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Chapter 200 Demanding Incense Offerings
The priest's voice did not soften; it even adopted a divine tone, making it extremely penetrating.

Chen Ji could hear it clearly from within the formation, but he couldn't help but raise an eyebrow as he listened.

Although both Master Xiyun and the old abbot have said that gods are just dead people with cultivation and virtue, I still feel that the gods in heaven should be different from those on earth.

I never expected that there would be such incompetent officials under the command of Zhenwu Emperor.

The thought had barely formed when Master Xiyun spoke again to explain.

"Priest, please do not be angry. It is not that we have been disrespectful to the Emperor."

"It was when my fellow Daoist Zhenru and I were passing through this place that we learned that the Ghost King and the River God had joined forces to create a flood to harm the people along the way. Furthermore, a demon had set up the Five Turbidities Formation. The situation was urgent, which is why we troubled you, Your Excellency..."

"Your words are quite interesting, Taoist. What does the chaos in the human world have to do with us? It's not like we caused the chaos in the human world."

Before Master Xiyun could finish speaking, the priest coldly interrupted him.

"I've been a human before, so I'll say it again: let alone hiring bodyguards or other dangerous jobs, even hiring a long-term or short-term worker requires money."

“You set up an altar to invite the Emperor to exorcise demons, yet you haven’t even offered incense. What kind of logic is this?”

"This...it was indeed our oversight, but saving lives is the priority right now. We beg the priest to act expediently in this urgent situation and save the people of this village. Otherwise, the demons in the formation may commit atrocities at any time, and all the people will die in one fell swoop. How can we stand by and watch them die?"

"Absolutely impossible."

The priest's voice remained arrogant.

“If we had the ability to help those in distress, then the Emperor and we wouldn’t need to do anything every day.”

"Besides, you're asking the Emperor and us to take action without any real knowledge. Isn't that unfair to the worshippers who bring offerings?"

The priest sighed as he finished speaking.

"However, considering your dedication to serving the people, we will not require too many offerings this time. Just three sacrificial animals and a hundred or so sticks of incense will suffice."

"This……"

Master Xiyun's voice still held a hint of hesitation.

"Could there be fewer priests?"

"What? You're not willing to bring these out?"

The priest's voice was clearly displeased.

"I wonder what kind of tricks you, Taoist priest, have that allowed you to receive the imperial edict to summon the Emperor to exorcise demons, yet you can't even spare these incense offerings? Do you perhaps look down on my Emperor?"

"This humble Taoist priest would not dare to do so."

Master Xiyun said quickly.

"It's easy to gather offerings, but incense is hard to come by. My temple has very few disciples and is not a large temple that is skilled in talismans and rituals. In a month, we can only save less than ten sticks of incense."

"The priest requested a hundred sticks of incense, which is really difficult to produce."

"Demand?"

The priest raised his voice.

"You Taoist are extremely rude. What do you mean by saying such things? Do you think our Emperor would take your hundred sticks of incense before he does anything? This is incense that you offered to the Emperor out of consideration for his hard work."

"What if we can't provide incense now, and these demons run rampant?"

The priest's voice grew colder.

"Really?"

"No."

"Is it that you really don't have it, or that you don't want to have it?"

Master Xiyun remained silent for a few breaths before slowly speaking.

"I really didn't have it before, but now that I've seen the priest's face, even if I did, I wouldn't want it anymore."

"Hey! Taoist priest, do you know the consequences of insulting a high priest?"

The priest roared, summoning thunder in the sky, which produced a continuous rumble of thunder.

Master Xiyun's voice was equally loud and clear, not at all inferior.

"The talismanic arts I practice are orthodox. I received the ordination from the patriarch, so even though I am not one of those Taoist priests who are good at setting up altars and performing rituals, I should be just as good."

"We have already reported this to the Ancestral Master, and the high officials who came down have surely seen the official documents. If the demons and ghosts here are not eliminated today, I will gladly submit a few more documents to let the Ancestral Master know what is happening here." "And if even the Emperor finds out about this place in the future, what will the high officials say then?"

"you!"

The priest's voice became tense.

"Taoist, are you perhaps determined to completely offend the Emperor's faction? Do you know what the consequences will be?"

"I will go back and report what I have seen and heard today. If any more talismans or edicts from your lineage are issued in the future, no priest will dare to respond. Do not cut off the future of your lineage!"

Master Xiyun laughed loudly.

"You jest, priest. Since our founder, no one in Qingfeng Temple has ever been afraid of gods and ghosts and dared not exorcise demons."

"Even if the priest doesn't take action today, I will work with you to remove the formation here. However, if the priest wants to watch over things, I will not interfere further."

The priest seemed to be pondering something and remained silent for a few moments before letting out a cold laugh.

"Ha, do you think that you can punish me by dying?"

"I'm afraid you've forgotten one thing."

“You set up the altar and tried to invite us, the priests, to come here to exorcise demons. After arriving here, I saw that you, the Taoist priest, and your fellow Taoists had fought the demons to the point of exhaustion and unfortunately died tragically. Only then did I exorcise the demons. This matter is acceptable.”

"How dare you act like this? Aren't you afraid of the Emperor's wrath?"

Master Xiyun questioned him sternly, but was met with loud laughter from the priest.

"Who would know about this? The demon is dead, and you don't seem to have long to live either. Who could possibly know about this? Fortunately, there are traces of laws here, which is a good place to disguise it."

"As for the people here, it is fortunate that they can survive. Who would dare to offend the Emperor by submitting a petition on behalf of a mere Taoist priest?"

"Alright, having said all that, I should now exorcise the demons and capture the monsters, lest you actually find any fault with me."

"Heaven and earth are natural, the foul air dissipates, the cave is mysterious and vast, the primordial energy shines brightly..."

As the priest spoke, he raised his finger and cast a spell, pointing it at the Five Turbid Array on the ground.

"Crack!"

With a crisp sound, cracks appeared in the entire Five Turbidities Formation, proving even more effective than the previous six-syllable mantra, which had been practiced for a long time.

"Oh no! Quickly reinforce the formation!"

Inside the formation, the temple keeper only had time to shout once before pulling out a gourd and commanding the demons beside him to repair the formation.

Before they could even make a move, the entire formation shattered completely under the strain of the priest's chanting of incantations and scriptures, revealing the demons and ordinary people that were originally inside.

The human and the demon were taken aback and both looked towards the situation outside the formation.

The priest hovered in the air, his eyes cold and calm, while only a monk and a Taoist priest stood on the ground.

The demons and humans immediately erupted in excitement.

"There's a priest!"

"How could there be gods? This is troublesome."

Upon hearing this, the priest ignored the demons and ghosts, and instead shook his head and looked at Daoist Xiyun and the others.

"Taoist, I'm exhausted from using magic. I'll leave the rest to you."

"If you cannot hold on and the demon takes your life, I will personally ask the underworld to have you as a witness."

"you……"

Just as Master Xiyun was about to get angry, he saw the priest disappear into the altar and vanish, as if he had punched cotton.

Before anyone could ask what else to do, they heard the temple keeper's eerie, raucous laughter.

"So they were fighting amongst themselves! No wonder the priest wouldn't take us away. Listen up, if you want to live, kill this Taoist priest and monk now!"

The temple keeper took out a gourd and led the crowd of demons to stare at Master Xiyun and Monk Zhenru.

His eyes were bloodshot, blood dripped from the corner of his mouth, and he approached step by step.

The next moment, a sword light flashed by, and the two demons were beheaded, staring blankly, not understanding what had happened.

(End of this chapter)