Chapter 390: The White Marsh Demon Kingdom! Daoist Scriptures and Sacred Relics! A Fake Artifact! Cat Fur! The Art of Pursuit!

“This White Marsh Demon Kingdom is a secret underground faction within Kingdom of Qian,” the scabby-headed monk explained solemnly. “Unlike groups such as the Xinyi Dao or the Bare Body Sect, the White Marsh Demon Kingdom was founded by a gathering of powerful great demons. Their goal is to create a realm ruled by demons. Over the years, they’ve secretly recruited countless mountain spirits and beasts into their ranks. This time, I came precisely to track down those two kolonok demons.”

Li Yanchu was a bit surprised. He had assumed they were just two minor demons who could take human form, not that they had such a deep and dangerous background.

He quickly pieced things together in his mind: The kolonok must have killed Sun Yushu first, then assumed his form to deceive Miss Dong into going boating with him.

To conceal its demonic aura and leave no traces, it likely hired a group of ruthless bandits with silver, human killers who wouldn’t ask questions.

For a demon, feigning death with a spell to fool a band of outlaws would be trivial. Most likely, those killers never even knew who had hired them.

Li Yanchu frowned slightly. These demons worked with frightening precision; clearly, their ambitions weren’t small.

The scabby-headed monk said, “Daoist Master Li, you’ve done a great deed today by slaying these demons. This poor monk will be sure to report the matter to the Court of Judicial Review and request they honor you for your service.”

Li Yanchu shook his head with a faint smile. “That won’t be necessary.”

The monk continued slowly, “The Court of Judicial Review oversees all demonic affairs in the realm and controls abundant cultivation resources. It’s a pity you’re not one of its officials, otherwise, your future prospects would be limitless, and your rise would surely be swift.”

Li Yanchu blinked, then said quietly, “Actually... I do hold a post at the Court. A small one, though, hardly worth mentioning.”

“Colleagues?” the monk said in surprise. “May I ask what position you hold?”

Li Yanchu replied mildly, “I’m the Chief. Just a minor official.”

The scabby-headed monk’s mouth twitched slightly.

Li Yanchu rather liked this monk; he was direct, decisive, and truly committed to the path of slaying evil.

He had wanted to continue the conversation. But instead, the monk gave a brief smile and said, “The weather is fine today. I still have matters to attend to, so I shall take my leave.”

He bowed politely, turned, and left, leaving Li Yanchu standing there, completely puzzled.

What’s this? Did that fellow just look down on me? Tch! So the disciples of Buddha can be that arrogant!

The scabby-headed monk moved swiftly, soon departing the Sun residence and striding out of Qingshui County. He seemed to have mastered a Buddhist movement art, perhaps something akin to the Divine Foot Arts.

A gentle breeze brushed fast, tugging at his robes and revealing a waist token beneath, a Court of Judicial Review insignia. He was an Executive Officer, eighth-rank official.

In the Kingdom of Qian, the Court of Judicial Review had been jointly established by both the Buddhist and Daoist orders. It also recruited a number of virtuous and capable unaffiliated cultivators.

Its official hierarchy was as follows: Minister was third rank; Vice Minister was fourth rank; Assistant Minister was fifth rank, Chief was sixth rank; Assessor was seventh rank; while Executive Officer eighth rank.

Unlike the rigid systems of the old feudal dynasties, the Court of Judicial Review of Kingdom of Qian allowed both monks and Daoists to hold office, and its structure represented a true union of law, faith, and cultivation.

Being able to join the Court of Judicial Review as an Executive Officer meant imperial recognition; you had to be of trustworthy character, able in combat, and have meritorious deeds in slaying demons. Simply being reliable and able to fight wasn’t enough.

The scabby-headed monk had always been proud of this. He had once slain an iron corpse and saved an entire village’s people.

For years he had worked diligently, cutting down evil spirits, which was why the court recruited him and granted him the proper eighth-rank official status. He never expected that this young Daoist would already be at the proper sixth rank.

The scabby-headed monk felt conflicted.

“Amitābha, my master was right. My attachments are too deep, I must further refine my Buddhist practice,” he murmured.

He planned to go first to the Beifeng prefectural city to hand over the matter of the dispatched kolonokes, then return to Wenhua Temple to cultivate in earnest for a while.

The scabby-headed monk quickened his pace.

Not long ago, Beifeng’s prefectural city had been buzzing: first, the Northern Marquis’ second son had died while out on his trials; then the princess Xu Ruoyun, reputedly a peerless beauty, had rejected a grand marriage alliance, reportedly because she had fallen for a young Daoist. She had therefore refused the heir of Prince of Yong[1].

The former incident should have caused an uproar, but the marquis’s household handled Xu Ye’s funeral quietly. The latter, ostensibly a marriage matter, instead ignited a sensation.

The reason was simple: Xu Ruoyun was the marquis’s most beloved daughter, a true beauty; he had long said that when marrying off his daughters he would not look at family background, only merit. This rather “

jianghu

” way of doing things won many hearts.

Many young heroes and geniuses of the Daoist orders were stirred, especially since Xu Ruoyun, once worshipped like an immortal, now had a beloved. And that beloved was a young Daoist. It was truly hard to believe.

In the prefectural city the scabby-headed monk was an unremarkable minor figure with a poor reputation. Still, he was very curious about the young Daoist who had won Xu Ruoyun’s favor.

What sort of person could make this heavenly darling give up such a fine match as Prince of Yong’s heir?

“What the hell kind of world is this, why are there so many Daoists!” the scabby-headed monk cursed, then broke into a run.

***

Li Yanchu returned to Qingyun Temple, and for slaying the kolonokes he earned four thousand merits.

Although merit points didn’t necessarily reflect a demon’s true strength, these two kolonokes weren’t actually that powerful. For them to erupt into berserk form and defeat that monk there must have involved some special method, not a genuine rise in cultivation.

Li Yanchu carefully examined the talisman in his hand, which was perfectly square. It was a proper Daoist seal talisman, with four large characters carved at the bottom,

The Sacred Seal of the Daoist Scriptures and Masters.

This was one of the more common kinds of Daoist artifacts; some others bore inscriptions like

Thunder Division of the Celestial Bureaucracy

, used for striking ghosts with lightning and sparks flying everywhere.

But that shouldn’t be right...

Li Yanchu murmured to himself.

What puzzled him wasn’t that this Daoist seal was powerful or of noble origin, but rather that it was far too ordinary. There wasn’t a hint of spiritual resonance in it.

A completely legitimate-looking... counterfeit. It wasn’t even a true

artifact.

I clearly saw that kolonok unleashing immense power through this talisman during battle, how could that be?

Li Yanchu’s eyes glimmered with Daoist light as he activated his Spirit Eyes to inspect it.

On the surface of the so-called

The Sacred Seal of the Daoist Scriptures and Masters

, he noticed a faint, blurred layer of restriction. It was something like an illusion, preventing him from seeing its true nature.

“Hm?” he uttered softly.

He began channeling his abundant magical power into the seal, continuously washing over it.

After about half a stick of incense’s time, the seal changed shape. It turned into a single, ordinary-looking strand of hair. Judging by its texture... it looked rather like cat fur.

A surge of immense demonic aura suddenly erupted from the fur, booming outward! But since it was now masterless, with no one to control or awaken it, Li Yanchu easily suppressed the energy.

It caused no harm, though such a burst of demonic energy could easily have caused common beasts or animals nearby to gain sentience and awaken spiritual intelligence.

With such overwhelming demonic power... the owner of this cat hair must be quite formidable

, Li Yanchu thought to himself.

For most cultivators, the matter would have ended there; they might feel uneasy but have no way to investigate further.

But Li Yanchu was different. He immediately activated the Art of Pursuit.

A thread of lingering energy emerged from the cat hair, gathering in his palm. He closed his eyes, sensing carefully.

The Art of Pursuit gave its direction.

“To the east,” he said quietly.

Without hesitation, he pushed open the temple doors, and left Qingyun Temple. Once outside Wei City, he found a secluded, empty spot, then rose into the clouds and flew off.

1. The title “Prince of Yong” (Yong-wang) was one of the hereditary princely ranks in ancient China. Across history, six individuals received this title, spanning the Tang, Later Tang, Song, and Ming dynasties, among whom Li Lin of the Tang dynasty is the most famous. ☜