Chapter 113: Earth Official

Wu Xian reached his hand into the black mist and sighed.

"I think I've walked too far down the path of stacking armor…"

As his hand touched the filthy armor, a thread of black-red qi surged into Wu Xian's body; he felt a tingling numbness, as if something beneath his skin was writhing.

The transformation ceased. Wu Xian stirred his thoughts slightly.

Shuā!

In an instant.

Spikes sprouted across Wu Xian's head, face, neck, and even his waist and hips.

All these spikes were gray-white and semi-translucent, thick as pen nibs, fine as needle points, some as long as fingers, others as short as toes.

Earth Official's Punishment!

The three artifacts are: the Eight-Foot Snake Spear, the Soul-Seizing Bell, and the Bronze Shield.

The effect of the Poison Character is to coat an item with poison; the effect of the Light Character is to make an item lighter. These two talismans, if used well, can still be very useful—but ultimately they don't match the power of the two Wu Xian carefully selected.

Then Wu Xian stored the blood drawn from Black Bone's body in the refrigerator…

The spectral apparition finished its lines and vanished into thin air; the Earth Official's statue likewise dissolved into black mist.

Finally.

The three talismans are: the Poison Character, the Light Character, and the Shock Character.

He suddenly felt a chilly draft—his clothes kept leaking wind, even his underwear lost all sense of coverage…

When the pain eased somewhat, Wu Xian continued worshipping the deity.

"Lotus Juanren Wu Xian, you, are guilty!"

The Water Official's curse will guide the Lotus Juanren to uncover clues.

Wu Xian held down the reluctant Black Bone, holding a syringe, smiling reassuringly.

Now he had a new perspective on the deity statues in the blessed land.

These spikes were extremely fragile—once struck, they vanished; only by eating plenty could they regrow. So Wu Xian admired them for a moment, then retracted them.

But immediately, Wu Xian noticed another problem.

"Ah…"

Bronze Shield: The shield of the Greek hero Perseus, its surface polished like a mirror, with a chance to reflect enemy attacks.

"Good girl, drawing some blood is good for your body. This blood may not even be used—it's just precautionary. You've always wanted to buy a robot vacuum, right? After this, I'll get you one."

Wu Xian glanced down, spun around. Even without a mirror, unable to see his full form, he still laughed at his own appearance.

The Earth Official's punishment will punish the Lotus Juanren's sins…

Just as Wu Xian was considering whether to change clothes, he suddenly heard a deafening sound.

Wu Xian immediately realized—he had triggered the negative effect of worshipping the Earth Official.

In just this one attempt, Wu Xian's clothes had turned into a mesh outfit!

Fortunately, these spikes were all quite thin, so he wasn't exposed.

Wu Xian stifled his scream, feeling the searing pain in his backside, rubbing his lower back in dazed silence.

And this judgment was surprisingly humane, adjusting according to the criminal's mindset and actual circumstances—not rigid or harsh punishment.

But the corrupt qi of the Bestowal of Evil makes the Lotus Juanren more likely to obtain fully formed deity-worship items.

Wu Xian stood in place for a long time.

The spectral Cui Pan Guan closed his book.

"Considering your abundant hidden virtue and lack of malice, I reduce your penalty—light punishment, great warning…"

Even the most vicious criminals, aware of the Earth Official's Punishment, would hesitate to commit crimes in reality—perhaps precisely because of this, the atmosphere among Lotus Juanren in reality is so harmonious…

He had already witnessed the calamities of the Heaven Official and Water Official, and had long wondered what the Earth Official's Punishment looked like—now he could finally see it…

Fortunately, these spikes could be fully retracted, so Wu Xian wouldn't look like a fool.

Although these three calamities increased the difficulty of survival in the blessed land, from a higher perspective, these so-called calamities might actually raise the Lotus Juanren's chances of survival.

"Ah, this…"

Wu Xian inserted the two incense sticks. The three talismans and three artifacts simultaneously appeared in his vision.

Pā! Pā! Pā!

After three strikes, the yin official vanished on the spot.

Eight-Foot Snake Spear: Eight feet and one inch long, forged entirely of steel, its spearhead over two feet long, flat and curved like a snake's body, edged on both sides—hence called Snake Spear! Forged in countless battles, steeped in lethal qi, capable of harming evil spirits.

Wasn't it supposed to be ten strikes?

And though it hurt, it was only pain—nothing like Liu the Scholar's whip. No broken bones, no torn skin—just three strikes of pain.

Finally, he placed the incense burner before the Water Official Great Emperor statue and the Blessed Industry Master statue.

The scene froze and looped repeatedly.

He still had two incense sticks, two chances to worship; the statues available were three: the Water Official—Guangde Dragon King, the Water Official Great Emperor, and the Heaven Official—Blessed Industry Master.

He suddenly understood.

After studying them for a long while, Wu Xian weighed possible combined effects and chose the Shock Character and the Bronze Shield as his reward for this worship.

The solemn voice echoed endlessly in the small room, making Wu Xian's head ring. He whirled around and saw the Earth Official statue he had just worshipped suddenly come alive—faintly, a spectral figure resembling a Cui Pan Guan appeared before the statue.

From the scenes displayed on the Cui Pan Guan's turning pages, the Earth Official's Punishment was retribution for the Lotus Juanren's sins in real life.

In his first blessed land, he had combined the Copper Coin Sword and the Long Character to produce an extraordinary effect; this time he wanted to try again combining "talismans" with artifacts.

So far, Wu Xian had triggered every possible calamity from worship: Heaven Official's Bestowal of Evil, Earth Official's Punishment, Water Official's Curse.

Huā!

A spectral yin official stepped from the darkness, raised a whip-like object, and lashed it down onto Wu Xian's buttocks.

The Soul-Stealing Bell can control corpses to move, and it can be highly effective in blessed lands with many corpses, but within the burial mounds, there are far fewer corpses available to control.

A shockwave, a rebound, plus Wu Xian's innate ability to inflict identical wounds—if all three could be triggered simultaneously…

The Character Zhen: grants enhancement to an item, causing it to generate unpredictable shockwaves upon attack.

There were those who robbed car thieves, took private vengeance on scum, infiltrated forbidden places in disguise, and others who acted as scalpers or sneaked photos of unfaithful men.

This was Third Master Zhang's weapon; though very stylish, Wu Xian immediately dismissed it—the reason was simple, it was too long, too unwieldy…

Wu Xian weighed the pros and cons.

Cui Pan Guan turned the pages of the book, and one by one, illusory scenes emerged; Wu Xian recognized those scenes—they were all his own experiences from the real world.

"Abusing and deceiving sentient beings: ten lashes."

Cui Pan Guan loudly issued the verdict.

Especially the punishment decreed by the Earth Official.

At first glance, these three calamities seemed all bad for Lotus Juanren.

That's it?

Wu Xian's scalp prickled instantly; he waved his hands frantically to protest: "Listen to me, I didn't lie to her—I just didn't have enough money yet, hadn't had time to buy it, wait till I get my salary…"

Wu Xian thought the scene must have been beautiful.

Cough, cough, uh, the next two chapters will be slower, but they'll come.

(End of Chapter)