The demonic cultivator's eyelids twitched violently several times, and his expression grew graver.
The destruction of his dream spirit left him feeling as though he had suffered a nightmare of Nightmare Suppression. Even now, his head felt heavy and swollen with pain.
His spiritual consciousness even gave him the illusion that black smoke was pouring in and filling the entire room.
This was a terrible state to be in. He was beginning to confuse reality with hallucination.
He stared suspiciously at the divine statue for a long while before finally assuring himself that there was no black smoke at all.
Yet when he lay back down, he still felt uncomfortable all over.
After some thought, he got up, fetched a cloth, and covered the Ebony Divine Statue inside the shrine.
Strangely enough, he immediately felt much more at ease.
The demonic cultivator blew out the oil lamp that had been burning all this time, lay back down, and closed his eyes to rest his mind.
Knock! Knock, knock!
Suddenly, a knocking sound rang out without warning!
The demonic cultivator jolted and opened his eyes.
With great difficulty, he turned his face and stared fixedly toward the door.
"What's going on?"
The room was dim, but his early-stage Qi Refining spiritual consciousness could easily penetrate the door and tell him that the corridor outside was empty.
"Another hallucination?"
The demonic cultivator knew he was in a poor mental state and could not be certain.
Knock! Knock, knock!
Suddenly, the door sounded again.
The demonic cultivator sprang upright with a shudder, sitting on the bed and holding his breath.
"Who's there?"
His low shout carried a trace of chill.
Knock! Knock, knock!
The knocking sounded a third time.
In the stillness of the night, the sound was exceptionally clear. It seemed to possess a strange magic that tugged at the heart, every knock striking it squarely.
The demonic cultivator's face turned deathly pale.
This time, he had heard it perfectly clearly.
The knocking really had come from the nearby door. This was no hallucination!
Before he could recover, drops of water began falling from the ceiling.
It seemed as though something invisible had crawled out of the river and appeared from thin air in the room, dripping wet.
The demonic cultivator stared wide-eyed and speechless as the wet patches on the floor spread, multiplying and taking on a blood-red hue in the darkness.
At that moment, the black cloth covering the divine statue slipped off, revealing the Great Lin River God's majestic face once more.
The statue's sculptor had been highly skilled, giving the deity a lifelike appearance. Its eyes, in particular, seemed capable of seeing through a person's heart.
The demonic cultivator shook violently. He felt a wave of cold rush to the crown of his head, leaving his mind almost blank.
Why was someone knocking at his door in the middle of the night?
Why was the ceiling leaking for no reason?
Why had the statue uncovered itself?
Who was behind the destruction of his dream spirit?
Was another powerful cultivator behind all this, or had a deity manifested to punish a blasphemer?
Unlike ordinary commoners, the demonic cultivator was not superstitious.
He knew full well that everything could be explained through the principles of the Great Dao.
But that did not mean he could remain calm.
On the contrary, precisely because he could find an explanation, he was even more frightened than a superstitious commoner.
Superstition merely meant frightening oneself, but eerie phenomena with a genuine cause could truly kill!
The demonic cultivator's lips and teeth went cold. He felt as though he might meet his end at any moment.
Suddenly, he jumped off the bed, nimbly climbed out the window, and left the room in an instant.
Outside, the bright moon hung high, draping everything in silver gauze. A breeze brushed over him, making him feel reborn.
"Sure enough, it feels different immediately."
"Good thing I've always maintained the formation strictly. It can restrict the deity's influence!"
Unlike ignorant, superstitious commoners, he possessed extensive cultivation knowledge and experience with the supernatural. He actually overcame his fear and swiftly fled the scene.
After some thought, the demonic cultivator walked barefoot toward a side room on the other side of the same residence.
As a disciple of the Demonic Path, he also had the task of recruiting followers. He had gone to considerable trouble to find several young people among the townsfolk.
Although they lacked the complete spirit roots needed to embark on cultivation, they were more than capable of learning a few evil arts and running errands with talismans and secret treasures.
In the Unusual Events Bureau's terminology, these were demonic lackeys.
He was currently staying in one such lackey's home under the guise of a cousin, allowing him to spread his teachings while concealing himself.
"Open up, quickly. Something's happened."
The demonic cultivator hurried to the bedroom where his lackey was resting and knocked urgently.
Before long, a voice came from inside. "Who is it?"
The lackey was not entirely muddled by sleep. Once he realized who it was, he hurried out to open the door. "Immortal Master Huang, what's wrong?"
"There seems to be something wrong with the divine statue," the demonic cultivator said.
The lackey looked alarmed. "Then what should we do?"
The demonic cultivator said calmly, "There's nothing we can do now. We'll discuss it at dawn."
The lackey asked in surprise, "We're not leaving?"
"We can't," the demonic cultivator replied. "Running into the Unusual Events Bureau's Night Watchers outside would be just as dangerous."
"Besides, divine retribution reaches everywhere. Unless we address the root of the problem, leaving will accomplish nothing."
The lackey suddenly understood. An immortal master truly was an immortal master, unruffled even in the face of danger.
His head aching as though it would split and with nowhere else to go, the demonic cultivator could only rest here for the time being. Yet before long, as the night grew quiet, an inexplicable fear rose within him again.
The lackey had no cultivation. After sitting with him for a while, he was already unbearably sleepy.
He was about to blow out the lamp and go to bed when the demonic cultivator suddenly stopped him. "Don't put out the light."
A rare flush appeared on his sallow, middle-aged face.
The lackey's mouth twitched, and he silently stepped back.
Then the demonic cultivator suddenly added, "I see there's still room on your bed. Let's make do tonight and squeeze in together."
His voice was slightly hoarse with tension and also carried a measure of inexplicable embarrassment.
The lackey gaped, then felt a deep worry rise within him.
"Wh-what exactly is that supposed to mean?"
While the demonic cultivator was being driven into his lackey's room to share a bed with him, Li Ling, the mastermind behind it all, manifested inside the divine kingdom domain, frowning in dissatisfaction.
"That's it?"
"Looks like affecting reality through the divine domain isn't easy."
"It's also my fault for not knowing the techniques. I've never learned the relevant spells..."
He looked at the now-empty room and discovered that the Ebony Divine Statue was faintly emitting a dim spiritual glow, covering several feet around it.
But a layer of mist of unknown origin hung between the void and reality, swirling about and blurring his perception.
It was somewhat like mortal eyes being unable to see in darkness, indicating that the foundation supporting his power had weakened.
Li Ling tried to leave the room, only to discover that space here had become severely distorted, seemingly disrupted by some mysterious external power.
Li Ling pondered. They're adept at borrowing the Great Lin River God's power. This must be some sort of precaution against backlash.
In fact, if his soul's spiritual rank had not been extraordinarily high, allowing his spirit body to withstand the mental will contained within prayer power, even reaching this place would have been a distant dream.
Ordinary people could not possibly travel through a divine kingdom domain.
Soon, however, he abandoned further investigation.
"You actually pulled the disconnect trick? Can't take a loss?
"Fine, then. I'll come find you in reality!"
His mind severed the connection, and his spirit body, still on Barren Mountain, immediately regained awareness.
From beginning to end, Li Ling had never changed locations. His spirit body within the divine kingdom domain seemed to be some sort of mental projection, an exceedingly mysterious state.
That was also why, despite having reached the other side, he could only use the divine statue as a window there to project a limited portion of his power.
This time, however, his spirit body shot into the sky above Barren Mountain and raced toward the place in person, as swiftly as a galloping horse.
By now, Li Ling's soul body had grown increasingly powerful. Along with his divine sense, his speed had improved as well.
More importantly, however, wandering around every night had made him increasingly familiar with this state.
In just over half a two-hour watch, Li Ling reached the location he had scouted earlier and found the demonic cultivator again.
Without a word, sword qi appeared and struck at the demonic cultivator's body without the slightest warning.
The demonic cultivator had believed that staying away from the divine statue would let him escape the strange phenomena. He had never expected Li Ling to shift from the divine kingdom into reality.
With a wet tearing sound, gang essence circulated throughout his body as he drove his protective gang to its utmost to resist.
Caught unprepared, however, he could not fully dissipate the attack's force. It pierced his enchanted robe, split his flesh, and sent blood spurting from the wound.
The results of Li Ling's recent incense consumption and soul tempering, which had raised his divine sense's strength to the hundred-jin threshold, were fully revealed.
His ability to attack by shaping gang baleful energy into swords had completely taken form. Combined with his spirit body's characteristics, it was already a terrifyingly uncanny attack!
"Immortal Master Huang!" the demonic lackey in the same room cried out in horror.
He had no idea what had happened and could offer no help whatsoever.
The demonic cultivator turned a deaf ear to him, knowing that he was at a critical juncture between life and death.
"Divided Spirit Manifestation, Spirit Strike Art!"
An invisible ripple spread like a sound wave, carrying a mental attack similar to the one Li Ling had once seen Lin Rouniang use.
The demonic cultivator did not know what his opponent was either. He only wanted to buy himself a moment to breathe.
But this move could only strike things on the level of remnant soul baleful yin. Against a spirit body of a higher spiritual rank, it was still nothing but dreams and bubbles.
Li Ling remained completely unaffected. He raised his hand and slashed another sword at the man.
Terror filled the demonic cultivator's eyes, and blood bloomed across his body again.
A dizzying sensation overwhelmed him. His vitality and strength seemed to drain away entirely with this new injury.
Only when he looked down did he discover the enormous wound that had sliced open his waist and abdomen.
"Oh..."
The demonic cultivator clawed futilely at the air several times, seemingly wanting to say something, but a moment later, he collapsed heavily to the ground.
The lackey he had recruited watched him die, his face filled with terror.
Even now, he had not detected the enemy's presence!
Li Ling caught a putrid odor from the man and immediately understood his identity.
He condensed gang baleful energy and casually delivered another sword strike, slaying this demonic accomplice as well.
Those few exchanges seemed to involve attacks from both sides, but altogether they had taken no more than a finger snap. It had been a one-sided crushing.
Li Ling was increasingly appreciating the wonders of seizing every advantage from the outset. Most Qi Refining cultivators did not cultivate their blood and vitality, remaining mortal flesh and blood. Striking first often allowed him to secure victory in moments.
More wondrous still, his spirit body existed in the void, invisible and intangible. His opponent had nowhere to direct a counterattack.
This was the true meaning of the Dao rising a foot while the arts soared without limit.
His Dao stood more than a mere foot above these Qi Refining cultivators-it was a full three stories higher!
Soon, Li Ling searched through the demonic cultivator's belongings and found a token in his travel bag like one he had seen before.
"May I sleep forever and never wake, remaining the Netherworld Immortal of the Grave..."
It bore the same words, but when he turned it over, the pattern on the back was different.
Li Ling's heart stirred. He wasn't a Corpse Immortal Sect disciple. He was a Ghost Soul Sect disciple!
The presence of Ghost Soul Sect members had long since ceased to be a secret. Ever since Lin Rouniang's appearance, Li Ling had suspected that other Ghost Soul Sect disciples were here as well.
But perhaps because there were fewer of them, or because they served some other purpose, their traces had been difficult to find.
If Corpse Immortal Sect disciples typically carried the foul stench of decay and blood, Ghost Soul Sect disciples were much the same.
By comparison, however, they carried more of the scent of ashes left by burned incense, candles, and spirit money, like ghosts of the underworld.
After a moment's thought, Li Ling deliberately left the token behind.
This was his warning to the Unusual Events Bureau.
He did not take the Ebony Divine Statue either. Its functions seemed much like those of the one he possessed, but its size alone made it clear that its spiritual rank was far inferior.
The divine statue he possessed was much more useful. There was no need to take this one.
He likewise left it where it was for the Unusual Events Bureau to study.
Soon, however, Li Ling discovered a pleasant surprise. This demonic cultivator actually carried some of the Crow-Blood Oil he had used before.
It was excellent for soul tempering. He had been worrying about having used up the portion he had obtained from Lin Rouniang, with no idea where to find more.
This would last at least another ten days to half a month, accelerating the growth of his soul's yang nature.
Aside from that, Li Ling found another item in the travel bag: the Ghost Soul Secret Manual, an introductory text recording the Ghost Soul Sect's Soul-Control Art.
Probably because it was intended for spreading their teachings, its contents were quite extensive. It even included Soul-Possession Dream Transmission and mental methods for casting spells through a divine kingdom domain. This was enough to lead mortals into the world of the Soul Dao and was perfectly suited to a beginner like him.
Li Ling read for a while and was quite satisfied.
Although he agreed with the saying that the Dao rose a foot while the arts soared without limit, mastering more spells would undoubtedly give him a clear advantage over others at the same cultivation level.
Compared with the Corpse Immortal Sect's corpse-refining and poison-refining methods, this material aligned far more closely with his Dao Path and was undoubtedly more valuable.
Thanks to the Jade Scroll the patriarch had given him, however, Li Ling already possessed a fairly deep understanding of souls and matters of the mind. He soon spotted flaws here similar to those in the Three Treasures Demon-Refining Art.
It only taught how to use these spells to harm others, without any methods for nourishing or tempering the soul, or strengthening oneself.
Over time, as their mental strength withered away, practitioners would have to devour others' thoughts like starving dogs, or even consume the incense and fire prayer power within divine kingdom domains.
There seemed to be enormous drawbacks hidden within this, but for someone like him, who could consume incense to temper his soul, they could be ignored entirely.
With this in hand, his path would undoubtedly open wider.