Start slaying demons from the proficiency panel.

"Brother Ren, since your puppet has so much food hidden on it, why didn't you take it out and use it when we were traveling?"

"These foods are emergency supplies. I usually don't use them unless there's a special need for food, because once they're used up, they need to be replenished, and replenishing them requires time to prevent spoilage and mold, which is quite troublesome. If I'm just traveling normally, I can just eat dry rations."

Ning Xiu nodded, indicating that he understood.

After Ren Qianxing finished roasting the chicken, they shared it and ate it to fill their stomachs before starting their respective cultivation practices.

For people like Ning Xiu, cultivation can temporarily replace sleep, thus eliminating the need for someone to keep watch at night.

If any movement occurs around them, everyone will be alerted immediately, and there is no possibility that any evil spirits can sneak up on them and launch an attack.

The Iron-Eating Beast, the Black Tiger, and the two Black Winds formed a circle around the group, using their bodies to shield them from the wind, making the area around the campfire warmer.

In this atmosphere, everyone quickly entered a state of focused meditation.

It was late at night.

"Hmm..." Zhengwu opened his eyes, looked around, and saw that Ning Xiu and the other two were cultivating. He then got up and walked out of the hall.

Humans have three urgent needs, and even those of the lowest rank cannot escape this natural law.

Zhengwu walked outside the hall, put his hands together in prayer to all four directions, apologized to the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas in the temple, and immediately lifted his monk's robe and vented his anger towards the nearest door of the Mahavira Hall.

Even as a seventh-rank Buddhist and Taoist demon-subduing officer, Zhengwu knew that one should not stray too far from one's companions in the wilderness late at night, lest one encounter any accidents while alone.

Arrogant and unruly people are long gone, so even though Zhengwu is a Buddhist monk, he dares not go to the garden far from the main hall to relieve himself; he would be extremely disrespectful.

Snapped!

Just as the water was gurgling, a figure suddenly slapped Zhengwu's shoulder hard.

He trembled violently, the water swayed three times, and then he saw Zhengwu's whole body radiate golden light. He turned around and saw Vajra glaring at him with fury.

Then he saw Ren Qianxing standing behind him with a wicked grin, yawning and saying, "Don't panic, I'm just out to take a leak too. But Zhengwu, your senses aren't good enough. I was right behind you and you didn't even notice me. You're not alert enough. You need to practice more."

“If any evil spirits were to approach, my Buddhist artifacts would have reacted long ago, and I would have known it was you.” Zhengwu, having returned to normal, turned around and said calmly.

"Hey, this just shows how inattentive you are. It's lucky it was me. If it were someone who wanted to kill you, even if you had a golden body, you would still get stabbed." Ren Qianxing walked over to Zhengwu, took off his pants, and started working.

Even in the darkness, you could see him stealthily glancing down a few times, and he couldn't help but chuckle: "Zhengwu, we've known each other since we were kids, I never expected you to change so much. Could it be that Buddhist and Taoist body-refining techniques even have an effect on that area? Why don't you teach me how to refine it too? I'm always feeling a bit dissatisfied with myself."

Pulling up his pants, Zhengwu clasped his hands together and said helplessly to all directions, "Amitabha, Bodhisattva, please don't be offended."

After saying that, Zhengwu turned around and walked back into the hall.

"Men all want to become more perfect," Ren Qianxing muttered, quickly finished his business, and entered the palace.

Outside the temple, the rain was torrential and the wind was cold, making it quite chilly; it was the bonfire inside that kept it warm.

However, just as Ren Qianxing was about to enter the main hall, the scene before him instantly stunned him at the doorway, his expression one of astonishment.

The entire main hall is spacious, and there is absolutely no place to hide a living person on the way to the pile of firewood.

Near the campfire not far away, only Ning Xiu and Xia Yunsi could be seen meditating, with no one else in sight.

No… Monk Zhengwu is nowhere to be found in the hall!

Since it was so late at night, Zhengwu naturally couldn't possibly not go back to cultivate after relieving himself; instead, he went to wander around in other places.

Ren Qianxing's scalp tingled instantly, and goosebumps suddenly appeared on his skin.

This main hall really has a big problem.

"Brother Ning, Senior Sister! Zhengwu is missing!" Ren Qianxing immediately stepped into the hall and ran inside, shouting loudly.

Upon hearing the sound, Ning Xiu immediately opened his eyes and looked around, but there was no one in sight, only the lingering sound echoing in the hall.

Xia Yunsi, sitting next to him, frowned: "What's going on?"

Ning Xiu and Ren Qianxing were aware that Monk Zhengwu and Ren Qianxing had gotten up and left one after the other, but they were completely unaware of what happened afterward.

Hearing Ren Qianxing's voice coming from outside the hall, Ning Xiu immediately got up and walked towards the hall door, intending to check the details.

Xia Yunsi followed closely behind. At times like these, it's best to act separately, as it would be troublesome if someone else got into trouble.

Peeking out of the hall, there was no one there. Not only was Zhengwu nowhere to be seen, but even Ren Qianxing had vanished without a trace.

If he hadn't been cultivating instead of sleeping, Ning Xiu might have thought he was hallucinating.

“Two perfectly healthy people have just vanished…” Ning Xiu looked at the rainy night outside the palace gate and quickly used his Spiritual Eye Observation Technique.

But everything was perfectly normal, with nothing strange about it.

【049】The Evil God

"How could this be?" Xia Yunsi looked at the palace gate corridor in surprise, her expression extremely puzzled.

Zhengwu is a seventh-grade Buddhist and Taoist master, while Ren Qianxing is an eighth-grade puppeteer. Even if the evil spirits are very strong, these two would not be completely without any resistance.

Unless what they were facing at the time was beyond their ability to cope with.

If such a powerful evil spirit truly exists within Jinzhao Temple, there's no need to hide in secret; they could simply reveal themselves and wipe out all these demon-subduing officers in one fell swoop.

“Ren Qianxing’s puppet is not reacting at all, it seems that he himself has been killed.” Ning Xiu frowned and said seriously.

"What do we do now?" Xia Yunsi asked.

"Come with me out to search and see if we can find any clues left by evil spirits. Remember, you must not separate from me. We can't afford to lose any more people now." Ning Xiu went back to get the Thunder Hammer and then walked out of the Great Buddha Hall.

Braving the heavy rain, Xia Yunsi and he searched the entire Jinzhao Temple inside and out, but still couldn't find any trace of Ren Qianxing and Zhengwu.

With no other option, Ning Xiu and Ren Qianxing had to return to the Great Buddha Hall. Judging from the current situation, Zheng Wu and Ren Qianxing must have been murdered, and they might even be dead.

Ning Xiu placed the Thunder Hammer on the ground and said regretfully, "The mission was not accomplished before two teammates died. We will set off for Shenjia Town tomorrow after the rain stops and ask the courier to send a message to the Demon Subduing Division, asking the temple to send someone to investigate what is wrong with this Jinzhao Temple that allowed two Demon Subduing Officers to disappear without a trace."

Xia Yunsi was about to agree with him, but at that moment, her gaze was suddenly drawn to a white wall not far away.

He then exclaimed in shock, "Lord Ning, look over there!"

Throughout the journey, Ning Xiu had always told Xia Yunsi to address him as Ning Xiu. The fact that he suddenly uttered the words "Lord Ning" showed just how chaotic Xia Yunsi's mind was.

Following the direction Xia Yunsi pointed, Ning Xiu immediately saw that two small figures had appeared on the white wall.

Ning Xiu was absolutely certain that there was nothing on that white wall before this.

He hurried over and saw that the two little figures looked exactly like the missing Ren Qianxing and Monk Zhengwu.

The two figures, one gazing blankly into the distance and the other holding prayer beads with palms together, are depicted in a lifelike and vivid manner, facing the vast white expanse around them.

Ning Xiu and Xia Yunsi exchanged a glance, each understanding the other's thoughts from their eyes.

How did those two get inside the mural?!

"Lord Ning, I have a bold idea."

"If you have an idea, just say it, don't worry about how bold it is."

Xia Yunsi's expression was serious: "If I'm not mistaken, this Jinzhao Temple should have become a malevolent deity."

"A malevolent god?! Can a temple become a malevolent god?" Ning Xiu said incredulously.

The Demon Compendium compiled by the Demon Subduing Bureau records the existence of dozens of fierce gods, whose true forms are mostly a mountain, a peak, a river, a lake, or a forest.

But Ning Xiu had never heard of architecture being able to generate intelligence and become a malevolent god.

"Plants and trees with intelligence are demons, mountains and rivers with intelligence are gods. The difference lies in whether they possess innate supernatural powers. The innate supernatural powers possessed by fierce gods are all different. Some can summon wind and rain, some can gather spiritual energy, and some can turn stones into gold. All of them have supreme mysteries."

I once heard a bronze leopard demon-suppressing officer tell a similar story. He said that decades ago, a pagoda built by the Demon-Suppressing Bureau specifically to suppress a thousand-year-old snake demon inexplicably gained sentience and became a ferocious god.

In the end, not only did he release the snake demon he had suppressed, but he also became its Daoist partner, escaping the Great Shang territory together. Their whereabouts remain unknown to this day, suggesting that architecture can indeed become a malevolent force.

"This ability to turn living people into murals might just be the innate supernatural power of this Jinzhao Temple," Xia Yunsi said earnestly.

Since there had indeed been such a precedent, Ning Xiu no longer had any doubts and quickly began to think about what to do next.

The two of them were currently inside the body of a fierce god, and Zheng Wu and Ren Qianxing had not been trapped in the mural for long. If they could hurry, there might still be a chance to rescue them.

Thinking of this, Ning Xiu immediately grabbed the Thunder Hammer and smashed it down forcefully onto the ground of the Great Buddha Hall.

If this Jinzhao Temple is truly a malevolent deity, then we should provoke it to reveal its true form and fight it; perhaps then we might still have a sliver of hope to save Ren Qianxing and his companion.

Martial arts practitioners are not good at investigating and finding evil spirits, but when it comes to fighting and battling evil spirits, they are always eager to get back to work.

boom! boom! boom!

The 320-pound Thunder Hammer slammed fiercely into the ground. Even though Ning Xiu only struck it once, the Thunder Hammer made three loud noises as it hit the ground.

The shockwave caused debris to fly everywhere and bricks to crack inside the main hall.

Centered on the Thunder Hammer, an area of ​​at least fifty paces sank inwards, and spiderweb-like cracks rapidly spread in all directions, revealing numerous lightning-like fissures.

The entire main hall trembled violently as a result, and many tiles slid off the eaves outside the hall, smashing to the ground with a crackling sound.

Xia Yunsi's eyes lit up. So this was the power of a single hammer blow from a fifth-grade martial artist!

If Jinzhao Temple is truly a malevolent spirit, then Ning Xiu's wanton destruction of the temple's grounds is tantamount to destroying the spirit's body. Naturally, it can no longer disguise itself as a building and hide in the shadows without making a sound.

This hammer blow actually contained Ning Xiu's internal force and triple hammer power, with enough force to penetrate three or four zhang deep into the ground. It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that Ning Xiu caused a small earth dragon to turn over.

"come out!"

Ning Xiu lifted the Thunder Hammer, and with a loud shout, he spat out a large amount of sparks that landed on the Thunder Hammer.

The entire Thunder Hammer immediately burst into flames, as if fuel had been poured on it.

After cultivating the Great Sun Mystic Scripture to the tenth level, one will naturally develop the extraordinary phenomenon of internal energy transforming into fire.

As Ning Xiu evolved the Great Sun Mystic Scripture into the Burning Sun Supreme Scripture, the extraordinary phenomena of this technique have become even more mystical.

Under Xia Yunsi's watchful gaze, Ning Xiu slammed his hammer down again, this time with a much more exaggerated force than the previous blow.

Unable to withstand the hammer's force, the ground cracked open, and flames instantly erupted from the deep fissures, engulfing the entire Mahavira Hall.

This is like a fiery inferno!

With almost two hammer blows, the Mahavira Hall, which originally looked very sturdy and should have been able to withstand another hundred years, became shaky and on the verge of collapse.

Without a doubt, this palace will collapse as soon as Ning Xiu strikes with his third hammer.

Just then, the entire Jinzhao Temple suddenly trembled violently, and layers of colorful bubble membranes appeared throughout the temple.

It pressed towards where Ning Xiu and the other person were.

Before he could even react to what was happening, Ning Xiu discovered a completely different change in front of him.