Young Master Murong: "Brother Beard, don't feel inferior. Even if you're not quick-witted, you can still find helpers. Just recruit a military adviser like Tanjirou and Zhang Fan."
Junior Brother Dazhufeng: "Right—everyone has strengths and weaknesses. We just learn from each other."
Both he and Tanjirou were practically children.
How could they be schemers playing at intrigue?
But fortune had favored them overwhelmingly—
they had encountered Cangsong and Ubuyashiki.
Bearded Swordsman: "Easier said than done. Finding a strategist is too hard. I'll take it slow… I plan to follow your advice and take a look at the capital first."
What should a man do in ancient times when he has neither power nor influence?
Take the civil and martial arts he has learned and sell himself to the imperial house!
Though he did not want to be emperor, he could still borrow the power of the royal family.
After a while, Nie Xiaoqian opened her eyes and felt that her soul no longer had that drifting, hollow emptiness. Instead, it felt solid.
It was as if a furnace had been set within her.
She couldn't help letting out a soft groan of comfort.
"How is it?"
The abrupt voice snapped Xiaoqian out of her intoxication.
She trembled and immediately knelt.
"Thank you, sir, for your gift. Xiaoqian will never forget it. Now that my soul has condensed, I have risen from an ordinary ghost to the realm of a Ghost King!"
Ghosts also cultivate in grades.
Wandering Soul → Ghost → Specter → Ghost General → Ghost King → Ghost Immortal.
This is the training ladder for ghosts.
To leap several grades in one stroke—
if it had been any other ghost, her delighted face would have twisted into a crooked grin.
Yan Chixia nodded in satisfaction. "Don't get conceited. Although the internal system of the divine law isn't rigid, it still guides people toward goodness. Rest here tonight—tomorrow we head for the capital."
"Yes, my lord."
Nie Xiaoqian smiled sweetly, then suddenly remembered something and asked, "Excuse me—do you know what a priestess is? While I was cultivating, there was a vast voice that said 957 had granted me the identity of priestess."
"What?"
"It said—Eternal Priestess!"
The girl blinked, looking up at the bearded man with innocent eyes.
She could not understand why he was so excited.
"You little fool—the Eternal Priestess is an office no less exalted than that of my Chief Priest.
"You must be pure and flawless, richly blessed with fortune, and meet all kinds of difficult conditions to be raised to that position.
"You can also hear the voice of God directly.
"You… you actually received such a prestigious office!!!
"May the God of Eternity show mercy."
"Uh…"
Nie Xiaoqian was stunned. She had never expected the priestess identity to be so important.
But in truth, she knew many spells now,
all bestowed by the voice in her head.
It seemed the priestess's identity was indeed formidable. In other words—her luck had always been excellent~
Hee-hee.
The next day,
the two set off for the capital together.
Beneath the brilliant sunshine, Nie Xiaoqian beamed.
A ghost who could walk in daylight—
what a miraculous thing.
They left Lanruo Temple and followed the official road upstream.
A scholar walked past them.
The moment he saw Nie Xiaoqian, he was struck dumb.
So there were such beauties in this world.
But why was she walking with that big-bearded fellow?
The scholar wanted to speak, but the instant he lifted his head, an indifferent glance pressed him back.
Those eyes were filled with killing intent.
It terrified him.
"My lord, why are you so angry?"
"Hmph… a strolling scholar—his legs stop working the moment he sees you. You must remember: you are a priestess, serving a divine existence!"
"Yes, it seems I should find a scarf to wear."
Their voices drifted away.
Only when the two had disappeared
did the scholar feel he could move again.
"Ah… what a powerful swordsman. One look from him and I felt as if I were facing death."
"Hurry along—looks like it's going to rain. Ning Caichen, Ning Caichen… perhaps don't daydream about young beauties. You've not even earned a name for yourself—what do you think you're taking home?"
...
Within the Domain of the Gods.
Liu Che watched Ning Caichen leave from Nie Xiaoqian's side, a faint smile on his lips.
It seemed that since the fellow had left,
he likely would never cross paths with Fu Qingfeng.
Forget it—let me make it up to you.
Find a peasant woman and build you a household.
A strand of red silk streaked across the sky and bound itself to Ning Caichen's wrist.
The other end fell upon a peasant woman ten li from Lanruo Temple.
The woman's features were broad and blunt; black hair bristled along her arms.
At a glance, she was a strong one.
Though such a woman did not know many characters,
her sincere heart was the true measure.
Husband and child—no problem supporting a family.
This was Liu Che's first time using the Way of Love and the Law of Destiny.
He wanted to see what would happen to this fragmented world under the power of these two laws.
To speed things along,
Liu Che accelerated the time flow within that zone.
Ning Caichen, carrying his book case,
had wanted to lodge at Lanruo Temple for a night—after all, travel was hard for a scholar.
But when he reached the temple,
the stench in the air and that terrifying banyan tree made him so frightened he dared not stay.
He ran.
At last, before sunset, he found a household.
This was a farming family of three.
They held a few acres under cultivation.
The old man looked upon the scholar's pale, scholarly face and took to him at once, even bringing out his treasured wine.
"Scholar, you're on your way to the city to sit the exams, aren't you?"
"Yes, elder."
After three rounds of wine,
the two chatted.
The old man laughed and said, "As to my name—I don't know big characters. Just call me Old Man Li. But these days the world grows more difficult, and the court lacks good officials…"
"Huh? Why do you say that?"
"The city officials—corrupt, twisting the law… they harm the people! If you men of learning work hard… become high officials and trip up that lot."
"Master, drink has made you foolish! How can you say such things?"
The peasant woman's face changed drastically.
Men may discuss affairs of state.
But for a hunter or a farmer—what right did they have to speak?
If this scholar reported them, the whole family could die!
Just then, the curtain to the next room lifted, and a woman with a broad, forceful frame strode in and said, "Mother, get my father to bed—he can't even hold the door!"
Ning Caichen was startled.
He had never seen such a peculiar woman.
Who had ever seen a woman stronger than a man!
The peasant woman listened,
then hauled the drunken, lolling old man away.
Goodness—the whole family had special talents.
If a woman like that protected him, wouldn't he have nothing to fear from demons or monsters on the way to sit the exams?
Ning Caichen was taken aback by his own thought.
The strong woman noticed him staring.
She narrowed her eyes and snorted. "If you want to laugh, then laugh. I was born looking like this anyway."
With that, she picked up two wotou from the table, sat opposite him, and gnawed away.
Ning Caichen had also drunk too much by then.
He didn't know why,
but the woman before him seemed very cute.
Just then, scuffling broke out in the next room.
By a misstep, he accidentally brushed against that hairy hand.
What followed—
Liu Che did not care to watch further.
He feared it would ruin his appetite.
"This Law of Destiny plus the Way of Love is truly terrifying… next time I'll try it on a person and an animal…"
...
Inside the Eternal Temple.
Mingyue was watching a bout.
The woman across from her wore a white butterfly haori. She looked delicate, but her fighting style was brutally direct.
Not like a woman at all.
More like a battle maniac.
Wild yet precise—
a goddess dancing on a knife's edge.
Kanae held a greatsword and took the third court.
Kanao Tsuyuri.
Tosaka Sakura.
Ao Li.
These three little girls were the trainees today.
In truth, Butterfly Kanae did not particularly like fighting, but gods and goddesses seldom trained priestesses of war.
Growing on one's own was too difficult.
So she served as a combat coach.
Within the thousand-square-meter hall of battle,
sword auras flew everywhere.
After being kicked aside ten times in a row, Ao Li couldn't help but shout,
"I'm a dragon… stop treating me like a sandbag!!"
Kanae halted and replied with contempt, "I've never seen a dragon like you—eats more than anyone at mealtime, and as for fighting… now you only know how to charge in a straight line…"
Ao Li instantly burst into sniffling complaint.
This wasn't fair.
If we're going to fight, then fight.
Why the mockery.
Sister Bai Suzhen was better—
no verbal attacks.
Now!
Tosaka Sakura whispered to herself. In an instant, water surged upward and split into thousands.
"Water-Element Magic—A Thousand Threads, a Hundred Turns: Countercurrent Flow!"
A thousand figures rushed at Butterfly Kanae.
At that moment, Kanao also launched an attack, but her technique was ice, which matched her innate talent,
amplifying the force of Tosaka Sakura's spell.
Butterfly Kanae's eyes lit. She exclaimed, "Not bad—you've remembered to coordinate. But you seem to want even more. Though you are cooperating, it lacks subtlety."
She drew back.
Blossoms of petals drifted about her.
"Dance of Flowers: Su-Ling's Descent."
The wave of water fell upon Kanae,
but everything was absorbed by those petals, and she herself remained entirely unrestrained.
"Sis, you're too shameless…"
In the end, the bout concluded.
Kanao muttered helplessly.
To moonlight in the arts of plant magic—
water spells were hardly effective at all.
Kanae smiled, patted her head, and said, "You three need to use your heads more~"
Then she came over to Mingyue.
Watching the three little ones get back to their feet, each digesting the lessons of the match just now,
Kanae smiled and asked, "How do you feel?"
Mingyue sighed. "Dazed—like looking through mist."
"Just take it slow."
"Mm. By the way… I saw a woman feeding chickens in the side hall earlier—who is she?"
"That one? An angel… It seems that, because of her looks, she's fallen out of favor with the gods, so she's just feeding chickens for now…"
Mingyue felt a flush of shame.
Sure enough, she had to please the master here.
Otherwise, if she were sent to feed pigs, it would be mortifying to return to the lower realm.
She couldn't even bear to think of it.
"Then, Sister, may I ask you something?"
"Ask away."
"How can I please the gods?"
Mingyue asked in a low voice. .