Bodhisattva, please help me in my spiritual practice!

Six months later.

Jiangzhou County.

A rumor spread among the people that there was a desolate mountain fifty miles away.

Half a year ago, a celestial deity descended to the mountains and saw a group of demons lurking and devouring people. So he painted a picture of immortals feasting in a peach garden, which suppressed the demons there. The rescued villagers were grateful to the deity for saving their lives, but they had nowhere to go, so they had no choice but to beg the deity for mercy.

The righteous god was merciful and allowed a golden statue to be sculpted and a temple to be built for him in this place. He also selected a wise man of both virtue and talent to impart the Dharma to him, and the mountain was thus named Taodu.

It is said that the Taodu Temple is responsive to all prayers, can ensure blessings, longevity, happiness, and offspring, and can also ward off evil spirits in the surrounding area. Within a radius of hundreds of miles, any villager who prays for help regarding evil spirits will surely have their prayers answered.

Inside the Jiangzhou County government building, Jiangzhou Magistrate Zhang Daoling frowned upon hearing his subordinate's report.

The Han Dynasty was rife with witchcraft and sorcery, especially in a mountainous region like Chengdu. When he first arrived there, he was twenty-six or twenty-seven years old, full of confidence and eager to accomplish great things.

Unfortunately, once he actually took charge of a county, he realized how difficult it was to govern. Not to mention that the Six Heavenly Ghost Kings were all deities with powerful backing, the people of Shu were inherently fond of witchcraft, and moral education was less effective than the nonsense of the local witches and shamans.

This meant that Magistrate Zhang Daoling's orders could not even leave the county government, and he gradually developed the idea of ​​living in seclusion and cultivating himself in seclusion.

Zhang Daoling was a learned man who was also fond of the arts of immortality and knew a great deal about matters of the supernatural.

May you enjoy good fortune, prosperity, longevity, happiness, and many descendants.

What immense power this is! And to top it off, the power to quell the evil spirits! If such a righteous god truly exists, he must be a figure like the Heavenly Emperor. How could he not have heard of him?

Since he had never heard of this god before, and yet this god suddenly appeared and dared to use such a great name, he must have something very ambitious up his sleeve.

Thinking of this, even Zhang Daoling couldn't sit still. Although he had the intention to resign and retire, if he hadn't left yet and another disaster like the "Netherworld Reversal" from ten years ago occurred, he would be held responsible!

Ten years ago, the calamity of "Netherworld Reversal" was caused by one of the Six Great Demons who escaped the Three Calamities and Nine Tribulations. His own cultivation of the laws and supernatural powers shone brightly throughout the land, causing a plague to rage in Chengdu, famine to spread for thousands of miles, and the resentment of the vengeful spirits to form dark clouds that covered the sun's radiance for three whole days.

For three days, the days were as dark as night. Not only were more wronged souls released from the underworld, but the people of the mortal world also suffered heavy casualties. Thinking of this, Zhang Daoling instructed his men, "Prepare the carriages, and take my warrant to visit the cultivators of Qingcheng Mountain to meet at Taodu Mountain."

A mountain is not famous for its height, but for the immortals who dwell there.

In just six months, the dilapidated temple in the mountains where Ao Peng had first arrived was now thriving with worshippers.

The entire temple has been renovated and even expanded three times its original size.

Starting from the mountain, terraced fields have been reclaimed in concentric circles towards the foot of the mountain. In the terraced fields, the green rice seedlings are growing vigorously. The area around the foot of the mountain is filled with villagers who have fled from disaster. It has formed a large village of nearly 5,000 people and even shows signs of becoming a county town.

Strange peach trees grow all over the mountains and fields. These peach trees are black and white, and their blossoms are as black as ink.

The bright moon, clear and serene, descended upon the world, seemingly forming a barrier that separated this place from the ghostly calamities of Chengdu.

Inside the temple, Ao Peng splashed ink to paint, and in no time he finished a painting of a peach tree. The peaches on the tree were large and sweet, and the air was filled with the scent of incense. Chi Bofu, with hundreds of ghosts, was suppressing the hordes of ghosts he had recently gathered.

The ghosts were terrified and wanted to bow down when they saw Ao Peng, but Ao Peng laughed and said, "No need to bow, eat peaches first."

He pointed at the painting, and the ghosts were immediately drawn to the peaches on the incense-burning peach tree, their eyes widening in astonishment.

Chi Bofu and the surrounding ghosts skillfully unlocked the chains, then pushed the ghosts into the painting.

The ghosts in the painting were eating happily. Ao Peng rolled up the painting and said to the little ghost serving him, "Go and plant this painting."

The imp, both respectful and fearful, replied, "Yes, sir."

It quickly took the painting, summoned a gust of wind, and went to the mountains and fields. It found another piece of land at the edge of the peach grove and planted the painting in the ground. Strangely enough, once the painting was planted, it was like a seed, and soon a new peach tree grew.

The little demon looked at the peach tree with awe. It was a victim before, and after being suppressed in the tree, although it was shaded by the peach tree during the day, it suffered greatly from the sun and wind. Only when it saw through the greed, anger and ignorance in its heart and the incense peach it ate grew back on the tree did it have the opportunity to be released and be freed.

The master's extraordinary abilities filled them with both respect and awe.

After Ao Peng finished drawing, Chi Bofu dismissed his attendants.

In the past six months, Ao Peng has been strategizing and gathering refugees from the ghost calamity. He has also used his supreme supernatural powers to tame the ghosts and helped Chi Bofu rebuild his golden body. Chi Bofu has received incense offerings and his strength has recovered to 40-50%. He now commands hundreds of ghosts and is even more powerful than when he first became a ghost messenger. However, behind this power lies a hidden danger.

If Ao Peng had merely gathered a few dozen ghosts, seized a mountain as king, and devoured living people, no one would have bothered him in this world where Yin and Yang are inverted. But now that he has gathered thousands of villagers and suppressed tens of thousands of evil ghosts and wronged souls, he has already subtly violated a major taboo in both the Yin and Yang realms.

Chi Bofu lowered his voice and said, "I've heard rumors circulating in the Ghost Market recently that our Taodu Mountain has broken a taboo, and the Xia Wenjun's followers are coming to punish us." Ao Peng put down his pen. The Xia Wenjun's name is Liu Yuanda. It is said that he was a relative of the Han Dynasty emperor who ascended to immortality through the Taiyin Refinement Method. Coincidentally, the Yin and Yang were in chaos in this world, so he seized the position of the righteous god of the Plague Department.

At this point in time, although Chi has not yet become a righteous god of the Plague Department, he is still a ghost god who has caused chaos in the region. Having survived three calamities and nine tribulations, he is simply not someone Ao Peng can withstand.

Of course, even someone who has survived countless hardships cannot do everything personally, especially before knowing Ao Peng's background, he must send his subordinates to test him.

Ao Peng had one major advantage in entering the Journey to the West world: he had a powerful backer!

In this world of gods and Buddhas where connections matter, as long as you find the right backer, even if you suffer a temporary defeat, you'll only be taught a lesson by the powerful figure behind you. On the other hand, as for the group of vengeful ghosts opposite, apart from Liu Yuanda, even if Ao Peng killed all the ghosts, no one would come to their aid. Putting down his pen and pondering for a moment, Ao Peng showed no panic on his face. Looking at the rice paddies outside, which were already taking shape, he asked, "What crime?" Chi Bofu quickly replied, "We have no power or influence, yet we have privately detained tens of thousands of ghosts. Even if we were trying to persuade them to do good, this is still a crime. For example, in the human world, I heard that the magistrate of Jiangzhou County is also a cultivator. He is also dissatisfied with our private gathering of five thousand villagers here and has already sent a letter to Qingcheng Mountain, wanting to come and question us."