CHAPTER 292: CHAPTER 263: A FLOURISHING OF EVILS, SUMMONING THE EVIL GOD

Yin Mountain Range.

The mountain range stretches far and wide, with undulating terrain. From a high vantage point, one can see perilous peaks intertwining intricately.

Precisely because of this rugged terrain, conquering the range is difficult, and the cost outweighs the potential gain.

As a result, demons from Yin Mountain often descend to harass the villagers. The Taoist temples at the foot of the mountain mostly conduct occasional sweeps of nearby areas but rarely venture deep into the core.

Except for the battle against the Blood Prison Ghost Mansion last time.

It was believed that the demon problem had been eradicated in that battle, but unexpectedly, nothing changed.

The Great Demons rarely appeared, but Small Demon trouble was unceasing.

This place inherently harbors soil suitable for demonic breeding, making complete eradication truly challenging.

Even sending people for long-term suppression would incur enormous costs.

Moreover, Yin Mountain is outside their jurisdiction; it’s not worth the risk.

In the southeastern portion of Yin Mountain, a loud explosion resounded from a particular mountain.

Scared by the noise, birds and beasts scattered in terror, and leaves rustled as they fell.

Two Little Giant Spirit Gods, each standing twenty zhang tall, were seen grabbing hold of a Golden Bull, pinning it to the ground and beating it relentlessly.

One knelt on the bull’s neck, while the other smashed punches with all their might.

The bull spewed blood, and its internal organs churned violently.

Boom!

With one final punch, a Little Giant Spirit God struck the Golden Bull clean through, gripping a blood-red Demon Core in its fist.

The two Little Giant Spirit Gods were none other than the White Ape Yuann Hong and the Erlang God.

Below, Song Lin and Wang Ziyue observed the battlefield.

"Not bad. Both of them are at Core Formation cultivation. Your understanding of the Taoist Soldier Technique has improved considerably during this time. Have you mastered the Three-headed and Six-armed technique?"

These two Little Giant Spirit Gods were trained by Wang Ziyue leading the Taoist Soldier Department.

During the eight years Song Lin had been away, Wang Ziyue and the others had grown capable of managing things on their own.

"The Erlang God can use the Three-headed and Six-armed technique; Yuann Hong cannot. I’ll have to study it further."

"Someday, I plan to transform the Erlang God and the Seven Great Saints entirely into Little Giant Spirit Gods. At that point, the Taoist Soldier Department will be flourishing—it will at least be a Jungle-Level force."

Song Lin said.

Of course, conveniently, it would also be ideal to convert his own Erlang God and Seven Great Saints into Little Giant Spirit Gods.

Song Lin himself didn’t have the time to refine Little Giant Spirit Gods.

Last time, refining the Erlang God consumed considerable effort and resources. Now that Wang Ziyue had trained one, it was time for him to share some of the burden.

"The Little Giant Spirit God requires significant material cost. We can probably only sustain the Erlang God and the Seven Great Saints. If the Three-headed and Six-armed technique is used, we can only maintain one."

"Alright."

Soon, with the Taoist Soldiers and Taoists working in tandem, they finally annihilated the Golden Bull Demon King’s subordinates.

The party descended to the riverbank at the mountain foot.

By the river’s edge was a small village, where most villagers wore coarse linen clothes and lived in shabby houses, looking gaunt and haggard.

The villagers knelt at the village entrance. Beside them, people held bowls filled with wine and meat aloft above their heads.

"The humble folk pay respects to our Great King!"

"Long live the Great King!"

The villagers seemed accustomed to the ongoing battles among demons. Despite seeing Song Lin and his group exhibit Divine Skills, they showed no fear.

Children peeked timidly at Song Lin and the others through the cracks in their doors.

Song Lin motioned for everyone to rise.

The group proceeded to the temple at the village center.

Inside the temple stood a statue of the Golden Bull God.

A village chief named Niu Dali explained that this deity was worshiped by the surrounding three villages.

Every year, they offered a pair of boys and girls, ten bulls, ten wild boars, and performed monthly incense rituals to receive food from the Golden Bull God in return.

"Is there really food?" Wang Ziyue asked.

"Yes, just barely enough to fill our stomachs. We still need to hunt for more."

The village chief replied.

The boys and girls chosen for annual offerings were selected through a lottery system.

When talking about these practices, neither the chief nor the villagers seemed particularly angry.

"Why don’t you flee?" Wang Ziyue asked, bewildered.

Logically, they could freely move around. If they escaped to the outer counties, they’d likely be safe.

"Ah, it’s even worse outside. The elders say the villages out there must offer twenty children annually. We’re considered fortunate."

The village chief answered.

Other villagers nodded in agreement.

Wang Ziyue was stunned; he didn’t expect such a response.

He had assumed they would be indignant, filled with resentment and hatred.

Instead, they seemed almost smug, pointing to the outside world and saying, "Look! Our lives are better than theirs. Living under the Golden Bull God’s protection is a blessing for you."

"But there are no demons outside eating people!" Wang Ziyue exclaimed, unable to comprehend their mindset, wondering if these people were mad—or if the world itself had gone mad.

"Impossible! The humble folk’s ancestors have always said so!"

The villagers reacted with disbelief.

"Have your ancestors been outside? Or did they hear it from someone else?"

Wang Ziyue’s rhetorical question silenced them. They stood speechless for a long time.

Is life outside really that bad?

"From now on, you shall not offer blood sacrifices to anyone. Donghua Temple prohibits such practices. Men, tear down the temple!"

Wang Ziyue commanded, and the Taoists stepped forward to dismantle the temple.

Before long, the temple collapsed with a loud rumble.

The villagers felt a strange sense of emptiness and an inexplicable fear for the future.

"Then what shall we eat in the future?"

The village chief murmured.

"Grow your own crops. Though the mountains lack farmland for now, we will send Taoist Soldiers to clear a patch of land. From now on, everyone will have land to farm!"

Without needing Song Lin’s intervention, Wang Ziyue alone arranged everything meticulously.

Before long, Shi Yinhua’s men arrived to report.

The other two nearby villages had also been secured, with a total population of 2,100 people among the three villages.

Song Lin named this area Golden Bull Ridge.

"See that? Now do you understand why the Taoist School strictly forbids immoral temples and wild shrines?"

Demons and rogue cultivators seek stability in their rule, often employing lies and intimidation to instill fear among the common people. Within such oppressive environments, extremely fanatical believers are born.

Thankfully, this Golden Bull Demon seemed relatively incompetent. Otherwise, they’d not only have to kill demons but also slay humans.

Song Lin and the others walked outside the village.

Not far away was a small river dividing Golden Bull Ridge from the mountain range on the other side.

The river was about twenty meters wide, flowing rapidly, with faint traces of demon energy and occasional signs of household trash floating by.

"Leave two Taoists to guard the village. The rest will follow me upstream."

Song Lin immediately ordered.

Soon, the group arrived upstream and found that the area indeed had inhabitants—and quite a few of them.

The party flew overhead, catching the attention of a presence below.

Whoosh!

A strong wind surged suddenly.

Below, a dark cloud rose from the ground.

Atop the green cloud stood a towering Black-skinned Man, one zhang tall.

The man’s hair was like aquatic grass, his mouth filled with sharp, menacing fangs, and his bulging eyes resembled those of a goldfish.

"How bold! I am the Green General of Yin Mountain! How dare you trespass on my territory!"

As he spoke, the Green General produced a jade-green pearl, holding it in his palm and softly blew upon it.

Whoosh!

Green mist surged from all directions.

It was miasma.

Within the miasma, faint human figures could be seen—an artifact known as the Miasma Yin Soul Pearl, its power equivalent to a top-grade Spiritual Artifact.

The Green General’s malicious gaze swept across the party, his lips curling into a sly smirk.

The Green General was a defeated general from two hundred years ago, who transformed into a ghost god after death, revered by locals.

For a hundred years, he had refined this artifact within Yin Mountain. The concentrated miasma within the pearl was a thousand times stronger than ordinary mist. Even if the opposing party were a hundred times larger, victory would still easily be his.

Moreover, people below began organizing an attack against the airborne intruders, shooting arrows upward.

Swoosh!

Unfortunately, such rudimentary techniques were ineffective against Song Lin.

Song Lin casually summoned his Eight Sceneries Divine Sword.

Sword Qi formed violent winds that swept up the miasma into a tornado, which surged back toward the Green General.

In the next moment, the Green General was shredded into sludge by the Sword Qi and miasma.

The Taoist Soldiers descended to the mountain village below, swiftly subduing the Green General’s devotees.

"Report to the temple master: Eight temple priests have been captured, along with thirty-two medium boys and seven hundred Ghost Soldiers."

Upstream, the region housed over five thousand villagers. Their rooftops adorned with green vines made it nearly unnoticeable from the air.

Every year on July 15th was the day of worship for the Green General.

On this day, medium boys selected by the temple staged fire-breathing performances, orchestrated by the temple to walk over fire pits.

Each year during fire-pit ceremonies, some individuals claimed to experience the Green General’s summons and ascended to become immortals within the flames, drawing countless devotees.

"Men, dismantle the temple!" Wang Ziyue commanded.

Most of these villagers were enslaved by the temple’s priests and mediums, deceived by the false promise of ascension, even resisting the Donghua Temple Taoists who came to rescue them—they were pitiable yet detestable.

The Taoists tore down the temple. The grand Green Temple collapsed, but when the underground skeletal altar was unearthed, the villagers’ faith was shattered.

The bone altar was inscribed with names and birthdates. Some of the altars were broken, revealing ghastly white bones within.

"My child!!"

"Little Jiu!"

"Father!"

Upon recognizing their loved ones’ names, the villagers were overcome by grief, wailing inconsolably.

Their resentment toward Song Lin and his companions vanished entirely.

They had believed their loved ones had ascended to the Immortal Realm to serve the immortals—only to find their remains reduced to mere skeletons.

The Donghua Alliance launched three expeditions, conducting mountain-clearing and temple-dismantling operations for three consecutive days, essentially sweeping the mountain ranges surrounding the Donghua Alliance.

At Donghua Temple’s Assembly Hall.

Seven temple masters and various stewards gathered.

"Clearing the mountains and demolishing temples, eliminating demons and ghost remnants—this too is part of cultivation. Has anyone gained any insights?" Song Lin tested the group.

Shi Yinhua let out a cold snort: "Demons and ghosts arbitrarily awarding themselves titles and ranks... Disgraced generals and dead soldiers dare to claim autonomy! Had we not come, who knows what other human-ghost chaos might have transpired beneath the heavens."

"Kill! Those spreading demonic and deceptive rhetoric must be exterminated. Only through elimination can righteousness prevail!"

Guu Yuchan stood and spoke.

This expedition exceeded all expectations.

In addition to demons and ghost remnants, certain ordinary humans had also deceived a large number of villagers.

Qingyu also stood to share her thoughts. Her attire was no longer lavish; she wore a simple Taoist robe, radiating a calm and refined demeanor.

Qingyu was no longer the Commandery Princess she had once been—she was now a genuine steward of Donghua Temple.

"I’ve gained new insights into the Three Laws. Previously, I viewed them merely as precepts for curbing arrogance and egotism, but now I realize the Three Laws also serve to limit one’s powers and protect living beings."

The Three Laws: Never presume the Heavenly Heart to be one’s own; never deceive or disrupt living beings; never manifest as a saint and claim divinity in the world.

The former restricts oneself; the latter two protect others.

When Song Lin established Donghua Temple, he emphasized a principle: never flaunt spells openly. Even if flying, one should use the Eye-blocking Technique to conceal oneself.

This way, the power of cultivators would diminish in the minds of the people, reducing superstition and promoting enduring stability.

Not even Qingyu, Shi Yinhua, nor any other senior members occasionally understood this principle.

Why diminish the influence of cultivators?

Wouldn’t the absence of fear and awe among the people make them unnecessarily bold and disruptive?

Now, they understood.

Openly revealing Divine Skills may seem inconsequential to the cultivators themselves, but to the powerless beings, even the flicker of a magic fire could be overwhelmingly awe-inspiring.

The subconscious fear within human hearts, exploited by demons and evil cultivators, became their foothold.

If spells were strictly prohibited in the human realm, most common people would reject such notions. Apart from a few naïve individuals, ordinary folk would no longer be easily deceived.

"Right, yet also wrong." Song Lin shook his head. "Your perspective is too one-sided. Outright prohibition may drive demon cultivators and practitioners underground. We should spread Righteous Skills, enabling people to recognize and embrace the Righteous Path."

Prohibiting public displays of Divine Skills is just one part; at the same time, we must avoid forbidding rituals for blessings and disaster appeasement. Whenever arriving in a new area, first eliminate demons and ghost remnants, then introduce the Righteous Path—this naturally establishes deep roots."

Regardless, Song Lin felt gratified.

The disciples’ theoretical understanding had greatly improved.

Magic Veins may be suppressed; thoughts cannot be suppressed; the people’s hearts cannot be suppressed.

In today’s world, with people yearning for stability, Song Lin’s philosophy had fertile ground for survival.

Donghua Dharma Lineage’s widespread adoption was inevitable; Song Lin had confidence in his path.

"Disciple understands!"

"Good. Tomorrow, gather the mountain villagers to Golden Bull Ridge and Green River’s upstream. With over ten thousand people, we should be able to apply for county establishment. Tomorrow, I’ll visit the Taoist School to request resources for building the temple."

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