Scripture of Days Past

Chu Qiguang was reading a letter from Hao Xiangtong that had been delivered by a Daoist attendant.

The letter was divided into several sections. First, Hao Xiangtong informed Chu Qiguang that she was currently cultivating at the Ba Manor Daoist Temple and assured him that she was safe.

Second, she warned Chu Qiguang to be wary of retaliation from Liu Yao. She urged him to remain in Earth Gate Fort as much as possible and take some people with him whenever he had to leave.

Finally, she warned him about the Tribulation Religion, which wielded considerable power and influence in Shu Province.

Chu Qiguang had learned about the Tribulation Religion during his cult lessons on Jade Face Mountain. He knew that the Tribulation Religion specialized in refining demons before harnessing their power through the Animitta Tribulation.

An intrigued look appeared on his face as he wondered whether their close association with demons would make them susceptible to the Demon Refinement Technique.

”Should we go to the Daoist temple to visit Ms. Hao?” Chen Gang asked.

”We can go pay her a visit to make sure she’s safe,” Chu Qiguang replied. ”It’s certainly not a bad thing for her to be cultivating under the abbot of the temple. This may prove to be a significant opportunity for her. By the way, have you sent out the greeting cards yet?”

”I have, but we haven’t received a single reply,” Chen Gang said with a yawn.

Over the past few days, Chu Qiguang had instructed Chen Gang to deliver greeting cards to the governor of the manor and all the prominent factions in the area in an attempt to establish ties with them.

In addition to the local authorities, there were four prominent clans in the Ba Manor: the Cao, Miao, Bai, and Luo Clans. Together, they owned almost all the businesses in the entire manor.

After hearing Chen Gang’s response, Chu Qiguang smiled and remarked, ”It seems these sly old foxes intend to stand back and watch. They’ll only choose a side once either Ning Chigong or I have gained the upper hand.”

”What should we do about Ning Chigong, Brother Chu?” Chen Gang asked. ”I say we beat him to within an inch of his life, then throw him to the fiends.”

Chu Qiguang shook his head and replied, ”The entire Shu Province Demon Vanquishing Department is waiting for me to screw up. If Ning Chigong dies at a time like this, they’ll definitely kick up a fuss. If he continues to oppose me, I’ll simply have to force him into submission. Before that, however, I have to make some preparations. Ideally, I want to uncover his secrets before I make my move. I’ll wait for Qiao Zhi to arrive with the other cat fiends first.”

Chu Qiguang’s plan to set up an intelligence network in the Ba Manor before making a move against Ning Chigong. Otherwise, he risked exposing himself.

”Where’s the document I asked you to compile?” he asked.

Chen Gang’s eyes were bloodshot from sleep deprivation, and he couldn’t stop yawning even as he spoke to Chu Qiguang.

With no subordinates or fiend underlings at his disposal, Chu Qiguang had no choice but to assign all tasks to Chen Gang. As a result, Chen Gang had been stretched extremely thin, constantly running around like a headless chicken on very limited sleep.

Despite being severely overworked, however, Chen Gang remained diligent in carrying out his duties.

On one hand, he feared Chu Qiguang’s power. On the other, Chu Qiguang compensated him generously.

In this day and age, the average person often struggled just to make ends meet. Meanwhile, Chen Gang was being paid in silver, proper meals, and pills, and his family back home was also being looked after. He truly couldn’t ask for anything more.

Chen Gang had just finished yawning when his expression stiffened.

”I... I haven’t finished it yet.”

”Then hurry up and get it done!” Chu Qiguang snapped. ”I want the report on my desk tomorrow morning! Make sure you finish it even if you have to pull an all-nighter!”

Chen Gang hurriedly nodded before turning to leave, knowing that he was in for yet another sleepless night.

”Wait, come back,” Chu Qiguang called out. ”Where are the Buddhist scriptures that I asked you to find?”

Chen Gang immediately went to fetch three Buddhist scriptures.

Back on Jade Face Mountain, Chu Qiguang had already read all the Buddhist scriptures in the archive building. However, Shu Province had once been home to the Vajra Monastery. Even though the imperial court had stamped out Buddhism, there were bound to be some Buddhist scriptures still circulating in the area.

After dismissing Chen Gang, Chu Qiguang immediately began poring over the Buddhist scriptures, finishing all three in a single afternoon.

He then pulled out the Sumeru King Scripture to check the countdown, which now stood at 3,121 days 7 hours 49 minutes 24 seconds.

Seven hours had been shaved off on this occasion.

Just then, a sharp cry rang out from the sky, instantly grabbing Chu Qiguang’s attention.

That’s one of the Chongming Birds!

He knew that the Chongming Birds would never reveal themselves so openly unless there was an emergency, so he immediately stepped out of the room and looked up at the sky.

Why is there only one? Where’s the other one?

The Chongming Bird began circling directly above Chu Qiguang, and it was clear that it wanted him to follow.

***

Meanwhile, a fierce battle was taking place in a forest several kilometers outside Ba Manor City.

Specks of black sludge fell like rain, and Gao Yi’s voice rang out from within as he chortled, ”Are you just going to keep running, cat fiend? If you keep this up, all your subordinates are going to be killed!”

He occasionally emerged from the black sludge, taking the life of another fiend each time he did so.

By this point, the Chaotic Heavens King and the Yaksha Wraith were already riddled with injuries, but they were still fit enough to serve as meat shields while Qiao Zhi continued to evade Gao Yi’s attacks.

In the sky above, the Chongming Bird’s cries were becoming increasingly urgent, and it seemed to be calling out to the other Chongming Bird.

”Keep laughing while you still can,” Qiao Zhi spat through gritted fangs.

***

Elsewhere, Zhang Fengyun and Hao Xiangtong were standing on a mountaintop.

”Pills are an important pillar of cultivation in the Heavenly Master Religion, so one of the first things that we had to learn was how to identify and harvest medicinal ingredients...” Zheng Fengyun explained.

”What’s that, Abbot?” Hao Xiangtong asked as she looked up at the sky.

Zhang Fengyun glanced in that direction before casually replying, ”It appears to be some kind of avian beast fiend. Don’t worry about it. There’s an abundance of fiends in Shu Province. You’ll get used to it soon enough.”