Cultivation: From Poor Peasant to Celestial Lord

Afterward, he changed out of his conspicuous black official uniform and put on a common, blue cloth long robe. Looking just like an ordinary traveling scholar, he ambled out the west gate.

Liu Family Village was a small hamlet built against a mountain, roughly twenty li from the County seat.

Along the way, Chu Bai didn’t use his *Fire Step Ascension*. Instead, he walked like a Mortal, silently circulating the *Guardian Scripture* to hone his Divine Thought’s perception amidst the clamor of the mortal world.

The calls of roadside vendors, the lowing of plow oxen in distant fields, and even the faint rustle of ants crawling beneath his feet all wove together into a vivid tapestry in his mind.

As his comprehension of the *Guardian Scripture* deepened, he discovered that the use of Divine Thought wasn’t just about "seeing," but also "hearing" and "feeling."

Even with his eyes closed, he could roughly perceive the flow of people and the strength of their auras within a three-zhang radius.

’This feeling is incredible.’

Chu Bai marveled inwardly. This sense of calm control over everything was the most direct pleasure that came with improving his Cultivation.

About a double-hour later, a village nestled within a bamboo forest appeared ahead.

He had arrived at Liu Family Village.

The moment he neared the entrance, Chu Bai keenly sensed that something was wrong.

’This village... is too quiet.’

It wasn’t deathly still, but it lacked the Vitality a farming village ought to have. It was afternoon, a time when there should have been children playing and the sounds of chickens and dogs echoing through the air.

But in this village, the doors to every house were shut tight. The occasional barks were more like terrified whimpers—the kind made with a tail tucked between the legs.

A yellow paper Talisman was posted on the old scholar tree at the village entrance, flapping noisily in the wind.

Chu Bai swept it with his Divine Thought.

"Heh."

He couldn’t help but chuckle.

The markings on the Talisman were nonsensical scrawls, containing not the slightest fluctuation of Spiritual Power. Even the cinnabar was shoddy, mixed with red clay.

’So this is what Wang Sanshui calls an "Exorcism Array"?’

’He dared to report a material cost of five Spirit Stones for this single scrap of paper?’

’That Wang Sanshui... He’s so greedy he’s completely shameless.’

Chu Bai shook his head and walked into the village.

He had barely taken two steps when the gate to a nearby courtyard suddenly opened a crack, revealing a pair of wary eyes.

"Young man! Go, quickly! Don’t come into the village!"

An aged voice shouted in a hushed tone, "That Fox Great Immortal has been on a rampage lately, and it’s in a foul mood! Watch out, or you’ll lose your life!"

Chu Bai paused and turned around. With a gentle, harmless smile, he offered a fist-and-palm salute and said:

"Don’t be afraid, old sir. I’m a Wandering Doctor from the city, just passing through to ask for a drink of water. What Great Immortal would be out in broad daylight?"

He took a few subtle steps closer as he spoke.

The old man saw he was just a frail-looking scholar, and his wariness lessened slightly. Still, he didn’t dare open the door, instead saying urgently through the crack, "Why won’t you listen to reason, young man!

The officials from the Evil Suppression Department came twice a few days ago, but even they couldn’t subdue that Great Immortal. Several of them got hurt! What good is a scholar like you? Go, go!"

"The officials from the Evil Suppression Department were injured?"

Chu Bai raised an eyebrow, seizing on the crucial detail. He feigned surprise, "Is that so? Don’t those officials have Magic to protect them? How did they get hurt?"

"Sigh! Isn’t that the truth!"

The old man sighed and opened the door wider, letting Chu Bai slip inside. He seemed afraid the so-called "Great Immortal" would snatch him up if he remained outside.

Inside the courtyard, Chu Bai saw that a chicken coop in the corner had been torn to shreds. A few bloody chicken feathers lay scattered on the ground.

"Old sir, can you tell me in detail how those officials were injured?"

Chu Bai asked, seemingly at random, as he took the bowl of water the old man offered.

The old man recalled with lingering fear, "It was pitch-black that night, so we didn’t dare go outside to look. We just heard a sound like ghosts wailing and wolves howling, and those officials yelling things like, ’My Inner Armor is broken!’ and ’The wind is too strong!’"

"The next morning, we got up and had a look. There wasn’t much blood on the ground, but those officials were all covered in dirt, looking defeated. They said the Fox Great Immortal’s Magical Power was boundless and that it had torn their Protective Treasure Armor to shreds."

Hearing this, Chu Bai was already starting to get the picture.

’Inner Armor broken?’

’Ghostly wails and wolf howls?’

’If it were a real, intense battle, there would certainly be residual Spiritual Power and the smell of blood.’

’But aside from those few chicken feathers, there wasn’t a single trace of residual Demon Qi in this courtyard.’

’Besides, there are skilled men in the Evil Suppression Guard who have trained for years. Even if they couldn’t win the fight, they should have gathered more intelligence than that.’

’Instead...’

Chu Bai’s Divine Thought stirred, and his gaze fell upon the broken bamboo strips of the chicken coop.

’The cuts are clean. Not like the tearing of a wild beast, but more like... they were severed with a sharp blade.’

’Some "Fox Great Immortal with boundless Magical Power."’

Chu Bai set down the water bowl, a cold glint flashing in his eyes.

’This wasn’t a Fox Demon causing trouble at all.’

’This was clearly man-made!’

’And this troublemaking "person," I’m afraid, is inextricably linked to that Deputy Captain, Wang Sanshui.’

"Thank you for the water, old sir."

Chu Bai took a few coins from his robes, placed them on the table, and rose to take his leave. "As for this Great Immortal, I happen to know a little about Exorcism Techniques. Since I’ve stumbled upon this, I’ll go pay it a visit."

"Hey! Young man, you..."

Before the old man could stop him, the scholar’s figure blurred, and he was already out of the courtyard gate.

Standing on the village path, Chu Bai fully extended his Divine Thought.

Although there was no Demon Qi in the village, he did detect an extremely faint, lingering fluctuation of Spiritual Power in the dirt near the chicken coop.

’That’s... the scent of low-quality Demon-Attracting Incense.’

’This kind of incense is typically used by Hunters to trap beasts, but some unscrupulous Cultivators use it to create the illusion of a "Demon Beast" sighting.’

Following the barely-there scent, Chu Bai’s gaze fell upon a dilapidated Mountain God Temple behind the village.

’Since I’m here, I might as well see this act through to the end.’

’If he’s doing this to enrich himself, then Wang Sanshui is to blame and must be convicted and sentenced accordingly.’

’But if he’s manufacturing a threat to make himself seem more important... well, that’s a much bigger problem. It could very well cost a few people their heads.’