"Even the gods will be implicated? I wonder how deeply."
As the City God departed, the deity's true body fell into thought.
"The Upper Spirit Sect is a branch of Daoism, but its influence isn't limited to Daoist sects. It can even affect the Divine Path's local gods. Rather than a warning, the City God's visit seemed more like advance notice. She seemed certain something was going to happen. She told me to carefully experience the changes in my divine power. Could it be..."
At that thought, his mind shifted, and his attention settled on his body.
"For the past few days, I've been making inquiries. Besides sensing changes in the nature of my divine power, I've also noticed my Divine Office expanding. Strictly speaking, my Divine Name is now Yuanning City God Registrar. Stove Fire is merely one of my Divine Offices."
Qiu Yan immersed his mind in the Core Talisman, and strings of information surfaced in his thoughts—
Divine Name: Yuanning City God Registrar and Minyuan Mountain God Grade: Sixth Grade Divine Office: Record the good and evil deeds of the city's living beings; review the registers of the local gods within the jurisdiction; convey the decree of the Yuanning Metropolitan City God; inspect the City God's incense offerings; oversee lighting fires and cooking meals, and ensure safety at every meal; oversee the withering and flourishing of Mingyuan Mountain; communicate with the Yin-Yang of Mingyuan Mountain.
"No wonder Bai Wenpan was unhappy. Almost all the Divine Offices I oversee overlap with his, and I have the additional Stove Fire. The Registrar's position is a City God's aide. Its Divine Offices rely on the City God to function, and without the City God, they're useless. But backed by the City God, it still carries considerable influence throughout the Divine Office. However..."
His thoughts threaded through the scattered Divine Power Stars, reaching the Core Talisman.
"A Divine Name often reveals the foundations of a god's Divine Offices. My Divine Name now has two parts: Registrar and Mountain God. Yet the Core Talisman within my Divine Body still looks just as it did before. The new Divine Offices haven't appeared in it."
Confined to a mountain temple for nearly eighty years, Qiu Yan had long since thoroughly examined every inch of his talisman. Some parts remained unclear, but he knew its structure like the back of his hand.
Now that he had joined the City God Divine Office and gained further contact with the Divine Path World, he had spent the past few days living in the City God Temple and gathering incense offerings. His understanding of divine power had gradually deepened, and after obtaining the Upper Spirit Sect's Curse Compendium, his understanding of talisman structure had entered a new stage.
"The Core Talisman is divided into two parts: the central Divine Script and the surrounding Law Script. Together, the Divine Script and Law Script form the talisman."
As Qiu Yan's awareness drew closer, the Core Talisman rapidly enlarged in his perception. It glimmered with a lustrous green light. The central section was dense with strokes and lines, intricate and slightly darker in color; along the edges, fewer lines intertwined into several strange patterns, glowing more faintly.
"The central Divine Script represents the Divine Name and Divine Rank, while the surrounding Law Script shows the Divine Offices and Divine Abilities. The central Divine Script of my Core Talisman means Mingyuan Mountain, while the surrounding Law Script represents the Divine Offices of Withering and Flourishing, and communicating with the Yin-Yang. But they're limited to Mingyuan Mountain. In other words..."
"The Divine Name Yuanning City God Registrar, and the Divine Offices it represents, aren't recorded in my Core Talisman. So what caused my Divine Rank to rise? Where in my Divine Body were this bestowed Divine Name and these Divine Offices placed?"
"If I don't figure this out, I'll never uncover the mystery of the Divine Path. No matter how high my Divine Rank rises in the future, I won't feel secure."
As he thought this, the deity's true body slowly closed his eyes. An indescribable ripple spread through him. The power of the People's Wishes and incense offerings gathering all around was swiftly drawn in, passing through his body and absorbed by the Core Talisman. As the talisman turned, it transformed the power into divine power, then released it into the surrounding Divine Power Stars.
The stars drifted and bobbed, forming a Stellar Vortex. At its outermost edge, several dim points of starlight gathered, on the verge of forming a new star.
Time flew by. The moon set and the sun rose, and a new day began.
The previous night, wolves had howled and ghosts had shrieked throughout Yuanning City, disturbing the peace of half the city. Many people had spent the night sleepless. When they stepped outside in the morning, they discovered collapsed houses and cracked roads. All kinds of rumors ran rampant, including talk of demons invading the city. Some busybodies even linked it to the prefect's virtue, saying it was a warning from Heaven.
Bang!
Yuanning Prefect Wen Anguo slammed a hand on the table, his face full of fury. "Those people gossiping in private and slandering me are far too brazen! Am I, an official appointed by the court, someone commoners can discuss as they please? Go post a notice and inform the whole city: anyone caught gossiping in private will be arrested and interrogated! Surely the prefectural prison still has plenty of empty cells!"
"My lord, please calm down." Beside him, a middle-aged man dressed like a secretary hurriedly urged him, "Trying to block the people's mouths is worse than trying to block a river. Those ignorant commoners are only chasing a bit of excitement. Send a few constables to keep watch at taverns and teahouses, and a warning should suffice. The rumors will die out on their own."
Wen Anguo listened, tamped down his anger, and nodded. "You're right. We'll do that for now." Wen Anguo had spent the night in the rooms of his newly taken concubine. He had been woken before dawn and was already in a foul mood. Then he heard that many people in the city were criticizing his conduct as prefect, and his morning temper had flared. But after hearing his aide's words, he calmed down again.
Seeing Wen Anguo's mood settle, the aide continued, "My lord, the commoners' gossip isn't a major concern. The urgent matter is General Lang and the Pan Household. General Lang's men have been waiting in the outer hall for nearly an hour. If we don't come up with a solution soon, they're likely to make a scene. These soldiers have always been arrogant on account of their martial strength, lawless and unrestrained."
Wen Anguo nodded. "Send someone to investigate General Lang's matter at once! I heard the entire courier station collapsed. One of the two guards died and the other was injured, yet none of the Wuxin Commandery soldiers staying inside were hurt. So why has Lang Shi, who just returned there, vanished without a trace?"
"That's exactly what I was about to say." The aide paused, then lowered his voice. "They say a Wolf Demon as tall as several men was behind this. Quite a few people in the Pan Household saw it with their own eyes, so it should be true. The courier station had stood for years. For it to collapse just like that, demons must have had a hand in it. General Lang is probably doomed..."
"Demons dare attack inside the city?" Sweat broke out on Wen Anguo's forehead. "This isn't something we can handle. We'd better hurry and ask the Daoist masters from the city's temples to deal with it."
The aide's face filled with helplessness. "My lord, the masters from the city's four great temples had all gathered at the Pan Household. But though they're still breathing, they've been sleeping soundly since last night and won't wake!"
"What? All four masters are sleeping soundly and won't wake? Why did they go to the Pan Household? What on earth is going on there? How could Pan Yuanwai just die like that? If the Imperial City questions us, how am I supposed to respond?"
As Wen Anguo spoke, hurried footsteps suddenly sounded outside. A constable rushed in and, before he could even come to a stop, blurted out, "My lord! My lord! The young master of the Pan Household has barged in!"
"What?" Wen Anguo's eyes widened. A commotion rose outside, followed by a young man's voice—
"Uncle Wen, you have to give me justice in this matter! Otherwise, I'll write a letter at once and send it to the Imperial City!"
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