Chapter 61: Can You Bear This Bow?

"Are these the idols of immortals?"

Meng Fan looked over the rows of idols before him with keen interest. His eyes were covered with Qi, and as he activated his observation technique, the scene before him instantly shifted.

Where his gaze fell, a faint aura of incense lingered. The idols gleamed with golden light, radiating sanctity and extraordinary power, yet upon closer inspection, a wisp of dark Qi remained, lurking within.

Meng Fan considered this observation technique to be a mere appendix to the Arts of Gathering Beasts and Controlling Fowls—after all, manipulating bloodline genetics required it.

By now, Meng Fan had attained the realm of perceiving the subtle to comprehend the absolute truth, and seeing the minute to know the whole. Though he could not compare to those Daoist masters who observed Qi to pry into human fortunes, it was more than enough to get a general sense of things.

True masters of observation arts could observe Qi to understand people, discern affairs, and know all things. In Daoist esoteric arts, this was known as the Art of Qi Observation or Qi Gazing.

At that moment, Meng Fan thought to himself, "As expected, the cultivation of immortals is inextricably linked to the worship of incense."

The young woman seemed to sense something was amiss. Glancing at Meng Fan, she immediately spoke out to stop him, "Do not show disrespect to the immortals!"

Her tone carried a hint of reprimand.

Within Meng Fan's field of vision, the dark Qi suddenly surged, as if preparing to strike.

Immediately afterward, the young woman bowed toward the rows of idols, muttering under her breath, "Great immortals, please bear no grudge, bear no grudge!"

Only then did she manage to pacify the turbulent Qi.

The young woman stood up, her gaze toward Meng Fan tinged with a hint of anger. "Brother Dazhuang, why is the guest you brought so ignorant of the rules? He almost offended the immortals."

"Offended?"

A playful smile touched the corners of Meng Fan's lips, and he deliberately put on a tough front. "Oh, in this day and age when humanity flourishes and the net of the law is vast, I ask you—do these immortals dare to make a move?"

Gao Dazhuang tugged at Meng Fan's padded cotton jacket and whispered urgently in his ear, "Tengong, this is outside the Shanhaiguan Pass after all, and we're right inside their territory. When living under someone else's roof, one has to bow one's head."

As a shamanic disciple, Gao Dazhuang was all too aware of how terrifying these immortals were; every single one of them was an ancient demon and aged monster of many years. If they truly provoked these immortals...

Gao Dazhuang had no confidence he could protect Meng Fan and get him out unscathed, and Meng Fan's safety was paramount.

Meng Fan shook his head at Gao Dazhuang. "Don't worry, I know what I'm doing."

"You—"

The young woman shot Meng Fan a resentful look, her temper flaring up. "Considering you're young and just a punk, I won't hold it against you, but you must make amends to the immortals."

"Make amends? How?"

"Kowtow to the immortals—three kowtows and nine prostrations—to show your sincerity," the young woman said smugly. "If you aren't sincere, the immortals won't forgive you."

As she spoke, within Meng Fan's vision, a fox-shaped wisp of dark Qi descended from one of the idols, coiled around the young woman's shoulder, and let out chuckling, yipping sounds.

"Oh, are you sure you want me to bow?" Meng Fan asked playfully. "I'm afraid you can't handle it!"

"Can't handle it? Who do you think you are?" The young woman scoffed.

Meng Fan's expression darkened. He looked at Gao Dazhuang and gave him a subtle glance.

Gao Dazhuang hurriedly said to the young woman, "Little sister, please use some common sense. Don't be so reckless all the time and bring disaster upon Fourth Aunt."

In his anxiety, Gao Dazhuang let slip his native Northeastern dialect.

"Hmph, I don't care. Offending the immortals is wrong."

"Gao Linghua, do you have to be so stubborn with your third brother?" Gao Dazhuang shouted, making the young woman jump in startle.

"Yip-yip... yip-yip!"

The mass of dark Qi coiled on Gao Linghua's shoulder let out a few cries, seemingly giving her courage. She straightened her back, placed her hands on her hips, and puffed out her chest, accentuating a majestic fullness that even the thick cotton jacket could not conceal.

"I am being stubborn, so what are you going to do about it?!"

Meng Fan looked at the small fox-shaped dark Qi. Without a doubt, this was the immortal connected to Gao Linghua, whom Gao Dazhuang had mentioned.

Shamanic disciples needed to gain the recognition of the immortals. Clearly, the human and the fox had an exceptionally close relationship, giving off a feeling of being "jackals of the same lair," and that fox was purely enjoying the spectacle without fearing things getting too big.

"Hey, did you forget how I disciplined you when you were little, huh?"

Gao Dazhuang was about to step forward, but Meng Fan stopped him.

"You want me to make amends, right?"

"Then you'd better catch it!"

With that, Meng Fan took a slight step back and made a motion as if to bend down.

Before he even bowed, the rows of idols above let out a cracking sound and abruptly shattered into pieces.

Gao Linghua's eyes widened in shock: "?!?!"

"Wait, what's going on here?!"

As for the fox on Gao Linghua's shoulder, it let out a miserable screech, vanished into thin air, and burst apart on the spot.

"Well? Do you still want me to bow?"

Meng Fan felt the heat was not yet enough and wanted to do it again.

Suddenly, an exceptionally thick stream of dark Qi directly possessed Gao Linghua and intervened, shouting, "Don't bow! Don't bow! If you bow again, all my centuries of cultivation will be completely ruined!"

"Oh? The main character has finally shown up?"

Meng Fan looked at "Gao Linghua" without showing any courtesy. The prerequisite for showing courtesy was that the recipient could actually endure it. He asked, "May I ask how this immortal is addressed?"

"The Hu family... descendant of the eighth generation, Hu Banniang!"

A voice emerged from "Gao Linghua's" mouth that was sharp and thin, yet carried a hint of coquettishness and exhaustion. However, from its trembling tone, it was clear that Meng Fan's slight gesture just a moment ago had definitely caused it no small amount of harm.

Meng Fan looked at Gao Dazhuang.

Gao Dazhuang explained, "To dare claim herself a descendant of the Hu family means she is a direct, orthodox granddaughter of Third Granny Hu, ranking eighth in her generation."

"Oh, Hu Banniang, is it?"

At that moment, "Gao Linghua" was trembling with fear. As she sized up Meng Fan's physiognomy, she felt an even greater urge to cry. Where on earth did this god of plague spring from?

This... this... this is a damn scion of royalty and dragon seed!

A person who bears the fate of the entire world upon themselves, entangled with karma—did such a person still exist today? They were innately protected by the national dragon fortune transformed from the will and beliefs of the millions of common people. Though the amount was not large, it was simply not something her frail little foundation could withstand.

She just hadn't paid attention, and the little brat under her command had brought such a massive disaster upon her!

If she had really let Meng Fan bow to her, wouldn't she have been bowed to death by him?

For the path of immortals, how large a destiny one bore determined how much fortune one could receive. What was a scion of royalty and dragon seed bowing to?

Wasn't that a guardian beast of the state?

In other words, Meng Fan's worship and obeisance were equivalent to sharing a portion of the national dragon fortune onto her body. But she had neither imperial investiture nor the strength to match it.

She could not reap any benefits from the dragon fortune at all and could only bear the associated karma.

To put it into perspective: the pressure was distributed onto you, and you had to shoulder the responsibility as well. Since your own strength was insufficient, you would be crushed to death by the will of the masses.

At best, all cultivation would be lost; at worst, one would die and perish utterly.