Becoming an immortal and ancestor begins with the golden toad spitting out money.

Chapter 46 Stepping Forward, the Multi-Treasure Golden Toad

"The previous land god, and the previous land god again!"

Su Ji had never met the previous local deity, yet this person appeared more frequently than expected.

Upon closer reflection, Su Ji could understand.

After all, the previous land deity served in both East and West Sang for a long time. He could be a god who protected the area, or he could be a corrupt official who committed crimes.

This person cultivates walking corpses in his clan. In order to elevate these walking corpses to the level of Corpse King, he does not hesitate to collude with the mountain demon Black Tiger to engage in illegal transactions. He has long since abandoned all moral principles.

Two villagers died because of the ghost story, which happened to be the upper limit for untimely deaths of people in the area, so it wouldn't receive much attention.

Moreover, both villagers were not only elderly but also ill, so even if someone noticed something was wrong afterward, they could simply say they died of illness...

If that were all, Su Ji could call the previous land deity a corrupt and bribe-taking god.

However, as Zhou Fengzi's affair came to light, Su Ji's opinion of the previous local deity plummeted, even dropping him to the level of a demon.

Clearly, Zhou Fengzi's madness was neither congenital nor acquired; rather, he was driven insane by being forced into it.

Zhou Wu's madness was extremely bizarre; ordinary people simply did not possess such abilities.

The case of the walking corpse in the Wu family shows that someone in the Wu family must have known that the previous local deity came from the Wu family. This is why humans, gods, and ghosts colluded to harm Zhou Wu for his entire life.

Yan Tianchou further explained: "In order to seize the land of the Zhou Wu family to build an ancestral hall, the Wu family first gradually increased the price to double. When they saw that the Zhou Wu family was holding on tightly and would not let go, they had evil intentions."

"When their attempts to persuade him failed, they resorted to underhanded tactics against Zhou Wu."

"Perhaps, it was someone else who drove Zhou Wu mad, such as the previous day and night wandering spirit soldiers, the earth spirit soldiers, or the middle-level spirit soldiers, but they must have had the tacit approval of the previous earth god."

"After Zhou Wu went mad, the Zhou family certainly wouldn't sit idly by and started spending money to hire people to treat him..."

"If there is really no possibility of a cure, the Zhou family may give up on treatment. However, the Wu family will stop at nothing to achieve their goal, causing Zhou Wu's condition to fluctuate."

"As a result, the Zhou family spent all their savings to treat Zhou Wu's illness, and then sold the land to the Wu family to raise money."

"From this point on, the Wu family had achieved their goal and should have stopped tormenting Zhou Wu, but this situation continued for twelve years."

"Either the ancestors of the Wu family vented their anger over the obstruction of the ancestral hall's construction on Zhou Wu, or the Wu family was afraid of leaving future troubles, or the ghosts and gods just wanted to torment Zhou Wu for fun..."

"When Zhou Wu finally came to his senses after being cleansed by the spring rain and thunder and prepared to escape this nightmarish village, he went mad again in front of the local temple. This was no longer a matter of turning a blind eye, but a complete lack of restraint."

Su Ji, now a Day-Roaming Spirit Soldier, couldn't help but feel a surge of anger: "Such demonic behavior is simply a defilement of the word 'divine'!"

Unfortunately, the previous local deity was dismissed and investigated, and even the spirit soldiers who were related to the Wu family did not escape...

Immediately, Su Ji thought of the unfortunate ghost cultivator from the Wu family, and... the two elderly members of the Wu family who had recently hanged themselves.

The two elderly members of the Wu family concealed the presence of the walking corpses in their ancestral graves, but they were not destined to die. In the end, they chose to hang themselves.

Clearly, the two elderly members of the Wu family had committed countless illegal and criminal acts, and in order to avoid imprisonment, they chose to hang themselves and seek refuge with the previous local deity.

Unexpectedly, the Earth God Temple had already undergone a "change of power," and the two elderly members of the Wu family had lost their protection after death. They are now imprisoned in the Earth God Temple's underworld dungeon...

Su Ji's expression darkened further as he said, "These two elders of the Wu family must know something about Zhou Wu's madness fourteen years ago. It's even possible that they were the instigators!"

Even from a normal person's perspective, even if they can't fully empathize, they would still feel sorry for Zhou Wu's descent into madness.

Moreover, Su Ji was not only a day-roaming spirit soldier with the duty of supervising the gods, but also a public-spirited person who shared a deep friendship with the local earth god.

“Cultivation is also about cultivating the mind. Zhou Wu’s matter has been very upsetting to me, and I’m going to take care of it!”

If one has to wait until becoming an immortal to reach the state of being able to do whatever one wants, wouldn't one have to endure everything on the path to immortality?
At the very least, one must achieve a state of contentment and satisfaction in order to maintain a stable mindset for spiritual practice.

Of course, even if it is so-called doing whatever one pleases, it is still within the scope of etiquette and propriety. Su Ji would not break the rules for Zhou Wu.

Without hesitation, Su Ji said, "Yan Tianchou, immediately begin to deduce a way to help Zhou Wu return to normal!"

A ghost becomes a vengeful spirit precisely because of its resentment and obsession, but there are ways to resolve this.

Yan Tianchou immediately came up with a plan: "Although Zhou Wu is affected by resentment and obsession, his memories have not been completely corrupted, and there is still a possibility of recovery..."

Ultimately, Zhou Fengzi has only been dead for two years. If we address the root of his resentment and obsession, there is a chance he can return to normal.

At this time, the previous local deity and several spirit soldiers have been investigated and punished. As long as the evidence is found, the evil deeds of these gods can be exposed. Once these ghosts and gods receive the punishment they deserve, Zhou Wu's obsession should subside considerably...

However, in the eyes of the Right Gate Spirit Soldiers and others, the moment when the vengeful ghost Zhou Fengzi was first struck by the Taiyin Heavenly Light and then trapped by the dream supernatural powers of the Bed God and Bed Mother was the perfect opportunity to kill Zhou Fengzi in one fell swoop.

Su Ji had already decided to save Zhou Fengzi, so he couldn't let Zhou Fengzi die here.

He then said solemnly, "Everyone, Zhou the Madman is involved in the evil deeds of the previous Earth God and his several spirit soldiers. He absolutely cannot be killed as a merit."

...The previous local deity?

The spirit soldiers present all changed their expressions slightly. They had all served under the previous Earth God for many years. Although they may not have witnessed the evil deeds of that group of deities, they knew how powerful they were. To put it bluntly, the previous Earth God was surrounded by spirit soldiers with real power, making him a veritable local emperor in the Yin-Yang realm of the two villages of Dongsang and Xisang.

The reason they didn't try to win over those few spirit soldiers was because they were afraid that their evil deeds would be exposed and they would be ostracized.

Although they weren't coerced like the bed partners, they must have all sensed something was amiss...

The left-hand spirit soldier suddenly realized: "It must be that the Earth God and the Day-Wandering Spirit Soldier found clues on the Wu family ghost... As a witness, the vengeful ghost Zhou the Madman must be kept safe!"

Since the Day-Roaming Spirit Soldier Golden Toad had such plans, the Left Gate Spirit Soldier believed that Golden Toad had a way to deal with it.
Therefore, the Right Gate Divine Soldier stopped mentioning the killing of Zhou the Madman, and the other Divine Soldiers had no objections either.

Just then, a figure suddenly came rushing from afar. It was none other than Zhang, the Night Wanderer who had been running back and forth delivering messages all night.

"The Earth God Temple is under siege by a horde of snake demons. The Earth God's spirit soldiers are using the Earth God's spirit officer's [talisman] to protect the temple. Even with the help of various worldly martial artists, the Earth God Temple is still in grave danger!"

It turns out that this group of snake demons not only numbered twenty or thirty, but also included two snake demons at the level of demon generals, as well as a group of demon ghosts that the snake demons transformed into after their deaths.

Although the sky had brightened slightly, visibility was still poor, and it was impossible to light torches in the rain. The warriors led by Chen Dianshi could only defend themselves with their backs to the local earth temple.

On the ground, snake demons appeared and disappeared in the mud and water, seemingly afraid of the warriors' weapons. The snake demon ghosts also found it difficult to break through the divine defense of the local temple.

However, the two snake demons, who were at the level of demon generals, were able to burrow into the ground and planned to enter the local temple from underground.

Even though the Earth Spirit Official's [talisman] can manipulate earth energy to influence the soil, the rainwater seeps in when the snake demon burrows, making it difficult for the Earth Spirit Official's [talisman] to achieve its intended power.

Seeing the vengeful ghost Zhou Fengzi motionless, and the daytime spirit soldier standing there leisurely, Zhang Shi's eyes filled with hope.

"The underground defenses of the Earth God Temple are being eroded little by little. If there is any strength left on this battlefield, we should immediately rush to its aid so that we can hold out until it gets a little brighter!"

The land temple is now under threat from three sides, and any breach in any of these areas could potentially ruin all of everyone's efforts.

Only with the arrival of spiritual soldiers can the influence of demons and ghosts on martial artists be dealt with. Once daylight returns and visibility is restored, the martial artists will be able to find a breakthrough from the snake demons on the ground...

Naturally, the closer the snake demon is to the Earth God Temple, the more difficult it is to break through, which is why Su Ji is not in a hurry.

However, Su Ji couldn't really abandon the local temple. If the morale of the warriors, led by Chen Dianshi, declined or even retreated, that would be a terrible situation.

So Su Ji reached out and took out seven spirit weapon copper coins: "These are seven low-grade spirit weapon copper coins that I refined. Although they are not flawless, their power is almost the same."

"The spiritual runes contained in this item have the power to ward off evil spirits and dispel malevolent influences. You can use the spiritual arts contained in this artifact to deal with demons and ghosts, and you can also use it to protect martial artists from being invaded by external evils."

As he said this, the seven failed attempts at creating magical copper coins from the first round of fusion fell into the hands of the Zhang family, the spirit soldiers of the Well God, the Millet God, the Toilet God, and the Night Wanderer.

Each of the first three possessed one. Their supernatural abilities were not originally offensive, but now that they had the magical copper coin, they had at least gained some offensive capabilities.

Zhang, the Night Wanderer, received four. She kept one for herself and gave the remaining three to the Kitchen God, the Central God, and the Earth God who were guarding the Earth Temple.

Upon seeing this, all the spirit soldiers were moved. Some of them connected it to the identity of the Golden Toad Messenger of the Day-Wandering Spirit Soldiers, and even felt that these spirit artifacts were not made by the Golden Toad at all, but were part of a set of spirit artifacts given to the Golden Toad by the mysterious God of Wealth.

"In that case, let's head to the Earth God Temple!"

Watching their four fellow spirit soldiers depart, the spirit soldiers guarding the left and right gates all looked at Su Ji with expectant expressions.

Since Su Ji claimed to be the Golden Toad Messenger under the God of Wealth at the local temple, he didn't need to hide it from his colleagues, so he reached out and grabbed again.

"As you said, Zhou Wu is indeed a vengeful ghost, and he will eventually break free from the influence of the Yin Heavenly Light and the dream and awaken."

"Before that, please use your supernatural powers to temporarily trap Zhou Wu."

The supernatural powers of the left and right door gods alone were not enough to trap the vengeful ghost Zhou Fengzi, so Su Ji took out two magical copper coins.

"In order to suppress Zhou Wu, you may temporarily borrow these two mid-grade, ordinary quality spiritual copper coins!"

When the Black Tiger Demon was killed, all the spirit soldiers in the Earth God Temple knew that the Earth God was a high-level cultivator... Su Ji was willing to believe them.

It should be noted that the matter of the Golden Toad's clone is too private, and it is one of his trump cards, so it is not easy to tell outsiders;

The identity of the Golden Toad Messenger is now out in the open. Not only is there no need to hide it, but it is also necessary to reveal some of its strength, making the God of Wealth behind the scenes even more mysterious and unpredictable.

"Two medium-grade, ordinary quality spirit weapon copper coins?" The spirit soldiers on both sides of the gate were overjoyed.

These are two levels higher than the seven magical copper coins from before, and all of them can unleash mid-grade minor-completion spiritual techniques, which will definitely enhance the suppressive power of the gatekeepers and their spiritual soldiers.

It was one thing that they couldn't suppress the vengeful ghost Zhou Fengzi earlier, but now that Zhou Fengzi is not only trapped in a dream world, but also has the magical copper coin to help them, it would be unreasonable if they still couldn't suppress him.

The two guardian spirit soldiers reached out and took the two magical copper coins, and couldn't help but sigh in their hearts: "As expected of the Golden Toad Messenger under the God of Wealth, just this one set of magical artifacts is worth more than all of our combined wealth!"

Back when the Day Wandering Spirit Soldier was experimenting with the magical artifact Golden Toad by the river, the Right Gate Spirit Soldier felt that the power of the spiritual technique was rather weak.

Only then did the Right Gate Spirit Soldiers realize that what happened that day was merely a small test of their abilities, and that they were now unleashing their true "power".

In an instant, the Right Gate Divine Soldiers not only lost their previous contempt, but also developed a sense of awe towards the Golden Toad Messenger before them.

(End of this chapter)