Wandering Gods of Day and Night

"The compass didn't move, but the landlord claimed there's a dragon head as big as a building in Hui Feng Medical College."

Zhao Wuya was deeply skeptical. He shook the compass carefully again and again, yet it remained utterly motionless.

"Maybe the landlord saw a mirage while dragon-seeking."

Unable to figure out a reason, Zhao Wuya placed the compass back into his canvas shoulder bag.

Zhou Xuan then said to Zhao Wuya, "Ya Zi, you'd better not come to the medical college to seek dragons anymore."

"I swear I don't chase women. I come here purely to gather dragon energy."

"What I mean is that there's only so much dragon energy here. If you absorb more, I'll absorb less, and you'll end up delaying my cultivation," Zhou Xuan said flatly.

"..." Zhao Wuya.

Zhao Wuya was strongly opposed; he felt this was nothing short of Zhou Xuan asserting dominance.

"No way. We're brothers in dragon-seeking now. How could you bully me? We should advance and retreat together," Zhao Wuya said, unwilling to give up such a dragon-rich location like Hui Feng Medical College.

"I'm just joking. As dragon-seeking brothers, of course we seek dragons together and look at ladies together. Later, I'll channel some Buddha energy into you first."

Chatting away, the two had arrived at the Weird Creature Research Institute.

...

Zhou Xuan wandered about for a while, and the Fifth Senior Brother had already completed the dissection of Mo Tingsheng.

The "Peace Scale" had been extracted.

It was a golden bone, its surface etched with incredibly fine Buddhist inscriptions.

At the moment, the bone was jumping in the Painter's hands.

"Such rich Buddha energy," the Painter remarked, startled by the bone's concentrated Buddha energy.

"Without such overpowering Buddha energy, how could something as transcendent as the Peace Scale manifest its divine Buddha's image?"

Zhou Xuan walked into the dissection room and caught onto the Painter's words.

The Painter turned and extended the "Peace Scale Bone" toward Zhou Xuan. "Young Master, take this Buddha's image for yourself."

"I'd rather not. Everyone's vying for this bone, and I'm too lazy to guard it. Your Bone Elder Association can keep it safe," Zhou Xuan replied.

Of course, Zhou Xuan understood the principle that "an innocent man attracts trouble by possessing a precious thing."

His Secret Realm already hid Peng Hou's divine status, which was enough to provoke envy from others. Adding the "Peace Scale" to it would only invite enemies from every direction.

"Alright then, our Bone Elder Association will safeguard this spiritual characteristic," the Painter said with certainty.

Zhou Xuan chuckled twice and pointed to the dissected Mo Tingsheng on the operating table. "Ya Zi, I promised you Mo Tingsheng's Buddha energy. Go ahead and enjoy it, won't you?"

"Uh... Where do I start?"

Zhao Wuya's eyes swirled, fixed on Mo Tingsheng's corpse, but he had no idea what to do for a moment.

"A whole corpse—never mind whether eating it will upset my stomach—I'm a Taoist. I don't eat the five pungent spices. Eating him directly... wouldn't I be breaking my vows?"

"Oh, now you remember you're a Taoist? Last night, when you and Peng Sheng were munching on pig's head stew, why didn't it occur to you that you don't eat the five pungent spices?"

"Either way, I can't eat Mo Tingsheng… Besides, can't this corpse's Buddha energy be purified first?"

Zhao Wuya grumbled.

His agonized expression drew laughter from Lady Hong Guan.

"Haha! Little Taoist, if you want Buddha energy, let me assist you."

The Red Coffin Lady closed her eyes and focused, summoning a coffin into the air. Her fingers formed seals and manipulated the coffin to flip over.

The corpse of Mo Tingsheng vanished from the bed, replaced by thumping noises emanating from inside the coffin.

After about half a minute, faint golden mist spilled from a crack in the coffin's edge.

"That's Buddha energy. Go consume it," Zhou Xuan urged Zhao Wuya.

Zhao Wuya immediately bolted to the foot of the coffin and opened his mouth to absorb the golden Buddhist mist.

Mo Tingsheng, as a Buddha Country native who carried the Peace Scale, left behind refined and concentrated Buddha energy in his corpse. Zhao Wuya spent several minutes devouring it completely.

"This Taiping Monk is excellent food," Lady Hong Guan praised.

After consuming the Buddha energy, Zhao Wuya sat in the meditative cross-legged position to stabilize his incense flame.

Consuming Buddha energy rapidly fueled the incense flame, and the intensity of the burn depended on the concentration of the energy.

"Getting close to the 'Five Incenses and Looking Forward to Six' level," Zhao Wuya murmured, forming seals with both hands and directing his focus toward his palm centers.

Zhou Xuan turned to Lady Hong Guan and commented, "Let's be honest: the Buddha Country people may be planning a massacre in Jing Country, but on the other hand, their flesh and blood serve as stepping stones for Jing Country's strength."

Buddha energy can be directly converted into divine incense flames.

Jing Country boasts many demigods. If they keep hunting down Buddha Country people, wouldn't their strength surge dramatically?

"Now that you mention it, I almost wish the Buddha Country people would hurry up and invade," the Painter chimed in.

The Painter's hall, the Bone Elder Association, specialized in demigods. Capturing more Buddha Country people would save so much time in accumulating incense flames.

Only Lady Hong Guan sighed, saying, "Alas, only demigods can use Buddha energy. Unfortunately, disciples from our Bitter Ghost Hall, as Ghosts… can't enjoy such concentrated Buddha energy."

"Not necessarily,"

The Painter shifted the conversation and remarked to Lady Hong Guan, "The Bone Elder Association mastered corpse Buddha energy extraction early on. When it comes to utilizing and absorbing Buddha energy, we do have some unique methods.

Ghosts cannot directly consume Buddha energy, but it's possible to consume Jiang Qi. If the Lao Jiang absorbs Buddha energy first…"

"Let the Lao Jiang pass it on to the Ghosts afterward?" Zhou Xuan asked.

"Exactly."

The Painter added, "That said, this method of consuming Buddha energy naturally isn't as efficient as direct consumption—it's only about eighty percent effective."

"Eighty percent is still quite good."

Lady Hong Guan's eyes brightened.

The times had changed. Lady Hong Guan and the Painter were now human demigods at the level of Eight Incenses.