Extracting all things: My attributes grow infinitely.

Jiang Chuan wanted to go into the temple immediately to check the situation.

But then I saw...

Suddenly, white mist billowed out of the temple.

First, a thin layer adhered to the threshold, then it grew thicker and thicker, enveloping the entire dilapidated temple.

The fog was extremely thick, yet it only swirled around the dilapidated temple. The fog clung to the ground and slowly spread outwards, preventing moonlight from penetrating and the firelight from escaping. The entire temple seemed to have been swallowed up.

Upon seeing this trend...

He immediately dismissed the idea.

This fog is eerie; the people inside are probably in grave danger.

Although Jiang Chuan and those people were nominally colleagues.

But after all, it was our first meeting.

It's not worth him risking such danger to save her.

Especially those few Xuan Ying, who had previously bullied others and were clearly targeting him, deserved to die.

Jiang Chuan immediately wanted to leave first and come back to check the situation at dawn.

If they are still alive, they will be unharmed when the fog clears at dawn.

If I die...

That just means they were not strong enough.

But when he turned around...

I just realized that.

The thin white mist had already enveloped the entire forest.

Jiang Chuan's heart sank immediately.

The moonlight was blurred by the fog, and the shadows of the trees were like countless outstretched hands, all looking the same from all directions.

Jiang Chuan suppressed his unease and tried to walk out the way he remembered.

He didn't know how long he had been gone.

When you ride a horse into this grove during the day, it takes only the time it takes to drink a cup of tea.

At this moment, it seems to have no end.

He left marks on tree trunks along the way, but when he looked back, all the marks were still there, yet the road was never passable.

suddenly.

A commotion came from ahead.

It sounded like someone was singing, or like someone was crying, intermittent, sometimes near, sometimes far.

Jiang Chuan suddenly stopped in his tracks, and saw a group of people slowly walking out from the white mist.

That was a procession that sent off a god.

The people in the group were all dressed in red and green, with heavy makeup. Their faces were covered in frighteningly white powder, their cheeks were smeared with two round blushes, and their mouths were curled into eerie smiles.

Their movements were stiff, halting at every step, as if they were ghosts, drifting close to the ground.

A curtain was carried in the middle of the procession.

Red curtains and white tassels swayed gently in the windless night.

A sudden gust of cold wind lifted the curtain.

Above, there was a statue of a goddess, entirely white.

The statue had lowered its eyes and clasped its hands together. It was flawless, and the moonlight shone on its face, making it look lifelike.

Jiang Chuan's pupils contracted slightly.

To encounter such a group in this desolate wilderness is simply eerie.

There's definitely a big problem!

He wanted to avoid it.

The footsteps had just begun.

That team suddenly accelerated and charged towards him!

With the banging of gongs and drums and the blaring of suonas, the entire procession, like paper cutouts blown by the wind, rushed towards Jiang Chuan in the blink of an eye!

A strong smell of paper ash wafted over.

The statue even came to life.

The stone skin peeled off inch by inch.

She transformed into a ethereal and aloof goddess.

Dressed in white, with hair reaching her waist, and her feet never touching the ground, her shadow cast on the ground was a distorted black mass.

A pair of empty eyes, without pupils, were staring intently at him.

When she opened her mouth, what came out was the resounding chanting of thousands of people.

The voices could be male or female, young or old.

Layer upon layer, overwhelming: "Black Mountain Goddess, deliver all beings from the mortal realm... All beings have wishes, but cannot obtain them... Now that you have seen the Goddess, why not worship her?!"

hum! !

The sound entered his ears and pierced his mind. Jiang Chuan felt his mind was strongly disturbed, as if a million needles were piercing into his brain at the same time.

A voice, seemingly possessed by magic, echoed repeatedly in his mind:

Kneel down, kneel down, kneel down...

Jiang Chuan gritted his teeth, veins bulging on his forehead, his legs trembling slightly, but his blood and qi were boiling like water.

"What... thing... dares to play tricks on me!"

Throughout his life, he showed no respect for heaven, earth, or ghosts and gods.

Someone of dubious origin doesn't deserve his worship!

"I'll worship your mother!"

Jiang Chuan suddenly drew his sword!

The moment the sword was drawn, the spirit master appeared, and a sharp intent exploded from the blade.

Red and white light burst forth from the blade, transforming into a graceful spirit. The spirit had no face, yet it exuded an air of disdain.

He trailed crimson stripes, transformed into a streak of light, and slashed forward in an instant!

The blade flashed, tearing through the white mist.

It's like drawing a line of ink on rice paper.

hum! !

As the blade flashed, the chanting of Buddhist hymns abruptly ceased, and a crack appeared on the goddess's face.

The crack ran from her brow down to her jaw. She opened her mouth as if she wanted to say something, but only a series of cracking noises came out.

Bang! !

The bizarre scene before them instantly shattered into countless illusions!

Those figures dressed in red and green deflated one by one, falling lightly to the ground, and turning into tattered paper figures.

Jiang Chuan looked at the paper figures and slowly exhaled a breath of stale air.

Deceitful tricks.

With a flick of his knife, he picked up a paper figure. The smell of burnt paper ash was strong. A few words were crookedly written on the paper figure, but they were too blurry to be recognized.

Jiang Chuan clenched his five fingers, and the paper figure crumbled into powder.

He sheathed his knife and turned to leave.

But then they discovered...

White mist had already risen from all directions.

Jiang Chuan slowly tightened his grip on the hilt of his sword, his expression cold and stern. Clearly, the owner of this mist did not intend to let him leave.

……

Zhao Kui woke up in a daze and found himself in an unfamiliar world.

It was dark.

The air was filled with an intense, almost overwhelming, aroma of incense.

The surrounding area was filled with villagers with devout expressions.

Men and women, young and old, spontaneously formed a long line, kneeling before a thriving temple, praying for blessings.

That temple, with its golden roof and vermilion walls, was ten times more magnificent than the City God Temple in Quanning City.

And he was kneeling among them.

Zhao Kui's heart skipped a beat.

He immediately realized that he had fallen into an illusion.

As a member of the Shadow Guard, he had seen ghosts and fought against various enemies, so he could naturally distinguish between illusions.

He immediately tried to get up.

But he found that his body was completely out of his control here, and his two legs were rooted to the spot and did not move at all.

He could only passively follow the long queue, moving forward step by step.

The person in front of him knelt, so he knelt too.

He bowed to the people in front of him, and he bowed too.

He wanted to shout.

But not a sound came out of his throat.

He saw the goddess statue in the temple.

It was pure white, with lowered eyebrows and downcast eyes, bearing an eight-tenths resemblance to the ruined statue in the dilapidated temple.

The statue before us, however, was perfectly preserved with its golden body and flowing robes, as if it were about to step down from its lotus pedestal at any moment.

The offerings of fruit before the altar were fresh and juicy, and the flames of the ever-burning lamp were emerald green.

The entire hall was shrouded in a hazy white light.

His appearance is solemn and dignified.

He saw villagers kneeling and praying before the statue.

Some people cried and prayed for children, some for wealth, and some for peace. The chanting of Buddhist hymns drifted out of the temple, mixed with the sound of the wooden fish, each note seeming to strike his heart.

"What on earth is going on...?"

Zhao Kui's eyes were serious as he racked his brains trying to figure out how to break the deadlock.

Then he saw it.

The villagers who made wishes actually had their wishes fulfilled the very next moment!

Gold and silver treasures rained down from the sky, and an old woman with white hair knelt down with a hunched back, but when she stood up, she had a full head of black hair and a face like a young girl.

A man who had lost half an arm grew a brand new arm after kneeling and worshipping!

"This is……"

He was immediately deeply shocked.

I couldn't help but wonder, is this Black Mountain Goddess really that powerful?

Could she really be a deity descended from heaven?

wrong!

This guy is definitely up to something!

Zhao Kui, after all, had a wealth of experience in crises. He quickly realized that there was a strange force here that was constantly affecting his mind!

But he couldn't help thinking about it.

What if it's true?

What if the wish he made here really came true?

He's spent most of his life striving to accumulate enough merit to become a Dragon Envoy. And so that one day he could cultivate divine fire and become a Commander of Soldiers!

He spent over a decade at Hidden Dragon, living a life of constant danger and working from dawn till dusk.

On what grounds?

Even a complete novice can trample on him!

His eyes were sometimes clear.

Sometimes they struggle.

A jumble of thoughts tore at his mind, plunging him into deep confusion.

Just as he was feeling lost, it was his turn in the queue.

Zhao Kui stared blankly upwards.

Then, the goddess statue in front of them seemed to come alive.

That compassionate face slowly opened its eyes, which were filled with pity, and spoke in a clear voice:

"All people suffer: birth, old age, sickness, death, being forced to be with those they hate, being separated from those they love, and not getting what they want..."

"I have come to this world out of compassion for your suffering, to deliver all sentient beings from this affliction."

"Mortal, do you have a wish?"

The voice seemed both near and far, as if a million people were speaking at the same time, transforming into a loud, incantation that completely shattered the last vestige of clarity in Zhao Kui's eyes.

The emotions in his eyes turned into complete fanaticism.

He knelt down reverently and kowtowed deeply.

"This disciple wishes... to soon command troops, transcend worldly affairs, and be free from all constraints!"

His voice trembled, whether from excitement or something else, it was hard to tell.

He thought about his life so far, about the injuries and illnesses he had suffered, and about Jiang Chuan's young face.

If he could truly command troops...

If one could truly transcend the world...

His forehead was pressed firmly against the cold ground.

The goddess spoke kindly: "Mortal bodies are bound by the rules of the mortal world. This is the way of Heaven, a shackle imposed on all living beings. In life, one cannot be free; in death, one cannot transcend."

"If you want to be free and unrestrained and attain great freedom, you must relinquish your physical body and enter my spiritual land. Only then can you escape the cycle of reincarnation and roam freely beyond this world."

"Would you be willing?"

Zhao Kui had been completely brainwashed by this point.

He immediately fell to the ground, his forehead hitting the ground with a thud.

"This disciple is willing!"

"good……"

The goddess waved her hand, showering down a beam of divine light.

The light was holy and warm, falling upon Zhao Kui.

His skin peeled off layer by layer.

First came the clothes, which turned to ashes inch by inch. Then came the skin, which peeled off piece by piece like a peeled eggshell.

Bloody flesh, exposed to the air, peels away layer by layer, revealing stark white bones.

The scene was extremely bloody and bizarre.

Despite the horrific pain, Zhao Kui wore an expression of pure bliss.

He tilted his head back, mouth agape, as if receiving a divine blessing.

The surrounding people also looked on with admiration and envy.

It seemed as if they envied Zhao Kui for winning the favor of the goddess.

Congratulations, congratulations...

"Another virtuous person has entered the sacred land of the Goddess..."

Blood seeped out beneath Zhao Kui.

The stream flows down the stone steps, one step at a time, towards the foot of the statue.

A smile lingered on his skeletal, terrifying face.

The statue, however, remained with its head bowed and eyes lowered, watching all of this with compassion.

The procession in the distance was still slowly moving forward.

……

Jiang Chuan wandered around in the fog, which seemed to be alive, constantly spreading and appearing the same in all directions, making it impossible for him to escape the forest.

Soon, he found himself back where he started.

We returned to the dilapidated temple.

But it's different from before.

A layer of writhing flesh had grown on the surface of the temple.

The temple is covered with countless veins that bulge and contract in a rhythmic motion, making the whole temple look like a giant heart beating!

Pfft!

Pfft!

Jiang Chuan immediately got goosebumps. "What is this thing?"

Just as he was filled with doubt and surprise, the temple door suddenly opened.

squeak...

Four pale-faced children emerged from behind the door. They had their hands hanging down, their heads bowed, and strange smiles on their faces. They walked without making a sound.

Immediately afterwards, another white figure appeared behind the door, dressed in snow-white robes, with a solemn and dignified appearance, wearing a white veil, holding a vase, and standing on a lotus platform.

A soft white light enveloped its entire body.

It was as if a Bodhisattva had descended to earth.

And its face.

It was the Black Mountain Lady he had met in the forest earlier!

She spoke slowly, "Benefactor, you have an affinity with Buddha. Why not lay down your butcher's knife, take refuge under my tutelage, and ascend to paradise soon..."

The voice was soft and gentle, as if it possessed a bewitching, magical quality.

But Jiang Chuan was completely unaffected, only looking at her with a suspicious expression.

"Tsk..."

"You bastard, you have not a trace of ghostly aura about you, yet you can still use such ghostly tricks. Just what are you?!"

The Black Mountain Goddess, with a compassionate countenance, said, "I am the Mysterious Maiden of the Nine Heavens, descended to earth solely to fulfill my great vow of saving all sentient beings..."

She didn't finish her sentence.

Jiang Chuan raised his hand and slashed out with his sword from a distance!

hum!

The Spirit Lord, dragging the crimson stripes, transformed into a beam of light and instantly cleaved her in two!

The two halves of the body fell to either side, the white robes stained with blood, and the lotus platform shattered.

Jiang Chuan said expressionlessly:

Speak like a human.

The smile on the Black Mountain Goddess's face froze.

Then, her torn body miraculously healed quickly, the two halves of her body grew back together, the granulation tissue at the cut wriggled and intertwined, and in the blink of an eye, she was restored to her original state!

She showed no anger whatsoever; instead, a greedy glint, which she could no longer suppress, appeared in her eyes.

"Hiss... Hah..."

Her face was contorted in a grotesque grimace, utterly distorted. "How could there be such a pure physical body in this world, a precious form with such pure and abundant vital energy!"

She stuck out her slender tongue and licked her blood-red lips, a sinister smile on her face: "Once I devour you, I will surely achieve my goal and truly take that step!"

"Want to eat me? Then come and try!"

Jiang Chuan sneered, "I'll make you realize that not letting me leave was the biggest mistake of your life!"

Before he could finish speaking...

He suddenly pushed off with his feet! Like an arrow released from a bow, he crashed into his opponent, his crimson markings sweeping across the ground, his sword energy crisscrossing!

hum! !

As the blade flashed, the bodies of the four boys were simultaneously severed in two.

But they did not die.

At the cut, pale white paper scraps sprayed out, falling to the ground and turning into four cleaved paper figures.

The Black Mountain Goddess did not hide.

She opened her arms, letting the blade flash down on her body and sever her.

Jiang Chuan slashed her again and again, cutting her into seventeen or eighteen pieces.

Minced meat was scattered all over the ground.

But the pieces of flesh were still wriggling, quickly gathering together in one place, and in a moment, they were pieced back together to form the white-clad goddess.

"it's useless."

She laughed, "I have already attained immortality. Even if you kill me a hundred times, I will be reborn a hundred times!"

As she spoke, she raised her slender hand and flicked her finger.

A wisp of bluish-black smoke rushed towards Jiang Chuan's face!

Wherever the smoke passes, the grass and trees wither.

poison!

Jiang Chuan was unable to retreat in time, and the poisonous smoke covered his face.

The blue smoke entered the seven orifices.

He felt a slight itch in his throat.

Immediately, the blood and qi in his body surged on their own, and the poison was instantly neutralized.

[Level 1 Poison Resistance]!

He had previously swallowed the gallbladder of the sentient black bear, thus acquiring this entry, but had yet to put it to use.

This came in very handy at that moment!

The opponent's poison skills are extremely powerful; against an ordinary martial artist, they could likely instantly corrode bones and rupture intestines, killing them with poison.

But it couldn't hurt him at all!

The Black Mountain Goddess's smile froze for a moment.

Jiang Chuan simply said, "That's it?"

He drew his sword again.

This time, a jet-black fire ignited on the blade.

Ghost fire!

Realizing that physical attacks would not harm his opponent, Jiang Chuan released the power of the vengeful spirit without hesitation.

The Black Mountain Goddess remained unmoved, letting the ghostly fire blade strike her body.

next moment.

Her expression changed.

"Ah!!...What, what kind of power is this!!"