Chapter 13: Holy Shit, My Cat Ancestor!

Worried about the black cat's safety, Old Doctor Song and Song Bo calmed their startled family members before grabbing a woodcutting blade and rushing out after it.

The honest and simple-hearted Old Doctor Song had no idea that the black cat had deliberately lured Mu Tong and Mu Nan outside.

In a direct confrontation, the black cat truly couldn't overpower Mu Tong and Mu Nan — but relying on its agility, it could certainly hold the two of them at bay for a while.

Still, that wasn't a long-term solution.

So after provoking the two into a fury, the black cat deliberately led them away.

The destination, naturally, was Xuanqing Temple at the head of the village.

The black cat couldn't beat Mu Tong and Mu Nan on its own — but wasn't there a deity inside Xuanqing Temple?

With that deity's strength, dealing with these two villains shouldn't be a problem, right?

Mu Tong and Mu Nan had no idea what the black cat was thinking. They assumed it had lost its nerve and was trying to flee.

The black cat had disrupted their Blood Refinement ritual and scratched Mu Tong — now that it seemed to be running, how could the two of them possibly let it go?

They pressed their advantage and gave chase.

In the ensuing pursuit, the black cat quickly reached the vicinity of Xuanqing Temple.

Behind it, Mu Tong and Mu Nan followed in furious, relentless pursuit.

The black cat glanced back at them with a hint of gleeful schadenfreude.

The next moment, right before their eyes, it dove headfirst into Xuanqing Temple.

Mu Tong's rage had gone to his head. His only thought was to slaughter the black cat — he couldn't be bothered with anything else.

Besides, Xuanqing Temple gave him no sense of danger whatsoever.

Acting on impulse, he was about to charge straight in and kill the cat to vent his fury.

But just as he was about to cross the threshold, Mu Nan grabbed him back.

Though Mu Nan also wanted the black cat dead, she was far more rational and cautious than Mu Tong.

Even standing before Xuanqing Temple, she sensed no danger.

Yet she remained wary of the small, dark, and foreboding shrine before her.

"Brother! Don't be rash! That little demon cat is no fool — why would it run into a dead end and throw itself into a trap? There's something off about this place!"

Mu Tong calmed himself and narrowed his eyes, scrutinizing Xuanqing Temple.

Because Song Family Village was so poor, Xuanqing Temple was truly small, built from ordinary pine wood.

No matter how he looked at it, it was indistinguishable from the rural backwater shrines they'd encountered before.

Gazing at the somewhat faded characters reading "Xuanqing Temple" on the roof, Mu Tong narrowed his eyes.

"According to what that commoner said, this Xuanqing Temple in their village is just an ordinary shrine that the villagers pooled together to build long ago. The deity enshrined here — Lord Xuanqing — shouldn't be any kind of evil spirit or demon beast. He was probably just some virtuous or notable person from the village in the distant past. An idol like that, forget having any real power — it's completely inert. At most, it might have developed some minor idol anomaly."

"A rural backwater shrine like this — what could possibly be unusual about it? That little demon cat running here must just be a bluff, don't you think? From what the Song Family Village people said, this Xuanqing Temple doesn't seem like anything out of the ordinary."

Mu Tong and Mu Nan were from the Tianshan Sect, and they knew this type of idol better than anyone.

Even without seeing the idol in person, a description alone was enough for them to judge what kind of entity it was.

Based on what Old Doctor Song had told them, the two had long since concluded that the idol named Lord Xuanqing inside Xuanqing Temple posed no threat whatsoever.

They had even been eyeing the idol for themselves.

And yet now, while being hunted by them, the black cat had fled into Xuanqing Temple.

This gave the two of them pause.

At the very least, they no longer dared to simply barge straight in.

After all, they were far from their peak condition right now.

* * *

Setting aside the thoughts of the two outside the temple, inside, Song Xuanqing had just finished listening to the black cat relay the situation.

He made his decision without hesitation and prepared to strike.

Although based on the black cat's description, Song Xuanqing judged that Mu Tong and Mu Nan's current strength was not formidable, he still didn't dare be careless. Right from the start, he activated his Divine Art: God-Merge.

[Divine Art: God-Merge

The deity may descend upon their own idol. During this time, the idol and the deity become one, and combat power is greatly enhanced.]

The next moment, Song Xuanqing opened his eyes.

Inside the shrine atop the high platform, the stone idol opened its eyes.

The idol, whose features had been worn smooth and blurred by the passage of long years, grew clearer and clearer.

Even the individual strands of hair at the temples gradually became distinct.

Then, at a visible pace, the stone-grey color of the idol faded away, replaced by vivid, lifelike hues.

Black hair, a white jade hairpin, a blue-green robe — even the skin looked indistinguishable from that of a living person.

Of course, Song Xuanqing understood this was only an appearance.

He was still a stone-carved idol.

Feeling the idol's body respond to his will as naturally as his own limbs, Song Xuanqing let out a long breath and stepped down from the shrine.

By the time he reached the ground, the idol that had stood barely one foot tall had expanded to nearly six feet in height.

Anyone who didn't know better would have taken him for a real person.

The black cat stared, jaw dropped in utter stupefaction.

Holy shit, my cat ancestor! The idol turned into a person!

And it walked right out of the shrine!

How come nobody ever mentioned this kind of thing before?!

Song Xuanqing paid the black cat no mind and took stock of his own power.

Compared to his state as a deity without God-Merge, his current strength was roughly double what it had been.

Incredible!

This Divine Art: God-Merge — it was incredible!

It had directly doubled his combat power!

And in this state, fighting directly with the idol's body, he didn't have to worry about the idol being damaged while left unattended in the shrine.

He clenched his fist and strode toward the exit.

The duration of God-Merge was limited, and he had no idea how long he could maintain it.

He couldn't waste time. He needed to deal with those two irritating pests outside before God-Merge ended.

* * *

Mu Tong and Mu Nan had no idea what was happening inside. After deliberating, the two decided to enter Xuanqing Temple anyway.

They just needed to stay alert. After all, given their Cultivation and strength, what danger could they possibly encounter in a remote mountain village like this?

The black cat had to be dealt with — otherwise, when they resumed the Blood Refinement ritual, it might jump out and disrupt things again.

And the true nature of Xuanqing Temple absolutely had to be investigated.

Besides, the two figured the black cat was probably just bluffing. From what the Song Family Village people had said, Xuanqing Temple didn't seem like anything unusual.

Having made their preparations, the two were just about to enter Xuanqing Temple when they felt as though something in the darkness ahead was about to emerge.

Their hearts lurched. With perfect synchrony, both took a step back.

The next moment, a tall silhouette walked out from the darkness.

Mu Tong and Mu Nan fixed their eyes on it and found themselves looking at a handsome man in a long robe, with striking, refined features.

No… not a person!

Mu Tong and Mu Nan's pupils contracted sharply. They quickly realized that the figure before them was not human!

Not human… then what was it?

With the limited experience Mu Tong and Mu Nan possessed, they naturally couldn't see through Song Xuanqing's true nature.

The two stared at Song Xuanqing in wary, uncertain disbelief.

But before they could act, the very next second, Song Xuanqing struck without a word of warning.

In his God-Merge state, Song Xuanqing's speed was astonishing. Before Mu Tong and Mu Nan's bodies could even react, he was already upon them.

He chose Mu Nan as his first target.

Seeing the enlarged palm rushing toward her and the murderous gleam in Song Xuanqing's eyes, Mu Nan's eyes went wide with terror. On pure instinct, she tried to dodge backward.

But Song Xuanqing was too fast.

Even though Mu Nan had already pushed herself to her absolute limit, twisting her body to evade the incoming strike, she was still half a step too slow.

Song Xuanqing's palm came crashing down squarely on her head.

Song Xuanqing had never studied any Cultivation Technique or spell. He only knew basic hand-to-hand combat.

But his speed was too overwhelming, and his attack power too immense.

He was no ordinary being to begin with.

That palm strike looked deceptively plain, yet it carried tremendous force — and without even meaning to, it drew upon the Vital Energy of heaven and earth.

One strike. Unable to dodge in time, half of Mu Nan's head was smashed to a pulp.

White and red splattered everywhere.

One palm strike. Mu Nan was dead.