Chapter 241 The Tenth Incense

Outside the Hu family's old residence, chaos reigned. Qingyuan Hu family's Second Ancestor was so angered that he fainted. All around, people were shouting for someone to quickly fetch the Siming from the Zhi Shou Hall (Hall of Knowing Longevity).

But inside the old residence, within the inner courtyard, an eerie silence prevailed. Old Suanpan (Old Abacus) would occasionally rise, then sit, pacing back and forth, glancing at Fairy Miaoshan, hesitant, wanting to say something but unable to speak…

Fairy Miaoshan was eating hotpot.

She was using a gold-threaded silver charcoal pot, with slices of mutton as thin as cicada wings, dipped in chive blossom sesame sauce.

Not only was she eating carefully and exquisitely herself, but she even placed a set of bowls and chopsticks in front of Little Hongtang and Little Douguan. However, Little Douguan couldn't eat living things, so he could only wrinkle his nose and sniff at the aroma, while Little Hongtang could eat along with her.

But the key question was…was this really the time to be eating hotpot?

"Aren't you… worried?"

After pacing back and forth seven or eight times, he finally couldn't help himself and pressed his hands on the table, asking in a low voice.

"Worried about what?"

Fairy Miaoshan looked up at him and said, "The Hierarch came back of his own free will, nobody forced him."

"But…"

Old Suanpan said, "He could lose his life! Didn't you hear the commotion just now?"

"I heard it!"

Fairy Miaoshan said, "I was about to go to sleep, but I was startled awake. I wanted to drink some white fungus and lotus seed soup, but then I suddenly wanted to eat hotpot. My Little Douguan is sometimes very useful, you see, even in the middle of the night, he can still go to the restaurants outside and bring back the charcoal…"

"As for the Hierarch, no need to worry. Just leave some mutton for him…"

"..."

"You…"

Old Suanpan didn't know what to do for a moment, but then he suddenly heard faint laughter.

He shuddered violently, thinking that some妖ren (demonic cultivator) had broken in from outside. After carefully distinguishing the sound, he realized it was coming from his own bamboo basket.

This immediately made him even more terrified. Slowly, one small step at a time, he moved over and suddenly lifted the black cloth covering his bamboo basket. His gaze immediately fell on the ancestral tablet. Listening carefully to the faint laughter, he suddenly felt a chill run down his spine.

……

……

"I told you, the tenth incense pillar doesn't exist."

At the same time, the National Preceptor was carefully looking at Hu Ma, as if he had also held some expectation in his heart, but in the end, he shook his head. "Heaven and earth won't allow you either.術法 (sorcery) has its limits. It seems you were wrong to believe in Lao Junmei…"

"After all, I saw him when he made his move back then, and the Dharma behind him wasn't like this."

"Perhaps he guessed that there was another kind of Dharma, but it was never verified, so it ultimately failed."

"..."

As he spoke, he no longer lingered. Seeing that Hu Ma's physical body had already collapsed and his life force was almost completely extinguished, and that the Dharma Idol above his head had also been torn apart, complete annihilation was only a breath away.

The bit of curiosity in his heart finally disappeared. Suddenly, he raised his hand and pointed at Hu Ma's body. The physical body, which had been eroded by heavenly lightning and earthly fire and was decaying and collapsing, shattered instantly.

At the same time, he reached into Hu Ma's Dharma Idol and grabbed a touch of dark red within the soul light.

He had seen this kind of dark red thing before, and he knew that it was the core of a transmigrator.

They themselves called it 本命灵庙 (Benming Lingmiao - Source Soul Shrine), while the Great Radiance Dharma Sect had a definitive conclusion on this, calling it Xianming (Celestial Fate).

"I gave this to you twenty years ago, now it's only right that I take it back."

His voice seemed to carry regret, "I lost this twenty-three-year-long scheme, and in the end, he didn't win either."

The physical body had already decayed, the Dharma Idol had also been torn apart, and was about to be devoured by the Five Hells Ghost Gate. Even he could not feel any vitality on Hu Ma's body, so he was certainly dead.

Although he had not cultivated the main sacrificial Dharma, he was knowledgeable enough about this Dharma. To seize life from the gates of life and death, there had to be both death and life. Even in death, one had to retain the last breath in the body, but now, where was there any breath left?

"One truth, two illusions, three destinies, profound secrets seen between life and death."

But just then, the National Preceptor suddenly faintly heard a voice, as if with a smile, sighing beside him.

His body stiffened abruptly, and he turned his head in disbelief, "Master Ancestor?"

"Crack!"

In the moment that he was slightly distracted, Hu Ma's Dharma Idol had lost its last strength and completely shattered.

Due to the tearing of the Dharma Idol, the Five Hells Ghost Gates were already rapidly dividing. Hu Ma's spirit would be sealed separately, and Lao Junmei's Celestial Fate would be recovered by the National Preceptor. Everything looked like it was completely over.

But no one expected that in the instant before the Five Hells Ghost Gate completely closed, a sudden, inexplicable force tightened. In the next moment, a muffled roar resounded through the air.

At the moment of the physical body's collapse, Hu Ma seemed to have found a trace of peace amidst endless pain and torment.

It was a rare sense of clarity. The subtleties of Great Might Master Gong's various Dharmas, including the intention of summoning and scolding gods, and its ferocious and tyrannical intent, surged through his heart like flowing water.

He did not enter the Zhongyin Realm (intermediate state between death and rebirth). This was the reason why the National Preceptor used the Five Hells Ghost Gate to deal with him, directly sealing his spirit, so that he would not have the opportunity to contact the Book of Life and Death again. But this moment of peace seemed to allow him to see himself in another way.

One truth, two illusions, three destinies.

He had changed the Book of Life and Death, and one person had three lives. The real himself was Hu Ma, a descendant of the Hu family and the master of the Zhen Sui Prefecture (Demon Suppression Prefecture).

But with the Celestial Fate, the transmigrator Lao Baigan (Old Bai Gan) was also Hu Ma.

Having his fate changed by the Great Radiance Dharma Sect, destined to become the main sacrifice, was also Hu Ma.

All three lives were his own, recognized by this world, but they were also scattered, the only variable in this world. And at this moment, Hu Ma would completely refine these three lives into one.

Summoning gods and scolding ghosts was not enough. Since it was a mistake, he would make the best of it. Not only would he refine his true life into the Great Might Heavenly Duke General, but he would also refine the other two lives into it!

In the moment of clarity, the Dharma Idol of the Great Might Heavenly Duke General also changed accordingly.

The Dharma Idol had been torn apart, but at this moment, it re-condensed. However, it did not merge together as before. Instead, it suddenly underwent changes. At each of the torn ends, a head grimaced, fused, and slowly grew out.

And under the ribs, there were also torn soul lights, transforming into another two arms, burly and strong.

One head was blue-faced and fanged, one was divinely majestic, and one was peaceful and serene.

Three heads and six arms, standing firmly in the world.

Suddenly, all three heads opened their eyes at the same time, and surging soul light poured outwards in an instant. Only the sound of cracking was heard, and the iron chains extending from the five gates suddenly shattered one by one. Even the five doors became dilapidated.

In the next moment, Hu Ma's Dharma Idol fell, and the body that had been destroyed by the heavenly lightning and earthly fire re-grew together in an instant.

His whole body was silent, neither alive nor dead, firmly treading on the ground.

At the same time, time suddenly returned to normal, and the restrictions laid down by the National Preceptor shattered piece by piece.

The National Preceptor was startled by the movement. He actually staggered two steps towards Hu Ma, his eyes full of disbelief.

Whether it was an illusion or not, his eyes seemed to have turned dark red at this moment, and his voice trembled, "There really is a tenth incense pillar?"

"If… if such a Dharma had been derived by me, how wonderful would that be?"

"..."

"Crack..."

At the same time, a crisp sound rang out behind him. The National Preceptor turned his head in disbelief.

It came from the bamboo frame held by his Daoist attendant in front of the ancestral shrine, far away from this battlefield. Like the other disciples of the Great Radiance Dharma Sect, the National Preceptor would also carry the ancestral tablet with him, but it was done by the Daoist attendant, saving him the effort.

But now, that crisp sound came from the bamboo frame.

Even from such a distance, he could see clearly that it was on the tablet that the cracks were getting bigger and bigger, and finally broke, the upper half falling to the ground.

……

……

"My heavens…"

Inside the old residence, Old Suanpan also looked at the tablet in disbelief, and suddenly knelt down, kowtowing to the tablet.

"What's wrong?"

Fairy Miaoshan next to the table was stunned, "Is it not New Year already?"

"It's bigger than New Year…"

Old Suanpan said in a low voice, but no matter how low his voice was, he couldn't suppress the shock, "Just… just…"

"The Great Radiance Dharma Sect has a new Hierarch!"

"..."

"..."

"Lao Junmei really didn't lie to me!"

At this moment, in front of the ancestral shrine, Hu Ma took a deep breath, unable to hide the shock in his heart.

The tenth incense pillar had already appeared in his heart. He could feel the existence of this incense pillar extremely clearly. This incense pillar alone was even more real than the other nine incense pillars.

He could even feel his spirit growing stronger, gradually becoming complete, feeling free from the constraints of heaven and earth. Especially the wordless seal in his hand, which clearly changed at this moment.

Behind the earlier four words "受命于天" (Shou Ming Yu Tian - Mandate of Heaven), two more words had been added:

"既" (Ji - Already) "寿" (Shou - Longevity).

And at the moment when these two words appeared, various invisible karmic connections seemed to be severed on his body at the same time.

In the vast Upper Capital City, faint purple qi steamed up, and faint purple clouds appeared in the air.

And the incense of the Ten Surname Ancestral Shrine next to it, which had just been affected, slowly subsided because of his existence.

The婆婆 (old woman) in the Hu family ancestral shrine also regained her spirituality at this time, and looked out in surprise and panic, her eyes falling on Hu Ma.

Then, slowly, the surprise turned into joy, "Old man, your grandson, is ambitious…"

"..."

"So, the Great Radiance Dharma Sect can't tolerate me anymore?"

But in this moment of shock, heaven and earth seemed to become silent, only the National Preceptor looked in the direction of the ancestral tablet.

His expression seemed calm and without joy or sorrow, but it seemed that only numbness and頹喪 (despondency) remained.

Next to the ancestral shrine, the old man guarding the ancestral shrine sat in the shadows, the smoking pipe in his hand faintly glowing red. This seemed to be an ending that he had not expected either, but slowly, he glanced at the direction where Hu Ma was, and only sighed softly:

"Dongxuan, losing is losing. Some things cannot be forced."

"..."

Amidst this low conversation, the distant clamor grew louder, and countless black shadows, as if descending from the sky, quickly swept in, and after a glance, they shouted sharply:

"Found him, found him…"