"As disciples of the Taoist sect, we cannot tolerate even a speck of dust in our eyes. Those people from the Buddha Country, their desire to destroy our Jing Country never dies. Naturally, I must pay them close attention."

The incense fire Taoist said indignantly.

"They are indeed to be hated."

Zhou Xuan asked the incense fire Taoist again, saying, "Old Incense, I, Zhou Xuan, walk the path of ’Nu.’ One stick of incense can compare to nine sticks of incense from other Tangkou. Now, I’ve come across a peculiar matter,

my Colorful Play Incense, after burning the first eight inches of incense, the flame just stalled... and not only stalled, but also faintly showed signs of extinguishing. What could be the reason for this?"

The incense fire Taoist waved his horsetail whisk, smiling broadly, he said, "Zhou Housheng, you’ve really given me a tough problem. The Tangkou of the Colorful Play Master is inherently secretive, and even I am not too knowledgeable about its mysteries."

"Oh, that’s fine, then. I’ll ponder over it myself."

Zhou Xuan promptly concluded the conversation, but while he was feigning deep contemplation, he also turned his head to glance at the incense fire Taoist,

only to see that this Master of Space-Time of Jing Country had once again fixed his gaze on the Medicine Buddha.

That snow-white pharmacist, with every frown and smile, seemed to captivate the mind of the incense fire Taoist.

"Listen attentively, listen attentively."

The word "listen attentively" inexplicably emerged in Zhou Xuan’s mind.

Zhou Xuan had his own little schemes, yet on the battlefield stage inside, a clamor had erupted.

The "peony" birthed on the stage was about to bloom,

finally, the four elders of Dun Jia could no longer hold back, and the Hulu Taoist, in full view of all, declared his background,

"I am Hulu Taoist, the supreme patriarch of the Tunnel Armor Sect. Our orthodoxy of Dunjia Mountain has been shaken,

Dunjia Mountain is almost on the verge of destruction, so we are searching for ways to prolong its life,

the method we discovered is to use a person of great fortune to extend the life of Dunjia Mountain,

and the great master of Mingjiang Prefecture, Zhou Xuan, is precisely such a person, so we came to the prefecture city to capture him..."

The Hulu Taoist spoke in such a low voice, but every word he uttered clearly reached the ears of the audience present,

for a moment, the audience was full of boos.

"Tch, Dunjia Mountain encounters trouble and comes to capture our great master? When Mingjiang Prefecture was in trouble, did we ever bother your Dunjia Mountain?"

"Exactly, resorting to force and yet acting like they are so wronged."

"Huh~da!"

The sound of spitting, layer upon layer, was incessant, akin to a deluge that would drown the Hulu Taoist if not for the fact that the actors and audience on the stage were in different areas.

The audience’s disdain for the Hulu Taoist and the Tunnel Armor Sect was palpable; not to mention support, they even harbored thoughts of flaying these four elders alive.

In a stage battle, whether the audience supports a side is extremely important, with Zhou Xuan having the audience’s support, incense battle power rose sharply, reaching the level of seating at eight looking to nine sticks of incense.

Whereas the Hulu Taoist, having not received the audience’s support, underwent a change.

The eyes of those spectators, their gazes seemed to form invisible hands that reached into the bodies of the Hulu Taoist, Purple Ox Taoist, and the other elders, constantly rummaging,

the Hulu Taoist felt his incense flame being stolen by those intangible hands.

He was so shocked that his face turned ashen.

Stage deathmatches, their only reliance in defeating Zhou Xuan was their Taoist practices and level.

Now, with the incense being taken, there was a high possibility of them falling from their level at this critical moment.

"Three junior siblings, focus on the Laogong point, stabilize your thoughts."

After reprimanding, the Hulu Taoist was the first to sit down cross-legged, then devoted all his mind to resisting those invisible hands formed by the "audience."

It’s worth mentioning that this resistance wasn’t entirely ineffective, at least it slowed the speed at which the incense was stolen from the four elders.

Once those hands disappeared, the Hulu Taoist’s forehead was covered in a layer of cold sweat.

After confirming that those hands would not reappear, he finally breathed a sigh of relief, focused his mind, and checked his level within the Secret Realm.

"Fortunately, fortunately, still at nine sticks of incense."

The Hulu Taoist sighed.

The four elders originally were at the level above nine sticks of incense, but after the incense theft, their level was now infinitely close to nine sticks,

if they hadn’t focused their minds and resisted stubbornly just now, they might have collectively become "eight sticks of incense."

As long as they remained at nine sticks of incense, they could still rely on their level to contend with Zhou Xuan.

But once they fell to eight sticks of incense, their fate would be no better than Zhao Jinjia of Yellow Field Prefecture— that Tunnel Armor Sect Leader was split in half by Zhou Xuan’s sixteen moves, armor and all.

"My nine sticks of incense have become unstable, back to the state before the Promotion Ceremony."

Purple Ox Taoist wailed after checking his incense.

Ascending from eight to nine sticks requires a Promotion Ceremony, but once the Promotion Ceremony is initiated, it can be considered nine sticks, however— it is a false nine sticks, and there is still quite a gap from true nine-stick strength.

"How about you?"

The Hulu Taoist looked at the Red Pill Taoist and Banana Taoist.

"We all maintained the baseline of nine sticks."

"Oh well, three with nine sticks, one with a false nine, together we can still deal with Zhou Xuan."

The Hulu Taoist, drenched in cold sweat, exhausted as if he had just crossed a tribulation.