Chapter 25

In the midst of desolate land, sprouts emerged from the soil, green shoots pushing against all resistance, slowly growing and strengthening into branches. Ten leaves, five blossoms of spirit flowers bloomed, like a miniature plant. Then the leaves increased to fifty, enveloping ten fresh flowers. Next, three hundred leaves clustered in layers, with variously shaped flowers hidden in the canopy, and many of the flowers had already begun to bear fruit. One thousand three hundred leaves, with twenty fruits hanging.

There seemed to be some special connection between the leaves and the fruits.

However, as the leaves continued to increase, they could no longer be counted. In the end, it grew into a towering tree of merit, with lush branches and leaves, and forty-nine gem-like fruits shining brightly.

Rumble—

Xun Yi's mind was shaken, and in the center of the large tree, nine golden characters emerged—*The Nine Heavens Honggong Yuan De Tai Shang Jing*. This was the path of merit created by the Flame Emperor, with unfathomable powers, capable of achieving the Dao of the Nine Heavens.

But throughout history, very few people had truly mastered this technique. However, every person who successfully achieved the Dao was a worthy Lord of Blessing.

The system of the Lord of Blessing was created by the Flame Emperor and flourished alongside the human race.

"Accumulate good deeds, clarify good intentions, achieve good results, and establish good causes." The twelve opening words were etched in his heart, followed by a detailed explanation that entered his mind.

Xun Yi gradually understood why so few people had mastered this most orthodox scripture of the Lord of Blessing. This technique was not about breathing exercises or killing enemies. Instead, it was a method of accumulating good deeds and resonating with the Tianfu Bao Lu Pan, one of the three supreme divine instruments of the Lord of Blessing. In the unseen, it entangled with the Heavenly Dao, and performing good deeds would grant corresponding merit, and even the Heavenly Dao would bestow great powers for protection.

There were no offensive techniques, nor any defensive divine arts. The requirement of this *Tai Shang Jing* was to perform good deeds. The more good deeds performed, the more powers gained, and eventually, accumulating trillions upon trillions of merit would make one a supreme Lord of Blessing in the Ninth Heaven.

Moreover, even if there was already a Lord of Blessing, as long as they did not achieve the Dao through the *Tai Shang Jing*, they could be deposed. This was a rule left by the Flame Emperor. Because of this rule, two Lords of Blessing appointed by the Yellow Emperor were spontaneously deposed by the Lords of Blessing, and replaced with successors of the *Tai Shang Jing*. Therefore, the lineage of the Lord of Blessing has always been independent, as they were once the direct descendants of the Heavenly Emperor and possessed several divine instruments left by the Flame Emperor. In the era of the next two Heavenly Emperors, the Supreme Lord of Blessing held a position second only to the Heavenly Emperor.

"Ten thousand ten thousand is a hundred million, and a hundred million hundred million is a trillion. This requires accumulating a trillion good deeds to achieve the Dao!" Xun Yi was amazed: "Throughout history, those who could persist were all divine beings!"

Indeed, even with the good fortune and merit of the Lord of Blessing, very few people could accumulate a hundred million good deeds. The higher the requirement for merit, the more impossible it became to complete.

Therefore, many people began to transform halfway through their cultivation. Fortunately, this technique did not exclude other methods, so it was considered the primary auxiliary technique for the Lord of Blessing.

The tree of merit slowly dissipated, leaving only a tiny, barely noticeable sprout, like the tip of a bamboo shoot. This was Xun Yi's current tree of merit, and to make it grow, it needed a vast amount of merit to nourish it.

With more merit, the tree would grow, and in the unseen, it would spontaneously bestow Xun Yi with some powers, such as moving mountains and seas, and changing size at will.

"Brother... Brother?" Xun Tan pushed him, waking Xun Yi. Unconsciously, he had already returned to the City God's residence. Only the civil and military judges, Bai Fu, Xun Tan, and Aunt Xue remained.

"During the return journey, the young master was in a trance. I didn't dare to disturb him, so I took the initiative to set up a banquet at the City God's residence to entertain the gods. Should the young master go and meet them?" Wen Pan had just instructed the food god of the City God's residence to set up a banquet, and sent a group of city gods and local land and mountain gods away.

"It should be so." Such a banquet required the City God to make an appearance.

So he followed everyone and appeared, briefly speaking to let the gods enjoy themselves, then pulled Aunt Xue and Xun Tan to the back.

"Does Aunt Xue have something to say?"

Regarding Aunt Xue's identity, why was such a powerful celestial fox in his family?

"I'm also curious." Xun Tan crossed her arms, secretly using two flower laws. If Aunt Xue couldn't answer, she would take the initiative.

"Alas." Aunt Xue sighed lightly, seeing that she couldn't hide it any longer, and said, "I have no ill intentions towards the Xun family. I followed the lady when she married into the Xun family, just to repay her kindness."

"Mother?" Xun Yi thought about it, and it made sense. Aunt Xue was from Mother's side of the family, perhaps accompanying her from the beginning.

"How was the red fox the young master just saw? Repaying kindness is the way of spirit foxes. In the past, I was saved by the lady, so I transformed into a human to protect her for life."

"Since you were repaying Mother, why did she pass away so early? And it's said she didn't die naturally." Xun Yi frowned: "What happened to Father and Mother on the river boat? Weren't you there too?"

Aunt Xue fell silent, and Xun Tan's hands glowed with the moon and sun. "Osmanthus Embracing the Moon" and "Autumn Glory Embracing the Sun"—osmanthus drew the energy of the moon, and chrysanthemum drew the energy of the sun. The sun and moon converged, forming a powerful killing move in the flower laws.

Aunt Xue smiled bitterly: "Young master, miss. I am also investigating the matter of the lady, but it is far from the official explanation. It is related to the divine path. I have some leads, and I will report to the two young masters after organizing them."

Xun Yi and Xun Tan were not willing to let it go. Xun Yi vaguely remembered the ghost he met last night, whose wife had disappeared and came to the City God to report it.

"Pure Yin destiny?" Xun Yi probed. Aunt Xue frowned, feigning confusion: "What do you mean, young master?"

"Oh, nothing." Xun Yi couldn't discern the truth from Aunt Xue's face and temporarily put the question aside.

Aunt Xue showed concern: "Young master, it's getting late. Why don't we go back early? After all, you have to prepare for class tomorrow."

Xun Yi nodded, said goodbye to Bai Fu, and the three returned to the Xun family's small building.

After serving the siblings to rest, Aunt Xue returned to her room alone, immediately frowning: "Has the young master discovered something? No, I can't let him continue investigating. If he keeps investigating, how will he protect himself? He almost died once because of his Pure Yin and Pure Yang destiny. If it happens again, I won't be able to protect him. But if something happens to the young master, the holy spirit stone in his body will also be in danger. Perhaps I should seek help from the Qixi clan?"

Thinking of the Qixi clan member hidden in the house, Aunt Xue's eyes twinkled, and a plan formed in her mind.

...

Lying on his large bed, drowsiness immediately washed over him.

It had only been two days! So much had happened in these two nights. Recalling the warning of the Martial King of Zhao Ling before he left, if Xun Yi didn't know the relationship between Cao Hou and his family, he might have thought Cao Hou was intentionally setting him up.

"I hope tomorrow will be a peaceful day." His eyelids felt heavy, and he shook his head, getting out of bed to find the manuscript he had written a few days ago, *The Mountain Ghost*.

The Xun family had their own publishing house, registered under Xun Yi's name. To support the family business, Xun Yi personally wrote the manuscript, but he had been too busy recently to write.

"Since I wrote about the experiences of the mountain ghost in the human world, now that I have truly met those ghosts and gods, why not add these experiences?" Xun Yi intended to gather material from the divine realm, quietly noted it down, and closed the manuscript, falling into a deep sleep.

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