These past few days, Chen Shi had been living under Li Tianqing's guise, while Li Tianqing lived under his. They had swapped clothes, shoes, and accessories entirely, all to lure Master Bitter Bamboo into striking at Chen Shi once more.
The transformation talismans they used were a fairly common type. Talisman arts and beast-creation techniques shared the sa origins—this kind of talisman bore so similarities to beast-creation.
This talisman required burning the target's clothing and hair into ashes, then mixing them with cinnabar and black dog blood, grinding it all into ink.
When drawing the talisman, one first sketched the target's facial features on the left side, the talisman structure on the right, the Supre Unity Edict above, the Primordial Chronology Palace in the center, the Nine Serenities Yellow Springs on both sides, and the birth details and na below.
When activating the talisman, one silently recited the Supre Unity Reincarnation Incantation, borrowing the power of reincarnation while visualizing the target's appearance. Once the talisman's power took effect, one could transform into that person.
After taking on the target's appearance, if one didn't know how to dispel it, they couldn't revert to their original form.
The dispelling thod was simple: splash boy's urine on oneself, and it would co undone.
But Master Bitter Bamboo was simply too powerful. The mont he burrowed into Chen Shi's sea of consciousness, he shattered the talisman's power, forcing Chen Shi back to his true appearance.
Li Tianqing had just slapped a sealing talisman onto Chen Shi's forehead when he saw it rapidly bulging, as if sothing inside his skull was shoving against the skin on his brow, trying to escape!
The face grew larger and larger, soon as big as Chen Shi's entire head, its features sharpening into clarity—it was Master Bitter Bamboo!
Lady Red Mountain and the burly rabbit both jolted in fright. Lady Red Mountain leaped down from the rabbit's head and dashed over, shouting, "Do we have any more sealing talismans?"
Li Tianqing flailed helplessly. "These past few days, we've drained the pup so much he's passed out several tis—we've only made this many!"
The sealing talisman Chen Shi had drawn this ti used Blackie's blood. Blackie's bloodline power grew ever stronger, so every sealing talisman he produced contained imnse sealing might.
Yet Master Bitter Bamboo was a Great Vehicle Realm existence, after all. Even with a thick stack of sealing talismans prepared, they couldn't hold him!
"Pa pa pa!"
One by one, the sealing talismans burst open in rapid succession, the explosions chaining like firecrackers. Just as all the talismans seed dood to destruction and Master Bitter Bamboo was about to burst Chen Shi's skull, he suddenly seed yanked back by sothing gripping his legs.
Beneath the skin of Chen Shi's forehead, a bony handprint erged, clawing from behind Bitter Bamboo's head, forward to clasp his skull.
Under the skin of Chen Shi's forehead, the knuckles of that hand were clearly visible.
Lady Red Mountain, Li Tianqing, the burly rabbit, along with the other Red Mountain Hall incense master instructors and talisman masters, all witnessed this scene.
Everyone froze in place, not daring to approach.
That hand didn't look human!
The hand gripped Bitter Bamboo's head from behind and yanked hard. The bulging flesh on Chen Shi's forehead shrank rapidly, returning to normal.
Chen Shi hurriedly asked, "Master Bitter Bamboo's trapped now, right? He's trapped?"
Everyone stared at him blankly, as if beholding so incomprehensible evil being.
Puzzled, Chen Shi rummaged for a mirror, checked his face, and saw he was still as handso as ever—no difference.
Li Tianqing coughed quickly. "Little Ten, it's fine now."
"Master Bitter Bamboo is trapped."
"Probably..."
He hesitated, then said, "Probably won't make it."
Everyone burst into laughter. "All good now! All good! Disperse, everyone disperse!"
Instructor Xiao climbed to his feet and added, "No more crowding here—back to your tasks!"
The instructor known as Scholar truly had sothing strange inside him!
Everyone exchanged glances in silence before scattering.
Even the burly rabbit, transford from Jade Tiancheng, felt that while he was eerie enough, Chen Shi was far eerier.
Had a Great Vehicle Realm powerhouse just... died like that?
Everyone found it sowhat unbelievable, but Jade Tiancheng, the Jade Hall Master, was utterly shocked!
His talent in cultivation was exceptional. Through diligent practice, coupled with cultivating Lady Red Mountain's techniques—at the risk of demonic corruption—he had reached the third stage of the God Transformation Realm.
One more step forward, and he'd enter the fourth stage of God Transformation: Divine Descent Realm.
Full mastery of Divine Descent led to the Soul Refining Realm.
The Soul Refining Realm also had four stages: Soul Refinent, Body Fusion, Three Corpses, Soul Refinent.
After Soul Refining ca the Returning Void Realm, with its four stages: Returning Void, Great Vehicle, Tribulation Transcendence, Ascension.
The Great Vehicle Realm was the second stage of Returning Void.
Between him and Bitter Bamboo lay Divine Descent, Soul Refinent, Body Fusion, Three Corpses, Soul Refinent, and Returning Void—six vast chasms!
Each realm was an insurmountable heavenly moat; those on one side couldn't fathom the mysteries of the next!
And between them stretched six such moats!
Jade Tiancheng had no clan backing, cultivating solo to God Transformation—his talent was prodigious. But reaching Great Vehicle? He wouldn't even dream it!
Without a great clan's foundation or an ancient inheritance like Daxinguo Temple, even transcendent genius couldn't attain Great Vehicle!
Yet now, such a Great Vehicle Realm grandmaster—a legendary figure—had died so easily in Chen Shi's sea of consciousness!
If they heard this, they wouldn't believe it!
Even witnessing it themselves, Jade Tiancheng couldn't believe it!
"If Bitter Bamboo really died in Scholar's sea of consciousness, what exactly is lurking in there?" he pondered silently.
In the distance, Granny Sha's face betrayed undisguised shock. She murmured, "For a being like Bitter Bamboo to enter Little Ten's sea of consciousness and never erge... Is Old Chen Head truly guarding a passage to the underworld? Little Ten's body must harbor a Yama King or sothing."
The others didn't know Master Bitter Bamboo well, thinking him just an old monk. But Granny Sha had grown up on legends of his generation.
One could imagine the impact of Chen Shi's sche felling Bitter Bamboo in his sea of consciousness!
Beside her stood the burly bearded man and Azure Goat, both equally stunned.
Master Bitter Bamboo, a Great Vehicle Realm legend, ambushed and slain here by a young whippersnapper!
Even seeing it with their own eyes, they couldn't accept it!
Azure Goat's goatee quivered as he muttered, "Good thing you all talked out of it back then. Otherwise, I'd have entered his sea of consciousness too."
"Now my horns would probably be soone's plaything..."
Back then, after Black Mountain Granny's dream-self was "devoured" by Chen Shi, he'd wanted to probe Chen Shi's dreams himself, only stopped by the burly man.
He shuddered in aftershock.
"Granny, do you think this was Bitter Bamboo's first reincarnation?"
The burly bearded man suddenly asked.
Granny Sha paused slightly. "What do you an?"
"I think Bitter Bamboo might not have been reincarnating for the first ti."
The burly man pondered. "He arrives in Gongzhou City, dies imdiately, then turns demonic, sending mutated mushrooms to test the young folks' talents, skills, and reactions. This whole routine was smooth as silk—if it was his first ti, how could he be so practiced?"
Azure Goat realized. "If he'd reincarnated once before, it all makes sense."
"But as a Buddhist high monk, any prior deed would leave traces."
"We just need to check historical demonic outbreaks to find his previous life's trail!"
Granny Sha said, "He's over 130 years old. His last reincarnation was over a century ago."
"Who was he back then? Which demonic outbreak did he orchestrate? Who could say? Probably only Xijing has records."
ntioning Xijing sparked a thought. "How did Bitter Bamboo know Little Ten and Li Tianqing were in Gongzhou? How did he know Li Tianqing had a first-grade Divine Embryo? An old monk with just a disciple—no one telling him—how'd he know Li Tianqing's embryo was first-grade? Or that Little Ten ca to Gongzhou for the autumn exams? Could soone from Xijing have tipped him off?"
She thought further.
Little Five of Creation went to Xijing—surely not idle. If soone in Xijing told Bitter Bamboo about a suitable reincarnation vessel in Gongzhou, what were they after?
Selling Bitter Bamboo a favor? Or using Bitter Bamboo's demonic outbreak to lure Little Five away?
Or fearing Little Five's probe reaching them, pitting Bitter Bamboo against Little Five for mutual destruction?
"Xijing's waters run deep."
She mused inwardly. "No wonder Chen Yindu left Xijing back then."
"Pity Bitter Bamboo's dead. If he'd lived, or his soul lingered, we could interrogate who fed him this intel—maybe trace who stole Little Ten's Divine Embryo all those years ago."
The burly bearded man interrupted her thoughts. "Over a century ago might not have been his first reincarnation either. Maybe he'd done it twice, three tis, even four or five! Yet even such a being fell to a child."
He still couldn't quite believe it.
"Now without Master Bitter Bamboo, that demon will be much easier to deal with."
Azure Goat asked. "Ti for us to step in?"
Granny Sha stopped her wild thoughts and chuckled. "Not our turn."
"The散人 gathering is imminent. Plenty of散人 are hiding in the city—many must have their eyes on that demon! We're lucky just to watch over Little Ten."
Back at Red Mountain Hall headquarters, Chen Shi noticed the odd looks from Lady Red Mountain and the others but didn't dwell on it.
Last ti Master Bitter Bamboo tried to possess him, the injuries revealed that whatever lurked in his sea of consciousness could harm Bitter Bamboo—so he was willing to risk it!
Eliminating Master Bitter Bamboo wouldn't dispel the demonic domain, but it had at least greatly reduced the difficulty.
He set down the mirror and stepped outside, gazing skyward. The sky remained unchanged, just as before.
He peered afar at Daxing Zen Temple, where golden light pierced the heavens, illuminating the dust clouds like rosy auroras.
The demonic domain persisted.
It hadn't extinguished with Master Bitter Bamboo's entrapnt.
"My hunch was right!"
Chen Shi's eyes glead as he told Li Tianqing, "Bitter Bamboo wasn't the demon seed! The true demon seed is still in the temple."
Li Tianqing frowned. "With the demonic domain intact, Gongzhou City is a living hell—people will keep dying."
"Without breaking the domain, even surviving the hundred days of demonic change won't save us from the true god's gaze!"
He added, "Don't count on rescue from Xijing. The road here's far too long."
"Little Five of Creation is wreaking havoc there—they can't spare anyone. By the ti Xijing calms, everyone here'll be dead."
Chen Shi brimd with confidence. "I don't think the demonic domain will last much longer."
"Don't forget, the散人 gathering is at Horizontal Duke Mountain's Mist Ridge outside the city. It hasn't started, but many散人 have already headed there early."
"Maybe so are even in our city."
"They won't just sit idly by!"
Li Tianqing remained worried. "散人 strength isn't necessarily superior to Governor Fei and the others—they might not fell the demon seed either."
In the days that followed, living people in the city dwindled. Many succumbed to dust infection, turning into ambulatory mushrooms.
Mushroom giants as tall as houses road everywhere, formidable and aggressive toward any living soul they spotted, capturing them and stuffing them into cages.
Many were carted to Daxing Zen Temple, after which even more mushroom giants appeared, prowling the city.
Red Mountain Hall's manpower thinned too. Many talisman masters had mastered the Dust Purification Talisman—safe from infection if not caught—but venturing out had grown perilous. One slip, and the mushroom giants claid them.
Even more dangerous were humans.
Mushroom giants were huge, spotted from afar; caution let one evade them.
But humans could set traps, ambush, bait, gang up, poison—every dirty trick.
Rumors even swirled that food shortages had so resorting to cannibalism!
"No catch today."
Instructor Xiao returned empty-handed, dejected. "Not a single fish in the Min River. Those fish monsters that turned cunning—who knows where they've gone."
So starving talisman masters eyed the blood agaric, only to get slapped and whispered at, "That's Lady Red Mountain!"
Then they glanced at the burly rabbit—and got slapped again.
"That's our Hall Master!"
Hunger-reddened eyes turned to Blackie, then hastily averted, pretending not to see.
"Can we eat the mushrooms?"
Soone whispered.
"Those are people!"
"But Hall Master eats them."
"Hall Master's a rabbit—rabbits eating mushrooms is natural..."
Chen Shi overheard and stood abruptly. "I'll find food! Blackie, you're with !"
Blackie rose, wagged his tail, and padded after him.
Li Tianqing hurried. "Little Ten, I'll co too!"
Chen Shi nodded, and the two n and one dog left Red Mountain Hall headquarters.
"Tianqing, hungry?"
Chen Shi asked.
Li Tianqing nodded. "A bit dizzy, heart racing fast."
Chen Shi hitched his pants, tightened his belt. " too."
Li Tianqing said, "The fish monster Instructor Lu got last ti—the head boiled twice. Second boil froze into jelly, but it didn't fill ."
"Third ti, no jelly left."
"I gnawed the bones."
"Instructor Lu smacked my head, called a wastrel."
He sounded aggrieved. "He picked up the bones I spat out, chewed 'em to bits, and ate them—said that way nothing's wasted."
"Little Ten, can you find food? I'm starving."
Last demonic outbreak, they hunted exotic beasts for food, stockpiling plenty. This ti, exotic beasts were only in the Kun River—nowhere near enough.
"The fish monsters in the Min River must've scattered. Can't find them? Bet Caolao Society's Min River Granny's hiding them."
Chen Shi guessed. "We'll hit the Caolao Society—food's bound to be there."
"Bring Blackie—he'll help."
He glanced at Blackie ahead and said, "If the pup can alter our perceptions, he can alter the Caolao folks'. We'll stroll in, grab food, and go."
"Blackie, can you pull it off?"
Blackie, legs wobbly from hunger, barked feebly.
Chen Shi grinned. "Blackie says leave it to him."
Li Tianqing was puzzling over Blackie's "words" when the dog halted, hackles up, staring at the street corner ahead.
Chen Shi's golden core instantly projected. He said gravely, "Friend ahead, who might you be? Show yourself."
Li Tianqing readied his golden core and spells for combat when a figure slowly erged from the corner.
A young monk, smiling amiably, pressed palms together in greeting. "Fellow students, did my master co to possess you... only to die by your hands?"
End of chapter.
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