The capital trembled

Luo Capital.

The City God Temple.

It stood in the bustling, prosperous northern district, occupying several acres-a vast expanse in a capital where every inch of land was worth its weight in gold.

A religious ceremony was underway. Hundreds upon hundreds of commoners had gathered, offering incense and prayers under the guidance of the City God Temple's priest.

Since March, the capital had seen only a few cloudy days, without a single drop of rain.

The City God and the Land God were Luo Capital's most responsive deities, enjoying abundant incense offerings and a broad following. Several rain-praying ceremonies had already been held in succession.

Beneath the City God Temple's main hall, in a place mortals could not reach, stood another City God Temple, identical to the one aboveground.

This was the residence of the capital's City God. Cold winds swept through it amid the wails of ghosts and spirits.

The City God sat in the seat of honor, with the four great judges and the heads of the twenty-four offices gathered to either side. They watched the ceremony above with troubled expressions.

The capital's City God Temple ranked foremost in Great Qian. Its presiding City God was a first-rank Orthodox God who had governed the capital's underworld administration for centuries.

The four great judges held the second rank of the divine hierarchy, and there were more than thirty divine officials within the top three ranks. Even Great Qian's imperial court, which conferred titles upon ghosts and gods, treated them as equals.

The head of the Sensing Office was a refined scholar. His fingers moved constantly through divination gestures, anxiety written across his face.

"My lord, compared with the ceremony ten days ago, the number of worshippers offering incense has fallen by another thirty percent. If this continues, the prestige the capital's City God has accumulated over centuries will surely come to nothing at the final hurdle!"

The City God frowned slightly. With his profound divine power, how could he fail to notice the change?

The first rain-praying ceremony, held on March twenty-second, had drawn over ten thousand worshippers. The incense offerings had reached an extraordinary peak.

Afterward, attendance halved, then halved again at the third ceremony. After several fruitless prayers for rain, only a little over a thousand devout worshippers remained.

If rain still did not fall, the next ceremony would not draw even a few hundred people. Worse still, gathering believers was difficult; once their faith was lost, winning it back would be harder than ever.

"What can I do?"

The City God sighed. "Without the yellow register authorizing rainfall, bringing rain without permission is a capital offense. Centuries of cultivation would be destroyed in a single day."

"What are the court officials doing? In a year of severe drought, they actually forbid rainfall!"

"Hmph! Some treacherous minister must be obstructing it. If this were back in my day, I would have chopped off a few heads first."

"The crown prince is overseeing the state, but he is still too young."

"Lord Li, mind your words. How could anything at court escape His Majesty's notice?"

"Mind your words, mind your words!"

Many of the City God's divine officials had held office while alive. Having accumulated great merit, they became officials of the City God Temple after death.

They had navigated officialdom in life and witnessed both the living and the dead after death. Every last one was so shrewd that even their eyelashes were hollow. How could they fail to see the strangeness of the situation at court?

Discord between ruler and ministers, a father and son struggling for power, factional conflict, using disaster to eliminate demons...

In an instant, they had already imagined dozens of grand dramas.

The court could have a thousand reasons not to bring rain, and ten thousand reasons to disregard whether the common people lived or died.

"Enough. Tonight, I will visit my old friend in the south of the city and see whether he has any news."

The City God waved a hand to halt the discussion. If they continued, they might well touch upon something forbidden by the court.

The capital's City God commanded a powerful force, no weaker than the major immortal offices, but he was still unwilling to invite trouble without cause.

The Land God of the Land God Temple in the eastern city had cultivated for far fewer years than the City God. However, his identity in life had been extraordinary, and his ties to Great Qian were close.

After more than two hundred years of accumulating incense offerings and divine power, his strength was already no less than the City God's.

The head of the Record Office said, "The Land God was Prince Huai in life. He must know something."

The other heads of the underworld offices wore differing expressions. The capital's City God Temple and Land God Temple stood to the south and north respectively, and ordinarily did not get along.

The Land God belonged to Great Qian's imperial clan. He acted impartially-otherwise, he could never have been invested as a deity. Yet on many matters where the proper stance was unclear, he invariably supported the court, earning the contempt of some divine cultivators.

Rumble!

A thunderclap exploded, followed closely by the howl of wind.

The sounds came from directly above the capital. Naturally, the City God Temple, which governed the capital's underworld administration, heard them with perfect clarity.

"Wind and thunder are converging, and moisture is gathering. This is a rain-bringing spell!"

"Who dares bring rain without permission? Could the Land God have obtained the yellow register authorizing rainfall?"

"Impossible. However biased the court may be, it would never treat us so differently."

"Who can say? Have there been so few such incidents over the past century?"

The City God's fingers moved constantly through divination gestures, but he could not determine the source of the rain-bringing spell. He could only faintly sense that its caster was within the capital.

"There is no trace of divine power. It is not a spell cast from the south of the city. The wind, thunder, and moisture are pure and lively-this is an orthodox Daoist rain-bringing spell!"

The underworld officials exchanged looks despite themselves. Were there still Daoists bold enough to do such a thing?

The imperial might of Great Qian loomed over all. Buddhists, Daoists, and gods within its borders were all subject to its authority, and the Daoists had the hardest time surviving.

Daoist cultivators advocated nonaction and unfettered freedom. Many of their principles clashed with imperial law, so the court had always singled them out for suppression. Even when nothing happened, they were still oppressed. Now that a Daoist cultivator had been caught bringing rain without permission, there was no telling how great an upheaval would follow.

The City God sighed, as though he could already see the rain-bringing cultivator thrown into the Demon-Slaying Bureau.

"What a pity..."

June seventh.

The City God Temple's rain-praying ceremony.

Rain poured down in torrents across Luo Capital and the hundred li surrounding it. Rivers filled to the brim, and most of the drought was relieved.

Immediately afterward, the four great immortal offices dispatched dozens of immortal masters. Together with the ghost bailiffs and underworld deities serving the City God and Land God, they scoured Luo Capital for several days.

In the end, they failed to find the Daoist who had brought rain without permission. Only after arresting a group of demons and monsters lurking in secret did they somewhat ease Emperor Jingtai's fury.

The Demon-Slaying Bureau.

A torture chamber.

After casting Wind-Calling and Rain-Summoning, Zhou Yi had drained away more than half of his magical power.

"Too bad I'm underground and can't see how it went. With five thousand years of cultivation, I should at least be able to bring down a thunderstorm, right?"

Zhou Yi hoisted the snake demon's remains onto his shoulder and slowly walked toward the Demon Refining Cavern.

As his cultivation grew, Zhou Yi could see more and more with the Qi-Reading Technique.

The killing intent within the Demon Refining Cavern was considerably denser than when he had first transmigrated here. In another few decades, it might condense into something tangible.

"When killing intent takes physical form, it produces either a natural treasure or an unparalleled demon. Who among the commoners living in the capital could imagine that they're standing on a bomb every moment of their lives?"

Zhou Yi had little interest in the matter. The Demon-Slaying Bureau had existed for centuries, founded by Emperor Guangming, who had restored Great Qian to prosperity. Nothing had ever gone wrong during that time, so there had to be a way of dealing with the killing intent.

"Let's set a modest goal: ten thousand years of cultivation!"

Several days later.

Zhou Yi accepted his assignments as usual. Today, everyone was assigned two demons or monsters.

According to the captain, the court was dissatisfied with public security in the capital. A dragnet search had uncovered numerous lurking demons and monsters, all of whom had been thrown into the Demon-Slaying Bureau.

His Majesty had flown into a rage and ordered their immediate execution by the harshest means, without interrogation.

Cell B-seven.

Upon entering, Zhou Yi discovered a young, beautiful woman dressed in red.

Spirit Eye Technique!

Spiritual light flashed through his eyes, piercing the woman's illusion. She was a red fox more than four feet long.

Zhou Yi ignored the woman's beauty. He had killed at least twenty or thirty fox spirits and had seen plenty of beautiful women and handsome men.

The execution implement swept across the fox demon's neck, severing flesh and soul alike in two. The only valuable parts of her body were her eyes.

Fox demons excelled at illusions, and their eyes could be refined into eyesight-enhancing pills or special magical artifacts.

"The Demon and Monster Compendium isn't reacting?"

Zhou Yi frowned slightly. He had slain thousands of demons and monsters, but this was the first time he had encountered such a situation.

Circulating his magical power, he waved a hand and drew over the demon soul before it could dissipate. Because she had been killed with a specially crafted execution implement, even sustaining her with a spell would not stop her soul from scattering completely before long.

The demon soul was vacant and insubstantial. Clearly, questioning her would yield nothing.

Soul-Searching Technique!

Scene after scene of memories unfolded before Zhou Yi's eyes.