Xu Hongru was shocked to discover that Feng Menglong had gathered a massive amount of wish power.

Even as the Third Master of the Wenxiang Sect, the wish power he had accumulated from preaching everywhere couldn't compare to the change he was witnessing now, or rather, the change in wish power appearing on this scholar was unlike anything he had ever seen!

What exactly was this power?

A poor, insignificant scholar, without even a shred of magic power, how could he possibly repel, or even injure, a cultivator like himself!

Reality was absurdly ridiculous, but Xu Hongru had to accept this preposterous scene. He even considered that it might be the magnificent righteousness (浩然正气, haoran zhengqi), but magnificent righteousness was not something that ordinary people could cultivate. If there was one *shi* (石 - unit of measurement) of scholars in the world, then nine *dou* nine (斗 - unit of measurement) of them couldn't cultivate magnificent righteousness.

He felt his limbs becoming uncontrollable, the incense energy in his body rapidly dissipating, like ice unable to withstand the scorching sun of summer. The power that the other party had just unleashed, empowered by wish power, had become the bane of the incense energy within him!

Seeing Xu Hongru's limbs disobeying him, Feng Menglong and the little fox immediately made a run for it, escaping through the main entrance of the dilapidated temple. Before leaving, they didn't forget to tap Xu Hongru with the Beidi Tianpeng Ruler, but nothing happened to Xu Hongru.

"He's not a demon; he's a human!"

"A leader of the Wenxiang Sect! It must be!"

The two of them fled with astonishing speed, disappearing in a flash. Xu Hongru remained in the temple, his body sore and numb. It took a long while for him to return to normal. He stared wide-eyed, unable to believe that a fox spirit with meager magic power and a mortal without the strength to truss a chicken could slip away right under his nose!

What remained of a cultivator's dignity!

"I am, after all, a master of the Eighth Divine Fire Realm, empowered by wish power. Even if a master of the Ninth Realm, Five Qi Unification, or even a half-step Earth Immortal were to come, I would not fear."

"If I were in a *yang* temple, with the blessings of countless wishes and incense, protected by the glorious light of treasures, even a true Earth Immortal, or even a Nascent Soul, I could fight."

"Yet, I was scared into submission by a mere shout from this scholar!"

Xu Hongru finally recovered and looked at the fox corpses scattered all over the ground, his face gloomy. Fortunately, they were just miscellaneous demons. It seemed the two had only come to steal something...

It didn't matter, as long as they hadn't stolen the treasures from the *yang* temple. Of course, those two wouldn't be able to.

He began to ponder Feng Menglong's peculiarities again. The strangest thing was that the news claimed this scholar was sober when he was sent to the Milong Casino, supposedly immune to the bewitching incense of the foxes. It was extremely bizarre.

The little fox spirit no longer mattered.

This scholar must be captured!

Xu Hongru returned to the *yang* temple and immediately mobilized his followers to capture Feng Menglong. At the same time, he sent word to the fox Taoists who were welcoming the Nine Lotus Fox Ancestor, telling them to return quickly to deal with the corpses of their miscellaneous descendants.

He also informed the master from the Li Mountain and River who had yet to cross realms, recounting everything that had just happened.

"Oh? A poor scholar's shout could actually injure you? There's no mistake, this is the righteousness of heaven and earth, but it's still in the first stage. At this time, his eyes are bright and piercing, his demeanor calm and composed. When such a person is in a state of intense concentration or tension, the righteousness of heaven and earth will gather in his spirit. A ghost or god touched by it will lose half their life. It's something you can't touch."

"And you say that he possesses a powerful wish power. Wish power combined with righteousness, the combined power is far greater than the sum of their individual powers."

"Wish power is the most magical force in the world, capable of reviving the dead, tracing the past, turning stone into gold, allowing the soul to travel to the Floating Dawn, and even turning the formless into the formed, the false into the real."

"Your Wenxiang Sect's use of wish power is still at the first level, merely collecting wish power to expand your scriptures and doctrines, permeating incense, spreading your ideas to brainwash people, and even then, the level of people you can influence is greatly limited."

"It's still not as good as the Yellow Sky Sect's Fire Lord, who can use wish power to the point of reviving the dead. With such power, is there still a need to brainwash others? A simple display of divine power before people, and followers will naturally flock to her. Her talent can be said to be rare among you in the Biao Mountain and River."

Xu Hongru was extremely shocked, "How can wish power be used to such a level?"

The master from the Li Mountain and River responded, "Given your current state of development, it's impossible. Your scriptures and doctrines are incomplete. The wish power seems to be collected, but it cannot be condensed, scattered like dust."

"That is, you can only take in, but cannot convert it for your own use. No matter how much you gather, it will be destroyed with a touch. You need to reach the second level, where wish power can come in and be converted for your own use. Then, the third level, where you can give back to the outside world, like how the Fire Lord can allow believers of the Yellow Sky Sect to be reborn in the Complete and Empty through wish power. That's called giving back. Only then is it a complete cycle. Reaching a higher level of use, for you small religions not recognized by the dynasty, is impossible."

Xu Hongru understood somewhat, meaning that the fourth step was to become a religion recognized by the dynasty, otherwise the highest he could reach was the third step.

But how to convert wish power for one's own use? Wasn't the power he used on himself, empowered by wish power, considered converting it for his own use?

Upon further questioning, the master from the Li Mountain and River became impatient and rebuked Xu Hongru:

"Even if you cultivate unorthodox paths, you must first solidify the basic foundation. Without a foundation, how can you build a castle in the air! When your sect can openly operate normally in the world without disguising itself under the banner of other sects, that's when you truly leave the first step!"

"Stop talking nonsense here. My physical body reversed from the Li Mountain and River to the Underworld, equivalent to dying twice, the damage is already immense. Quickly find a physical body with excellent bones. I want to perform the *Huan Yang Dun Bian* (还阳遁变, Returning Yang Transformation)!"

Body transformation is a type of *shijie* (尸解, corpse liberation) technique. The essence of corpse liberation originated in the Qin and Han dynasties as a unique type of immortal practice. It was formed through the fusion of the soul concept and the resurrection concept of the pre-Qin period.

Xu Hongru knew how this master from the Li Mountain and River had come to the Biao Mountain and River. He had first performed *shijie* in the Li Mountain and River, committing suicide once.

Normally, masters who perform *shijie* need a long time to recover their cultivation and reshape a new body. But he hadn't. Instead, he had directly entered the Underworld with his body, at the cost of his cultivation. Therefore, his physical body had died again in the Underworld, and his spirit had suffered a certain degree of damage as a result.

Now, he wanted to return to the *yang* world, using a physical body with excellent bones to merge with the damaged body from the Underworld. After the two bodies merged, he would occupy its spirit and finally successfully arrive in the Biao Mountain and River by crossing two realms.

But the cost was too great.

A master of pure *yang* had damaged his realm like this, his pure *yang* body transformed into a pure *yin* body, without a trace of *yang* energy left, greatly reducing his strength. The *yang* spirit incarnation also couldn't be used, and his spirit had separated, no longer in harmony. He had also lost his cultivation in refining the spirit, leaving only the innate realm.

But this master from the Li Mountain and River didn't care.

"I have already cultivated to the realm of refining the spirit and pure *yang*. Reaching that point again will only take a little time. The innate realm is enough for me to become a figure in the Biao Mountain and River. As long as I successfully cross realms this time, the next time, it won't just be me coming."

Ascension masters cannot come because ascension truly requires undergoing a great tribulation. If they fall, they might never be able to return to that realm. Therefore, the pure *yang* realm is the highest price that masters from the Li Mountain and River can bear.

These pure *yang* masters, whose physical bodies and spirits have been damaged, still have innate combat power when they come to the Biao Mountain and River. Except for the inability to manifest the *yang* spirit, the difference between them and other innate masters isn't obvious.