Chapter 30 The Dongyue Temple Inspection

On the third day of the third month, people would flock to the Dongyue Temple to offer incense and sacrifices, chant scriptures, and offer longevity prayers. They would also "wear shackles and confess their sins," blaming themselves for their wrongdoings and expressing remorse, while simultaneously praying for longevity and blessings. The sounds of ritual instruments echoed through the sky, and the voices of prayer would not cease throughout the day.

Furthermore, the Dongyue Temple had been renovated with funds from the Empress Dowager Li, the mother of the Wanli Emperor. Empress Dowager Li was revered by many as the "Nine Lotus Bodhisattva." The Wanli Emperor personally created this divine title for his mother and forcefully transformed her identity into a disciple of Bixia Yuanjun.

However, she lacked an official divine position for the time being. Fortunately, Empress Dowager Li didn't care about that; she only wanted the title. Thus, she frequently visited various temples, which indirectly boosted the local incense economy.

"Ji Xiang, what do you think?"

Hearing the Wanli Emperor call his name, Ji Xiang thought to himself that he was looking with his eyes, and then he looked towards the temple warden.

With this look, he saw something.

[Di Ming Shen (▊▋▊▋▊▋): Righteous God, Underworld! Rank 35 of the Human Department, a legendary underworld official from the Han Dynasty who, along with the Earth Altar God, collects the deceased's remains, guides souls into the Netherworld for examination and questioning, separates good and evil souls, calculates merits and demerits, and assigns each to their respective destination.]

[When the Di Ming Shen asks for your name, he begins to mark you. If you reveal your name, you will be punished. Reciting "The Three Unifications Revolving, There is Going and Coming, The People Must Have a Master, Can the Name Be Known?" from *The Script of Great Peace Excerpts* can refuse to reveal your name, and the Di Ming Shen will no longer question you.]

[When the local Di Ming Shen secretly observes you (causing gradual problems to your body, turning you into a withered form after three days), reciting "Heaven and Man are One, How Can One Be Careless?" from *The Script of Great Peace Excerpts* can refuse his observation, uniting the soul of Heaven with the body of Man, and the Di Ming Shen will lose his target.]

[Practitioners of the Way of Great Peace will not be harmed by the Di Ming Shen's spells.]

In Ji Xiang's eyes, looking at the temple warden before him, he felt strange about the words in his inner vision.

Why were there blacked-out characters after Di Ming Shen?

Why was this deity different from us? Why did he have a barcode payment code?

But it wasn't over yet. This time, the divine tablet actually showed the temple warden's own text again!

In his inner vision, a blank divine tablet suddenly appeared, startling Ji Xiang.

Because the blank divine tablet was not a monster identification device, nor some strange god and demon Pokemon illustration book, it was just a guide. Only by seeing the original form of the object would it give the corresponding explanation. Before, the A'lian in the palace were revealed only after they manifested, and even the White-Faced Patriarch Zhenwu needed Tongtian Mingyan to capture his divine form for the blank divine tablet to activate.

Even for Lingxiao Nu, or figures like Lord Fire, the divine tablet only gave the "divine body" guide. The blank divine tablet would not reflect Lord Fire's personal status as a human or his name.

But this time, the blank divine tablet was issuing a guide to someone who seemed ordinary, with only a Fourth Stage cultivation?

The divine tablet reflected some information about the current Dongyue Temple warden:

[Tian Fengyu (▊▋▊▋▊▋): Sent to the Ming court by the Dragon Tiger Mountain, Second Ranking Taoist Official of the Supreme Court of Sacrifices, Red-robed Daoist Official of the Ninth Rank, currently the Dongyue Temple warden. His lineage descends from the Demon-Slaying Heavenly Lord Liu Shanggao, as one of his many disciples.]

[Cultivation: Fourth Stage Embryonic Breathing (▊▋▊▋▊▋), gathering his own breath between his fists and palms, continuously exerting full force, and striking the opponent's body in the sequence of "Yinqiao Acupoint, Qihai Acupoint, Guanyuan Acupoint, Shendao Acupoint, Fengfu Acupoint" to disrupt the Saintly Embryo Qi within their body, causing the Saintly Embryo to dissipate briefly.]

Ji Xiang was somewhat stunned. This guy had two pieces of information, and both had blacked-out code?

And both had guides on how to kill him? Especially this guide for the Fourth Stage Embryonic Breathing realm. Ji Xiang himself didn't know, or rather, many cultivators didn't know, that there was such a fighting method?

Able to temporarily dissipate the opponent's Saintly Embryo... If a cultivator in the Embryonic Breathing realm loses their Saintly Embryo, their Saintly Embryo Qi, it's equivalent to an immortal being demoted to the mortal realm. They can't use their myriad of mystical techniques smoothly, and they're just a Third Stage cultivator with greater strength.

This, this blank divine tablet, divine tablet brother, wouldn't you be considered inciting this god to murder?

It seemed there really was a cover-up! Otherwise, why would these two pieces of information be censored? But to prevent problems from arising, even if I, Ji Xiang, have to uphold justice today, I still need to prevent killing the wrong person, so I need to expose you first!

Ji Xiang made a "Let me see" sound.

So Ji Xiang reported to the Wanli Emperor, saying that to know if there was a problem, they needed to ask this person first.

The Emperor allowed Ji Xiang to take a few steps with the temple warden and talk to him on the side, while he and a group of ministers watched from the entrance. The Embroidered Uniform Guards were still conducting a carpet search inside, and Luo Sigong, as the commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guards, was reporting on the temple raiding work.

The Heavenly Generals stood not far away, staring at the temple warden talking to Ji Xiang, without taking their eyes off him. After all, the Heavenly General always felt that the temple warden was not right.

In the past, the Embroidered Uniform Guards would have directly arrested you first and then talked to you, how could they possibly speak to you nicely? But now that the ministers were here, they could only restrain their arrogance and claws and follow the proper procedure. Although the other party was a Ninth Rank Daoist official, not valued by Confucian bureaucrats, he was still a person within the bureaucratic system.

Here, Ji Xiang had already taken a few steps with the temple warden and began to chat with each other:

"This fellow Daoist, are you originally a Zheng Yi Dragon Tiger Mountain Dharma master?"

"Yes, I am. May I ask where you are from...?"

"I am from the Wudang Mountains. My master is just a Wudang recluse, his name cannot be mentioned, and I am now an official in the capital."

Many real people cultivate not in temples, but in deep mountains and dense forests, in order to form a quiet environment isolated from the outside world.

Moreover, to ensure this environment, it is said that "cultivators often hide their names and conceal their dates, hating that the mountains are not deep enough and the forests not dense enough, fearing that idle names will fall into people's ears."

Therefore, most people with great abilities throughout history "are far removed from the past, and many have lost their names."

Tian Fengyu showed a surprised expression: "An official in the capital, a Wudang Mountain person, could it be that you are the supervisor of Taihe Mountain? This poor Daoist should call you subordinate!"

"There are more than two hundred gates in the Wudang Mountains, which are immortal caves and residences. Since Huang Lao established the teaching, many immortals and perfected beings in the world have dwelled there."

Ji Xiang then said: "Fellow Daoist, you are mistaken. I am not the supervisor of Taihe Mountain, but the Director of Studies at the Imperial College."

"Fourth Rank!"

This time, Tian Fengyu was truly surprised. Just now, he was pretending. The little Daoist in front of him surprised him greatly. His eyes glanced at the Wanli Emperor, and he thought to himself that the Daoist was truly handsome, and he was directly made a Fourth Rank official in the capital. Could it be that the Emperor had some special preferences?

Otherwise, how could this person from the outer family of Daoism obtain the identity of a Confucian capital official?

Ji Xiang spoke again: "Fellow Daoist, do you know why so many Embroidered Uniform Guards are suddenly inspecting the Dongyue Temple tonight?"

Tian Fengyu shook his head. Ji Xiang tentatively said: "A few days ago, Yellow Turban Sect followers and evil gods caused chaos everywhere. The Emperor is thoroughly investigating the remnants of the Yellow Turban Sect! Fellow Daoist, do you really not know?"

Tian Fengyu feigned a panicked expression: "What do you mean by that! Are you saying that I am harboring Yellow Turban Sect followers! I have not left the temple these days, and have only heard from pilgrims that some big things have happened outside."

A black glow appeared in Tian Fengyu's eyes:

"Besides, wasn't the Yellow Turban Sect a popular folk religious sect during the reign of Emperor Shizong? What, what kind of evil gods do they have that dare to cause chaos in this Shun Tian? Aren't they afraid of being dismembered and having their souls scattered, and being torn apart by the national power?"