Wu wu wu...
On the 15th day of the seventh lunar month, night had just begun, and throughout Red County Shenzhou, chilly winds struck everywhere, ghost shadows abounded, and the scent of incense wafted through the air.
Although it was the peak of sumr, there was an inexplicable chill, forbidding children and pregnant won from going outdoors.
Only those magicians with profound cultivation could open their Dharma Eyes and see ghosts of various appearances, wandering the streets and alleys, enjoying the incense and collecting paper money.
"Mid-July, the Ghost Gate opens!
Last Ghost Festival, we were trapped in the mud pits at the Owl God Tomb in Beimang Mountain, and this Ghost Festival... we’re trapped in the mud pits of Yunjing City."
Leaning against the window, Wang Yuan withdrew his gaze and sighed softly.
The Ghost Gate opened at midnight on the 15th and would close again at midnight.
It allowed those ghosts in the Yin Departnt who had not committed severe sins and whose ghost lives were not yet over to return to the mortal world, to see their living relatives once more.
But in his eyes, as King Yanluo, the night views of the Ghost Festival seed to grow more lively year by year.
It also ant that the number of souls lost each year increased, and the world was not what it used to be year after year.
And a major change was already close at hand.
"Last year, we only needed to worry about our own lives, but today we need to consider the lives of all under heaven.
Throughout history, every change of dynasty, within just a decade or decades, would lose seven to eighty percent of the population accumulated during peaceful tis.
The fewer people there are, the weaker the Human Dao becos, and the heavier the burden on the ’Nine Soldiers’.
For thousands of years in this cyclical pattern, a single failure ans no future.
And without the foundation of the Human Dao, from the lowest Red Seal Mage to the highest Purple Seal Immortal, it would be impossible to continue cultivation with the ’Earth Spirit Qi’.
The existence of the Human Dao is actually crucial to the survival of the Immortal Dao."
Of course, Wang Yuan was aware that the problems he could foresee, those wise Corpse Dissection Immortals would have foreseen even earlier.
They would definitely be prepared with more than one plan.
But he couldn’t help but ponder, how exactly could one completely drive out the ’Weird’, ’Heavenly Official’, and ’Killing Tree’ from this world?
Before he could figure any of it out.
A full moon suddenly rose outside the window.
The "Taiyin Refining" that Huang Wu had undergone for an entire month had finally completed its last phase—Full Moon, and she fully restored her corpse body.
The frosty moonlight flowed endlessly from her flawless body, gradually turning her into a second moon upon the earth.
Then she slowly rose, settling in the lap of Huang Wu, who was also seated on the ground, her ghost body indistinguishable from a living person’s.
Eventually, it transford into a mirror that resembled a bright moon.
The front was a bright silver with every detail visible, with a phoenix dancing within it, while the back had the Green Phoenix Treasure Pearl turned into a mirror knob, surrounded by eight moon phases.
It was the perfect embryo for casting her future Lifebound Magic Treasure.
The Taiyin Treasure Mirror Dharma Body, which could reflect the traits of the mage herself, could also be called the Taiyin True Phoenix Dharma Body in Huang Wu’s case.
Main features: Taiyin Refining, Moon in the Water and Flower in the Mirror, Marriage, Death and Resurrection.
Beyond these, this Dharma Body had another wonderful use.
The first state of the Green Seal Sage is ’Inner Scene’, the second is ’Dharma Image’;
The third state is nad ’Corpse Dissection’, which is the most difficult and dangerous level among the four states and twelve gates of ’One Step Splendid Tower’.
The process Huang Wu had undergone, disassembling and rebirthing her corpse from June 15th to July 15th, was akin to a weakened version of "Corpse Dissection".
In the future, when facing the actual ’Corpse Dissection’, it would provide significant benefits to both herself and Wang Yuan that are unspeakable to others!
As the promotion was completed, the mysterious aroma dissipated.
Beneath the city walls, a few sparse ’Weird’ entities, finally awakening as if from a dream, madly fled Yunjing City before they were completely scorched to ashes.
As for the ’Weird’ that had accumulated in the area for hundreds of years, nearly all were wiped out by Huang Wu within that one month.
The rit Golden Wheel behind her head was close to reaching four paths.
At the sa ti, there was also no concern that the population of Yunjing City would rise again after the restoration of transportation.
Within a month, the situation in various places had changed dramatically.
Even if the blockade by the ’Weird’ was lifted, the subsequent growth of Dragon Energy was almost impossible to return to its forr state.
Thus.
This journey not only successfully promoted Huang Wu to Yellow Seal Mage, but also significantly increased the safety coefficient for future encounters with that rabbit.
Wang Yuan also forcefully reduced the Tribulation Energy above him by twenty percent.
The objective was considered perfectly completed!
Huang Wu swallowed the treasure mirror, spun her body to change into a wine-red palace dress and dainty embroidered shoes of the sa color, and looking refreshed, she took Wang Yuan’s hand.
"Xiao Yuan, let’s go.
Today is our first assembly, and the other Immortal Officials should already be waiting for us at the Cloud Jade Pavilion."
He nodded in agreent, and was just about to deactivate the ’Sacrificial Technique: Harmonizing Light with Dust’ shrouding the corner tower.
Suddenly, he heard a few children singing a rhy near his ears.
The voices of the rhy grew more distant, but the number of singers increased.
When they clearly heard the contents of that rhy, their bodies stiffened simultaneously.
The joy from the successful promotion vanished completely, replaced by a chilling dread deep to their bones.
"Singing Rhy Child!!!"
...
At the sa ti.
In a small, inconspicuous tavern to the west of the city, a group of people was enthusiastically playing Mahjong in a corner on the first floor.
Among them were two gamblers whose deanor was distinctly different from that of mortals, one of whom was the Fire Star Lord, Guo Feihu, with a face like a heavy date.
Another was a lady in a dark green satin horse-face skirt, with a fair lon-seed face, shallow brows and eyes, yet a plump and graceful bearing.
However, unlike Guo Feihu, who continuously slaughtered his opponents in every direction,
this plump beauty, who resembled Xin Xiaowei by about fifty to sixty percent, was looking worse and worse as the ga progressed.
Even those who had never played mahjong could tell that she had lost miserably tonight.
"Ah, ah, ah..."
She couldn’t help but annoyingly scratch her beautiful black hair in frustration.
Though in disarray, there was an added charm about it.
Under normal circumstances, with the "Ziwei Dipper" of the "Dou Departnt" Immortal Official, one would generally do well in any gambling ga.
But there was one exception.
It was this widely known "Broom Star" among the "Nine Soldiers," Xin Ruoheng.
Even the simple-minded ironheads from the "Thunder Departnt" knew that when gambling, if she was involved, just blindly bet against her and win!
Yet, this "Broom Star" had a strong passion for gambling.
She had the heart of a Gambling God but not the luck of one; her days were only slightly better than Xin Xiaowei’s.
However, her bad luck didn’t spread to others, and with her excellent gambling spirit and willingness to accept loss, everyone loved to play with her.
From the smug look on Guo Feihu’s face, it was clear that by playing against Xin Ruoheng, he had already won big tonight.
All alone on the second floor, Xin Xiaowei shook her head:
"Luckily, when I was wandering alone, I could at least fill my stomach with grass.
If she were with , we’d probably be stuffed with the north wind.
However..."
The girl took out a shiny Treasure Coin from her bosom.
She breathed on it, vigorously rubbed it with her patched-up sleeve, and a very smug smile appeared on her face:
"It’s been a whole month, and I’ve managed not to lose this treasure.
Obviously, I am not who I used to be anymore, humph humph humph! Xin Xiaobao, my treasure!"
Gazing at the "Treasure Coin" in her hand, lovingly nad "Treasure" by her, Xin Xiaowei giggled non-stop.
She felt her Divine Position as the "Yin Departnt Judge of Financial Records" had successfully balanced so of the negative effects of the "Poverty God."
Having lived for nearly twenty years, she finally felt accomplished!
This Divine Position managed the "Noble and Base Departnt" among the seventy-two departnts of the underworld, which had the potential to rise or fall, far stronger than the pure "Poverty God."
Of course, part of the reason might also be due to the "Treasure Coin’s" characteristic—resenting the rich.
Naturally, it liked to associate with a poor wretch like her.
Impossible to lose.
"It’s still my good brother Tai Bai protecting !"
Even though Wang Yuan’s allure in the eyes of the opposite sex had dropped by a thousand percent, and even dogs would despise him, Xin Xiaowei didn’t care at all.
Her devoutness towards him grew even more intense.
She would mutter about him occasionally, almost becoming a fanatic.
"Hehe, Fu Gui’er! I heard it again; you’ve ntioned Tai Bai for the 58th ti today.
This young man owning property worth millions with strong capabilities, your taste is really not bad at all."
Xin Xiaowei looked up and saw that lon-seed faced beauty close up in front of her, obviously having lost all her money and had to leave the ga begrudgingly.
But listening to what she said, her face flushed red as she quickly waved her hands:
"Mom! Can you please not call by my nickna? And we’re surely not in that kind of relationship, you’re thinking too much!"
Indeed, like does not co together without reason.
This feared duo of "Broom Star" and "Poverty God" turned out to be mother and daughter!
No sooner had Xin Xiaowei finished speaking than Xin Ruoheng’s face suddenly changed, and she gave her a severe look:
"Xin Fugui, dream on!
What I ant was, how would you feel about him being your dad? With your mother’s looks, pairing with this great financier would surely be more than sufficient.
I’ve even thought of your sister’s na; it shall be... Wang Xiaoi!"
Xin Xiaowei pursed her lips:
"Wang Xiaoi? I think it’s more like Wang Xiaoi, really!
Oh, Mom, having you as a colleague, everyone is indeed unlucky.
You’re just looking for a scapegoat to cover the endless hole you’ve dug in the past, aren’t you?
Even rabbits don’t eat the grass by their burrows!"
Xin Ruoheng’s eyebrows shot up, and she was about to scold this unfilial daughter, who cared nothing for her mother’s happiness in her old age.
But suddenly, she noticed that several young children had appeared downstairs, and they sang in unison:
"Flowing Thief, thief flowing, tasked by the Upper Realm to behead n. If one remains unslain, the Plague Spreader follows in their steps.
In the year of Guiwei, this place will run red with blood. Hos without inhabitants, fields without farrs!"
As they sang, they danced and quickly scattered in different directions.
Just like that year in Luoyang City.
Before long, this rhy resounded through the skies of Yunjing City.
And the content of the children’s rhy was a million tis more blood-curdling than when the "Singing Rhy Child" last appeared in Luoyang City!
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