The Daoist sects received offerings from the imperial court, and their duty was to subdue demons and slay monsters.
Baizhu Village fell under the jurisdiction of Siming County and was administered by Canglong Temple. As the incoming abbot of Canglong Temple, Wuzheng could not, in good conscience or by duty, refuse the village headman's plea.
With the headman and so many villagers watching, if Wuzheng were to fold his hands and do nothing, his reputation would be utterly ruined.
Wuzheng naturally understood the gravity of the situation, but slaying a boar demon weighing over a thousand jin was truly troublesome.
Daoist spells and divine abilities prioritized the ethereal over the physical.
Insubstantial spectral entities like baleful ghosts, even at the seventh rank, were fragile and easily broken before Daoist spells.
Demons transformed from wild beasts, however, possessed tough bodies and brute strength. One could only counter hardness with hardness and subdue them with force, making them the type of demonic creature Daoists detested most.
Normally, it was best to enlist martial artists to deal with such beasts.
Martial artists, clad in armor and wielding sharp weapons, could clash head-on with a boar demon.
Wuzheng knew full well that among the dozen-plus Daoists he led, not a single one—himself included—could withstand a frontal collision from a thousand-jin wild boar.
Seventh-rank ordained Daoists were formidable in spells and divine abilities, but far inferior when it came to martial arts.
To tell the truth, he lacked experience in directly confronting massive demonic beasts, but he knew how ferocious a beast of over a thousand jin could be!
Though Wuzheng felt troubled inside, on the surface he agreed without hesitation.
"Rest assured, elder. I shall set up an altar right away. If that boar demon comes, it will not leave alive!"
Hearing Wuzheng's words, the village headman was so moved that he trembled and prepared to kneel in gratitude. Wuzheng extended a hand to support the old man. "There is no need for such ceremony, elder. Subduing demons and slaying monsters is our bounden duty!"
The crowd of villagers all knelt as well, kowtowing repeatedly and mumbling words of thanks.
"The Daoist master is merciful."
"Thank you, Daoist master, for saving the lives of our entire village..."
Having made up his mind, Wuzheng grew composed instead. He helped the villagers up one by one, repeatedly assuring them that he would eliminate the boar demon and telling everyone there was no need for formalities.
Such masterly bearing left the villagers thoroughly awed and admiring.
Watching from the side, Zhou Wuji nodded inwardly. Wuzheng truly possessed the composure to stay unfazed in the face of crisis; he seemed like someone capable of getting things done.
Making grand promises was easy; accomplishing great deeds was hard!
After making his promise before the crowd, Wuzheng immediately led his party to arrange their lodgings.
Afterward, without even eating, he went to inspect the situation.
To the north of Baizhu Village lay a vast white bamboo grove. In the section near the village, wide swathes of white bamboo were snapped and broken, stained with numerous streaks of blood.
It was evident that the villagers had clashed with the boar demon here.
Wuzheng immediately had his men set up an altar at the entrance to the bamboo grove.
A seventh-rank ordained Daoist of the Arctic Sect was already qualified to cultivate the Celestial Pivot Xuanming Yin Thunder.
Yin Thunder was a truly high-tier killing art. Whether against spectral ghosts as insubstantial as shadows or mist, or against demons possessing formidable bodies of flesh and blood, Yin Thunder could slay them alike.
With Wuzheng's cultivation, if he wished to unleash the full might of Yin Thunder, he had to erect an altar and summon the divine presence of Demon-Subduing Marshal Tianpeng before he could drive the thunder.
He immediately surveyed the orientation and dug into the earth to construct the altar.
This task was by no means easy, requiring a circular earthen platform roughly one zhang across and two chi high to be piled together first.
Fortunately, with many villagers helping, they managed to level out a circular earthen platform before dark.
A square table was placed atop the earthen platform, upon which stood a statue of the Heavenly Emperor, an incense burner with burning incense, and candles lit on either side.
There were also the ritual implements needed for the rite: the Tianpeng ruler, the Seven Stars Sword, the Celestial Pivot Demon-Controlling Seal, and other dharma treasures.
The offerings included fruits, fresh flowers, the five grains, and more...
Fortunately, it was autumn, so procuring these offerings was not difficult.
When Zhou Wuji had accompanied his master to subdue demons and slay monsters, his master had always simply charged forward with sword in hand.
Even when erecting an altar for rituals, it had only ever been a makeshift one used to preach the Dao and lecture on scriptures to the villagers.
This was truly his first time seeing an altar set up out in the wilderness. Watching the myriad tedious rites, he could not help but sigh inwardly. Daoists could not beat martial artists of the same rank precisely because this whole procedure was far too cumbersome.
In the time it took to set up an altar and perform the ritual, a martial artist could have slain a Daoist dozens or hundreds of times over...
A seventh-rank ordained Daoist could open an upper altar to summon Daoist soldiers. This was entirely different from privately raising yin soldiers at a lower altar.
To put it simply, upper-altar Daoist soldiers were the troops of the Eight Divisions maintained by the Arctic Sect, all officially commissioned orthodox Daoist soldiers.
They were well-equipped, strong, and highly capable in battle.
Privately raised lower-altar yin soldiers were uncommissioned mercenaries that could never form significant numbers.
While mobilizing upper-altar troops was troublesome, privately raised lower-altar yin soldiers could be deployed at will.
Upper-altar troops held official ranks and obeyed assignments. Lower-altar yin soldiers, if not nourished properly, would turn around and bite back against their controller.
The Five Yin Pouch spell Zhou Wuji cultivated required setting up a lower altar first, selecting five spectral spirits to nurture into yin soldiers, and then, through various ritual refinings, condensing the yin soldiers into a pouch.
Even if a lower altar could not be erected inside a divine hall, a Daoist could still feed their privately raised yin soldiers using the incense aspiration gathered by a temple.
Whether upper altar or lower altar, a steady supply of incense aspiration was required.
That was why Daoists all sought to establish temples; only then could they secure a stable foothold.
Having trained under his master primarily in swordsmanship, Zhou Wuji possessed theoretical knowledge regarding setting up altars and conducting rituals, but virtually no practical experience.
Watching Wuzheng and the others skillfully erect the altar and prepare the rite, he learned quite a bit.
He was also rather curious about Wuzheng's Yin Thunder art.
In the Arctic Sect, only seventh-rank ordained Daoists could cultivate Yin Thunder arts.
Their lineage belonged to the Celestial Pivot Branch, and what they cultivated was the Celestial Pivot Xuanming Yin Thunder.
Of the ten thousand arts of Daoism, thunder arts reigned supreme.
Yang Thunder was fierce and domineering, whereas Yin Thunder was profound and insidious. In terms of sheer destructive power, Yang Thunder was naturally the strongest.
Yin Thunder specifically extinguished life force. Whether demons, fiends, ghosts, monsters, or mortals, immortals, buddhas, and gods, all were living beings and subject to harm by Yin Thunder.
Among seventh-rank spells, Yin Thunder was also the only one capable of slaying the boar demon outright.
"Junior Brother Wuji, Junior Sister, the two of you protect me while I cast."
Wuzheng's gaze swept over the crowd as he singled out Zhou Wuji and Wuming to assist him.
Normally, seven Daoists were needed to occupy the positions of the Seven Stars, forming the Seven Stars Demon-Slaying Array to greatly enhance the spell's power.
However, the boar demon was savage and brute; anyone lacking sufficient cultivation who stood in front would easily be rammed to death. He simply had everyone else pull back further.
Donning a starry crown and a purplish-red gold-embroidered ritual robe, Wuzheng stood on the altar holding the Seven Stars Sword, chanting incantations under his breath.
Zhou Wuji looked toward the bamboo grove. To lure the boar demon, the villagers had placed a large domestic pig at the grove's exit.
Its belly had been slashed open, spilling blood and entrails across the ground and giving off a thick stench of gore. The pig was not yet dead, grunting and squealing piteously without pause.
The pig looked rather pitiful, but Zhou Wuji felt an urge to chuckle.
Beside him, Wuming noticed the slight curl of Zhou Wuji's lips. She felt bewildered—in such a tense, critical moment, what was this fellow smiling about?
Somewhat displeased, she asked in a low voice, "What are you smiling at?"
"Is there something amiss with Senior Brother's arrangements? Or is there an error in how the altar was set up and the ritual performed?"
Hearing the touch of interrogation in Wuming's tone, Zhou Wuji knew she was overthinking.
He had originally wanted to crack a joke about Marshal Tianpeng turning into Bajie, but on second thought, making fun of deities in this world was hardly wise.
Marshal Tianpeng was the head of the Thunder Department. Not just the Arctic Sect, but all Daoist sects relying on thunder arts could not do without Marshal Tianpeng.
He was truly Daoism's foremost fighting, battle-ready thunder god!
Zhou Wuji said, "I was only thinking that domestic pigs and wild boars share the same origin, so they could be considered cousins.
"As the saying might go: the wild boar storms the village to slaughter people, yet the domestic pig suffers the blame and becomes the sacrificial bait."
Finding his words amusing, Wuming could not help a soft, radiant smile, but she quickly suppressed it.
Mainly, she felt unfamiliar with Zhou Wuji, and laughing like this seemed somewhat frivolous.
With a major battle imminent, it also appeared irresponsible.
Straightening her face, she said sternly, "The boar demon is formidable. Now is no time for joking!"
"You are right."
Zhou Wuji nodded slightly in agreement. If the Yin Thunder failed to blast the boar demon to death, matters would indeed become troublesome.
He had been able to slaughter fourteen rogue soldiers single-handedly, but if he had to face the boar demon head-on, things would be much harder to predict.
Ironically, fourteen rogue soldiers armed with spears and heavy crossbows could easily hunt down a boar demon.
Unfortunately, not one person in their group possessed a spear, let alone bows and crossbows. Clashing with a boar demon using swords was perilous in the extreme.
Zhou Wuji glanced at Wuming, who was feigning a solemn expression, only hoping this beauty had some real skill and wouldn't drag him down when the time came...
After standing for a while, Wuming felt the atmosphere grow awkward. Resting her hand on the sword hilt at her waist, she paced a few steps back and forth before finally asking Zhou Wuji in a whisper, "Do you think the boar demon will come?"
Zhou Wuji did not answer her. He raised his index finger to his lips in a shushing gesture.
Though Wuming had never seen this gesture before, she understood its meaning. She rolled her eyes at Zhou Wuji in annoyance, thinking to herself that this man was truly petty—she had only chided him once, and he was already sulking!
Zhou Wuji had no time to explain to her. He had already heard the rustle of snapped branches and crushed leaves from within the bamboo grove. The creature was moving fast, and its footfalls were heavy.
Forming a hand seal, he circulated the Six Yang Dharma Eyes. Having reached a thoroughly mastered level, in mere breaths he completed the visualization, incantation, seal-holding, and qi channeling.
Brushing a hand across his eyes, Zhou Wuji activated the Six Yang Dharma Eyes.
The dim dusk instantly brightened, and the bamboo turned white once more. Between the crisscrossing branches and leaves, Zhou Wuji spotted a dense surge of bloody baleful qi.
Though it was still far away and Zhou Wuji could not make out the boar's appearance, he could see the baleful qi enveloping the boar demon, as well as its potent essence-blood vigor.
Zhou Wuji's heart tightened. This boar demon was formidable indeed!
He called out to warn Wuzheng, "Senior Brother, the boar demon is coming! Watch out!"
Watching Zhou Wuji cast his spell so skillfully, circles of crimson light shimmering within his pupils, Wuming could not help feeling shocked: *The Six Yang Dharma Eyes!*
This spell was not high in rank, but it was exceptionally difficult to master. She knew Zhou Wuji had only just completed his eighth-rank transmission, yet he had already learned the Six Yang Dharma Eyes?! And to such a proficient degree?
This time, she was truly stunned. This fellow was definitely not someone to underestimate!
Chapter 22