Yellow Skinned Taoist Master

Song Jiu was a Nascent Soul cultivator.

But he was human.

Only by ascending to godhood could one be considered a different species from mortals.

The moment he appeared, every evil spirit present was provoked.

Those foolish evil spirits who had been calling out "Great King Yellow Skin" and begging "please don't eat me" just moments ago had all transformed, as if they were entirely different creatures.

Ferocious. Savage.

Even the surrounding temperature dropped inexplicably.

The air itself radiated a bone-chilling aura.

Chen Huangpi exclaimed in surprise, "With this many evil spirits present, how does he dare show himself?"

"His human qi is so abundant — why wouldn't he dare?" The Brass Oil Lamp gazed warily at Song Jiu, who hovered in midair.

It could see the human qi radiating from Song Jiu's body, and the small seal hanging at his waist.

With the county seal's human qi augmenting him—

This was no mere Nascent Soul cultivator. This was a being comparable to a County City God.

But had he come for the Geomantic Divine Compass?

"Chen Huangpi, that Geomantic Divine Compass — didn't the Slender Evil Spirit reject it before? How did it end up with that thing?"

"It is with it. It gave me too many things in exchange — I was too embarrassed to ask for the compass back."

Chen Huangpi's voice was meek.

That time, he had tried to trade the Geomantic Divine Compass to the Slender Evil Spirit for the Flying Immortal Token, thinking he could swap a useless piece of junk for a treasure — a clean profit with no downside.

Who knew the Slender Evil Spirit wouldn't want it, and instead took a fancy to his black smoke.

In the end, he watched helplessly as a wisp of black smoke hollowed the Slender Evil Spirit out entirely.

Even with skin as thick as Chen Huangpi's, he couldn't bring himself to ask for the Geomantic Divine Compass back after that.

"Tch..."

The Brass Oil Lamp sneered, "That Slender Evil Spirit's luck went rotten for eight lifetimes the day it met you."

"It's probably done for."

"Though it's just as well — I always felt something was off about it. Better this than having it cause more trouble later."

At that moment—

Song Jiu's cold gaze was locked on the Slender Evil Spirit.

The Geomantic Divine Compass couldn't pinpoint Chen Huangpi's exact location.

But it could detect the presence of another Geomantic Divine Compass.

Originally, he had planned to kill Chen Huangpi first and then search for the other compass.

But when the intelligence reached Xuzhou City—

Song Tiangang didn't hesitate, ordering him to go directly for the other Geomantic Divine Compass instead.

Chen Huangpi — the one who had killed the young mistress —

Apparently mattered less than a single Geomantic Divine Compass.

What Song Jiu didn't know was that Song Tiangang believed the Mutant Divine Statue had devoured Lin Ye and the others, and therefore the Geomantic Divine Compass was naturally inside it.

What he was truly after wasn't some mere artifact.

It was the so-called secret of immortality hidden within the Mutant Divine Statue.

"Qing'an County City God, make your move! Capture this evil spirit and bring it back — His Lordship will reward you handsomely!"

"As you command!"

The Qing'an County City God didn't hesitate for a second.

That imposing figure clad in green armor materialized in full.

A divine statue was merely a vessel for a god's will.

Not its true form — for the true form was colossal beyond measure. Once manifested, it towered a hundred zhang high, its entire body wreathed in surging incense flames.

Those flames seemed alive.

Faintly, one could make out face after face within them — men and women, old and young — all radiating absolute devotion.

"Halt! Halt! Halt!"

The Qing'an County City God opened its cavernous maw and bellowed the command three times.

Under the surge of divine power, an otherworldly force instantly blanketed the surroundings.

Every evil spirit was frozen in place.

Even Chen Huangpi felt his body grow sluggish, every movement as labored as wading through a swamp.

But it wasn't him that had been immobilized.

It was the Life-reaping Ghost's skin he wore.

"Aren't gods supposed to be useless freeloaders? How is this one so powerful?!"

Chen Huangpi was baffled. "Are there ranks among the gods too?"

"Of course there are."

The Brass Oil Lamp explained, "It's a County City God — the direct superior of those gods you killed. Above that, there are Provincial City Gods. The more people a City God governs, the more powerful it becomes!"

"Good thing it's not here for you, or we'd have no choice but to run right back where we came from!"

"Look — the County City God is making its move!"

The words had barely left its mouth.

The Qing'an County City God pressed its left arm downward. Incense flames coalesced into rolling clouds beneath it, making the arm look as though it descended from the heavens themselves. Thunder rumbled and gale-force winds howled — truly, the gap between a god and a lesser god was wider than the gap between a man and a dog.

At such close range—

Chen Huangpi could even make out the lines on the Qing'an County City God's enormous palm.

That sky-blotting hand reached down toward the Slender Evil Spirit.

But the very next instant—

A flash of dark radiance rippled across the Slender Evil Spirit's body.

The divine power binding it dissolved in an instant.

Then the Slender Evil Spirit pulled open its black robe, revealing the gaping void that occupied its entire lower abdomen.

Within that void lingered a faint, almost imperceptible wisp of black smoke.

But then—

That single wisp of smoke swelled to the thickness of a finger in a heartbeat.

The Slender Evil Spirit's body shriveled as though its very essence was being siphoned away.

The black smoke expanded further, filling the entire cavity.

Then a jet-black beam of light erupted skyward from the void.

The dark light was like a sword!

It stabbed upward at the Qing'an County City God's sky-covering palm.

The god seemed to realize what was happening and tried to pull back, but it was far too late.

"AAARGH!!!"

The Qing'an County City God screamed in agony as the dark light punched clean through its palm. Golden blood rained down like a shower.

More horrifying still—

The black light carried a virulent poison. The pierced palm immediately began billowing dark smoke.

"Sever!!!"

The Qing'an County City God roared. It wrenched its own arm off at the shoulder.

That arm — thick as a mountain ridge — hadn't even hit the ground before it was engulfed in roiling black smoke. Every drop of essence and every shred of divine power was devoured by the darkness.

"This..."

The Brass Oil Lamp cried out in horror, "There's something seriously wrong with that Slender Evil Spirit! How can it wield your black smoke — and use it even more devastatingly than you can?!"

"It's still just an ordinary evil spirit. If it ever evolved into a Disaster, wouldn't it be even more terrifying than the Magic Tree?"

Chen Huangpi groaned, "How was I supposed to know a single wisp of black smoke could transform it like this? If I'd known, I would have just robbed it outright."

At that moment, regret gnawed at Chen Huangpi's heart.

No matter how friendly this Slender Evil Spirit seemed—

When it involved the black smoke, Chen Huangpi could no longer rest easy.

That was his black smoke!

How could he let some other evil spirit use it?

But just then, his expression changed drastically. "Wait — why is the black smoke coming toward me?!"

The black smoke from the severed divine arm surged and churned.

In the blink of an eye, it consumed the limb entirely.

Then, as if drawn by some invisible force, it hurtled straight toward Chen Huangpi without hesitation.

The black smoke was impossibly fast.

So fast that Chen Huangpi couldn't even react before it plunged into his body.

But the Kidney Temple's gate was already sealed.

The smoke had nowhere to go. It could only hover at the temple's entrance like a homeless wanderer, and eventually it seeped out through his pores, swirling around him.

Chen Huangpi's eyes lit up with sudden understanding. "Of course — the black smoke is mine. It would never harm me."

Everything had happened so suddenly.

Both Song Jiu and the Qing'an County City God were struck dumb with shock.

The Slender Evil Spirit, on the other hand, seemed to have expected this all along. It nodded at Chen Huangpi, its purple-black lips parting and closing as though trying to say something, yet no words came out. In the end, it could only manage a strained smile.

The Brass Oil Lamp exclaimed in alarm, "Chen Huangpi — does that thing know you?!"

Chen Huangpi frowned. "It made a deal with me before. Of course it knows me."

"Not now — before that."

The Brass Oil Lamp pressed urgently, "If it didn't know you from before, why would it act so strangely? Haven't you noticed it's been unusually polite to you from the very beginning? The black smoke returned to your body, and it wasn't even angry."

Chen Huangpi thought about it, then shook his head. "You and I have been inseparable. If I'd met it before, you should have seen it too."

Suddenly—

The Life-reaping Ghost's voice drifted up, eerie and hollow. "Is there any chance this Slender Evil Spirit was once one of the Daoists from the temple? Don't forget — it had Yi Qingzhou's Flying Immortal Token."

At those words—

The Brass Oil Lamp immediately countered, "Impossible. If it were Yi Qingzhou, it would be at least a Calamity — or something even more terrifying, like a Misfortune."

Any Daoist the Temple Master had deemed worth bringing from the Great Qian Immortal Dynasty—

They might not all have been immortals, but none of them were weak.

Otherwise, how could they have caught the Temple Master's eye?

High above—

Song Jiu and the Qing'an County City God exchanged a look.

The expressions on both man and god were utterly grim.

They had assumed their cultivation was overwhelming — that dealing with mere evil spirits would be like a gale sweeping away dead leaves.

Instead, they'd struck iron the moment they swung.

Most unsettling of all—

No matter how the Qing'an County City God channeled its divine power or burned its incense, the severed arm simply would not regenerate.

"That black smoke devoured a piece of my true form."

The Qing'an County City God ground its teeth. "My lord, if we strike together and simply avoid that black smoke, this mere evil spirit cannot withstand us."

But the evil spirits below disagreed entirely.

"Great King Yellow Skin, attack!"

"God-flesh is the most delicious!"

"Great King Yellow Skin, burn them to death with the black smoke!"

"So its name is Great King Yellow Skin!"

Song Jiu's eyes bored into the evil spirit wearing the bamboo hat, wreathed in billowing black smoke.

The Slender Evil Spirit had been that terrifying with just a single wisp of black smoke.

This Great King Yellow Skin, cloaked in churning waves of it, had to be exponentially more horrifying.

"Retreat!"

Song Jiu decided without hesitation. "This is no place to linger — we leave now!"

With the Geomantic Divine Compass, the Slender Evil Spirit couldn't escape them.

At worst they'd spend a few more days in the Hundred Thousand Mountains, wait until it separated from the Great King Yellow Skin, and then make their capture.

But just then—

A shrill, piercing voice rang out.

"You come to the God-Burying Mound and think you can just leave? How laughable, mortal!"

Before the voice had faded, a procession carrying a temple appeared out of thin air. The temple doors swung open of their own accord, and Yellow Peril emerged — its body caked in dried mud.

Further off, dust and debris exploded into the air as the earth itself shuddered.

The Mutant Divine Statue's towering form came striding toward them.

Song Jiu closed his eyes and drew a deep breath, then looked down at the Great King Yellow Skin below. "God-Burying Mound. Great King Yellow Skin. Well, well, well — I actually thought this was just a Disaster. Turns out it's you!"

"Mark my words — I will come for you!"

With that, Song Jiu let out a long, piercing whistle toward the sky. The small seal at his waist blazed with radiant light.

Boundless human qi surged around him, making him look every bit a god himself.

"A mere Disaster dares block my path?"

"Join me — we fight our way out!!!"

"KILL!!!"

The Qing'an County City God bellowed.

Man and god rocketed skyward together.

Then plummeted right back down.

Above them, a colossal shadow loomed within the dark clouds, half-concealed, half-revealed. From that churning overcast sky, a massive eye riddled with fleshy growths pried itself open.

Its aura was utterly terrifying.

It was a Calamity.

Yellow Peril had persuaded a Calamity-class evil spirit from deep within the Hundred Thousand Mountains to come to the God-Burying Mound.

And it wasn't the only one.

Chen Huangpi's face went pale. He saw a pitch-black claw materialize above Song Jiu's head.

The claw resembled a human hand, but bore only four fingers.

The instant it appeared, it pressed down upon Song Jiu's forehead.