Chapter 215

The City God Temple.

Hall of the Civil Judge.

“This disciple greets honored teacher.”

Sun Zimu bowed respectfully toward the figure above.

A flash of divine light flickered from the shrine, and a middle-aged man materialized out of thin air. He wore the robes of a civil official, with three strands of long beard and an elegant, scholarly appearance.

Compared to thumb-sized Sun Zimu, he was considerably taller, roughly the size of an ordinary child.

Smiling, he said, “It is rare for you to come see your teacher in person. Is there some urgent matter? Normally, you could simply send an underworld soldier with a message. If the Day Patrol Deity catches you neglecting your post, you may be charged with dereliction of duty.”

Sun Zimu shivered instinctively. Clearly, that was no minor offense.

But he quickly regained his composure.

“This disciple has come to introduce someone to teacher. It is this… this…”

He turned to look at Fang Qing, his face full of confusion.

What was this person’s name again?

“Haha, all wanderers beneath the heavens are fellow travelers. Meeting is itself fate.”

Fang Qing laughed heartily.

“Fellow Daoist, do you happen to have any incense money on you? Also, hand over your divine artifact-refining method.”

The Civil Judge immediately plastered his face with a smile and produced a string of coins from his sleeve, each round on the outside and square within.

“This is this official’s accumulated salary from these past years. As for the artifact-refining method, it is a direct inheritance of the divine path, known as the Divine Illumination Subtle Artifact Containing Mystical Mechanism Ritual Method. It is quite marvelous. All things possess spirit, and internal artifact patterns naturally form within. We merely need to invest incense money and allow the artifact to refine itself.”

Fang Qing nodded repeatedly as he listened.

This Civil Judge’s artifact-refining method was not much different from that of the Earth God. In truth, they were essentially the same thing.

The only real difference lay in how much incense money was invested, and the quality of the materials themselves.

‘Looking at it this way, I’m even more confident about refining that Bronze Ge into a Purple Mansion treasure.’

‘Still, the Civil and Martial Judges, the Day and Night Patrol Deities, their strength is only around the Qi Ingestion level. Their accumulated divine incense power is far too meager. Not even enough to refine a Dao Foundation spirit artifact.’

‘If I’m going to rob someone, I should rob someone important!’

Fang Qing smiled and looked toward the Civil Judge.

“Where is the City God? Take me to meet him.”

“Lord City God has gone to the provincial capital for his official evaluation. He should return within a few days.”

The Civil Judge answered respectfully.

“In that case, I’ll sit in the main City God Hall and wait.”

Fang Qing smiled.

...

The next day.

“The City God returns to the temple!”

In the invisible void beyond mortal sight, the sound of ceremonial gongs rang out as countless strands of divine radiance descended in brilliant colors.

Strangely, the gongs and drums could be heard clearly, yet no figures were visible.

Only by lowering one’s gaze could one discover a tiny ceremonial procession, each figure no larger than a thumb.

These were the City God’s underworld officers, dressed in constable uniforms with long sabers at their waists.

Behind them came numerous divine clerks, their bodies steadily growing taller, as though travelers from a miniature kingdom had entered the realm of normal men.

Some carried black record books.

Others bore writing brushes, inkstones, paper, and ink.

Still others carried a sedan chair.

Its surface was engraved with chickens, geese, and rhinoceroses, emanating an aura of solemn authority and grandeur. Unlike the tiny attendants, it was the size of an ordinary human conveyance as it arrived directly before the City God Temple.

A black cloud-treading boot stepped out.

The City God himself emerged, clad in the robes of a seventh-rank official.

He now possessed the stature of a normal man. Surrounded by ghostly officials and attendants, he appeared like a towering giant as he entered his own temple.

“Where are the Civil and Martial Judges? Where are the Day and Night Patrol Deities?”

“This official has returned to his office, yet none of you kneel in welcome? Are you asking for punishment beneath the rods of water and fire?”

The City God’s face flushed red with anger.

But when he entered the main hall, he froze.

A short-haired young man in blue robes sat in his seat, casually flipping through the local Register of Life and Death.

Along both sides of the hall stood numerous large chests, packed to the brim with incense money.

The Civil and Martial Judges, the Day and Night Patrol Deities, and the underworld ghost officers all stood solemnly to either side.

The scene looked exactly as though the young man were the true City God, while he himself was merely a criminal awaiting judgment.

For a moment, the City God stood dumbstruck.

He lowered his head to glance at his own official robes, then looked back at the young man, opening his mouth to speak—

“A seventh-rank City God. Roughly early Dao Foundation in strength?”

“Kneel.”

Fang Qing swept his gaze over him and spoke indifferently.

The incense aura around the City God immediately surged upward, transforming into a ring of red light that shielded him, somehow resisting the influence of Power of Speech.

“You are not a local cultivator…”

“An extraterritorial celestial demon?!”

“Oh?”

Fang Qing let out a faint sound of surprise.

Ordinary Dao Foundation cultivators, like those from the Xuanwu Sect, would immediately become puppets beneath the influence of Power of Speech once empowered by his Duzi divine status, even if they possessed significant fortune.

This innate ability came with the divine status itself. As long as he had a mouth, he could activate it, and possessing another body would not negate it.

Yet this City God was different.

‘Only status itself can resist status.’

‘This Dao Foundation carries a semblance of divine status, similar to a Duzi? No… far too weak.’

‘The status on him is too shallow, too sparse. It isn’t truly his own. At best, it’s borrowed authority.’

‘Is this the support of the incense divine path’s own governing net?’

Fang Qing calculated with his fingers and immediately understood much.

‘This divine path is rather interesting. It resembles the empowerment methods of the Esoteric Hidden-Treasury Domain, perhaps it learned from buddhists empowerment?’

‘No… perhaps the buddhist empowerment method originally learned from the divine path instead?’

But that was all.

Light suddenly transformed across Fang Qing’s body, as though a blazing sun had risen behind him.

Through infusion from his true self, his cultivation method instantly shifted.

From [Nu Earth] to the Great Sun Empowerment Secret Art!

Radiance Spiritual Brilliance activated!

Directly rewriting the City God’s thoughts!

This City God was merely at the early Dao Foundation stage. Though the laws of the incense-faith divine network granted him some mysterious abilities, his actual strength was what it was. Facing a Duzi at the Purple Mansion level, he was effortlessly converted, kneeling on the ground at once.

“This humble god greets my lord…”

“Let me examine your foundation.”

Fang Qing spoke casually.

The City God immediately opened his official robe, and his chest became transparent.

As a spirit body, there was naturally nothing inside him. Only a pure white divine talisman floated there, inscribed in vermilion divine script:

‘Righteous Seventh-Rank City God Deity of Sanshan County, Jiujiang Province, Great Sui.’

And beneath that divine decree, there was actually a Dao Foundation!

‘So it was not self-cultivated, but granted alongside the divine decree... called Divine Illumination Ritual?’

Light flickered through Fang Qing’s eyes.

‘[Ghost Metal] Dao Foundation, Divine Illumination Ritual? This seems to be a divine profundity related to artifact refinement... ah, so it is the Divine Illumination Subtle Artifact Containing Mystical Mechanism Ritual Method.’

‘With this layered system of enfeoffment, no wonder all the City Gods under this hierarchy possess the same artifact-refining divine profundity.’

‘This divine network of law and order can grant Dao Foundations and divine rank, could it perhaps even grant divine abilities?’

He sighed softly, already understanding where the true danger of this White Luminary Heaven lay.

There were almost certainly divine path cultivators here comparable to Purple Mansion Spiritual Masters.

Perhaps more than one.

‘As expected, Grotto Heavens are dangerous.’

‘Back in the Yanbo Blessed Land, those Purple Mansion cultivators could have stripped the entire place bare if they wished, even taking the pot with them.’

‘But this Grotto Heaven, even if entire White Bone Dao poured in all its strength, we might still fail to take it. And the casualties would be catastrophic.’

‘Mm. This body’s mission is more or less complete. I now have a rough understanding of both the benefits and the risks.’

‘Next… I’ll secure a minimum guaranteed gain, then withdraw after success.’

‘Before this body falls, one final probe into the true strength of this Grotto Heaven.’

...

Several months later.

“Sigh… carrying the burden of ten counties under Jiujiang Province all by myself is not easy.”

“Being the weightlifting champion really isn’t simple.”

Fang Qing lounged in a grand armchair, one leg crossed over the other, idly playing with a sycee[1] in his hand.

The sycee was formed entirely from crimson-gold divine power, forged from dense incense-faith essence.

Divine power!

Within the incense-faith system, it could purchase nearly anything.

Of course, it came with its own complications.

‘Without entering the divine path system, I can’t personally use divine power.’

‘But that doesn’t matter.’

‘I can simply control a few City Gods and Earth Gods and have them refine artifacts for me.’

A divine decree clearly resembled something akin to a Bright Son construct. Fang Qing would have to be an idiot to refine something like that into his own body.

With a casual wave of his hand, dozens of Dao Foundation spirit artifacts floated into the air, each radiating extraordinary brilliance.

Naturally, these were the accumulated treasures of the various county City Gods, amassed over centuries and thoroughly stripped clean by him.

“Dao Foundation spirit artifacts, utterly useless to me.”

“At best they can be dumped into the Wusheng Temple for rewarding subordinates... Bah!”

“I’m creating value for the Wusheng Temple?”

“They should be taking these and exchanging them for spirit materials I can actually use.”

Fang Qing stepped into the rear hall.

A row of City Gods stood there in sequence, each channeling divine power into the constant refinement of a Bronze Ge.

Naturally, this was the item he had later instructed Sangji outside to send into the Grotto Heaven.

Divine flames blazed fiercely. Ritual formations shone brilliantly.

Boxes upon boxes of the thinnest talisman currency burned like paper, vanishing in moments.

Only strings of bronze cash coins endured somewhat longer, serving as fuelwood.

As for the sycees, they sat at the center like glowing charcoal, burning without end.

“To refine a Purple Mansion treasure, even this amount of incense-faith power is still insufficient.”

Fang Qing sighed.

“Looks like I’ll have to start targeting the other counties.”

Within the provincial capital resided the fifth-rank Provincial City God, likely at Dao Foundation perfection, perhaps even a true Purple Mansion Spiritual Master.

Naturally, Fang Qing had no intention of courting disaster there.

So he confined himself to rampaging through the county cities instead.

The strategy was simple: crossing realms to crush weaker opponents, using the Duzi divine status to bully the small fry.

‘And if I keep doing this, discovery is inevitable.’

‘I must complete refining this treasure before that happens and send it out of the Grotto Heaven.’

‘Mm. At the very least, I’ve been jumping around this wildly without getting crushed by a single finger. That confirms the master of this Grotto Heaven is no longer present.’

‘That divine path ruler’s control over the Grotto Heaven is incomplete.’

Time flowed like water.

Before he knew it, several more months had passed.

...

Jiujiang Province.

Sanshan County.

“Hmph!”

Accompanied by a cold snort, a giant figure descended with a thunderous crash!

He was dressed as a civil official, clad in a crimson official robe, wearing a winged court hat stretching outward from both sides. His enormous frame resembled a small mountain.

Compared to the thumb-sized Earth Gods, childlike clerks, and even the ordinary county City God, the contrast was overwhelming.

His mere presence alone suppressed the entire City God Temple.

Even the temple’s broad plaza could barely accommodate him.

“Where is the City God of Sanshan? Come out at once and present yourself before this official!”

The Provincial City God of Jiujiang barked sharply.

For some time now, he had vaguely sensed something amiss among his subordinate City Gods, though he could not determine exactly what.

Tracing the abnormalities back, everything seemed to begin with Sanshan County.

Thus, he had personally descended in his divine body to inspect the matter.

Within the Divine Path system, higher rank crushed lower rank absolutely.

And in this world, where divine rule governed all, there was no fear of rebellious threats.

After all, the higher one’s Divine Rank, the stronger one’s power.

“This subordinate is here!”

The City God of Sanshan flew out, kneeling in terror and reverence.

“This subordinate greets superior officer…”

The massive eyes of the Provincial City God fixed on the county City God.

“You are wrong.”

“Very wrong.”

“What have you been doing recently?”

As he spoke, he invoked his Divine Rank, mobilizing the laws of the divine path to suppress the county City God and render lying impossible.

“Refining artifacts for Young Master.”

The county City God answered naturally.

“Young Master?”

The Provincial City God frowned.

“Whose young master?”

“Even a high official of the imperial court should not be able to interfere in divine affairs. Do they not fear divine punishment?”

“Mine.”

Fang Qing drifted into view.

He had delayed long enough.

Now that his Purple Mansion treasure had been successfully refined and sent safely out of the Grotto Heaven, he no longer had the slightest concern.

“Perfect.”

“I’ll use this opportunity to properly test just how dangerous this Grotto Heaven truly is.”

[1]:- A sycee (also known as yuanbao) was a type of gold or silver ingot used as currency in imperial China from the Qin Dynasty until the early 20th century.