Becoming a Saint Starts with Copying Martial Arts

Chapter 59 Devouring Spirits and Exploring Thoughts

In the following days, Jiangyin County became increasingly turbulent as the Zhenhun Division's officers searched everywhere for the murderer of Pang Tong, which also affected many other people.

Lin Qing, caught in the vortex, showed not the slightest panic.

He faced whatever came his way, and he simply worked even harder than usual to improve his skills.

Aside from collecting corpses, patrolling the dungeon, eating, and sleeping, he spent all his other time practicing the Tathagata Fist Sutra.

He had been waiting for a corpse that possessed superb lightness skills, but he never found one.

However, he remained calm, because in this situation, various forces were constantly clashing and fighting openly and covertly, and experts were constantly dying. There would always be a chance to get the corpses he wanted.

At the same time, Han Shantong was also making preparations for the worship of the Devouring Spirit Demon.

Seven days after Pang Tong's death, outside the Han family ancestral hall, Lu Xingmin lay on a chair, his gaze shining through a double carved wooden door into the dark and gloomy interior of the ancestral hall. He could vaguely hear the sound of a baby crying coming from inside.

"Brother Han, are you really going to take this risk? There are only eighteen babies, and most of them are stillborn. The success rate won't be very high." Lu Xingmin said, his fat jiggling as he spoke.

Han Shantong stood to the side, his gaze icy: "Take a gamble, and there may be a way out; don't take a gamble, and you're sure to die. I just received news that the Han family members I sent to the prefectural city have gone missing. My son Han Rong and the retainer Han Qi are both missing, and now my Han family is standing on the edge of a cliff. Lu Xingmin, you and I are in the same boat. If the Han family's boat sinks, you will not escape death either."

Upon hearing this, Lu Xingmin frowned, feeling a strange sense of irritation.

"You think it was done by the town's Soul Division?"

"Apart from the Soul Suppression Division, my Han family has never provoked anyone in the prefectural city," Han Shantong said.

"Damn it! It's all over, Han Laogui, what do we do now? Should we run away? Run away from Jiangyin County!" Lu Xingmin said, casually tossing the braised beef bone in his hand. He was already upset and had no appetite.

"Escape? Where can you escape to? I have already informed the Yin Yuan Sect, and they will be sending people here soon. Until then, do everything you can to improve your strength. In this chaotic world, everything is illusory; only strength is fundamental!" Han Shantong said coldly.

"Damn the Soul Suppression Division! You're right, strength is the key. From today onwards, I will search for the baby at all costs and hold the Hundred Children Banquet as soon as possible." Lu Xingmin went mad. Since he couldn't keep his position as county magistrate anyway, all he wanted now was to become stronger and survive.

"That's not enough. Speed ​​things up and get all the major powers in the city on our side. Those who don't obey, get rid of them as soon as possible." Han Shantong said, already stepping into the ancestral hall.

"If the Ma family and the Taishan Martial Arts School don't cooperate, then they can all die!" Lu Xingmin's face was ferocious. He suddenly smashed the stone table next to him with a palm, which frightened the maids next to him to their knees and trembled.

Inside the ancestral hall, Han Shantong's face was sinister, his gaze fixed ahead. On the offering table was a statue of a spirit-devouring demon child, a ghost child whose entire body was surrounded by eerie blue flames, and whose skin was also bluish-gray. Its slightly open mouth revealed two sharp teeth, and above that were a pair of empty eyes, with only the whites of the eyes showing and no pupils.

On the open ground next to the statue, there are eighteen infants, fourteen of whom are stillborn and four are stillborn.

These live babies were obtained by him from poor people in the outer city through various means, either by theft or by forced purchase and sale.

He wouldn't have dared to do this before, but now, the Han family is on the edge of a cliff. He has gone mad, so mad that he will stop at nothing for power.

Han Shantong took out a piece of cloth from his bosom. This was the Devouring Spirit Demon Visualization Method that he had obtained from Yin Muhua. It contained two parts.

Part of it is the Heart Sutra, which requires repeatedly visualizing the Devouring Demon in your mind until the image of the Devouring Demon is deeply engraved in your mind.

The second part is the sacrificial text, which needs to be recited during the worship.

Han Shantong closed his eyes slightly, took several deep breaths until his mind was calm and only the image of the Devouring Spirit Demon remained in his mind. Only then did he recite the sacrificial text with a devout heart.

"The abyss is dark and gloomy, wind blows from every opening, shadows weep, and bones are hollow. Now, with a hundred infants as offerings and resentment as incense, we respectfully offer sacrifices to the Venerable Devouring Spirit Demon..."

...

Outside the ancestral hall, Lu Xingmin waited anxiously. He heard the baby's crying suddenly stop and knew that the ceremony had begun.

He kept praying in his heart that the ceremony must succeed. If it failed, Han Shantong might go crazy. He was all alone and had no courage to stay in the city. But if he tried to escape, he didn't know where to go.

Time flew by, and although not much time had actually passed, he felt as if each day was an eternity.

An hour later, the door creaked open, and Han Shantong stepped out.

Lu Xingmin's eyes lit up. At first glance, Han Shantong didn't seem to have changed much, but as he got closer, he found that Han Shantong seemed to be radiating a cold aura, and his eyes were even more indifferent and ruthless.

"It worked?"

"The Devouring Spirit Demon has planted a divine seed deep within my soul. Now I possess its evil technique, Devouring Spirit and Detecting Thoughts!" Han Shantong said in a deep voice.

"Great, that's wonderful!" Lu Xingmin laughed heartily, his fat trembling even more violently.

"Now that I have mastered the Transformation Realm and have the help of the Devouring Spirit Demon, I am confident that I can fight even if the experts from the city suddenly attack." Han Shantong clenched his fists, a cold glint in his eyes.

The Byr Cult follows the path of ingesting evil spirits into the soul, which can grant people some of the abilities of evil spirits. They can also devour people's essence and soul to strengthen themselves, just like evil spirits. This not only greatly increases the combat power of martial artists, but also indirectly prolongs their lifespan. Therefore, even though the Soul Suppression Division tries every means to suppress them, the number of believers remains extremely large.

However, the downside is that once evil spirits enter the body, one needs to continuously improve their martial arts level to achieve a delicate balance.

Once the balance is lost and the body is completely invaded by evil spirits, one will go mad and cause great turmoil.

"Old Han, I knew you weren't an ordinary person," Lu Xingmin said with a smile.

Han Shantong did not respond, but took out a small dark green bottle from his pocket.

"This contains Pang Tong's blood, which I had collected from Yan Hui Fang. Now let me test whether this Devouring Spirit Demon's magic is effective."

As Han Shantong spoke, he drank the blood in the bottle in one gulp, then closed his eyes slightly and silently recited the incantation from the Devouring Spirit Demon Visualization Method.

The visualization method states that there are many ways to use the method of devouring spirits and probing thoughts. One of them is to track down the murderer by devouring the blood of the dead and replaying the scene before their death.

At this moment, Han Shantong was testing this move. He closed his eyes tightly, and soon some fragmented images appeared in his mind.

He seemed to possess Pang Tong's body, experiencing the battle that night intermittently through his eyes, and also seeing the appearance of his opponent: a young man of average build, with a black cloth covering his face, and unparalleled domineering boxing skills.

A moment later, the image disappeared, and Han Shantong frowned slightly.

"How's it going? Have you identified the killer?" Lu Xingmin asked.

"It wasn't Ran Hongxia. The killer was young, a man, and very skilled in hidden weapons and fist techniques. His eyes are the biggest clue. Someone, quickly summon Painter Mu!" Han Shantong shouted.