Chapter 38

The county office of Hunwu was piled high with treasure chests, the gold, silver, and jewels dazzling to the eye.

Qin Sang was arranging for people to count them.

"These land deeds belong to the people around Hunwu County. I reckon they were seized by those bandits. Chuanzong, take them to the county magistrate and return them to the people."

The visible treasury of Xuanji Temple was almost emptied, and there was a small box of land deeds among the items. Qin Sang flipped through it, and it contained land from around Hunwu County.

Qin Sang handed the box to Wu Chuanzong but noticed him hesitating, which made him curious.

"What are you thinking, Chuanzong? Speak your mind."

Wu Chuanzong, a bright and perceptive young man, had been useful to Qin Sang, who kept him around.

Moreover, Wu Chuanzong had a good understanding and worked hard, never stopping his studies or martial arts practice. Although he had missed the best age for training, with proper guidance, he could still achieve something.

"Sir," Wu Chuanzong replied, "I'm afraid the people might not want to take back their land deeds."

Qin Sang was surprised. "Why?"

Could there be people who don't want their land back?

"Sir, in my hometown, there is also a temple. I heard that many people voluntarily donated their land to the temple. During the drought two years ago, the local people couldn't survive, but the temple's tenant farmers still had food. It's said that temple land doesn't require land tax, and the people only need to donate some grain to the temple each year. In times of disaster, if they can't pay the full amount, the temple will be lenient and sometimes even provide assistance. But if they fall short by even a bushel to the government, there are all sorts of additional taxes. Master once said that many people weren't starved to death but were forced to death by the government."

Qin Sang was even more surprised. He had tried to do a good deed, but it might have backfired.

Qin Sang looked at the others. "Is it the same everywhere?"

Zhang Wenkui cleared his throat and said, "Sir, it varies from place to place. There are indeed virtuous monks, but there are also many evil monks who seize land and oppress the people. If the temple is powerful, even the government can't do anything about it. We don't yet know if Xuanji Temple is good or evil."

"Then investigate," Qin Sang threw the land deeds to Zhang Wenkui and Wu Chuanzong, "give me a report within a day. You decide whether to return the land deeds to the people or the temple."

Seeing Zhang Wenkui's gloomy face, Qin Sang laughed and scolded, "Why the long face? You won't be left out of the benefits here!"

After arranging the tasks, Qin Sang had Zhou Mingguang and Shuimohou supervise the counting and returned to his residence, closing the courtyard gate.

The quality of this talisman was completely different from the talisman paper used by Jixin Daozhang. It was as white as snow and extremely resilient, even better than the best Xuan paper.

The talisman paper was covered with lines that Qin Sang couldn't understand, much more complex than the fake talismans used by Jixin Daozhang. After studying it for a while, he couldn't figure out what it was.

According to Yuanjue Shangren, the talisman paper shattered after the cultivator released the water curtain, so it was probably a one-time use item. With only one in hand, Qin Sang was reluctant to experiment, fearing it might be destroyed.

Holding the purple bell and the jade slip, Qin Sang recalled how he controlled the Yama Banner. He only needed to channel his internal energy into the Yama Banner, and the incantation would appear in his mind.

However, the blackwood sword was an exception. No matter how much energy he channeled into it, it was like a bottomless pit.

Qin Sang didn't know why there was such a difference.

He hesitated for a moment, thinking about the purple bell's performance in killing, and guessed it was similar to the Yama Banner, not a good thing. The jade slip, on the other hand, emitted a gentle, warm light, so he decided to try it first.

Putting down the bell, Qin Sang held the jade slip and channeled a bit of energy into it.

Unexpectedly, the jade slip suddenly slipped out of his hand and stuck to his forehead.

Qin Sang felt his consciousness being drawn into the jade slip. He was startled but, remembering the Yama Banner, remained calm.

Is there another world inside the jade slip?

Qin Sang was musing when he discovered a text inside the jade slip, which excited him.

After half an hour, Qin Sang, who had been sitting motionless at the table, took the jade slip off, opened his eyes, and looked at it with excitement.

Now he understood. The jade slip was not a weapon but a medium for recording text, which explained the bell's abilities and how to control it.

The bell was called the Purple Soul Bell, a high-quality magical tool that could confuse the mind and bewitch the heart. If the cultivator was strong enough, it could even directly destroy an enemy's soul.

The method of using the Purple Soul Bell was simple. It didn't require incantations; the cultivator only needed to channel spiritual energy to make the bell ring and control it with their mind.

The jade slip provided detailed instructions on how to control the Purple Soul Bell.

At first, the cultivator would be inexperienced in controlling the Purple Soul Bell and would need to focus all their energy on one enemy to maximize its power.

When the cultivator could control the Purple Soul Bell as easily as moving their own limbs, the magical tool would display its full power, capable of bewitching three or four people at once.

Qin Sang couldn't wait to pick up the Purple Soul Bell and, following the instructions in the jade slip, channeled his mind into the magical tool and then used his internal energy to activate it.

His movements were not yet smooth, and it took several attempts to get familiar.

Unexpectedly, the Purple Soul Bell was like a bottomless pit. He had to exert all his spiritual energy to barely succeed.

*Jingle...*

The Purple Soul Bell rang without wind, the clear bell sound echoing in the room.

Qin Sang wiped the sweat from his forehead. His internal spiritual energy was depleted, leaving him extremely weak, but his face was full of excitement.

Getting a magical tool was certainly exciting, but what excited Qin Sang the most was the text itself.

The energy in his body was the spiritual energy mentioned in the jade slip!

The *Yinming Scripture* was truly a cultivation technique, and he had really become a cultivator!

This finally put his restless heart at ease.

Additionally, Qin Sang learned a lot from the jade slip.

The soul of a cultivator seemed different from that of an ordinary person, called the "soul" or "yuan shen."

Mind consciousness was also something not mentioned in the *Yinming Scripture*. Qin Sang only now understood the existence of mind consciousness. According to the jade slip, once cultivation began, mind consciousness would be generated within the soul. Mind consciousness could not only control magical tools but had other uses, which Qin Sang would have to explore on his own.

Thinking of this, Qin Sang hurriedly took out the blackwood sword and other items he had obtained. Could it be that he couldn't use them before because he didn't know about mind consciousness?

Qin Sang quickly picked up the blackwood sword and probed it with his mind consciousness, but unfortunately, the blackwood sword still acted like a bottomless pit, accepting both mind consciousness and spiritual energy without any response.

When he probed the Yama Banner with his mind consciousness, Qin Sang had a new discovery.

The Yama had an instinct for good and evil, but its intelligence was not high. Previously, when he used the Yama Banner, he could only designate targets within his line of sight; otherwise, he couldn't control the Yama's actions.

Now, he could completely cover the Yama with his mind consciousness and command it at any time.