My virtue is above yours.

A golden light flowed through the void, then suddenly transformed into a human form. Chen Jingxuan returned to the bamboo forest he had just traversed, the air filled with the fresh scent of earth.

Thanks to the golden light within his body that restarted the cycle of reincarnation, he would have been dead.

He delved into his inner sea of ​​consciousness, where there were still ten strands of golden light.

"We'll figure out how to raise a new one later."

The most urgent task right now is to find out exactly what happened.

Why did a childhood friend I hadn't seen for ten years suddenly go berserk and kill me?

He carefully recalled the scene just now, and although it only lasted a few seconds, the sensations in his body were extremely complex.

Xiao Bao was incredibly strong. Having entered the Chao Che Realm, his strength was already at the peak of mortal power. He tried to resist, but there was nothing he could do. Xiao Bao's strength was unreasonable, and he had clearly also cultivated.

Moreover, when the two embraced, Chen Jingxuan felt an intense burning pain on his skin, as if he were being burned by fire.

His master had told him about some techniques of the Daoist path, such as superhuman strength and being scorched by raging flames. Only the violent path could meet these two conditions.

The Path of Violence specializes in cruelty and inhumanity, using abuse and torture of others to enhance one's cultivation.

"Oh no, Xiao Bao is practicing the violent path, the villagers are definitely going to suffer."

Chen Jingxuan caught a fly from the forest, tapped his finger lightly, and cast a spell called "Acting on Behalf of Others," which was his natal spell on his path of cultivation. It allowed him to separate a wisp of his divine consciousness to manipulate other living beings. He wanted to control this fly to enter the village and investigate the truth.

The flies buzzed forward, the view was extremely wide, yet somewhat dim.

When we reached the path we had just walked, we couldn't find Xiao Bao anywhere. It must be because flies and people move at different speeds, and Xiao Bao had probably gone somewhere else by then.

He gazed at the village on the mountaintop and vaguely noticed something strange about it. It should have been the harvest season, but the terraced fields were empty, with nothing at all, as if there were no traces of agricultural activity.

"Something really did happen in the village!"

At the entrance of the village, a middle-aged couple hung from the top of a crooked tree, their lips cracked and their eyes unfocused.

He bit the man's face, and the man's face twitched weakly, making him feel as if the earth was shaking.

"Isn't that Uncle Luo and Aunt Zhang? Xiao Bao even dared to attack his own parents. Thank goodness they're still alive."

The Luo family's uncle and aunt were very kind people and doted on Xiaobao. Despite being poor, they did everything they could to satisfy Xiaobao's needs.

The only thing that made him feel wronged was that Chen Jingxuan took the cloth from his pants to make winter clothes, so that he could wear the same open-crotch pants until he was six years old.

"Is that his reason for killing me? He's too vengeful!"

He flapped his wings and flew in with a buzz. In his memory, there should have been a towering tree in the center of the village, blocking out the sun. In the summer, everyone would sit there to cool off and listen to him tell the story of Doraemon digging out Nobita's supreme bone.

But now only a large wooden stake stands there all alone.

A series of clanging sounds came from the open space, which was particularly annoying.

A ten-foot-tall stone stands here, and villagers are hammering and sculpting around it with hammers and picks, seemingly carving it. The stone is beginning to take on a human shape.

He knew every household in the village very well, and they had all fed him.

But now these people are pale, their eyes are unfocused, and they are thin. They are weakly hammering stones with tools in hand. They all have injuries, more or less.

Old Luo, who could read, had white hair and beard. He trembled as he raised the hammer. There was a long red mark on his arm, which could not have been from accidentally chiseling stone. It looked like a whip mark, and it was fresh.

Chen Jingxuan cursed inwardly, "That beast is truly despicable; he doesn't even spare the elderly."

In a corner of the village, young girls and women gathered around a large wine vat. They stuffed rice into their mouths, chewed it, and spat it into the vat along with their saliva.

The women all looked haggard, with disheveled hair.

Holding a handful of rice, Sister-in-law Zhang said wistfully, "Luckily, that beast doesn't care about women, otherwise we wouldn't be so lucky to be able to do this work and steal a few bites of rice. My husband only gets one meal a day."

"It's not that he's indifferent to women. Would someone who's indifferent to women want to drink women's chewed sake? He just looks down on us. It's a pity that little sister Yu'er is being pestered by this guy every day."

"But he didn't force her! He just kept yelling and shouting outside the door every day for half a year, and Yu'er hasn't opened the door once. Do you think if Yu'er had given in and pleaded with that guy, we wouldn't have had to suffer like this?"

The other women rolled their eyes at her: "You're such a shameless person, advising others to obey, yet you yourself don't obey?"

Sister-in-law Zhang blushed: "I won't do it. If he touches me, I feel like I'm on fire. I'd rather do manual labor. Yu'er is probably still thinking about Brother Quan. It's a pity that Brother Quan went up the mountain to become a Taoist priest and has long forgotten about us old folks."

"There's been no news for ten years, so he probably won't be coming back."

Chen Jingxuan's heart skipped a beat when he heard this.

"It's better that he didn't come back, so that bastard won't arrest him too."

"Brother Quan is a Taoist priest of the Heavenly Dao Sect, the state religion. How could he be afraid of that fellow?"

"Becoming a Taoist priest doesn't mean you have cultivation. Without cultivation, you'll still be sent to your death if you encounter that beast."

"I don't think even someone with cultivation could necessarily beat that beast. That beast could kill a cow with a flick of its finger. Poor old ox, it worked so hard for so many years, only to be eaten by that beast in the end. The beef smells so good, I didn't even get a bite."

Chen Jingxuan guessed that Xiao Bao might have killed Yu'er when they met in order to make her give up on him.

He flapped his wings and flew around the village. Every house was empty, and even the elderly in their sixties and seventies were forced to chisel stones.

Every household's rice bins are empty. If this continues, even if they aren't tortured to death by that beast, they won't survive the winter.

There was only one room left, and that belonged to the Feng family.

Chen Jingxuan flew in through the hole in the window. The room was dark, with the doors and windows tightly closed and no lights on.

A slender young girl was sitting on the bed crying, her arms wrapped around her legs, tears streaming down her face.

A fly buzzed weakly, "Yu'er!"

Feng Yu'er trembled in fright, her delicate face streaked with tears, her eyes wide open.

"Who is it? Who is speaking?"

"Shh, it's me, Quan-ge'er. I'm talking to you through this fly."

Feng Yu'er stared at the fly and obediently lowered her voice: "Brother Quan, did you reincarnate as a fly?"

"This is my magic! Tell me what happened in the village? What happened to Xiao Bao?"

Feng Yu'er calmed herself down and accepted that the fly in front of her was the familiar Quan Ge'er.

She got up, went to the window, and peered out through the crack. Making sure Xiao Bao hadn't returned, she shrank back into the corner behind the stove and whispered, "About six months ago, Xiao Bao suddenly went berserk. He rushed out of the house, shouting, 'I've become an immortal! I've become an immortal!' Then he punched the old locust tree in the village and broke it in half. That tree takes two people to encircle!"

Chen Jingxuan became even more convinced that this guy had suddenly awakened to the Path of Violence, which was why he possessed such terrifying brute force and the ability to burn people.

"You know Xiao Bao's temperament; he was already eccentric, and now that he has divine power, he's gone completely mad. He forces everyone to stop farming and spends every day chiseling stones in the village to create some kind of statue of him. He says that all gods should have statues, and he wants one too. Once it's finished, he wants to build a temple and enshrine his statue."

Chen Jingxuan knew that Xiao Bao was unruly and would crush ants if he saw them, and kick a dog if he passed by. People like this would bully others if they gained power.

He cultivates a brutal and inhumane path, and his desire for cultivation will surely amplify the malice in his heart. In order to improve his cultivation, he may do anything bad.

"That guy is a beast! He even hangs his own parents up, only allowing them to be let down at night for a drink of water and a little food. The women suffer even more, having to make him some kind of 'chewed sake.' That beast is disgusting. Luckily, he hasn't done anything to me, but he knocks on my door every day. I'm so afraid he'll actually break in one day!"

Chen Jingxuan quickly asked, "Where's your brother? I haven't seen him in the village."

"He said a year ago that he was going to Beijing to make his fortune, and there's still no news."

Chen Jingxuan breathed a sigh of relief.

I have a general understanding of the situation in the village. Luo Xiaobao is a petty person who has become powerful and arrogant. Everyone has suffered to varying degrees, but fortunately, he knows the principle of not exhausting resources. He only torments everyone, and no one has lost their life or been defiled.

Feng Yu'er said urgently, "A few days ago, a scholar passed by and offered to save us. Although he had magic, he was no match for Xiao Bao and is still locked up in the cave down below. Brother Quan'er, you must hurry. When he returns, you will be in danger. That beast is incredibly strong; you are no match for him."

"Okay, I'll be going now. Don't tell anyone I was here."

Feng Yu'er paused for a moment, then saw the fly buzz away: "Really leaving? Aren't you going to be polite?"

Chen Jingxuan withdrew his divine sense, his gaze suddenly shifted, and he returned to the foot of the mountain once more.

He was plotting how to deal with Luo Xiaobao, whose strength was superior to his own, and a direct confrontation might lead to trouble.

If the technique of "acting on behalf of others" is used, it becomes somewhat difficult.

Animals have weak spiritual consciousness, making them easy to enter, while humans have stronger spiritual consciousness, requiring the recipient to be sincerely convinced.

How can I get Luo Xiaobao to willingly be manipulated by me?

After squatting for a while, he had an idea and walked into the forest behind him.

The sun was at its zenith, and despite it being autumn, it was exceptionally strong, causing the villagers to complain incessantly.

A fly was buzzing around incessantly in the village.

The Luo couple hung from the tree, the thick rope cutting painfully into their wrists. Uncle Luo said in a weak, breathy voice, "Your eldest son is back."

The aunt retorted in a low, annoyed voice, "Your precious eldest son!"

"If I had known this thing would have been born, I would have preferred to leave it on the wall."

Through the tiny, fly-like lens, Chen Jingxuan could see clearly that at the foot of the distant mountain, a chubby boy was riding a strong man slowly up the mountain. The man was struggling to climb, while the boy rode on his back, proudly raising his head as if he were playing the role of a triumphant general.

In such an impoverished mountain village, the fact that a person could be raised to be plump and healthy speaks volumes about the parents' love.

The two entered the village, and the man finally collapsed on the ground, too exhausted to move. Xiao Bao grabbed him by the collar: "Second Uncle, why don't you just leave! You're so useless."

Xiao Bao climbed down from his second uncle's back and shouted at his parents, who were hanging from the crooked tree, "Mom and Dad! I've come to see you! Hehe, my cultivation has increased again."

He pulled a whip from his waist and lashed it across his father with a sharp crack, eliciting a scream from him.

"Father, bear with it. I can feel your cultivation level increasing. If I whip you a few more times, your silence will mean you agree!"

Old Luo staggered over, hammer in hand, and shouted in a hoarse voice, "Stop hitting him! If you keep hitting him, your father will die!"

Xiao Bao glared at him: "Then I'll hit you."

With a "smack," Old Man Luo was knocked to the ground, letting out a scream.

Xiao Bao pouted, "This time the feeling isn't strong. It's better to whip my parents than you. I'm not whipping them today, otherwise they'll die and there won't be any more to whip. Parents, please bear with it. When my cultivation is high and I have great abilities, you won't have to suffer like this anymore. I'll definitely take you to enjoy a life of happiness then."

He threw the whip on the ground and strode to his own statue. The villagers who were working on the construction site retreated when they saw him coming.

"What are you afraid of? We're all from the same village, I'm not going to eat you. I'm in a good mood today, I won't hit you. Let's continue."

He then went to the brewing area and plunged headfirst into a vat full of kochikami (a type of sake made by chewing food) to drink heartily, while the women around him all frowned in disgust.

"Excellent! This is truly fine wine!"

Xiao Bao wiped his mouth and walked towards Feng Yu'er's room.

He knocked on the wooden door.

"Knock knock knock!"

He pressed his face against the door, his voice high-pitched and obsequious: "Sister Yu'er, haven't you made up your mind yet? I'm a deity, so if you marry me, you'll be a fairy too. We'll be like a fairy's donkey!"

"roll!"

Xiao Bao excitedly shouted, "Think it over and tell me, and I'll definitely remain chaste for you. Don't worry, I won't force you. I'm a god; I wouldn't stoop to doing such a thing."

"roll!"

"Okay!"

Xiao Bao walked away with a grin, lay down on the rocking chair under the shade of a tree, and shooed away the flies around him.

Suddenly, a tiger's roar echoed from the mountains, its powerful sound startling a flock of birds into fleeing the deep forest.

Xiao Bao clicked his tongue and said, "Where did this big bug come from that disturbed my peaceful dream?"

He got up and ran towards the mountains where the tiger roared.

Chen Jingxuan remembered that Xiao Bao had been scared to death by a tiger's roar when he was a child. Now that he had cultivation, he was indeed going to find the tiger to take revenge.

He immediately withdrew his divine sense, and beneath him was a tiger roaring and struggling.

"Brother Tiger, just bear with it."

He pointed a finger at the tiger's head, and the tiger instantly calmed down.

Angry shouts came from down the mountain.

"Where is the tiger? Come and meet your death!"

The chubby boy charged up the mountain bare-handed, his fierce eyes scanning the surroundings.

"Big bug! Come out now!"

Unable to find the tiger, he uprooted a large tree, about the size of a person, to vent his anger, and threw it to the ground with a loud crash, raising a cloud of dust.

"Why is my young friend so irritable?"

Xiao Bao looked up at the sound and saw a tiger lying on a tree with its legs crossed.

His eyes flickered, clearly startled. Chen Jingxuan was secretly delighted; there must be a chance.

Xiao Bao pointed at him and shouted, "What are you? A monster? Come down here and die!"

"Young friend, you are so hot-tempered. If you were to cultivate the path of violence, you would surely rise to the top and be ranked among the immortals."

As Chen Jingxuan said this, he glanced at the other person and could clearly see that Xiao Bao was pressing down on the corner of his mouth.

"Since you are so gifted, young friend, I am willing to take you as my disciple."

Xiao Bao rolled his eyes: "Who do you think you are, to think you're worthy of taking me as your disciple? Take this!"

The opponent suddenly threw a punch, and Chen Jingxuan felt a jolt beneath him as the tree trunk snapped and collapsed. He flipped over and jumped down, standing upright in front of the opponent.

"You old monster, instead of lying down, you're standing like a human."

"I am a mountain god, how could I be subject to those mortal beings—"

"Pfft!"

A huge fist smashed into the tiger's face, instantly splitting its head open and splattering blood everywhere.

Xiao Bao wiped the blood off his fist with his clothes: "Enough talk. With this little skill, you're not worthy of taking me, an immortal, as your disciple. I'll just tear off this tiger skin and make myself a coat."