This humble Taoist priest, Qianhe, begins his quest for immortality by slaying demons and monsters.

Chapter 181 The Peak Demon King Dies, the Ghost Festival Arrives

"Sect Leader Qianhe, this old monk has come to your aid!"

Hui'an could no longer stand in the void and watch the show. At this moment, Zhong Bai had severely injured the Azure Scale Serpent King, and it was the time to join forces to kill it.

May this merit adorn the Buddha's Pure Land. May it repay the fourfold kindness above and relieve the suffering of the three lower realms below. May all who see or hear this awaken the Bodhi mind. May we, in this very lifetime, be reborn together in the Land of Ultimate Bliss!

"May the light of all Buddhas shine forth!"

In an instant, the incantation uttered by Abbot Hui'an transformed into rays of golden light, gathering the Buddhist light of all the disciples and elders of Jinshan Temple into a bright mirror in the sky. A beam of Buddhist light that could scorch all things shot out from the mirror and landed directly on the body of the Green Scale Serpent King.

The painful roars grew weaker and weaker, and the Azure Scale Serpent King was now filled with resentment.

Enduring the burning of the Samadhi Fire and the Buddha's Light Mirror, the scales on his body exploded one by one, leaving him a bloody mess, while his gaze remained fixed on Zhong Bai and Hui An in the void.

"Damn it, Daoist True Lord!"

Only now did the Azure Scale Serpent King realize that he had been tricked by the monk Hui'an, who had used his demonic power to provoke him and force him to break free of his seal.

But... he could only exert the power of a mid-stage Demon King to begin with, and was already exhausted by Hui'an. He had no chance of winning against Zhong Bai in his prime, let alone being ambushed by Zhong Bai.

Feeling his life rapidly slipping away, the Azure Scale Serpent King began to beg for mercy.

"True Lord, spare me! True Lord, spare me! This little demon was confused for a moment. I beg you, True Lord, to spare me for the sake of this little demon who has been suppressed for five hundred years!"

The weak pleas for mercy from the flames reached Zhong Bai's ears, and he listened with a faint smile.

"Spare your life? Fine..."

As he spoke, a wicked glint flashed in the eyes of the Azure Scale Serpent King, and he knelt on the ground, waiting for Zhong Bai to withdraw the Samadhi True Fire.

Beside Zhong Bai, Abbot Huian originally wanted to ask why Zhong Bai chose to let the Green Scale Serpent King go, but when he saw what Zhong Bai was reciting the incantation, he immediately opened his mouth wide.

"Dreadful thunder! Eight righteous gods! I, the humble head of Maoshan Sect, beseech the Thunder God to descend with divine thunder!"

The Divine Firmament Five Thunder Technique is not limited to just the Purple Firmament Divine Thunder. With the Thunder Seal, Zhong Bai can use it to communicate with the Thunder God to unleash heavenly punishment. However, this process is quite complicated and is not usually used in combat. Since the Azure Scale Serpent King chose to kneel, Zhong Bai decided to test the power of the Thunder God's heavenly punishment.

In the void, dark clouds were already pressing down. At this moment, after Zhong Bai prayed to the Thunder God to connect with heaven and earth, a golden light fell from the sky and transformed into a golden lightning bolt. As it approached from afar, the golden lightning bolt, as thick as a bucket, landed in the dark clouds and directly emptied the surrounding lightning, instantly becoming several feet thick.

"Samadhi Fire, withdraw!"

At this moment, Zhong Bai also fulfilled his promise and withdrew the Samadhi Fire.

Without the Samadhi Fire scorching his body, the Green-Scaled Serpent King was extremely excited.

"Hahaha, the Daoist True Monarchs are nothing special. Once I leave and recover my peak condition, I will definitely devour you alive!"

Just as he was about to flee into the distance, the Azure Scale Serpent King found his body locked by a mysterious aura. Looking up, he saw golden lightning rushing towards him.

"No! This king..."

Before the Azure Scale Serpent King could finish speaking, lightning engulfed him, the earth cracked open with a deafening roar, and the Azure Scale Serpent King's body was instantly vaporized without even a chance to struggle under the bombardment of the golden lightning.

His physical body and primordial spirit were completely annihilated; he died a truly utter and complete death.

Zhong Bai was somewhat surprised by this scene. He never expected that the heavenly punishment that Lei Yin prayed to the Thunder God would bring down was so terrifying. It was just a pity that he could not pray to the Thunder God indiscriminately to ask for heavenly punishment. After all, how could the God have time to care about Zhong Bai all the time?

"Amitabha! Sect Leader Qianhe has truly shocked this old monk. Such a peak demon king was so easily killed by Sect Leader Qianhe. In the future, the Daoist sect will surely be led by Sect Leader Qianhe!"

Zhong Bai had heard this kind of talk many times.

Looking at the deep pit in front of him, where even the demon core was gone, Zhong Bai shook his head and said lightly, "Abbot Huian, this Azure Scale Serpent King of Jinshan Temple will help you this far. The affairs of Maoshan still need me to oversee, so I will not stay any longer."

After saying that, Zhong Bai flew into the sky on his sword. When Abbot Hui'an saw this, he cupped his hands together in prayer to Zhong Bai.

"Amitabha, this old monk respectfully bids farewell to the True Lord!"

......................................................

After leaving Jinshan Temple, Zhong Bai naturally returned directly to Maoshan. After all, he had just taken over as the sect leader, and he couldn't just sneak away and not return.
Time passed peacefully like this.

Half a month has passed in the blink of an eye.

The 13th day of the seventh lunar month.

Renjia Town, in the mortuary.

“Master, every year we need to print and burn this paper money, and the amount is getting bigger every year. The underworld is really something…”

Lin Fengjiao sat on the recliner, listening to Qiu Sheng's complaints with some helplessness, and said: "What do you know about the affairs of the underworld?"

"Hurry up and print it! We only have two days to burn this paper money in the underworld. If we delay, I won't let you two brats get away with it!"

Hearing their master say this, Qiu Sheng and Wen Cai quickened their pace. "Qiu Sheng and Wen Cai, don't listen to your master's nonsense. Come and have a drink of water first."

Just then, Aunt Zhe's voice rang out. When Qiu Sheng and Wen Cai heard that their master's wife had come over, they laughed and put down the printing tools in their hands. They then ran to Aunt Zhe, took two cups of water, and gulped them down.

"My master's wife is so kind!"

Seeing this, Lin Fengjiao, who was sitting in a recliner, got up and picked up the printing tools in front of her to start printing herself.

“Senior brother, have a drink too. This job can’t be finished in a short time. Qiu Sheng and the others are right. The underworld has been printing more paper money every year for years. This can’t go on. Being a bank manager in the underworld isn’t a good job either…”

After hearing her junior sister complain, Lin Fengjiao finally put down the tools in her hand.

“Junior sister, you can’t say that. We certainly don’t know much about the underworld. Even if our master brother is the inspector of the mortal realm, he probably doesn’t have any way of knowing the details of the underworld.”

"But I am, after all, a disciple of Maoshan. Whatever happens in the underworld, I have no fear!"

After pouring themselves a glass of water and drinking it, Qiu Sheng and Wen Cai went to the desk to continue printing, while Lin Fengjiao took out her bank magistrate's seal and began stamping the paper money.

Soon, the three of them, master and apprentice, had basically coordinated to complete a batch.

Taking out a blank sheet of paper, Lin Fengjiao began to write her notification document.

"Now there is a specially authorized seal bearer, whose signature serves as proof of authenticity. Any forgery will result in being cast into the eighteenth level of hell, never to be reincarnated. This serves as a warning and an example for others. Lin Fengjiao, the seal bearer in the mortal realm!"

Just as she finished writing, a chubby-faced head popped up behind Lin Fengjiao.

After reading the contents of the paper, a crisp laugh immediately rang out.

"Father, so your real name is Lin Fengjiao! Hehe, that sounds so nice!"

Qiu Sheng and Wen Cai exchanged a glance and immediately covered their mouths to prevent their laughter from being heard by their master. At this moment, Zhe Gu also came to Lin Qing'er and pulled her to her side.

"How dare you talk about your father's name like that?!"

Upon hearing this, Lin Qing'er grumbled a little, but she also understood that her father's name was not something she should discuss. So she obediently came to Lin Fengjiao and bowed, saying, "Father, I'm sorry, Qing'er shouldn't have discussed your name."

Lin Fengjiao, who was originally a little depressed, saw this and there was no trace of blame left.

"It's alright, Qing'er did it unintentionally, and besides, it's just a name, it doesn't matter."

"Master, is it true?"

Upon hearing this, Qiu Shengwen was eager to try, but he immediately wilted after being glared at by Lin Fengjiao.

Just kidding, how can they compare to Xiao Qing'er?

"Alright, alright, Qing'er, let's go. Don't disturb your father and your two senior brothers while they're doing their work."

As she spoke, Aunt Zhe pulled Lin Qing'er away, and the three of them, including Lin Fengjiao, quickly resumed their busy work.

Maoshan.

Zhong Bai was sitting cross-legged in the main hall of the sect. Zhong Bai's cultivation speed was now progressing by leaps and bounds. The reason was simple: a large number of demon-slaying points allowed Zhong Bai to recklessly transform the spiritual energy of heaven and earth into his own cultivation. However, he had to go to a deep mountain that was far away from Maoshan every time he absorbed the spiritual energy of heaven and earth.

"It took a full 500,000 Demon Extermination Points to push my cultivation to the current peak of the early Golden Core stage. Reaching the mid-Golden Core stage will be no easy feat."

Shaking his head, Zhong Bai adjusted his condition and planned to use the remaining 500,000 Demon Extermination Points to try and break through to the mid-stage of the Golden Core realm. Whether he could do it or not depended on this attempt.

Just as he was about to do so, Zhong Bai's seal of the Yang Realm Inspector flew out from the void, and a portal suddenly opened wide, with yin energy rushing in. Zhong Bai was slightly stunned, but soon saw a figure walk out from it.

"This humble official greets Your Excellency the Inspector!"

The newcomer was dressed in a red official robe, and his aura was roughly at the level of a Ghost King, clearly indicating that he was a Yin official from the Underworld.

"Who is your Excellency?"

Zhong Bai remained calm. He was merely a ghost king-level underworld official. Although he didn't know why the other party had suddenly come to the mortal realm using his seal, this was Maoshan, and Zhong Bai was the sect leader. He couldn't lack the necessary authority!
"Reporting to the True Lord, I am an inspector of the underworld under the jurisdiction of the Lord of Maoshan. I have come to see you on the orders of the law. Recently, some underworld officials and ghost generals, and even ghost kings, have been colluding between the mortal world and the underworld."

Taking advantage of their once-a-year trip to the mortal realm, they planned to escape. The officials of the Underworld, after deliberation, decided to entrust this matter to Your Majesty for investigation. Therefore, they sent me to inform Your Majesty!

Upon hearing this, Zhong Bai couldn't help but recall his past in Jinan Prefecture, which was related to this incident. However, at the time, after Zhong Bai searched the soul, he discovered that it was supported by a ghost king and even connected with the officials of the underworld, so he didn't investigate further. But now...

"Understood. I will personally investigate this matter thoroughly."

"Indeed, I shall take my leave!"

Standing in the main hall, the underworld official felt that Zhong Bai was extremely dangerous. Although he knew that the other party would not kill him for no reason, what if he did?
Therefore, it is the right thing to do to leave as soon as possible after sending the message.

(End of this chapter)