Reverend Ecstasy

"Alright, presentations are in order. Zi Feng, Tusha. Tusha, Zi Feng. The two of you will follow me to pick up our strays and open the Green Leaf Village, so it's best that you get acquainted as soon as possible," Xinzi said and snapped his fingers. A whirlwind of sky-blue qi formed around Zi Feng, Tusha, Xinzi and his Mini Overlords, teleporting them to a small, empty room.

There, Tusha and Zi Feng turned to face one another—a dreary silence settled in. By far more experienced than the average expert, Tusha had no trouble recognizing Zi Feng's Good Fortune Sacred Body, a constitution that, outside of the Holy Paradise, only appeared in highly meritorious Lianist Practitioners.

The glint of enlightenment didn't shine in Zi Feng's eyes, preventing Tusha from seeing in her an advanced Lianist Practitioner. On the other end, Zi Feng saw in Tusha's gaze an amalgam of rattling emotions that didn't seem directed towards her, but rather, what she represented. Confused, Zi Feng decided to take the bull by the horn and break the ice.

"You're...a Corporeal Ghost...from the Yang Plane?" Zi Feng asked, making Tusha's face twist into a frown.

"You know the difference between the Corporeal Yang and Incorporeal Yin? Where are you from?" That Zi Feng could recognize Tusha's Sanguine Reincarnation status was not a major surprise. However, she went beyond, identifying the nun as an entity of the Yang Plane.

Located at the extreme reaches of the Mortal Realm, the Yin and Yang Planes were the reincarnation mediums of all dead souls. When a person died, they became an Incorporeal Yin Soul and, if they didn't linger in their mortal world, headed to the Yin Plane, where they'd receive purification in preparation for their reincarnation. Afterward, they rushed into the Yang Plane, received a Fate Standard, and entered the gate of reincarnation.

All dead souls, ghost or not, were naturally drawn to the Yang Plane: embodiment of life and the resurrection that the deceased instinctively yearned for. The Yin and Yang Planes had their own cities and residents, respectively known as Incorporeal Yin and Corporeal Yang entities—not all of them being ghosts.

Blood Spirits were not spirits in the "proper" celestial term, but rather, Incorporeal Yin Ghosts that, like other heretical revenants, somehow avoided the Reincarnation Cycle to linger on mortal worlds, and sought ways to become Corporeal Yang creatures, without having to go through the troubles of purification and lawful reincarnation.

Incorporeal Yin Ghosts were not demonic creatures either, but due to their willingness to commit a variety of atrocious deeds to seize Corporeal Yang status, they often generated Evil Qi and gave the "Yin" aspect its bad reputation.

By undergoing Sanguine Reincarnation, Tusha left the authority of the Yin Plane, returning to the Yang side. Still, high-level Lianist practitioners and Greater Soul owners could always identity her roots. At first, Zi Feng wondered what Tusha had gone through to reach her current state, and if there was anything she could do to ease the nun's burdens. But right afterward, she saw in Tusha's gaze that the nun might not necessarily want her help.

"Never mind. Your relationship with master takes precedence over all else. You shouldn't waste heart and energy on people that might not necessarily reciprocate your goodwill," not giving Zi Feng the time to answer her question, Tusha said.

The words hit Zi Feng hard, reminding her of all the beatings that Hanxing tried to put her through, before realizing that her constitution granted her quasi invulnerability. Indeed, her venerable master was the only one that meant her good. With others, she'd have to guess, build goodwill, while never knowing if, when or why they'd turn against her—stabbing her in the back.

"Thank you for the advice." As Zi Fend and Tusha stared at one another, tension built up between them. Xinzi watched all this in silence, considering a threesome to lift up the troops' morale.

Yes. A threesome would go a long way to bring these two together. Immediately, our monk pondered on how to set it up. But at that time, the Armored Lion King's voice echoed in his mind.

'Boss! They're getting close to the destination. Thirty to forty-minutes top. Should I delay them?' The Lion King, who altered the gals' perceptions to control their path, said, forcing Xinzi out of threesome planning.

"Oh? No need. I will be there when they arrive. You've done a decent job and deserve some rewards. I will feed you a shard for your troubles," Xinzi said.

"Woohoohoo!" At first, the "decent job" appraisal filled the Armored Lion King with concerns, making him wonder what he had to do to satisfy his greedy boss' standards. But as soon as Xinzi promised a Diabolic Shard, the Lion King back-flipped, singing in raptured delight.

"This monastic boss is indeed the best. I will always put my life on the line to fulfill the boss' orders!" The Lion King squealed, then realized that trading his life for merit was probably not a good bargain. Then again, so long as his soul didn't break down, Xinzi could probably resurrect him.

Tapping his chest, Xinzi summoned Guang Fanghu and Lord Hanxing. The two dropped on their knees, kowtowing before Xinzi even said a word. The time spent in our monk's Demon Heart made the uncle and nephew pair understand one simple principle. A Divine Spirit, God-Monarch at that, that dared to cultivate demonic powers, likely had absolutely no bottom line and would do anything to bring his plans to fruition.

Without complete obedience, they couldn't survive in Xinzi's camp. Little did they know that Lord Hanxing's soul had been fudged by Xinzi already, enabling him to take over whenever necessary.

Tusha's Spiritual Sense swept the two, and while not surprised by the trick that Xinzi played on Hanxing, she couldn't understand why our monk didn't do the same for Guang Fanghu.

'Is it for Dong Ling? No, impossible. There are many things that our Abbot can do for beauties, but putting his identity and faction safety in jeopardy is not one of them. Why then did he not take control of Guang Fanghu's soul? Or did he use a technique that I can't see through?' As Tusha's thoughts trailed off, Xinzi tapped Guang Fanghu's forehead, forcing the Yang Patriarch to raise his trembling eyes at this dreadful son-in-law.

"Hi father-in-law, I need you to cooperate with me so we can bring the family together while punishing Chun Xu for playing tricks on us. I know I can count on my loyal cuck. But can I count on you?" Xinzi asked with a warm smile that only added to Guang Fanghu's terror.