The divine manifestations began at the Gongwei Division.

Zhou Heng landed at the starting point of the steps, flicked his wrist, and the Dragon Sparrow Blade clattered back into its sheath.

Accompanied by this crisp sound.

On the steps behind him, figures covered in blood collapsed to the ground with a thud.

Zhou Heng watched as the flashing red countdown jumped once and then completely reset to zero.

[Defeat the powerful enemy of the Heavenly Wolf Sect, avert the crisis, and receive the reward: the Vajra Thirty-Two Forms.]

Memories surged into his mind like a raging torrent.

Zhou Heng's pupils seemed to reflect a series of figures.

The figures struck different poses, each one exuding a sense of solemnity and majesty.

Click!

Zhou Heng's entire body was making popping sounds like beans being fried, as if his body was being stretched and pounded.

His fists were clenched, veins bulged on his forehead, and his temples were throbbing, as if the endless memories were about to burst his mind.

Several dozen breaths passed before Zhou Heng's expression gradually calmed down.

At this moment, his yellow-rank robe was soaked with sweat.

His immortal power circulated within him, flowing into a wisp of his yellow-grade magic robe.

The yellow-tiered robe dried in a flash of light.

Zhou Heng stretched, his bones cracking as if a bowstring had been pulled.

"The Thirty-Two Marks of Vajra..."

He raised his hand, gently clenched his fist, and a powerful force flowed between his dantian and arm.

A sixth-rank martial artist, also known as the Instructor.

After his celestial official was promoted to the sixth rank, his martial arts path also broke through to the sixth rank.

Although the sixth rank of martial arts is only the starting point of the middle three ranks, it is still the middle three ranks.

The nickname "Instructor" itself reveals that someone who has cultivated martial arts to this level is qualified to be a teacher.

Such cultivation level would be considered high anywhere.

Consider this: Han Zhengxiong, the garrison commander of Qizhou under the Imperial Guard, was only at the fifth rank of martial arts cultivation.

With both martial arts and immortality reaching the sixth rank, Zhou Heng's confidence soared.

"It seems that it will be quite difficult for Qizhou to take my life."

Zhou Heng calmly turned around and walked back up the steps to the entrance of Lingyan Temple.

How carefree it was when you went down, how much more troublesome it is to come back now.

He barged into the main hall, found a candle as thick as an arm, and started setting fire to Lingyan Temple.

He hadn't spent much time killing those people from the Heavenly Wolf Sect. In such a short time, Xue Zhiwei and Chen Zhaowu shouldn't have escaped yet.

He needs to continue drawing the enemy's attention.

call!

The fire snakes flickered and spewed, and the great hall began to be engulfed in flames.

Just then, a sudden gust of wind blew up and extinguished the flames that had just begun to rise.

Zhou Heng narrowed his eyes slightly.

He glanced instinctively at the danger countdown.

The danger countdown has not started, so where did this evil wind come from?

"This humble monk greets the benefactor."

A voice came from behind.

Upon hearing the sound, Zhou Heng looked over and instantly placed his hand on the hilt of the Dragon Sparrow Blade.

Click.

The Vajra power, honed through the thirty-two phases of Vajra practice, was unleashed, instantly shattering the blue bricks beneath his feet.

A few feet away, a young monk looked surprised.

"Congratulations, Captain Zhou, on your further advancement in cultivation. I am truly impressed."

The young monk put his hands together, bowed, and said...

"You dare show your face in front of me? Do you think I can't kill you?"

Zhou Heng looked at the other person and said coldly.

The young monk was none other than the person who had sold him the wishing wooden plaque for eight taels of silver.

This person was not listed in the register of monks at Lingyan Temple, and the old monk Fayuan was unaware of his existence.

Even when Xue Zhiwei and Lü Zian dispersed the crowd in the temple, they didn't notice this person.

"What I did before was truly out of necessity."

The young monk gave a wry smile and shook his head, saying, "I just wanted to use the illusion to remind Captain Zhou."

"Yeah?"

Zhou Heng snorted coldly. Under the thousand-year-old ginkgo tree, he was tricked by this guy and fell into the illusion.

That was the first time in his life that he had suffered a loss.

If he had actually been killed in the illusion, who knows if he would have died in reality?

"Illusions have no power to kill. Even if Captain Zhou really dies in an illusion, he will only have a headache for a day or two at most, and it will not cause any serious damage."

The young monk explained earnestly, "I don't want you officers to die here, so I wanted to use this method to make you back down."

"Unfortunately, Captain, your strength is too great; you have broken my illusion."

He shook his head with a wry smile and continued, "Now that things have come to this, why should the captain burn this ancient temple to the ground?"

The people are at fault, not the temple.

"Are you teaching me how to do things?"

Zhou Heng snorted coldly, his body radiating a sharp killing intent.

The young monk's face paled, and he involuntarily took a step back, putting distance between himself and Zhou Heng.

"This humble monk dares not."

He said with a wry smile, "This humble monk only wants to make a deal with the captain."

"This captain never makes deals with people whose identities are unknown."

Zhou Heng said coldly, "State your name, or don't blame this captain for being merciless."

If the danger countdown hadn't been delayed without warning, Zhou Heng wouldn't have wasted so much time talking to the other party.

Zhou Heng hadn't noticed it before, but now that he was a sixth-rank celestial official, he could tell that the young monk wasn't human even without deliberately using his Qi-gazing technique.

To be precise, the monk in front of you is not made of flesh and blood.

There are two possibilities in this situation: one is a ghost, and the other is a priest.

Regardless of the method, if the other party can manifest in broad daylight, their cultivation level must be at least at the fifth rank.

"This humble monk is the thousand-year-old ginkgo tree in this temple."

The monk put his hands together and slowly said, "Because I heard the Buddha's teachings in the temple and received offerings from all living beings, I was fortunate enough to condense a wisp of divine thought. After a thousand years of cultivation, I have achieved my current level of cultivation."

Zhou Heng looked at the other person, a hint of surprise flashing across his face.

It turned out to be a nature priest.

The path to becoming a high priest generally requires a divine register from the imperial court to cultivate.

However, there is one exception, and that is the case of this tree spirit.

By receiving offerings from all living beings, there is a certain chance of embarking on the path to becoming a priest.

However, this situation is extremely demanding and easily incurs the taboo of secular courts, so naturally, priests are very rare.

Zhou Heng never expected that such a natural priest would be hidden in Lingyan Temple.

No wonder this monk had no demonic aura whatsoever.

"Since more than ten years ago, the temple has become a mess, but due to my special status, I cannot interfere at will, so I can only watch from the sidelines."

Now that the conspiracy has been foiled, this humble monk wishes to make a deal with Commander Zhou.

"You want to protect Lingyan Temple?"

"Yes."

The young monk nodded. "I know that Captain Zhou risked his life to protect his friend. I can help the captain out."

Mount Tai is teeming with monsters; under normal circumstances, those three adults would have no chance of escaping alive.

"Lieutenant Zhou, your attempt to attract their attention by setting fires won't work."

"What's your plan?"

Zhou Heng said in a deep voice.

The young monk waved his hand.

Three ginkgo leaves slowly flew over, and just as they approached Zhou Heng, a flash of light appeared.

Three ginkgo leaves transformed into three human figures.

They are Xue Zhiwei, Chen Zhaowu, and Lü Zining.

Zhou Heng squinted, and even though he had witnessed the young monk using illusion magic, he still couldn't see the slightest flaw.

The three phantoms were so lifelike that they were almost indistinguishable from real people.

If he couldn't see the flaw, then ordinary demons would be even less likely to be able to.

In this way, the demons would think that the four of them were still on Mount Tai, and they would not be able to detect the true whereabouts of Xue Zhiwei and the other two.

"Good tactic."

Zhou Heng gave a thumbs-up, then asked, "Tell me, who is the mastermind behind this?"

"Some wanted to sit on the dragon throne, while others wanted to establish a demon court; the two sides hit it off immediately."

The young monk said slowly, "This humble monk's abilities are limited; I can only move within a radius of a hundred miles, so this is all I know."

Zhou Heng looked thoughtful and did not make things difficult for the other party.

He could tell that the other party indeed had limited knowledge.

Even so, he still managed to glean something from the other person's words.

Things seem to be worse than they had imagined.

"Lingyan Temple is yours."

Zhou Heng pondered for a moment and said, "Do me one last favor and find a way to make the monsters on Mount Tai 'discover' me."

"The captain's selflessness is admirable."

The young monk put his palms together and said, "That's easy, but if we do that, the captain himself will probably be in danger."

"That's none of your business."

Zhou Heng said.

"In that case, I must offend you."

The young monk nodded and said, "Captain, it is inconvenient for me to interfere in worldly affairs, but this is my way of helping you."

With a wave of his arm, a cassock flew out from nowhere and landed directly in front of Zhou Heng.

Zhou Heng caught it casually, thinking it was a Buddhist robe.

Then the young monk said, "There is a sword technique on this, which was left by the eighteenth abbot of Lingyan Temple."

This sword technique is too brutal; I hope the captain will use it wisely.

The words were still echoing in the air when the young monk's figure had already disappeared.

Zhou Heng didn't care; he just looked down at the small characters on the cassock.

"Jade Void Pure Source Saber Technique..."

He muttered to himself.

"Another guy who thinks highly of me—"

A hint of helplessness flashed across Zhou Heng's face.

The Jade Void Pure Source Sword Technique is indeed an extremely superior sword technique, with boundless power.

The problem is that its moves are endlessly varied, and it is clearly the kind of martial art that is very difficult to master, requiring extremely high talent and comprehension.

What makes this thousand-year-old tree demon think that Zhou Heng can master it?

Isn't this the same mistake Xue Zhiwei made?

These people just throw any martial arts technique at him without even checking if he can master it.

Zhou Heng complained inwardly, but without hesitation, he memorized every single word of the sword technique recorded on the cassock.

Since embarking on the path of becoming a celestial official, his mental abilities have been greatly developed, and he can now almost remember everything he sees.

After memorizing it twice to make sure he had it all down, he set the robe on fire and threw it at the entrance of the main hall.

Since we're already here, wouldn't it be a waste not to burn something?

…………

Zhou Heng left Lingyan Temple.

A young monk appeared at the entrance of the main hall, looking at the robe that had been burned to ashes, with a look of bewilderment on his face.

"Such a person, what a pity."

He sighed and shook his head, clearly having no hope that Zhou Heng would survive.

A gust of wind blew by.

The thousand-year-old ginkgo tree rustled as the young monk's figure vanished in an instant.

…………

Zhou Heng strode forward.

Three figures followed closely behind him.

A thousand-year-old demon is a thousand-year-old demon; this illusion is so realistic it's indistinguishable from the real thing.

Zhou Heng himself knew a similar immortal technique.

The magic of "Mirror Flower Water Moon" can also create illusions, allowing people to see what they want to see.

However, the magic of "Mirror Flower and Water Moon" must be performed in person.

But this ancient demon—

Zhou Heng recalled the last words the other person said before he left Lingyan Temple.

"The name of the little monk is Zhen Ding."

Let's refer to each other as Zhen Ding for now.

Zhen Ding's illusion technique doesn't need to be cast on a person at all.

He directly imbued the leaves with his power, and anyone who saw the leaves would mistake them for people.

This is a magical illusion, or something Zhou Heng couldn't do.

"Nine times out of ten, it's Qi King Zhao Yuanji who wants to sit on the dragon throne, but who is it that wants to establish a demon court?"

Zhou Heng walked through the mountains, lost in thought.

Zhen Ding was hidden in Lingyan Temple. Even the Venerable Master Fayuan and his associates might not have known of his existence, which is why he overheard some of his secrets.

However, Zhen Ding was naturally indifferent to worldly affairs and never wanted to leave Lingyan Temple, so the information he heard was limited.

Zhou Heng can only guess for now.

Based on the clues he had, the monster on Mount Tai and King Qi, Zhao Yuanji, were probably just cooperating.

"If there really is a great demon who wants to establish a demon dynasty, and it cooperates with King Qi, Zhao Yuanji, the two of them train demon soldiers on this Mount Tai—"

Zhou Heng also felt a chill run down his spine.

"As expected, no world is without traitors. King Qi, Zhao Yuanji, has invited a wolf into the house."

If these demons were to unite and establish some kind of demon court, countless people would become their food.

Zhou Heng thought to himself.

The difference between a scattered, unorganized demon and a well-organized demon is like heaven and earth.

The Guardian Division is already exhausted just dealing with scattered and unruly demons.

But at least it maintained a semblance of peace and prosperity.

If a demon court were to emerge, Zhou Heng felt that the already precarious situation of the Imperial Guard, surrounded by enemies on all sides, would likely become even worse.

"Fortunately, they probably aren't fully prepared yet."

The demon army on Mount Tai is clearly not yet fully trained.

The other party probably didn't expect that the Gongwei Division could follow the clues of Xiaoyao San all the way to Mount Tai.

Therefore, all that is needed is to bring the message back to the capital.

The Imperial Guard and the imperial army should be able to pacify Qizhou.

"The affairs of the world are none of my concern."

Zhou Heng muttered to himself, "I only need to worry about how to survive."

He looked up, and from his own perspective, all he saw was a sea of ​​red light.

The danger countdown is ticking away.

【02:00:00】

【01:59:59】

【01:59:58】

……

The numbers are jumping around.

Zhou Heng pressed his hand on the hilt of the knife and continued forward.

We just rounded the foot of a mountain.

suddenly.

A strong gust of wind came from upwind.

Zhou Heng, who was prepared, turned around and the Dragon Sparrow Blade was instantly drawn, turning into a streak of cold light that swept through the air.

puff.

Blood splattered, and the two halves of the body crashed to the ground.

The Vajra power honed through the thirty-two phases of Vajra made Zhou Heng invincible among sixth-rank instructors. How could a mere third-rank demon withstand a single strike from him?

After successfully landing a hit, Zhou Heng's movements did not pause for a moment.

The ground beneath his feet exploded, propelling him skyward. He then took several steps along the mountainside.

Just as his upward momentum ran out and his body began to fall, he suddenly raised his left hand.

A blood-red chain flew out and instantly wrapped around a boulder on the mountaintop.

With the pull of the chain, Zhou Heng landed on the mountaintop, which was more than ten feet high.

Several demons that had been lying in ambush on the mountaintop, preparing to attack Zhou Heng on the mountain path, were completely dumbfounded when their target appeared before them in the blink of an eye.

Can this demon-slaying captain of the Guardian Division fly?