Chapter 551

"Xia Xia Shishu!"

A young cultivator from a cultivation clan, dressed in a feather robe and crowned with stars, his body glowing with spiritual radiance, rode a cloud-eel skimming across the sea toward a distant, secluded islet.

He turned to another clan disciple with higher cultivation and said: "We owe our thanks to Xia Shishu's intervention—only then were we able to pin this man down!"

He glanced back and saw Old Man Ma, looking dejected, obediently trailing behind.

"He's just a lone cultivator; his life and fortune are entirely in our hands—what trouble could there be in dealing with him?"

The Xia Xia Shishu replied coolly: "These people don't know that Long Gong is the rightful deity of the Eastern Sea. My Changming Sect has been commissioned by Long Gong to appoint our disciples as Patrol Night Demons—any lone cultivators dwelling in this territory are listed in the Patrol Night Demons' registry!"

"You came to me claiming that the lone cultivator Master Qingmu Jun fled with a treasure—I immediately knew something was amiss."

"Master Qingmu Jun may be cruel by nature, but he has long been tamed by Changming—how would he dare flee with a treasure over a single magic artifact? I sent men to inquire, and indeed, he had gone out to sea with several other lone cultivators! Such is the behavior of lone cultivators—they fight over some spiritual object!"

"This Old Man Ma is one of them!"

"He concealed his identity well, but when I questioned the Patrol Night Demons from that day, I knew how many had left the island—and after a little investigation, I found him!"

Old Man Ma could only smirk helplessly behind them—he had some petty cleverness, but how could he possibly comprehend the divine methods by which major sects controlled their territories?

He had family and roots too; when this Xia Xia Shishu stormed into his cave, his only grandson was just beginning Qi Refining, and his entire dwelling lay under the sect's grand array—how could he resist capture?

After intense interrogation, he had no choice but to omit a few key details and honestly recount the entire affair!

The young man toyed with a string of bone beads in his hand and smiled: "This Seven-Star Conger carries dragon blood. Though the bone beads show insufficient refinement, their quality is exceptional—the internal core must be extraordinary, likely capable of reaching mid-grade quality! Such a core is precisely why Ni Kun sought to seize it—take it to the elixir chamber; it might yield a batch of Zi Yun Dan, increasing my chances of Core Formation by three-tenths!"

"With this elixir, you stand a chance of achieving fifth-grade Core Formation," the Xia Xia Shishu nodded slightly. "Your Luo family truly has worthy successors."

"We remain ever at Xia Shishu's command," the young cultivator bowed and smiled.

"Ni Kun is a cultivator of evil origins, his background tainted, and he has few connections within our sect's territory. Earlier, the fate tablets issued to evil cultivators by our sect kept changing—many of those evil cultivators were familiar with him; this matter is surely tied to him. Ahead lies the islet where the evil cultivator Wu Gui was appointed by our sect! Let's search it first!"

The Xia Xia Shishu pointed to the desolate islet ahead, accelerated his cultivation light, and the behind Old Man Ma hurried to follow.

As they neared the islet and saw no one to greet them, the Xia Xia Shishu silently thought: So there is something amiss.

He released a ring of light to shield himself, shook his Changming Sect token, and a signal light shot into the mountain peak obscured by miasma.

After a long while with no reply, the Xia Xia Shishu led the two into the islet.

But upon arrival, he found the islet strangely different—approaching the village, he saw that though the homes were dilapidated, laughter and joy filled every corner, and children ran along the dirt paths carrying lanterns.

Night had fallen, yet every household had lit candles—candles made from the fat of fat sea beasts. Though not precious, how could these cultivators have ever seen ordinary mortals burn such things?

At dusk, mortal villages on every islet fell as silent as death, the villagers retiring early—how could this place be so lively?

Moreover, this was an islet occupied by evil cultivators—such a scene was deeply suspicious, making the Xia Xia Shishu hesitate to act.

The young Luo cultivator cast a concealment spell and circled the village, then returned to report: "Xia Shishu, something is wrong!"

"There are few elders among these mortals, and their aptitudes are abysmal—they must have been abducted to this islet. I noticed that the former mansions of the wealthy have been turned into temples, and every household has pasted a Fu character from the Central Plains above their doors and beside their stoves!"

"When I used a mind-bewitching spell to question them, they said a celestial immortal descended to purge demons, distributed wealth to them, and even bestowed each household with this Fu character!"

"It sounds like a cult of a fire-worshipping evil deity!"

The Xia Xia Shishu's expression turned grave; he concealed his form and descended into the village. Opening his divine sight, he saw countless faint glows in the darkness—weak divine radiance blocking yin and malevolent qi, and even in places he could not see, suppressing the fortune and destiny of every household.

The rolling vitality of mortal hearths, combined with the destiny of each villager, coalesced into a gentle stream of devotional power, mingling with the incense of the Fu characters, flowing thousands of li to a desolate reef.

Like this small village, Ni Kun had already slain six or seven fellow evil cultivators, carved out hundreds of such places, and now roughly eighty thousand believers received his blessings, offering incense and devotional power.

Each day, this incense gathered, carrying feelings of gratitude, joy, hope, and fulfillment, coalescing into golden clouds, within which hundreds of golden bats flapped their wings, making his divine body increasingly solid.

"So this is the devotional power the Yunyun Baifu Spirit requires—the longing for 'blessing'!"

"Blessing, blessing! The Yunyun Baifu Mo Jie E Jing and these hundreds of Blessing Spirits transform this pure devotion into blessing power, augmenting me! Each augmentation is a cultivation! I bestow blessings upon all beings, and all beings bless me in return—this is a mutually beneficial path…"

"Since I scattered wealth and rescued them from evil cultivators, these mortals have enjoyed better days. At first, their gratitude poured forth endlessly—my pretense as a shaman and a Blessing Spirit was not in vain!"

"So far, I've been augmented eighteen thousand times; with another twelve thousand, I will truly align with my divine form, preliminarily attain the Dao, and achieve Core Formation!"

"But human hearts are never satisfied. At first, when I granted them wealth, some wished to kowtow before the Fu character every day—their devotional power was pure. But once their wealth ran out, though they kowtowed more frequently, their devotion became clouded by greed and madness—hard to condense into divine power. No wonder the spirit pearl said: true faith cannot be bought. Instead, those mortals who kowtow rarely but harbor a sincere hope for future happiness provide the purest devotional power!"

Ni Kun dissolved the muddled devotional power, focusing only on the pure thoughts of fulfillment, happiness, and contentment, gradually channeling these into the spirit pearl, transforming them into golden clouds.

He further divided one-third of it, attaching it to the incense power, forming bat shadows that followed the devotional flow into each household's Fu character, stabilizing the fortune of every home.

Within the spirit pearl, Brother Qian Chen's split spirit flowed with water and fire divine lights; from the crimson radiance, a Fu character divine glyph coalesced, transforming the fire virtue into a more mysterious merit.

"So this is Virtuous Merit. 'The Sovereign establishes the Ultimate; he gathers the Five Blessings to bestow them upon his people.'"

"I favor virtue; you shall be granted blessing. Thus, the people follow the Sovereign's Ultimate."

Brother Qian Chen gathered the golden light of Virtuous Merit, shaping it into wisps of cloud beneath his split spirit. He opened his eyes and whispered: "The Ultimate is the law of humanity! Post-heavenly deities govern the law of humanity and bestow the Five Blessings upon all beings—these are the Five Blessings! First: Longevity; second: Wealth; third: Health and Peace; fourth: Love of Virtue; fifth: A Peaceful End."

Behind Brother Qian Chen, the chapters of the Hong Fan Nine Categories coalesced. In the Supreme Louguan Sect, it was said that the Supreme Dao Ancestor had expounded the subtleties of the divine path using his own Dao: "Rooted in Heaven's Dao, grounded in Humanity's Dao," translating the ancient laws by which divine emperors governed the heavens into Daoist principles…

This scripture was called the Da Huang Ji Jing Shi Shu!

Later, the Primordial Dao Ancestor bestowed it upon the Jade Emperor—it was the secret art of imperial rule, governing divine law and orchestrating the heavens.

The Da Huang Ji Jing Shi Shu and the Jiutian Xiao Xie Xuan Jing complement each other. It is said that the Great Immortal Guangcheng, upon the Primordial Dao Ancestor's command, descended to the earthly immortal realm to enlighten the Jade Emperor: by day he taught the Jade Emperor's ministers, generals, and cultivation clans the path of cultivation and Daoist principles—this was the Jiutian Xiao Xie Xuan Jing!

At night, when he secretly conversed with the Jade Emperor, he revealed the Da Huang Ji Jing Shi Shu!

"When Cui Dan told me of his family's Tianyan Wude Xiao Xie Xuan Jing, he mentioned only that it descended from Guangcheng's transmission of the Nine Heaven Xiao Xie Xuan Jing to the Zhou emperors and feudal lords—the Qi state's Jiang clan received it as the Yang Tian Xiao Xie Xuan Jing. The Cui clan, a branch of the Jiang, received only fragments of its essence! But I never imagined this scripture contained hidden transmissions of the 'Ultimate Dao'!"

"Impossible! The Da Huang Ji Jing Shi Shu is the secret transmission of the Ji clan of the Heavenly Zhou Divine Dynasty. Though the Jiang of Qi were close to the Ji, they could never have received its transmission. This is the law by which the Heavenly Emperor governs the divine path—the foundation of the Jade Emperor, one of the greatest secrets of today's Heavenly Court—how could it possibly leak out?"

"Could the great secret of the 'Ultimate' have been obtained by Zou Zi, the Great Daoist of Great Expansion? Did Zou Yan, who founded the Tianyan Wude Xiao Xie Xuan Jing and devised the Five Virtues Cycle, seek to deduce the 'Ultimate Dao'?"

"The Supreme Louguan scriptures once mentioned the struggle between the Five Elements and Yin-Yang…"

"The Five-Colored Divine Emperors represent the pinnacle of the Five Elements; the Three Pure Ones are the origin of Yin-Yang transformation—no…" As Brother Qian Chen's thoughts wandered, he decisively severed those distractions—thinking about these ancient secrets was of no benefit unless one reached Primordial Spirit… even less so unless one reached Dao Jun.

This was the fundamental transformation of the Dao—not something for mortals as fleeting as ants to pursue!

Relying on fragments recorded in the Dao Dust Pearl of the Supreme Dao Ancestor's teachings on the Hong Fan's Nine Categories, Brother Qian Chen had extracted a trace of Virtuous Merit from water and fire virtues.

This was not the ordinary Virtuous Merit gathered by deities—it was far deeper, touching the very origin of the Ultimate Dao.

It approached the fundamental secret of the divine path. Brother Qian Chen tested it briefly—and effortlessly elevated the Divine Rank of the Ear Spirit, despite being ten thousand li away from his true body.

At that moment, the Yunyun Baifu divine form fully coalesced. The envisioned Donghua Great Ming Zun divine form also gained a faint outline. Now, this split spirit had restored its Core Formation power and cultivated a new divine ability: bestowing blessings and removing calamities, mysteriously able to diminish one's destiny and gather Virtuous Merit for others.

Brother Qian Chen glanced at Ni Kun, who clutched the spirit pearl and cultivated desperately. With his aura-seeing technique combined with the Heavenly Official's Blessing power, he clearly saw crimson qi gathering, surging skyward—superficial and insubstantial, flowing from divine power.

The fundamental core of his fate, however, was anchored by the Fu character imprint Brother Qian Chen had bestowed.

While his true destiny floated like a spring, black qi churned beneath it, calamity rising like a tide!

"He is not a true Blessing Spirit—he bears the divine backlash for me. The calamity is coming!" Brother Qian Chen calculated with his fingers and knew: to conceal heavenly fate, he had fully transferred the divine backlash onto this man. Now that the divine form was preliminarily formed, calamity descended. Brother Qian Chen himself didn't care—but this man, lacking true Virtuous Merit to suppress it, faced near-certain death.

"One spirit, two parts: I cultivate Virtuous Merit; you cultivate Blessing Fortune!"

"Am I not being too cold-hearted and cunning?"

Brother Qian Chen had originally seen the man entangled in blood and resentment, and coldly exploited him. But now, after he began cultivating the true path, he had changed—much of his blood and resentment had been worn away by pure blessing devotional power!

This made Brother Qian Chen uncertain of his fate.

"Very well—if you can hold to the true path, I shall grant you a blessing fortune!" Brother Qian Chen drew a trace of Virtuous Merit, using it as the source, shaping a lump of divine power in his palm, turning yin and yang to mold a form…

The Xia Xia Shishu stood long before the Fu character, his expression shifting between dark and light. He thought inwardly: "This is clearly a divine method! All divine power here belongs to Long Gong—who dares intrude?"

"The divine power clinging to this Fu character is upright and uncorrupted, pure and filled with harmony and fulfillment. But whether a deity is true or evil is granted by Heaven. With Long Gong's edict, even a blood-consuming Night Demon is a true deity; without Long Gong's official documents, even a righteous deity is an evil one!"

With this decision, he released a flying shuttle that darted through the village, destroying every Fu character on doors and eaves, then roared:

"You worship an evil deity—do you know what crime you have committed?"