Chapter 53: Chapter 53: Heavenly Punishment

Su Ping, with the help of the perspectives of the Spiritual Rats White and Grey,

was the first to remotely behold the mushroom cloud slowly rising above the Taoist temple.

Although this mushroom cloud wasn’t as exaggerated as the special effects in movies, it certainly showcased the potency of the explosives.

The Taoist temple on the mountain had almost instantly turned to ruins the moment the mushroom cloud soared into the sky.

Many wooden structures caught fire, adding flames and black smoke to the mushroom cloud.

Su Ping was not surprised by the appearance of the mushroom cloud.

Given a sufficient quantity, even black gunpowder could create a mushroom cloud.

Not to mention that Su Ping had used the sweet gunpowder praised by many civilian military organizations.

Moreover, the explosion occurred in a relatively enclosed underground chamber, so with the right timing and location, such an effect was within reason.

“Explosives are equally violent and powerful in this world of immortal cultivation,”

“With such destructive power, even a Foundation Establishment Cultivator caught off guard would suffer a great loss!”

“However, even Gui Lingzi, at the middle period of Qi Cultivation, could sense something amiss in advance.”

“This move of mine would only be effective against Qi Refinement Realm cultivators.”

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“Not to mention that Foundation Establishment Cultivators can extend their Divine Sense outward, like having an x-ray vision cheat; getting them caught in an ambush will require raising the difficulty,”

concluded Su Ping, who had already thought of hiding the explosives in statues or disguising them as flower mud.

Then, after repeatedly confirming that he could no longer sense Gui Lingzi’s presence at the explosion site,

Su Ping’s heart moved; with a squeak, White and Grey left the rats that continued to lurk around to gather more information, and they swiftly retreated back to Frost Moon Villa.

The explosion on the mountain alarmed the dignitaries of Golden Wind City.

A few two-hour periods later, a large group of martial artists and loose cultivators from the city arrived on the mountain and were dumbstruck upon witnessing the condition of the Taoist temple.

Martial artists who had their families violated learned from the surviving Taoists on the periphery that Gui Lingzi was at the center of the explosion and was most likely reduced to ashes,

further exclaiming that this must be a divine punishment!

The City Lord also hurried over soon after and, seeing the situation, sweated profusely, immediately ordered the site to be sealed off, and then reported the situation using the authority of the Magic Artifacts of the City Lord Mansion.

An Inspector of the city had died.

And in an unbelievable massive explosion at that.

This kind of incident, this hot potato… was something the mundane forces of Golden Wind City simply could not bear!

Gui Lingzi left in the morning, whereas the Immortal Boat arrived late into the night.

This time, standing on the deck of the Immortal Boat was the same Inspection Envoy with three swords on his back and a sharp, starry gaze.

There was no helping it. The elite of the Immortal Sects were all busy, facing endless anomalies everywhere.

The territory he was responsible for had to keep expanding.

“Hmm?”

This Inspection Envoy’s first glance was drawn to the site of the Taoist temple, which was now devoid of dust and smoke.

Looking at the huge crater, he was also inwardly shocked.

Being a Sword Cultivator, he couldn’t imagine this to be the power of explosives.

Instead, he silently compared the devastation with his own secret techniques, ultimately convinced that the cultivator responsible for this destruction either far surpassed him in cultivation or possessed a highly powerful Magic Artifact!

“Such a cultivator couldn’t be a nobody. Why would they come after this Gui Lingzi?”

“Does this person hold secrets?”

The Inspection Envoy slowly descended from the Immortal Boat, and the moment he stepped into the crater, he keenly sensed something.

Snap!

The Inspection Envoy took out a talisman, letting it fracture and release thousands of golden rays.

The next second, the Inspection Envoy, like a startled rabbit, leaped up into midair:

“Evil Qi!”

“An evil spirit rite has been performed here!”

“Another evil cultivator!”

The Inspection Envoy was no fool, through the intelligence read during his journey, and the humans and livestock temporarily kept under watch on the back mountain.

He immediately understood the true identity of Gui Lingzi.

And he had a few more bold guesses about the person who made the move.

It could be a virtuous expert who, upon encountering an evil cultivator, casually struck with a blow as punishment from heaven.

Or it could be infighting among evil cultivators, or even an outright battle between different factions of evil cultivators!

Some evil cultivators possess self-destruct secret techniques, and with the bolstering of formations, it’s not impossible to cause explosions of this scale!

Involving evil spirits and sacrifices, the Inspection Envoy dared not continue to think and investigate on-site.

He returned to the Immortal Boat and immediately reported the related situation.

At the same time, with his order, those Loose Cultivators and Taoists who had been lucky enough not to die while working for Gui Lingzi were all captured and subjected to harsh interrogation.

Many Loose Cultivators were simply working for Gui Lingzi for his status and the promise of Spirit Stones.

Now, knowing parts of the situation, they were scared to death.

Some captured Loose Cultivators even thanked the person who took action, thanks to whom Gui Lingzi’s plan had not succeeded.

Otherwise, during the time of sacrifice, those captured mortals wouldn’t have stood a chance.

And how could they, the Loose Cultivators, have escaped?

Having mingled at the bottom for so long was not for nothing, they knew somewhat about sacrifices involving evil spirits; mortals were just the extra, the fuel.

Those with Spirit Roots were the true offerings, the key to appeasing the evil spirits!

Recalling Gui Lingzi’s attitude when he was alive, the Loose Cultivators truly believed that he was a madman, and they might have long been part of his sacrificial plan!

“Heh, you say you knew nothing and were the victims, and you can just detach yourselves from this matter?”

The Inspection Envoy, while waiting for a reply from the higher-ups, also participated in the interrogations. Holding the interrogation results, which were no longer naive, he remained noncommittal to the testimonies of the Loose Cultivators.

During this time, the Inspection Envoy saw a message about Su Ping, the Inspector of Golden Sparrow City.

He saw that this Inspector Su Ping was a kind-hearted person, who not only rescued disaster victims but also cracked down hard on those who trafficked humans.

He even made an enemy of Gui Lingzi, a fellow cultivator, because of this.

A look of admiration flashed in the eyes of the Inspection Envoy.

Yet, he didn’t have the slightest suspicion that this had anything to do with Su Ping.

In a normal train of thought, Su Ping was just an average cultivator who had just entered the Middle Period of Qi Cultivation, perhaps at most at the beginning of Body Tempering.

Hunting low-tier demon beasts within his own Immortal Sect Territory was about the limit of his abilities.

How could he have the ability to deal with an old-brand evil cultivator like Gui Lingzi?

Not to mention, looking at the scene, it was credible to the Inspection Envoy that someone at the Foundation Establishment stage, not just the Late Period of Qi Cultivation, had intervened.

Besides, frankly, in their eyes, the matter of a few Loose Cultivators and a few thousand mortals barely counted as an issue.

Those who knew better would apologize and compensate, and the matter would be considered settled. Who would go so far as to annihilate someone’s household for such a trivial issue?!

Even if Gui Lingzi had become an evil cultivator and his brain had grown less nimble, wouldn’t it be more logical for him to have first sought revenge against this Su Ping?

Of course, following protocol, the Inspection Envoy still took the Immortal Boat to Golden Sparrow City the next morning.

It wasn’t out of suspicion of Su Ping, but rather to check if he had any Evil Qi on him and if Golden Sparrow City had also been infiltrated by evil spirits.

The Immortal Boat moved towards Golden Sparrow City.

Out of caution, Su Ping had not gone to Water Blue Star for the past two days and maintained contact with his rat swarm. Seeing this, he immediately summoned the Pot Cave Heaven and sent the Spiritual Rat and Wen Bird inside.

Then, Su Ping and the City Lord together welcomed the Inspection Envoy’s visit.

They were examined with a white jade mirror held up by the Inspection Envoy.

This was a Magic Artifact mirror capable of discerning most Evil Qi.

The results were, of course, a cause for great rejoicing.

The Inspection Envoy also breathed a sigh of relief and once again pitched a grand vision to Su Ping.