Chapter 1 At the Borders of Ming and Guan Provinces

Three days ago, in the area where Mingzhou and Guanzhou were separated by tens of thousands of *li* from Shangjing City, a large jar fell from the sky. It was over ten *zhang* tall, with a black porcelain body, and was incredibly sturdy.

Even though it had fallen from the sky, the jar hadn't suffered the slightest damage. At first, the surrounding people were quite frightened, but gradually, some bolder individuals approached the jar, cautiously touching and pushing it.

However, the jar's sturdiness and weight exceeded all expectations.

The strongest men in the surrounding villages tried to pry it with poles, but…

So the village elders decided it was a divine object. They even said that since the jar had fallen, the evil spirits that had been causing trouble in the area had disappeared without a trace. So they surrounded it with branches and brought all the old and young people in the village to kowtow and burn paper.

But the commotion caused by the fall of this divine altar, which attracted more people from the surrounding areas to worship it, suddenly shook on this day, as if pushed by an invisible hand.

The people were startled and hurried to kowtow when they saw the jar suddenly fly high into the clouds. In an instant, the jar turned into a black dot and sped away to the north.

Looking again at the jar…

If it weren't for the surrounding branches and the traces of burnt paper, one would have thought it was all a dream.

…

Meanwhile, in Shangjing City, the thing from underground had almost completely broken into the human world.

After Shangjing City had lost its *zi qi* (purple energy), it had lost all its restraints. The only reason it hadn't officially entered the human world was because the two *gui tan* (ghost altars) that the National Teacher had summoned using Hu Ma's body were still suppressing it from the left and right of Shangjing City.

But at this moment, Hu Ma was already standing before the incense altar, performing the *gang bu* (dipper walking) and summoning the altars with his sword.

With an invisible rumble, a *gui tan* broke through the air, carrying the weight of Mount Tai, and landed before the incense altar.

Shangjing City, which had been lifted high by some giant object, and the people in the city whose toes were barely touching the ground, seemed to regain their weight with the landing of this huge altar, and fell a lot at once.

Even the rolling evil energy in the city, as well as the invisible sounds of panic and crying, were suddenly choked back down with the landing of the altar.

"Roar…"

The wind, a mix of soaring evil energy and the wild wind brought by the *gui tan*, tore through the narrow alleys, like the roar of the fierce god from underground, carrying the power to penetrate people's hearts. Being suppressed by the three great *gui tan* above their heads seemed to have completely enraged it.

In the roar, the evil energy scattered wildly, instantly covering the entire city.

Shangjing City was already full of ghostly energy, but now it seemed as if the *yin* and *yang* had been completely disrupted, with a hundred ghosts roaming at night.

Those who should have died but hadn't, and those who had already died but had been summoned back, now saw their own origins and were filled with fear and resentment.

If this kind of resentment were outside, it would easily transform into evil spirits and haunt the living, but in Shangjing City today, under the nourishment of the rolling evil energy, even the intermediate process was skipped, and they instantly transformed into all kinds of strange monsters.

Evil ghosts roamed, and evil things crashed about. In the midst of the great chaos among the people of Shangjing City, they saw all sorts of nightmarish scenes.

And this fear seemed to give the fierce god underground some kind of strength, making it want to break out even more.

If left unattended, nearly a million people in Shangjing City would probably die clean in less than half an hour.

The fierce god underground was here to collect the sacrificial altar, and once it got close to the human world, it would take away the weight of heaven and earth.

The more afraid and panicked these people were, the faster this weight would be taken away.

At the same time, before the altar, Hu Ma had already prepared himself, knowing that the other side would not be satisfied during the process of summoning the altar. So, at the moment he summoned this third *gui tan*, he formed a magic seal with his other hand.

In an instant, dark clouds filled the sky, surging down. Amidst the grim *sha qi* (killing aura), golden light suddenly shone, and golden-bodied warriors appeared in the city one after another.

Holding spears and wielding chains, they removed all the evil spirits in the city.

In front of these gold-armored warriors of the Zhen Sui Fu (Demon Suppression Bureau), these evil spirits, although terrifying, were as easy to deal with as crushing peanuts.

"No!"

But just after summoning the gold-armored warriors, Hu Ma's expression suddenly changed slightly, and he hurriedly sent them away again.

In that instant, he noticed that although the gold-armored warriors who had entered Shangjing City had an uncompromising suppressing ability against the evil spirits in the city, the evil energy in the city seemed to have found a loophole and all attacked the gold-armored warriors.

Vaguely, the golden light on these gold-armored warriors dimmed, and their movements slowed down, as if they would be corrupted in a few breaths.

"The thing underground actually has such a targeted effect against the legacy of the Palace Gods?"

This was an unexpected discovery, and Hu Ma kept it deeply in his heart.

"Whirr…"

With the gold-armored warriors retreating, the people of Shangjing City, who had just had hope, fell into despair again.

All kinds of evil spirits became even more ferocious, devouring the living.

However, fortunately, arrangements had been made in advance. At this moment of confusion and despair, they suddenly heard the sound of heavy and sacred drums and gongs ringing above their heads.

The people subconsciously looked up and were stunned on the spot.

Even Hu Ma's mind was slightly shaken, and when he looked up, his eyes were almost wet.

Amidst the hazy evil energy that enveloped the entire Shangjing City, accompanied by the sound of drums and gongs, fierce firelight tore through a large area of darkness.

In the firelight, countless figures, some descending from the sky, some drumming and gonging, walked over from the end of the street.

Above the towering palaces, figures holding giant umbrellas descended from the sky. When the umbrellas opened, they shone with ten thousand rays of golden light, blowing the surrounding hazy black energy into pieces, protecting countless living people.

But this was just an opening act.

Immediately afterward, gongs and drums rang out in countless places. Some people led heavenly soldiers and generals, all wearing silver armor and holding silver spears, rushing into the streets in a hazy manner.

Among the countless heavenly soldiers and generals, there were people with three sticks of incense on their heads, walking the *qi xing bu* (Seven Stars Step), with painted faces, rushing towards countless evil spirits.

Hu Ma recognized them. They were Zhi Sha Bu Du (Only Kill, No Salvation) and Zeng Sun Er Jiang (Increase and Decrease Two Generals).

Some people had painted faces, wore white clothes, walked the *tian gang bu* (Heavenly Dipper Steps), and a pair of clear eyes shot out a stern precious light.

That was Bai He Tong Zi (White Crane Child).

Looking further away, some people walked on stilts, wearing large red robes and official hats, adding a big beard to themselves, holding a wine pot in one hand and catching ghosts with the other.

That was Zhong Kui, the lord who drank wine with ghosts.

Some people rode on tall horses, wore long beards, wore green robes, held a large knife, and galloped among the heavenly soldiers and generals. Wherever they passed, demons and ghosts were subdued, kneeling and kowtowing.

That was Guan Yu, the Guan Sheng Di Jun (Sage Emperor Guan), the Demon Subduing Great Emperor of the Three Realms, whose divine power shook the world.

There were also people who brought a shih tzu dog, with an eye painted on its forehead, posing as Erlang Shenming (Erlang God).

There was Guan Yin Da Shi (Guan Yin Bodhisattva) sitting on a lotus lamp stand, holding a jade bottle, sprinkling blessings.

The most outrageous thing was that a group of people mixed in happily, limping and posing as Tie Guai Li (Iron Crutch Li), smearing their faces black…

…Hu Ma recognized them. It was Di Gua Shao (Sweet Potato Burning)!

…

…

Never in his life had he felt so close to the other world where the transmigrators were.

Hu Ma had agreed with the transmigrators a day ago about the wandering of the gods, and gave them a day to prepare. Although there was no time to discuss the details, he also believed in the abilities of these transmigrators and was sure they wouldn't let him down.

But he never expected that this group of guys would use this day to prepare a… divine makeup show from another world?

It had to be said that some of the costumes were quite convincing…

But if they had only put on this makeup, that would have been fine. But now they were in Shangjing, in the midst of this Dharma assembly.

And these transmigrators who had dressed up as gods were all skilled in their own ways. They appeared in various parts of the city, muttering and roaring, killing ghosts and demons everywhere. This fierce scene was seen by the people in the city who were trapped in despair and fear.

These people didn't know who these divine images belonged to, but they saw the strong divinity in them.

Therefore, those who survived under the hands of the evil spirits knelt down and kowtowed, thanking the gods.

The evil energy surging from the fierce god underground was difficult for even the gold-armored warriors in the Demon Suppression Bureau to resist. If mortals truly dressed up as gods, even if they summoned the gods, they would be polluted by the evil energy.

But the transmigrators had their own immortal fate and could resist evil energy. So in their costumes, the evil energy was dispersed, the demons and ghosts were shocked, and the night was torn apart by the firelight.

Looking from afar, it was truly like the gods of that world descending here.

…

…

"Ooh…"

The gods wandering through the city dispelled the oppressive atmosphere in the city.

The fierce god suppressed under the city also seemed to have been completely agitated, and more evil energy rushed out urgently. The flesh and blood pill furnace in the Wang family's pharmacy also seemed to break through the ground and was growing frantically upward, even breaking through the roof.

Facing the rolling evil energy, Hu Ma's courage greatly increased under the protection of the gods throughout the city.

Clenching his teeth and laughing loudly, he stepped on the *gang bu* again, his purple robe swaying open like a purple cloud.

"Please Altar!"

Immediately afterward, the nine destiny incense sticks in the incense burner in front of him shone brightly at the same time, and green smoke billowed upward.

An earthquake also occurred in Lao Yin Mountain. The fourth, fifth, and sixth *gui tan* flew up one after another. This time, the Mountain God was also alarmed.

But from the vague voice, he heard that it was Hu Ma, and his face showed some unexpected gratification. He sighed softly, and then gently lifted up, helping Hu Ma to lift the seventh *gui tan* over, sending it straight to Shangjing.

The *gui tan* came one by one, breaking through the air and descending from the sky.

The entire Shangjing City seemed to be falling heavily to the ground inch by inch.

The evil spirits and ghosts in the city were trembling in front of the gods throughout the city. The fierce god under the city also seemed to sense something and was completely enraged. In an instant, the pill furnace opened, and black figures slowly crawled out of the pill furnace.

Then came the second, the third, and the fourth, all with familiar faces and grim figures, speaking at the same time in a mechanical and overlapping voice:

"We have failed the divine grace, and deserve eternal punishment!"