Chapter 174: Dongxuan Crossing Tribulation, the Image of the Nascent Soul

Sanyin Temple, main hall.

Chen Ci narrowed his eyes slightly, took a sip of tea, and gave a look to the Changping County Venerable, who was also holding a teacup nearby: Little brother, what is the situation today?

The Changping County Venerable shook his head slightly, his eyes lowered, offering no response to Master Chen, just drinking his tea on his own.

Chen Ci raised an eyebrow, but he had a rough idea; whether today's situation was good or bad was hard to say, but it shouldn't be a disaster, otherwise the County Magistrate wouldn't be silently drinking tea and would have slipped away long ago.

Nearby, a young Daoist in purple robes stood with his hands behind his back, scanning the temple's layout, lingering for a long time before the statue of the Five Fiends in the hall as if examining something. Chen Ci glanced at him, unable to discern the man's intentions.

These Five Fiends, though wild gods, did not violate any taboos.

The "statues" in the cultivation world were strange and varied, not exactly high and mighty things; the Earth Gods, Mountain Gods, and River Gods worshipped by common folk might just be spirits, wild gods, or means for Loose Practitioners and sorcerers to collect wealth, and the statues worshipped in a cultivator's dojo had different meanings and functions.

In Miaojiang, some Miao villages worshipped their own ancestral spirits, while others worshipped the gu insects they raised; in the He Mountain Sect, some worshipped their founding ancestor, Ancestor Feng Jiu, while other statues were simply the ghosts or minor spirits they raised themselves—there was no set convention.

Setting aside special cases like ancestral spirits or founders, most statues were pragmatic for cultivators, closer to spells and supernatural powers; whether they were gu insects, spirits, or evil ghosts, once fed and satisfied, they all had to work for the cultivator masters.

One couldn't defend against them, and they only added to one's troubles.

Chen Ci: "." Who asked you about this?

"Is this move somewhat inappropriate?"

The young Daoist also asked curiously: "I have the Longhu Mountain decree, the prefecture government's official documents, and the dharma edict from your Red Dragon Temple; which one do you want to see?"

As for this statue of the Five Fiends in Sanyin Temple, its predecessor was likely intended for some purpose, but it had been shelved; Chen Ci was too lazy to take it over, so he just left it in the main hall and ignored it.

He couldn't be impolite; this person was not young in terms of appearance—though Qi-refining cultivators could maintain their youth, they were not ageless, and while there were methods to slow aging, there were generally still some differences, though there might be a gap with their actual age.

After speaking, the man flipped his palm and produced a jade statue of a Daoist the size of a human head from his sleeve, calmly instructing: "Erect a statue a zhang tall in your temple according to this jade statue, place this inside the chest of the statue, and have the county residents worship it with sincere incense."

Moreover, inexplicably stuffing a statue into his Sanyin Temple—this behavior looked wrong no matter how he viewed it. Master Chen now felt a chill whenever he saw these things; he only prayed that those big shots would not come to bother him, a small He Mountain cultivator. If he knew nothing and understood nothing, that would be one thing, but with information constantly popping up on his Gold Finger panel, he truly couldn't handle it.

Chen Ci chuckled and got straight to the point, simply asking for the man's purpose.

"Daoist, since you have graced my temple with your presence, may I ask what business you have?"

Chen Ci pondered for a moment and said: "Daoist, you could just let the Changping County Yamen open another temple in the county town; my Sanyin Temple is located in a remote area and does not have much incense."

Hm?

Chen Ci frowned slightly, did not answer, and asked in return: "What does this mean?"

"You are the Temple Master Chen of the He Mountain Sect, right."

He truly hadn't expected that this so-called Nine Springs Temple decree would be like this. Although Nine Springs Temple was powerful, it couldn't possibly directly manage He Mountain Sect Apprentices; they weren't even in the same department, nor were they related.

The young Daoist likely finished his inspection, turned around, and smiled while raising his hands in a salute.

Chen Ci stood up and returned the salute very politely.

But this Daoist truly had a youthful air, his age likely around twenty, yet his True Qi cultivation was several degrees higher than Chen Ci's; he was clearly a "second-generation immortal," the kind one couldn't afford to provoke.

"I dare not."

The Daoist stood with his hands behind his back, not revealing his background, and only said: "By order of Longhu Mountain, all Daoist temples and monasteries in the counties of Xishan Prefecture are forbidden from erecting statues of wild gods. Smash whatever ghost thing you have in this temple when you have time."

"What do you mean?"

However, what this person said seemed to be a Longhu Mountain decree, and this... still seemed a bit off.

"As for important business, there is indeed one thing."

"Ha~"

The Daoist chuckled and waved his hand: "Nothing inappropriate. This matter has already been notified to Red Dragon Temple; you just need to follow it. There isn't much room for negotiation. Originally, it was agreed with the True Person of your sect that in the Xishan Prefecture area of Quanzhou, it is inconvenient for us to station Longhu disciples permanently. If you wanted to open another temple, it wouldn't be impossible, but all the farmland and money allocated to you by Changping County would have to be transferred to the new disciple. You should consider it carefully."

Chen Ci's expression flickered, and he rubbed his fingers, seemingly thinking about something; he didn't agree, but he didn't refuse either.

This matter was very annoying.

He had rushed back from the Liangjiang Sea Market to this remote place of Changping County as fast as he could; how could he still not avoid some things? Chen Ci vaguely felt that the cultivation world of the Liang Kingdom seemed to be undergoing some kind of change. First it was the Four Seas Chamber of Commerce, and now it was Longhu Mountain; they all seemed to be attempting something, and for low-level cultivators like them, there was truly nowhere to run.

Seeing that Chen Ci didn't respond, the young Daoist simply placed the jade statue on the table and smiled: "After finishing with your Sanyin Temple, Temple Master Chen, I should be heading back. By the way, if this jade statue is worshipped with sincere incense, Spirit Light will emerge. Although mortals cannot feel it, we cultivators can easily perceive it. If this jade statue cannot stimulate Spirit Light, or if the Spirit Light is too thin, Temple Master Chen, I don't need to say more; in the future, there will naturally be patrolling Daoists coming to ask you. As for all expenses, you can draw them from the Changping County accounts."

The young Daoist came quickly and left quickly; after giving his instructions, he left gracefully without caring whether Chen Ci agreed or not.

Leaving behind only a jade statue.

And a Changping County Venerable who was still burying his head in his tea.

"Stop drinking; it's just a cup of tea, it should have been finished long ago."

Chen Ci glanced at the jade statue on the table, his expression somewhat ugly: "Do you know what kind of situation this is?"

"True Person Chen, I truly do not know."

The Changping County Venerable gave a sheepish smile, put down his teacup, took a stack of banknotes from his bosom, and explained in a low voice: "The True Person was out on an immortal excursion at the end of the year, so we didn't have the opportunity to pay a visit. Your subordinate just came to give the True Person some money. Besides the prefecture government documents, this Daoist also had official government documents, but I don't know his specific identity. Setting aside his identity as an immortal master, the entire Xishan Prefecture government must follow his instructions."

"You don't know?"

Chen Ci scanned the banknotes, about ten thousand taels or so, and stopped caring. Frowning, he was about to ask again when he suddenly discovered that something seemed to be pressed under the jade statue.

He carefully used his True Qi to retrieve it; it was a folded jade-colored letter, likely left behind by the Daoist when he departed.

Chen Ci opened the letter and scanned it carefully several times; his expression was neither good nor bad.

Dongxuan Miaodao Du'e Star Lord.

That was the divine name of this jade statue.

Following that was a method for making a type of Spirit Incense; the techniques involved were not profound, nor were they very precious, but they required a cultivator to produce. When incense pilgrims offered incense and lit this incense, it would help the jade statue stimulate Spirit Light.

Finally, there was a method for refining dharma money: place five ordinary Liang Kingdom copper coins on the statue's palm to be worshipped with incense. As time passed, depending on the depth of the refinement, they could be sold to Longhu Mountain disciples for a high price, which counted as compensation for the cultivators in the counties of Xishan Prefecture.

"Troublesome. What exactly are those so-called high-level cultivators researching?"

Chen Ci sighed softly. It wasn't that his knowledge was shallow; when he was in the He Mountain Sect, he cultivated True Qi and practiced some Evil Methods. Although there were methods in the side-door sects for refining statues, raising minor ghosts, and gu insects, the approach was clearly different from those Four Seas Ruyi Treasure Money and now this Dongxuan Star Lord.

Even after coming to the Liang Kingdom, he had seen the Spirit-Dyeing Method of the so-called Spirit Sect big shot, but it seemed different as well. At least, judging by the style of Longhu Mountain, they wouldn't need to harm mortals to do something.

But in any case, it was indeed a trouble.

"Eh?"

After sighing twice, Chen Ci inexplicably felt that this jade statue looked somewhat familiar. His heart skipped a beat, thinking he was in trouble again. He calmly took a few steps back, and after checking his body and panel to ensure everything was fine, he looked at the jade statue a few more times with a hesitant expression.

Familiar?

Chen Ci frowned slightly, pondering in his mind where he had seen this object and this person before.

Suddenly, Chen Ci's body jolted, his expression turning somewhat strange.

He remembered where he had seen this object.

That day, at the Liangjiang Sea Market, the Primordial Spirit Star Dharma Image!

This jade statue bore at least an eighty percent resemblance to the Dharma Image revealed by that Primordial Spirit True Monarch.

(End of chapter)