Chapter 42

From Ren Tianhe’s mouth, Gu Zhao learned another concept.

Daoxing!

This world’s cultivation systems are numerous and chaotic—demons, ghosts, spirits, body-refiners, pact-seekers, pure-magic practitioners—all follow their own paths, making it impossible to unify realms, so they only classify by daoxing.

After all, if one’s realm is low, daoxing cannot advance far; but if daoxing is high, the realm will never be too low.

For example, the Golden Wind Divine King, who has held sway in Changping Prefecture for decades, absorbing countless incense and devotional energies, is a ferocious ghost spirit with hundreds of years of daoxing and immense magic power.

This “hundreds of years of daoxing” does not mean the Golden Wind Divine King has cultivated for hundreds of years, but that his magic power equals what an ordinary person would accumulate after centuries of cultivation.

He, Ren Tianhe, boasts himself as the Golden Wind Sect’s First Protector, his daoxing stuck at around one hundred and twenty to thirty years, unable to advance further; the other protector ghost spirits have barely a hundred years of daoxing—calling them “century-old ghosts” is already respectful.

As for the Golden Wind Goddess and the branch-temple divine generals, their names sound grand, but their daoxing ranges only from a dozen to a few decades; without the Golden Wind Sect’s protection, the division of incense and stabilization of their spiritual cores, they would not stand a chance against other demons and ghosts.

“I see.” Gu Zhao nodded in understanding.

He had cultivated for ten years himself—never slacking off, yet never neglecting eating, drinking, leisure, or college exams; even with exceptional talent, comparing it all, he’d only amassed about thirty years of daoxing. Only after arriving here did his cultivation efficiency skyrocket, and after slaying four Golden Wind Sect protectors, the Five Thunder Talisman absorbed the dark energy and accelerated his progress, rapidly increasing his strength.

But he cultivated the orthodox Daoist method, his primordial qi pure yang, his magical power refined and pristine, inherently suppressing demonic and heretical forces; combined with the immense power of talismans and spells, this allowed him to fight above his level—even this century-old ghost could not withstand two Zhengqing Great Binding Dragon Talismans.

In this world, the most numerous beings are those with less than a hundred years of daoxing; anyone exceeding a hundred years of daoxing can dominate an entire county.

“So I’m this powerful?” Gu Zhao stroked his chin. Am I now the county’s Brahmin?

According to Ren Tianhe’s words, he certainly couldn’t defeat the Golden Wind Divine King yet—after all, even his ability to fight above his level had limits.

For instance, Yan Chixia and Baiyun Chan Master from “A Chinese Ghost Story” could match the thousand-year-old Tree Demon Granny, yet they were no match for the Black Mountain Old Demon.

But…

Although he had seized the Divine King’s incense idol, slain his Golden Wind Goddess and four protectors, and was about to kill another protector spirit and branch-temple divine general while seizing another incense idol…

The Divine King still didn’t know him!

So time was on his side—if he continued eliminating demons and ghosts, absorbing dark energy to aid his cultivation, then by the day he first arrived in Changping Prefecture, that would be the day the enemy met his end!

Gu Zhao: (◔◡◔)

“But I must hurry. I must accelerate my cultivation—and ideally, find allies. That means… some matters need to be prioritized.”

Thinking this, Gu Zhao turned again to Ren Tianhe and Hong Xin, slumped on the ground.

Both were seasoned old ghosts; one glance at Gu Zhao’s eyes, and they knew he intended to kill them.

“You dare kill me? The Divine King won’t spare you!” Ren Tianhe roared.

“Master, spare my life! I beg to surrender—be your slave, your servant!” Hong Xin cried out.

Alas, bound by the Iron Chains of the Binding Dragon Talisman, their voices were faint as mosquitoes, barely audible.

Gu Zhao formed the Thunder Seal with his left hand, pinched a spell-finger with his right, chanted the incantation, and after uttering four true words, slammed his palm down on Hong Xin. A purple light flashed—thunder from his palm shot instantly into the ghost’s body.

“Ahh!” Hong Xin screamed. The ghost within him tried to escape, but the Binding Dragon Talisman’s iron chains held him fast—he could only endure the palm-thunder.

Under a single thunderclap, the ghost-body disintegrated, the spiritual core vanished. Hong Xin and the ghost within him were obliterated by the palm-thunder, and a wisp of dark energy was absorbed by the Five Thunder Talisman, feeding back to Gu Zhao.

“Hah!” Ren Tianhe’s eyes bulged with rage. He roared, forcing his magic power to surge violently—his dantian shattered, meridians tore, his ghost-body destabilized, his spiritual core quivered.

Black blood spewed from his mouth, smoke rose from all seven orifices, his ghostly energy churned chaotically—but at the cost of grievous self-injury, he broke free from the two Binding Dragon Talisman chains.

The next instant, Ren Tianhe leapt upward, black mist wrapping his body, ready to burst through the door.

“Heaven’s net is cast, spreading in all directions, capturing demons and ghosts—none may escape.”

Same incantation as before—a spark of fire shot from Gu Zhao’s fingertip, tracing a red line that instantly struck Ren Tianhe, then bloomed into a net of flame, engulfing him and pinning him to the ground.

The Flame Cage Technique—the only combat spell in the Shangqing Tianxin Zhengfa—not pure offense, but a slow-and-damage effect. That’s why Gu Zhao used it as an execution tool.

With Ren Tianhe bound by the Flame Cage, Gu Zhao did not hesitate—he cast the palm-thunder again: “Thunder and lightning pursue each other, heaven and earth are the eyes. The eight directions’ righteous qi—lightning flashes!”

“Boom!”

“Ahh!” Ren Tianhe cried out in agony, but now that he had broken free from the Shangqing Binding Dragon Talisman, though grievously wounded, he could finally channel his magic power.

Ren Tianhe grabbed forward with his right hand—a great blade appeared. He spun and slashed at Gu Zhao; a black mist skull erupted from the blade, carrying cutting qi, coiling toward Gu Zhao.

Simultaneously, Ren Tianhe slammed his left fist against his chest, releasing a surge of spiritual will, roaring loudly: “Golden Wind stands eternal! Divine King, aid me!”

The next instant, the wooden idol in the main hall of the Golden Wind Hall shot forward like a shadow, flying into the courtyard and crashing through the window.

Yet, just as the wooden idol broke through the window, Gu Zhao had already waved his hand, dispelling the dark mist clinging to him, leapt forward, reached out, and intercepted it midway between Ren Tianhe and the window—grabbing the idol.

But Ren Tianhe’s face showed no surprise—only a cruel grin. “Golden…”

“Swish!”

“Swish!”

Ren Tianhe felt his vision blur—as if the young man had flickered—but his mouth still instinctively chanted the spell: “Golden Wind Divine King, your power eternal! I offer my loyalty—aid me in defeating my foe!”

As Ren Tianhe finished chanting, nothing happened in the quiet chamber. Only then did he realize the wooden idol Gu Zhao had seized had vanished—and the young man now had his right palm aimed directly at him.

“What happened?”

“Boom!”

A purple light flashed—thunder pierced his body. Ren Tianhe offered no resistance. His nearly human-shaped ghost-body shattered instantly, crumbling into black ash like charred bones.

Gu Zhao felt the dark energy absorbed by the Five Thunder Talisman in his mind: “No wonder he’s the First Protector—killed the most, carried the heaviest dark energy.”

At that moment, he heard commotion outside—the fact that Ren Tianhe had remotely summoned the idol had already alarmed the faithful and stirred the sect members.

Moreover, he had just cast the palm-thunder—its disturbance was unmistakable.

Rapid footsteps approached. Gu Zhao leapt out the window, flipped his palm—and a Wind-Thunder Talisman appeared in his hand.

“Wood’s Morning Star, Spirit of the East! Follow my Nine Qi—expel the demonic spirits!”

…

In some palace, another furious roar echoed: “What the hell was Ren Tianhe doing?”