Chapter 23: Becoming a God Through Guai

Li Lin came out of the Huang residence, feeling something was off.

The people of the Huang family all seemed to want to do something, yet the conversation was perfectly normal—even chatting with Huang Qi, they only talked about mundane family matters.

But this wasn't Huang Qi's usual style. That proud scholar, under normal circumstances, would open his mouth with grand ambitions for the world.

It just felt strange.

Still, he could tell the Huang family seemed to bear no ill will, so he didn't dwell on it and set the matter aside for now.

He wandered the market for a while, wanting to buy a pill furnace, but couldn't find one. Then he remembered—the market was only a place for ordinary folk to trade; to buy something like that, he'd have to go to a specialized shop.

But he had only just entered the trade of Spirit Hunter, and didn't know much. He wanted to seek guidance from Senior Su Huafang, then recalled that Su Huafang had gone to Jincheng to attend a gathering.

He thought for a while, then went to the largest medical hall in the county.

Anhe Hall.

They didn't sell pill furnaces here either!

So he planned to buy a medical text.

But… they refused to sell.

They'd rather sell that copy of the 'Spring-Returning Health Art' at a cheap price than part with a medical text.

With no choice, Li Lin had to leave, hoping to find another way to get a medical text in the future and study it.

Then he wandered the streets for a while. By evening, he found an inn and settled in for the night.

After supper, the sky was already fully dark.

But unlike the countryside, the county town at night was very lively.

On the main commercial streets, lanterns blazed and the hum of voices filled the air.

Because once night fell, a massive 'Guai' would descend and shroud the entire city.

The whole county town lay beneath the protection of its Dharma Aspect.

Let alone Wild Guai—even other great Guai wouldn't dare come here and cause trouble.

With safety, a bustling nightlife would follow.

That night, Li Lin didn't cultivate. He simply slept and rested.

After all, the Dharma Aspect looming over the county town was far too intimidating. If he took out a Breath-Sustaining Pill and used it, and that 'Guai' happened to notice, Li Lin had no idea what the consequences would be.

He still understood the principle of not flaunting one's wealth.

The next morning, after getting up, finishing breakfast, and settling his lodging fee, he was about to head back to the village when he ran into an acquaintance on the road.

Another Spirit Hunter—Bai Liwei, a thirty-five-year-old middle-aged man.

Behind him followed a young man, whose eyes were full of a proud, 'clear' innocence.

"Senior Bai, you're in the county town too." Li Lin greeted him first.

"Oh, Li Xunshou." Bai Liwei walked over, cupped his hands, and smiled: "I didn't expect to run into you here."

"Judging by that cheerful look on your face, something good must have happened?"

Bai Liwei laughed heartily. He beckoned the young man beside him over and said: "This is my nephew, named Bai Bufan. A few days ago he completed the cultivation of the Spiritual Nature Heart Art, and now he's qualified to become a Spirit Hunter."

"Congratulations, congratulations." Li Lin said with a smile.

At the same time, he felt a touch of envy. It was good to have someone backing you.

Becoming a Spirit Hunter was the same, yet others had a Spirit-Controlling Heart Art ready to cultivate, while he could only bitterly eat blood rice to refine his qi and blood, grinding his strength up bit by bit.

Still, even so, he was very grateful to Su Huafang.

Without Su Huafang's discerning eye, Li Lin would probably still be just a villager with a touch of something special.

"Much obliged." Bai Liwei continued with a smile: "Xiaofan has already been registered at the county office. Now we need to ask Taowu Zhenjun to grant him an opportunity. Would you like to come along and witness the ceremony?"

"Gladly, gladly." Li Lin said with a smile.

A chance to build good relations with a colleague was not to be missed.

In this world, wherever humans gathered, there would be an altar.

The size of the altar and the prosperity of its incense offerings determined the upper limit of the 'Guai' enshrined there.

Yulin County's inner city had just over a hundred thousand people, the outer city fifty thousand, and counting the villages and towns under its jurisdiction, the total population was around two hundred and twenty thousand.

The three of them arrived before a temple, above which hung a plaque bearing the large characters 'Taowu Zhenjun'.

Those who came to burn incense and worship all lit their incense at the incense burner outside the temple, not entering it.

The three Spirit Hunters stepped inside the temple and saw a massive black altar, its surface covered in many dried black bloodstains.

Around the great altar, fourteen smaller seated altars were arranged in a ring.

From every altar seeped a chilling miasma of resentment—this was why ordinary people could not enter.

They couldn't endure such resentment; even a touch of it would easily make them fall ill.

Beside the altar sat an old man guarding it, gaunt in appearance, his face pale as plaster, seemingly lacking much of the breath of the living.

Hearing someone enter, he opened his eyes: "Are you here to invite the god?"

His voice was shrill, like a woman's.

"Elder Qi!" Bai Liwei bowed first, then pointed at the young man behind him and said: "This is my nephew. He has the makings of a Spirit Hunter and has already been registered at the county office. He's come now to seek an opportunity."

"Elder Qi, here is the credential." Bai Bufan stepped forward on his own, unfastened the white jade token from his waist, and presented it.

"Not bad, young man." Elder Qi sized up Bai Bufan, then nodded lightly.

He then took the white jade token, placed it on the altar, and pulled out incense candles and gold-tin paper money from a cabinet beside him.

First the incense candles were lit, then the paper money was burned.

The pale smoke of the incense rose and spread. The smoke was thick, drifting very slowly, as if it had a strong stickiness to it.

At the same time, more and more resentment seeped from the altar, and the whole temple grew colder and colder.

Cold enough to cut to the bone.

In this cold 'atmosphere', whether it was Elder Qi, Bai Liwei, or Li Lin, everyone behaved normally.

Only Bai Bufan's body was trembling.

Mainly because Bai Bufan had just become a Spirit Hunter, his strength was still weak, and he could not yet endure such intense resentment.

Bai Liwei looked at Li Lin strangely, because... even he felt a bit cold in this situation, and he did not expect Li Lin to be able to withstand it.

But then he felt relieved; after all, Li Lin was the only virgin among all the Spirit Hunters, his yang energy was very strong, and having cultivated for over half a year, it was normal for him not to fear this level of resentment.

His nephew Bai Bufan, not much younger than Li Lin, had lost his virginity three years ago.

It was only natural that his body was weaker and he feared the cold.

As the resentment grew heavier, the green smoke generated by the incense, candles, and gold-foil paper money 'drifted' down.

It slowly circled around the large and small altars.

A very faint strange shadow appeared on the large altar; its specific form was unclear, and it seemed to wave a hand.

Afterwards, a figure appeared on each of the small altars.

One of them Li Lin knew very well; it was the Tree Immortal Lady.

As soon as she appeared, she looked at Li Lin, her eyes seeming somewhat reproachful.

At this moment, Bai Bufan looked at these dozen or so figures, subconsciously swallowing; his arms were crossed, his body shaking, yet he tried earnestly to look at every single figure.

Every figure on the altar looked quite strange.

Some had dog heads and human bodies, some had fangs growing from their mouths, and spider eyes on their bellies.

After looking around, Bai Bufan pointed at the Tree Immortal Lady and said, "I think..."

After all, she was the most beautiful; her figure was graceful, and although she wore a mask that hid her face, she instinctively gave off an aura of being a great beauty.

Then he could not speak anymore, because the Tree Immortal Lady was glaring at him, her eyes full of coldness.

Bai Bufan was startled; he could not finish his sentence, so he could only withdraw his hand and smile awkwardly.

He turned his gaze to his uncle, hoping the latter would give some opinion on which one to choose.

But he suddenly realized that his uncle's expression was wrong, and the atmosphere of the entire temple was wrong.

At this moment, no one paid any attention to him.

Elder Qi, Bai Liwei, and Li Lin were all looking at the empty small altar on the east side.

After waiting for quite a while, no 'figure' had appeared there.

"Go notify the County Magistrate," Elder Qi said in an urgent tone, "It seems a major problem has occurred."

(End of this chapter)