Chapter 552: Clearing the Mind, Seeing the Nature, Penetrating the Divine Dao

That sharp shout was like rolling thunder, instantly sweeping across the entire desolate island. Men, women, old, and young in the small village tumbled to the ground, and many children had several parts of their souls frightened away. In an instant, the peaceful and serene village was shattered.

The window frames and door panels shredded by the flying shuttle danced in the sky, mixed with the crying of children, the shrill wailing of women, and the panicked pleas of men. In the blink of an eye, it descended into chaos.

Seeing Uncle-Xia Xia Shishu appear, the quick-witted among them knelt and kowtowed.

Uncle-Xia Xia Shishu swept a disdainful glance over the miserable scene, merely saying coldly, "Worshipping such evil gods and failing to follow the righteous path—do you know your crimes?"

An older man was pushed forward by the villagers. He kowtowed to Uncle-Xia Xia Shishu and said, "Immortal Master, we know our crimes!" At the same time, he hurriedly signaled the villagers to destroy the temple and tokens of the Fortune God.

Within the sea territory governed by the Long-Lasting Sect, the accumulated prestige of cultivators was immense. With just one scare, the already unstable faith of this place was destroyed.

Far away on a desolate reef, Ni Kun sensed something. He perceived the fear, panic, and helpless power of vows coming from that small village—the very foundation of his faith was being shaken. Seeing that Ni Kun was about to lose a source of incense, he did not grow impatient.

His eradication of evil cultivators and resolution of commoners' hardships was originally a move for quick success. Once he initially cultivated his Dharma body and possessed the magic power of Core Formation, he could abandon this foundation. The overseas world was vast enough to go anywhere; why tangle himself in the territory of the Long-Lasting Sect?

Ni Kun had heard that the Long-Lasting Sect was a major sect. Not only did it have a Soul Transformation True Person sitting in command, but it was also related to the Dragon Palace, the master of this sea area—it was an Immortal Sect that had received formal investiture.

Like the Hundred-Fang Sea Area where he originated, which worshipped Witch Gods, that vast archipelago had tens of thousands of Fang people and hundreds of tribes. There were also hundreds of gods, large and small. The strong ones possessed Divine Magic Dharma bodies with power nearly equal to Soul Transformation, while the weak ones were nothing more than lonely ghosts and wandering spirits with some magic power, whose divine abilities might not even be as good as his.

That kind of good place was where his faith could take root and draw the power of vows.

Uncle-Xia Xia Shishu saw the divine light fading from the front and back of every household in the village, and only then did he smile grimly. He said to the Nephew-Disciple Luo beside him, "Nephew, go to the nearby villages and take a look. Any temples, divine statues, or markings of this evil god you find must be destroyed. Under our sect, except for the East Sea Dragon King and the few righteous gods of the Dragon Palace, and the Sea-Patrolling Yakshas invested by our sect, all others are false gods and evil gods. Eradicate them as quickly as possible..."

"Yes!" Nephew-Disciple Luo accepted the order and left.

"Fortune God, save us..."

"Fortune God, manifest your spirit..."

Clearly, there were still some who had not forgotten the kindness Ni Kun had previously bestowed. Facing these cultivators who were like stars of slaughter, some were still praying secretly, and the power of vows transmitted their heartfelt pleas over.

Uncle-Xia Xia Shishu narrowed his long, cold eyes, which were like those of a poisonous snake. His overbearing spiritual sense slowly swept over the people in the small village. Under the immense pressure, many of the young and strong broke into a sweat, their faces turning pale, while the old and weak were not lacking in those who suddenly fainted.

"Fortune is boundless..." a little girl with twin buns, under such heavy pressure, subconsciously whispered.

"You!" Uncle-Xia Xia Shishu pointed a finger, and a strand of magic power descended, dragging her out.

A native woman behind her suddenly cried out and tried to rush up, but Uncle-Xia Xia Shishu flicked his finger, and a jade-colored flame suddenly fell upon her, burning her directly into ashes. A trace of shock and despair appeared on the little girl's face, and she let out a cry before suddenly fainting.

On the desolate reef, the heart of the Flowing Cloud Hundred Fortune God, transformed by Ni Kun, stirred slightly.

He frowned slightly and sighed in a low voice, "Fortune is boundless, Heavenly Venerable!"

At this moment, Ni Kun felt a bit of bewilderment in his heart: "These are just ordinary matters. I have done three or five such things myself in the past, and when I associated with those evil cultivators, I saw things much more tragic than this. Why do I feel unbearable in my heart now?"

Gods have the ability to share hearts. Just a moment ago, he seemed to be of one heart and mind with the woman who worshipped him, truly perceiving the sorrow and despair in her heart.

The Divine Dao harvests the uprightness, wisdom, courage, kindness, and other spiritual emotions of all living beings through the power of vows, and thus it is infected by the benevolence, uprightness, and courage of all living beings. Although Brother Qian Chen did not cultivate the Divine Dao, the Flowing Cloud Hundred Fortune Dharma body he contemplated was the most orthodox Divine Dao method, sharing a heart with all living beings.

To Brother Qian Chen, this kind of shared heart was an acquired turbidity, a distraction of his heart.

But to a true god, it was spiritual emotion, compassion, and empathy!

Therefore, Brother Qian Chen used Immortal Dao methods to divide his divinity into two. The Imperial Way of the god mastering the laws of the Heavenly Dao belonged to himself, while these distractions and turbidities of vow-power and spiritual emotion belonged to Ni Kun, the cauldron.

But how could Brother Qian Chen, who was intent on cultivating immortality, know that sharing a heart with all living beings, harvesting their spiritual emotions, and sensing their empathy was another kind of mentality in the Divine Dao, completely different from the Immortal Dao! Although it was an acquired turbidity, the infection by the vow-power of believers, was it not also a kind of compassion sprouted from empathy?

Therefore, Brother Qian Chen felt nothing about the human pain just now, but Ni Kun could feel the spiritual emotions sprouted in the hearts of these two most ordinary mortals at that moment, the courage to break through fear, the great love of parents, and the memories of the past.

"And you, you..."

Uncle-Xia Xia Shishu continuously snatched over the men and women who remained unchanged in their faith in the Fortune God. Under the scanning of a Core Formation True Person's spiritual sense, how could the thoughts of mortal men and women escape detection?

"These are the die-hard believers of the evil god!" Uncle-Xia Xia Shishu sneered. "Such firm believers must have the imprint of that evil god in their souls. Let them die, and they can go to the divine domain of that evil god. After being cleansed and converted, they will be reincarnated. It is just right for me to use the Nine Ghosts Soul-Chasing Great Art to track down the true body of that evil god!"

"Old Daoist Ma, you set up this Dharma altar!" Uncle-Xia Xia Shishu coldly threw out a yellow paper, on which the various arrangements of the Dharma altar were drawn, and it flew in front of Old Daoist Ma.

Looking at the bloody and evil arrangement of the Dharma altar, Old Daoist Ma was slightly stunned, only to hear Uncle-Xia Xia Shishu scold, "What, do you pity them? Why don't you pity your grandson?"

Old Daoist Ma hurriedly took the yellow paper, not daring to hesitate for a moment. He came into the village, pinched the Dharma seals, raised an earthen platform, and then carved various talismans on the platform with cinnabar.

The men, women, old, and young in the small village were silent, waiting for the Immortal Master's judgment. Some had fearful and desperate expressions, some were eager to curry favor by cursing the Fortune God, and others, seeing Uncle-Xia Xia Shishu's expression, sensed something wrong and wanted to hide.

Soon, Nephew-Disciple Luo returned on the Cloud Ray. Uncle-Xia Xia Shishu's expression was indifferent. He suddenly pointed a finger, and the flying shuttle stirred, slaughtering dozens of people hiding in the village. The essence blood was instantly absorbed by the talismans on the earthen platform, and even their souls were absorbed onto the Dharma altar, turning into a mass of souls.

At this time, everyone in the village understood their fate.

Immediately, some began to sob on the spot. Uncle-Xia Xia Shishu picked out a few young men who wanted to escape and killed them, saying, "Using these twelve people as Dharma guides, blood-sacrificing this village, I should be able to use the Nine Ghosts Soul-Chasing Great Art to find the true body of that evil god! If it's not enough, there are several villages around. Anyway, the people here are of low quality and not worth using!"

Among the twelve men and women dragged onto the Dharma altar by Uncle-Xia Xia Shishu, a young girl who had faintly awakened saw this scene and turned red-eyed instead. She bit her lower lip hard, turned her head to look at Uncle-Xia Xia Shishu, who was illuminated by the ghostly light of the flying shuttle and seemed like a demon in her heart, and slowly stood up.

She pulled out the newly sharpened wooden hairpin from her head and held it in her hand.

Uncle-Xia Xia Shishu raised an eyebrow, a smile appearing at the corner of his mouth. "Interesting, mortals dare to move against cultivators! It seems the evil cultivator invested here didn't teach you well what the difference between immortals and mortals is!"

After speaking, he flicked his finger, and a jade flame fell onto a young man in the crowd who was full of tension, staring at the girl and opening his mouth as if to say something.

The bone-eroding flame instantly burned away the young man's skin and flesh, making him wail shrilly. The girl screamed heart-rendingly, pulled up the wooden hairpin, and rushed toward Uncle-Xia Xia Shishu. Uncle-Xia Xia Shishu laughed loudly, flicked his finger again, and the bone-eroding jade flame fell...

But a golden bat shadow flew out from the remaining character of 'Fortune' on the ground, extinguishing this flame.

"Evil god, you really dare to make a move!" Uncle-Xia Xia Shishu mocked.

Golden bats flew out one by one from the red paper remnants on the ground, and strands of golden flowing clouds gathered from all directions, turning into a piece of auspicious clouds above everyone's heads. The auspicious clouds descended to protect the people in the village. Hundreds of golden bats gathered, turning into a golden figure.

"The Divine Dao lies in protection!"

The Flowing Cloud Hundred Fortune God let out a long sigh, which instantly spread across the entire desolate island.

Accompanying this sentence was an overwhelming pressure. The peaceful energy turned into murderous intent and descended. One could see strands of flowing clouds rotating, silently beginning to shave away the luck of Uncle-Xia Xia Shishu and the Luo-surnamed true disciple, making Uncle-Xia Xia Shishu feel as if he had fallen directly into an ice cave, his whole body turning cold in an instant.

Before the words had faded, dozens more golden bats flew out, carrying dozens of lights like heavenly lamps, pouncing toward Nephew-Disciple Luo.

Immediately, they burned into a mass of divine fire, suddenly closing in and enveloping Nephew-Disciple Luo. In the blink of an eye, he was entangled by this golden fire rainbow. Nephew-Disciple Luo's whole body was instantly burned with rolling black smoke, wailing incessantly. The nine-turn divine fire consumed him, ending his life.

Then he added: "As far as I know, most of the aristocratic family lineage in the Changming Sect have already defected to the Dragon Clan. On the contrary, the master-apprentice lineage, because of the old thing Nan Nan Gongjing sitting in town, still has some people who couldn't be recruited."

"This evil god is actually that loose cultivator Ni Kun?" Uncle-Xia Xia Shishu came to his senses in the blink of an eye. He didn't even look at his nephew-disciple who had been burned to death by the divine fire, but stared at the burning divine body, unable to believe it in his heart.

Brother Qian Chen in the spirit pearl was also very surprised. Ni Kun's move was not controlled by him, but truly came from his own heart, hence his action.

"Can a person's mentality really change so much in a short time? Or is the external infection of the Divine Dao more miraculous than I imagined?" Brother Qian Chen was a bit puzzled.

"Realizing the past cannot be corrected, knowing the future can be pursued. Truly lost, but not far; realizing today is right and yesterday was wrong." Ni Kun sighed in a low voice, "The way of the Fortune God lies in eliminating disasters and resolving difficulties, turning evil energy into peace! Protect my believers..." ===== CHAPTER 553 =====