Chapter 20: Beast-Eared Girl? She'll Only Slow This Poor Daoist's Draw!
Flowers in a mirror, moon in water—all illusion. Demonic words confuse the masses. Letting the tiger return to the mountain leaves endless trouble.
Wang Xiu calmly regarded the tiger corpse. He was not some fool driven by base desires.
A Core Formation middle-stage demon general, with cultivation far above his own. Without borrowing the formation's power, subduing such a fiend would have been nearly impossible.
Keeping her as a pet would be like planting a time bomb beside him, ready to explode at any moment.
He took out a storage bag and collected the tiger corpse.
Wang Xiu spoke indifferently, "Didn't you wish to acknowledge me as master? Why hide underground?"
Boom!
The pressure of the Nether Emperor Prison Suppressing Scripture poured out. Instantly, a white light shot from underground, transforming into a massive white tiger soul.
It lay prostrate, unable to move.
"You!"
The tiger demon looked up at Wang Xiu, her eyes filled with both venomous hate and deep terror. Now a soul body, she truly felt the pressure Wang Xiu exuded.
It was a trembling from the soul's depths, almost impossible to resist.
"You killed me!"
"Yet you still want me to serve you?"
The tiger demon cried out in grief and indignation, "You bully tigers too far!"
Wang Xiu replied matter-of-factly, "If I hadn't killed you, how could I dare accept you as a demon servant? So, will you serve or not?"
The tiger demon replied resentfully, "I will."
Wang Xiu nodded slightly, "Since you acknowledge me as master, your inheritance and hidden fortunes should be offered up as well."
The tiger demon: ???
What inheritance and fortunes? They didn't exist!
Seeing the tiger demon's evasive gaze, Wang Xiu smiled, "Devouring people to make chang ghosts is merely a crude, shallow divine ability."
"Chang ghosts, as your servants, provide no assistance to your cultivation. Instead, you must feed them spiritual energy or yin energy to help them grow."
"Generally speaking, a tiger demon keeps two or three chang ghosts for daily service, luring passersby to hunt for blood food. That suffices."
"Yet you refined several dozen chang ghosts."
"Without special fortune, how could you afford such consumption?"
"Furthermore!"
"Before reaching the Nascent Soul Stage, cultivators become wandering souls after death, losing their intelligence. Unless awakened by someone or encountering fortune, they cannot recover their memories."
"You died just now, yet you immediately recovered your intelligence. You even knew to hide underground, attempting to avoid my notice."
"Truly, this soul strength is suspicious!"
You!
The tiger demon's face instantly turned extremely ugly.
This youth looked young, but was difficult to deceive. Must she truly surrender that treasure land?
But such vast wealth—she was truly unwilling!
The tiger demon hesitated.
Very well.
Wang Xiu sighed, "Since you're unwilling to speak, forget it."
"Rather than letting you speak demonic words to confuse others, better you remain silent."
Hoo~ The tiger demon relaxed slightly.
The next second, brilliant purple blade light flashed, chopping the massive tiger soul into fragments. Until the moment her soul scattered, the tiger demon's eyes remained full of disbelief.
This fellow killed tigers without blinking. What a ruthless heart!
Just for hesitating a moment, he directly shattered her soul.
"Too many schemes. I cannot keep you."
Wang Xiu slowly shook his head and formed a seal, withdrawing the surrounding formation. "You four, eat her soul. Keep the memories related to the fortune."
Whoosh~
The Four Symbols Divine Beast phenomena shattered. One by one, palm-sized soul pets shot out. Like puppies smelling meat, they pounced on the tiger demon's soul fragments.
A Core Formation stage demon soul was a great supplement for these little ones.
After fully digesting it, rising two or three levels wouldn't be difficult.
While the four soul pets devoured the tiger demon's soul, Wang Xiu did not idle.
He put on his true disciple robes again and sat slowly in the forest. From his storage bag, he took out a stack of yellow paper and a bell.
He chanted incantations.
"By order of the Most High, transcend your departed souls."
"All ghosts and spirits, fourfold rebirth receive grace."
"Those with heads transcend, those without heads ascend."
"Killed by spear or blade, drowned or hanged."
...
"Save these masses, hurry to rebirth."
"Save these masses, hurry to rebirth."
This was the Daoist Rebirth Incantation, helping wrongfully deceased souls achieve轮回 liberation quickly.
In this Mingyue Mountain, at least a hundred victims had their flesh eaten by the tiger demon and their souls devoured by fierce ghosts. Their true spirits wandered lost in the mountain mist.
Without help, they might wait centuries before reincarnating.
Wang Xiu recited the Daoist Rebirth Incantation, helping them gather their scattered true spirits sooner. This counted as merit.
As the incantation echoed through the mountains, white light dots drifted up from the forest, rocks, grass, and trees. They gradually gathered, forming pure light spheres.
These were true spirits.
Hidden within the three souls and seven spirits, without thought or consciousness, without spiritual energy. Even if devoured, they wouldn't be refined or absorbed.
Previously, they were trapped within the fierce ghosts, unable to transcend. After Wang Xiu killed the fierce ghosts, he released these true spirits.
Now, aided by the Rebirth Incantation, they reunited with their scattered three souls and seven spirits, briefly recovering their living memories.
"We thank the immortal lord for great grace!"
"We thank the immortal lord for great grace!"
"We thank the immortal lord for great grace!"
...
In the void, men and women, old and young, all bowed to Wang Xiu in gratitude.
"The Qi of heaven is vast and mighty!"
"My Dao prospers day by day!"
Wang Xiu returned the bow and said, "Subduing demons and eliminating devils, transcending departed souls—these are duties our Daoist sects should fulfill. You all, proceed to rebirth!"
In endless golden light, strands of souls gradually ascended.
Then, the golden light in the sky shattered, transforming into countless showers of light that fell, merging into Wang Xiu's body. He felt his whole body relax and become comfortable. Even his spiritual platform seemed instantly clearer.
"Is this merit?"
Wang Xiu squinted his eyes, nearly moaning in comfort, "No wonder so many Daoist predecessors loved subduing demons and accumulating merit. Doing good truly feels wonderful!"
Fierce ghosts causing calamity. Ferocious tigers devouring people.
Wang Xiu had suppressed demons for humanity, completely conforming to heavenly order—truly "executing heaven's way."
Plus transcending over a hundred deceased and sending them to rebirth.
The merit was considerable.
As the merit entered his body, Wang Xiu felt his spiritual energy surge. Previously obscure and difficult aspects of his techniques now yielded many insights.
However, this improvement was merely锦上添花 for Wang Xiu.
After all, he had the system. As long as he constantly heard people boasting, his spiritual energy would grow. For divine abilities and techniques, he mainly relied on what the system gave—fuse them and they became perfection level.
As for the Divination Branch inheritance Wang Xiu cultivated himself, it was mostly face-reading, fortune-telling, and matchmaking. Honestly, not very useful in actual combat.
Of course, having merit was better than none.
It was said that when merit accumulated to an extremely rich degree, one could be favored by heavenly dao, and one's own fortune would improve considerably.
Whether this was true or false depended on the individual's belief.
After Wang Xiu finished transcending the souls, the four soul pets had also more or less finished devouring the tiger demon's soul. They were all so full they were burping.
If not for Wang Xiu controlling them, they would have already transformed into soul eggs and fallen asleep.
Whoosh~
After devouring the tiger demon's soul, the four small soul pets spun a few times in the air. They then shot together toward the depths of Mingyue Mountain.
Wang Xiu hurriedly followed.
After winding east and west through the forest for a long time, the four soul pets stopped before a rock wall. This place was covered with dense vines, completely unremarkable.
...
Whoosh~
The surfaces of the four soul pets glowed brightly, conveying emotions of "excitement and joy." Their speed soared to seventy miles per hour as they crashed toward the rock wall.
Then, they passed through it.
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