The All-Knowing, All-Powerful Celestial Master Zhang

[Find the black dog blood in Monk Sanjie's bundle]

[After five breaths, before Monk Sanjie attacks Xu Ming, spit the black dog blood onto the Azure Luan Veil]

[Once the Azure Luan Veil breaks and Xu Ming is struck, charge due south at full speed]

[After thirteen breaths, unleash Innate Supreme Unity Divine Thunder]

[On the fifteenth breath, blast the Two-Faced Buddha Head in the Corpse Buddha's chest with divine thunder and gouge it out. The Corpse Buddha will perish on its own]

From beginning to end, Zhang Xuan had followed those five short lines provided by the Celestial Master's Ordination to the letter.

When the Azure Luan Veil broke, Xu Ming stood directly to the south. At that moment, Xu Ming was channeling all his spiritual power into a blood-red Flying Sword. A biting killing intent radiated from its blade, as though it could sever all life. Zhang Xuan gritted his teeth and charged straight toward it.

On the twelfth breath, Xu Ming had just died, and the blood-red Flying Sword had yet to strike the Corpse Buddha. Alone, Zhang Xuan faced the Corpse Buddha and its towering ferocity head-on. Its indifferent eyes were as black as the abyss, and a suffocating pressure poured from its body, as though it were devouring even the air.

This was an enormous gamble, with life and death hanging on a single instant. Every step Zhang Xuan took was like treading on thin ice. The slightest hesitation would make him miss the fleeting moment when the blood-red Flying Sword struck the Corpse Buddha and encased it in ice.

Once the Corpse Buddha broke free, he would—without question—die!

Yet he had succeeded.

The instant he slew the Corpse Buddha, Zhang Xuan's wild elation nearly burst from his chest. His entire body trembled with joy he could not contain.

Obtaining the Buddha Treasure, the principal ingredient for the Marrow-Washing Body-Refining Pill, was one reason. More importantly, he had once again verified the power of the Celestial Master's Ordination.

After this life-and-death struggle, Zhang Xuan gained a new understanding of the Celestial Master's Ordination. It seemed capable of peering into heaven's secrets, even predicting events that had yet to happen with perfect accuracy.

"Seize the creative power of heaven and earth, encroach upon the mysteries of sun and moon..." Zhang Xuan murmured, a trace of awe flashing in his eyes.

Truly, nothing like it existed anywhere above heaven or beneath the earth!

"Cough, cough, cough..."

A bout of violent coughing echoed through the woods. Zhang Xuan doubled over abruptly, as though he would cough his lungs out.

He staggered a few steps before finally dropping onto his backside beside Xu Ming's corpse, gasping for breath. His face was as white as paper, fine beads of cold sweat covered his forehead, and his sunken eyes left him looking utterly haggard.

"Motherfucker. Got so excited I nearly coughed myself to death." He cursed under his breath, his voice so hoarse it sounded as though he had squeezed it out of his throat.

"Taoist, are you... all right?" The monk stood nearby, his brows tightly knitted and concern in his eyes. Seeing Zhang Xuan in this state, he guessed it was probably an aftereffect of using Palm Thunder.

After all, if such a powerful Thunder Method could be unleashed at will, that would be far too terrifying.

Zhang Xuan waved a hand, casually wiped the clammy sweat from his forehead, and forced a faint smile. "It's nothing. I won't die." With that, he bent down and began carefully examining Xu Ming's corpse.

"What are you doing?" The monk could not help asking when he saw his movements.

Without lifting his head, Zhang Xuan simply beckoned. "Come help me strip this fellow's outfit off. Luckily, summoning that Flying Sword stirred up so much cold air that even the wound on his neck froze over. No blood soaked into it."

At that, the monk stuffed the Buddha head into his bundle and came over to help Zhang Xuan turn Xu Ming's headless corpse over.

As for Zhang Xuan, his hands roamed up and down, stripping this arrogant Demon Suppression Bureau operative completely naked!

Then he lifted the intact uniform of a Hundred-Man Commander in the Demon Suppression Bureau's Azure Dragon Guard and examined it carefully, a flicker of satisfaction in his eyes.

Seeing this, the monk could not help asking, "Are you planning to impersonate a Demon Suppression Bureau operative?"

As Zhang Xuan peeled off his already tattered Taoist robe, he smiled. "The thought did cross my mind."

The monk frowned, a note of warning in his voice. "In Great Zhou, impersonating a Demon Suppression Bureau operative is punishable by being torn apart by chariots."

For this punishment, the condemned person's head and four limbs were tied to five separate chariots. Horses then pulled the chariots at full speed in five different directions, tearing the person's body apart. It was the bloodiest, most brutal of Great Zhou's punishments. Merely mentioning it was enough to chill the heart.

But such a cruel punishment did not frighten Zhang Xuan. Instead, his hands stripped the corpse even faster.

The law was a means for rulers to control the weak. He obeyed it only because he was good, not because he was afraid.

"Monk, setting everything else aside, if I assumed Xu Ming's identity as a Demon Suppression Bureau Hundred-Man Commander, how likely would I be to get caught?"

Hearing this, the monk lowered his head to look at the Azure Phoenix Jade hanging at Xu Ming's waist. Only after confirming that the pendant was blue did he slowly answer, "You needn't worry about that. Demon Suppression Bureau operatives don't maintain close contact with one another. Great Zhou's territory is vast, and demonic disasters break out frequently across the land. The bureau is short-handed, so it generally uses its prefectural branch headquarters as bases, dispatching powerful demon-suppression operatives to act separately, with ordinary local troops assisting them."

After speaking, he pointed at the Azure Phoenix Jade Pendant Zhang Xuan had just pulled off, then at the Long-Beaked Messenger struggling inside a cloth bundle on the ground. He continued, "The Azure Phoenix Jade Pendant serves as an operative's identification token, while the Long-Beaked Messenger can receive orders from the bureau's prefectural headquarters from a thousand miles away."

"Orders?" Zhang Xuan raised an eyebrow, looking curious.

The monk nodded. "Demons and ghosts run rampant throughout Great Zhou. Normally, when any appear, local messengers relay the news to the prefectural authorities. The prefecture then issues assignments through the Long-Beaked Messengers, sending the nearest operative to exterminate the demons or ghosts."

Looking at the stupid bird wrapped up like a rice dumpling in the cloth bundle, Zhang Xuan asked with interest, "How does this thing receive messages from the prefecture a thousand miles away?"

The monk patiently explained, "This object was made by Great Zhou's [Fate-Command Palace] and incorporates exceptionally profound soul arts. It is said that the Fate-Command Palace selects the souls of fallen soldiers loyal to Great Zhou and infuses them into mechanical constructs. Each soul is divided into three parts. One is infused into the Azure Phoenix Jade so the operative can control the Long-Beaked Messenger; another is infused into the Mechanism Falcon; and the final part is infused into the Prefectural Command Banner. Because the souls are connected, the Prefectural Headquarters can track the Long-Beaked Messenger's location and transmit messages in real time, even from a thousand miles away."

After hearing this, Zhang Xuan clicked his tongue in wonder. "How remarkable."

The monk, however, shook his head and sighed. "Imprisoning people's souls violates the harmony of heaven."

Zhang Xuan thought little of that and said mildly, "Since they have to specifically select the souls of soldiers loyal to Great Zhou, that means the technique requires both parties' cooperation. One is willing to strike, and the other is willing to take the blow. As bystanders, we don't need to get sentimental on their behalf."

Compared with that, Zhang Xuan was more interested in how Great Zhou's Demon Suppression Bureau operated.

Great Zhou, as it stood, could be viewed as a human body.

The demonic and ghostly disasters breaking out across the land were pockets of disease throughout that body.

The Demon Suppression Bureau operatives were the blades; the Long-Beaked Messengers were the hands wielding them; and the Prefectural Headquarters were the people guiding those hands.

Whoever had devised this system was a genius!