Chapter 64: Universal Phenomenon

At the Celestial Dungeon,

as Xiao Ran and the other two escorted Daoist Priest Xuan Yang inside, the lieutenant came up to them anxiously. “My Lord, what brings you here?”

Shen Yiming said, “I have something important to do.”

They tied him to the metal frame in one of the cells.

“Where’s the tax money?” Shen Yiming shouted.

“At the Predestiny Bridge,” Daoist Priest Xuan Yang answered honestly.

“Nonsense! There’s a lot of traffic on Predestiny Bridge, and it’s a downtown area. How could a hundred million taels of tax money be hidden there without anyone knowing?”

“I’m not lying, honest!”

“Hmph! You’re still refusing to account for this even when you are in this situation now. Looks like you won’t tell the truth unless I skin you alive!” Shen Yiming’s face turned ominous.

Little Zhou was very observant. He brought the entire set of torture devices and threw it on the ground.

There was a set of thirty-six steel needles, each the size of a chopstick.

He gestured at the acupoints all over the priest’s body and looked at him with a sinister smile.

“Don’t do it! I swear I am telling the truth.” Daoist Priest Xuan Yang was scared out of his wits.

Shen Yiming grabbed his chin and lifted his head. “Don’t try anything funny. Otherwise, I’ll make your life a living hell!”

“I wouldn’t dare!” Daoist Priest Xuan Yang shook his head desperately.

“My Lord, have you heard of the Daoist divine ability, the Universal Phenomenon?”

“The secret technique of the Supreme Pure Temple that was never taught to outsiders? The one that only successive generations of Temple Masters can practice?” Shen Yiming asked with a frown.

“Yes.” Priest Priest Xuan Yang nodded his head vigorously.

“To be honest, I’m an abandoned disciple of the Supreme Pure Temple! I secretly learned the Universal Phenomenon technique. After the matter was exposed, I fled the Supreme Pure Temple.”

At which point,

Daoist Priest Xuan Yang hung his head down with a regretful expression, as if blaming himself for the misdeeds he had committed in the past.

Pow!

Little Zhou punched him in the chest and scolded, “We don’t have time to listen to your nonsense!”

“It doesn’t matter. Let him talk,” Shen Yiming said.

He looked at Daoist Priest Xuan Yang and gestured for him to continue.

Daoist Priest Xuan Yang continued with his tale.

“All these years, the Supreme Pure Temple has been pursuing me. Under the protection of the Yama group, I was able to survive. After five years, I was lucky enough to master this divine ability.”

“No wonder.” Realization dawned on Shen Yiming.

Everything he couldn’t figure out before now made sense.

“My Lord, do you understand?” Little Zhou scratched the back of his head.

“Yes.” Shen Yiming nodded.

A simple explanation.

The Daoist divine ability, the Universal Phenomenon, was extremely powerful. Once it was mastered, it would have the ability to transcend all obstacles in heaven and earth.

As long as one’s skills evolution was high enough, he could store a billion taels of tax silver, let alone hundreds of millions of taels of tax silver.

“If he’s so powerful and has even mastered the Universal Phenomenon technique, why is he still being chased by the wolf demon like a pathetic stray dog?” Little Zhou asked with a puzzled frown.

Daoist Priest Xuan Yang became embarrassed at this question and his face turned red.

Facing the scrutinizing gazes of Xiao Ran and the other two, he explained weakly, “I… used a trick that allowed me to master the skill by luck. I have not legitimately mastered the skill with full enlightenment. Otherwise, with just superficial understanding, I could still outsmart him and not be pursued by the wolf demon.”

“If you can’t do it, then don’t. You still want to act smart!” Little Zhou looked at him with despise.

“So where is the tax money?”

Daoist Priest Xuan Yang looked at the horsetail whisk in Xiao Ran’s hand. “This is the Yin Yang Whisk. One is Yin and the other is Yang. What this lord is holding now is the Yin Whisk. The Yang Whisk is in the river below the Predestiny Bridge. When you put these two together and inject enough spirit energy into them, the Universal Gate will open and you can take out the tax money.”

“You’d better be telling the truth, or I won’t let you off!” Shen Yiming warned.

He looked at Xiao Ran.

“Lock him in the Purgatory first. Let him have a taste of the Purgatory Netherflames and foul Yin atmosphere to repent for his sins.”

“All right,” Xiao Ran agreed.

He brought Daoist Priest Xuan Yang into the Purgatory and locked him in a cell.

The Golden Tome of Creation flipped to a random page and displayed two items. One million Mastery points, the Universal Phenomenon (Transcending Heaven Technique).

The Transcending Heaven Technique was ranked above the Heaven-rank techniques.

In other words, a Transcending Heaven Technique could be called a divine power.

“What a big bonus!”

He added the million Mastery points to the Universal Phenomenon.

After the attributes were refreshed,

Universal Phenomenon: Beginner’s Level.

He then locked the cell door and left.

When he passed by the Eldest Princess, she looked up at him, her delicate beautiful face aglow. “Has the case been solved?”

“You’re really well-informed. Here you are, sitting in jail, yet you know everything that is happening in the outside world,” Xiao Ran said in a teasing manner.

“That priest must be from the Supreme Pure Temple?”

“That’s right.”

“I heard that the Supreme Pure Temple has a Divine Ability called the Universal Phenomenon that is passed on to successive leaders. It can accommodate all things. I think the tax money is hidden inside!”

Xiao Ran stared at her for a while.

The Eldest Princess smiled and stroked her hair. “So I guessed correctly.”

“It’s better for women to be stupid,” Xiao Ran muttered.

He left the Purgatory and returned to the antechamber on the first floor.

Shen Yiming had been waiting for a long time. When Xiao Ran returned, the trio left the Celestial Dungeon and rushed towards the Predestiny Bridge.

When they arrived there,

Shen Yiming asked Little Zhou to seal the surroundings. He took out the Yin Whisk and injected his spirit energy into it.

Buzz!

The Yin Whisk shook, and black light swept out, sending out a powerful suction force. Within a few breaths, an identical horsetail whisk in all white, flew out from the bottom of the river and into his hand.

“Let’s go!” Shen Yiming said excitedly.

He rushed back to the Divine Sword Guards headquarters and said, “You guys wait here. I’ll be back soon.”

“Brother Xiao, what do you think the higher-ups will reward us for our contributions this time?” Little Zhou asked eagerly, his eyes burning brightly as he fantasized about the reward.

“Promotion? Monetary rewards? Or resources for upgrading our skills?”

“Why don’t you go and ask?” Xiao Ran teased him.

“Forget it.” Little Zhou got a shock and shrank back.

Looking in a certain direction across the capital city, Xiao Ran’s heart was burning with anticipation.

A Profound Realm demon was still lurking around out there, waiting for him to subdue it.

A while later,

a Divine Sword Guard summoned the two of them inside.

When they entered the hall, Shen Yiming was also there. Qin Fangzhen was sitting high on the pedestal chair. It seemed like they had failed to apprehend the wolf demon.

“You guys have done well. You have cracked the stolen tax money case while investigating the theft of the ‘Celestial Varg Guards’ manual.” Qin Fangzhen praised them with a look of satisfaction.

He clapped his hands and two Divine Sword Guards came in from outside. They each held a tray in their hands and stopped in front of the two of them.

“A Heaven-rank Low-grade skills manual, an Earth-rank Superior-grade Healing Pill, and 100,000 taels of silver.”

“Thank you, my lord!”

“All right, you guys can leave first!” Qin Fangzhen dismissed them with a wave of his hand.

After they left the room,

Little Zhou’s excitement was written all over his face. He couldn’t stop grinning. “Brother Xiao, I was right, wasn’t I! Besides being promoted, we got rich too. And we also received a generous amount of resources to upgrade our skills.”

“Are you so short of money?”

“Yes!” Little Zhou nodded solemnly.

“Didn’t you just earn 300,000 taels the other day? Coupled with the reward last night, your net worth is nearly 400,000, right?” Xiao Ran said.

“My father has more money than I do. When I have more money than him, he won’t dare arrange blind dates for me flippantly.”

Xiao Ran could not be bothered with him and strode away.

“Brother Xiao, wait for me!” Xiao Zhou hurriedly ran after him.

Xiao Ran stopped in his tracks. “I’m going out for a walk. You digest this reward first.”

After leaving the Divine Sword Guards compound, he relied on the sensory functions of his purifying spiritual force to give chase in a particular direction.