Chapter 1: The Human King Becomes a Gu

A rotted, collapsed offering table, fallen spirit tablets, a rust-spotted incense burner! The golden canopy overhead dripped with rainwater, riddled with holes, fluttering back and forth in the cold wind. On it was embroidered a line of small characters; though the writing was reversed, Su Yuanshan could still faintly make them out:

"Imperially Bestowed Might and Spirit Duke's Canopy!"

At the very top of this golden canopy were surprisingly embroidered two golden dragons.

"Did I... transmigrate?"

But why couldn't his body move at all, not even a single finger!

The only things he could move were his eyes, mouth, and nose!

To be honest, at this moment Su Yuanshan's whole mind was blank. He had originally been a wretched office worker who dropped dead at his desk from overwork, never expecting to transmigrate—but not into a person, but rather..........

Su Yuanshan's gaze shifted downward, looking at the python robe and jade belt on his body, the black official boots, and the golden cloak fluttering in the wind—this is.... a clay statue?

Wearing an official's robe should have been a cause for joy, but Su Yuanshan's feelings were now complicated, because he had actually transmigrated into a clay statue!

Huh? What was written on the spirit tablet?

Jade Edict Bestowing the Spirit Tablet of the City God of Nanzhou Zhen, Might and Spirit Duke?

City God?

Was this clay statue the City God image of Nanzhou Zhen?

Suddenly Su Yuanshan felt his head go "buzz," and then felt himself enter a space suffused with seven-colored divine light.

That drifting, rootless duckweed sensation finally vanished, replaced by a sense of belonging, of putting down roots, and a warm, comfortable sense of safety. He once again possessed his own body—a body with substance!

But this body of his was not one of flesh and blood, but a clay statue of the City God!

The City God, since ancient times in folk legend, was the local magistrate of the Underworld who governed a region's land and water. This Chenghuang Temple was clearly the Daoist site of the local City God.

Yet this place had long been in ruins, neglected for years, seemingly abandoned for a long time. For some unknown reason, even the incense offerings had been cut off.

Su Yuanshan had liked folk tales in his previous life, so he had done some research on the various deities. He knew, knew that deities came in many types: Bloodline Deities, Incense Deities, Faith Deities, Merit Deities, Cultivation Deities. The City God, a type of Underworld deity, belonged to the Incense Deities. A short time without offerings was manageable, but if incense offerings were cut off for a long time, it would be fatal—so leaving this place was the wisest choice.

The City God here had very likely left on his own accord for this reason, leaving behind only this empty shell, and his soul had happened to transmigrate, fitting perfectly into this clay statue.

Su Yuanshan could not help but sigh softly.

My luck---is really too rotten, isn't it?

He surveyed his surroundings, pondering in his heart.

"It seems the City God of this Daoist site has truly given up completely. Otherwise, from the moment I entered his Dharma Body, even if separated by a thousand miles, he would likely have sensed my existence instantly and come to hold me accountable for the crime of stealing his Dharma Body."

He was well aware that privately usurping a deity's Dharma Body—especially that of a local Underworld magistrate registered in the divine rolls—was a grave disrespect, a capital offense against the Heavenly Statutes!

Once discovered, dying a hundred times would be considered light punishment. But now----he had no other choice; after all, it wasn't as if he had wanted to transmigrate into this clay statue.

He only heard---

"Crack!"

"Boom!"

Peals of startling thunder suddenly exploded beside Su Yuanshan's ears.

But he saw outside dark clouds churning, like ten thousand horses galloping, at times transforming into a vast ocean, at times into strange peaks. The gale "whewed" as it blew through the mountain forest, sending sand flying and stones rolling, leaves rustling and trembling nonstop.

Zigzagging dragon-like lightning bolts came one after another, as if to tear apart this gloomy canopy of heaven. Thunder rumbled wave after wave, shaking the very earth until it trembled.

Bean-sized raindrops came pelting down "pitter-patter" on the mountaintop, in the thickets, as if even the birds and beasts had sensed this abnormal weather and hidden early in their burrows, shivering.

"This is thunder! This is the might of Heaven!

After this thunderstorm, who knows how many wandering souls and wild ghosts, mountain spirits and goblins will die beneath Heaven's wrath, dissipating from the world!"

Gazing at the flickering lightning outside the window, Su Yuanshan felt a bit of relief—at least he still had the temple to shelter him from wind and rain, but those ghosts, foxes, spirits, and monsters outside were not so fortunate.

"Crack—boom!"

"Rumble rumble!"

Thick bolts of lightning lashed the firmament, rolling thunder echoing through the valley. Not only did it show no sign of fading, it grew ever more intense. The entire sky was interwoven with lightning, shaking heaven and earth!

Gazing at the zigzagging lightning, Su Yuanshan's heart quailed, and he could not help but ponder.

"This thunder is extremely swift and violent, appearing unusually abnormal!

This thunderstorm doesn't seem like an ordinary one; it looks more like some Great Demon in the mountains is committing some Heaven-defying act, thereby triggering Heaven's wrath and sending down thunder! It seems this thunderstorm won't end anytime soon.

As the saying goes, when the city gate catches fire, the fish in the moat suffer. If the thunder lingers endlessly, I'm afraid I will be caught up in it too."

To be honest, even though he was a clay statue, Su Yuanshan was still unsettled by the rolling thunder, so he could only pray in his heart, hoping the thunder would disperse soon!

Yet reality seemed not as he wished; the thunder instead grew louder and louder, until a thought stirred in his mind and a small bead floated out from his chest. With a surge of warm current, a bit of comfort finally arose in his heart.

This small bead was very miraculous—it was a memento left to him by his father. He never expected that after transmigrating, the spirit bead was still here!

The bead was white as jade, radiating a faint spiritual light outward.

Su Yuanshan guessed that perhaps it was precisely because of this spirit bead that he had been able to transmigrate.

And the reason he had transmigrated into a clay statue was probably also inseparable from this spirit bead.

As he pondered, he never expected that golden, ancient, simple small characters actually appeared within the jade bead.

【Purple Mansion Immortal Scripture. Level 1 (0/100)】

【Spirit-Sensing Art Level 1: Perceive the spiritual energy of all things (0/100 Entry-Level)】

【Spirit-Devouring Qi-Refining Art Level 1: Absorb the spiritual energy of heaven and earth for one's own use (0/100 Entry-Level)】

Huh? Could this jade bead contain a cultivation technique?

Seeing this, Su Yuanshan could not help but feel a surge of joy in his heart,

and began to calm his mind, observing the ancient text on the spirit bead.

In this strange and treacherous world, only cultivation is the foundation for establishing oneself!

"The Dao of the Purple Mansion Immortal—fortune has its end, only the immortal endures in spirit. Heaven obtains the One and becomes clear; Earth obtains the One and becomes tranquil; the Spirit obtains the One and becomes sacred; the Valley obtains the One and lives......."

"As for spiritual energy, it is the essence of the sun and moon, flowing and contained within all things, coexisting with heaven and earth. It does not perish because things die, nor increase because things live. It gathers when the moon wanes, is born when the sun shines, follows the Heavenly Dao, and abides in the natural order; therefore it is called the spiritual energy of heaven and earth……."

Within the clay statue, Su Yuanshan focused his mind, carefully observing and contemplating the ancient characters on the Spirit Pearl.

To be honest, he didn't recognize a single one of those characters, but the miraculous thing was, as long as he concentrated his spirit and silently recited and visualized, he seemed to faintly grasp their meaning.

Although the words within still felt obscure and difficult to understand, and he couldn't comprehend them in a short while, he could basically confirm that this was indeed a cultivation guidance art, one that could be used to comprehend the method of swallowing spirit and refining qi, shaping a body of flesh and blood, thereby stepping onto the path of cultivation — but this didn't seem to be an ordinary cultivation guidance art, it looked more like-----a Divine Cultivation Art! This was extremely rare!

A treasure! He had truly picked up a treasure!

Su Yuanshan's mood greatly improved for a time, so he concentrated wholeheartedly, pondering each word and each sentence, and before he knew it, an entire shichen had passed.

However, he only heard a 'crack!' as a pillar of heavenly thunder-light instantly illuminated the entire sky, jolting Su Yuanshan awake from his contemplation,

But before he could fully come to his senses, he heard 'rumble rumble' 'boom boom!'

The thunder sounded like war drums shaking the heavens, wave after wave, seeming even more intense than before.

The enormous thunder shook dust from the rafters, sending it drifting down.

Although protected by the Spirit Pearl and blessed by the City God's divine statue, Su Yuanshan still felt a surging of qi and blood rising within his viscera.

He gazed at the lightning outside the window, his heart filled with astonishment.

What manner of demon or divine being could actually draw such a violent response from the heavens' might?