Volume I: The God's Kingdom of Long Night Chapter 66: The Divine Fruit Status (Part One)

Early the next morning.

Jiang Wang was basking in the sun inside the Marquis's Manor.

Though the sunlight was weak and the breeze was chilly, it was exceptionally cozy.

A-Kong climbed up onto the eaves, dangling her legs. In her left hand she held a chicken, and in her right hand a duck, though she wasn't carrying a chubby doll. Instead, a large spider was tied with a fine string, resting flat on the roof tiles and sleeping soundly.

Jiang Wang raised his eyes to glance at it. Though he had already asked about it, he still found it astonishing. Tying a spider with a string was one thing, but the crucial point was that it was a monster, a Yu-ying! It was simply beyond bizarre.

"Mr. Jiang!"

Chai Bi poked his head out from beyond the wall.

Jiang Wang asked in confusion, "What are you doing over there?"

Chai Bi said awkwardly, "I did knock on the door..."

Clearly, Jiang Wang had once again chosen to be selectively deaf.

However, Old Tong and Xiao Yu should have heard the sound even from the back courtyard; why hadn't they gone to open the gate?

As for the green-robed cultivator, because he wanted to forge a more suitable sword, he had gone out accompanied by the white-robed cultivator.

Jiang Wang beckoned to Chai Bi, and only upon receiving permission did Chai Bi vault over the wall.

Did the Marquis's Manor really not need a front gate at all?

"What is the matter?" Jiang Wang asked indifferently.

Chai Bi offered a respectful bow and said, "Although some people withdrew from Hun City because of the incident at the East Market, more people have stayed behind to continue searching for traces of immortals. Just now, however, someone discovered a stone statue buried in the ruins on Qixia Street. Several people investigated it and lost their lives as a result. I thought of Mr. Jiang immediately and came specifically to seek your help."

"A stone statue?" Jiang Wang frowned and asked, "What is so peculiar about it?"

Chai Bi replied, "It is the statue of a tiger, yet it lacks any sense of ferocity whatsoever; instead, it gives one a feeling of great benevolence. That must be the strangest thing about it—how could a fierce tiger have such an aspect?"

"Yet when anyone approaches within five feet of the statue, they suddenly become deranged, shouting and raving wildly, and immediately afterwards they convulse and fall to the ground with all breath cut off. Truly treacherous!"

As if recalling that scene once more, Chai Bi couldn't help but shiver.

Jiang Wang asked the Night Wandering God in his mind, "Do you know what this thing is?"

The Night Wandering God's voice sounded somewhat grave, even carrying a hint of tremor. "Impossible. How could this thing appear here?"

Jiang Wang asked again, "What on earth is it?"

The Night Wandering God said, "You have seen something similar."

Jiang Wang was utterly bewildered. Just as he was about to ask further, his consciousness was suddenly dragged into the Divine Kingdom. Presented before him was the divine statue of the Night Wandering God himself.

He quickly came to his senses and asked in astonishment, "A deity just like you?!"

The Night Wandering God nodded and said, "Deities are subordinates of True Immortals. To put it more crudely, they are the gatekeepers in the immortal's Divine Kingdom. A deity's celestial position is bestowed by the immortal. If the immortal falls, the celestial position of their subordinate deity will be sealed, and their cultivation will at the very least be more than half destroyed."

"Because I took residence in your Divine Kingdom, my celestial position was reborn. If that tiger statue is also a celestial position, it must belong to a subordinate deity of another fallen immortal. Since it has never served a new master, its celestial position was left behind here."

Jiang Wang frowned and said, "Viewed this way, it should be quite ordinary. Why do you feel it shouldn't appear here?"

The Night Wandering God said, "If we were fellow deities and in the vicinity, I would sense it."

"The celestial position is the foundation of a deity. Once damaged, even if a new master is found, even if the deity is reborn, they are no longer themselves."

"No one wants to completely vanish from this world. My celestial position is hidden within my Golden Core; how could any deity just throw their celestial position around anywhere?"

The Night Wandering God's expression was grave. He had thought of something terrifying.

Jiang Wang guessed, "The fall of the immortals all happened six hundred years ago. Perhaps some deity completely degenerated into a demon?"

The Night Wandering God said, "Even if one abandons the identity of a deity, a celestial position is not something to be discarded like a worn-out shoe. If a demon or cultivator plundered a celestial position, their cultivation would increase manifold, and the deity would also suffer a backlash. No matter what, there is no reason to throw it away."

Jiang Wang said in surprise, "The third possibility of monsters attacking the city has just appeared like this?"

The Night Wandering God said in a deep voice, "We must go and take a look."

Jiang Wang said, "Is that necessary?"

The Night Wandering God said coldly, "My stomach feels a bit unwell."

Jiang Wang said angrily, "Then hold it in!"

...

At the ruins on Qixia Street where he had once fought Xie Wuxing.

Immortal-seekers had gathered.

They huddled together in groups of two or three, eyeing each other with hostility while full of tension.

"Mr. Jiang has arrived!"

Chai Bi's voice drew closer from afar.

The immortal-seekers turned their heads one after another, bewildered: "Where is Mr. Jiang?"

Chai Bi offered an apologetic smile. "Mr. Jiang walked a bit slowly, he will be here shortly."

They waited patiently.

After about the time it takes to burn half a stick of incense, Jiang Wang finally arrived tardily.

"Mr. Jiang."

Not daring to show the slightest negligence, the immortal-seekers offered respectful bows.

Jiang Wang gave a light "en" and asked, "Where is the stone statue?"

Chai Bi pointed to a certain pile of ruins. "Right over there."

Lying beside it were several people who had already lost all breath.

Their eyes were wide open, the veins on their faces bulging, and their skin a dark purplish color, as if they had suffocated from extreme terror.

Yet these were cultivators in the Dongming realm.

"Mr. Jiang, this object is extremely bizarre; do not go near it."

An immortal-seeker kindly reminded him.

Jiang Wang acted as though he hadn't heard. Beneath the rubble, half of the stone statue was exposed. The tiger's face was very clear, and judging by estimation, it was about the size of a palm.

"How is it?" he asked in his mind.

"It is indeed a deity's celestial position."

Observing through Jiang Wang's eyes, the Night Wandering God said, "However, this statue contains a very heavy malevolent aura—perhaps accumulated resentment formed into malevolent energy over the years."

"The celestial position is undamaged, which proves the deity is alive. Yet what is very strange is that even separated by ten thousand miles, as long as the celestial position is here, I should be able to sense its aura. In truth, I cannot perceive anything at all, as if it had already perished."

Jiang Wang vaguely thought of something, but failed to grasp it in time. "Since this statue is thick with malevolent aura, there must be something deeply wrong with it. Perhaps that deity truly degenerated completely into a demon. Leaving it here is dangerous; let's simply destroy it."

The Night Wandering God said, "Plundering a deity's celestial position can increase one's cultivation. Aren't you tempted?"

Jiang Wang said, "My constitution is already very frail; if I were to become stained with something full of malevolent aura, I probably wouldn't have long to live. Compared to one's life, what does cultivation matter? Someone with such innate talent as myself has no need to resort to shady methods."

The Night Wandering God said, "Though those words make a lot of sense, there is a remark I truly don't know how to spit out."

"Then hold it in." Jiang Wang looked at Chai Bi and the immortal-seekers, saying, "This object is deeply baleful and of no benefit to keep. All of you back away a bit."

Realizing what Mr. Jiang intended to do, the immortal-seekers felt rather terrified—after all, there were cautionary examples lying right on the ground. Yet considering Mr. Jiang's might, they merely offered a word of caution before hurriedly retreating.

Jiang Wang stared fixedly at the stone statue, drawing his saber from its scabbard. A scorching current instantly surged forth like a blazing sun plummeting straight to the earth. Beads of sweat poured down the immortal-seekers like rain, and immediately afterwards, they saw Jiang Wang swing his saber down toward the stone statue.

Bang!

The broken walls and ruins were directly cleared away, turning into fine powder.

Yet the stone statue remained as it was, without the slightest damage.

The immortal-seekers: (｀ﾟДﾟ´)ゞ

Jiang Wang: (￣ω￣;)

How awkward.

This picture did not turn out as he had imagined.

"Mr. Jiang?"

Chai Bi asked cautiously.

Jiang Wang gave a light cough and said, "This thing has some substance to it."

Although Jiang Wang had failed to destroy the stone statue, he hadn't been affected even when standing within three feet of it, which was already exceptionally formidable. The immortal-seekers were simply astonished that even Mr. Jiang could do nothing to the stone statue; this thing was surely no ordinary object!

"Fortunately no commoners come here, so it should be temporarily harmless. Let me return and think of a way before coming back to deal with it."

Jiang Wang walked away directly.

Chai Bi opened his mouth to speak, but stopped himself.

There were still a few bodies lying over there; they couldn't just be left abandoned like this, could they?

Yet he didn't dare ask Mr. Jiang to help carry them out.

"Let's notify the garrison yamen first. Ordinarily no commoners might come here, but what if some commoner takes a whim right now and wanders over here? That would stir up trouble. Having the garrison yamen seal off this place is the only way to ensure absolute safety."

"Brother Chai's words are extremely wise."

Because Chai Bi was closer to Jiang Wang, an immortal-seeker took the opportunity to flatter him before continuing, "A mirage hung high over Qixia Street, the monster Yu-ying appeared out of nowhere, a great demon attacked the city, and monsters manifested at the East Market. Now a bizarre stone statue pops up on Qixia Street. Are all these incidents connected?"

The immortal-seekers wore grave expressions; it was indeed well worth suspecting.

Coming here to seek immortals without seeing any, yet encountering monsters repeatedly, they had actually stopped holding out much hope for immortals and even suspected that this stone statue might be related to the manifestation of the 'mirage.'

Ancient texts recorded that the descent of immortals would be accompanied by anomalies, but other things might also produce anomalies. Coming to Hun City was solely due to the speculation of an immortal's descent; no one could be certain. They felt that perhaps they had already found the truth.

...

Jiang Wang returned to the Marquis's Manor.

The old steward and Xiao Yu returned just moments apart.

"When did you leave the manor?"

The old steward smiled and said, "We went out early in the morning. Seeing that the young master was still fast asleep, I didn't want to disturb you."

Xiao Yu said, "Senior Luo was returning to the Martial God Shrine and wanted to speak with me a bit more. Old Tong was worried he might take the opportunity to kidnap me, so he went with me to the Half-Day Leisure Inn, but Senior Luo didn't mention the matter at all until he left the city."

The old steward said with great puzzlement, "This is indeed a very strange matter."

Jiang Wang thought that because of his own 'considerate understanding,' Luo Xianshan should have felt quite at ease. But if he wanted to talk to Xiao Yu, he could easily have come to the Marquis's Manor before leaving; why make Xiao Yu go there?

"Did Venerable Luo leave in a great hurry?"

The old steward said, "He was indeed rather urgent. He sent someone to notify us at the break of dawn, and when we arrived, he had already packed up and was ready to leave."

Jiang Wang pondered, "Venerable Luo's original purpose in coming to Hun City was also because of the anomaly of an immortal's descent. Could something have happened in the Martial God Shrine or Kutan?"

According to Xie Wuxing's account, the situation of rampant great demons in the Sui State was basically stable, unless some new biến-goc (upheaval/change) had occurred.

Thinking that such matters had nothing to do with him anyway, he bid farewell to Old Tong and Xiao Yu and returned to his small courtyard.

Lying on the rattan chair, Jiang Wang's consciousness entered the Divine Kingdom.

"Judging by the power I could wield on Qixia Street, it far surpassed my battle against Marquis Wu before the city walls, yet I couldn't harm that stone statue in the slightest. If deity celestial positions are all this sturdy, why on earth do you people bother protecting them so deliberately?"

Lying on the grass, the Night Wandering God cast a sidelong glance at him. "Those who covet a deity's celestial position all possess unfathomable cultivation. Do you really think you're already that strong?"