Before the Sanqing, a young boy in crimson clothes turned around in astonishment. The lower half of his body was made of smoke and fire!
"You...!"
The brocade-clad boy was truly stunned. The scene unfolding before him surpassed his understanding!
And at the very moment Ji Xiang came back to life, three flames suddenly rose from the censer, which had already turned to ash. The flames twisted and let out a startled cry, as if something had been frightened.
Ji Xiang's pupils also shrank in shock.
It was one thing for a legless child to float above the censer, but there was something inside it too?!
Humans scare humans to death.
Ghosts scare ghosts to death.
The thing inside the censer couldn't be called a ghost, but rather a spirit. At this moment, the spirit overturned the incense ashes, and a strange wind swirled the ashes upwards. The spirit had just witnessed Ji Xiang miraculously resurrect from a charred corpse. This unprecedented and bizarre phenomenon startled the spirit, and without hesitation, it cried out.
They had heard of the living returning from the underworld, but that was when the body was intact. They had never seen a charred corpse turn into a living person.
A moving corpse is called a zombie; is a living person called a zombie?
The fire spirit, with its not-so-bright, even stiff and inferior intellect, struggled to comprehend this phenomenon.
It was a shock to the spirit for the entire year.
But it quickly reacted. The person before it had been killed by it last time, and now that he had come back to life, it should kill him again.
This fire spirit, formless and shapeless, let out a cry to draw Ji Xiang's attention. After speaking, it gave Ji Xiang no chance to reply, immediately conjuring three fiery incense flames and drilling into Ji Xiang's ears, nose, and mouth, intending to kill him with incense fire once more.
Ji Xiang was also a bit bewildered. He turned his head, just as he was about to tell the smoke-and-fire boy to stop, when he heard a strange noise from the censer that startled him. Then, three fierce flames suddenly erupted. After twisting for a moment, these three fierce flames converged towards his ears, nose, and mouth. The flames drilled into his five orifices, reaching into his body...
Then, Ji Xiang's five orifices spewed forth blazing light!
The formless fire spirit in the censer stared at Ji Xiang again, watching him turn into a man of fire once more.
Its not-so-high intellect believed that this time, it would finally be able to kill this person.
The smoke-and-fire boy in crimson clothes was also extremely shocked.
What kind of creature was this person?
He had never seen a person burned to death come back to life, rising from where they died.
But at this moment...
As the formless fire spirit was turning its not-so-bright intellect for deep contemplation, it suddenly felt the censer shake violently with a clang!
From within the blazing flames, a hand suddenly stretched out and grabbed the censer that was used to worship the Sanqing!
This made the fire spirit stunned again!
The flames on Ji Xiang's body gradually faded, revealing his strong and beautiful physique once more.
These incense fires, which had drilled into his body, not only failed to kill Ji Xiang but were instead all devoured by this fleshly body imbued with incense fire.
Ji Xiang did not move.
This is what it means for those who consume Qi to be divine and immortal.
Especially when it came to incense fire killing, they were immune to any curse-like spells.
For Ji Xiang, the physical body was merely a dwelling place; the incense fire within was Ji Xiang himself!
"Why do you two want to kill me?"
The voice was very calm, as if he had not been attacked at all. The brocade-clad boy was stunned, and the formless fire spirit was also stunned. And within Ji Xiang's inner vision, text appeared on the blank memorial tablet:
[Zheng Dafu: Fire spirit type, its essence is formless, a spirit born from incense fire at the side of the gate over the years.]
[Chizhi Boy: Fire god type, holding a red flag to spread fires.]
Ji Xiang grinned. The moment those incense fires entered his body, Ji Xiang had already sensed their age:
"So that's how it is. You actually enjoyed fifty years of incense fire, and I heard you were left over from the Jiajing dynasty?"
"Stop hiding in the censer and come out!"
Ji Xiang's gaze fell to the side, where a piece of crimson wooden board left by his predecessor lay. Ji Xiang knew what it was and without hesitation, he grabbed it. With his other hand, he drew it out and fiercely seized the censer! m..oΓg
Chizhi Boy's expression changed drastically. He had no small red flag in his hand and could not perform fire techniques. Unlike Zheng Dafu, he was an external fire god and could not directly use fire magic within the Forbidden City. Therefore, he only used fire遁 (fire escape) techniques to manifest with incense fire. Seeing the series of strange occurrences on Ji Xiang's side, he decisively used the fire遁 technique again and disappeared into the incense fire.
If Zheng Dafu was no match for the person before him, then he, without his fire flag, could not help much. It was better to leave quickly and report this matter to his "superior."
The boy fled, and the incense fire rose and burned again. The formless fire spirit's killing intent undiminished, it repeated its previous move, spewing out three streams of incense fire into Ji Xiang's five orifices!
Then, the same situation as before unfolded once more! Completely useless!
Ji Xiang laughed twice, which stunned Zheng Dafu. Then, with a sudden forceful grip on the censer, he violently overturned it. The large censer buzzed and vibrated, rolling a considerable distance, and the incense ashes scattered all over the ground!
This situation even startled the formless fire spirit within the censer.
The formless fire spirit was now trying to use its underdeveloped intellect to explain the phenomenon of spontaneous human combustion.
Who exactly was the spirit between us?
As its mind slowly turned, it heard Ji Xiang's voice echo throughout the great hall once more!
Ji Xiang, holding the crimson wooden board, approached the censer!
Its voice was vast and empty, grand and mighty, coming and going, rapid and incessant!
"Zheng Dafu! Why did you harm me?"
"Zheng Dafu! Why did you kill me?"
The incense fire flames were once again swallowed by Ji Xiang. The censer rolled on the ground but suddenly began to spin like a top, shaking violently. As Ji Xiang continuously shouted its true name, a block of square flames rushed out of the censer!
These spirits, born from objects, mountains, rivers, roads, or nature, often do not reveal themselves to mortals. They must be called by their true names for the world to see them. Moreover, some spirits have special "settings," meaning that if you don't know their name, they might harass you, but if you call their name, they might help you or flee from you.
And Zheng Dafu, it was the spirit of an old residence, a spirit born from absorbing incense fire.
Now that its true name had been revealed by Ji Xiang, the formless fire spirit cried out, actually displaying immense fear!
Because its true name had been called, it would immediately reveal its true form!
The incense ashes soared into the air, and the formless, shapeless monster revealed its true form, like a block person crudely pieced together from many fire blocks. It went from formless to barely having form, emerging from the censer in a plume of smoke. It reached out to embrace Ji Xiang, intending to set him ablaze again!
At this moment, its not-so-bright mind had only one question it couldn't understand.
Why was this person immortal?
And Ji Xiang, holding the crimson wooden board in his hand, struck the block of fire at it!
With a deafening bang!
The block of fire, Zheng Dafu, was struck by the wooden board, scattering its fiery essence and incense fire. Then, Ji Xiang, with a backhand, struck its head with the wooden board again!
He swung his arm with this blow, unleashing great power, and completely shattered the fire spirit!
And at this moment, Zheng Dafu finally saw the four large characters written on the crimson wooden board—
"Wan Shen Xian Ting" (All Gods Hear)!
Its inferior intellect, capable of only thinking about one thing at a time, finally turned for the last time.
So that wooden piece just now was... a Zhen Tan Mu (altar-sealing wood)!
When Taoist priests perform rituals, they strike the table with Zhen Tan Mu to deter evil spirits and demons!