Wandering Gods of Day and Night
Chapter 317 - 203: Dual Secret Realms

Chapter 317: Chapter 203: Dual Secret Realms

Zhou Xuan was slightly surprised but delighted by the sudden appearance of Wuzuo Hall Master.

Since he’s here, then he shouldn’t leave. With Li Chengfeng and Gu Ling around, shouldn’t we be able to handle Old Dao Bazi and the Suffering Scholar?

"Fifth Senior Brother, how many sticks of incense can Old Dao Bazi ignite?"

"Probably less than six," Lv Mingkun replied.

Lv Mingkun explained, "Wuzuo is a small Tangkou. The Alien Ghost it’s connected to only has seven sticks of incense, and currently, it’s still trapped in the Capital City, being supervised by the Great Divine Man and the Great Yin People—it can’t leave the city.

Such a low-level Alien Ghost is unlikely to impart abilities that surpass six sticks of incense."

"Less than six sticks of incense, huh? Then killing him should be more than doable."

Zhou Xuan calculated for a moment and felt there was no pressure in terms of combat power, but soon, the pressure came...

He first saw Li Chengfeng hurriedly appearing on the street of Nineteenth Stop, so he leaned out the window and called down, "Old Li, I’m here."

"Oh, Young Master, you’re in the tea house?"

Li Chengfeng glanced up, then quickly came upstairs, rushing so fast that his throat was already dry. Without ceremony, he grabbed Lv Mingkun’s tea cup and gulped down a large portion.

"Not good news. Qing Feng told me that the Temple Master isn’t at the City God Main Hall today." Li Chengfeng then asked, "Young Master, I also forgot to ask—why are you so focused on the Temple Master?"

He couldn’t understand why Zhou Xuan insisted on him shadowing the Temple Master.

"I’m guessing that the Temple Master is the Suffering Scholar’s godson. According to my intel, the Suffering Scholar slaughtered the Liao Ghost to extract its fangs purely to prepare for his godson’s breakthrough to wield seven sticks of incense."

"So, you still want to kill the Temple Master?"

"Of course," Zhou Xuan replied firmly while looking at Li Chengfeng. "But you said the Temple Master isn’t at City God Main Hall—then where else could he be? Someone striving to break into wielding seven sticks of incense, where would he be doing it?"

"You mean he’s at the Suffering Scholar’s place, being aided by the Suffering Scholar for his Ascension?" Li Chengfeng guessed.

"Most likely."

Zhou Xuan stared at the lush Scholar’s Manor in the distance and muttered, "If the Temple Master is at the Suffering Scholar’s residence, then we don’t have enough manpower."

In the Bone Elder Gathering, the Suffering Scholar had once clashed directly with Li Chengfeng, where their strengths had been evenly matched.

But... the Suffering Scholar was in the "Heavenly Official Descent" state back then, which diminished his full combat power.

In a fair fight, Old Li could hardly rival the Suffering Scholar.

Meanwhile, the City God Temple Master, just one step away from wielding seven sticks of incense, would be difficult even for Gu Ling with her six sticks of incense to handle.

Both major allies wouldn’t be able to prevail. Besides bridging the gap in combat strength, Zhou Xuan and Lv Mingkun would also need to contend with Old Dao Bazi.

This was undoubtedly a daunting task.

"We need to find another ally."

Zhou Xuan stated.

"Who?" Li Chengfeng asked.

"Him." Zhou Xuan pulled out a bone token, the front engraved with a scroll design.

"How did you obtain the Painter’s bone token?"

"I helped him resolve a small issue," Zhou Xuan replied.

The bone token rested flat in Zhou Xuan’s palm. His five fingers curled inward, crushing it.

At that moment, the Painter, who was meditating in the tea house, suddenly opened his eyes and raised both hands. A ball of flame ignited before him, and another flame soared into the sky, heading toward Zhou Xuan’s location.

Just as Zhou Xuan opened his hand and let the bone token fragments scatter onto the table, a flame appeared at the window.

The flame extended into a slender fiery line, which then stretched out two skeletal hands from the line. The hands spread apart, turning the flame line into a fiery curtain.

A figure stepped out from the fireline, saying, "Young brother, what do you need from me? Eh, Old Li, you’re here too?"

The Painter sensed that there were no perception waves around Zhou Xuan, indicating he wasn’t in a fight. He couldn’t figure out why Zhou Xuan had summoned him.

"Young Master and I are close friends—like a crossing-generations camaraderie," Li Chengfeng awkwardly explained his relationship with Zhou Xuan to the Painter.

"Oh, me too—I’m also Brother Zhou’s cross-generations friend," the Painter said smiling.

"Old Hua, I called you here to help you," Zhou Xuan said, entirely devoid of any sense of seeking reinforcements, as if he was standing on a moral high ground instead.

"Help me?"

"Help you clean your house," Zhou Xuan replied.

Zhou Xuan explained the Suffering Scholar’s activities from start to finish, leaving no details unclear as the Painter listened.

The Painter’s brows twitched uncontrollably as he muttered, "Beast, an utter beast. I’ve been teaching Bone Elder day and night to act justly and insist on logic in all things. How could he behave so disgracefully?"

"That’s why you need to clean your house," Zhou Xuan said.

"I’ll bring him back to the Bone Elder Association. He holds the divine office of Bone Elder—no matter how grave his sins, judgment must be passed by the Bone Elder Association. Your mobilizing such a force to assassinate him is against the rules."

Seeing Zhou Xuan’s display and hearing about the Suffering Scholar’s actions, the Painter was sure Zhou Xuan wasn’t merely seeking justice.

"He cannot return to the Bone Elder Association. I want him dead today."

"It’s against the rules."

"Whether he dies at the Bone Elder Association or by our hands, the end is the same—it doesn’t matter."

"There’s a procedural difference," the Painter persisted.

Zhou Xuan didn’t want to keep circling around the issue. He believed "rules were nothing but a facade for unresolved benefits. If the benefits were insufficient, rules were a steel barrier; if they were sufficient, rules were as flimsy as paper."

"Old Hua, the Heavenly God’s fire might be lit, but lighting the fire is just the beginning—it has to be protected. Gods under the Heavenly Dome are watching."

Shifting the topic to the Heavenly God’s Fire, Zhou Xuan began discussing benefits with the Painter.

The Painter understood what Zhou Xuan meant. Gods under the Heavenly Dome couldn’t tolerate such fires and would dispatch Daoists to "extinguish the flames."

Though the Painter had grasped part of the "Space Law" and wasn’t overly fearful of Daoists, he was still willing to listen to Zhou Xuan’s continuation of the subject.