Chapter 221: The Flesh God's Divine Statue

Chapter 221: The Flesh God's Divine Statue

East Wing.

In the distance, the sun rose, and the morning glow filled the sky, painting it a vibrant red.

Jiang Ning glanced at the rising sun and stood up.

"Time to go to work!"

As he spoke these words, a smile crept onto his lips.

These words reminded him of the unpleasant memories of his past life, the hardships he endured, and the life of a beast of burden he led.

Thinking of this, he felt even more satisfied with his current life.

Although this world lacked abundant resources and entertainment, the pursuit of martial arts gave him a sense of fulfillment as he felt his strength growing.

In his eyes, the path of martial arts was a journey of individual transcendence, a transformation and sublimation of the mortal body.

The higher one climbed on the path of martial arts, the closer one came to the legends of the immortal gods.

Take, for example, the Martial Saint who dominated the world for eight hundred years and lived for nearly a thousand years.

Just this longevity alone made him akin to an immortal god.

In Jiang Ning's view, while the path of martial arts might not grant eternal life, the prospect of living for nearly a thousand years was enough to make him yearn for it.

Immortality!

These words were already engraved in the genes of humans from his past life.

In that life, countless emperors throughout thousands of years of history had yearned for immortality but could not attain it.

Even the Emperor of a Thousand Years, in his pursuit of immortality, had prematurely ended his own life.

Although the path of martial arts in this life couldn't grant true immortality, it could still offer a lifespan of nearly a thousand years, just like the Martial Saint.

In the face of a thousand years of longevity, fifty generations of mortals would pass, which, in Jiang Ning's eyes, was a form of immortality.

The mere effect of prolonging life for a thousand years was enough to make him pursue this path.

Not to mention that on this path, one could possess power comparable to the immortal gods, capable of moving mountains and overturning seas.

The next moment,

Jiang Ning had just gotten up to tidy up when he was about to head to the Inspection Mansion to verify the identity of the Idolatry Sect member who had secretly followed him the night before.

A Sixth Rank Martial Dao member of the Idolatry Sect would earn him fifty thousand contribution points upon elimination.

Thinking of this, a flash of inspiration struck Jiang Ning.

"That's right!" He slapped his thigh, "How could I forget about the golden box I found last night!"

Then,

Jiang Ning projected a strand of spiritual power into his Bag of Holding.

He now had two Bags of Holding, one for storing his necessary items and the other for the corpse of the Idolatry Sect member who had transformed into a flesh monster the night before. With the corpse, he could easily prove the person's identity and smoothly obtain the fifty thousand contribution points.

As his spiritual power merged with the Bag of Holding, Jiang Ning quickly located the spoils of war he had stumbled upon the night before.

A small square box the size of a palm, dark golden in color, was clearly cast from gold.

"This is at least a pound!" Jiang Ning's eyebrows rose in delight.

A pound was ten taels, and according to the exchange rate of Daxia, one tael of gold was equal to a thousand taels of silver.

In other words, this golden box alone was worth at least ten thousand taels of silver.

A pound of gold, merely as a container, hinted at the extreme value of its contents, far surpassing the worth of ten thousand taels of silver.

In an instant,

The dark golden box appeared in Jiang Ning's hand.

After holding the box, Jiang Ning weighed it slightly.

"About one pound and five taels!"

Then he examined the object in his hand, dark golden all over, with no patterns on the surface. It felt like a gold brick in his grasp.

Only a seam on the side revealed that it was indeed a box cast from gold.

"What could be inside?"

Looking at the golden box in his hand, Jiang Ning was extremely curious.

Then, he gripped the box tightly.

The next moment,

The box in his hand opened, and he instantly saw that the interior of the golden box was already soaked in fresh blood.

Within the blood, a divine statue about ten centimeters long was immersed.

The statue had three heads, six arms, and four legs!

As Jiang Ning observed the statue, the closed eyes of the blood-soaked statue suddenly opened.

"Worship me, and your mortal body will live forever."

"Offerings to me, and your mortal body will ascend."

"Serve me, and your mortal body will be indestructible."

". . ."

Three voices echoed in Jiang Ning's ears out of thin air, like a delirious murmur that kept penetrating his mind, trying to twist his thoughts.

The next moment,

Jiang Ning's eyes flashed with struggle, his gaze turning vacant as if he were in a trance.

After a breath,

Clap!

The box was suddenly closed by his right hand.

In the instant the box closed, the delirious murmurs that had been echoing in his ears suddenly vanished without a trace.

That previous scene seemed like an illusion.

Huff...

Jiang Ning snapped back to reality, panting heavily. His eyes still held a lingering fear.

In his mind, he had just witnessed a sea of blood, with lifelike corpses floating upon it.

And in the center of this sea, a three-headed, six-armed, four-legged monster slowly approached him.

As the distance between them closed, Jiang Ning felt an increasing sense of danger.

Moreover, during this process, his body was completely unresponsive to his commands, leaving him frozen in place like a wooden statue.

Fortunately, his mental power surged, granting him brief control over his body.

Using this control, he successfully closed the golden box he held.

"Huff..."

Jiang Ning exhaled deeply, and his wildly pounding heart gradually calmed.

"It seems my guess was right. This golden box can isolate the divine statue within."

"Combining what just happened and the endless mumblings in my ears, the divine statue in the box should be the Flesh God of the Idolatry Sect."

Jiang Ning muttered, his eyes narrowing.

Could there truly be divine beings in this world?

Or perhaps some sort of malevolent spirit masquerading as a god? At this moment, Jiang Ning suddenly recalled the ancient era he had read about in books.

In this world's ancient past, immortals, demons, humans, and gods coexisted.

Immortals, demons, and humans cultivated the Immortal Dao, and only those with immortal roots were qualified to cultivate the Immortal Dao.

According to his current understanding, these immortal roots were also referred to as spiritual wisdom, and only those born with spiritual wisdom were eligible to cultivate and attain immortality.

The term 'spiritual wisdom' was a later generation's term.

As for demons, they had existed since ancient times.

Demons could be plant and animal spirits, flying creatures, or beasts that gained spiritual intelligence.

Gods, on the other hand, were divine beings, and all divine beings possessed some form of authority over the world.

For example, mountain gods and river gods held absolute authority over their respective mountains and rivers.

Even a small mountain god in a divine realm possessed formidable divine power.

However, since the end of the ancient era, immortals and gods had disappeared, and there was no trace of powerful demons.

According to various rumors, in the current era, only the ancient demons in the ten-thousand-zhang mountains in the south were still in slumber.

Because of this knowledge, Jiang Ning had previously dismissed the Flesh God worshipped by the Idolatry Sect.

After the ancient era ended, martial cultivation thrived.

The strongest in the mortal realm was the Sage Warrior, who had dominated the world for eight hundred years.

The fact that the Sage Warrior could achieve such a feat indicated that the times had long since changed, and the current era was an age of martial cultivation.

If it were not for this martial era, the ancient immortals, gods, or powerful demons would have been the strongest.

How could the Sage Warrior have suppressed the world for eight hundred years?

Therefore, in Jiang Ning's opinion, what kind of divine being could cause a stir in a small county like Luoshui County in this era?

But now it seemed he had underestimated the situation.

The Flesh God didn't seem so simple after all.

Even with his current strength and powerful mental prowess, he had almost been influenced by the divine image in the box.

Thinking of this, he felt a lingering fear in his heart.

"I must strengthen my mental power; it's a top priority!"

Jiang Ning spoke to himself.

Then, he immediately put away the golden box.

---

Inspection Office.

Internal Affairs Office.

When Jiang Ning arrived, the sun was already high in the sky.

"Senior, I have something to report," Jiang Ning said, bowing to the elderly woman before him.

As Jiang Ning's voice echoed, the drowsy old woman slowly opened her eyes.

"It's you!" the old woman exclaimed.

"It's me, Senior," Jiang Ning bowed again.

According to his understanding, this old woman held a crucial position in the Inspection Office.

All contribution points were distributed and tallied by her.

Even the identity tokens and registers were issued by her.

There was no doubt that this old woman was an extraordinary figure.

In Jiang Ning's eyes, she might even be the strongest in the Luoshui County Inspection Office.

For this reason, every time he met her, he was respectful.

"What brings you here?" the old woman asked.

Jiang Ning replied, "Last night, I happened to encounter a severely injured member of the Idolatry Sect and killed him. I've come to claim the contribution points."

"Show me the proof of identity," the old woman said, lifting her gaze slightly.

"Yes, Senior," Jiang Ning nodded respectfully.

The next moment, he waved his hand.

A corpse appeared on the stone bricks, its massive body immediately drawing attention.

"Is this enough, Senior?" Jiang Ning asked.

The old woman ignored his question, her eyes fixed intently on the corpse.

"A divine progeny's corpse!"

She appeared in front of Jiang Ning in the blink of an eye.

"As expected!" Jiang Ning was secretly surprised.

The old woman's movement was so swift that it was almost instantaneous.

Even compared to his current speed, Jiang Ning felt that he couldn't match the old woman.

"At least more than twice as fast as my normal state, and even with the ability to move like the wind, greatly reducing wind resistance, her speed is still more than three times faster than mine!"

"Her martial arts realm is at least not below Hong Minghu's!"

Jiang Ning immediately made this judgment in his heart.

At this moment—

The old woman appeared beside the monster.

She flipped through the corpse, then pinched its bones, and her expression suddenly brightened.

"This is a sixth-rank martial arts divine progeny's corpse, with extremely high research value. I'll give you an additional 10,000 contribution points. How about handing this corpse over to me to handle?" The old woman spoke to Jiang Ning.

Hearing these words, Jiang Ning secretly rejoiced.

10,000 contribution points were worth as much as 20,000 taels of silver to him.

He had an immense need for contribution points.

As for using silver to privately purchase from the people in the Inspection Office, it was like a drop in the ocean for his current needs.

"I'll do as you say, senior!" Jiang Ning said with a bow.

Hearing this, the middle-aged woman waved her hand, and the corpse in front of her, covered in black blood, suddenly disappeared within the room.

"Bag of Holding!"

Jiang Ning muttered to himself.

"Follow me. I'll give you the currency representing 60,000 contribution points right now!" The old woman said.

"Senior!" Jiang Ning spoke up, "Junior needs a Dragon Ascension Pill."

"A Dragon Ascension Pill?" The old woman glanced at Jiang Ning and sized him up, "You're still at the seventh rank of martial arts, and your serpent sinew level?"

Jiang Ning replied, "Yes!"

"So weak?" She asked in surprise.

Jiang Ning: ". . ."

The word 'weak' was something he hadn't heard in a long time.

During this period, all he heard from others were exclamations of his strength.

But now, he heard the word 'weak' again.

After speaking, the old woman continued, "With your strength, how did you manage to defeat a sixth-rank martial arts divine progeny? And one that had transformed into a monster at that?"

Jiang Ning answered, "Junior was lucky last night. I happened to encounter her severely wounded, so I took advantage of the situation."

Hearing this, the old woman immediately looked at Jiang Ning with an expression as if he were an idiot.

It was as if she were saying, 'Are you taking me for a fool?'

Seeing the old woman's gaze, Jiang Ning couldn't help but smile awkwardly.

He also realized that his reason seemed rather flimsy.

After all, the sixth-rank martial arts monster had the ability to resist death.

The arrow that pierced her chest last night didn't cause a fatal injury, so how could she have been severely wounded and easily defeated by him?

"Forget it!" The old woman waved her hand, "How you killed her is your secret. I won't bother investigating further."

"As for the Dragon Ascension Pill you requested, this item needs to be procured from the city, and it will take about three days!"

"Come back here after three days!"

"Yes, senior!" Jiang Ning bowed.

On the other side—

The Yellow Heaven Sect's territory.

"Have you found Sun Tanzhu?"

"Reporting to the Incense Master, there's no trace of Sun Tanzhu!"

"Are there any other discoveries?"

"Reporting to the Incense Master, after searching everywhere, there's not a single trace of Sun Tanzhu! However, last night, there was a huge battle at the Riverside Tower, which might be related to Sun Tanzhu!"

"The battle at the Riverside Tower?" Liu Linmen's eyes narrowed, "Come with me!"

"Yes, Incense Master!"

In the blink of an eye—

Three days later.

【Name】: Jiang Ning

【Essence Energy】: 59.12

【Skill】:

Literary Proficiency (Three Times Limit Break 2147/4000) (Characteristics: Photographic Memory, Extraordinary Senses, Quick Thinking)



Jiang Ning looked at his panel and closed it.

Over the past three days, most of his time was spent reading.

As a result, the experience points for his Literary Proficiency skill were already over half.

The only thing that dissatisfied him was the slow growth of essence energy points due to the lack of additional intake.

In three full days, he had gained less than ten essence energy points.

"Looks like I need to spend money to increase it faster!" Jiang Ning sighed to himself, then stood up.

According to the agreement, he could obtain the Dragon Ascension Pill today.

Yesterday, he had only chosen to exchange it for one Dragon Ascension Pill, without any other requests.

He couldn't guarantee that one Dragon Ascension Pill would be enough to reach the serpent sinew level.

If it wasn't sufficient, he still had nearly 30,000 contribution points left, which he could use to exchange for another Dragon Ascension Pill when he gathered 50,000 points.

(End of Chapter)

Chapter end