Knowing that they had arrived at a town with a large population, the heart rejoiced, and immediately the Divine Possession technique was used.
But the object of divine possession was oneself.
It was oneself driving oneself!
"A new use for the Divine Possession technique, finding the coordinates of the Zhenwu statue, then I can possess it and enjoy the incense offerings."
The divine form has a natural sense of the divine statue. The Divine Possession technique was originally used in this way. Deities receiving offerings would descend their divine form, and be commanded by this technique to act.
Moreover, where there are many people, there must be traces of the White Lotus Society's activities. They always like to distribute small flyers in crowded places. Therefore, having a place with flourishing incense offerings would also allow for a good opportunity to reap benefits.
"The myriad people's incense offerings on the Great Hua Guang Fa Master, he had dispersed much of it before and did not fully obtain it. My consumption is also very high, and I must replenish it immediately."
Soon, the Divine Possession technique guided Ji Xiang to possess a bright and solemn Zhenwu statue.
Directly possessing the statue, rather than projecting onto it, was not a rare method. Those with divine positions could do so. The Yin Si divine generals of the Forbidden City would possess statues. When Huo Jun was in Shichahai, she also did this, transforming the image of the Great Emperor Zhenwu with his beard into her own beautiful appearance, which was a capability of her divine position.
Although Ji Xiang did not have the divine position of Zhenwu, he had the divine positions of three other holy generals, especially Marshal Tian Peng. As the saying goes, Tian Peng is here, making things convenient.
The Zhenwu statue's eyes moved, and a faint brilliance emanated from it. However, this statue was not in the main seat. Ji Xiang surveyed the temple. Although the temple was not particularly large, its decoration was very good, with a faint imperial aura of the Great Ming permeating it, clearly indicating that the local government had conferred honors upon it.
"It's normal for it not to be in the main seat. This temple doesn't seem to be dedicated to Emperor Zhenwu the Great. Many temples enshrine Zhenwu in side halls, or as an attendant to the main deity. After all, Emperor Zhenwu the Great was very popular during the Ming Dynasty."
"Is this a White Lotus Society temple?"
"Doesn't look like it."
Ji Xiang looked at the temple's layout. It was a folk temple, not established by the White Lotus Society. White Lotus Society temples are easy to identify; one just needs to see if there are any unfamiliar deities, or if mountain spirits like foxes are worshipped, and it can be seen at a glance.
Just like the Dong Dacheng Temple, Ji Xiang felt something was amiss when he saw them placing a fox inside the temple hall.
However, at that time, the Dong Dacheng Temple claimed to have official permits and was a legitimate establishment. In fact, it was true. If the county magistrate in the government was someone you controlled, then it was naturally your family's permit.
Ji Xiang looked at the statue of the temple's master. The master of this temple was a goddess, but he had never seen her before. However, she was wearing armor...
A temple for Hua Mulan?
There were only a few female generals in ancient times with names, but since the temple gate was not visible, Ji Xiang did not know who this female general was.
There are many spontaneous temple establishments in folk culture, worshipping some ancient people, and some are even fabricated.
The souls of these people may not have truly become deities, or those who control divine power are often other people, or the divine position has gained spirituality through years of incense offerings, thus becoming a living local deity by borrowing the statue.
But as mentioned before, they do not belong to the thirty-six heavenly deities.
In short, this temple seemed to have no problems, and the incense offerings were very proper. Ji Xiang felt at ease and began to cultivate, to repair his divine form and spirit. Outside, some pilgrims also had a few doubts about the Zhenwu statue.
They felt that something was not quite right with the statue, but they couldn't quite explain it.
It seemed that the beard was a little shorter than when they last saw it?
Most people thought it was an illusion, only believing that the Zhenwu statue had become more efficacious. Thus, with such publicity, when Ji Xiang felt the continuous flow of incense power, he saw many people bypass the temple master and come to worship him.
In front of the temple master's statue, the incense offerings were sparse, and it was deserted and lonely.
The temple keeper of this temple did not seem to mind. Instead, seeing the Zhenwu statue bustling with people, he immediately began to vigorously promote it, attracting more pilgrims to offer merit money.
He even subtly increased the price of incense.
This made Ji Xiang both amused and exasperated.
"I am possessing the statue, and mortals cannot see any problem. They only think that this statue has received incense and offerings and has gained spirituality, so they think it is efficacious and come to worship here. But I am taking the temple master's incense, which is not a good thing."
"I am stealing someone else's incense. If it leads to enmity, it will not be good. As the dignified Dao Master of the Great Ming, I should not do such things."
Ji Xiang immediately restrained his cultivation movements, and the sense of divine power from the Zhenwu statue gradually faded. Thus, the pilgrims who arrived later found that the Zhenwu statue did not have the divine sense that the previous pilgrims had advertised.
However, they did not ask for a refund.
After all, they had come to the temple, and it was good to worship, in case it was efficacious.
Ji Xiang felt a sense of familiarity.
Sitting on the divine platform, receiving the offerings of all people, it was like this in the Great Fu Li realm back then. Those divine tablets accepted the wishes and incense offerings from the lower realm. Countless prayers ascended to the Azure Heaven, whether good deeds or guilty deeds, they would always be heard by the gods.
As a thought arose, it almost alarmed the divine spirits in the temple again. Ji Xiang immediately collected his thoughts and saw a small red dog appear below the statue of the temple master.
Ji Xiang recognized this type of small dog divine spirit.
"Liang Gui, the spirit of the house, calling its name can improve people's eyesight."
This was a benevolent divine spirit.
The little red dog wagged its tail and circled twice in front of the temple master's statue, then looked at the Zhenwu statue. It seemed to have heard Ji Xiang calling it, but it couldn't find Ji Xiang's presence, so it disappeared.
The temple keeper also saw the little dog, but just as he was about to drive it away, the dog had already disappeared. The temple keeper was immediately bewildered and no longer bothered with it.
Soon it was night, and the temple was no longer receiving visitors, but the doors were still open.
The temple keeper did not seem to intend to lock the doors, which Ji Xiang found strange.
He wasn't afraid of being stolen, not taking the incense money home?
It seemed that there were new servants in this temple. Seeing that the temple door was not closed, they kindly reminded the temple keeper, but the temple keeper smiled:
"No need to close the door, the temple master hasn't returned yet! When she comes back, this temple door will close by itself!"
"Right, you new ones, don't come here in the middle of the night to steal money. If you get killed, don't blame me for not reminding you!"
The temple keeper reminded the new servants and told them:
"The temple master has a bad temper and hates people speaking ill of her the most. There was a scholar who came here to insult her, and she shot him in the back with an arrow. The scholar returned home and developed a large sore on his back, and died the next day."
"However, when she agrees to do something for someone, she will definitely do it and keep her promise. Don't look at her being a woman, she is a person of her word."
The servants exchanged glances: "Temple keeper, you just spoke ill of her too!"
The temple keeper then reacted: "Pah! I didn't say anything. Whoever heard it, whoever dares to hear it, their wages for this month will be forfeited!"
After saying that, he left. The servants did not dare to linger and all left. However, some of them looked at the merit box, seeming to have wicked thoughts, and would definitely come back later in the night.
The temple gate was wide open.
Some patrolling watchmen also came here, entered to offer incense, put money into the merit box themselves, and then left.
Around the second watch, a young girl stopped at the entrance and called out to the main hall of the temple from a distance:
"Which divine being is it, coming to my temple to demand incense?"
"My temple, it usually doesn't have such flourishing incense energy."
Ji Xiang remained silent.
Could this be called demanding?
This was called borrowing.
The girl walked in step by step, looked around, paused at the Zhenwu statue, then shook her head:
"It seems they have left. The Zhenwu statue's incense is so prosperous. Which minor deity dares to borrow Zhenwu Lord's incense?"