Chapter 63: Treasure Zhang San

The pale light of morning struggled through the layer of flesh-like clouds, barely bringing a sliver of comfort to the surviving beings on the ground.

This was likely the last bit of mercy this sky and earth had to offer.

Li Si, cloaked by the Divine Concealment Talisman and enveloped in the Heart-Clearing Domain, Disaster-Averting Domain, and Evil-Repelling Domain, walked down the broken, winding, and narrow streets like an outsider.

But he felt no excitement or curiosity, even though this was his own territory.

Because it was just too oppressive.

Most men had gone to the city walls. They picked up weapons, ready to fight the rebels who were not going to appear.

Li Si should have delivered a Divine Decree to explain the situation.

But he didn’t. Once people take up arms, they should never lay them down again.

At least not before ensuring the safety of themselves and their loved ones.

Even though the Temple’s pack of dogs were his most loyal followers.

Even though Ma Jinzhong and his Black-Armored Warriors were a capable team of enforcers.

If this small town was to avoid becoming an island of death or a grave of despair, everyone had to start saving themselves.

Even Li Si, aside from himself, could not save many others. Even if he could save them temporarily, he couldn’t save them forever.

Even if he invited Old Madam over, it would be the same.

Taking up arms was the first step on the path to self-salvation.

Kao Mountain Town was in a good location.

It was backed against a mountain peak, with three-meter-high stone walls built on three sides, and a circle of stone tablets further out.

Between the stone tablets and walls were many cultivated fields, where Mutant Grass grew. Yes, the people survived by consuming Mutant Grass Molt.

This was a small, twisted pleasure of the Evil God. The Evil God’s Divine Idol stood in the center of the town, serving as the main source of corruption, yet managing to suppress other corrupting influences.

So, aside from frequent nighttime attacks by Mist Demons, the townspeople usually didn’t encounter Joyous Mushrooms, Terror Mushrooms, or Sorrowful Mushrooms. No Evil Spirit women emerged from wells to comfort lost travelers.

The people were kept like livestock, generation after generation, which was something of a miracle.

But now, Li Si had taken over the Evil God’s Divine Idol. The suppressed demons and monsters were soon going to crawl out.

It was still daytime, but at night, the sight of thousands of Mist Demons clamoring and surging forward wouldn’t be an act.

And starting now, in the six wells in town, companions of Sadako might be waiting eagerly.

As Li Si walked, he thought things over. Every time he passed a house, he cast a low-grade Demon Sealing Aura on it. This aura would last for twelve hours.

As everyone knew, this was Li Si’s way of solving problems: if he could overwhelm enemies with resources, he would never use a second method.

A Demon Sealing Aura basically ensured that as long as people stayed quietly inside their homes, they would most likely be safe.

But that wasn’t enough. So, he cast a low-grade Mind-cleansing Aura on every passerby—old, young, women, children. Each cast cost 180 points of Magic Power. With fewer than 4,000 people in the town, that came to just 720,000 points—700 portions of Gray Fortune, equivalent to only 7 portions of White Fate Firewood.

But this kind of remedy couldn’t last and would cause huge waste.

So self-salvation was still needed—not just for ordinary people, but for Cultivators as well.

Continuing on his way, Li Si reached the town’s eastern wall. Since the town was built along the mountain, there were three walls, which now became the territory of three factions: the Temple pack, Ma’s Warriors, and the Outlaw Zhang San.

The three Temple old dogs, though fanatical believers of Li Si, were clearly crafty. They now guarded the central wall and were responsible for rebuilding the Temple area.

Ma Jinzhong, the pseudo-coin enthusiast, took the western wall because the west side of town was mostly Ma family territory, where the Black-Armored Warriors’ families lived. The east was the slums, and the center was the Temple area.

This division seemed clear-cut, but Li Si had actually drawn the lines—otherwise, conflict would have erupted long ago.

Now, the eastern wall was bustling, with people coming and going.

Relatively strong men patrolled the wall with swords, spears, bows, and clubs, but their wary eyes were fixed on the Temple pack.

The less strong men also carried blades, spears, and clubs as they patrolled two streets in the east of town, fearing that Ma Jinzhong’s Black-Armored Warriors might sneak in and attack their homes…

Strong women set up large pots under the wall, boiling the foul-smelling Mutant Grass Molt.

Mutant Grass wasn’t easy to kill, but with preparation, three or five men could manage. They tossed the grass into fires and quickly burned it to death.

Children darted through the crowds as if celebrating a holiday, their occasional bursts of restrained laughter quickly cut short.

But this area was safe because twenty-four pillars had been raised around it, each stuck with a Talisman Paper—the handiwork of Outlaw Zhang San.

This middle-aged man was experiencing his fourth peak today.

In Li Si’s eyes, the guy might as well be renamed Treasure Zhang San.

Zhang San knew how to make only three types of talismans:

First, the Mind Stabilizing Talisman. Its effect was similar to the Heart Cleansing Curse. Talking about its strength without mentioning enhancement was pointless, but one thing was certain: in such situations, Talisman Paper was more effective than Dao Technique.

Talisman Paper lasted a long time—as long as no Evil Entities attacked, it could remain in place.

But even Li Si’s low-level Dao Techniques lasted only one day and night.

Second, the Dispelling Talisman. This one was hard to categorize because Li Si didn’t know a similar Dao Technique.

Its specific effect was to reduce a person’s Aberrant Corruption—meaning contamination that had already occurred. This differed from both the Heart Cleansing Curse and the Calamity-Dispelling Curse.

If he had to describe it accurately, the former was past tense, while the latter two were present continuous tense.

In any case, Li Si believed this was the main reason Zhang San deserved the name Treasure Zhang San.

What kind of sect had Lanshan Sect been in the past?

And why didn’t Old Madam know of such a Dispelling Dao Technique?

Third, the Heart-Interrogation Talisman. At first, it sounded similar to the Heart Cleansing Curse, but it was actually a highly aggressive Dao Technique. During the chaos caused by the Little Mushrooms, Zhang San had thrown four Heart-Interrogation Talismans, ending four of them.

Li Si studied it and concluded it was a kind of mental attack, but he needed to learn more about how it worked.

Sadly, in Zhang San’s family, he was the only one capable of fighting. Even his sons weren’t qualified—not because he didn’t teach them, but because they just couldn’t learn.

After observing for a while, Li Si saw that Zhang San’s eldest, second, and youngest sons had low Alienation Contamination Degrees, but their Bloodline and Bone Foundation was relatively poor, averaging only 8%. That was even worse than Li Si’s starting evolution progress of 12%.

So, with a thought, three beams of green light descended, raising the Bloodline and Bone Evolution Progress of Zhang San’s three sons to 15% each.

The cost was only 210 portions of Gray Fortune, but it enabled them to step across the threshold of Cultivation. Most importantly, they had probably practiced secretly often, and now with improved aptitude, they should catch up quickly.

Li Si looked forward to seeing a big Zhang San, a small Zhang San, and a mini Zhang San.

If Zhang San could then take on a few disciples, his Lanshan Sect would stabilize.

They didn’t need to handle major pressure—just help Li Si maintain stability and survival for the ordinary people.

So, without holding back, Li Si sent down another green beam, bathing Zhang San in Divine Grace Baptism and raising his Bloodline and Bone Evolution Progress by 10%, to a total of 30%. Yes, everyone heard right—the guy was actually a minor genius.

Li Si came quietly and left quietly, leaving an Annihilation Domain behind him that silently erased all traces of his presence.

Even Divine Grace Baptism was conducted via the Divine Idol.

After this busy spell, once the entire Kao Mountain Town had received a twelve-hour buff, the effect of Li Si’s Divine Concealment Talisman was about to fade. That couldn’t be helped.

Teleport!

In an instant, he appeared a hundred miles away, in the valley where he had once encountered three Evil God Cultists.

This place was only five or six miles from the Deserted Village where Floating Cloud Sect was located.

It was right at his doorstep.

He smiled slightly and reached into the air, pulling out a Dharma Seal the size of an eraser—this was the Primary Realm Dharma Seal. Using it would add ten square kilometers of Pure Land area, just enough to bring Floating Cloud Sect into his fold.

How’s that for a pleasant surprise?