Gu Zhao: Then Let Him Off for Now

"No wonder." Gu Zhao looked at Xiuniang. Mana now brimmed through her body, even slowly improving it; her skin seemed noticeably better. "The effects of forming a pact are actually this obvious?"

"Of course!" Bai Ke said smugly. "I'm a descendant of the Celestial Fox. Once Xiuniang forms a pact with me, she'll surely become a great mage whose might shakes the world!"

Gu Zhao said darkly, "A descendant of the Celestial Fox, yet you can't even speak for yourself."

Bai Ke flew into a rage. "That's because I'm only sixteen!"

Gu Zhao raised a brow and glanced at her sideways. "I remember foxes don't live very long. At sixteen, haven't you already outlived the lifespan of most foxes? And you still say you're not an old granny?"

Even the fur on Bai Ke's tail stood on end. "I'm not an ordinary fox. I'm a fox demon—no, that's not right. I've never harmed an innocent person, and I don't carry any Killing Intent. I should be called a fox spirit. I'm not a demonic beast, I'm a Spirit Lord!"

Gu Zhao nodded in understanding, having acquired another piece of knowledge.

"Alright, alright, you're a Spirit Lord." Gu Zhao waved a hand. "Then may I ask, Spirit Lord, you knocked everyone in the village unconscious with one roar. When will they wake up?"

"I'm a Spirit Lord, but Spirit Lord isn't my name. I have a name. My name is Bai Ke!"

Bai Ke emphasized the point. Seeing that Xiuniang was also somewhat worriedly glancing at Elder He inside the house, she finally said, "They're just sleeping normally. They'll recover in roughly two or three hours. It won't even affect them getting up at night."

"Your surname really is Bai?" Gu Zhao asked in surprise.

Bai Ke answered with silence. She couldn't exactly say that she'd had no name before, and only named herself Bai Ke because Xiuniang called her Little Bai.

Xiuniang let out a quiet laugh, but said nothing. She merely gazed at Gu Zhao with blazing eyes.

Gu Zhao took out the four bracelets and asked Bai Ke, "Could that Golden Wind Sect Leader trace the aura on these bracelets back here?"

"These bracelets aren't his incense deity statues. They don't bear any spell imprints he left behind." Bai Ke shook her head. "Unless he leaves Changping Prefecture and comes near the village, he might be able to sense the aura on these bracelets."

"That's good." Gu Zhao nodded, then seemed to think of something. "Earlier, you said you couldn't use the incense deity statues of the Golden Wind Sect, or you'd become the Golden Wind Sect Leader's puppet. Is that because of the imprints?"

"Once incense and faith leave the body, they must be stored in objects made from special materials. That old ghost isn't strong enough to absorb his believers' incense and fire from hundreds or thousands of miles away, so he can only place a deity statue on the altar in Xiu Yue County to absorb Incense and Fire Thought Power."

Bai Ke explained, "But he fears the local followers might embezzle it, so he placed a spell imprint inside the statue. Whoever dares touch the incense within it, he can sense it from afar and even cast spells across the distance."

"So he can sense the deity statue from very far away?" Gu Zhao asked.

"Maybe... probably... perhaps... he can only sense the general direction and distance." Bai Ke wasn't sure either. She didn't cultivate the divine path, and her strength was far below the Golden Wind Sect Leader's. How could she know so clearly?

That was why she complained, "If I had the ability to block the Golden Wind Sect Leader's senses, why would I steal the deity statue from Xiu Yue County? Wouldn't it be better to steal the one in Changping Prefecture directly?"

Gu Zhao understood, but also felt a lingering chill of fear.

Luckily, he had brought that incense deity statue back to the modern world. Otherwise, he probably would have been thrown into a high-level fight right at the start of his transmigration. Never mind whether he could have won—if he hadn't been there at the time, this village would likely have been wiped out.

Eh? Why did I say if I hadn't been there?

"Is that Golden Wind Sect Leader powerful?" Gu Zhao's eyes flickered as he asked expectantly.

He had only just arrived in this world. Though he had destroyed that Golden Wind Sect Divine Maiden in a single move, he remained cautious by nature.

Even when three bolts of lightning later killed the black-clad ghost chasing Bai Ke and Xiuniang, he hadn't felt anything in particular because he didn't know where that black-clad ghost stood in the hierarchy.

But today, he had used the Supreme Clarity Spirit Transformation Talisman together with two Thunder Driving Incantations to strike down three ghosts outright. Now that he knew these three were the Golden Wind Sect's Guardian Ghost Gods, famed throughout Changping Prefecture and second only to the sect leader, his little thoughts began to stir.

If the gap was comparable to the difference in strength between Yang Dingtian and the Four Great Dharma Kings, then maybe... probably... perhaps...

Am I frighteningly strong now?

Gu Zhao: ()

"You don't think that killing four Golden Wind Sect guardians means you're already very impressive, do you?"

Bai Ke scoffed. "Those Guardian Ghost Gods merely received a trace of divinity bestowed by the Golden Wind Sect Leader. They're servants he sends out to do menial work. They're not even worthy of exchanging a single move with the Golden Wind Sect Leader."

Bai Ke could tell by now that Gu Zhao truly understood nothing.

The Golden Wind Divine Cult was a great power that shook Changping Prefecture, and the Golden Wind Divine King was an old ghost with several centuries of cultivation. If Gu Zhao went to his door, wouldn't that just be delivering himself onto the chopping block?

Though Gu Zhao looked quite formidable, he could never be a match for the Golden Wind Divine King. Bai Ke decisively poured cold water over him; otherwise, if he went looking for the Golden Wind Divine King without a care in the world, wouldn't that get him killed?

Hearing Bai Ke's words, Gu Zhao also calmed down.

He had only been comparing them to characters from Wuxia Novels. Those characters never escaped the bounds of humanity. Though Yang Dingtian was powerful, he likely couldn't withstand the Four Great Dharma Kings joining forces.

And in all the world, there was simply no one who could take down the Four Great Dharma Kings in three moves or two. Not even Zhang Sanfeng could do it!

So here was the crux of the matter: the world he was in wasn't a wuxia world at all. It was clearly a world of immortals and martial arts. Leaving aside comparisons to the Primordial World or Journey to the West, even at merely the level of Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio, Yan Chixia could slaughter Tree Demon Granny's subordinate Female Ghosts as easily as cutting melons and chopping vegetables, yet when facing her directly, he had nearly capsized in the gutter.

In a world like this, the gap between every level was truly like a heavenly chasm. The saying that one could not withstand even a single move was no empty boast.

"Phew—"

After settling his heated heart, considering that he had only just arrived and that the Five Thunder Token was still helping him grow, Gu Zhao stopped rushing himself.

He had all the time in the world!

"Then let him off for now!" Gu Zhao nodded and said solemnly.

Bai Ke, "..."

Xiuniang, on the other hand, nodded repeatedly. "The Golden Wind Sect can't find us anyway, so there's no need for us to go looking for them."

Having said that, Xiuniang couldn't help looking at Gu Zhao again, hesitating as if she wanted to speak but held herself back.

Gu Zhao also looked at Xiuniang, his eyes thoughtful.

As their gazes met, Xiuniang's eyes began to evade his, while Gu Zhao's grew brighter and brighter.

Bai Ke looked from one to the other. Her eyes flickered, and just as she was about to speak, Gu Zhao suddenly reached into a small pouch at his waist, pulled out a piece of yellow paper folded into a triangle, and stuffed it into Xiuniang's hand. "Try it. See whether you can activate this talisman?"

"Eh?" Bai Ke froze where she stood.

Xiuniang looked at the talisman paper in her hand, her cheeks flushing crimson. She felt as though the heat radiating from her body alone could scorch the yellow paper to ash.