Unexpected Gain

Only a small portion of the spells in the Returning to Truth Scripture could be practiced at the Qi Nourishing Stage. The rest could only be learned after reaching Soul Departure, and there were no spells requiring higher realms. As for whether others possessed such spells, Shi Xuan did not know. To increase their power, one either had to reach the Golden Core Stage to raise their grade, or let one's cultivation grow, whereupon the spells would naturally become stronger. Still, the results were not as good as raising their grade.

The Governor was now breathing his last, as though he might die the very next moment. He struggled to question him, "Why did you come to harm me? Who sent you?"

The thunderous sounds of the earlier fight had already alarmed the guards. It was simply that the battle had ended too quickly; only now did the guards at the entrance rush in, only to be swept down one by one by Shi Xuan, who had long been waiting with the Soul-Bewildering Banner. Only then did Shi Xuan turn back to answer the Governor's question. "Since you sought the Divine Path, why were you so hell-bent on quick success? Why ** respectable women? Why strip your believers of all their possessions?"

The Governor gave a bitter laugh. "How could I not be hell-bent on quick success? My body was already like this. Naturally, I was anxious to gather more Incense and Fire Prayer Power, use it to climb another flight of stairs in cultivation, and hope that advancing my cultivation could cure my body. Alas, instead, my illness only grew worse.

After pausing, he continued, "As for the matter of ** respectable women, that too was to speed up the growth of my believers. After all, the more effective prayers for children were, the more people would believe in me." He paused again, then gave a sinister chuckle. "They prayed for the gods to grant them children. Did I not grant them children as well? The results were even better; only the method differed. They could be said to have gotten what they wished for."

"Since you did it, do not blame this humble Taoist for coming to your door." Shi Xuan had beliefs of his own and naturally would not be confused by the Governor's sophistry.

"I... I understand now. No one sent you. I can only blame myself for encountering a meddlesome cultivator. Ha, cough, ha." The Governor's condition worsened by the second. "But I beg Daoist Priest to tell me, what illness is this? Why has it happened? Otherwise, I will not rest in peace even in death."

Shi Xuan also gave a sinister chuckle. "Your illness is not really an illness. Has no one ever told you that both the Divine Path and Ghost Path begin with ghosts? This should be common knowledge, though the cultivation methods may not mention it specifically." At least, in the notes left by senior members of the Daoist Sect that Shi Xuan had read, it had only been mentioned in passing.

"What?!" The Governor was utterly shocked. Even his deathly pale face flushed with an unnatural red.

"Therefore, ordinary Divine Path methods do not include ways to temper the fleshly body, and ordinary methods would not work anyway. According to what this humble Taoist has heard from seniors, only Daoist methods of Fleshly Body Attaining Sainthood, or Buddhist Diamond-Indestructible Path, can enable the fleshly body to withstand the erosion of Incense and Fire Prayer Power." Shi Xuan stated it calmly.

The Governor's eyes widened as he asked in a trembling voice, "Is there any other solution?"

Shi Xuan's lips curved. "Your illness has two layers. First, your fleshly body is too weak to bear such a powerful spirit soul, so it naturally collapses. Second, Incense and Fire Prayer Power erodes the fleshly body. To resolve it, aside from those two methods, there is one more method that treats the root cause."

"W-what is it?"

"Abandon this fleshly body. Since you have already taken the Divine Path, can you not live perfectly well without a body? Ha, just now, you would rather take this humble Taoist's lightning arts head-on than abandon this body of little use, and so you ended up like this. Had you ignored your body, this humble Taoist certainly could not have taken you down so easily. Heh heh." Shi Xuan shook his head with a sigh.

"Ahhh!!!" The Governor let out a roar, and then his soul dispersed like an extinguished lamp. His eyes remained wide open; in the end, he truly died with grievances unresolved.

Within the main hall of Divine Lord Crimson Cloud in Kaiyang City, although night had already fallen, there were still many believers paying their respects. Then, with a deafening boom, everyone looked up. At once, they were seized by terror. The statue of Divine Lord Crimson Cloud, which had faintly glowed red, not only lost all its red light, but its head had actually snapped off and tilted to one side.

"W-what happened?" A young married woman tightly clutched her husband's hand.

Her husband put on an air of great knowledge. "From what your husband has read in books, this means a god has fallen. Alas, I never imagined I would witness such a thing with my own eyes."

When the frightened believers around them heard this conclusion, they wanted to refute it. Yet when they recalled the state of the statue, and that they had all personally seen that no one had gone up there before, they unconsciously began spreading the speculation to those around them. The Divine Lord Temple filled with whispers.

The severing of Divine Lord Crimson Cloud's statue head also occurred in several towns around Kaiyang City, filling the believers with waves of unease. Such a thing had no reasonable explanation in the hearts of rural commoners, yet it was an unmistakable omen of misfortune.

Only in the small town Shi Xuan had passed through did no one yet know of this, because Shi Xuan had already smashed the statue to pieces.

"Madam! Madam! Disaster has struck!" A maid cried out to the principal wife, who was kneeling in worship.

"What are you panicking for? The sky is not falling. Speak slowly." Only after the principal wife respectfully finished kowtowing did she raise her head and scold her personal maid.

The maid pointed upward with a face full of terror. "Madam, look!"

The principal wife followed her finger, and her face went pale in an instant. The Divine Lord Crimson Cloud spirit tablet, which had been perfectly fine before worship, had actually snapped into two pieces.

Countless households that had invited spirit tablets into their homes discovered, sooner or later, that the tablets had broken. Many women returned to their rooms and lifted their pillows, only to find that the small statues beneath had also split in two, leaving them dumbfounded.

The divine servants panicked and sought instructions from the divine envoys. The divine envoys wanted to seek instructions from higher-ranking envoys, only to discover that both Fan Shiqian and Mu Chang had vanished together. Amid their fear and unease, more and more people bundled up their valuables and fled.

Naturally, Shi Xuan knew nothing of this. At this moment, he was still sighing inwardly over the Governor's corpse. He had only intended to provoke him, preferably until he broke down, so that questioning him afterward would yield better results. Who would have thought the Governor was so lacking in resilience that he had died of rage outright?

Had he known, he would not have played so many tricks and would have simply used the Soul-Stealing Technique. Though the Governor had cultivated a halo and possessed a powerful soul, so the effect might not have been good, it would still have been better than having nothing now. He could not even interrogate the soul; it was a textbook case of spirit soul and body both destroyed. Because a cultivator's soul suffered backlash from heaven and earth, once the body died, the soul would perish as well—unless one cultivated to the Yin Spirit Stage and could resist this heavenly law.

Shi Xuan could only search through the corpse. Unfortunately, the Governor wore only an inner garment and had nothing on him. Still, considering that many people hid important items not far from themselves, especially those with great personal strength, Shi Xuan decided to inspect the large bed first, then search the courtyard. If he still found nothing, he would go search the Governor's wife's quarters.

Sure enough, Shi Xuan found a hidden compartment at the head of the bed. He cautiously investigated it with spells and found nothing unusual, then carefully opened it. Inside lay a crimson bundle.

Shi Xuan lifted the bundle. It was very heavy, yet it did not look as though it contained many things. Why was it so heavy? He cautiously opened it and found only four items inside.

The first item was a book, its seal-script title reading Incense Refining Golden Body. It was presumably the Divine Path cultivation method practiced by the Governor. Shi Xuan picked it up and flipped through it. The stages of Divine Path cultivation were roughly the same as Daoist Sect cultivation, except it lacked the body-tempering step. After that, it too used incense and fire to nourish the soul. Since it began with ghosts, there was no Soul Departure and thus no minor divine abilities. However, halos condensed from Incense and Fire Prayer Power and the like also possessed considerable might.

Since he already had his own cultivation path, Shi Xuan was not particularly interested in Divine Path methods. After confirming it was genuine, he put it away, intending to give it to Madam Fang when the opportunity arose, since he had promised her. Still, certain methods involving Divine Path Incense and Fire Prayer Power seemed usable in refining Dharma Artifacts.

The second item was a Night Pearl. Though it was worth a fortune, it was of no use to Shi Xuan, so he casually put it away as well.

The third item was a piece of white metal the size of the tip of a ring finger. Shi Xuan reached for it, but the instant he drew near, he felt a sharp aura that stabbed his skin with pain, and he hurriedly pulled his hand back. He then cast the Golden Dragon Armor Charm and carefully approached again. The closer he got to the metal, the more intense its sharp aura became. Shi Xuan pinched the metal between his fingers, yet he could not lift it; it was incomparably heavy. Only after circulating his Internal Energy did he manage to pick it up.

Shi Xuan examined the metal from top to bottom and found it somewhat familiar. After thinking carefully, realization suddenly dawned on him. Was this not the Geng Metal described in the Treasure Record?! A wave of wild joy surged through his heart, and only after repeatedly regulating his breath and calming his mind did he settle down. If he remembered correctly, the Great Yin Lung Yang Geng Metal Sword Qi divine ability was marked in the Treasure Record as a Daoist art! A Daoist art!

With great care, Shi Xuan put away the Geng Metal and looked toward the fourth item. The fourth item was a token, neither metal nor wood, engraved with ancient patterns and shaped rather like an artifact from the medieval era. Yet after testing it in every way he could, Shi Xuan found that it was not a Dharma Artifact. Still, there was something faintly strange within it. Unfortunately, his cultivation was not high and his knowledge was even more limited, so he could not identify it and could only put it away.

Having acquired the Geng Metal, Shi Xuan was already completely satisfied. After destroying the corpse and erasing all traces, he concealed himself and hid his aura as he made a circuit through the Governor's residence. Only after confirming there were indeed no other people connected to Divine Lord Crimson Cloud did he cast Minor Clear Wind Escape and depart with sweeping strides.

After leaving the Governor's residence and escaping across several streets, Shi Xuan stopped in a secluded spot. At the same time, he sensed the Concentric Charm he had left on Chu Wan'er, intending to find her first. After all, the Concentric Charm could last for less than six hours.

Upon sensing it, he discovered that Chu Wan'er was not far away. Though he felt somewhat nervous, he was mostly excited and confident. Following the sensation, Shi Xuan rounded several corners and arrived at a ruined alley, where he found Chu Wan'er blocked deep within by several beggars.

"Damn little brat! Hand over the valuables you picked up at the Divine Lord Temple!" one beggar snarled viciously.

"I won't give them to you! Big bad people!" As she spoke, she made a face. "Who told you to run so slowly? I was the first to discover that the divine servants at the Divine Lord Temple were snatching things from each other, hehe." Chu Wan'er spoke proudly in her clear, childish voice.