Compete for Favor! Must Compete for Favor!

Just as Ksitigarbha of Great Vows was rushing to the Northern Region to save the day...

In the sky above the Southern Region.

A giant, balding eagle was soaring through the clouds.

Poison-Wing's current state of mind was complex. He felt the melancholy of leaving his homeland, the anticipation of arriving at the holy City of the Wrongfully Dead, and most of all, the literal weight of carrying so many people on his back.

Zen Master Wu Hai sat cross-legged on Poison-Wing's back, swaying his head as he studied the Bone Temple Primary Management Manual given to him by Chen Zhou. He felt the profound Buddhist dharma recorded within while marveling at how scholarly the Ancestor was.

Behind him, several hundred human-livestock were huddled together with a group of handpicked Bone Temple disciples.

There was also a group of small vegetation spirits who originally lived on Poison Flame Mountain and were protected by Su Xue. They sat near the bird's neck, where the wind was calmer and the view was better.

Poison-Wing rolled his eyes, feeling that his life was truly bitter.

He turned his head to glance at his newly grown downy feathers.

The plumage he had lost due to the conflict between the corpse god gu and malevolent qi was starting to regenerate.

Amidst those drab, grayish feathers were a few particularly conspicuous purple quills.

These few feathers shimmered with a faint purple light, looking extremely venomous at a glance.

Poison Pheasant was squatting nearby, looking at her brother's back with a pained expression.

"Big Brother, your feathers..."

"You used to look so majestic. Now you look so... patchy and lumpy. It's ugly."

Poison-Wing's old face flushed red. "Shoo, what do you kids know? This is called molting. It's a sign of evolution."

"Look at these purple ones. How beautiful, how overbearing!"

Poison Pheasant leaned in for a closer look and instinctively pulled her neck back.

Poison Pheasant was also an expert in poison. She instinctively felt that these few feathers contained an ultimate toxin, reaching a level of toxicity that even she, his own sister, didn't dare touch.

"It is... quite poisonous," Poison Pheasant muttered softly.

As she spoke, she gently patted the backs of several small vegetation demons who were feeling unwell from the high-altitude flight.

Most of these weak demon race members brought from Poison Flame Mountain were leaving their homeland for the first time, feeling both afraid and excited.

"Lord Poison Pheasant, are we really going to the city of a god?" a small flower demon asked timidly.

"I suppose so. Just listen to my brother, you can't go wrong," Poison Pheasant said softly. "Didn't Big Sister Su Xue say it? There is no slaughter there, no bullying. It is a true pure land."

Upon hearing this, Zen Master Wu Hai immediately perked up and chimed in:

"Hey, little girls, that is a holy city! The holy Bone City!"

Although Zen Master Wu Hai's skeletal face couldn't make expressions, the fanaticism in his voice was overflowing.

"Let me tell you, our Ancestor's City of the Wrongfully Dead is incredibly majestic!"

"The city walls are all built from white bones this thick, reaching ten thousand fathoms high!" Zen Master Wu Hai gestured exaggeratedly.

"The tiles paving the city streets are all spirit stones. The water used to irrigate the fields is all heavenly nectar. I saw it last time—it was taken from a pavilion with a giant pine tree. It was colorful and even glowed!"

"Most importantly, in that place, as long as you believe in the Ancestor, you cannot die."

"Even if you're left with nothing but a skull, the Ancestor can make you jump around lively again!"

Poison Pheasant listened in a daze. "Really? You can live with just a skull?"

"Of course! I, Zen Master Wu Hai, as a man of the cloth, do not speak falsehoods!"

Zen Master Wu Hai patted his chest and boasted. After all, he had personally felt the Ancestor's death qi, and the little monks under him had also been resurrected after dying in the battle of the Southern Region.

Meanwhile, the hundreds of selected human-livestock had been very reserved, but hearing Zen Master Wu Hai's description, light gradually returned to their eyes.

They were the ones who had performed best in Chaiwang City. Although they weren't yet qualified to be given names like Seven Kills and the others, Zen Master Wu Hai viewed them as promising material.

And so, amidst constant boasting and chatter, Poison-Wing flew over thousands of mountains and rivers, finally reaching the borders of Thousand Isles County.

Passing through the mist, that towering giant city of white bones appeared before everyone's eyes.

"Wow—"

Poison Pheasant and the small demons let out gasps of amazement like country bumpkins seeing the world for the first time.

While Zen Master Wu Hai had exaggerated a bit, the sense of pressure and the stern atmosphere of order brought by this city were indeed incomparable to the scattered demon dens of the Southern Region.

Just as Poison-Wing was about to land, he saw another group of people at the city gate.

Ku Chan was leading a group of simply dressed but devout-looking mortals, approaching from another path.

This was the Lantao City pilgrimage group that Ku Chan organized periodically.

Through Ku Chan's non-stop day-and-night brainwashing, along with the full support of the Blackwater Guard and the various noble families, the commoners of Lantao City now felt a deep yearning for the holy city where the god resided.

Lantao City was already so good under the protection of the god; what would the actual holy city look like?

Ku Chan was very shrewd. He had established a faith assessment—only those who reached the level of True Believer were qualified to come to the City of the Wrongfully Dead on pilgrimage.

Those who reached the level of Devout Believer could even obtain residency status.

This hunger marketing tactic was extremely effective. Now, everyone in Lantao City was competing fiercely in their devotion just to snatch a spot for the pilgrimage.

The two groups met at the city gate.

Poison-Wing's massive body landed, kicking up a cloud of dust.

Zen Master Wu Hai jumped off the bird's back, his skeleton clicking and clacking. Holding his monk staff, he looked quite imposing.

Ku Chan's eyelid twitched when he saw this scene.

"Amitabha."

Ku Chan pressed his palms together, looking at this skeleton who looked more like a monk than himself. Alarm bells rang in his heart.

"This... Bone Benefactor, are you also here for the pilgrimage?"

Zen Master Wu Hai glanced at him, saw Ku Chan's monk robes and the group of mortals behind him wearing death makeup, and spat in disgust.

"How unlucky!"

"Where did this fake monk come from, bringing a bunch of living people wearing death makeup? It's neither fish nor fowl."

"This poor monk is the thirty-sixth generation successor of the Bone Temple, Wu Hai. I have come to report back under the orders of the Ancestor!"

Zen Master Wu Hai stood tall, deliberately emphasizing the words "orders of the Ancestor."

Ku Chan's heart skipped a beat upon hearing this.

Bone Temple? Ancestor?

Did the Lord take in another dog?

And looking at the aura of this skeleton, was it a dog with an official post?

Ku Chan felt a deep professional crisis.

He had originally thought that by making Lantao City flourish, he was already the number one lapdog under the Lord.

He hadn't expected another competitor to pop up!

"So it is Fellow Daoist Wu Hai."

Ku Chan gave a fake smile. "This poor monk is Ku Chan, the host of Lantao City personally appointed by the Lord."

"Since we are both working for the Lord, let's not block the gate. After you."

The two looked at each other, and sparks seemed to fly in the air.

This was the tacit understanding of two peers meeting and seeing red.

Compete for favor!

Must compete for favor!

Zen Master Wu Hai huffed and waved his monk staff. "Little ones, look sharp! We are the Ancestor's direct forces. Don't embarrass the Ancestor. Enter the city!"

In order to show off, Zen Master Wu Hai waved his hand and led his people forward.

Ku Chan was not to be outdone either. He turned back to the believers and shouted, "Quickly, keep up! Don't let those barbarians get ahead of us. We were the first to follow the Lord!"

"Line up! Sincerity brings results! Let the Lord see our devotion!"

The two vied for the lead as if in a race, their respective groups swarming toward the city gates.

Poison-Wing followed behind, scratching his featherless head in total confusion.