Qiu Zu: From an apprentice in a medicine shop to an immortal ancestor.

Town Spirit Department, the study in the backyard.

Wei Tanzhi was lying lazily in his chair, casually flipping through the files.

"Interesting."

Footsteps came from outside the courtyard.

"Shoulong, come in."

As he spoke, a burly man in armor strode in, cupping his fist in salute to the head seat in the study:

"Commander!"

"Sit down!"

Wei Tanzhi casually tossed the file in his hand. Gang Qi transformed into a pair of large hands, gently lifting it and presenting it to Lin Shoulong, the Deputy Commander of the Town Spirit Department.

"You are in charge of the Wooden Puppet Sect case. There is new progress in this matter, take a look."

Lin Shoulong became interested, took the file, and carefully read it.

"No wonder I saw Physician Qiu just now in the inner courtyard. I didn't expect him to be involved in the Wooden Puppet Sect case again."

While reading, Lin Shoulong's face revealed a look of realization.

Speaking of which, in the past year, inside and outside the Town Spirit Department, from ordinary Town Spirit Martial Masters to Town Spirit Commanders, everyone knew Qiu Zhen and had some interaction with him.

Firstly, Qiu Zhen was a disciple of Grandmaster An Xiao of Medicine King Valley, with superb medical skills and powerful means of exorcism.

Secondly, Qiu Zhen seemed to possess a destined fate. Although he was only a Houtian Martial Master, he was accompanied by a Xiantian-level demon general to protect him.

No matter which matter, it made people talk about it with relish.

Usually, the Town Spirit Department was quite polite to Qiu Zhen.

"Commander, should we send someone to protect Physician Qiu?"

Lin Shoulong was in charge of the "Wooden Puppet Sect" case and knew the cause and effect.

A year ago, Qiu Zhen unintentionally suppressed the demonic thoughts of a Yin Spirit expert from the Wooden Puppet Sect during a free clinic. Later, that Yin Spirit expert seemed to go to Qiu Zhen, but it ended without a trace.

Originally, this matter was over.

Unexpectedly, after a year, the Wooden Puppet Sect came to Qiu Zhen again.

"Protect him?"

Wei Tanzhi shook his head:

"Physician Qiu doesn't need our protection. He said that Wooden Puppet Sect cultivators had infiltrated Qiu Family Village. At first, he was vague and deliberately didn't say how many people. Later, when we pressed him, he pondered for a moment before saying there were two people, two Yin Spirit experts."

Speaking of this, Wei Tanzhi revealed a playful smile:

"One of my men has an extraordinary sense of smell. At the battlefield outside Qiu Family Village, he smelled the aura of Qiu Zhen and three others, as well as the aura of four Wooden Puppet Sect mechanical beasts, which matched what Physician Qiu said. The Wooden Puppet mechanical beasts are refined with secret methods, and the aura emitted by the mechanical beasts is very unique and cannot be mistaken."

"Two Yin Spirit experts, four Wooden Puppet mechanical beasts?"

Lin Shoulong was a little surprised.

He had fought with the Wooden Puppet Sect several times and knew the power of the Wooden Puppet mechanical beasts. The more mechanical beasts, the harder they were to deal with.

With his True Gang Realm strength, dealing with one or two was easy, but dealing with four at the same time, if he was not careful and was sealed off by a sea of fire, would be tricky for him.

"He repelled two Wooden Puppet Sect Yin Spirit experts? How is that possible?"

"This..."

Lin Shoulong was silent for a moment. As someone from the Town Spirit Department, a thought flashed through his mind.

Back then, a Wooden Puppet Sect captive confessed that a Yin Spirit expert named "Yuanhua" stayed in Qingmu City, originally planning to seek treatment for his demonic thoughts from Qiu Zhen, but later disappeared for no reason.

Previously, he had not suspected much.

However, at this moment, in a flash of inspiration, a thought flashed through his mind.

Could that Yuanhua have died at the hands of Physician Qiu?

"Commander, how did Physician Qiu repel the two great Yin Spirit experts of the Wooden Puppet Sect?"

Wei Tanzhi explained:

"Besides a fox demon who is a demon general, the evil-warding wooden needles he usually uses for exorcism are transformed from wood essence, and that wood essence is also a Xiantian demon general."

"There's such a thing!"

Lin Shoulong was a little surprised. He really didn't know this. He only knew that the fox demon accompanying him was a Xiantian demon general.

When did Xiantian Martial Master-level demon generals become as common as street fruits and vegetables, easily subdued and controlled?

"Commander, Physician Qiu doesn't look simple."

Lin Shoulong pondered for a moment and said leisurely:

"Back then, that Yin Spirit cultivator named Yuanhua seemed to go to him, but later it ended without a trace. Looking back, I'm afraid he died at his hands eight or nine times out of ten. It's just, why did he deny it outright back then...?"

Wei Tanzhi nodded slightly:

"That is indeed a point of doubt."

After the two finished speaking, they fell silent together, lost in thought.

At that time, the news that Qiu Zhen possessed a destined fate had just begun to spread, and he had also become a disciple of Grandmaster An Xiao. He wouldn't lie in order to cover up the fact that he possessed a destined fate.

Unwilling to offend the Wooden Puppet Sect?

Or is there some secret hidden on him?

"Commander, what should we do about Physician Qiu? Should we follow him?"

After Lin Shoulong finished speaking, a look of excitement appeared in his heart.

As someone from the Town Spirit Department, they were naturally interested in this kind of suddenly rising "genius" figure with doubts.

Past experience told them that often, a little in-depth investigation would yield no small gains.

As for An Jishi behind Qiu Zhen, the Town Spirit Department didn't care too much.

Even if it was a noble family, or even a member of the royal family, as long as they showed a little sign, their Town Spirit Department dared to investigate.

Once there was evidence, no matter how great the identity background, it would be a thorough investigation.

Wei Tanzhi nodded slightly:

"He can be considered a rising star genius from this area. He must be investigated. Just follow the rules. Don't make too much noise. After all, he exorcises evil spirits for our brothers in the Town Spirit Department. It won't look good if things get out of hand."

Lin Shoulong nodded: "Commander, I know the limits."

Next, the two discussed the case again.

An hour later, Lin Shoulong cupped his fist in salute and left the study.

The incense burner was filled with mist, sometimes turning into auspicious clouds, and sometimes cranes flew up, dreamlike. The entire study fell into silence.

Wei Tanzhi opened the file that he had discussed at the beginning from the mountain of files, his gaze fixed.

What was recorded on the file was none other than the Wooden Puppet Sect and Qiu Zhen.

In an inconspicuous corner of the study, a page was flipping through a large number of files. Perhaps he had found something, a look of interest appeared on his face, and he looked at Wei Tanzhi in the main seat:

"Young Master, you said that Physician Qiu is only a Houtian Martial Master, but two great Xiantian demon generals have joined him. Does he really possess the fate of a mountain god?"

Wei Tanzhi shook his head:

"That depends on Qiu Zhen and An Jishi. Their master and disciple use the spiritual object [Ephemera Amber] to cover up their fate, and others cannot see it."

"I don't think so."

After the page finished speaking, a look of hesitation appeared on his face, looking like he wanted to say something but was afraid of being scolded.

"Don't give me that dying look of wanting to say something but not saying it. Say whatever you want to say. I've been with you for twenty years, when have I ever stopped you from speaking?"

"Hehe~ I'm afraid you'll laugh at me, Young Master."

The page smiled, and said:

"When I was flipping through the files, I discovered a case of evil cultivators exorcising ghosts and disturbing the people in Xiangyang Village in the suburbs. Later, the investigation revealed that the evil cultivator seemed to be looking for a strange fish, looking for fishermen, fishmongers, and big fish buyers everywhere. This case seems to be related to the Danda Dunfa and the Buddha's Heart Seal. You probably asked about it, Young Master."

Wei Tanzhi became interested. He was busy with a myriad of affairs every day, and he handled hundreds of thousands of cases. It was normal for him not to pay attention to some details.

"How so?"

"Young Master, that ghost-exorcising evil cultivator died at the hands of a mysterious Yin Spirit cultivator proficient in thunder techniques."

Speaking of this, the page's eyebrows danced with excitement, and he said eloquently:

"Also, a year ago, in the Goat Theft case in Daomen, two Wooden Puppet Sect cultivators were involved. In the end, they also died at the hands of thunder techniques, or rather, at the hands of an old monster who controlled thunder."

"Young Master, take a look at the two demon generals under Qiu Zhen. One possesses the power of wind and thunder, and the other possesses evil-warding divine thunder, both of which are thunder techniques."

Wei Tanzhi was originally just listening casually to his page's views, not holding any hope of gaining any clues.

However, after this analysis, he suddenly became interested.

These cases seemed unrelated, and the Town Spirit Department hadn't paid much attention to them, but after his page's analysis, the cases seemed to be connected.

Thunder techniques, a mysterious Taoist expert, suddenly rising...

"Boy, you have a heart, you didn't eat for nothing."

Wei Tanzhi praised him. If one didn't have a heart, they wouldn't connect these details, especially since they handled countless demon cases every day, with thousands of threads.

Often, solving cases requires imagination.

With a time span of one year, searching for clues in hundreds of thousands of cases is not an easy task.

It was only his page, who was not burdened by trivial matters on weekdays, and standing from an outsider's perspective, could often discover these details.

"Hehe~"

Hearing his young master's praise, the page became even more confident, and immediately said:

"Young Master, that's not the most important thing. I also discovered that Qiu Zhen once rented a house in Xiangyang Village in the suburbs a year ago, and lived there for several months. The time he moved in was just around the time of the [Shilin Hermit Case]."

"What's even more coincidental is that three months later, the ghost-exorcising evil cultivator harassed the fishermen, and one of the fishermen was Qiu Zhen's neighbor and landlord."

Speaking of this, the page was very excited, his voice loud:

"Young Master, one clue after another points to the same direction, that is, Qiu Zhen may have obtained Danda Dunfa, cultivated it successfully, and then suddenly rose to prominence!"

"Hehe!"

Wei Tanzhi was originally listening with interest, but hearing this, he shook his head and smiled:

"I thought you had some great ideas, but you actually suspect that Qiu Zhen has cultivated Danda Dunfa. This young master has told you that in this world, no one can cultivate Danda Dunfa. Qiu Zhen can never cultivate it either!"

Speaking of this, Wei Tanzhi couldn't help but sigh:

"This is the incompleteness of the heavenly path, and it cannot be reversed by human power."

The higher the vision, the more confident, even certain, one becomes in looking at things.

Wei Tanzhi's cultivation was profound, and his vision and knowledge were high. He was not a frog in a well. He jumped out of the well and saw the sky and the earth, and understood how high the sky was and how wide the earth was.

Therefore, he would not guess that someone had practiced Danda Dunfa or the Buddha's Heart Seal.

After all, people cannot lift themselves up.

It was only his page, who seemed to understand but didn't really understand, who had such a rich imagination to deduce such an absurd conclusion from the complicated cases.

"You blockhead, I told you before that it is impossible for anyone to cultivate such a sky-reaching method, but you didn't remember it in your mind."

The look of excitement on the page's face disappeared, and he muttered in a low voice:

"Young Master, I knew you would scold me."

Wei Tanzhi glanced at him, shook his head, and said:

"Although the conclusion you drew is absurd, the analysis is very good, especially the thunder technique clue, which has given me new ideas."

The page became interested:

"Young Master, what ideas?"

Wei Tanzhi's gaze was deep:

"Besides Qiu Zhen seemingly possessing a great destined fate, he is more like an old monster who has seized a body and been reborn."