Chapter 514: The Legend of the One-Finger River Severer! Disaster at Lingxi Temple! A Scene of Havoc!

Drizzle pattered down continuously, the rain giving a coolness to the air.

At Qingyun Temple, Li Yanchu sat cross-legged, attempting to refine the remaining Shu Earth and Yi Wood energies within his body.

A subtle, profound aura enveloped him, while the surrounding spiritual energy of heaven and earth constantly flowed into his body, nourishing his yin qi and physical form.

After a long while, he emerged from meditation and opened his eyes.

“Still not working?”

Li Yanchu sensed the flow of the Five Element energies within him.

The Geng Metal, Li Fire, and Xuan Water energies had grown even stronger, but the other two energies remained completely inert.

I shouldn’t rush it

, Li Yanchu thought.

Ever since the thread inside Liu Jun had been transferred to Fa Neng, her terrifying streak of misfortune had indeed disappeared. She was now able to focus fully on her work at the Taiping Inn.

Recently, Wei City had been unusually calm, and there hadn’t even been a single haunting incident. Even the night patrols by the local militia felt much less pressure, as crime rates in Wei City had dropped significantly.

There was even a folk legend circulating that Zhong Kui[1] guarded the city, often appearing at night to catch and devour ghosts...

Combined with the recent capture and execution of several extremely vicious murderers, the city’s atmosphere had improved remarkably.

With that, Li Yanchu’s days passed quietly. He spent his time meditating, visualizing, practicing Daoist techniques, training in martial arts, and honing his sword skills.

There had been no feedback yet regarding the matter of the Prince Qing’s Mansion. This matter involved far too many complications; the connections behind such a grand princely mansion were tangled and intricate, making the investigation extremely difficult. However, it was no longer within Li Yanchu’s jurisdiction, and he was preparing to depart for Lingxi Temple.

The following day would be the ceremony where Master Huizhen officially became the presiding abbot. By now, sightings of cultivators in Wei City were rare, especially those of evil cultivators, as they hardly dared to set foot in the city. After all, the repeated deaths of these wicked cultivators had been far too numerous.

“I’ll go with you!” Cuihua said excitedly upon hearing the news.

“No, you should stay behind and watch over the place,” Li Yanchu decisively refused.

Although Qingyun Temple was modest, someone still needed to guard it.

The main concern, however, was Cuihua’s boundless energy. Like Lady Yun, she enjoyed going out shopping, but unlike Lady Yun’s gentle and quiet nature, Cuihua was far too lively.

𝘧𝘳𝘦ℯ𝓌𝘦𝒷𝘯𝑜𝑣𝘦𝓁.𝒸𝘰𝓂

Meanwhile, the two monk cousins from Lingxi Temple had already returned to the temple. Zhang Wei, the young man from the cultivation family, had also received a message from his clan and returned home. Originally, Zhang Wei hadn’t planned to leave, but this time he intended to bring his second sister along, so he had departed Wei City.

Li Yanchu would be traveling alone to Lingxi Temple for the ceremony. After all, this wasn’t an exorcism, so no extra manpower was necessary.

Traveling by carriage from Wei City would take about three to four days, but using his Cloud-Riding Immortal Art, Li Yanchu could reach Lingxi Temple in less than two hours. Even so, he hadn’t pushed for maximum speed.

While traveling, he flew at a moderate height and occasionally used his Qi Sight to scan the area. If he saw bandits or highway killers, he would strike them down with a single palm.

Even the most ruthless wanderers of the

jianghu

, who killed without batting an eye, would meet a tragic end with broken bones and snapped sinews. If he encountered any strange evil spirits or mystical beasts, he would stop briefly to gain merit points.

Just by flying this route, he would likely inspire countless new folk legends among the common people...

When he arrived at Lingxi Temple, he discovered the main gate was tightly closed. “Huh, why is the main gate closed?”

Though not as prosperous in spiritual offerings as Jinguang Temple, Lingxi Temple was still a well-known monastery. When Lingxi Temple was originally founded, a highly skilled monk in Buddhism had slain a malevolent water ghost. At the time, the nearby waters frequently caused boat accidents, and the surrounding villagers even considered sacrificing live humans to appease the water ghost.

At that time, when Master Lingxi arrived and saw this scene, his heart could not bear it, so he raised a finger and unleashed a move that severed the river. With supreme Buddhist divine power, he struck down the malevolent water ghost.

The people on both shores were astounded, so much so that they saw him as a divine figure. It was also at this moment that Master Lingxi laid the foundations of Lingxi Temple.

Of course, this account might be the temple monks exaggerating. Severing the river with his finger? If Master Lingxi truly possessed such a level of cultivation, the current status of Lingxi Temple would be even higher.

At this time, Li Yanchu walked slowly up the steps, frowning slightly. In broad daylight, why was a Buddhist temple with such prestige keeping its gates closed? And why were there no monks chanting, no bells ringing?

He stepped forward to push the temple gate, but as he did, the imposing doors creaked open on their own.

“What’s with this intense horror-movie vibe?” Li Yanchu paused, then pushed the doors fully open and stepped inside.

What he saw shocked him, as Lingxi Temple was in utter disarray. It looked as if a fierce magical duel had taken place here.

Although some basic cleaning had been done, many damaged statues remained visible: Buddha statues, Heavenly King statues, guardian figures, and various structural elements.

When he reached the main hall, the devastation was even more severe. The central Buddha statue had toppled and shattered, incense burners and candles were scattered across the floor, and fragments of bricks and tiles were everywhere. Indeed, the scene was harrowing.

Looking up, he saw a large hole in the roof of the main hall, and a thick horizontal beam had broken in the middle. The hole nearly covered half the roof, but whatever had caused it was unknown.

“How could this happen?” Li Yanchu’s expression darkened. “Where did everyone go? Why isn’t there a single person here?”

Suddenly, a bad premonition arose in his mind. His eyes began to glow, and he immediately activated his Qi Sight. As his vision shifted, Lingxi Temple transformed in his eyes into a strange world composed of swirling qi.

“The yin qi here is so thick!” Li Yanchu’s expression sank.

A dense and extreme yin qi permeated the entire temple; it was clear a terrifying evil entity was at work.

Then, his attention was drawn to a brown stain under the rubble of bricks and tiles. He glanced at it and was about to move the stones to investigate when...

Thump thump thump!

Suddenly, urgent footsteps sounded behind him. Li Yanchu turned and saw several senior monks running over, accompanied by seven or eight young novices. They didn’t carry the aura of cultivators, only that of ordinary monks.

This made sense, as a temple houses both specialized cultivator monks and ordinary monks. The latter maintain the temple’s daily operations and spread the Dharma.

The group was dusty and carrying brooms, evidently coming from another part of the temple, tidying the mess. Hearing the door open, they hurried over to check the situation.

Before Li Yanchu could ask, one of the senior monks spoke first, “Where do you come from, Daoist Master?”

“I am Li Yanchu. I am a friend of Master Huizhen from your temple and have come specifically to attend the ceremony. Has something happened in this temple?” Li Yanchu asked.

1. Zhong Kui is a Daoist deity in Chinese mythology, traditionally regarded as a vanquisher of ghosts and evil beings. He is depicted as a large man with a big black beard, bulging eyes, and a wrathful expression. Zhong Kui is able to command 80,000 demons to do his bidding and is often associated with the five bats of fortune. Worship and iconography of Zhong Kui later spread to other East Asian countries.

Here is an

image

for your reference. ☜