78: Chapter 78 Getting to Work

[Ding! The Host has successfully incited great chaos in the Western Desolation, disrupting the Buddhist Sect's plan to reshape the Laws. Reward: 100,000 destiny points.]

[Destined Daughter Su Qianxue's fate trajectory has significantly deviated. Reward: 50,000 destiny points.]

Gu Sheng looked at the incoming credits, feeling pleased. This trip to the Western Desolation had been extremely profitable.

"The show's over; it's time to get down to business." Gu Sheng stood up.

The chaos in Brahma City was still escalating. Gu Sheng pushed open the door; the corridor outside was empty. The innkeeper had long since fled.

"Where are we going?" Luo Qingxue picked up the nine nether soul-suppressing zither and followed him.

"The back mountain of the Great Leiyin Temple." Gu Sheng fanned himself with his folding fan, his steps light.

They were fighting so hard at the front gate that brains were practically flying out, making the back gate's defenses extremely thin. Those old fogies of the Buddhist Sect were all tied down by the karma monument. Going to raid their home now would even save him the price of admission.

In his mind, the System's pop-up windows flashed frantically:

[Host, are you trying to pull off a 'zero-dollar shopping' spree right under a Saint's nose? The back mountain of the Great Leiyin Temple is protected by the Bodhi Grand Formation.]

Gu Sheng ignored the System's sarcasm. Wealth is found in danger. The karma monument, a product of the Heavenly Dao, had cracked, and the Law fragments leaking out were a valuable hard currency.

The two of them moved against the crowd of refugees, specifically choosing dark alleys. Before long, the lush Purple Bamboo Forest on the back mountain of the Great Leiyin Temple appeared before them.

Interestingly, in the Purple Bamboo Forest where not even a fly could usually enter, there wasn't even a single novice monk on night watch today.

"The Formation is fully active." Luo Qingxue stopped, looking at the distorted air ahead. Her Lunar Physique was extremely sensitive to energy flow, allowing her to capture the fluctuations of a Formation deep within the bamboo forest that was powerful enough to kill a Dao Integration Stage Cultivator.

Gu Sheng fished a jade talisman out of his storage ring. This was a leftover from the Great Xia Dynasty's treasury, a Law-Breaking Awl specifically used for breaking Formations.

"Smash it." He tossed the jade talisman to Luo Qingxue.

Frost condensed on Luo Qingxue's fingertips as she flicked the jade talisman out. It hit the invisible barrier of the Formation without a sound. Ripples spread across the surface of the barrier, and then a gap large enough for one person to pass through dissolved into it.

"Let's go." Gu Sheng folded his fan and was the first to slip inside.

Deep in the bamboo forest stood a simple octagonal stone tower. The tower had no doors or windows, only four large characters: Karmic Creation.

"The karma monument rose from underground; this tower must be connected to the Ley Line below." Gu Sheng walked around the stone tower and pressed his hand against its wall.

[High concentration of Law fragments detected. Spend 50,000 destiny points to activate Forced Absorption Mode?]

"Activate."

Gu Sheng didn't hesitate. Trading 50,000 for Law fragments was a guaranteed profit.

The tower began to vibrate slightly. Faint golden threads, nearly invisible to the naked eye, were forcibly extracted from the ground, flowing along Gu Sheng's arm and into the System space.

The main square of the Great Leiyin Temple.

The Abbot was working with several Chiefs to suppress the cracks in the karma monument when he suddenly spat out a mouthful of blood.

"The back mountain! Someone is draining the Ley Line's Laws!" The Abbot's eyes nearly burst with rage. The karma monument was already out of control; having the Ley Line's Laws drained now was like pulling the rug out from under them.

"I'll go." One of the Chiefs left the Formation, turning into a streak of golden light and heading straight for the back mountain.

With one less person suppressing it, the cracks on the karma monument widened further. The golden Sanskrit characters went completely berserk, grinding several martial monks who couldn't dodge in time into a bloody mist.

The back mountain.

Gu Sheng watched the number of Law fragments on the System panel climb steadily, feeling excellent.

"Someone is coming. Early Stage Dao Integration." Luo Qingxue's fingers rested on the zither strings.

"Stop him. Give me half an incense stick's worth of time." Gu Sheng didn't even look back.

The golden light landed, revealing the Chief's face, his eyes wide with fury.

"How dare you, thief!" The Chief held a Demon-Subduing Pestle and smashed it down.

Zheng—

The zither sounded.

Luo Qingxue plucked the strings. The extreme cold Qi transformed into physical ice blades, meeting the Demon-Subduing Pestle. The collision produced no earth-shattering boom, only a bone-chilling grinding sound.

The Chief felt a bone-deep chill spread from the Demon-Subduing Pestle to his arms; his very blood felt like it was freezing.

"Lunar Qi? You are from the Xuanming Hall!" The Chief was shocked. The Xuanming Hall had been destroyed three hundred years ago; the Lunar Physique should have been extinct.

Luo Qingxue didn't answer, her fingers plucking rapidly. The Extreme Dao Might of the nine nether soul-suppressing zither was fueled by her Lunar Origin, directly sealing off all of the Chief's escape routes.

An Early Stage Dao Integration Cultivator was simply no match for Luo Qingxue, who had recovered most of her strength.

Half an incense stick's time passed in a flash.

"Retreat." Gu Sheng withdrew his hand. The four large characters on the tower had dimmed. The Law fragments leaking from the Ley Line had been completely drained by the System.

Luo Qingxue struck the body of the zither with the back of her hand, and an ice wall rose from the ground, trapping the Chief inside.

Inside the ice wall, that Early Stage Dao Integration Chief was still frantically smashing the ice with his Demon-Subduing Pestle.

Luo Qingxue put away the nine nether soul-suppressing zither, Lunar Qi swirling around her fingertips, ready to deliver another blow at any moment. Gu Sheng brushed the dust off his hands and looked at the Karmic Creation Tower, which had now turned into ordinary stone. With the Ley Line's Laws completely drained, this Buddhist treasure was now worth less than a common ornament.

"Let's go." He turned and walked out of the Purple Bamboo Forest.

The wind stopped.

Falling purple bamboo leaves hung suspended in mid-air. The dust on the ground remained in its raised state, and even the flow of air was forcibly cut off by an invisible force.

Luo Qingxue stopped, fine frost appearing on the back of her hand. This was an instinctive reaction of the Lunar Origin when encountering extreme danger.

On the path ahead, another person appeared.

An old monk. He wore a faded, old Buddhist robe and was as thin as a rail, clutching a string of wooden Buddhist beads. He had no hair, and even his eyebrows had fallen out; his entire being exuded a Death Qi that suggested he was on his last legs.

But it was this old monk, who seemed to have one foot in the grave, who blocked their way.

"Amitabha." The old monk spoke, his voice dry and raspy, like wood being sawed.

With those words, the ice wall trapping the Chief silently turned into a pool of water. The Chief escaped and scrambled behind the old monk, pointing at Gu Sheng and the other, shouting, "Junior Martial Uncle! They drained the Ley Line's Laws! The Karmic Tower is ruined!"

The old monk ignored the Chief, his cloudy eyes fixed on Gu Sheng.

"Benefactor, you have impressive methods. Causing such a commotion at the front mountain to lure away the Abbot and the various Chiefs was all to cover for this play at the back mountain."

Gu Sheng unfolded his fan and fanned himself unhurriedly.

"The Great Master overpraises me. We at the Heavenly Secrets Pavilion do business with an emphasis on harmony and mutual prosperity. These Ley Line Laws were just gathering dust in the tower anyway. I merely took them to exchange for some pocket change, considering it as helping the Great Leiyin Temple with its cleaning. No need to thank me."