Chapter Forty-Two: Reality Always Strikes the Hardest

Amid the white radiance, a trace of fiery crimson glimmer shimmered, bursting forth at the very instant the formation was shattered.

“How is this possible… A master of the Divine Repository realm…” someone cried out in alarm as Wang Zhenling lunged at the Mist Valley cultivator who had, moments before, used a mass of baleful energy to form a shield against the power of the magistrate’s seal.

That Mist Valley cultivator, terrified, cried out, his hands forming seals in a frantic attempt to cast a spell.

But how could a primordial spirit’s speed be matched? Swift as the wind, it had already plunged into his body.

The cultivator let out a desperate scream, his entire being surging with baleful energy.

Yet, for Wang Zhenling, it was useless. In the next instant, a blurred figure was forced out from the cultivator’s back by the onslaught of Wang Zhenling’s primordial spirit, collapsing onto the ground.

Then Wang Zhenling’s primordial spirit entered the cultivator’s body, seizing control in a heartbeat. With ruthless efficiency, he grabbed his own head and twisted it hard, wringing his neck like a rope.

A sharp crack resounded. The cultivator’s neck twisted to a grotesque angle as he collapsed to the ground.

“Divine Repository, Divine Repository… He truly is a master of the Divine Repository realm…”

Another Mist Valley cultivator, who had helped set the formation against Wang Zhenling, watched this scene and was seized by mortal terror.

They themselves were nowhere near the level of the divine. The only reason they could conjure illusions was, as Wang Zhenling suspected, by relying on the power of their formation.

In truth, these Mist Valley practitioners were, at best, only at the threshold of the Divine Sprout or Divine Growth realms.

Now, seeing Wang Zhenling exhibit the prowess of a Divine Repository master, none dared make a move against him; all they could do was flee in abject panic!

Little did they know, Wang Zhenling had not even truly stabilized his Divine Sprout cultivation. His primordial spirit’s current strength, appearing to be that of a hidden master, came from the power lent by the magistrate’s seal.

Ordinary officials pursued cultivation of the Dao but not of technique, cultivating nature but not fate; yet, by strengthening the primordial spirit and connecting with the power and fortune of the law, they could wield formidable might.

Just as the county magistrate Zhou Lai had done!

But such power was always somewhat indirect, not easily wielded. Only someone like Wang Zhenling—a cultivator who was also an official—could channel the authority and fortune of the government into his own primordial spirit, giving him, for a brief time, great power at his own command!

That was why, earlier, he could not break the formation or subdue these practitioners with just the seal. But now, with his primordial spirit unleashed, he shattered all expectations!

Two Mist Valley cultivators, sent to ambush a mere rural patrol leader, ended up with one dead and one wounded.

When the injured Mist Valley cultivator returned and told the tale, it caused an uproar among his peers.

A county magistrate controls the fortune and laws of a whole county—such power one can understand. But for a mere chief of a rural constabulary to be so fierce was beyond anything the Mist Valley cultivators had anticipated!

“This world… this world…” The leader of the Mist Valley group stammered for ages, unable to utter a complete sentence, his heart shaken to the core.

Another suddenly slapped his leg and cried out angrily, “We thought we’d have a chance to cross over and cultivate here. We knew this world’s human order was powerful, suppressing ghosts and spirits—but who could have imagined human power was this overwhelming? What kind of imperial court is this? This is the celestial court itself!”

His indignation was clear, but the others were too stunned even to speak.

They had all been itinerant cultivators in a world where spiritual energy had faded, struggling to seize this rare chance to cross over and cultivate anew.

At first, they were wildly excited, each believing that, having arrived in the Eastern Dawn world, they would swiftly achieve mastery and become gods or buddhas.

They were cautious, too—immediately hiding in Mist Valley to cultivate rather than courting death by showing themselves.

After years of cultivation, not only had they all reached the realm of human immortals, with primordial spirits able to leave their bodies at will, but they had also mastered snake gu and baleful energies, perfecting the Earthly Fiend Entrapment Formation.

They had thought themselves, if not invincible, at least unmatched in a region.

Yet, even in this remote backwater, they had been stymied!

Damn it—weren’t transmigrating cultivators supposed to become peerless overlords, slaughtering all foes, amassing countless consorts, slaying gods and buddhas alike? Even if they weren’t so deluded, they still bore a haughty disdain for the natives of this world.

But reality has a way of humbling the proud.

“This is no place to linger. We must hurry back to Mist Valley tonight—lest the authorities find us!”

At this point, just the mention of the authorities instilled dread in every heart.

Word of Wang Zhenling’s ambush on his way home spread to the county seat that very night, stirring the city’s officials to anger and alarm.

First, the county ruler had been attacked—a grave matter under the harsh laws of the Grand Accomplishment Dynasty.

The county magistrate is the master of the county; had Zhou Lai truly been killed, every official in the city would have been implicated.

Before that matter could be resolved, Wang Zhenling, rural patrol chief of Guangyang, was also attacked on the road back—barely escaping with his life.

Such deeds were a blatant challenge to the authority of the government, a threat to the very lives and safety of officials at every level!

This was intolerable!

The county government responded with thunderous force—posting proclamations, mobilizing county and village troops to search every town and wild.

Even the legendary five hundred ghost soldiers were dispatched.

Even during the pursuit of Zhen Yunzi, only a single squad of ghost soldiers had been sent, but this time, all elites were deployed.

Of the five hundred ghost soldiers, only a hundred were left to guard the county seat; the rest were sent out to deal with these audacious cultivators!

Moreover, every township and local tutelary deity in Danling County was mobilized to aid in the hunt for the assassins.

The bureaucracy is usually vast and sluggish, like a lion slumbering in the sun. Only when roused to true action does its immense power become manifest.

But by then, the Mist Valley cultivators had already fled deep into Mount Wuji.

However great Danling County’s rage, its reach could not touch them, nor could it bring those enemies to justice.

Instead, a new conflict erupted between the county captain, Chen Bushi, and the City God over command of the five hundred ghost soldiers.

A few days later, the county government issued a command to Wang Zhenling, appointing him as county captain’s assistant, to replace Chen Bushi in inspecting and defending the townships and driving out evil spirits.