Chapter 165: The Remnant God Temple, the Thousand Spirits Sacrifice

Compared to the Thousand-Eyed Bodhisattva Temple, the Remnant God Temple was far quieter, with incense offerings not particularly flourishing, yet naturally much livelier than the temples in Gao Liu County.

Upon entering, there was still an open square, one main hall and two side halls; the Remnant God resided in the center, while on both sides were 'Heaven's Maimed' and 'Earth's Deficient', along with several subordinate deities.

In the exact center before the three great halls—one main and two side—stood a large incense burner half a person's height and several meters long; perhaps due to its ancient age, it had already developed copper rust.

At this moment, many believers entered and exited the various halls, incense smoke swirling, solemn and grave.

"The Remnant God is one of the official deities sanctioned by the Great Yun imperial court. Those who worship this god believe in 'Heaven and Earth are incomplete, all beings are maimed', so there are relatively fewer followers."

Wang Wang Peiyao was very familiar with the various rankings and powers within Fucheng and had visited the Remnant God Temple several times.

"Heaven and Earth are incomplete, all beings are maimed?"

Li Yuan repeated the phrase, and from afar, he spotted that incense burner, where green light mixed with blood-red shimmering; could it actually be a fourth-tier incense burner?

【Incense Burner Before the Three Maimed God Halls (Fourth Tier)】

【Forged from bronze through intense fire, it has received incense worship for a thousand years, and supernatural power has arisen...】

【Condition for Command: Maimed Limbs, Worship Remnant God Divine Art, Third Layer】

【Effect of Command: Fourth Tier (Green): Worship Remnant God Shen Fa Si Zhong】

【Third Tier (Deep Blue): Bewitch the Heart, Calm the Mind, Slight Misfortune】

A fourth-tier incense burner?!

Li Yuan's heart skipped a beat; the tier of this incense burner was actually higher than that one inside the Thousand-Eyed Bodhisattva Temple in Fucheng.

"Brother Li, do you wish to offer incense?"

Wang Wang Peiyao had bought incense sticks, candles, and spirit money.

"Since we are here, offering a stick of incense is only proper."

Li Yuan took the incense sticks, candles, and spirit money; as he approached the incense burner, he vaguely seemed to sense a slight chill.

"Is this the supernatural power of the incense burner?"

Li Yuan squeezed his palm, his heart stirring slightly, and commanded the 'Five-Step Spirit Snake Belt' and the 'Spirit Fire Rhinoceros Bone Ring'.

Buzz~

In the instant he changed his commanded items, Li Yuan felt slightly dizzy; looking at the incense burner again, his heart grew cold.

Wisps of green smoke gathered above the incense burner, drifting toward the three great halls; that chill came from these wisps of green smoke.

"The incense of the Remnant God."

Li Yuan narrowed his eyes slightly; this was the first time he had sensed the existence of incense outside the Soldier Space, and it seemed somewhat different.

Cold and damp, with a feeling like a small snake covered in slime coiling around the back of the neck.

A thought crossed his mind, and Li Yuan immediately lost the desire to offer incense, instead handing the incense sticks, candles, and spirit money to other worshippers nearby.

"Brother Li?"

Wang Wang Peiyao was somewhat surprised, but followed suit, scattering the incense sticks, candles, and spirit money to other worshippers.

The Remnant God's main hall was very cold; this statue lacked the dense impact of the Thousand-Eyed Bodhisattva statue, but was equally chilling.

Limbs maimed, face maimed, eyeballs half black and half white.

Li Yuan glanced over; this god statue was maimed from head to toe, irregular and asymmetrical, looking somewhat chilling.

"This god statue has also been harvested."

Li Yuan's heart stirred slightly; this Remnant God statue was only third tier, its quality not even matching the incense burner outside, its incense aura very faint, and the stone statue's color very fresh.

"How exactly does the imperial court utilize 'incense'? The statues are harvested from time to time, so why hasn't the incense burner outside been replaced?"

Li Yuan was very curious in his heart but showed no sign, glanced once, turned, and left; he prepared to visit other temples.

"Does a noble person not worship gods?"

Li Yuan glanced over; that was a temple keeper wearing gray clothes, appearing very old, with one eye, one arm, and one leg, very much in the style of the Remnant God Temple.

"I don't worship gods; how about a fortune telling?"

That one-eyed temple keeper sat behind the desk and spoke softly: "No money needed."

"How do you tell fortunes?"

Li Yuan glanced over; there was no weapon light on this temple keeper, yet his aura was long and steady, suggesting he had achieved internal cultivation.

Hmm, one punch could kill him.

"The Remnant God is before us, seeing people's fates; nothing else is needed."

That temple keeper grinned; Wang Wang Peiyao instinctively stepped back, somewhat horrified.

All his teeth were also maimed, and even his tongue was split in half from the middle, like two small snakes.

"Oh?"

Li Yuan raised an eyebrow; although he was a wild Daoist Priest in his past life, he had never actually contacted the fortune-telling trade, and besides, is it really so mysterious?

"Then let's hear it."

"Hmm."

That temple keeper extended his single arm, playing with a pale white sphere; after spinning it a few times, his voice was hoarse:

"Your noble person's spirit and soul are both weak, scattered and unable to form a pattern, thus palace and killing forces are mixed; people of such scattered patterns are heartless and disregard life..."

"You have water in your fate; water is born of metal, so your fate is destined to be with weapons, extremely fond of blades and sharp tools; if no blood is seen, it is fine, but once blood is seen, metal and water generate and counteract each other, you will surely become addicted to killing..."

'Crack' That temple keeper clenched the sphere in his palm, his single eye dim like a ghost fire:

"Your fate is not good, your luck is also poor; there are signs of early death, violent death, imprisonment, and bloodshed; tsk, this fate is truly rare."

"Tsk!"

Before Li Yuan could speak, Wang Wang Peiyao could not help but scold: "What nonsense are you spouting?!"

"Hmm..."

Li Yuan's face showed no change; he sized up this temple keeper and asked: "Do you sell that round bead in your hand?"

On that grey-white orb, faint wisps of incense and candle lingered, yet it didn't seem to count as a weapon?

"Ah?"

The temple keeper gave a slight start: "N-no, I'm not selling it."

"I can pay more."

Li Yuan pulled out the chair before his desk and sat down, discussing the transaction with perfect seriousness.

"How can I sell the thing I eat with?"

The temple keeper looked Li Yuan over in surprise, shaking his head.

Li Yuan asked again: "Then, if I want to donate something to the temple, who should I look for?"

"Donate money?"

The one-eyed temple keeper's eye brightened slightly: "How much?"

"I noticed the incense burner outside the hall is already quite old, so I plan to donate an incense burner to the old man, Crippled God."

"An incense burner?"

The one-eyed temple keeper paused, and politely declined:

"Many thanks for your kind intentions, esteemed sir, but that incense burner has been used for several hundred years—it's an antique itself. If we replaced it, the old man Crippled God probably wouldn't like it."

Li Yuan raised an eyebrow slightly; the temple keeper hesitated for a moment:

"Unless… you pay more!"

Li Yuan glanced at him, smiled, and rose:

"Deal!"

……

Watching Li Yuan and his companion leave, the one-eyed temple keeper kept rolling the orb in his palm. After a long while, he rose, leaned on his cane, and limped toward the back of the hall.

Behind the Crippled God Temple lay a bamboo grove, with houses scattered irregularly among it.

The temple keeper paced his way to a certain thatched cottage's small courtyard, bowed slightly:

"Helmsman."

Creak—

The door was pushed open. Su Su Wanxiong did not come out, his voice deep and low: "What is it?"

"That true disciple of the Divine Weapon Valley, Li Yuan, just came to the temple…"

"Li Yuan?"

Inside the room, Su Su Wanxiong narrowed his eyes slightly, recalling the youth with extraordinary lightness skill he'd seen by the Dahe river last year:

"That prodigy of weapon-forging?"

Recently, in Divine Weapon Valley and even in Fucheng of Zhilong Prefecture, Li Yuan's name had been making waves. Not yet twenty, he could already craft superior grade famous weapons—a forging prodigy Divine Weapon Valley hadn't produced in several hundred years.

Even shut behind closed doors, he had heard of the man's reputation.

"It's him."

The temple keeper nodded: "He came to the temple, didn't burn any incense, didn't worship any god, yet said he wanted to donate an incense burner to replace the one outside the hall."

"Donate an incense burner?"

Su Su Wanxiong was slightly taken aback: "Just donate an incense burner? Nothing else?"

"Just the incense burner."

The

temple keeper replied: "This subordinate has heard this Li Yuan has quite a few eccentricities—not only does he like collecting weapons, he's also been buying up boots, belts…

Mm, his people have also been collecting incense burners these past few months, but I don't know the purpose."

"Eccentricities?"

Su Su Wanxiong frowned slightly: "Has Snake Eye discovered anything?"

"No, nothing."

The temple keeper turned the orb in his palm: "The Dead Man's Tablet isn't on him, but it seems he once came into contact with it…"

"If it isn't him, then it's Ba Ba Wanli!"

Su Su Wanxiong's face darkened, his eyes reddening: "Daring to take this old man's things…"

From a great distance, the temple keeper couldn't help a tremor in his heart, and lowered his head:

"Helmsman, that Ba Ba Wanli is far away in Geyun Prefecture; he won't be back anytime soon. Without the Dead Man's Tablet, the 'Thousand Spirits Sacrifice' simply can't be held…"

"Even without the Dead Man's Tablet, we still hold the Thousand Spirits Sacrifice—just at a greater cost."

Su Su Wanxiong's gaze darkened: "The Cult Master has divined it—the Rift Sea Mysterious Whale Hammer is among the three wonders of Huizhou's eight prefectures, and most likely lies beneath that cold pool!"

"But without the Dead Man's Tablet, even if we hold the Thousand Spirits Sacrifice, it'll be very hard to draw the 'Divine Spirits'' attention, won't it?"

The one-eyed temple keeper gripped the grey-white orb tightly:

"If the ritual fails, even if the Rift Sea Mysterious Whale Hammer were right before our eyes, we probably wouldn't see it, let alone take it…"

"If it fails once, we'll try again a few more times! This old man refuses to believe it'll fail every single time!"

Su Su Wanxiong took a deep breath, suppressing the agitation in his heart:

"The great army of San Yuan Wai is about to arrive. Once the two sects go to war, it'll be enough for us to hold the Thousand Spirits Sacrifice many times—or even, the Ten Thousand Spirits Sacrifice!"

"The Ten Thousand Spirits Sacrifice!"

The one-eyed temple keeper shuddered inwardly.

"Until then, no one is to act on their own!"

Su Su Wanxiong slowly closed his eyes:

"As for Divine Weapon Valley, the day of reckoning isn't far off. For now, endure."

……

……

"Something's off about that temple keeper!"

Looking back at the Broken God Temple, Li Yuan felt a chill in his heart.

He didn't believe a word of that temple keeper's fortune-telling at all—his name contained "Yuan," and he was a prodigy at weapon-forging; that wasn't any kind of secret.

But he rarely showed himself in public, and even the inner disciples of the inner island hadn't seen him much. That temple keeper could barely move—how could he possibly recognize him at a glance?

What did that imply?

It meant that old fellow had very likely had his eye on him for a long time already!

"Mm, notify Old Jing—let's cast a small net first? When fishing, missing a hook or two now and then doesn't matter; when it's time to reel in, you've got to reel in!"

Li Yuan muttered to himself.

He wasn't certain whether that temple keeper was connected to something like the Xieshen Sect, but whether there were dates on the branch or not, taking a couple of swings wasn't any trouble.

After all, the one who'd be troubled wasn't him.

Settling his mind slightly, Li Yuan returned to the Weapon-Forging Shop. The moment a black-faced Jing Jing Shuhu appeared, he immediately laid out his guess.

"Now that you put it that way, it is a bit suspicious. But these temples all share the same roots—if it's just a guess…"

Jing Jing Shuhu shot him a glance, frowning slightly.

This kid is getting more and more like Han Han Chuijun by the day—the slightest suspicion and he already wants to strike directly…

There's a chance!

Seeing that he seemed somewhat tempted, Li Yuan pressed his advantage, persuading:

"Whether the guess is right or not, you'll only know by acting. If it's wrong, at worst we apologize and make amends—but if we miss the chance, the regret will come too late!"

"Mm…"

Jing Jing Shuhu tugged at his beard:

"Let this old man think, think…"