Chapter 61 So It Was You, Kid

Ash in the air swirled and converged into two hazy, robed figures wearing official caps from the Song dynasty. Their "gazes" swept across the surroundings before finally locking onto Xu Qingshan. The figure on the left let out a cold snort, extended his left hand, and pointed into the void!

Shatter the physical form!

A surging, overwhelming torrent of magical power rushed forward like a collapsing mountain!

Xu Qingshan's expression turned grim. As the reincarnation of someone from the Song dynasty, she could naturally understand the incantation Li Xuan had chanted.

This was a direct summons from the Underworld for two ghost officials and merit officers known as "Lu Jian" and "Wang An"! In ancient times, a merit officer was not a particularly grand position, mainly responsible for document organization and information transmission.

There were numerous merit officers in the underworld, divided into four categories according to year, month, day, and hour—such as the annual merit officer, the monthly merit officer, and so on.

Unlike mortal merit officers in the human world, divine merit officers were responsible for recording human actions of good and evil as well as merits and blessings. Every year, the heavenly court would bestow blessings or punishments based on this information. Merit officers were also responsible for uploading people's sacrificial information to the heavenly court or reporting it to the underworld, all depending on their respective departments.

For instance, when a judge of the underworld needed to determine the rewards or punishments for a deceased soul, they would open the records usually compiled by the merit officers of the four seasons and times for further confirmation.

Facing the surging magical power, Xu Qingshan felt a sense of crisis as sharp as pins pricking her back. Without hesitation, she poured out all her strength to block it. In the span of a single breath, her arms cracked with countless fissures like a porcelain vase, and in the next second, her arms shattered completely!

She was utterly terrified. After two lifetimes of cultivation, she had finally attained immortality. Why was she so vulnerable?

No matter how powerful the underworld merit officers were, they were merely "civil servants" who collected information about the world. How could they be this formidable?

Xu Qingshan's arms were shattered, and shattering along with them was her steadfast heart of seeking the Dao! When undergoing the dissolution of the mortal body to attain immortality, one should at least be on par with heavenly generals. Why was it so fragile? What on earth was this so-called "immortality" she had cultivated?

Could it be that, having just attained immortality, her foundation was unstable, making it difficult to withstand such a fierce strike?

Only one of the two merit officers had made a move, and after arriving, he had not taken a single step from where he stood.

Xu Qingshan's arms, chest, abdomen, and legs gradually turned into fine dust, her "immortal body" slowly dissipating. Only her head remained, which was also covered in numerous cracks.

Driven to madness, she bit off her tongue, spat out a final mouthful of golden blood, and chanted through her teeth: "Five thunders, five thunders, swiftly gather at Huangning. Vapors transform and billow, roaring lightning and flashing thunder. Hear the call and arrive instantly, rapidly sound the yang voice, obey this command as swift as the law!"

The Five Thunders Incantation!

The underworld merit officers were ghost officials; how could they possibly withstand this utmost-yang and extremely fierce thunder punishment?

Blocking my Dao of immortality, even ghost officials must die!

The blood gathered in the air into a five-thunder rune, and the faint sound of thunder echoed through the forest. Tree branches trembled as five bolts of lightning in different colors suddenly struck down from the sky!

She was still hiding a trick like this?

Li Xuan was taken aback. Regardless of whether it would work, he instinctively and hurriedly tossed out the Tiangeng Ruler in his hand: "Dodge quickly!"

The underworld merit officers were purely Yin in nature by essence; encountering such a fierce and tyrannical spell, they would still lose a layer of skin!

The Tiangeng Ruler, crafted from aged thunder-struck peach wood, collided with the five thunders and instantly shattered into pieces. The lightning came aggressively and reached the altar in a flash!

Zhi-zhi-zhi...
Pha-pha-pha...

The unique sound of powerful current crackling.

Li Xuan stared intently and saw that the five-colored lightning had stopped in mid-air. It turned out that the merit officer standing on the right had grabbed it with one hand. The energized lightning struggled fiercely like a deep-sea ribbonfish, yet it could never escape.

That merit officer flung the five thunders backward with a backhand motion!

Xu Qingshan's remaining head instantly exploded and turned into fine dust...

The merit officer on the left flicked his index finger in the air, and a wispy, ethereal shadow slowly emerged from the spot where Xu Qingshan had exploded.

Li Xuan guessed in his heart that this must be the primordial spirit or soul of this "immortal" sister. Just now, the merit officer had stripped away the "sister's" physical form, and now he was going to annihilate her soul. It was a pity she got off easy and died so quickly, denying her the chance to experience the ultimate tour of the Fengdu Hell.

True enough, the merit officer on the left formed a hand seal.

Xu Qingshan's soul began to twist, being kneaded and flattened like a ball of dough, before bursting into a greenish-blue flame with a whoosh.

Trapped in place and unable to escape, she suffered the agony of being burned by the raging fire, howling madly. Seemingly aware that this was her final moment lingering in the world, her desire to survive surged, and she frantically scoured her mind for any possible method of escape.

"R-Right, you are merit officers!"

"I am Xu Qingshan of the True Immortal Temple on Mount Luofu. Zhang Miaoyuan is my master. I heard that he attained the Dao as early as the Song dynasty a thousand years ago and, invited by the underworld merit officers, went to Fengdu to become an official! I ask the two of you to show mercy, spare my master some face, and spare my life. Once I attain the Dao in the future, I will surely reward you handsomely!"

From their appearance until now, the merit officers—who had only known how to attack and acted like NPCs—finally reacted upon hearing these words.

The one on the right spoke slowly, his voice neither solid nor ethereal: "Zhang Miaoyuan is thy master. Not long ago, he called upon us in the mortal world for reinforcements—was it not thee?"

Xu Qingshan immediately thought of Xie Ailing, and muttered inwardly: "It seems Master truly does have past ties with the merit officers. Xie Ailing's curse implicated Master, and the merit officers are now tracking down the culprit!"

She hurriedly said: "That disciple is indeed my junior brother, reincarnated in this lifetime in a female body, named Xie Ailing. On the path of seeking immortality, she was cursed by someone harboring malicious intentions and died in the alleys of the night. It must have been she who summoned my master for help. Ah, those who cursed my junior brother are precisely the young man setting up the altar and casting spells behind you!"

Oh?

The two merit officers turned around simultaneously, their gazes formally appraising Li Xuan. When they saw the pure Nine Springs Command on the table—which even carried a trace of the breath of the Northern Pole—as well as the Seal for Investigating Ghosts and Gods of the Three Realms, their figures instinctively took half a step back. Their gazes then swept over the Mount Tai Emperor token hanging at his waist and that seemingly ordinary purplish-red gourd.

They took another half step back.

This...

The two exchanged glances, as if they had found the culprit. The merit officer on the left gave a slight bow with both hands and said: "Zhang Miaoyuan of the True Immortal Temple, a thousand years ago in the Song dynasty of this realm, cultivated and achieved success, his heart utmost sincere. Invited by me, he went to the land of Fengdu to hold an official post. Over this millennium, his conduct has been acceptable; even without great achievements, he has borne the toil of hardship. Recently, he suddenly sensed a plea for help from his mortal disciple and hastily agreed, thus coming into conflict with thee. We hope thou wilt burn a document to present to the Emperor, explaining the circumstances in full detail, and spare us from the tribulation of the Iron Ring Mountain!"

Li Xuan was dumbfounded, inexplicably about to take the blame for "cursing to death a Fengdu ghost official." How could he allow that? He quickly and loudly replied: "You merit officers are mistaken. I have cultivated the Dao for less than a year. Cursing and killing the heretic Xie Ailing was already a matter of fortuitous coincidence. How could I possibly have killed even her master who attained immortality?"

The merit officer thought to himself that if the one named "Xie Ailing" had resisted with her own cultivation and strength, it naturally would not have brought disaster upon her senior elders in the sect.

The problem lay in the fact that Xie Ailing had drawn a blood talisman in her dying moments to urgently seek aid from her sect's founding masters. Thus, the battle between the two in the mortal world instantly escalated into a sect duel.

And you, Li Xuan, origin unknown and sect unspecified—one must know that those who practice the Fengdu Dharma lineage or the Mount Tai Earth Deity Dharma are eighty percent disciples of the Fengdu-Mount Tai Sect, yet no tokens or ritual instruments of the sect were found upon you...

Now... the founding master of the True Immortal Temple had suffered an unmerited disaster, and his primordial spirit had already been locked away in the Iron Ring Mountain. Now the higher-ups felt that his recommendation as a merit officer was flawed, and they also intended to send him to the Iron Ring Mountain for some re-education.