"What the heck?"
Su Xiaoluo was stunned and exclaimed out loud.
Lin Heng, who was deeply immersed in the mysteries of the Five Elements Ghost Skill, was startled by the sudden noise.
He quickly stopped the spell and looked towards the main entrance in confusion.
In that moment, Su Xiaoluo and Lin Heng made eye contact, and upon seeing the other's striking appearance and aura, Su Xiaoluo was dumbfounded.
"A... an Immortal?"
Su Xiaoluo couldn't help but exclaim in awe.
The Daoist in front of her was sporting otherworldly Daoist hair and wearing an ethereal Daoist robe.
His figure was tall and straight, and his features extraordinarily exquisite.
With his delicate movements, he appeared aloof and mysterious, like an Exiled Immortal untouched by dust!
"Whoa!"
The viewers in Su Xiaoluo's live stream exploded instantly.
"Is this Daoist insanely handsome or what?"
"Goodness, with that physique, those looks, that aura—he's perfect! No popular young actor or male idol can compare to this Daoist!"
"Seriously, with looks this good, why on earth would he choose the monastic life in the mountains? It's such a waste!"
"Please don't make such comments! We're all girls here, we should be respectful! Joking about having my husband's baby is really not appropriate!"
"Are you once again finding a husband online? Let me see how—oh my god, that's... that's my husband!"
Got to admit.
Lin Heng indeed looked ridiculously handsome right now.
He was already as graceful as jade, resembling the famed Pan An in beauty.
And ever since gaining cultivation last night, his body had been purified.
At this moment, standing there, he exuded an ethereal, otherworldly presence.
His aura vividly resembled that of an Exiled Immortal!
Even someone like Su Xiaoluo, who had seen many top-tier handsome men, found herself feeling a flutter in her heart.
However, fortunately, she wasn't overly smitten and quickly snapped out of her daze, pointing at the nearby pillars and asking:
"Daoist... did you come out from inside there?"
She hadn't forgotten that ghostly scene from moments before.
Lin Heng paused but neither confirmed nor denied it, instead he turned the question around on her and asked:
"Is there something you need here?"
"Oh."
Su Xiaoluo remembered what she came for and quickly asked in anticipation:
"Daoist, is there an elder Daoist here?"
"Yes, why?"
"Can I see him?" Su Xiaoluo asked excitedly.
"Oh, he passed away a week ago; his grave is on the hill out back, you can visit if you want," Lin Heng said blandly.
"What?"
Su Xiaoluo was taken aback and instantly realized that he wasn't talking about the same person she was. She hurriedly explained:
"No, no, no, the elder Daoist I want to see is the one who used Thunder Skill last night!"
"Huh?"
Lin Heng gave Su Xiaoluo an odd look—so she was here because of him?
"Sorry, ever since my master passed away a week ago, I'm the only one left in this Daoist Temple."
"There's no elder Daoist here capable of using Thunder Skill, and such a thing isn't realistic anyway, who could control it?"
"You need to trust in science and avoid superstition!"
Lin Heng said without blushing or skipping a beat.
He would never admit to last night's events, no way, never!
"Oh wow, the young Daoist clarifies things himself."
"I said that video couldn't be real, people can't harness Celestial Thunder!"
"If Daoism really had such experts, it wouldn't have fallen into decline!"
"Xiao Luo, you made the trip for nothing."
The viewers in the live stream were full of sighs.
Everyone was already skeptical about the authenticity of the video, and now that a Daoist himself had come out to deny the existence of Thunder Skill, there was nothing more to say.
"Huh, Daoist, are you really saying magic doesn't exist?"
Su Xiaoluo remained a bit unwilling to believe it.
"I just saw you come out of a column earlier, isn't that a spell?"
Su Xiaoluo felt the Daoist was talking nonsense.
Since when do Daoists encourage people to trust science?
"I've said what I need to say, whether you believe it or not is up to you."
Lin Heng seemed indifferent.
Seeing this, Su Xiaoluo didn't know what else to say.
She pursed her lips and looked around the Daoist Temple, hesitating a bit before asking:
"Daoist, may I walk around the temple? I might also take some pictures..."
She had been to many temples before.
Inside a temple, taking pictures was prohibited.
But surprisingly, the Daoist nodded.
"As you wish."
Receiving permission, Su Xiaoluo was instantly delighted.
"Thank you, Daoist!"
Having said that, she took her selfie stick and entered the Ancestral Hall.
The statue of the Three Pristine Ones clearly appeared in the lens, astonishing the viewers in the live stream.
"Is it really that easy?"
"They even allowed pictures; this Daoist is so easygoing!"
"Last time I went to a temple with my mom, I just wanted to take a picture of offering incense, but the monk stopped me as soon as I took out my phone, saying photography was forbidden in the Holy Land of Buddhism!"
"In comparison, Daoists seem quite amiable?"
Su Xiaoluo being allowed to film in the Daoist Temple gave many viewers a newfound appreciation for Daoism.
And Lin Heng, indeed, wasn't just paying lip service.
After permitting Su Xiaoluo's presence, he didn't utter a single word of disagreement.
Even when Su Xiaoluo roamed from the front courtyard to the Ancestral Hall, then to the backyard, and even peeked through the windows of the Quiet Chamber,
the Daoist didn't stop her at all.
Really, this Daoist was remarkably laid-back!
"The elder Daoist really doesn't seem to be here..."
Having explored every corner of the Daoist Temple, inside and out, Su Xiaoluo's eyes showed a trace of disappointment.
In truth, she wasn't content, believing Lin Heng was hiding something and wanting to find that elder Daoist.
But as it turned out,
there truly was only one young Daoist in the entire temple!
Su Xiaoluo sighed softly.
The elder Immortal who could use Thunder Skill wasn't here, leaving Su Xiaoluo completely disheartened for the moment, and she said to Lin Heng:
"Sorry for disturbing you, Daoist; I should get going now, I'll come back another time to offer incense."
With that, Su Xiaoluo prepared to leave.
But just as she stepped out the door, it started to rain heavily from the sky.
Su Xiaoluo hurried back into the Daoist Temple, sheepishly saying to Lin Heng:
"Sorry, I might need to bother you a little longer."
"As you wish."
Lin Heng replied in a detached tone, his mind wandering.
Last night's encounter with the Life-Buying Ghost had been fruitful for him.
If only more evil spirits of the Life-Buying Ghost level or even higher could come, that would be excellent—after all, once the Five Thunders Righteous Method was employed, they would all be experience packages.
Lin Heng's mind was full of thoughts about ghosts and spirits.
While Su Xiaoluo, on the other hand, was preoccupied with finding the Thunder Skill elder Immortal.
The rain kept pouring, going on until nightfall.
...
...
Hundreds of miles away.
The moonlight was dark and somber, like water.
Amidst the wilderness, in the abandoned City God Temple, a chilly wind blew.
Under the ghostly green glow of Yin Lamps, shadowy figures—twenty or thirty eerie black shapes—stood outside the abandoned City God Temple.
These were the fierce ghosts gathered by the Evil Spirit City God, named Shadow Soldiers by it.
Each Shadow Soldier had a minimum strength of Qi Refining Seventh Layer, with three of them having broken through to the Postnatal stage, equaling the strength of a Short-lived Ghost.