Chapter 278 - 304: Tianyangzi the Tool, Merit Soars, Saints Sing, Dragons and Phoenixes Cry

A young man in a white robe arrived under the moon, his figure as swift as the wind. He seemed to be walking step by step, but in reality, his speed was breakneck.

Before his voice had even faded, he had already crossed the distance from the horizon to the mountaintop.

Accompanying him was a powerful, oppressive aura, like mountains toppling and colossal waves surging across the sky.

’Is... is that a Returning Void Great Power?’

Tianyangzi’s body froze. His limbs felt as if they were filled with heavy lead, and the expression on his face stiffened.

He had only ever felt such a terrifyingly oppressive aura from those Returning Void Great Powers.

Therefore, the person before him had to be a mighty expert at the Void Realm or higher.

Tianyangzi was a little dumbfounded.

He watched, wide-eyed and frozen, as the white-robed young man strode over and stopped right beside him, not daring to move an inch.

’I haven’t even reached the Nine Tribulations Realm. How could I dare to even think of resisting a terrifying expert two entire major Realms above me?’

ROAR!!

However, the few Little Ghosts that had lost their self-awareness had transformed into living corpses. They were already pinned to the ground, yet they continued to struggle and roar incessantly.

"Taming living corpses, stealing Incense... You are the first person who has dared to rob me since I arrived in the Desolate Province."

Su Bai glanced at the various bottles and jars scattered across the ground, his gaze then landing on Tianyangzi.

A gleam of light swirled in the depths of his eyes.

"S-Senior!"

Under that indifferent gaze, Tianyangzi grew anxious and stammered, "Y-Your Incense is all here, it’s all here! This humble Daoist was blinded by greed and made a terrible mistake. I beg you, be the bigger person and spare this humble Daoist’s life."

"Th-These living corpses... this humble Daoist didn’t craft them! This humble Daoist killed a sinister Daoist and took them from him."

As he spoke, he quickly took out a Jade Bottle, bowed deeply to Su Bai, and said:

"Here is the Incense this humble Daoist has accumulated over the years. It’s not much, but I am willing to offer it all as an apology to you, Senior."

He was very decisive. The moment he found he could move his body slightly, he immediately took out his most valuable treasure.

THUD. He knelt on the ground, holding the Jade Bottle high in his hands, cold sweat pouring down his forehead.

He was filled with regret. ’If I had known this would happen, how could I have dared to go after this Incense?’

But he had been watching for days.

Those Little Ghosts had been making deliveries every day for two consecutive days. Who would have thought that stealing a bit would summon a Returning Void Great Power?

With a flicker of Su Bai’s Divine Thoughts, the bottles and jars scattered on the ground slowly floated up.

Even the Jade Bottle in Tianyangzi’s hands floated into the air, enveloped by an invisible presence.

"If you had crafted these living corpses yourself, you would already be dead."

Understanding the meaning behind those words, Tianyangzi’s face turned pale.

"Senior, spare me! In all my years of cultivation, I have never done such a thing."

This was indeed true. Su Bai had just taken a glance; Tianyangzi’s sins were less than Two-Star, which was quite rare among Dragon Mansion Realm Cultivators.

Su Bai stared at him until his skin crawled, then slowly said:

"Sparing you is not out of the question."

Hearing this, the terror in Tianyangzi’s heart instantly dissipated. Although he knew the matter would not end so simply, he was still overjoyed and said:

"Senior’s magnanimity is vast! This humble Daoist is in awe!"

"Recently, I have some matters to attend to. You will help me out. Once I am satisfied, I will naturally let you leave," Su Bai said.

The Desolate Province was vast and sparsely populated. There were over a thousand Daoists who held a Divine Position, but finding them all to trade for Incense with the Longevity Technique would not be easy.

After all, Daoists with a Divine Position often kept to themselves. The fact that Chen Tianhua was able to gather over two hundred Daoists last time was already a testament to his extensive network.

The legwork of contacting the remaining Daoists was a perfect job for this man.

Although this Daoist was quite greedy, he wasn’t truly wicked, and his fortune wasn’t low either. He could be of use.

In short, he was quite suitable to be used as a tool.

"Please give your orders, Senior! This humble Daoist will do everything in my power to serve you!"

Tianyangzi finally breathed a sigh of relief. His body was soaked in sweat and his face was a bit pale, but a hint of joy appeared on his face.

Su Bai nodded slightly. After collecting the Jade Bottles, he turned and stepped into the air to depart.

"Come find me in the Prefecture City tomorrow."

As his voice drifted away, his figure had already vanished.

A full incense stick’s worth of time passed before Tianyangzi could force his aching, stiff body to stand up. He gasped for breath, his heart still pounding with fear.

"Lucky, so lucky..."

He let out a long sigh, not even glancing at the crushed human corpses on the ground, and turned to head toward the Desolate State Mansion.

Although Su Bai seemed to have left, a shadow had been cast in his heart, and he didn’t dare to even think about escaping.

This Senior’s aura was even more powerful than the Void Realm experts he had seen before. Even if he wasn’t a Feathered expert, he was still an extremely terrifying Returning Void Great Power.

And a Returning Void Great Power could kill with a flick of a finger, even from hundreds or thousands of miles away.

Even if he used every trick up his sleeve, he would never be able to escape.

...

After returning to his small courtyard, Su Bai had a thought, and a large number of bottles and jars floated before him.

All of them were filled with Incense.

POP!

The next moment, as the bottles and jars opened, surging streams of Incense swirled in all directions and poured into Su Bai’s body.

As Su Bai watched, the Incense was converted into Merit Points. Even though the conversion rate was very low, the sheer quantity of Incense was simply too great.

In just a short while, the converted Merit Points exceeded ten thousand.

Then twenty thousand, thirty thousand, forty thousand...

After another incense stick’s worth of time, Su Bai finally finished absorbing all the Incense.

And now, in the Merit Points column, the total had already skyrocketed several times over!

[Merit Points: 2,800,000!]

Seeing his current Merit Points, a smile appeared on Su Bai’s face.

Previously, Su Bai had spent two hundred thousand Merit Points to deduce the Longevity Technique, and now, he had received over two million Merit Points in return.

A tenfold return on his investment!

BUZZ!

Just then, as if because Su Bai had obtained a massive amount of Merit Points, a strange scene suddenly appeared in the sky.

An endless purple radiance filled every direction, blanketing the entire Prefecture City.

Within the noble and magnificent, hazy Purple Qi, there were Daoists radiating golden light, chanting Daoist Scriptures from which lotus flowers bloomed with every word.

There were also the graceful figures of the Nine Heavens Profound Ladies, their dancing forms and swirling sleeves kicking up wisps of ethereal Immortal Qi.

A Saint arrived from the east riding an ox, a book of poetry in hand, as if extolling something in a recitation that carried for a thousand miles.

There were also Golden Dragons soaring and dancing through the Cloud Sea, and Red Phoenixes spreading their wings, crying out to the sun as if in celebration.

In an instant, every expert who had ascended to the Divine Platform within the Prefecture City, in the great cities and counties even farther away, and indeed across the entire Desolate Province, was jolted awake.

Inside the City Mansion Gui Dao Mansion, Chen Tianhua, who was speaking with Mu Guihai, felt his expression change. He couldn’t help but look up, his face trembling.

"Is this... a heavenly phenomenon!?"

On the other side of the Incense Mirror, Mu Guihai’s expression also changed.

"What in the world is happening?"

Mu Guihai’s Heart Spirit trembled.

He had seen a similar scene once before. It was the phenomenon that occurred hundreds of years ago in the Netherworld, during the sacrificial ceremony for the Netherworld Venerable Master.

He never expected that a similar heavenly phenomenon would appear in the Desolate Province.

「Netherworld.」

In a city shrouded by a sinister wind, a flash of Divine Light appeared in the eyes of two figures, one black and one white, but it quickly faded back into silence.

’Could it be that when Merit Points accumulate to a certain level, the heavens and the earth respond?’

Su Bai glanced at the phenomenon in the sky, lost in thought.

After a while, the celestial phenomenon vanished. Su Bai stopped dwelling on it, slowly closed his eyes, and cleared his mind of all stray thoughts, becoming as calm as still water.

...

「Yu Province, Gui Chen Sect Headquarters.」

Xiao Yu arrived at the rear courtyard of the Gui Chen Sect.

In a small courtyard enclosed by a wicker fence, the Leader of Gui Chen Sect sat cross-legged on a prayer mat, gazing at the distant Cloud Sea. Before Xiao Yu could even speak, he heard him say:

"Did you notice the heavenly phenomenon from before?"

Xiao Yu nodded with a grave expression.

"If I’m not mistaken, it should have come from the Desolate Province."

A heavenly phenomenon does not, of course, envelop the entire world in an instant, but anyone with a certain level of cultivation could sense the momentary shift in the world’s energies.

He, naturally, had sensed it as well.

"Phenomena like this have appeared in past ages. Although the scope of this one was smaller and the fluctuations weren’t overly intense, its fundamental nature is no different."

The Leader of Gui Chen Sect slowly rose to his feet.

Only then could his true appearance be seen.

He wore a white robe and no Daoist crown. His long black hair was draped loosely over his shoulders. His face was like translucent, beautiful jade, and his eyes seemed to reflect the sun, moon, and stars.

He had the bearing of an immortal, like one of the Immortal Gods themselves.

"Are you referring to the two Venerables, Bai You and Hei Ming?"

Xiao Yu’s brows furrowed.

"They are in the Desolate Province?"

Throughout history, the figures who inspired the most awe and fear, besides Emperor Yu, were the Seven Heroes and Three Li, and those two Venerable Guardians from the Netherworld.

Bai You and Hei Ming were, of course, those two Venerable Guardians.

When those two made their move ten thousand years ago, they were already peak Feathered experts. Now, he feared they had likely stepped into the Immortal Realm.

Even he felt a deep sense of reverence for them.

"The Netherworld Venerable Master was a peerless genius who dominated the world. After that day, he vanished. The Celestial Secret of the Desolate Province fell into a state of Chaos. Even with my mastery of Divination, I cannot peer into too much of its Celestial Secret..."

"Even you cannot see it?"

Xiao Yu’s expression was one of shock.

Among the current Feathered experts of the Immortal Dynasty, the Leader of Gui Chen Sect might not be the most powerful, but when it came to prediction and Divination, he was absolutely number one.

’But now, if even he cannot discern the specific situation, then the Desolate State Mansion...’

"A plan ten thousand years in the making does not hinge on the gain or loss of a single province or prefecture. Your lust for power is too great. If you continue on this path, you have no hope of surviving the Ninefold Celestial Tribulation."

The Leader of Gui Chen Sect gave Xiao Yu a faint glance.

"I gathered the world’s wealth, established the Gui Chen Sect, built magnificent Daoist Temples, and gathered vast amounts of Incense, but you must understand."

"The splendor and brilliance are for outsiders to see. Only these few thatched huts are the true foundation of our sect."

A chill ran through Xiao Yu’s heart. He quickly bowed respectfully and said, "You are right."

"However, while the loss or gain of the Desolate Province is of no concern, to repeatedly kill people of my Gui Chen Sect is far too presumptuous."

The Leader of Gui Chen Sect focused his mind slightly, and a single strand of black hair floated down into Xiao Yu’s hand.

"A great matter is at hand, so you need not go to the Desolate Province. Send a disciple there. Have them take this strand of hair, slay those two hundred Daoists, and have them buried alongside our fallen disciple."

"Remember, kill no more and no less."

"Yes!"

Xiao Yu respectfully cupped the strand of hair in his hands and bowed deeply, seemingly almost unable to bear its weight.