Chapter 631: Answer

The Abbot of Zhengde Temple seemed a little overwhelmed by the Jiantian司's politeness within Yinling City and quickly pressed his palms together in a gesture of respect.

"Amitābha, Benefactor, you are a person of great virtue. This humble monk thanks you, but this gift is truly too generous."

"Oh, it's nothing significant, just a vacant plot of land no one wanted." Zheng Boqiao, dressed as a Taoist priest, appeared particularly enthusiastic as he faced the old monk.

As he listened to the old Taoist and the old monk exchange polite formalities, Li Huowang realized that the Jiantian司 of Great Liang seemed to be recruiting sects and religious groups from Great Qi.

It made sense; these individuals, arriving with the Great Qi populace, represented a significant force and a considerable asset in confronting the Fa Sect.

"Very well, Master, it's settled. Since you've just arrived, I've already reserved a table for vegetarian food at Yuhua Zhai in Yinling City. I hear the food is quite good, and I hope the abbot will honor us with his presence."

"This... Benefactor, you are too kind. This humble monk has already had his meal today."

"Master, look, the meal is already prepared. Wouldn't it be a disservice to the Buddha if we let it go to waste?"

Just as Fang Xiandao was leading Chandu away, Li Huowang, with an impatient expression, stopped them. "Reverend Fang," he said, "before you do anything else, have you forgotten something? You always seem to only remember recruiting for the Jiantian司, but have you forgotten to interrogate the Fa Sect's great shaman?"

Back in Shangjing City, he hadn't noticed Zheng Boqiao was so chatty.

"Fellow Daoist Li, there's no rush. How long can a vegetarian meal possibly take?"

"Are you capable of doing this or not? If not, I'll take over."

Sensing the sharpness in Li Huowang's tone, Chandu quickly interjected to smooth things over. "Reverend, the vegetarian meal can be eaten anytime. The main business is important, truly important."

Hearing Chandu's words, a somewhat helpless Zheng Boqiao, holding his horsetail whisk, walked towards the human stick on the ground.

"Fellow Daoist Li, the Fa Sect's troubles haven't arisen overnight. Haste makes waste. Do you really expect to eliminate the entire Fa Sect simply by extracting information from one great shaman's mind?"

Li Huowang, of course, knew that resolving the Fa Sect issue wouldn't be easy, but seeing the other party deliberately avoid serious business still infuriated him.

Seeing that the man had finally begun his work, Li Huowang took half a step back and stood beside Li Sui.

Once the Jade Buddha Censer retrieved the golden Buddha from the man's mouth, He Xinlai's jaw snapped shut, and he spat a mouthful of bloody saliva at Zheng Boqiao.

Zheng Boqiao, however, didn't dodge. Instead, he reached out and caught the phlegm steadily, then raised his hand and put it into his own mouth. This sight made Li Huowang frown in disgust.

But that wasn't all. Zheng Boqiao reached out, pulled some hair from He Xinlai's head, and swallowed it, along with a few white strands from his horsetail whisk.

"What are you doing?" Li Huowang couldn't help but feel utterly confused by the man's bizarre actions.

"Making elixirs, of course."

Zheng Boqiao walked up to the three statues, bowed, then scooped a handful of incense ash from the censer and put it into his mouth.

"Making elixirs? This is what you call making elixirs?"

Li Huowang knew about elixir making, having learned it from Danyangzi, but he had never encountered such a method before.

"Using gold as a vessel is external alchemy, an inferior method. Fang Xiandao uses the body as a vessel, where all things can be medicine. This is internal alchemy, the superior method."

As he spoke, Zheng Boqiao walked up to Li Huowang, took his horsetail whisk, and muttered incantations while waving it beside him.

Just as the air around Li Huowang began to subtly vibrate, Zheng Boqiao's hand seals changed rapidly. He leaned his nose close to Li Huowang and took a sharp inhale.

He inhaled all the vibrations, his face turning purple and veins bulging on his forehead.

"What are you doing?"

Zheng Boqiao's tightly closed lips parted slightly, and he whispered, "You are a 'heart-elemental.' What do you think I'm doing?"

After speaking, Zheng Boqiao sat cross-legged, motionless as a statue, just as before. Wisps of white smoke rose from his head.

At that moment, Li Huowang finally understood what Zheng Boqiao had been doing: he had been making elixirs.

"What kind of method is this Fang Xiandao employing, using his own body as an elixir furnace? It's truly bizarre."

Half an hour later, Zheng Boqiao opened his mouth wide and spit out a wriggling, fleshy elixir, coated in gastric fluid.

Seeing Zheng Boqiao carry the elixir and walk towards him, a hint of panic appeared in He Xinlai's eyes, and he clenched his teeth tightly.

However, to prevent him from biting his tongue and committing suicide, Li Huowang had already pried out all his teeth. So, no matter how tightly He Xinlai clenched his jaw, it was useless, and the elixir was forcibly shoved into his mouth.

Not long after, He Xinlai, who had swallowed the elixir, rolled his eyes back, and his limbless body began to twitch uncontrollably.

As Li Huowang waited for the next move, He Xinlai's body suddenly stiffened, and he simply died.

Without waiting for anyone to speak, Zheng Boqiao pulled a small feather fan from his robe, formed a hand seal with one hand, and began chanting incantations over He Xinlai's corpse.

"The head is Taiyi, the feet are the pillars of heaven, the five organs are the armor, guarding the celestial gate, commanding the Big Dipper. With a single shout, a thousand souls and ten thousand spirits, all follow my word. Hasten as decreed!"

The next moment, He Xinlai's entire head instantly shriveled. The fleshy elixir he had swallowed moments before jumped out of his mouth, caught steadily by Zheng Boqiao.

Compared to before, the fleshy elixir, having passed through He Xinlai's stomach, was noticeably several times larger.

After Zheng Boqiao stiffened his neck and swallowed the elixir, he closed his eyes, appearing to be sensing something.

Seeing that the other man truly possessed ability, Li Huowang no longer panicked and waited quietly by his side.

After the time it takes for two incense sticks to burn, Zheng Boqiao slowly opened his eyes. Li Huowang stepped forward and asked, "Well?"

"This person is not the leader of the Fa Sect. If he were, you wouldn't have captured him so easily."

"However, despite that, I still found some useful information in his mind — some strongholds in Great Liang."

"From what I gathered, they seem to be planning to hide for now, avoiding direct conflict with us... hmm..."

Li Huowang took another step forward. "What about Mount Tai Stone? How much did he know about Mount Tai Stone?"

Li Huowang hadn't forgotten Chandu's earlier statement that Mount Tai Stone was the most dangerous among the Great Qi Fa Sect followers.

"Hmm... Mount Tai Stone... let me think." Zheng Boqiao began to pace back and forth.

After pacing for a while, Zheng Boqiao slowly stopped. "He didn't know much. Mount Tai Stone sought him out, and that person was very cautious, not revealing much to He Xinlai."

"Hmm... and one Mount Tai Stone from Great Qi can't achieve much. I believe the more pressing issue now is how the Fa Sect managed to collude with the lamas of Qingqiu. That's the real problem."