Chapter 301: Brewing Unrest

In the Cao Clan's scripture library, Chu Qiguang was reading a historical account with keen interest.

It had been written over one hundred and fifty years ago by an ancestor of the Cao Clan and recounted how the Great Han Empire had sent out an army to eradicate the fiends in Shu Province. At the time, this ancestor of the Cao Clan had been a member of that army.

After the dragons were driven out of the central plains, many fiends fled to the Shu Province. The imperial court's forces quickly also descended upon Shu Province, forcing the fiends into the snowy mountains.

According to the account, the emperor's primary objective at the time had been to eradicate the fiends, but he had also secretly tasked a group of people with searching for the dragons' scriptures.

Those fiends had once been subordinates to the dragons, and following the dragons' defeat, they had fled to Shu Province with many of the dragon race's scriptures, weapons, and pills.

Chu Qiguang had previously heard from Qiao Zhi that the Great Han Empire had inherited much of the dragon race's power and knowledge after driving them out of the central plains.

In fact, the Five Origin Earth Song originally belonged to the dragon race.

The imperial clan had been constantly scouring the world for resources and knowledge pertaining to dragons, and the current Yong'an Emperor had gone even further down that path in his quest to advance beyond the Dao Comprehension state.

Now that I think about it, Yi Siman's travel journal also mentioned dragons, although it was only a dragon skeleton that he had seen in the Imperial Heavenly Dao's divine hall. Perhaps I can get Yang Ling to present the travel journal to the imperial court at some point, but the timing has to be right...

After reading the historic account, Chu Qiguang received a boon, which he used to elevate the Steel Tendon Iron Bone Arts to the third level.

Unfortunately, that was the final useful book he found in the Cao Clan's scripture library. He quickly left the library and stepped into the Cao Clan's estate, where White Rice was waiting for him.

"What're you doing here?" Chu Qiguang asked. "Did something happen on Ning Chigong's end?"

"The Dao Comprehension Seed named Jun Li has taken control of all of Ning Chigong's subordinates, and the other four scourges have also arrived in the Ba Manor," White Rice reported. "Oh, and Jun Bi has learned the Vajra Laws."

"It sounds like we're in for a good show," Chu Qiguang mused with a faint smile.

***

The next morning, Chu Qiguang paid a trip to the Daoist temple to see Zhang Fengyun.

"You're here for Hao Xiangtong, right?" Zhang Fengyun asked. "Hao Xiangtong has been working hard on her studies and cultivation. She possesses exceptional aptitude, and I'm certain she'll reach great heights in the future. If you want what's best for her, I suggest you leave her alone for now."

"I'm here to see you, Abbot," Chu Qiguang said as he pulled out a letter. "This is a letter of recommendation written for me by a Daoist priest on Jade Face Mountain. I was hoping to read some Daoist scriptures in the temple's scripture library."

Zhang Fengyun quickly read through the letter, then looked up at Chu Qiguang with a hint of surprise in her eyes.

"This is from Zhao Lingxiao?"

Chu Qiguang had gone out of his way to pay Zhao Lingxiao a visit a few days ago and ask him to write the letter.

Zhao Lingxiao was very moved to see that Chu Qiguang was still determined to find his faith, and he happily agreed to write it for him.

The letter was full of praise, describing Chu Qiguang's keen interest in Daoist scriptures and his deep reverence for the Heavenly Master Religion and the Profound Origin Dao Lord. However, Zhao Lingxiao had intentionally refrained from mentioning Chu Qiguang's inability to activate talismans.

"Senior Brother Zhao used to be a colleague of mine," Zhang Fengyun said with a reminiscent look in her eyes. "It's a good thing that you're interested in Daoist scriptures, so I certainly won't stand in your way. Also, the Ba Manor is likely to become rather dangerous soon, so I think you should stay in the temple for a few days. That way, I'll be able to ensure your safety."

Over the next few days, Chu Qiguang pored over the Daoist scriptures in the temple's scripture library, quickly elevating his Steel Tendon Iron Bone Arts to the fourth level.

From an outside perspective, it appeared that he had sought refuge in the temple and had no intention of coming out. In his absence, unrest continued to spread throughout the Ba Manor City.

First, Gao Yi's body was stolen from the morgue, and no one had any idea who the culprit was. Then, one of the revered figures of the local martial arts world who had attacked Gao Yi during the martial gathering at the Ning Residence had his entire clan slaughtered by the Tribulation Religion. Every single one of his clansmen was decapitated, after which their heads were neatly arranged outside the manor office. This caused the governor to flee the Ba Manor in a blind panic in the middle of the night.

The martial artist's residence was also burned to the ground.

Of course, the Tribulation Religion had also planned to exact revenge on Zhang Fengyun, who had allegedly dealt the killing blow on Gao Yi.

Women who were sent out of the Daoist temple on procurement trips were frequently abducted, and when Zhang Fengyun left the temple to hunt down the perpetrators, the Rage Demon attacked in her absence.

Thankfully, three Dao Comprehension Seeds of the Demon Vanquishing Department had been stationed at the temple, and together, they managed to ward off the Rage Demon.

However, Zhang Fengyun fell into an ambush set by the Tribulation Religion and had a hole pierced straight through her abdomen.

The three factions clashed several more times afterward, and overall, the four scourges of the Tribulation Religion gained the upperhand thanks to their different abilities.

Initially, Zhang Fengyun visited Chu Qiguang in the scripture library from time to time to offer him guidance. However, as the situation in the Ba Manor worsened, she became too busy attending to more urgent matters and stopped visiting him.

Chu Qiguang naturally didn't care. He was happy to remain in the scripture library, far away from all the chaos and conflict.

Thanks to intelligence provided by Ning Chigong, Chen Gang, Zhang Jitian, and Lei Yushu were always able to avoid the clashes between the three factions.

Massive brawls involving hundreds of followers of the Tribulation Religion and the Heavenly Master Religion had been breaking out across the city, and the local authorities were being run ragged trying to maintain law and order.

***

At the entrance of the Daoist temple, a Daoist attendant stopped Chu Qiguang in his tracks.

"You can't go out now! It's dangerous out there!"

Chu Qiguang naturally couldn't tell the Daoist attendant that he wanted to cultivate the Sumeru King Scripture now that he had reached the fourth level of the Steel Tendon Iron Bone Arts.

Thus, he simply bypassed the Daoist attendant without offering an explanation and left the temple.

From there, he made his way to a secluded forest outside the city. Only then did he take out the Sumeru King Scripture.

"1,994 days 2 hours 56 minutes 55 seconds."

All this time, Chu Qiguang had been followed by a thin, pale middle-aged man. It was none other than the Tribulation Religion's Greed Demon.

Ning Chigong had tipped him off that Chu Qiguang had left the Daoist temple.

The Greed Demon wandered through the surrounding forest for a while before thinking to himself, There doesn't seem to be an ambush... But why would he leave the Daoist temple and come to such a secluded place on his own under these circumstances? Is he stupid? What's that book he's holding? I guess I'll find out after I kill him.

Actually, should I kill him? That seems like a waste. Instead, I should abduct him and use him to extort the Demon Vanquishing Department. I heard that he isn't on good terms with Shu Province's Demon Vanquishing Department. Maybe I can turn him into a double agent. For now, I should just capture him first.

With that in mind, a series of sharp blades emerged from all over the Greed Demon's body.

He possessed the ability to store countless weapons inside his body, making him a walking arsenal. However, just as he was about to make a move, a wave of intense heat suddenly swept toward him. To his surprise, the heat was radiating from Chu Qiguang.

So he was a fifth-state martial artist all along? No wonder he dared to come out on his own. He's been hiding his power this entire time.

Despite this realization, the Greed Demon wasn't concerned in the slightest. However, the smile on his face quickly disappeared as the heat surging from Chu Qiguang's body grew more and more intense.

How is he doing this?! His qi and blood are more formidable than those of any fifth-state martial artist I've ever seen!

All of a sudden, a patch of withered grass burst into flames, the temperature continued to rise.

By this point, Chu Qiguang's entire body had turned bright red. The heat had become so intense that it warped the air around him, making his figure appear distorted from the Greed Demon's perspective.

All of a sudden, the Greed Demon noticed that his hair was beginning to catch fire, snapping him out of his stunned daze.

He shuddered upon realizing that he wouldn't even be able to get close to Chu Qiguang without suffering severe burns.

This is insane! How could he possibly be this strong? I have to go back and report this immediately!

Just then, Chu Qiguang suddenly turned to look directly at him with a faint smile on his face.