Chapter 691: Immortal Temple

The two family heads were forced to dissolve the newly settled engagement under pressure from the constables.

Gu Junye chose not to escalate the matter. The crime of violent interference with marital freedom is not prosecuted unless a complaint is filed, and if the parties involved withdraw their charges, there would be no issue.

After the constables left, Gu Junye's brows furrowed as he pondered a question.

If his father were imprisoned for violent interference with marital freedom, would it affect his imperial examination?

"It seems my understanding of the law is still insufficient," Gu Junye reflected internally, deciding not to absorb the power of the moonlight tonight but to continue studying law.

Although he was the reincarnation of an ancient powerful being, that was a long time ago. The current environment differs from ancient times, and only by adapting beforehand could he progress correctly.

For this reason, he listened attentively in class and studied diligently after school. His grades far surpassed those of his peers, and his teacher praised him, saying he could achieve the rank of *bangyan* in the imperial examination.

"Why don't you go find an alchemist to concoct a pill that can lift the curse?" Lu Yang said to Meng Jingzhou.

After observation, Gu Junye was indeed the person Senior Brother Dai was looking for. Therefore, there was no need to continue assessing his character.

Of course, the main reason was that observing this boy was simply too awkward; even Lu Yang and Meng Jingzhou, with their thick skins, couldn't endure it.

"Alright," Meng Jingzhou said, taking the pill recipe that the Immortal Fairy had dictated and Lu Yang had written down.

Alchemists were easy to find. The Falling Money Merchant Guild offered alchemy services, and even if their alchemists weren't the best in the city, they were among the top five master alchemists, which was sufficient for concocting this entry-level pill.

"Xi'er, let's go," Father Mu said.

Mu Xi hadn't expected Gu Junye to be so heartless; just to avoid marrying her, he had even called the constables!

"Junye, you will regret this! Your destiny is flawed, and only I can mend it. Anyone else you love will be harmed because of you!"

Gu Junye remained unmoved. He didn't believe in destiny; if he had believed in destiny and fate, he wouldn't have defied heaven in his previous life and attained immortality.

Cultivating immortality means defying the heavens!

"My fate is in my hands, not heaven's."

The Immortal Fairy advised Lu Yang, "You can't have such thoughts. The Heavens-Obeying Immortal strikes down such people particularly harshly."

Lu Yang nodded repeatedly. The Heavens-Obeying Immortal claimed to have been born to conform to the heavens. If you suddenly declare, "My fate is in my hands, not heaven's," aren't you directly opposing the Heavens-Obeying Immortal?

Even if you have such thoughts, you shouldn't voice them.

After Meng Jingzhou revealed his identity at the Falling Money Merchant Guild, the guild's manager immediately attended to Young Master Meng personally, displaying the utmost cordiality. Upon hearing that Young Master Meng wanted to concoct a pill, they immediately summoned the guild's top alchemist master.

Logically, any alchemy apprentice with ten years of experience could have concocted the pill Meng Jingzhou wanted, but that wouldn't have shown proper deference to Meng Jingzhou.

Even without his identity as Young Master of the Meng family, simply being a Nascent Soul stage disciple of the Dao Inquiry Sect would have secured him the same treatment.

This was an existence comparable to the Soul Transformation stage, and the strongest cultivators in the city were only at the Nascent Soul stage.

"Oh, and the pill needs to be dissolvable in water, colorless, and odorless," Meng Jingzhou reminded, as he planned to secretly administer the pill to Gu Junye.

"Uh, Young Master Meng, just a reminder, poisoning is a crime," the guild manager said, kindly reminding Meng Jingzhou, unaware of the pill's true purpose.

Meng Jingzhou's face darkened. "I know," he said.

Soon, a gray pill was presented on a tray.

Meng Jingzhou was slightly disappointed; if it had been concocted by someone from Pill Cauldron Peak, it should have had at least one pill pattern.

However, he couldn't be too picky. Where would he find a senior brother from Pill Cauldron Peak now? As long as it could lift the curse, it was fine.

Meng Jingzhou took the pill and went to the Gu family residence to meet Lu Yang.

"How was the observation?"

"My shoes are almost worn through from the awkwardness."

Meng Jingzhou took out the pill. The Immortal Fairy glanced at it, confirming it was the type of pill she had described. Only then did Meng Jingzhou confidently dissolve the pill in the Gu family's old duck soup for dinner.

Gu Junye finished the old duck soup, wiped his mouth, and showed no signs of abnormality.

"No reaction?"

The Immortal Fairy rolled her eyes. "What kind of reaction do you expect? Although the curse was placed on this boy, its effect is on the people around him. After the curse is lifted, he naturally wouldn't feel anything."

"Come on, let's go check on the Mu family," Lu Yang beckoned to Meng Jingzhou. Mu Xi's reaction upon learning the engagement was dissolved had been quite abnormal.

The two made their way to the Mu family residence in the dark and peeked into Mu Xi's boudoir.

Inside the boudoir, Mu Xi was clenching a red paper doll, gritting her teeth. On the back of the red paper doll were Gu Junye's birth characters.

"Gu Junye, you will regret this!"

The red paper doll was a treasure she had sought from the Immortal Temple outside the city. It could cause anyone who stayed near Gu Junye for a long time to suffer from heart disease.

This way, Gu Junye would have no choice but to marry her!

Suddenly, the paper doll spontaneously combusted, scalding her fingers and making her scream in pain!

Not only did her hand hurt, but her heart ached terribly too!

"Ah!"

"Why did the paper doll burn up?"

To keep the paper doll effective, she had to drip a drop of her blood onto it daily, gradually dyeing the white paper doll red.

This was actually a method for refining a life-bound magical artifact. Now that her life-bound magical artifact was destroyed, she suffered a backlash, and the heartache was one manifestation of it!

"To the Immortal Temple!"

She instantly felt that something was seriously wrong. In a panic, she fled to the Immortal Temple outside the city.

"Follow her!" Lu Yang transmitted his voice to Meng Jingzhou.

They had only been in Lintian City for less than two full days and hadn't heard of any Immortal Temple.

No one knew when the Immortal Temple was built; it seemed to have appeared overnight. Its location was hidden, and very few people knew about it.

Mu Xi had only learned about it coincidentally from a classmate, who claimed that praying at the Immortal Temple before exams could lead to good grades.

The Immortal Temple had no temple keeper and no incense offerings, only a kind-faced clay statue of an old man. The temple was clean as new, as if an immortal was mysteriously protecting the place.

"Immortal, my paper doll has burned!"

A voice echoed in the temple: "Someone has broken the curse, and you have suffered a backlash."

"And the one who broke it is already secretly following you."

Lu Yang was startled. They were discovered!

The opponent's cultivation was higher than his and Old Meng's!

An incomparably powerful impact surged towards Lu Yang and Meng Jingzhou. Lu Yang hastily pulled out his Azure Edge Sword to block, while Meng Jingzhou roared, tensing his muscles, and used his body to resist.

The difference in their cultivation realms was too vast. The two were directly swept out of the Immortal Temple, crashing into a tree outside.

The giant clay statue seemed to come alive, opened its eyes, stepped down from the altar, placed a hand on the temple door, and bent to walk out of the temple.

The three-meter-tall clay statue coldly regarded the two.

"Fairy, what is this?"

"This is a method of faith offerings. His true body can no longer be used for unknown reasons, leaving only his soul."

"To acquire a physical body, he built a temple here, fulfilling the wishes of believers to gain faith!"

"This is a technique from the Great Qian period," Lu Yang gritted his teeth. "If the Great Yu Dynasty was characterized by its 'Imperial Preceptor System,' then the Great Qian Dynasty was characterized by 'divine path' and 'faith.'"

"What's his cultivation realm?"

"Integration stage."

The clay statue coldly watched the two, a human-like sneer curling at its lips.

"You two ignorant juniors," it sneered, "judging by your appearance, you must be prodigies from some major sect."

"I originally didn't wish to kill," it continued, "but since you know of my existence, I cannot let you live!"

The pressure of the Integration stage enveloped the two, pinning them down and rendering them unable to move.

Suddenly, a neigh echoed from the sky, sounding like a legendary dragon's roar.

A pure white horse, without a single stray hair, arrived, stepping through the air. It kicked the clay statue over with one hoof, its gaze defiant and incomparably dominant!

A few dragon scales on the white horse's forehead emitted a faint glow in the darkness.

The clay statue, having been sent tumbling, stared fixedly at the white horse.

"A Great Demon King!"

How could a Great Demon King of the Dragon Horse tribe appear here?!