Chapter 429: Hu Jinhua the Earth Immortal

"Boom!"

In the Fox Temple at Qingfeng Pavilion, a bolt of thunder suddenly descended from the sky, splitting the Fox Temple open.

Hu Jinhua, who had already transformed into a three-tailed red fox inside the Fox Cave, was suddenly filled with terror.

"The Thunder Tribulation of Sinful Karma!"

For his Earth Immortal great tribulation, he had anticipated a Love Tribulation, a Fire Tribulation, or a Blade-and-Soldier Tribulation...

But he had never expected this thunder tribulation.

Since he began cultivating the Dao and achieved Enlightenment, he had always been diligent and cautious, strictly observing the rules, and had never harmed a single person; even when it came to eating, after he became a spirit, he rarely killed, and mostly he farmed vegetables, went to markets, and sold wild fruits and herbs to trade for a chicken's backside to eat, which already made him very happy.

When teaching the younger foxes, he also prioritized the cultivation of virtue, and his greatest fault was at most selecting bones that others did not want from Luanzanggang to practice his arts.

Furthermore, after she later pledged allegiance to Xu Jia, what she did were even more virtuous deeds and actions.

How could that Thunder Tribulation of Sinful Karma suddenly erupt, strike his own temple grounds, and seek to destroy his foundation as a God Immortal?

Just then, in the Cloud Void above, two spirits suddenly appeared, looking exactly like the Lightning Mother and the Thunder Lord.

These two spirits stared at the lower realm, as if they were shining high-beam lights downward, and the next moment, another bolt of lightning struck the Fox Immortal Residence under the Old Crooked-Neck Tree.

The Thunder Lord held a chisel and a hammer in his hands, and the Lightning Mother held two silver mirrors in hers.

With one strike of the hammer, a thunderous roar was produced, and with one flash of the mirrors, lightning was generated.

Such a scene would be considered miraculous even by mortals, let alone others.

As the lightning fell again, it struck an Immortal Hall, and the master of this hall was none other than "Zhao Shendian," the first one Hu Jinhua had subdued.

Zhao Shendian was struck by the lightning; before he could even let out a cry, his body stiffened, and he fell to the ground, motionless, while the spirit tablet in the hall was blasted to smithereens.

Only those two spirits remained, their eyes cold, still scanning with their gazes as they struck toward the next location.

Hu Jinhua immediately ran out, baring his fangs and snarling at the firmament.

Xu Jia, sitting on Three Pure Ones Mountain, naturally saw this too, but he did not intervene.

These two spirits were not "official Thunder Gods," but were gestated and born precisely from Hu Jinhua's Earth Immortal great tribulation.

Hu Jinhua had always believed in things like "Heavenly Principle and retribution," and was even somewhat "dogmatic"; those old-era Confucian ideas were rooted in his thinking, to the point that he had a very strong "sense of morality."

But now, the fact that these two Thunder Lord and Lightning Mother figures were gestated—not punishing him because of his sinful karma—carried another meaning entirely.

Xu Jia did not know what the rules of the Heavenly Way in this realm were thinking, or if it was intentional; regardless of whether one was good or evil, as long as one was a demon, one could not be superior to "humans," and it had actually agreed to gestate these two spirits.

It was hard for Xu Jia not to feel that this was not aimed at Hu Jinhua, but at himself. Being targeted made Xu Jia very angry, but for a moment the heavenly secrets were mysterious, and even if it were "against the rules," the Earth Immortal great tribulation could not be forcibly interfered with; otherwise, if it failed, it failed, and it could not be compensated for.

Hu Jinhua was lost, pained, and angry in his heart, not knowing where his sinful karma came from. He was even more furious at Zhao Shendian, who had been struck dead by lightning simply because he worshipped him; he counted this debt against himself as well.

He revealed his true form, and the compassion in his heart turned into anger; his fur bristled, and because of a single thought, the auspicious Qi of the Immortal family on his body all turned crimson, or rather, blood-colored.

Fangs grew out, and his eyes also shone with a blood-red light.

"Audacious monster! You still dare to be defiant!"

The Thunder Lord and Lightning Mother sneered: "You attempt to cover the demon Qi on your body with Incense Fire to dodge the Three Disasters, deceiving the ignorant commoners, yet you do not know that you have already committed a monstrous crime and your death is at hand!"

"What crime have I committed?"

"Usurping the Incense Fire of True Gods is your crime! You still dare to quibble? If you did not usurp Incense Fire and have no intention of seizing a divine position, then where did the Incense Fire wishes on your body come from? How was your Merit cultivated? Is this something a wild fox like you should be cultivating? Are you worthy?"

Hu Jinhua was furious: "What kind of logic is this?"

"To protect peace, there is Guanyin."

"To protect official rank and salary, there is the Wenchang Emperor."

"To protect wealth and fortune, there are the Five Road Wealth Gods."

"To protect the convenience of travel, there are the sacred ones of the Southern Dipper and Northern Dipper who point the way..."

"You, a tiny wild fox, actually dare to protect everything and do everything; could it be that you are more magically powerful than Guanyin, the Emperor, and the Wealth God?"

"This is your sinful karma. These believers abandoned the orthodox faith of worshipping Guanyin and the Emperor, and were instead led into evil views by your petty gains; is this not your sinful karma? Do you not deserve to die?"

"I am single-mindedly for the people, making wishes; is this wrong?"

"Is this not wrong?"

The Thunder Lord and Lightning Mother struck down lightning again, aiming straight for Hu Jinhua's crown.

Not only Hu Jinhua, but the many small demons in the surrounding Immortal Halls were also intimidated by the questioning of these two spirits.

They had all been secretive in the past, never daring to build temples to cultivate, having at most small shrines, and only after Xu Jia gave his permission did they gradually become more self-assured.

But now, these thunderous punishments made them instantly recall the time when they were still unintelligent little beasts; they thought of those sacred ones again, and those sacred ones were like giant mountains, like the sun, while they themselves were like dust, like fireflies.

"That's right, this is the Quanshen of the great sacred ones, the Incense Fire; how could I dare to covet it?"

Xu Jia squinted his eyes on Three Pure Ones Mountain, looking up at the sky, feeling that there was a figure he could not see who was warning him.

There were struggles in the Shangjie; Xu Jia had heard of many, heard of them from the mouth of the Long Life Sect Leader, the Wufeng Shizhe had also spoken of them, and the two Immortals of Luofu Mountain mentioned earlier had also talked about them.

This was a matter of the Five Emperors Rotation, a struggle of orthodoxy; no matter how powerful the Yellow Heaven Holy Venerable was, he had already transcended, and the philosophy of governing the world ultimately compared who stayed in the world longer and lived a longer life.

These two Thunder Lord and Lightning Mother could not represent the Heavenly Court.

But if not the Heavenly Court, who would dare to appear in the image of "Thunder Lord and Lightning Mother"?

Making such a big fuss to deal with a fox undergoing the "Earth Immortal great tribulation"?

That might not be the meaning.

Xu Jia grinned and gave the sky the middle finger: "If you have the ability, come down to the lower realm!" Unfortunately, there was no response.

This was a battle and provocation across a layer of the heavens.

Existences within the Form Realm had no way to descend directly to the lower realm, and even transmitting information directly was very difficult; they could only rely on dream-sending, or heart-to-heart Incense transmission, using methods of divination and hexagrams to inform people in the lower realm how to act.

These two Thunder Lord and Lightning Mother were not official envoys of the Form Realm, had no divine office or Register Tier, and were merely gestated out of "thought," which was somewhat "naked."

It was likely that in the Desire Realm, Xu Jia already belonged to an "invincible" state, yet he refused to ascend and was here doing some "governance reform," which was why there was such malice.

Xu Jia transmitted his voice to Hu Jinhua: "Jinhua, do not be deceived by the external appearance of these two spirits. They are just wearing the skins of the Thunder Lord and Lightning Mother, and they also possess the Daoist arts and Divine Abilities of the Thunder Lord and Lightning Mother, and even have the Quanshen of the Thunder Lord and Lightning Mother, but they are simply not the Thunder Lord and Lightning Mother, and they do not represent anyone. They bring up Guanyin, bring up the Wenchang Emperor, and bring up these great Divine Ability holders who make you feel breathless, just to confuse you, making you think they were sent by these gods and Buddhas."

"Your task is to kill the two of them. Although it is somewhat difficult, you must make good use of your advantages. Kill them, and your Earth Immortal tribulation will be passed."

Hu Jinhua was feeling furious, but upon suddenly hearing Xu Jia's voice transmission, he instantly became much clearer-headed. Yet, how was he to kill these two high and mighty Thunder God and Lightning Mother? He had not practiced any magic treasures, possessing only the Seven-Star Heart-Following Wish Rod and the Inverted Feather Chicken-Hair Fan that Xu Jia had discarded. As for the spells he cultivated, aside from the Healing Curse and the Exorcism Curse, he only had "Fox Fire," which could be considered an offensive means.

But he also understood that Master Xu had already given him a hint: make good use of his own advantages.

What advantages did he have?

Nothing more than having many Immortal Hall disciples, but those Immortal Hall disciples were all widowers, widows, orphans, the childless, and the disabled or sick.

Zhao Shendian had already been struck; he did not want other poor souls to be struck as well—that would be his sin. What other advantages were there?

Nothing more than Master Xu.

Aside from Master Xu... bringing him a bright future, he was just a wild fox under the Old Crooked-Neck Tree, hunched and wretched...

"That's right, what Master Xu said was the Lingbao Register Method!"

Hu Jinhua's eyes lit up. He had been conferred the "Human Immortal Register" and the "Spirit-Gathering Mountain and Water Register," and later was additionally conferred the "Lingbao Daoist Citizen Register." If he achieved the Earth Immortal realm, Master Xu would even help him upgrade his Human Immortal Register to the "Earth Immortal Register."

Hu Jinhua thought to himself: "I am a Spirit Treasure Disciple. The Lingbao Register Method represents the Lingbao Heavenly Venerable. I cannot bow my head and admit defeat to them; I am not convinced!"

He leaped out, flames igniting on his body. Having transformed into his original form, there was a golden dot between his brows that turned into golden flames; this was Xu Jia's "Life Fire."

Xu Jia's Life Fire was borrowed from Hu Jinhua; the two people's lives were connected together.

Aside from this golden dot, his belly was white, while all other parts were the crimson red of flames. His fur and flames were intertwined; this was what the Zhurong Fire Qi Curse had gathered: the incense oil fire offered to gods in the hall, the lamp fire for reading at the desk, the firewood fire for cooking in the stove—one gathered from every household, ten thousand gathered from ten thousand households, which was the Ten Thousand Families Fire.

For a time, relying on the flames and the light smoke, he stepped up toward the firmament, step by step.

"Audacious!" The Thunder God and Lightning Mother struck down lightning.

But Hu Jinhua no longer felt fear. He circled to dodge, or if the lightning struck him, it only caused a slight obstruction. No fear meant no terror; without terror, his heart had no attachments.

"How are you not dead from the lightning?"

"I consider myself to have no evil karma. Why should I die from being struck by lightning, and why should I accept your judgment? What qualifications do you have to judge me? Only the common people who offer me the Ten Thousand Families Fire can judge me!"

Hu Jinhua's figure grew larger and larger, as if it were a fire-red cloud on the horizon.

Finally, he opened his mouth and spat out three-colored flames.

The dark clouds beneath the Thunder God and Lightning Mother were burned dry. Being burned by this fire, the two of them felt uncomfortable instead: "Such a heavy smell of oil smoke! Cough, cough, we are sacred beings of heaven and never eat the smoke and fire of the human world! Damned beast!"

They leaped up, intending to use their thunder and lightning implements again to strike at Hu Jinhua.

Hu Jinhua's tails, however, coiled around them, and with two tails, he swatted them down.

The Thunder God took his hammer to smash, and the Lightning Mother took her lightning to pierce, but it only caused Hu Jinhua slight pain. For some reason, he felt infinite power emerging from between his brows, like the sun. In front of him, this Thunder God and Lightning Mother were nothing more than this.

In the end, with a mere twist of two tails, he returned these two god-monsters back to illusion. Regarding these god-monsters, Hu Jinhua felt that if he thought they were strong, they were strong; if he thought they were weak, they were weak.

In fact, to put it plainly, if they were not the Heavenly Court's Thunder God, they would be nothing but ordinary monsters. If one were not superstitious about their "rewarding good and punishing evil," they would be nothing but freaks with wings and useless wretches holding treasures.

Once the two god-monsters died, Hu Jinhua immediately parted the clouds to see the sun, his aura surging as he entered the Earth Immortal realm.

But after entering the Earth Immortal realm, Hu Jinhua instead felt that the powerful strength and state of mind from just a moment ago had vanished, as if that power had not been his own.

He thought to himself: "This time, it was Master Xu helping me again."

But in truth, Xu Jia had not done anything; this was all his own power.

Hu Jinhua landed, and besides the firelight, there was now some electric light on his three tails.

He bowed to Xu Jia and choked with emotion: "Master Xu, because I underwent the tribulation, I accidentally injured Zhao Shendian. I feel terrible about it."

Xu Jia smiled: "Do not be sad. He is not dead yet. If you go back and breathe a breath of air onto him, won't he be alive again?"

Only then did Hu Jinhua turn to a smile: "That is good. Many thanks for Master Xu's help, otherwise this disciple feared I would not have survived this Calamity."

Xu Jia was noncommittal: "Your heart is too compassionate, and you were fearful and superstitious of the Heavenly Might, which is why you had this tribulation. Of course, there were also some schemes involved, aimed at me."

Hu Jinhua sighed: "Previously, I saw the Great God Chang Yu undergo the Earth Immortal tribulation, and he had to turn into a stone peak to repay the energy of Three Pure Ones Mountain, nearly failing to survive. I wondered if I could survive it, yet I had no outstanding qualities. The only thing outstanding was that I followed you, Master, in making a vow to cultivate, but that is also ordinary..."

"No need to think about these things anymore," Xu Jia said. "Now that you are an Earth Immortal, you are qualified to take charge of your own affairs. I will hand the entire Earth Office Demon Affairs Yamen of Poyang over to you. From now on, you shall manage all demon affairs, oversee the edification of demon immortals, and establish an Immortal School. Any demon who learns the Dao of Immortals must enter your place to study; those who graduate will be permitted to establish their own Immortal Halls."

Hu Jinhua nodded: "Many thanks for the Ancestor's trust. This disciple will certainly do a good job."

Xu Jia then transmitted the Earth Immortal-level Register Method to him and said: "Secondly, the demons in the north are causing chaos. I want you to unify the good demons, eliminate the evil demons, and sweep away the demonic atmosphere."

"This disciple is willing to go."

"Very good!" Xu Jia immediately pulled at the air, gathering the "spirit essences" left behind after the death of the two god-monsters, the Thunder God and Lightning Mother, and kneaded them together to make an immortal sword.

"These two fellows, their shapes were the same as the Thunder God and Lightning Mother, and their Quanshen were the same as the Thunder God and Lightning Mother, yet they were not the Thunder God and Lightning Mother. Now, I have refined them into one sword and one command. The sword is Purple Lightning Green Frost, and the command is the Thunder God Command. I will pass them to you as treasures. After refining them, you must simply walk the righteous path. If you believe something is correct, never bow your head; if you believe something is wrong, never show leniency. If there is any blame, use these to protect the Dao."

"These two treasures are instruments of Quanshen and must not be abused. Otherwise, the more they are abused, the less the common people and all living beings will have faith in them, and they will be difficult to use effectively. If you are fair and impartial, and the people respect and believe in you, using them for justice, then they will be like primordial supreme treasures."

"Your heart is compassionate, and you are the cause of the Earth Immortal tribulation, so I am handing them all to you. Otherwise, only one of these two treasures would have fallen into your hands, and the other would have had to be given to someone else to keep you in check."

Hu Jinhua sighed: "No wonder I felt they had no power just now; it turns out it was because there was no longer any prestige, so they did not work. This Dao of Quanshen is truly wondrous. This disciple will use them cautiously."

(End of chapter)