in bad luck from head to toe!"

Zhang San spread his hands. "What could I do? I'm in despair too!"

"Hurry up and master the secret manuals your senior brother sent you. There's no point in being a foreign ghost." After waving a hand, Liu Hui went straight to his seat, leaving Zhang San standing there in self-pity.

There were also kind-hearted elders who stepped forward to comfort Zhang San, telling him to study hard and make progress every day, serving well as a link and bridge for friendly communication between East and West.

After seeing the Daoist masters to their seats, Zhang San floated over to his senior brother and asked, "Boss, does my situation count as a work-related injury?"

"It definitely counts, but if you're dead, I'll definitely be the beneficiary... Ever heard that an elder brother is like a father?" Zhang Da said with a serious expression.

Zhang San: ...

What the hell did he mean, beneficiary?!

To hell with an elder brother being like a father!

"Seriously, you must cultivate the secret manuals I sent you properly. Only once your soul returns to China can I arrange your funeral. When the time comes, whether in Heaven or underground, our family has connections. Isn't that better than being a lone wandering ghost here?" Zhang Da instructed.

Zhang San asked, "I've read the ghost cultivator manual, but some parts are rather obscure... You know how Classical Chinese is. Say, could you help me find some senior ghost cultivator to guide me remotely?"

"Are you dreaming?" Zhang Da shot Zhang San a sidelong glance, looking at him as though he were an idiot.

"Hey! What's with that look? I'm still a child! Take this headbutt!" Zhang San was displeased. He suddenly rammed his head at Zhang Da, only to be sent flying by the protective golden light.

The Golden Light Incantation of Mount Longhu was especially effective against yin evils, and Zhang San was precisely the yin evil it countered.

Watching Zhang San bounce away, Zhang Da burst out laughing. "Fortunes change! Now that you've become a soul body, all that martial training of yours is useless... From now on, just be a spell cultivator!"

Zhang San's eyes filled with tears. He had trained in martial arts at Mount Longhu for seven years. He had finally reached the age of ten and could begin learning the Golden Light Incantation, only to die at Hogwarts in the blink of an eye. The campaign had failed before he could achieve anything, leaving heroes with tears staining their collars.

"Back to your earlier question. I can tell you clearly that you won't find a single ghost cultivator in China. These are peaceful times—where do you think a ghost could be found that could withstand the mighty tide of human destiny?" Zhang Da said with a sigh.

Not only were wild beasts unable to become spirits, but humans, the foremost of all living things, could not become ghosts and linger in the mortal world after death either.

Thus, the path of ghost cultivation had completely died out. The ghost cultivation manuals Zhang Da had sent Zhang San were antiques that various sects had hastily compiled from documents dug out of old stacks of paper. They might have been useful in the past, but in modern China, they could not be cultivated at all.

Only after understanding this did Zhang San realize why so many big shots from the Daoist community had come to Hogwarts. It was not because Zhang Da carried such weight. These people had come to inspect him, a one-in-a-million rarity—a chosen one who had died by chance in a foreign land yet had not been taken away by the foreign underworld.

Wasn't he a ghost cultivator destined by fate? No wonder Zhang Da had found ghost cultivation manuals so quickly. Zhang San dared to guarantee that everyone had contributed.

Who wouldn't want to see just how far a ghost cultivator of the new era could cultivate?

The peak realm of modern orthodox Daoist cultivators was the Golden Core stage. After peacefully enjoying a lifespan of three hundred and sixty years, they could ascend to the heavens in broad daylight.

If Zhang San, a ghost cultivator who did not cultivate the flesh but only refined the primordial spirit, could cultivate beyond the Golden Core realm in the mortal world, it would be tremendously encouraging news for the entire cultivation world.

Zhang San did not yet know about this, but the big shots' earnest attitude, like parents hoping their son would become a dragon, could not have been faked.

"Let's put ghost cultivation aside for now. How am I supposed to cultivate the path of becoming a god through incense offerings? I'm a penniless lone ghost—where would I get incense offerings and worship?" Zhang San asked again.

Zhang Da stroked the goatee he had grown for several years and said, "That's why I personally came to Hogwarts... Besides giving you a grand funeral, we need to ask that old man Dumbledore for a divine position for you."

Zhang San was instantly filled with respect. "Brother, my real brother! You can just ask for a divine position in person?"

"Of course. Divine positions in China are hard to come by, but getting one around Hogwarts is quite easy." Zhang Da leisurely tore off a chicken leg and stuffed it into his mouth. After smacking his lips twice, he continued, "Hogwarts is a very special place, an ungoverned zone in the mortal world. If it were in China, it would be called a blessed grotto-heaven, and Dumbledore is currently the one with the highest authority here. As long as that old man nods, you'll be a god of Hogwarts." Zhang Da lowered his voice. "Mountain god, earth god, river god—you can pick whichever position you want. But you can't become a City God, since that requires dealing with the underworld. The underworld would never set up an office at Hogwarts."

Zhang San asked slyly, "Mountain god, river god, earth god... Can I have them all?"

"As expected of my junior brother. Only children make choices. We brothers will take them all on ourselves." Zhang Da said approvingly.

The senior and junior brothers huddled together and schemed for quite a while. After the funeral banquet ended, Zhang Da tidied his appearance and led Zhang San toward the Hogwarts headmaster's office as though he were holding a balloon on a string.

Dumbledore had been waiting for a long time. The matter of Zhang San's death ultimately required an explanation to the Celestial Masters' Mansion. The compensation that should be given had to be properly provided. The Celestial Master's own junior brother had come to Hogwarts to study, and no sooner had he enrolled than he was lying in a coffin.

Was that reasonable? It was not!

Therefore, Headmaster Dumbledore was extremely sincere in his attitude. Zhang Da could make any request the school was capable of fulfilling.

Zhang Da did not make an outrageous demand for such vulgar things as gold Galleons, silver Sickles, or copper Knuts. The Celestial Masters' Mansion had no shortage of such things. The lineage of more than sixty generations of Celestial Masters was properly recorded in the Daoist genealogies. Dynasties lasted a hundred years, great clans a thousand; gold and silver had long been regarded as filth.

"I hope Headmaster Dumbledore will confer upon my junior brother Zhang San the positions of Hogwarts's God of the Land, Mountain God, and Water Warden," Zhang Da said seriously. "Only with your authorization can his soul leave the castle and travel into the outside world."

Dumbledore generously replied, "As you wish, Celestial Master."

As the headmaster of Hogwarts, Dumbledore possessed the highest authority here. Once he acknowledged Zhang San's identities as Mountain God, God of the Land, and Water Warden, Zhang San became bound to this territory, transforming from a wandering ghost into an officially appointed local deity.

A systematic local deity system existed only in the East. The Western divine realm's model of rule was closer to feudal enfeoffment, and its control over the mortal world was utterly weak.

Zhang San could not help but wonder: Shouldn't I be written into Hogwarts: A History?

Hogwarts had never had a local deity before. He had filled the gap of there being no gods in the magic school—a milestone existence.

I'm amazing!