Refining the True from the False: Becoming a God Starting with Devouring a True Dragon

Chapter 85: Wealthy Enough to Enough for a Prefecture - The Resurrection Master Counters Each Move and Bets on the "One Yang Acupuncture Technique" (5.2k)

Inside Songyue Tower.

Two middle-aged men, dressed in purple robes embroidered with gold and silver, with carved purple jade plaques depicting a creature with a single horn, as large as an ox, and covered in thick, spiky hair hanging from their waists, entered the gate, surrounded by several guards in light armor with imposing, tiger-like strides.

Upon seeing the newcomer's attire, the diners inside the building all rose to avoid him.

Many people who usually act arrogantly and domineeringly are now keeping their distance and bowing respectfully, not even daring to step forward and offer a greeting.

He heard the other party shout out the two words "Wang Qi" in a menacing manner.

The diners couldn't remember who Wang Qi was for a moment, and they all looked at each other.

"Isn't that Wang Yizhao?"

Someone shouted something.

Everyone then suddenly realized what was going on.

"Isn't Wang Yizhao a martial artist from the old martial arts world? He also knows how to exorcise evil spirits?"

That's really strange.

Standing at the counter, Song Dahu looked at the aggressive person in front of him and felt like an ant on a hot pan, even standing still felt like his feet were burning.

On one side is an exorcism guild with connections to the heavens, and on the other side are distinguished guests invited back by their own young master.

Neither side is someone I can afford to offend.

But as the manager of Songyue Tower, it would be easy for him to cower in the dark at this moment, but he would probably lose his job as manager afterward.

He hunched over and forced himself to step forward.

"Oh my, two distinguished guests have arrived!"

"roll!"

As soon as Song Dahu walked up to the two men, he was slapped away by the bearded leader.

He spun around on his knees twice before hurriedly grabbing the table to avoid falling to the ground.

Anger also welled up in Song Dahu's eyes.

This exorcism ceremony is too domineering!

They come to our own territory and don't give us any face at all?

It seems they guessed what Song Dahu was thinking.

"Those who know what's good for them will shut up and step aside, and obediently play dead."

The bearded man glared at him coldly. "A mere manager of Song Yue Lou dares to challenge the Exorcism Society?"

Song Dahu's chest heaved a few times, but he still lowered his head.

"Your father-in-law is merciful; he'll only give you one slap."

"If you dare take another step forward, the exorcist guards behind me will be the ones to attack."

hum!

Several exorcist guards in light armor stepped forward upon hearing the sound, their movements perfectly synchronized and exuding a murderous aura.

This step,

This greatly reduced the amount of whispering in the restaurant.

"These exorcism guards are getting more and more amazing."

An elderly diner, missing his left arm, murmured, "A few years ago, they were merely dressed in fine clothes, but now they're like the soldiers in the army headquarters, able to go out in armor."

"Although it's just light armor, it's essentially just a thin layer of paper separating the parts."

"And they're all top-tier internal strength and Blood Transformation Realm experts—how extravagant!"

"Zhuo Huai'an has some clever methods~"

The elderly diner noticed that the young people around him were all looking at him with blank expressions.

One of them asked, "May I ask, sir, who is this Zhuo Huai'an?"

The old diner chuckled and said, "The head of the exorcism guild that is as wealthy as an entire prefecture, the 'Master of Resurrection who can break evil with a single finger, bring back spring, and save lives from the hands of the underworld officials,' whose real name is Zhuo Huai'an."

"It's no wonder you don't know. Zhuo Huai'an frequently enters Beiting, and the guilds that cross the river are actually run by one and a half of the three who are experts in the field."

Upon hearing this, the group quickly moved away from the regular customer.

The old man not only addressed the Master of Resurrection by his full name, but his words were also filled with dissatisfaction towards the Exorcism Association.

You still dare to say that?

Of the three experienced people, only one and a half are experts.

This statement—

You can't just say things like that.

The man with the big beard who entered also saw the regular customer.

His previously serious face suddenly changed, revealing a smile.

But there was little respect in his smile. "Who do we have here? It's Elder Jiang."

"You may not know this, but ten years ago, this old Jiang was a renowned exorcist who could be compared to the masters of Zeshan Hall, Xiufu Hall, Zhengping Hall, Sufeng Hall, and Guanghe Hall."

"Unfortunately, while experimenting on his own body to figure out how to eliminate the chronic illness caused by accumulated evil energy from old injuries, he was betrayed by the very disciple he had raised as his son."

"As a result, he not only lost an arm and barely survived, but also lost his own son, and his painstakingly built exorcism shop went bankrupt."

"This serves as a wake-up call for our exorcism society."

The bearded man made no attempt to conceal the shameful incident.

never thought,

Old Jiang did not show the furious and exasperated expression one might expect; he simply gave a cold snort.

"It's my own fault for being blind."

"I raised a scoundrel who only cares about fame and fortune and is a traitor to his family."

Seeing this, the bearded man smiled, cupped his hands in a gesture of respect, and said, "That makes sense!"

It was bustling with activity outside.

Inside the house,

Suddenly, Liang Feng had a flash of inspiration and said, "Let's go into my Zeshan Hall. When we get out, Lao Miao and I will help you smooth things over."

"How can this be resolved?" Miao Ruoyu was completely bewildered.

"fool!"

Liang Feng chuckled, "You say you're smarter than me?"

"It's that simple. Just say that Wang Qi is the disciple I secretly took a liking to. A few days ago, when I was treating Brother Li Gangfeng's illness, I was performing the exorcism, and Wang Qi was watching from the sidelines. There was no illegal exorcism."

"With our combined influence, even if Zhang Huzi of the Exorcism Society doesn't believe us, he wouldn't dare to cause trouble."

Miao Ruoyu shook her head slightly. "It's hard to say."

"People already dislike old folks like us who 'pretend to be reserved,' so it's hard to say whether they'll use this as an excuse to cause trouble."

"Besides, we can help smooth things over."

"But what about Li Gangfeng?"

Liang Feng shook his head decisively, "No, given Li Gangfeng's personality, he definitely won't tell."

"But it's better to be safe than sorry."

Miao Ruoyu spoke.

"If we get caught, they'll definitely use this against us."

"At worst, we'll just touch it!"

Liang Feng was visibly dissatisfied with the exorcism.

"Alright!"

Miao Ruoyu nodded, "We have a master-disciple relationship with you, young friend, and you are so young—it would be bad if you fell into the hands of the Exorcism Society."

Wang Qi, standing to the side, saw that the two had reached a consensus.

He slowly opened his mouth and said, "Then this junior thanks both of you seniors in advance."

"However, you two seniors need not worry about what happens next."

"I still have some connections in Dushui County, so I should be able to help. If things go wrong, just pin the blame on me."

The favor he was referring to was naturally that of Young Master Long.

The young master of Long could make the county magistrate's son his follower, and the county constable kneel and kowtow.

Their power is among the top tier of people, at least within Dushui County.

In addition, at the city gate that day,

Wang Qi noticed that the technique used by the young master Long had a sound resembling that of a dragon.

This made the young master of Long even more mysterious in Wang Qi's mind.

But in short,

If we can just get through these few days, we can contact Young Master Long.

Just as Miao and Liang just said.

This illegal exorcism is not a small matter, but it may not be a huge one either.

Relationship

That should be able to be resolved.

As for exorcisms that are persistent and relentless, that's another matter entirely.

"Favors?"

Miao Ruoyu and Liang Feng were completely bewildered upon hearing this.

What kind of important person's favor could a teenager possibly have?

The two were puzzled, but did not ask any further questions.

After all, everyone has their own secrets.

However, Miao Ruoyu thought that the so-called "human feelings" were just a euphemism.

There must be a very powerful master backing Wang Qi.

That makes things much easier.

The two of them were merely doing a short-term favor.

It's not a big deal.

"Then you go out first and sound out Zhang Huzi," Miao Ruoyu said. "We'll think of ways to make amends."

"Okay, that's settled then!"

The three finalized their decision.

Outside, inside the building.

Seeing that Old Jiang was unmoved and had no reaction, the bearded man felt bored and stopped making things difficult for Old Jiang. Instead, he continued to shout at Song Yuelou.

"Listen up, everyone. Anyone who sees Wang Qi and reports him to any exorcism shop will receive ten taels of silver."

"Those who know the truth but fail to report it will no longer be able to exorcise evil spirits in the future."

After all,

The bearded man flicked his sleeves and turned to leave.

The next moment, footsteps came from the second floor.

Wang Qi, dressed in a black robe, walked into everyone's view.

"I am Wang Qi."

The bearded man stopped abruptly, turned to look at the figure on the second floor, and a look of suspicion flashed in his eyes.

That's too young.

Although he already had specific information when he arrived, this Wang Yizhao was probably the one who exorcised evil spirits for Li Gangfeng. He was a young martial artist, and judging from his accent, he was probably a refugee from Heihe County.

But when he actually saw this boy who was only sixteen or seventeen years old, the bearded man still felt it was a bit absurd.

However, the information gathered by the Exorcism Association is unlikely to be wrong.

The bearded man squinted and shouted sternly, "Wang Qi, you have openly disobeyed orders and illegally performed an exorcism. Do you know your crime?"

Wang Qi shook his head slightly.

"What do you mean?"

"I've never performed exorcisms for anyone."

The bearded man laughed, "That Li Gangfeng was so deeply afflicted by evil the other day, but he ended up fighting Chu Yutang of the Fifth Rank Sect again. He was hit hard in the chest by Chu Yutang, but he was unharmed."

"How could this have happened if no one had exorcised the evil spirits from him?"

"Coincidentally, he only met one exorcist that day: you."

Upon hearing this, Wang Qi felt somewhat reassured.

It seems that the information did not come from Li Gangfeng.

Instead, like Miao and Liang, he deduced it based on intelligence.

He continued.

"I am new to this profession, so I dare to ask—what sin is committed in performing exorcisms?"

Upon hearing this, the bearded man sneered, "In the county town, there are often wicked people who, under the guise of exorcising evil spirits, inject malevolent substances into the bodies of the people, sowing the seeds of disaster."

"Once this happens, the people will immediately be corrupted into demons and monsters, bringing chaos and instability."

"Furthermore, those who are not skilled in exorcism tarnish the reputation of exorcists—leading some corrupted martial artists to refuse exorcisms and instead choose to degenerate, ultimately causing trouble."

"Therefore, this decree is issued for the sake of peace throughout the land."

The man with the big beard was met with nods of agreement from the surrounding diners.

That makes a lot of sense.

Only Old Jiang gave an inappropriate snort.

This made the situation somewhat awkward.

The bearded man seemed not to hear, cursing the old geezer inwardly.

He then continued, "Originally, illegal exorcisms were either severely punished or resulted in death!"

"But I, your master, consider that you are young and have considerable talent."

"I'll show you a way."

Wang Qi was slightly taken aback. "Please enlighten me, sir."

"Submit your exorcism techniques to the Exorcism Association so that the exorcists can carefully examine them and determine whether they are righteous or heretical."

"If there are no problems, I, Zhang Huzi, will personally vouch for you and pay your fine!"

"Oh my, this gentleman is such a kind person."

"They still know how to cherish talent."

Those around him exclaimed in admiration upon hearing this.

The bearded man listened with smug satisfaction.

His real purpose was to get Wang Qi to hand over the exorcism technique.

In just half a day, he was able to remove the evil energy from Li Gangfeng and fight Chu Yutang without retaliating.

This exorcism technique is absolutely brilliant!

If I could get it, I wouldn't trade it for a thousand taels of gold.

Upon hearing this, Wang Qi's eyes were opened.

Isn't this a prime example of plundering by trickery and force?

He wanted his own exorcism techniques.

Still want it this way?

His expression was cold.

Simultaneously,

A sound came from behind.

"I'm sorry, Zhang Huzi."

Your plan is going to fail.

Two elderly people came out of the side room.

"Miao Ruoyu? Liang Feng?"

The bearded man raised an eyebrow and looked at his companion.

The latter shook his head slightly.

How did these two end up here? "Wang Qi is the disciple I recently selected. The evil spirit on Li Gangfeng was exorcised by me. My disciple was just observing from the sidelines."

Liang Feng began to speak, and then began to perform according to the script.

But how could Zhang Huzi believe such an explanation?

"Liang Feng, do you think I'm a three-year-old?"

"If the person from Zhengping Pavilion had said that today, I would have believed it."

"But you—"

"He may look big and burly, but he actually uses delicate acupuncture techniques."

"How could such evil be suppressed in just half a day!"

Upon hearing this, Liang Feng showed no mercy, "This is a new technique I recently started practicing, is it not good enough?"

"What? Who says exorcism skills can't improve?"

"Or do you think everyone is like you, mediocre, and can only improve their status in the industry by resorting to crooked means?"

"Liang Feng! You're slandering me!"

Zhang Huzi roared.

"never mind."

The middle-aged man next to Zhang Huzi, who had remained silent until now, spoke up, his eyes filled with a sinister light.

Miao Ruoyu also pulled Liang Feng aside, signaling him not to continue stirring up trouble.

The middle-aged man with sinister eyes cupped his hands in a respectful gesture from afar.

Why bother with a fight of pride?

"What is Elder Liang's status in the exorcism profession? Why would he need to lie?"

"If Old Liang says no, then it definitely isn't."

Zhang Huzi stared at the middle-aged man in disbelief, wondering what this guy was up to.

Then,

The middle-aged man with sinister eyes suddenly changed the subject.

"But whether the younger generation will lie is another matter."

"It's clear that Jiang Lao's disciple back then blinded this old master!"

Upon hearing this, Old Jiang silently lowered his head.

The middle-aged man's voice suddenly grew louder.

"Let's go directly to Li Gangfeng and ask him clearly who exactly performed the exorcism on him!"

He waved his hand and turned to leave.

Zhang Huzi, standing to the side, was greatly impressed and suddenly understood.

If Liang Feng and Miao Ruoyu insist that this is not true, then they really can't do anything about it for the time being.

But if Li Gangfeng's life is used as a threat, then there will be a breakthrough.

Liang Feng has always had a strong sense of chivalry and loyalty.

His high regard for Li Gangfeng was no secret in the capital.

This forced change.

It's about forcing Liang Feng to choose between two options!

Protect Wang Qi, or Li Gangfeng.

The people on the second floor all changed color upon hearing this.

Especially Liang Feng.

If it were a normal inquiry, he was absolutely certain that Li Gangfeng would keep his mouth shut.

Not a single word will be said.

But the methods used by the exorcism society are not limited to exorcising evil spirits.

Li Gangfeng's men can withstand it, but his body absolutely cannot.

Liang Feng looked at Wang Qi with a conflicted expression, his eyes flickering.

"Wait!"

Suddenly, Wang Qi shouted.

They stopped Zhang Huzi and the middle-aged man with sinister eyes.

This also drew everyone's attention.

"Li Gangfeng has been through numerous battles, and his body is already extremely weak. Aren't you two afraid of causing trouble for a seriously ill and wounded man at this time, and people will gossip about you behind your backs?"

Before the two could speak...

Wang Qi continued, "I see that you two are extremely interested in Master Liang's new exorcism technique."

"How about this?"

"Let's have a little competition between exorcists!"

"You two find a few talented individuals of my age in this field, and let's have a go."

"If I lose, Master Liang will share his new exorcism technique with you two, and I will be at your mercy!"

"If I win, this matter will end here. I'd also like to see your exorcism skills."

"What do you two think?"

Zhang Huzi and the middle-aged man with sinister eyes exchanged a glance.

The former leaned forward and whispered, "If Liang Feng really insists on protecting Wang Qi, there's really nothing we can do. Why don't we agree and give it a try?"

The middle-aged man with sinister eyes smiled.

He looked directly at Wang Qidao.

"That's a good idea."

"Everyone in the county knows that Elder Liang has always had exceptionally high standards. The fact that he's willing to take a stranger as his apprentice suggests that you possess remarkable talent in the art of exorcism."

"The art of exorcism first tests basic skills, then novelty and new methods."

How about this?

"When the competition comes, you and my disciple will both use the methods of our sect."

"You use Elder Liang's Hundred-Turn Yin Ghost Needle, and we'll send two of our apprentices to use ours."

"How about we set the date for ten days from now?"

"No!"

Liang Feng shouted, "Your disciples have been training for years, and besides, Wang Qi is a disciple I just accepted. How could ten days be enough?"

He said to Wang Qi, "The most vicious man is named Shi Jun. He is a disciple of Zhuo Huai'an, the master of the Rejuvenation Sect."

"He is also the youngest fourth-rank exorcist in the current exorcism guild."

"Extremely talented."

"In the early years, many promising students wanted to become his disciples because of his title as a nominal disciple. As time went on, this trend became even stronger."

"He currently has a disciple, Zhuang Yuan, who is also the youngest second-rank exorcist in the Exorcism Association."

"You can't beat him—..."

Upon hearing this, Shi Jun turned and left. "Then I'd better go find Li Gangfeng and ask him for clarification."

"Wait!"

Wang Qi called out to the other party again.

"I agree!"

"However, the smaller competition will have to wait until a month later!"

"The fifteenth day."

Shi Jun said, "This is the bottom line."

"Alright, the fifteenth it is!"

Wang Qi readily agreed.

He might be able to master the Hundred-Turn Ghost Needle technique in fifteen days.

and,

Fifteen days later, Young Master Long should have arrived by now.

Miao Ruoyu interjected at this moment, "Then let's talk first. The disciples you send out cannot be over twenty years old."

"That's natural."

Shi Jun smiled and said, "It's just a friendly sparring match between the younger generation."

"How can we not follow the rules?"

That's all.

With a flick of his sleeve, he led the exorcist guards out in single file.

Inside the building.

Liang Feng watched the two figures disappear into the distance and sighed.

"Kid, you acted impulsively."

"Let alone whether you can master my Hundred-Turn Yin Ghost Needle in fifteen days, even if you do—how will you use this needle to fight two exorcists who have practiced exorcism since childhood?"

"This Zhuang Yuan inherited the One Yang Needle Technique, which was adapted by Zhuo Huai'an."

"Besides, my Hundred-Turned Yin Ghost Needle technique is already slightly weaker than his One-Yang Needle technique—."

Wang Qi's gaze remained unwavering upon hearing this.

"Whether it works or not, we'll only know after we try."

He was able to figure out a physical method of exorcising evil spirits on his own, which amazed Liang Feng and Miao Ruoyu, without anyone guiding him.

This shows that I must have extraordinary talent in this field.

In addition, he possesses the ability to see through things.

Even if you're not skilled enough by then, there are still ways to enhance your abilities!

he thinks,

I might not necessarily lose.