The Flame Demon's Ingenious Plan, Bears Munching on People
The Golden Serpent Banner fluttered in the wind, its patterns seeming to come alive, some diving, some soaring, full of vibrant life.
Chu Tianshu's eyes brightened slightly.
This ritual implement has great potential and its concept is quite remarkable.
The snake is a symbol of femininity, agile yet easily corrupted; gold, on the other hand, is associated with sinking, clumsy yet refined.
In Daoism, the tortoise and snake symbolize the interplay of movement and stillness, while in Gu Arts, the golden snake symbolizes the subtle interplay of movement and stillness.
Coincidentally, the High God Flame Demon wields the power of poisonous fire, which is perfect for alchemy, High God Longhua possesses the method of life transformation, which is a perfect match for the snake.
Using the Golden Snake Gu Arts, combined with some spells from the two major Ghost God Dharma Lineage, is enough to make one's cultivation advance by leaps and bounds.
However, if one becomes Evil Spirit on this path, one will inevitably lean towards one side of the Ghost God, making it impossible to maintain a balance between the two. In this case, the potential of this method will be destroyed without being attacked.
If one doesn't transform into Evil Spirit, then navigating the paths of two supreme Ghost God in human form is a hundred times more dangerous than walking a tightrope.
"This banner holds immense potential, but it also carries immense danger."
Chu Tianshu glanced at Fang Jun, but didn't offer any further advice.
Given Fang Jun's character, he would naturally understand the benefits of the Golden Serpent Banner, but precisely because of his character, he would definitely not give up this banner.
Moreover, for some reason, this banner resonated too perfectly with his aura—
Chu Tianshu pondered to himself that visualization is an extremely important step in both Gu Arts and Curse techniques.
It's likely that when Nie Longding's daughter was refining this banner, she visualized Fang Jun every time she entered a meditative state.
If it weren't for that old Nie Longding not wanting to be human anymore, they would have been a very good brother and sister.
"The auras of the Flame Demon and the Longhua mutually restrain and nurture each other on this banner, thus giving it the power of a divine object concealing itself."
Fang Jun looked up at the banner and said, "Even if there are experts from the Flame Devil Race Clan nearby, they won't be able to detect the Flame Demon spell on this banner."
"But I can use that tiny bit of energy here to sense whether there are any arrangements made by the Flame Devil Race around me."
Chu Tianshu didn't bring the witch's head with him because he was worried that the local Flame Demon experts would sense the witch's head and retreat first.
The aura emanating from the Golden Serpent Banner, after the two gods had refined themselves, could, to a certain extent, detect the descendants of the two gods in one direction, without being afraid of being perceived in the opposite direction.
However, Fang Jun was cautious and only took a trace of the aura to probe each time, so the detection range was relatively small. He could only rely on his own two legs to walk around and search everywhere.
Now that Chu Tianshu is around, he wants to be bolder.
"Good."
Chu Tianshu said, "Shake it as hard as you want."
Fang Jun took a deep breath, combined his breath with his Mind Power, and then exhaled it towards the Golden Serpent Banner.
In an instant, the background of the Golden Serpent Banner transformed into a deep darkness, while the golden patterns shone even brighter, tinged with red.
The entire banner seemed to have become ten times heavier.
The normal wind in the forest could no longer move the flag, so Fang Jun raised his arms and began to vigorously wave the flagpole.
From left to right, it swept across a huge arc, the flag almost horizontally unfurled.
Once it reaches its limit, it swings in the opposite direction, like a dragon turning its head or a python coiling its body, with a whooshing sound and a fierce wind blowing through the flag, repeating this process repeatedly.
Whoosh!! Whoosh!!
In the eastern part of the town, most of the houses appear quite affluent.
One of the villas had a metal fence made of wooden strips, painted white, covered in vines, and blooming with wildflowers.
The yard has a large lawn, a garage on the side, and four stone houses at the back, arranged from low to high, plus a covered walkway pavilion.
Those four stone houses are actually imitations of ancient architecture, with bricks shaped like Shitou, white walls and white roofs, and tall chimneys emitting smoke.
In the largest room, one side has a glass sliding door, the glass covered with condensation because of the significant temperature difference between the inside and outside.
Outside, it was as cold as winter, but inside it was warm as spring, with a roaring fireplace and brown sofas covered with lace-trimmed rugs.
Reverend Xitu, over sixty years old, bald, blue-eyed, with a large face and white beard, and broad shoulders and a thick waist, was sitting on the sofa, mixing himself a drink.
When pure-colored liquors such as ice blue and orange-red are mixed together, they become a golden-red mixture, viscous and shimmering like lava.
A chili pepper flew out of the fireplace, but was stopped by the priest's large hand just before it landed in the wine glass.
Surprisingly, an old man was sitting in the fireplace flames.
The man had white hair that reached his shoulders, wore a black priest's robe, had orange-red eyes, a face full of wrinkles, and a hunched posture.
His lips, in particular, were receding inwards, making it look like he had no teeth, and there wasn't a single beard on his chin.
It would be difficult for outsiders to tell whether the old woman was male or female.
The fireplace flames burned the man, but did not damage his clothes or hair, nor even ignite the tray in his hand or the chili peppers on it.
"Master Xiama, I don't like your kind of chili peppers, they're too sweet."
Pastor Xitu crushed the heart-shaped chili pepper in his hand with a crisp sound, and a wisp of smoke about the length of a thumb rose up.
The upper half of the smoke resembled a young man, eyes closed, face full of ecstasy, arms clasped to his chest, flying back into the fireplace like a little bird.
Grand Master Xiama flicked his right pinky finger.
Her long fingernails caught a wisp of smoke and pulled it into his mouth.
"Sweet and spicy, that's the real deal for a truly flavorful experience."
His voice was also a bit high-pitched. He stuck out his scarlet tongue, licked his nails, and then grabbed a dozen or so chili peppers, stuffing them into his mouth and chewing.
Those in the know will recognize these as "Dragon's Breath" chilies, the hottest variety available.
Spiciness also has a unit. In the last century, pharmacists diluted spicy substances with water until many participants could no longer taste the spiciness.
The more water used, the higher the spiciness level.
Since the 1990s, the development of high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) technology has made it possible to measure spiciness with a cheaper and more accurate standard.
Common chili peppers have a Scoville rating of only around 150,000, while the more famous ghost pepper has a Scoville rating of approximately 900,000 to 1,050,000.
In recent years, the artificially cultivated "Dragon's Breath Chili" has reached a Scoville rating of around 2.48 million.
If an ordinary person were to eat one of these raw, it could very likely trigger an anaphylactic shock.
However, many Spirit Realm and monsters actually enjoy spicy food, and their preference for spiciness is even greater than that of humans.
Legend has it that the ghost pepper, originating from a place of origin, represents both its spiciness as intense as the devil's and its use as a raw material in many witchcraft rituals, used to negotiate with the devil and ward him off.
Local shamans have been skilled for generations in combining ghost peppers with herbs and using their Mind Power to enhance their spiciness and create a richer flavor.
Some unofficial historical records even claim that the devil pepper originated from the Spirit Realm species, and that the devil discovered that a certain area in the human world was very suitable for cultivation, so he brought it to the human world.
Although the Flame Demon Clan consider human soul essence their most delicious delicacy, they also crave spiciness. When the males of the clan devour human souls, they enjoy the violent and chaotic thoughts contained within them, which they find spicy as well.
Only a small number of females in the tribe enjoy being eaten in a state of euphoria or even ecstasy, for it has a sweet taste.
With a century of cultivation, Grand Master Xiama, among the Flame Demon Clan, had mastered the "Familiar Puppet Studies," reaching a level of perfect harmony between self and object, and a unity of male and female.
In plain terms, he has a severe fetish, obsessed with all sorts of tangible and intangible puppets created by his tribe, which has blurred his own gender identity.
His Fortune, in a way, seems to resonate with the fate of the Americas today.
Therefore, when setting up a ritual in the real world to summon a master from the Spirit Realm, it was relatively easy for the clan to send him into the real world.
Once in reality, he personally collected a large number of drug addicts' souls, imprisoned them in his cultivated Dragon's Breath chili peppers, created a sweet and spicy flavor, and ate them as snacks.
"When I was alive, I also loved sweets, but now I'd rather drink lava with salt."
Reverend Xitu picked up his drink, downed it in one gulp, smacked his lips twice, and suddenly started hiccuping. He hiccuped three times in a row, making his whole body twitch.
He burped out a cloud of pale blue light, which he immediately covered with a wine glass and shook vigorously to disperse.
"Victor Green, the evil energy that was lodged in my throat has finally been neutralized."
The priest's face contorted with resentment. "Since that bastard acquired the Collective Karma Spirit Body Contract, the power of the Soul-Summoning Banner has increased day by day."
"Even with my divine physique and the martial arts I've honed my skills over a lifetime, I'm still slightly inferior."
"His injury will probably heal much faster than mine."
Grand Master Xiama Ma chuckled, "Nie Hongyao's betrayal this time was unexpected, but Victor's strength wasn't too far beyond our expectations."
"The tribe has long since reached a consensus: it is precisely because there are still people like Victor that we must proceed cautiously and gradually."
The priest said, "Once the plan in San Francisco is completed, could you give me command of this batch of Familiar Puppet so I can go and kill Victor first?!"
"Haha, of course—no way."
Grand Master Xiama said, "You also know our real plan. The first thing we'll do after these puppets are made is send them to Fusang."
"The Bear Mountain Clan has been operating in Fusang for many years, using bears to devour humans, and has even enlightened human bear demons, replacing many important human positions in Fusang."
"They were subdued by our race in their ancestral land in the Spirit Realm, and their power in the human realm can now be put to our use."
"Once we send this batch of Familiar Puppet over, with both sides working together, they can completely take control of Fusang in the shadows. Our Familiar Puppet production line will also be located in Fusang."
Xiama sighed, "The Americas are indeed a powerful Fortune, and we cannot destroy them in a short time. If we make too much noise here, we will surely provoke a counterattack, and other human nations will also have a chance to take notice and offer assistance."
"After secretly controlling Fusang, we had a steady stream of troops, but on the surface, we were still only circling around in the Americas, engaging in small-scale skirmishes."
"The long-term solution is to keep the human race from knowing our true strength."
Pastor Xitu nodded in agreement.
"Fusang is indeed a good place to mass-produce troops, but it's still a bit too close to the Special Investigation Bureau— "
Grand Master Xiama, however, did not take these words to heart.
"Fusang and that side have a long-standing feud, so it's perfectly normal for Japan to firmly refuse their involvement; it won't arouse too much suspicion."
"Furthermore, the hierarchical master-slave mentality in Fusang has never been severely challenged. Any order issued by the higher-ups is perfectly normal. Believe it or not, even if bears were eating Japanese heads everywhere in Fusang, eating one and throwing the other away, and the higher-ups did nothing, they wouldn't suspect that the leader was a bear demon."
"Besides, do you think we have no allies? Once we secretly control Fusang and everything is on track, we can free up our resources to help the Ghost Mother Clan."
The Grand Master Xiama grabbed a handful of chili peppers.
Within these little chili peppers, there are naked human souls, men and women, their faces filled with ecstasy, as if in a dream, rolling and tumbling.
"The Americas are truly a treasure trove, especially the central North-South region, which produces generation after generation of little poisonous people."
"In the future, we'll distribute a portion of these souls to the Ghost Mother Clan; they'll have plenty of fun with them."
Pastor Xitu pondered for a moment, then said, "Oh right, and the Longhua God Tree, they're in India— "
"Don't!"
Grand Master Xiama's expression changed, and he resolutely refused, speaking fiercely.
"Don't mention Longhua, those guys over there are despicable!!"