Chapter 1

Wanli, Year 25, Sixth Month, Twenty-first Day.

For the poor people of the West City, it was a rare good day.

The gates were open, and whether inside or outside the city walls, anyone with a yellow talisman in hand could watch a grand opera performance for free.

Street vendors lit their lamps at dusk, selling thick meat noodles for a mere single coin a bowl.

Sellers of candied figurines tempted children with their wares, enticing their cravings and greed. The children lingered, but their parents pulled them away, telling them not to waste money.

Earning money wasn't easy; a year's hard work only yielded a few taels for livelihood.

Of course, some did buy the candied figures. The children were satisfied, and the adults managed a smile, much to the vendors' delight.

A craftsman father gave a candied figure to his child with a Nezha hairstyle. The child sat on the father's shoulders, stretching his head forward, pretending to ride a horse, directing his father to move closer to where the Taoist priests of the Dongyue Temple were maintaining order.

On this day, a Heavenly Demon awoke in Yuquan, alarming the ten directions of gods and devils.

On this day, a sorcerer wreaked havoc in the Northern Profound Palace, his blood falling like rain, reversing Yin and Yang.

But these strange occurrences did not go unnoticed.

The Embroidered Uniform Guard (Jinyiwei), who usually had nothing to do, suddenly became active again, gathering a large number of personnel towards the Dongyue Temple, along with Liu Mengyin.

"You said that the people coming out of the Dongyue Temple don't have chains on their necks. Isn't that a good thing?"

"No, Commander, it's not a good thing at all!"

Two Heavenly Gate Generals arrived. Luo Sigong asked Liu Mengyin from behind. One of the Heavenly Gate Generals turned back, interrupted Luo Sigong's question, and answered in place of Liu Mengyin:

"We have already asked Chan Master Shuizhai and confirmed that there is a problem with the Dongyue Temple. And in this situation, the people from the Dongyue Temple came out without chains on their necks. This is abnormal beyond the norm."

"You might think that the people in the Dongyue Temple have high magical powers, so they can avoid being killed. But why is it that even a big shot like you, once you leave the imperial city, has chains on your neck in the eyes of that Korean official!"

"Could it be that your magical power is not high enough?"

Luo Sigong chuckled dryly, "Of course my magical power is not high. Don't you all have chains on your necks?"

The Heavenly Gate General shook his head, "That's wrong! You are already our Commander. This special Commander's divine position is not for the weak. It is the chief general of the Taoist Heavenly Heart Sect, the Fierce Earth Official Yin Jiao, Heavenly Lord Yin! He is the head of the twelve ranks of minor heavenly positions, the sixty Jiazi (sexagenary cycle) Taisui (Grand Duke Jupiter) gods!"

"With the Taisui at the head, fierce gods and evil spirits, who dares to approach!"

"Among the thirty-six Heavenly Generals of the Thunder Department, he is among the best! He is an ancient heavenly emperor, the Dipper Constellation, and accumulated merits for ten generations as Huang Ying, proving the Dao in one dynasty of Golden Grains. He commands all the taboos of the gods and devils, and his might suppresses the universe; he wields boundless supernatural power and his deeds permeate the cosmos!"

"You have no cultivation, so you are originally a mortal body, so you can't use his monstrous divine power, and you feel that this divine position is ordinary! You need to know that even a Golden Core earthly immortal may not be able to attract such a truly holy being! In our Great Ming, there is a mysterious method that can attract higher-level heavenly positions, and allow mortals to use it after obtaining it!"

"After all, the positions of the heavenly gods are all determined by the Ming court, but whether you can use the full power of this divine position depends on the strength of the person using the god!"

Luo Sigong was dumbfounded and realized how powerful the divine position he had obtained was. The Heavenly Gate General continued to warn him:

"Even a figure like you, who has attracted a heavenly main general, has iron chains around his neck once he leaves the imperial city! This small Dongyue Temple, the temple keeper is only at the fourth realm of Tai Xi (embryonic breathing), and the cultivation of those Taoist priests is even like ants. How is it that the people who come out of the Dongyue Temple don't have chains on their necks?"

They even dared to put iron chains on the neck of the Taisui god!

Now Luo Sigong and Liu Mengyin both knew that there was a tremendous problem with the Dongyue Temple. Fortunately, it was not yet nightfall, and there might still be time to check what was happening inside.

But when the Embroidered Uniform Guard arrived at the Dongyue Temple, the temple gate was filled with darkness, and nothing could be seen!

The Embroidered Uniform Guards at the door were also missing! The entire Dongyue Temple, at this time, was like the mouth of a monster, about to devour everything that peered into its true face!

"Master Xu! Are you inside? If you're sleeping, wake up quickly, don't sleep!"

Luo Sigong shouted at the door, but there was no response from inside. He also shouted the names of the various Yin Division god masters, but there was no reaction!

The two Heavenly Gate Generals didn't hesitate and decided to demolish the temple by force!

"We have already obtained permission from His Majesty and the Grand Secretary. Now drag the Frankish cannons up and fire a few shots to see!"

"There are probably no living people in this temple! These black mists must be Heisheng (black miasma)! The thing that appeared in the Zhengde and Jiajing years is still within Shuntian, and has not disappeared!"

"But, why could it deceive our eyes, why couldn't even the Buddhist masters and Taoist sorcerers see anything? What kind of trickery is this?"

The gods felt stifled. Did they need to update their version of magic?

One Heavenly Gate General was about to use the cannons, but Luo Sigong was still hesitating, saying that Old Xu was still sleeping soundly inside. Wasn't this wake-up call a little too rude?

"With the example of Lord Huo, in this extraordinary period, using extraordinary means is acceptable!"

"Firearms are extremely yang and strong, and these firearms have been affixed with Five Thunder Heavenly Heart Talismans. If there are really any demons or evil spirits hidden in this Dongyue Temple, then this shot will surely reveal their true form!"

"This is much better than us going in and being attacked by something!"

Firearms subduing demons is a powerful means for ordinary people to kill demons and ghosts.

Ghosts fear loud noises, fear copper, fear fire, fear light, fear gunpowder, fear sulfur.

Firearms perfectly meet every one of the above requirements, and among Taoism, the Lushan Sect, one of the three mountains of orthodox methods, is good at using firearms to subdue demons!

Among the Zheng Yi sect, there are also firearm techniques such as "gun execution" that can produce effects similar to firearms.

And to enhance the power of firearms, the use of various thunder method talismans can "enchant" the firearms, making the firearms, which are already restrained against demons and ghosts, even more powerful!

The highest level of talisman for blessing firearms is the "Northern Dipper Great Divine Curse" of the "Tiangang Great Sage"!

The Frankish cannons were quickly brought over and prepared. With a booming sound, the firearms burst into dazzling light!

The gate of the Dongyue Temple was blown open, the huge gate was torn down, and the darkness inside surged, as if it was about to spill out. The second round of artillery was already ready, and another volley was fired!

The Embroidered Uniform Guard dragged the cannons over and bombarded the Dongyue Temple, this huge formation frightened many people in the East City to the point of turning pale.

After the second volley, the darkness at the temple entrance really receded, a large gap was blown open, and many gods could see the situation inside. Countless statues were lying on the ground, shattered into slag, and blood and bones flowed from these statues, and the appearance, some could vaguely recognize....

"It's the faces of those Taoist priests from the daytime.... This...."

Luo Sigong only felt his hair stand on end, his body shivered, and then he thought that he was no longer a weakling, but a great god, and he gradually straightened his chest again.

"Those Taoist priests were all transformed by statues. They used a strange Taoist technique to merge the statues and human flesh. The statues are the people, and the three souls and seven spirits are dominated by the consciousness of the statues. They are people during the day and statues at night, so you can't see the problem."

"These people may have been people before, but now they are a pile of flesh and blood chang gui (伥鬼,伥, tiger's victim acting as a guide)!"