Ita Era

Chapter 187 Demonic Cultivator
Ding Shi found a fire to lie down by, took out the bottle of will-o'-the-wisps, removed the stopper, and poked the soft, flickering flames with his fingers. He then turned the bottle upside down, plugged the opening with his fingers, and twisted them. He was thinking about transplanting the sacred tree that night.

First, we need to get rid of Sha Bi, but Sha Bi will definitely try to follow.

They pondered the terrain, considered routes, and assessed the fighting strength of the nighttime ghouls. Sha Bi and Cao Ying sat to one side, seemingly plotting something.

As I was thinking, a system notification popped up: Demonic energy has entered your body. Do you want to abandon the righteous path and become a demon?

Tai Chi has Yin and Yang, positive and negative, light matter and dark matter, and gods and demons.

In the world of Ita, the Demon is a hidden class within the True Qi system. The True Qi classes are openly categorized into three types: Buddhism, Taoism, and Confucianism. All three are said to be capable of demonic possession, thus the True Qi class has four major branches.

Like other cultivators, demonic cultivators can learn skills normally, but the effects of their skills are different.

Taking Ding Shi's flashlight and the Skybreaker as examples, they can deal 200% damage to demons. After transforming into a demonic cultivator, this effect becomes ineffective, instead transforming into a corrosive effect unique to evil sects, which will corrode the opponent's primal force. For example, internal force classes must use internal force to resist the corrosion, and true qi classes must use true qi to resist it. If Xiao Ni uses light magic to dispel it, the corrosion can be directly eliminated.

Similar to Daoist cultivators, since demonic cultivation is merely a variant of the second profession, Ding Shi still cannot learn advanced skills, and the power of his skills is reduced by 20%.

Ding Shi glanced at the system message and clicked "Confirm." The second profession was merely an added bonus for him, something to do for fun. The most important piece of information was that Ding Shi possessed neither true qi nor magic power; he directly used primal force to drive his true qi profession skills. Therefore, according to the system's assessment, he was not a demonic cultivator.

Sha Bi and Cao Ying watched as a wisp of black energy emerged from the glass bottle, covered Ding Shi's entire body, and then merged into Ding Shi's body.

Ding Shi stood up, spread his arms, and looked himself over: "Hahahaha." He laughed like a villain.

Ding Shi had clearly absorbed the ghost fire. As for the effect, Sha Bi dared not think about it, but it certainly wouldn't be a good thing for him.

Ding Shi performed a hand seal, and a wisp of black smoke condensed from his palm appeared. He opened his palm, and the black smoke shot towards the squirrel on the pine tree. The light in his palm arrived instantly, and the smoke in his palm also moved very fast, but only about 200 kilometers per hour, equivalent to the first serve speed of a male professional tennis player.

After being struck by demonic energy, the little squirrel scurried around wildly. Its flesh was invaded by the demonic energy, and its body was corroded. After the corrosive effect of the demonic energy ended, although it was severely injured, it still survived. However, its outer flesh had rotted away and even emitted a foul stench that only appears several days after death.

Ding Shi walked over, twisted the head off the helpless little squirrel, then turned back to the dumbfounded Sha Bi and Cao Ying and gave them a peace sign: "Yay."

Foolish Dagger rushed over recklessly, grabbed Ding Shi's arms, and shook him like a noodle: "How did you do that? What exactly happened? How did you master ghost power?"

Ding Shi smiled without saying a word, pushed Sha Bi aside, and bought another serving of cured pork rice as a reward for himself.

The Nine-Refined Ghost Fire is indeed a tool for ghost cultivators, but Cui's father refined it into a tool for demon cultivators, and only Buddhist, Taoist, and Confucian scholars can absorb demonic energy.

After eating, Ding Shi took a nap, while Sha Bi and Cao Ying huddled together and whispered to each other.

Cao Ying: Revenge is a long and arduous journey.

Silly Dagger: You're still no good; you couldn't even convince him.

Cao Ying: I admit it.

He and Sha Bi dug the grave, and Ding Shi guessed that he had hidden treasure, which he denied. Ding Shi guessed that he had an inventory, which he also denied. But today, he used the possession of an inventory as a bargaining chip to negotiate with Ding Shi, which not only slapped him in the face but, more importantly, made him lose his basic credibility.

The character was misdefined. If I had known Ding Shi's personality earlier, I should have taken the upright and honest path.

Having gained control of the Foolish Dagger, he shouldn't try to control Ding Shi in order to control the overall situation.

Silly Dagger: Follow him closely; he's bound to make a move tonight.

……

As the sun began to set, Ding Shi gave an old woman 20 dollars. The woman was overjoyed and immediately cooked rice for Ding Shi. Tomorrow they would either return to Tianmen Village or take the truck to the county town; there was no need to leave too much food behind.

Cao Ying and Sha Bi also came to buy food, opting for a simple noodle dish. After they finished their meal, Ding Shi's braised rice was finally ready.

Ding Shi took away half a pot of rice, not in a hurry to eat, and continued to sleep.

The sun had completely set by then. Cao Ying and Sha Bi looked at each other, wondering if they were going to have to skip the hour tonight.
Cao Ying sat down next to Ding Shi and nudged him with her shoulder: "Hey, where is the Divine Tree?"

Ding Shi said, "Speak up, but don't steal my food."

Cao Ying paused, her hand reaching for the cured meat, and snorted inwardly: stingy.

Sha Bi chimed in, "The Divine Tree should be at Feng Qiniang's house. Is there a way to get married around 11 PM? You need a partner to get married, right? How about we make up the numbers?"

"It can't happen," Ding Shi said. "The prerequisite for marriage is that there can be no violent ghosts, and even less so, a large number of violent ghosts. Once the violent ghosts are triggered, the marriage is impossible." The key person in the marriage is not the bride and groom, but the matchmaker, Feng Qiniang. Once the violent ghosts are triggered, Feng Qiniang will not leave the home protected by the Yin Gathering Array.

Even assuming Feng Qiniang is very brave, if she really left home to plant trees in the mountains and officiate at a wedding, could she survive? She was an ordinary person, a woman around sixty years old with mobility issues. Facing a violent ghost, she not only had no ability to resist, but also no chance of escape.

Ding Shi reviewed the "Love in Tianmen Village" instance today and found a relatively mild solution, but the prerequisite for the solution is to gather enough information. The system has provided many entry points.

First, there's the young nun who stays at Huang Youliu's house. If she explores the house, she can discover many secrets.

Secondly, players who stay at Liu Niang's house may discover, based on the collusion between Liu Niang and Liu Po, that Liu Po ​​is a potential ghost cultivator.

Third, players who stay at the home of the Ghost Mother's followers can trace back to Granny Liu from the Ghost Mother's clues.

Fourthly, players who stay at Tie Zhu's house can find comprehensive background stories and information about Huang You and Cui's father. As long as they obtain the corresponding clues and ask the right questions, they are likely to get the answers.

Ding Shi believed there was a simpler way to break the deadlock: marriage. He sought out Feng Qiniang, expressed his sincerity, and hoped she would act as matchmaker. Ding Shi found this method, but he had no partner, let alone true love. Just as he was about to use his third aunt as a substitute for his true love, the violent ghost appeared.

The main reason for the appearance of the violent demon was the murder of many villagers. It can be said that Ding Shi's large bounty was the main reason for the rapid deterioration of the situation.

Furthermore, Ding Shi made a mistake by killing Huang You before killing Cui's father. The correct approach would have been to kill Cui's father first, then Huang You. Huang You's combat strength was worlds apart from Cui's father's. Even in his berserk state, Huang You was merely a ghost cultivator after Cui's father's death. Huang You's death, however, greatly traumatized Cui's father, causing him to fall into demonic possession.

As they started eating, Sha Bi and Cao Ying were arguing on the side. Ding Shi couldn't stand it anymore: "Sha Bi has a mission, why are you getting involved?"

Cao Ying blurted out a lie without hesitation: "Just watching the show."

Ding Shi glanced at Cao Ying for two seconds and said, "Okay, come with me in a bit."

Cao Ying smiled and said, "Forget it, I'll just wait for my bus." Going with him, a complete novice, would be a recipe for disaster. Sha Bi said, "Brother Ding, what do you think? I'd like to hear your advice."

Ding Shi said, "It's not that I can't tell you, but I have a question first: Did you conspire to scheme against me regarding the buying and selling of will-o'-the-wisps?"

Sha Bi replied, "Yes, but that was all Cao Ying's idea."

Cao Ying looked at Sha Bi: "Are you kidding me? You just sold me out like that? Don't you have any basic sense of honor?"

Sha Bi explained, "It's safer for you to take the blame; I have a contract with him. Besides, Brother Ding was just scheming; he wasn't trying to harm you, so it doesn't violate the unequal treaty we signed."

Ding Shi smiled, glanced at Cao Ying, and said to Sha Bi, "I believe you."

Cao Ying was shocked: "What do you want to do?"

Ding Shi said, "I saved you, but you repay kindness with enmity. I am very unhappy about this. So don't take the bus tomorrow morning."

Cao Ying asked cautiously, "Unless..."

Ding Shi said, "An IOU for 5,000 dollars for two months."

Upon hearing this, Cao Ying, in a fit of desperation, retorted: "Then you might as well kill me."

Ding Shi said, "I'll be leaving in half an hour. If I don't get the IOU by then, the next IOU will be for seven thousand dollars."

Cao Ying gritted her teeth and said, "Two thousand or five thousand a month is really too high."

Ding Shi said, "Now that Ita Internet is open, with your abilities, making some money won't be a problem. If all else fails, you can become a borderline blogger."

"You son of a bitch..." Cao Ying swallowed her anger: "20 days, two thousand."

Ding Shi nodded: "Deal." He wasn't good at bargaining.

Cao Ying quickly wrote a system IOU. Ding Shi glanced at it, put it into his bank card, and politely extended his hand, saying, "Ms. Cao, it's a pleasure doing business with you."

Cao Ying shook hands with Ding Shi perfunctorily, saying, "It's nice."

Ding Shi received the IOU and was in a very good mood. He said to Sha Bi, "I'm going to Feng Qiniang's house to take the Divine Tree and plant it somewhere. Your class is burst-type, not very durable, so planting the tree with me would be a burden. My suggestion is that I'll tell you the location after I plant the tree, and then you can go find the Divine Tree and complete the main quest."

Although the Foolish Dagger has a good synergy with the Ghost Shadow, it still cannot move while summoning the Ghost Shadow. Ding Shi absolutely cannot get bogged down in positional warfare tonight, or he'll be surrounded and overwhelmed by the Violent Oni. Furthermore, Ding Shi has absolutely no knowledge of the Violent Oni's strength at night.

Most importantly, Ding Shi had a gut feeling that Huang You wasn't completely dead; she would still appear at night in the form of the Ghost Mother. Although Huang You in her Ghost Mother form wasn't particularly strong, she possessed considerable organizational and command abilities.

……

At 8 p.m., the bright moon rose, and the visibility at night suddenly improved.

Ding Shi disappeared into the darkness of Tianmen Village, carefully avoiding the visible demons along the way.

As he walked through the streets and alleys, a dark figure jumped down from a building, clasped his hands together, and slammed into Ding Shi's back. Ding Shi leaped forward, flying five meters, and the attack missed. But because it happened so suddenly, Ding Shi didn't transfer his Force to his feet, resulting in a twist in his left calf, though thankfully it wasn't serious.

The shadowy figure was a young, violent demon named Da Hua. She was agile and her fighting power was 30% higher than that of the violent demon Da Niu during the day. After the two engaged in combat, Ding Shi's one-sided attack forced Da Hua to retreat steadily. Even so, it took Ding Shi a full minute to snap Da Hua's neck, twice as long as Da Niu's 30 seconds.

Ding Shi's second opponent was rather peculiar. This violent demon was not fast, but its body was extremely hard, as if it were wearing a layer of hard armor. Ding Shi, who had the situation under control, tried to break its neck but failed. It took him two minutes to finally smash its head open.

Fortunately, the demons didn't shout or scream. Ding Shi used the complex architecture to shake off a few of their tails and successfully reached Feng Qiniang's backyard.

The backyard wall had collapsed, and Feng Qiniang, hiding in the darkness, rushed to greet Ding Shi when he appeared. Also greeting Ding Shi was the evil old woman.

The old woman appeared at the edge of the collapsed courtyard wall, staring intently at Ding Shi. Feng Qiniang said to Ding Shi, "It's alright, it's alright, as long as you don't come in, everything will be fine."

Feng Qiniang held a flowerpot in her hands, inside which was a branch about the thickness of a toothpick, bent into a question mark shape. Ding Shi lowered his voice: "The divine tree? It?"

Feng Qiniang nodded seriously and handed over the flowerpot. Ding Shi took the flowerpot, looked at it from all angles for a while, and asked, "Are you sure?" Isn't this just a willow branch with all its leaves stripped off?
Feng Qiniang suddenly shoved Ding Shi hard, causing him to take a step back. A black ribbon flew past him, catching the upright broom. The next second, the broom was swiftly pulled into the darkness. The speed was incredible; by the time Ding Shi tried to grab the ribbon, the broom had already been dragged away.

The bright moon shines on the earth, but there are also shadows and dark places. Ding Shi couldn't see clearly what was under the big tree, but he knew it was definitely not a good thing, so he said, "I'm leaving." He turned around, jumped onto a small mound, and disappeared into the bamboo forest.

The black ribbon flew into the bamboo forest, struck the bamboo, and instantly bound it tightly. Then it tore the bamboo apart and dragged it into the darkness.

Feng Qiniang shouted, "Be careful in the dark!"

Ding Shi wandered through the bamboo forest and circled around to the center of the village. A strange buzzing sound came from the left. The sound was like the echo of a water vat, heavy and oppressive.

Ding Shishun turned to his left, where there was an open sweet potato hole, which was naturally pitch black inside.

Suddenly, the black ribbon flew out of the sweet potato hole. Even though Ding Shi was on guard, he didn't expect it to be so fast. He could only block the black ribbon with his arm to prevent it from taking the flowerpot. The next second, Ding Shi was dragged off the ground by a powerful force. After his left arm wrapped around the black ribbon twice, he landed and used the strength of his arm to pull himself back.

With the two forces clashing, the black belt made a 'bang' sound. Ding Shi held the flowerpot with one hand, and the two sides began a tug-of-war. Ding Shi mobilized 80% of his original force into his arm, pulled hard, and something flew out of the sweet potato hole and flew towards Ding Shi.

Ding Shi reached out and caught it, discovering it was a painting of a demon mother, depicting her with a long, black tongue. The painting split in two as soon as it landed in Ding Shi's hands.

What the hell? When I pulled it out of the hole, it was still a physical object. How did it turn into a painting? A ghost is a ghost, and it cannot be verified by logic.

At this moment, Huang You, who was using the body of the Ghost Mother, was very weak. She was in the home of a believer. She cut off her second finger with a knife, took a brush, dipped it in the blood flowing from her severed finger, and drew a knife on the image of the Ghost Mother worshipped by the believer.

As the severed finger turned to ashes, the demon mother in the painting grasped the cleaver, flew out of the painting, materialized, and disappeared into the dark room.

Huang You walked out step by step, and relying on his memory, entered the home of another believer to find the image of the Ghost Mother that the believer worshipped.

She must seize the divine tree and use its essence to create an immortal body.

(End of this chapter)