Cultivation Starts from Killing Pigs

Drizzle falls gently, the forest shrouded in mist.

"Kill!"

Blades gleam, blood splatters.

The sounds of shouting, pleading, and chaos blend into one.

With a thud, a man lunges onto a grain cart, blood spurting from his throat, clutching a sack of grain, the light fading from his eyes.

"Haha!"

A burly man wipes the blood from his face, eyes filled with excitement, "Big brother, with so much grain, our village has a future!"

Beside him, a horse-faced man swings his blade, cutting down a sneaky guard, then surveys the scene with a grim expression: "Move quickly, take all our dead back with us!"

Just as he spoke, shadows flitted through the forest, and dozens of black-clothed Profound Guards shot out, swords drawn with a clang.

The bandits were no match, subdued in an instant.

They were about to utter some tough words, but when they saw a fearsome Daoist riding in on a tiger, their faces turned ashen.

"National Guardian True Man Zhang Kui..."

The horse-faced leader's face turned deathly pale.

Zhang Kui's expression was also grim.

He had come to drive out locusts, with the Astronomical Bureau being a demon-slaying government office, yet along the way, bandits had arisen, and compared to Jiangzhou, chaos was evident.

The horse-faced man suddenly looked up and shouted, "Humble commoner Hu Si, this entire affair was planned by me alone, I hope True Man Zhang will see clearly!"

With that, the blade flashed, and he took his own life.

Zhang Kui's eye twitched, "Do as he said!"

Saying this, he turned, not looking back, and rode away on the tiger.

Along the way, he had seen much the same, the grain convoy undoubtedly belonged to wealthy merchants, these bandits were partly mountain bandits, but more were villagers from nearby settlements.

The great catastrophe had not yet arrived, but people's hearts were already in turmoil!

The tiger crossed the forest, through a storm of black smoke and foul wind, suddenly reaching a hill crest, a large city built along the river appeared before him.

Lanzhou Prefecture City, Tong City.

This city had the whitewashed walls and black tiles of a water town, combined with the steep ruggedness of a mountain city, on the canal hundreds of vessels vied for passage, inside the city, carriages and horses came and went, bustling with activity.

The resilience of the human race was indeed strong, although the Evil Qi Forbidden Land was nearby, as long as it was not too disruptive, they could build such prosperity.

But humans were also fragile, with those demon spirits' interest, everything would turn to ruin in an instant.

Zhang Kui looked again at the right side of the Tong City pier, where a row of various Divine Temples was built, devotees coming and going, incense smoke swirling, above the temples in the clouds of smoke, three or four figures floated indistinctly.

"Concentrated construction?"

Zhang Kui's brow furrowed slightly, lost in thought.

In Jiangzhou, there were five efficacious Divine Temples, apart from the Divine Void Temple in Yingshui City, most were hidden deep in the mountains.

There mountain people worshiped devoutly and were very exclusive, to avoid disturbing the General's Tomb, Zhang Kui had not gone to drive out locusts.

It was said the General's Tomb held five Divine Strange Pearls, each with its own faction, watching over each other, except for Yingshui City, which required a lot of incense, the rest merely maintained faith.

Yet along the way through Lanzhou, only here had four, and all concentrated together, it seemed the Lanjiang Water Mansion was quite unified.

Captain Yuan Kong spurred his horse forward, bowing:

"True Man Zhang, I have arranged everything for you..."

"No rush."

Zhang Kui's eyes flickered, "You all go ahead, tonight I will stay on the outskirts, I will enter the city tomorrow."

Yuan Kong was taken aback, a thoughtful look in his eyes.

"As you command."

......

That night, the clouds cleared completely, a sky full of stars.

Zhang Kui camped alone on the hill.

Two deer roasted over the fire, Fatty Tiger lay drooling beside, while Zhang Kui sipped wine, lost in thought.

Suddenly, he held the "Divine Court Bell" in his hand, gently ringing it, the phantom of the Three-Eyed Taoist appeared beside the fire.

"Did you see?"

Zhang Kui took a sip of wine and asked.

Shen Xu's face was full of joy,

"It seems this little god will have a few more dao companions..."

Zhang Kui stared into the crackling firewood, "How do you know they share your ideas?"

Shen Xu was stunned, "The Divine Path has already collapsed, do they really wish for their Divine Soul to be extinguished, yet still loyally serve the demons?"

"There is nothing inevitable in this world..."

Zhang Kui shook his head slightly, "I'll go explore first."

Finished speaking, black smoke scattered from all over his body, controlling the Nether Soil Coffin as it headed towards Tong City.

The Nether Soil Coffin was incredibly fast, despite the numerous underground waterways in Lanzhou and having to bypass the deep canals, in just a breath, it arrived below that row of Divine Temples.

To his surprise, the first Divine Temple did not enshrine a human, but a ghostly figure instead!

The ghostly woman had long black hair covering her face, a white robe dragging on the ground, entwined and twisted with water grass on her body, exuding an aura of Yin Qi.

Next, the stone tablet inside the temple roughly read: This deity is named Lady Shuicao. If a disciple's family member accidentally falls into the water, sincere worship can help the deceased's soul reincarnate.

A glint of Evil Qi flashed in Zhang Kui's eyes as he continued to explore the next Divine Temple.

The second Divine Temple held a sword-wielding figure clad in armor, looking like a Yaksha, named General Fubo. In case of mountain floods and river overflows, sacrifices could be made to clear the waters.

The third temple had a Fish Demon, and if fishermen did not sincerely worship, they would surely encounter misfortune while fishing.

Zhang Kui was dumbfounded.

This damn neat division of labor, what exactly is the Lanjiang Water Mansion up to?

Apart from these three, the last Divine Temple was even larger, enshrining a ragged old man, leaning on a bamboo staff, wearing straw sandals, his eyes muddled.

A great name, Lanjiang River God, but it provided no specific capabilities, and more importantly, the divine statue had no Divine Light.

The Incense Fire Gods in the other three temples were similar to Shen Xu, all sitting cross-legged inside the statues, cultivating by borrowing incense smoke, but this one was nowhere to be found?

Zhang Kui suddenly recalled the Divine Spirit aura he passed by when he first arrived in Lanzhou; could it be this old man?

After investigating a while longer, without finding any clues, Zhang Kui drove the Nether Soil Coffin back to the hillside.

The Nether Soil Coffin was peculiar. Zhang Kui had already tried, once Shen Xu, the Incense Fire God, appeared inside, he would become drowsy, so he could only come out to tell what he saw and heard.

Shen Xu listened in a daze,

"The little god... ever since gaining consciousness, only during Mid-Autumn had I seen other Incense Fire Gods in the General's Tomb, but we dared not communicate and had never heard of such things."

"Could it be that the Lanjiang Water Mansion trusts this River God to wander freely?"

"Who knows..."

Zhang Kui shook his head slightly, letting out an indifferent laugh, "Tomorrow, I'll go to the city to drive out the locusts and wait for another day. If there is intent, naturally they will come."

"If there's no such intention, Old Zhang is too lazy to bother, after all, time is tight now, and staying one more day here is a waste."

"Forget it..."

Zhang Kui took a sip of liquor, his expression serious.

"What exactly is the situation in the Underworld, rest assured, I am not interested in going, but everything seen and heard, so many conspiracies are related to it, I need to make it clear."

Shen Xu nodded, speaking cautiously:

"Actually, regarding the Underworld, the little god doesn't know much because to maintain the passage, the General's Tomb dispatched special guards."

"In the beginning, it appeared in a broken tower, with blood-colored Evil Wind blowing outside, nothing visible. The General's Tomb sent several Celestial Tribulation Realm Demon Ghosts for reconnaissance, but they never returned."

"Later, General Hou acquired a tile piece, and as long as the little god activates it simultaneously, he would appear in a palace, making it much safer, and they found quite a few things."

"Still, Celestial Tribulation Realm demon spirits disappeared, and Grain Avoidance Realm Demon Ghosts suffered heavy casualties, even General Hou got injured several times."

Zhang Kui shook his head continuously; Four Caves and Five Water Mansions should have poured most of their efforts into the Underworld, Yellow Eyebrow Monk and his crew are courting death.

However, they now have a map from the Demon Star Pavilion, which might offer a way out.

Thinking for a moment, Zhang Kui asked, "How dare they be sure they can find the Path of Longevity?"

"This little god doesn't know either..."

Shen Xu shook his head, "Anyway, every time they go out, they act crazy, yelling and pointing at the sky."

It seemed Shen Xu's knowledge was limited as well, so Zhang Kui didn't ask further. With his current strength, he had no intention of going to that ghostly place.

...

The next day, Zhang Kui stood at the city walls, ringing the bell thrice.

Golden Divine Light spread over a hundred miles, causing all the locust eggs underground and locusts on the ground to wither and die.

Unfortunately, since the Locust Demon was dismantled, these things had become mere mortal beings, regardless of how many he killed, he couldn't gain a skill point.

Inside the temple by the ferry, the faces of the three Incense Fire Gods changed dramatically, yet they remained motionless.

After waiting a day, Zhang Kui lost interest and rode his tiger, planning to leave Lanzhou.

Entrusting the Divine Spirits could enhance the power of the "Divine Court Bell" and facilitate driving out locusts, but if these small gods were unwilling, there was nothing he could do.

However, just as he was about to leave Lanzhou, an old man stopped him at the canal's edge, steering a small boat.

"True Man Zhang, do you need old me to ferry you across the river?"

Zhang Kui laughed heartily, "Old man, don't play these tricks, do you want to ferry me, or want me to ferry you?"