All Heavens: Dual Cultivation of Magic and Martial Arts Starting from the Republic of China

Liu Aijin was at least capable of holding the position of county head. Although he was stingy and greedy, he was by no means stupid.

He knew that pressing further would be pointless and might only incur Fu Ze's dislike.

By then, the chances of breaking this "curse" will be even slimmer.

"Forget it, to paraphrase what the old general used to say, I'm now their cutting board and knife, and I'm just the fish on top. I can't force them."

He comforted himself, then sat quietly to the side and waited patiently together.

About half an hour later.

Then they saw Master Wang scrambling in to deliver the message.

"Your Excellency, Master Fu, Master Yumingzi has returned!"

Fu Ze suddenly opened his eyes, a smile appearing on his face.

He got up and went to the entrance of the hall to greet them.

When Liu Aijin heard that Yu Mingzi had returned, a weight was finally lifted from her heart.

"Thank goodness, the old Taoist priest is alive! I shouldn't die either, right?"

He had just realized that if Yu Mingzi died, Fu Ze would most likely be unwilling to help him break the curse.

Now, everything should be fine... right?

When Fu Ze met Yu Mingzi, he appeared somewhat weak, but not in too bad a state.

"Young friend Fu, you have lived up to expectations and successfully killed that evil cultivator. Now, the dangerous situation in Fuyang County can be completely resolved."

Fu Ze nodded.

"It's all thanks to the Taoist priest. Are you alright?"

Yu Mingzi shook his head.

"I wasn't injured, but that evil cultivator's power and ruthlessness exceeded my expectations. He was already wounded by the cannon fire and was no match for me. I kept suppressing him the whole time."

"I just didn't expect him to choose to self-destruct at the last moment. I almost fell for his trick, but luckily I brought a protective magic artifact from my sect when I came down the mountain. Otherwise, I would probably have been seriously injured."

The term "self-destruction" literally means "exploding on one's own."

Most practitioners of esoteric arts can do this.

The spiritual energy within the acupoints is forcibly compressed into a single point, and then exploded violently, generating immense power.

At close range, Yu Mingzi and that evil old Taoist priest are probably comparable to a cannon shot!

The consequence, of course, was that the warlock who self-destructed was annihilated.

Hearing this, Fu Ze felt both happy for Yu Mingzi and envious.

"As expected of a major Taoist sect, they even have such magical artifacts that can automatically protect you at close range. When can I get one?"

At this moment, Liu Aijin came over.

He held a cup of tea in his hand, his face all smiles.

"Old Taoist Master, you've worked hard. Please have some tea!" At the same time, she looked at Fu Ze, "Master Fu, look, now that the old Taoist Master is back, is the curse on me...?"

Fu Ze nodded and looked directly at Liu Aijin.

"That's exactly what I was about to say. I will tell Master Yumingzi how to break the curse. Every year on this day, you must go to Mount Luofu in person to ask Master Yumingzi for a talisman to break the curse."

Fu Ze spoke each word clearly and distinctly.

"As long as you obtain the talisman on time, the curse I cast on you will be suppressed and you will be no different from an ordinary person, safe and sound."

"Of course, it's not like you can get the unblocking talisman just by going to Mount Luofu. The prerequisite is that you must govern Fuling County well this year, and the people must live and work in peace and contentment."

"If we continue to exploit the people and impose exorbitant taxes as before, then there is probably no hope."

Liu Aijin's voice trembled.

"What if something comes up and I can't go?"

Fu Ze shrugged.

"Then there's nothing we can do. Without a talisman to suppress it, the curse on you will inevitably strike on this day every year."

Then he deliberately tried to scare Liu Aijin, his tone serious and sinister.

"Once it takes effect, your soul will feel as if it's being torn apart by a thousand knives, the excruciating pain will last for three days. After three days, your soul will dissipate, your body will self-destruct, and you will die without a complete corpse!"

Liu Aijin shuddered violently, her face turning deathly pale. Her teeth chattered, her legs trembled, and she nearly collapsed to the ground.

But he had no choice but to nod.

"I, I remember! Once a year! I must personally go to Mount Luofu to seek the talisman from Master Yu! I will never forget! I will never delay!"

Even so, he still had to thank Fu Ze, bowing repeatedly.

"Thank you so much, Master Fu, for sparing my life! Thank you so much, Master Fu, for showing mercy!"

He knew in his heart that Fu Ze had set a life-or-death rule for him.

If you succeed, you live; if you fail, you perish.

Simple, direct, and ruthless, yet he had no choice but to utter a single word of objection.

Yu Mingzi was stunned by what she saw, then she understood and looked at Fu Ze.

Fu Ze and he exchanged a glance.

Yu Mingzi understood, stroked his beard, and smiled.

"Magistrate Liu, rest assured, as long as you truly abide by your duties, are diligent in your administration and love the people, and no longer oppress them... I hereby make a promise to you: if you really have something to do in the future and cannot come to Luofu Mountain, just make a phone call to my Luofu Mountain industrial office in Guangzhou to explain, and someone will send it to you."

"Thank you so much, Daoist Master! Thank you so much, Daoist Master!"

Liu Aijin was so excited that she bowed repeatedly.

Uh……

Fu Ze felt a strange sense of unease upon hearing this.

We were just discussing things like "magic" and "talismans," and suddenly it jumped to something like "make a phone call to Guangzhou."

Well, there's a bit of a contrast!

However, Fu Ze thought about it again and realized that it didn't seem wrong.

It's now the tenth year of the Republic of China.

Although the timeline is slightly different from my original world...

But no matter how you look at it, it's already the 20th century.

It's perfectly normal to get a phone call!

In my own world, long-distance telephones already existed in the late Qing Dynasty. How much more so in the Republic of China era?

However, the quantity is definitely very small.

Having traveled here myself, I've never been to a big city, so I was a little unaccustomed to hearing "make a phone call to Guangzhou."

Seeing Fu Ze's expression, Yu Mingzi assumed he was wondering about something else, so she smiled and explained.

"Cultivators of major Taoist sects are also human beings; they need to eat, drink, and relieve themselves. They all need money. Therefore, they generally have some of their own businesses and livelihoods, which they entrust to lay disciples or disciples within the sect who are not skilled in cultivation to manage."

I see……

Fu Ze smiled too.

"That makes perfect sense!"

He thought for a moment and looked at Liu Aijin, who was standing dejectedly beside him.

"Why the long face? To put it bluntly, it just means you can no longer use your official position to amass wealth. Can't you just be a good official honestly?"

"You and your soldiers have experienced it firsthand. If you truly serve the people, they will be grateful to you."

Liu Aijin forced a smile.

"Yes, yes, Master Fu is right."

Fu Ze continued.

"Don't feel like you're losing out. Considering that being a good official is indeed quite tough, I'll give you some benefits. For example... take this!"

Fu Ze took out three talismans and handed them over.

Liu Aijin accepted it with some doubt.

Yu Mingzi, who was standing next to him, laughed.

"This talisman has such pure spiritual energy. Although young friend Fu's cultivation level is not high, his magical power and spiritual energy are genuinely strong. Perhaps this is what it means to be a person with extraordinary talent."

"Magistrate Liu, you should thank young friend Fu. These three talismans, if sold on the market, would probably cost at least fifty silver dollars each. And it would depend on luck."