Under the influence of various merits, Qi Heng’s soul was completely restored, and he vaguely sensed that his time here was running out.
“Senior brother, give me your sword,” Xiao Mo suddenly spoke, his tone somewhat proud. “I can now repair it.”
Xiao Mo thought for a while and came up with this way to leave a lasting impression. Although he couldn’t accompany his senior brother to other worlds, perhaps when his senior brother saw the restored spirit sword, he would remember that it was he who had fixed it.
Qi Heng didn’t know what Xiao Mo was thinking, so he took the spirit sword that had been stored in his pocket and handed it over.
Xiao Mo gently ran his hand over the broken spirit sword, and after a while, the sword, which had been broken, began to emit a sparkling glow and returned to its original state.
“Let it accompany you,” Xiao Mo said as he returned the sword to Qi Heng.
A black vortex appeared out of nowhere. Qi Heng took the sword and felt the vortex’s pull on him. After a moment of hesitation, he stepped into the vortex.
Inside the vortex were numerous card-like images, like scenes from a movie. Qi Heng even saw many worlds he had visited before.
A card floated out and stopped in front of Qi Heng. He instinctively touched it, and the card emitted a blinding light.
Qi Heng instinctively closed his eyes to shield them from the bright light. When he opened them again, he found himself standing in the middle of a road.
“Beep!” A taxi with its hazard lights on abruptly slammed its brakes in front of Qi Heng. He even noticed the driver’s terrified eyes.
It was understandable; having a person suddenly appear in front of a car in the middle of the night would startle anyone.
Qi Heng raised his hand to erase the driver’s memory, but his gaze inadvertently fell on the Qiankun Ring that had somehow found its way onto his finger.
The Qiankun Ring remained silent.
The driver’s gaze blanked for a moment, then returned to normal. He leaned out of the car and angrily scolded, “Are you trying to get yourself killed standing in the middle of the road?”
Qi Heng walked to the side of the road and subtly waved away the bad luck surrounding the driver.
With his current status as a celestial being and carrying a significant amount of merit, even a casual comment from him could bring misfortune to ordinary humans.
Qi Heng was lost in thought, forgetting to hide his own presence. He only realized his visibility when a group of Daoist-looking individuals rushed across the road from the opposite side.
“What the heck, where did this person come from with such a surplus of merit?” Qin Luo caught a glimpse of the scene, froze in his tracks, and exclaimed in astonishment. While speaking, he shielded his eyes from the blinding radiance of the merit.
The overwhelming display of merit made Qin Luo’s heart ache. He couldn’t help but wonder if the person in front of him might be the legendary Tenfold Merit Body.
Several other Daoists followed his gaze and saw a young man in exquisite ancient attire. What puzzled them was that they couldn’t see this person’s face clearly.
However, in such a vast world, there were countless faces of all kinds, and not being able to read someone’s face was quite normal.
The group didn’t dwell on it and, upon regaining their senses, realized that their companion had already approached the young man.
“Hello!” Qin Luo introduced himself solemnly, “I’m Qin Luo, and I sense that the aura on you is similar to ours. May I ask if you’re also a member of the Daoist community?”
He extended his hand.
Qi Heng, however, didn’t shake hands and replied coldly, “No.”
He’s not human; he’s a celestial being.
Qin Luo withdrew his hand with a sense of regret. He had hoped to absorb some of the celestial aura during the handshake, but the person didn’t even acknowledge him.
“Qin, my young friend,” one of the Daoists behind him said, “we should leave quickly. Let’s get back to the organization and find a way to seal the malevolent spirit.”
As they spoke, a strong wind suddenly rose around them, and a bone-chilling aura came from all directions, shrouding the area in a white mist.
Piercing screams and a nauseating smell of blood filled the air, causing Qin Luo and his companions to pale.
“Why is this happening so soon? Wasn’t the seal supposed to last for a day and a night?” Qin Luo wondered.
One of them slapped his forehead. “Oh no, I think the spirit-sealing talisman paper I bought at the market last time is about to expire.”
He had thought the spirit-sealing talisman paper was a good deal at the market and bought several sheets, only to discover later that it had less than half a year left before expiration.
The vengeful ghost had arrived.
“Take it, stick it on your body, and run when I tell you to run,” Qin Luo clenched his teeth and pulled out a life-saving talisman from his pocket, handing it to Qi Heng.
They were all practitioners of the occult and had the strength to confront this vengeful ghost. However, the man before them was just an ordinary mortal, a mortal they had inadvertently involved.
Qi Heng took the talisman and noticed it was an amulet infused with spiritual energy.
“Die… Die…” A sinister and malevolent voice rang in their ears, and a massive red handprint descended towards them.
“Hurry up as if it’s an order, go.” A Taoist priest swiftly tossed a talisman onto the vengeful ghost, but the talisman only left a faint black mark on the vengeful ghost’s body before turning into a pile of black ash.
Qin Luo drew a peach wood sword from his back and affixed a talisman to the hilt before rushing forward to engage the vengeful ghost.
The peach wood sword posed a threat to the vengeful ghost, causing it to retreat slightly. Qin Luo shouted without looking back, “You guys go quickly! I’ll cover the rear!”
The other Taoist priests were determined not to leave, except for an older one who turned to Qi Heng and said, “It’s our fault that we involved the young man. Young man, quickly stick the protective talisman on and leave.”
“Trying to escape?” The vengeful ghost grinned sinisterly, “No chance.”
It couldn’t match Qin Luo and found itself in a standoff. Even as a vengeful ghost, it knew when to pick its battles. Upon hearing Qin Luo’s words, it immediately changed its target, reaching for the ordinary humans on the side.
“Watch out!” Qin Luo noticed the vengeful ghost’s intentions and rushed to stop it. However, in his haste, he left an opening and was slapped away by the vengeful ghost.
The remaining Taoist priests met a similar fate, all thrown ten meters away and coughing up blood.
The vengeful ghost reached Qi Heng, but Qin Luo, spitting blood on the peach wood sword, intended to use his own life force to lure the vengeful ghost. However, he suddenly realized that the vengeful ghost had stopped just one meter away from the aura of great merit, unable to move any closer.
Qin Luo slapped his head and exclaimed, “I forgot! The Tenfold Merit Body, protected by heaven, is invulnerable to evil spirits.”
“Die…” The vengeful ghost attempted to grab the person in front of it by the neck but found itself seemingly frozen in place, unable to move at all.
“No… it can’t be…”
Qi Heng blinked, and the vengeful ghost’s form shattered with a resounding noise, and the surrounding cold air and mist slowly dissipated.
“Wow!” Qin Luo was left dumbfounded. “The Tenfold Merit Body is this powerful?”
It could make a vengeful ghost disintegrate into ashes.
“The Tenfold Merit Body?” The Taoist priests nearby were no longer calm. This was something found only in ancient texts.
“Are you sure, Mr. Qin?”
“You can use your third eye to take a look.” Qin Luo nodded firmly. With so much merit, he couldn’t be the only one interested.
Several Taoist priests were skeptical but followed his advice. After using their third eyes, their gaze towards Qi Heng was no longer that of an ordinary person but more like someone observing a rare and precious national treasure, even more precious than a giant panda.
Such a talent. If he were to join the Daoist community, within ten years, he could achieve significant progress.
With these thoughts in mind, their eyes began to shine.
“Young friend, may I ask if you would be willing to join the Daoist community?”
Qi Heng shook his head.
“We came to thank you for saving us. How about leaving your contact information, and we can visit you another day to express our gratitude?”
“No need, I don’t know why that malevolent spirit suddenly left,” Qi Heng replied with feigned ignorance.
The Daoist priests forced a smile. It was evident that the spirit hadn’t just “left” but had been obliterated by the backlash of the merit it attempted to harm.
After a few more exchanges, they realized Qi Heng wasn’t interested, so they bid their farewells and left one by one.
After Qi Heng watched Qin Luo and the others leave, he realized that in this world, unlike the previous ones, he didn’t have an established identity upon arrival. Therefore, he found himself feeling somewhat lost, not knowing where to go.
He stood still for a while, pondering, and eventually decided to seek out Qin Luo, the Son of Fortune, his junior.
His auspicious junior.
From the moment Qin Luo appeared, Qi Heng noticed the familiar aura of fortune within him, as well as the striking resemblance to Qi Shao.
It’s not a reincarnation of Qi Shao, just his grandson.
After dealing with the matters at hand, Qi Heng returned to the rented house where Qin Luo was staying.
…
When Qin Luo opened the door, he was startled by the dazzling golden light inside.
“Mer…Merit Spirit… How did you get here?” Qin Luo looked shocked and then checked the door, finding no signs of forced entry.
“How did you get in?”
Qi Heng gave him a disdainful look and said, “There were too many people around earlier, and it wasn’t suitable for a conversation. That’s why I came directly to your place.”
Qin Luo walked into the room, pulled out the key, and locked the door. “What do you want to say?”
“You’re not from this era,” Qi Heng replied.
Qin Luo’s expression changed. “Who are you?”
Even though his soul was perfectly aligned with this body, so much so that even the masters couldn’t tell, how could this person see through him with just one glance? Can a Tenth-Generation Merit Spirit be this perceptive?
“Qi Heng.” Just these two plain words, but Qin Luo immediately felt a strong pressure and knelt with a thud.
Qin Luo tried to stand up but found himself unable to move even an inch under the weight of that pressure.
Sweat dripped from Qin Luo’s forehead, and Qi Heng raised his hand to dispel the pressure that his name had caused. He was an immortal, and for these newly cultivated Daoists, his name demanded respect.
Qi Heng looked at Qin Luo, whose expression had turned strange, and said with a half-smile, “Remembered, have you?”
“You are the great-granduncle.” Qin Luo gritted his teeth and nodded. How could he forget? Qi Heng was the most mysterious emperor of the Jin dynasty.
From the moment he was born, Qin Luo had heard about the legend of the immortal in their Qi family. It was this legend that sparked his interest in the path of cultivation. Ultimately, he chose the pursuit of immortality over the readily available throne.
However, Qin Luo had never imagined that, after crossing a thousand years, he would actually meet the legendary great-granduncle who had become an immortal.
In his ancestral palace, there were many paintings of the great-granduncle created during his ancestor’s lifetime. However, every painting would become blank after less than a quarter of an hour.
It was because of this that both the upper and lower echelons of the Jin dynasty were convinced of the existence of an immortal in the Jin royal family. After all, if it weren’t for an immortal, what could possess the power to erase images of him from the mortal realm?
“Get up.” Qi Heng retracted the blinding aura of his own merits and spoke leisurely, “My great-nephew.”
Qin Luo found that he could move again and quickly got up from the floor. He looked at Qi Heng, and his expression froze.
Qi Heng turned on the TV, watched for a while, then turned to the bewildered Qin Luo. “By the way, great-nephew, what was your original name in your previous life?”
“Qi Yan,” Qin Luo answered instinctively.
