Hu Ji squeezed past the plump man into the room, his gaze sweeping around subconsciously.

The room's decor was not luxurious, yet it exuded a mysterious air; positioned against the wall stood a giant divine statue two people tall, sculpted as a mysterious man in a black robe, his face completely hidden by the shadow of the hood, rendering it unclear.

There were also quite a few men and women in black robes standing in the room, each with three wave-like patterns stitched in silk on their chests, marking them as believers of the Black River Divine Sect.

Standing in the room listening to the prayers of those people, Hu Ji felt increasing irritation.

However, soon, the chubby man who had taken his money bag walked out from an inner room, still holding a wooden box in his hands.

Hu Ji took the wooden box and counted the contents, only to find that the number of medicine pills was nearly half less than before. A surge of anger rushed to his head, but when he looked up, he saw that the plump man was now flanked by several burly men in black robes.

"Brother Hu, this is a reward from the Black River God. You must keep it safe, otherwise, if you offend the Black River God and he casts down divine punishment, I won't be able to protect you," said the plump man, looking at Hu Ji with a quasi-smiling expression, his tone affected and pretentious.

Seeing this situation, Hu Ji had no choice but to suppress his anger and asked, "May I dare to ask the Divine Envoy, with the medicine this expensive bestowed by Lord Black River God, can it truly cure the green poison disease? My wife has been taking it for so long, why hasn't she gotten better yet?"

"Audacious! How dare you question the Black River God! If your wife's illness is not cured, it is because her faith is not devout enough. When you return, let her recite the scriptures of the Black River God a few more times, and the efficacy of the medicine will naturally manifest. Stop making unreasonable trouble here!" The plump man huffed coldly, waved his hand, and the burly men next to him pushed and dragged Hu Ji out of the room.

Outside the house, Hu Ji was shoved so hard that he fell, but he managed to protect the wooden box in his hands. When he got up, the doors of the house had already closed. Seeing this, he could only get up and head back to his dwelling.

Meanwhile, on the roof of the house, a soul crow had seen everything, and seeing Hu Ji leaving, it too, flapped its wings, its form virtualizing as it dove into the ground, soon disappearing without a trace.

...

Since his wife had previously taken the medicine pills, Hu Ji set the wooden box aside after returning home and then busied himself with household chores.

Yet, in his heart, he unconsciously began to harbor a sliver of doubt toward the "Black River God" mixed with an indescribable resentment, despite having no choice but to trust the "Black River God" for now.

Having medicine was still better than having none.

After he busied himself around the house for awhile and hung the washed clothes out to dry, he returned inside only to unexpectedly find a man in a plain robe talking with his daughter.

Seeing this, Hu Ji felt a chill in his heart and quickly went forward, intending to stand in front of his daughter, but he froze when he saw the man's face.

"Benefactor?"

Yuan Ming smiled and nodded at him, "It's been many days. Seeing you so spirited, I'm also relieved."

Emotionally, Hu Ji knelt in front of Yuan Ming, "Previously, I did not recognize the great person in front of me. On the way back, I was disrespectful to benefactor many times. Thank you for your magnanimity, not only ignoring my faults but also saving me from the Black Wind. I am deeply grateful and willing to serve you in any way you instruct, without any hesitation."

Yuan Ming quietly watched Hu Ji, the corners of his mouth still carrying a faint smile.

Hu Ji was indeed a smart man, and he clearly understood that as a cultivator, Yuan Ming wouldn't seek him out without reason; therefore, at first sight, he expressed his gratitude and willingness to work for Yuan Ming.

"I have come to seek you today to help you," Yuan Ming said, walking over to the altar table and, using his finger as a knife, he picked up the tablet of the Black River God, erased the inscribed words, and re-carved three new characters—"Nether Moon God".

"From now on, I want you to preach in the name of the Nether Moon God throughout the city. The more believers you gather, the greater the rewards I will give you. Reaching a certain number might even grant you a chance to step onto the Immortal Path," Yuan Ming said.

Without any hesitation, Hu Ji replied, "I respectfully follow the decree of my benefactor. From this day onwards, I shall do my utmost not to disappoint your expectations, but there is one more thing I hope benefactor can help me with."

Yuan Ming simply said, "Is it about curing your wife's illness?"

"Benefactor indeed knows everything. I indeed have this intention, though it's not just for personal reasons but also for the sake of benefactor's mission to spread the faith," Hu Ji explained.

"Let's hear it," Yuan Ming said, his voice containing a trace of scrutiny.

"As I mentioned before, the Black Wind Desert is a mixed source for mortals, situated at the border between Qin and Zhao countries and the Northern Desert. Each city houses a mix of people from Qin, Zhao, and the Northern Desert. I am from Zhao, and my wife is from the Northern Desert. People from the Central Plains do not have a habit of following a faith, whereas many from the Northern Desert already have beliefs. Therefore, it's not easy to spread a new faith," Hu Ji said, knowing Yuan Ming was assessing his insight and judgment, so he explained carefully.

"Moreover, in the Black Wind Desert, mortals are slaves to cultivators, and although their vision is limited, they won't worship just any magic they see. To gain their faith, one must genuinely solve the problems they face. Recently, the biggest problem in Xiansha City, where the mortals live, is the Green Poison Disease, the same illness my wife suffers from. If we can solve this disease, gaining their faith might be as easy as flipping one's hand," Hu Ji concluded.

Hearing this, Yuan Ming asked, "Are these the deeds of the Black River Divine Sect that you speak of?"

"Indeed, that Black River Divine Sect has risen to power through these matters and now relies on selling divine medicine to amass a large number of believers. As long as you can teach me to make elixirs with slightly better effects, we can recruit all their followers into our fold," Hu Ji nodded in response.

"You need not worry about that. Their medicines are nothing but clay pills without a trace of spiritual energy fluctuations, merely things to fool people with. This bottle of elixir I have, even if you were to soak it in water and distribute the resultant medicinal solution, would be hundreds, thousands of times more effective than theirs."

Yuan Ming shook his head and took out a bottle of low grade detoxification pills, placing it on the altar table.

Overjoyed, Hu Ji quickly got up, took the elixir, exchanged a few words with Yuan Ming, then hastened into the bedroom.

Yuan Ming was indifferent and did not follow him. His gaze swept casually around the room. At that moment, Hu Ji's daughter approached him, holding a bowl with both hands. She approached Yuan Ming and said in a crisp voice,

"Benefactor, please drink this tea."

The six-year-old girl, unaware of Yuan Ming's identity as a cultivator, saw her father treating him with great respect and instinctively treated Yuan Ming as a distinguished guest, offering him tea.

Yuan Ming was touched by her thoughtfulness but, looking down at the tea in the bowl, he couldn't help but be amused.

Broken leaves floated in the light green tea, steam rising from it, not bringing the fragrance of tea, but a sour and astringent smell instead.

Yuan Ming had never drunk such tea, but seeing the girl's sincere gaze, a soft spot in his heart was touched, and he couldn't bring himself to refuse. He merely took a light sip as a gesture of drinking.

However, as soon as the tea reached his stomach, Yuan Ming's brows furrowed, and with a raise of his hand, he summoned Hua Zhi.

The girl was startled at the sudden appearance of a vine creature but then gathered her courage and touched Hua Zhi's arm, her face full of curiosity.

But Yuan Ming had no time to attend to her and directly handed the tea bowl to Hua Zhi, saying, "Check where the poison in this tea comes from."

Hua Zhi took the tea bowl, dipped his finger into the tea, picked up some of the broken leaves, and swallowed them.

Soon, he had come to a conclusion, "Master, the water contains poison."

Yuan Ming nodded, and just then, from the bedroom, a cry of joy erupted. Hu Ji came out supporting his wife, whose facial spots had faded considerably compared to before.

"Benefactor, this is..." As Hu Ji looked up, he saw Hua Zhi and was taken aback.

"This is my companion; never mind him for now. I have a question for you. The water in your house, where does it come from? Have you ever added anything to it, or has anyone else touched it?" asked Yuan Ming.

After thinking for a moment, Hu Ji shook his head, "The water is drawn daily from the well. Although it tastes bad, there is enough of it. Each household draws its own and doesn't interfere with one another, and there's certainly no question of adding anything."

"Where is the well located? Lead me there," Yuan Ming instructed.

Hu Ji nodded, settled his wife down, and immediately led Yuan Ming to the well.

Soon, Yuan Ming arrived at the well. He released a soul crow to explore down the well. However, tracing the path of the well water downward, Yuan Ming discovered that the well was connected to a deeply situated underground river with turbid waters, obscuring visibility.

After pondering for a moment, Yuan Ming had another idea. Using an illusion technique for cover, he again released Hua Zhi, ordering him to enter the well and follow the dark river downwards, trying to determine the source of the water's poison.

Hua Zhi immediately obeyed, diving into the ground and heading toward the dark river.

After considerable effort, Hua Zhi arrived at the location of the dark river. The murky river water obscured his vision, and even Hua Zhi couldn't discern the direction, but he could feel the flow of toxins in the water and directly followed the source of the toxins upstream.

Before long, Hua Zhi suddenly emerged from the water only to find himself in a wide underground cavern. In this cavern, an insect demon, resembling a ladybug with feelers on its head and about the size of a human, was joyfully feasting on the corpses of other demon beasts on the stone wall.

Greenish body fluid dropped from its back to the ground, forming a shallow pool that ultimately flowed back into the dark river.

Seeing this, Hua Zhi immediately charged at the insect demon and engaged it in combat.

The insect demon, being of the second lower rank, was no match for Hua Zhi's summoned vines, which it couldn't even bite through. Its back's toxic fluid also had no effect on Hua Zhi, so it quickly fell into disadvantage, and just when it was about to be killed, the insect demon became frightened, coiling up its body, lowering its feelers in submission, and stretching them toward Hua Zhi.

Sensing its submission, Hua Zhi approached without hesitation, lightly pricked the insect demon's body with a vine, leaving a mark inside it, and then summoned it to follow him back to the surface.

On the surface, Yuan Ming listened to Hua Zhi recount the whole story. Knowing that the toxin in the water had been dealt with, he was pleased and also began to consider whether he could use this incident to increase his collection of desire power.

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