The Unremarkable Little Taoist Master

This means I can level up, but the prerequisite is that your Jiangshi must be on the brink of promotion.

I nodded, somewhat understanding, while the old man listened intently, eager not to miss a single detail. Watching his serious expression, I chose not to disturb him and simply sat there quietly.

Later, during the banquet, I lost track of how much alcohol we had consumed. I felt dizzy, and I couldn’t even remember how I made it back to my room. All I recall is that I drank a lot, then threw up, and subsequently lost consciousness. After that, I couldn’t remember anything at all.

I shook my still-painful head and looked over at the old daoist priest sprawled out beside me. I gently got out of bed, opened the door, and stepped into the courtyard. The sunlight was so blinding that I could hardly open my eyes; it took me quite a while to adjust.

I saw Blacksmith Hu standing in the yard, looking energized as he observed his Iron-armored Jiangshi. I quickly sensed something was off; upon closer inspection, I realized it was no longer an Iron-armored Jiangshi, but rather a silver-armored Jiangshi. The silver-armored Jiangshi looked fierce as it stared at me, appearing rather tense, perhaps sensing that I might pose a threat to it.

I took a few steps back to signal that I had no intention of attacking, and only then did the silver-armored Jiangshi coldly retreat. Blacksmith Hu chuckled and said, “After all these years, I finally succeeded,” his words laced with bittersweet emotions.

Indeed, after so many years, would I also find success? Seeing Blacksmith Hu’s spirited demeanor, I felt somewhat inspired by his emotions. I clenched my teeth, silently promising myself that I would definitely succeed.

At that moment, the old man stumbled out of the house, and upon seeing the silver-armored Jiangshi standing outside, he looked utterly bewildered. Then he glanced at Blacksmith Hu, who gave him an understanding smile. The old man was overjoyed, and after receiving Blacksmith Hu’s nod of approval, he reached out to gently stroke the silver-armored Jiangshi, a look of eager anticipation blooming on his face.

The old daoist priest looked at the silver-armored Jiangshi as if he had seen hope. Knowing the pain in his heart, I chose to remain silent, watching this pair of adversaries and silently praying for the old daoist priest. I hoped he would succeed.

After we finished breakfast, we planned to head up the mountain to search for clues. If we found the corpse-thieving thief, we could deal with him and hurry back to our city. We had been feeling quite uncomfortable during our days in Xiangxi; it was just too humid here, and for someone used to the northern climate, it was very unpleasant.

I led the old daoist priest as we ascended the mountain, with him and his Iron-armored Jiangshi at the front of our group. We found ourselves near the tiger cave once more and began our careful search, splitting up to cover more ground.

I was searching through a patch of bushes, slowly moving forward when I stumbled upon a corpse bizarrely standing on a small hill. However, I didn’t detect any corpse aura emanating from it.

Quickly, I ran toward the figure. Suddenly, I saw a dark shadow dart past me. I immediately gave chase. The shadow moved intermittently, glancing back at me from time to time, which caused me to push myself harder to catch up.

But this shadow seemed remarkably familiar with the terrain. After a few jumps, it vanished into a dense forest ahead, where the thick trees made it nearly impossible to spot any trace of it.

Shaking my head in frustration, I turned back down the mountain. It appeared I wouldn’t be able to catch that wretched corpse-thieving thief this time. Once I reached the bottom, I saw Xiaolin sitting there, while the old daoist priest wore a cheerful expression. I approached them, and the old daoist priest asked, “Where did you run off to?”

I replied, “I spotted the corpse-thieving thief.” The old daoist priest immediately stood up, looking around anxiously. “Where? Where’s the thief?” he inquired.

I shook my head. “I couldn’t catch him. He looked at me in disbelief. I smiled and explained, “That person seemed to know this area very well and darted into a forest. I simply couldn’t keep up with him.”

The old daoist priest immediately said, “Let’s go take a look in the forest.” I led him to the entrance of the dense woods. The old daoist priest surveyed the surroundings and declared, “I’ll send my Iron-armored Jiangshi in to take a look right away.”

I nodded in agreement with his plan. The old daoist priest shook his bell, and the Iron-armored Jiangshi leaped straight into the forest. We followed closely behind as we moved forward, the atmosphere around us heavy and oppressive.

The Iron-armored Jiangshi slowly led the way, with the two of us closely trailing behind. Suddenly, I felt an overwhelming surge of corpse aura. I quickly turned around and was alarmed to find a dozen Jiangshi appearing beside us. My scalp tingled with fear, and I reluctantly drew my peach wood sword, realizing that this was going to be another fierce battle.

I gritted my teeth, nervously staring at the group of Jiangshi ahead. Surprisingly, they didn’t rush to attack; instead, they coldly watched us and slowly advanced. I noticed even more ordinary Jiangshi joining the throng.

My heart raced; although I wasn’t easily frightened, I knew I could still get injured. As the saying goes, “Many ants can kill an elephant,” and with so many Jiangshi around, it was no different. The old daoist priest, however, remained unperturbed, staring intently at one of the Jiangshi with gleaming eyes. It was only then that I understood his excitement-there was an Iron-armored Jiangshi among them.

The old daoist priest kept his gaze fixed on that Iron-armored Jiangshi. Suddenly, it let out a loud roar, and all the Jiangshi seemed to respond to its command, charging toward us.

At the same time, a roar from the old daoist priest’s Iron-armored Jiangshi erupted, as if it had been provoked, also jumping out and roaring defiantly.

I noticed that the ordinary Jiangshi froze in fear, unwilling to take another step forward, standing there with bewildered expressions. It was clear to me that these Jiangshi were frightened. In the realm of Jiangshi, higher-level Jiangshi can command lower-level ones, which is a principle of strength and dominance.

The Iron-armored Jiangshi lunged toward the old daoist priest’s Iron-armored Jiangshi, leaping forward with great strides. The old daoist priest’s Jiangshi’s eyes sparkled as it also jumped toward its counterpart.

Moments later, the two Jiangshi collided with a heavy impact, the sound reminiscent of two speeding cars crashing together, creating a loud, muffled noise.