Chapter Eighty-Eight: The Realm of Object Control

I am no immortal, and I cannot possibly know everything. Men like that old fiend are the very sort who delight in scheming against the world. At this very moment he may well be plotting something else entirely. How could I possibly let anyone from the Five Measures of Rice Sect discover his trail? Wherever he passes, he would surely wipe out every living thing, leaving no snake, no insect, no rat or mouse alive.

Tang Guming straightened himself and went on speaking.

Xu Cheng sighed. It seemed Tang Guming truly did not know what Qiong the old demon was up to. The old fiend was indeed the old fiend; he worked with extreme caution.

“Oh, right. Because of the great victory in Genzhou City last time, they are now preparing a counteroffensive. Are you going to join them, or not?”

Tang Guming reminded him, as if intentionally, yet also as if casually.

“A counteroffensive?”

Xu Cheng murmured the words. His pupils grew somewhat vacant, though in truth he was thinking at great speed.

“That’s right. Just a month ago they swiftly seized three provinces, and now they are dividing up Qingzhou City. Before long they will be striking this way!”

Tang Guming said hurriedly.

“So that means I do not need to go searching for them. When the time comes, I only need to receive them?”

Xu Cheng asked at once.

“Quick on the uptake, aren’t you? Indeed. In no fewer than ten days, and no more than half a month, the Genzhou forces will arrive here!”

He seemed to be praising Xu Cheng.

“Then how many cultivators in the Soul Formation realm are there in Luzhou City now?”

Xu Cheng intended to take the initiative and seize Luzhou City. By then, all he would need do was open the city gates wide.

“Not many. Only four or five, I suppose. Three months ago, when they attacked the Moon Toad Palace, they suffered heavy losses!”

Tang Guming knew that the Xiachao Soul Formation cultivators had attacked the Moon Toad Palace, and he sighed to himself.

“Then let us attack Luzhou City at once! As the saying goes, a gift received calls for a gift returned!”

A thought stirred in Xu Cheng’s mind, and as he spoke, he was already walking toward the door.

“Then you’d best be careful.”

Tang Guming said with hidden meaning.

Xu Cheng turned back and nodded to show that he understood.

Only after leaving the small town did they mount their escape light. Once they had made sure no one was around, the three of them activated their divine travel arts and sped toward Luzhou City.

They passed by White Tiger Town and Clear River Town.

As expected, because Xiachao had mass-produced Soul Formation cultivators and still failed to win in the end, it had become a fatal blow to them. Not a single Soul Formation expert remained in the towns now.

After half a day’s travel, they finally reached Luzhou City.

Compared with the towns, Luzhou City was far more prosperous and crowded. On the streets, even Yan Mengdie had to keep her body tightly drawn in, or she would bump into the people around her.

Since Tang Guming had told him to be careful, there must have been a reason for it. So this time Xu Cheng did not behave like a reckless fool and underestimate the enemy. He wanted to first investigate the situation thoroughly before making a move.

As night approached, the city was too vast, and Xu Cheng found himself somewhat dazzled and disoriented. For a while he did not know where to go. After searching for quite some time, he still could not find a single teahouse.

He had wanted to see whether there might be disciples of the Unfailing Child Sect, or other members of the Five Measures of Rice Sect, inside a teahouse, so that he could gather intelligence.

Since he could not rely on the Five Measures of Rice Sect, the three of them first found an inn to stay in. Once inside the room, Xu Cheng took out the Netherworld token.

As a pale yellow radiance flowed across the token, he watched to see whether he could summon nearby ghosts.

This token had immense attraction for ghostly beings. In no time at all, many spirits and specters came.

The room soon became packed with them all. Seeing this, Chrysanthemum and Xu Cheng abruptly sent their chains flying, binding every last ghost.

With so many souls present, it took Chrysanthemum quite a long time to determine each one’s fate.

Some were to be cast into hell, some were guilty of great crimes and destined for reincarnation, and some possessed merit and could be reborn.

As the small Netherworld Gate opened, all the souls, cowed by the aura of the Netherworld, did not dare move in the slightest. Even the smallest twitch would earn them several lashes from the scholar-like figure, and the pain suffered by their soul-bodies was more than they could endure.

Before they entered the Netherworld, Xu Cheng learned from them that among the five remaining Soul Formation cultivators in Luzhou City, two were at the transformation stage, while the other three were at the wandering spirit stage. All of them were in the city lord’s manor.

Once the situation was clear, all the ghosts were sent into the Netherworld. Those meant for reincarnation were reborn, and those meant for hell were cast down there.

Nearly several hundred ghosts were dealt with, which consumed a great deal of spirit, but the rewards from the Netherworld were enormous as well: a full three thousand merit points.

He gave some to Chrysanthemum and kept the rest for himself.

The three of them discussed how to attack Luzhou City.

Yan Mengdie had already reached the power-controlling realm, and the cultivation of Xu Cheng and Chrysanthemum was only a hair’s breadth away from it.

So the question was whether they should first use the merit they had just gained to raise their cultivation to the power-controlling spirit realm, or strike Luzhou City immediately.

“Right Guardian, to be safe, we should first raise our cultivation to the power-controlling realm. With merit-light protection, it will take at most one night, and at the least one or two hours, to step into the power-controlling realm!”

Chrysanthemum immediately suggested it.

“I also think that would be best. At the very least, after our dharma forms fuse, we may be able to reach the level of a Pure Yang Spirit; if things go even better, we might even attain Heavenly Tribulation cultivation!”

Yan Mengdie also agreed with Chrysanthemum’s opinion.

“Very well. Even Tang Guming warned us to be careful. There may well be something strange within Luzhou City.”

Xu Cheng nodded.

Then he bestowed enough merit-light upon Chrysanthemum, and afterward sank into cultivation.

Golden radiance merged into Xu Cheng’s body, dyeing his spirit a brilliant gold. Having spent all this time consolidating his cultivation, he finally began to break through.

Yet this breakthrough was not easy. On the surface of his spirit, it was as though there were a huge shell, like the shell of an egg.

Unless he shattered that shell, he would never be able to break through into the power-controlling realm.

The merit-light was consumed more and more rapidly, and his spirit swelled until it pressed tight against that outer layer.

Only after the golden radiance was completely exhausted did Xu Cheng feel his spirit trapped in a state of crushing pressure, unbearably stifling.

“Open for me!”

His spirit shouted, seeking to smash through the invisible shell that bound it. At that moment, he seemed like Pangu cleaving heaven and earth apart.

With crackling sounds rising one after another, that invisible shell finally shattered completely. The ten thousand things of heaven and earth now appeared far more clearly within Xu Cheng’s mind.

Then he stood up.

With a thought, the teapot on the table flew of its own accord into Xu Cheng’s hand. With another thought, he drew out the chair.

No wonder this was called the power-controlling realm. Reaching this level, one could command all things in heaven and earth without relying on any spell at all, needing only a single thought.

Carefully controlling everything around him, Xu Cheng found it all extremely amusing.

Just as he had lifted everything in the room into the air, Chrysanthemum awoke.

Seeing the furniture floating overhead, the tables and chairs, the bed, the teapot, the stool, and the like, and then looking at the excited Xu Cheng beside it—

“Right Guardian!”

Chrysanthemum suddenly cried out, and Xu Cheng could no longer focus his thoughts to control everything. At once, all the objects in the air dropped back to the ground, sounding out in a series of crashes.