I am collecting entries in reincarnation

Chapter 744: Zhizhou
Ming Lingzi made hand gestures with his hands, and a seal appeared in his hand. He muttered something, as if he was performing some kind of ritual, communicating with the statue that had been enshrined in the Taoist temple for many years.

A mysterious will seemed to awaken, and the statue suddenly came alive.

An overwhelming force came from all directions, and what was even more powerful was that this force targeted the soul and will. Even if the body was indestructible, it would have to kneel before such a force.

But Li Ming only felt it as a gentle breeze on his face and remained motionless.

Ming Lingzi felt that the little bit of Taoist power he had obtained through painstaking efforts in refining the incense had disappeared without a trace, and he was immediately shocked and took three steps back.

"you you."

"The divine power of incense and fire is nothing but a borrowed means to cultivate the true. It is borrowed and even more fake. How can it harm the righteous law?" Li Ming smiled faintly and took a step forward with such astonishing power that Ming Lingzi knelt down immediately.

"Junior. I am blind and did not know the true form of the senior's Dharma vehicle. I am presumptuous and I beg for your forgiveness."

Ming Lingzi's face turned red and white, but he finally knelt on the ground, looking ready to be picked. However, considering his age, it was really not a good look for him to make such a gesture.

Li Ming just smiled faintly. Under his divine eyes, nothing could escape his sight.

"That's it, that's all."

At this moment, there was a burst of noise coming from the entrance of the garden.

"Who owns the tiger?"

A haughty middle-aged man stepped forward and shouted.

If it were any other day, Ming Lingzi would probably have treated this person with courtesy, but at the moment he was inferior in skill and had been suppressed by Li Ming, so he naturally couldn't do that.

The middle-aged man saw all the Taoists in Xuanxin Temple falling to the ground, and the temple master Ming Lingzi also had a pale face. He thought to himself that something was wrong.

He was the steward of the prefectural governor's household in the city. As the saying goes, he was a seventh-rank official in front of the prime minister. As the chief steward of the prefectural governor's household, he really looked down upon ordinary petty officials.

Not to mention this small Xuanxin Temple. Although it has some extraordinary features, that's all. In his heart, it is not much better than those sorcerers who deceive foolish men and women.

If he hadn't known that their Xuanxin Temple had a group of Taoist priests who practiced martial arts, his attitude would have been even more arrogant and domineering, otherwise he wouldn't have done anything like breaking into the backyard.

But when he suddenly saw Ming Lingzi like this today, he suddenly felt uneasy in his heart. He looked at Li Ming, the only one standing in the field, with eyes full of vigilance.

"Who are you?"

Li Ming raised his eyebrows and said, "I am the master of Dahuang."

Seeing Li Ming like this, the middle-aged man regained his previous unruly attitude and said, "Humph, you are so rude, Taoist! You tamed a tiger and didn't report it. Today, I will definitely punish you for letting the tiger hurt people. Come with me and apologize to the master! If the master is happy, maybe he will even forgive you."

"Really?" Li Ming sneered.

Ming Lingzi thought to himself, "Even though you have a high level of cultivation and profound Taoist power, you are no match for a noble. This prefect is protected by the aura of an official, and surrounded by officials and constables, your Taoist skills are useless. This Taoist is so unruly and presumptuously claims to be a righteous person. I will teach him a lesson today. When he falls, I will intervene and mediate. Then I will slowly explore which family or sect he belongs to, and how his Taoist power is so profound."

Li Ming was naturally not afraid, he just nodded and said: "My dog ​​Da Huang has always been well-behaved and sensible. Although he was used to being unrestrained in the mountains before I raised him, and sometimes he was greedy and ate a passerby or two, but since he became my disciple, he has never done anything bad, let alone hurt anyone."

The middle-aged man interrupted, "Don't say any more, Taoist priest. If you have anything to say, go and talk to my master!"

Li Ming smiled faintly and said softly: "Okay, okay"

Before leaving, he gave Ming Lingzi a look that seemed to be full of deep meaning, which made Ming Lingzi shudder. He suddenly said, "Manager Han, this... this is my distinguished guest from Xuanxin Temple. Please don't make things difficult for me."

Li Ming smiled and said, "You are thoughtful. I will forgive you the blame." Then he strode forward and returned to the front square. At this moment, the tables, chairs, benches and cushions for the ceremony were all prepared, and many mountain people and nobles who were invited to watch the ceremony were already sitting in their seats.

If there was one thing that was different, it was that there was a giant tiger lying at the entrance of the Taoist temple. Although the tiger was just lying there, wagging its tail listlessly, it still made many people exclaim in surprise.

The timid ones didn't dare to go forward and just watched from afar. The brave ones even tried repeatedly but when they saw that the giant tiger ignored them, they also went forward.

"Oh my goodness, this beast is truly majestic. I wonder who raised it. If only I, Wang Er, could ride it, I would be willing to give myself a few years less to live!"

"You dare to ride? You dare to ride my word 'king' written upside down."

"Screw you! Isn't it still a Wang character if you write it upside down?"

Manager Han brought Li Ming to the main seat. Many people were waiting for him at this moment. Li Ming took a look and found that these people had some luck in officialdom. He was afraid that they were just local officials. But it made sense. Since the prefect had come, the minor officials were all trying their best to squeeze in. So there was no reason for them not to come.

In fact, this is also a way for Xuanxin Temple to expand its influence. The incense and fire gods that were changed later in this world are to collect the wishes of all living beings, and it takes hard work to accumulate one star of Taoist power. Not only can it not make people immortal, but the power of Taoist magic is also better than nothing. Moreover, it is also subject to the dragon energy of the court. Such officials can be said to have all-round restraint on Buddhists and Taoists, so naturally they have to curry favor with them.

"Sir, this is the Tiger Master."

Manager Han stepped forward and pointed at Li Ming.

Li Ming bowed and said, "I am Miao Lingzi, honored to meet you all."

"How dare you! The prefect is here, yet you refuse to kneel!" A young official immediately jumped up and shouted.

Li Ming smiled faintly and said, "As a person from outside the Taoist world, I am naturally not bound by conventional etiquette."

The middle-aged man in the center of the crowd frowned slightly upon hearing this, but thinking that this man might have some skills since he could tame a tiger, he waved his hand and said, "That's fine. Let's dress up and go out today. We don't need to be so polite."

This is not to agree with what Li Ming said that people outside the world are not bound by conventional etiquette, but because he is not an official today. In other words, if he wears official uniform someday, even if you are a Taoist, you have to kneel down in front of me!
Li Ming just smiled but didn't take it seriously.

"May I ask why you have summoned me?"

"Is that tiger in front of the temple yours?" the man in the main seat asked slowly.

"That's right." Li Ming also uttered two words briefly.

Seeing this, the man frowned even more, but still asked, "I wonder if it was raised since childhood, or was it tamed later?"

Before Li Ming could speak, Manager Han answered first.

"He raised this tiger later. This tiger used to eat people in the mountains."

The man was delighted when he heard the voice, but he remained expressionless and asked, "Is this true?"

Li Ming nodded in agreement, confirming that what Manager Han said was true.

"Huh, how dare you!" Seeing this, the man slammed the table and pointed with his finger.

"You, a Taoist priest, don't you know that the whole world belongs to the king? Since this tiger has injured people, it has violated the law. If you adopt this tiger, it is equivalent to harboring a criminal. What crime should you be punished for?"

Li Ming listened to it without changing his expression and only uttered one word.

"Oh."

(End of this chapter)