What Petty Thief Dares Spy on My Divine Communion Temple?!

[Ding!]

[Arrived in a new world. Scanning...]

[Scan complete.]

[The current world's time flow ratio to the Dharma Master's world is 400:1]

[Dharma Master deployment in progress. 54321]

His thoughts entered the lotus.

The world spun around him.

When Chen Jichuan opened his eyes, he found himself in a sparse woodland.

He looked up.

The sky was dim, making it impossible to tell the time.

The wind howled through the woods, its mournful cries sending a chill down one's spine.

Chen Jichuan was not afraid.

He looked down.

He wore coarse cloth garments, his hands covered in calluses and deathly pale. After moving a little, the frailty of this body became almost unbearable. He could not even straighten his waist and back, and his body had inexplicably become much shorter.

"Looks like—"

"Every time I enter a new world from now on, I'll have to become like this."

Chen Jichuan sighed.

After the Great Yan World condensed into a Dao Fruit, he could enter and leave at will. But if he died and entered again, he would have to return to that original hunched-over form.

This time, entering a new world was the same.

A tiny figure had condensed within the lotus.

The tiny figure was exactly the same as Chen Jichuan before he began cultivating in Black Prison. Now that he had entered, he possessed this same body as well.

"I have to cultivate from scratch again."

Chen Jichuan thought to himself.

Still, he was not flustered.

He had comprehended the Dao Fruit and recultivated in the Great Yan World to verify his understanding. He already had experience; cultivating Hidden Force and reaching the sixth layer of inner force were merely matters of time.

His immediate priority was—

"Take a look around first."

Chen Jichuan remained where he was. He calmed his mind and steadied his spirit, tracing the two spells, 'Far-Sight' and 'Flame Control Technique,' within his body.

The former was for scouting and vigilance.

The latter was for self-defense.

He activated 'Far-Sight' and placed it above his head. Looking down from above, he saw mountains and forests in every direction, some sparse and some dense. At the foot of the mountains stood several dozen households, with paths crisscrossing between them and cooking smoke curling into the air.

He continued raising it.

He looked farther away.

To the north, he could see an old official road that had long fallen into disrepair. Yellow dust swirled in the air, and not a single traveler was in sight. At the northern end of that road, a city could vaguely be seen. But it lay beyond the forty-li range, so Chen Jichuan could only make out a dark speck and could not see it clearly.

"I'll settle down in the village first."

Chen Jichuan was in no hurry to go to the county seat. He intended to stay in the village for several days, learn how to speak, and only then travel about.

Thus—

He went down the mountain and entered the village.

A few days earlier, a taciturn traveling physician had arrived at Wu Family Ravine. He was plain in appearance, but his medical skills were superb; with only a few moves, he had relieved the villagers of their ailments.

The traveling physician had come a long way.

Seeing the villagers' warm hospitality, he temporarily settled down in Wu Family Ravine. There happened to be an empty house at the village entrance, so they let the traveling physician stay there.

More than ten days passed in the blink of an eye.

The villagers gradually grew accustomed to the 'miracle physician' living at the village entrance, and their hearts settled.

The miracle physician was solitary by nature and did not like talking.

But he was not a bad person. When he treated the villagers, he charged those with money for a consultation, while those without could pay in rice, fruits and vegetables, oil, salt—anything was fine.

And the 'miracle physician,' Chen Jichuan, had also gained a better understanding of Wu Family Ravine and this world.

"Villagers do not travel far."

"They don't know what day or year it is. The farthest they have ever gone is Dai County, more than forty li to the north. They do not go often, either; most of their firewood, rice, oil, salt, and other necessities are bought at the market over ten li away."

Chen Jichuan was in his courtyard.

He spread 'Far-Sight' wide to inspect the surroundings, not particularly concerned with such basic information. Yet over these past days, he had heard and seen many strange tales, giving him a deeper understanding of this world.

Such as now.

The sun was setting behind the western hills, red clouds filling the sky.

At the western end of the village, in a household surnamed Wu, Wu Er's wife wore an apron as she lit the fire and prepared supper. The woman looked to be just over twenty. Apart from having prettier brows and eyes and more delicate skin, she seemed no different from the other women of Wu Family Ravine.

Chen Jichuan had been here for over ten days.

He had observed this Wu family wife for over ten days as well. He had interacted with her openly and watched her in secret, yet had found nothing unusual.

That greatly surprised Chen Jichuan. "She's a fox demon, after all. Instead of harming people, she's actually willing to wash clothes and cook for a country hunter?"

Name: Hu Hongmei (Fox)

Age: 62

Level: 5

Talent: Human Transformation

Spell: Bewilderment Art (Fourth Layer)

"Sixty-two."

Chen Jichuan clicked his tongue twice.

Looking at the pretty Wu family wife amid the smoke and flames, no one would have imagined that Wu Er's beautiful wife, whom he had married two years ago, was actually an old fox demon past sixty!

Hu Hongmei could not detect anyone spying on her.

She focused on cooking.

Chen Jichuan watched for a while. Seeing nothing strange, he turned 'Far-Sight' and swept straight eastward.

More than ten li east of Wu Family Ravine—

There was a Pi River.

Many villagers lived by the river. They normally made their living farming, though several households were familiar with the water and relied on fishing for a living.

Among the fishermen was a household surnamed Xu. The man of the house was called 'Xu Kui.'

Every evening, he would bring wine to the riverbank, drinking as he fished. At first, the villagers mocked him. With the evening sky so dark, what fish could he possibly catch?

Yet, strangely enough—

While everyone else caught few fish even during the day, Xu Kui always filled his basket with fish whenever he fished in the evening.

Some people imitated Xu Kui.

But they could not find the knack, and instead caught even fewer fish.

Thus—

The villagers all believed this was Xu Kui's secret family skill, that he was deliberately hiding his true ability.

After grumbling a few odd remarks in irritation, they simply ignored him.

This day—

It was evening again.

When Chen Jichuan looked over, he saw Xu Kui once more carrying wine and a fishing net to fish in the Pi River. Before drinking, he first poured a cup and called out toward the river, "Liulang, come up and have a drink."

Not long after—

A youth approached, bowed to Xu Kui, accepted the wine cup, and drank with him. At first glance, there was nothing unusual about the youth. But on closer inspection, faint mist could be seen curling around him. Looking again, even his entire body seemed somewhat ethereal, as though a gust of wind might scatter him away.

After drinking, the youth rose and bowed. "I'll drive the fish toward you from downstream."

With that, he drifted lightly downstream.

A while later, the youth returned and said, "A large school of fish is coming!"

Sure enough, the sound of countless fish swallowing bait could be heard. Xu Kui cast his net and caught more than ten large fish, each over a foot long, in a single throw.

Name: Wang Liulang (Ghost)

Age: 16

Level: 3

Talent: Ghost Wall, Mist Gathering

"Hu Hongmei is a fox demon, serving as a hunter's wife, treating him with the respect of guests sharing a table."

"Wang Liulang is a ghost, drinking and talking with a fisherman, driving fish for him."

Chen Jichuan watched in astonishment. He now understood that this world was no longer as simple and devoid of gods and supernatural beings as Great Yan. It was a world where 'ghosts' and 'monsters' existed.

And this was only within a radius of forty li.

Chen Jichuan had observed for just over ten days and had already discovered one ghost and one monster. If he remained longer, if his range expanded farther, how many bizarre and fantastical happenings would there be? How many demons, devils, ghosts, and monsters?

"Where there is yin, there is yang."

"Where there are ghosts and monsters, perhaps there are people capable of subduing them."

As Chen Jichuan watched Wang Liulang and Xu Kui continue drinking, he activated 'Far-Sight' and swept toward the southern mountains. Searching carefully through the mountains, he suddenly spotted a Daoist temple. At first glance, golden light blazed from it; upon closer inspection, mist coiled around it, resembling the appearance surrounding Wang Liulang.

"That isn't mist."

"It's ghostly qi!"

Chen Jichuan was abruptly alarmed. He used Far-Sight to take a closer look, only to hear an explosive shout from within the Daoist temple: "What petty thief dares spy on my Divine Communion Temple?!"

With that shout—

The 'Far-Sight' spell was broken for the first time.

Chen Jichuan's heart pounded, his spirit shook, and sweat covered his brow. He secretly cried out, This is bad.

He did not dare linger.

With a thought, he returned to reality.

Not long afterward—

At his dwelling, he heard rustling sounds from the crack in the window. A tiny figure carrying a spear and halberd on its shoulder slipped inside. The moment it landed, it transformed into the height of an ordinary person.

It looked around.

Only after failing to find anyone did it push open the door and leave.

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