76: bizarre beliefs

At this moment, the golden Zen staff seemed to be enveloped by a large amount of blood-red color.

All the flesh and blood flew around the Zen staff, slowly rotating, and finally merged into it, turning the staff into a golden-red color.

Li Haotian remained motionless, his face showing no strange expression. He secretly used some pig blood to replace the red Qi flowing from his nostrils, which did not attract anyone's attention.

Soon, a large number of black flowers appeared before every villager. The moment these black flowers appeared, all the villagers went mad and immediately collected all of them.

Li Haotian looked at the black flower in his hand, a puzzled expression on his face. Could this thing really repel those Bats?

He looked at the flower in his hand with some bewilderment, but then wrapped it in a piece of tattered cloth. Since this item was so important in the eyes of other villagers, it might have some research value that could help him uncover the truth of it all.

"It's already late today, and it's inconvenient to leave the Temple now. Everyone, please stay here for the night and depart tomorrow."

The Abbot said, bowing slowly to everyone, then turned and left. The villagers, led by the Village Chief, frantically kowtowed towards the Abbot's retreating figure.

"Thank you, compassionate Abbot, for bestowing upon us such life-saving Divine Artifacts. If not for you, our lives would have long since ended!"

"With these flowers, we can last another month. As long as there is hope, we will strive to live. My wife is due next month, I hope nothing goes wrong again."

"The Abbot is truly kind-hearted, always letting us stay and rest for a night. If we were to return in the darkness, we would surely be killed!"

Li Haotian frowned slightly upon hearing their words. They had already obtained so many black flowers. If this item could repel Bats, then even if they returned in the darkness, nothing should happen to them.

After all, with this item's protection, those Bats couldn't do anything to them.

If they could still be killed even with this item, then perhaps there was something even more terrifying lurking in the night.

Li Haotian did not delve deeper into this. Soon, he heard the sounds of snoring rising and falling around him. He also slowly lay down, closed his eyes to rest, and waited for the Temple to become completely quiet before going out to investigate.

Soon, when the last oil lamp in the Temple extinguished, Li Haotian suddenly opened his eyes and gently pushed open the door of the villagers' dwelling. Outside the door, a figure in a Kasaya had been waiting for a long time.

"Hehe, I never expected to be discovered by a Dao Cultivator. We did this so secretly, yet you still found your way here so quickly. It's truly too much."

The Abbot spoke slowly with a smile. The aura emanating from him was no longer as gentle as during the day, and the expression on his face was not as benevolent; instead, it was a ferocious look.

His scarlet eyes looked like two drops of fresh blood.

"As a Buddhist, why do you establish a fake Temple here to deceive these innocent common people? They are just Mortals; you don't need them to offer these things, do you?"

Li Haotian spoke clearly and directly, without any hesitation.

The Abbot smiled slightly.

"These offerings are indeed useless to me, but what I need is their extreme Power Of Faith!"

"Do you know how pure and delicious Power Of Faith is?"

"Devouring this can greatly increase one's Cultivation, and the speed of improvement is quite fast. Even if I use various cruel methods to make these Mortals believe in me and worship me, I can obtain a continuous stream of Power Of Faith!"

The Abbot said, revealing a ferocious expression. Then, the flesh on his face suddenly peeled off, like individual flesh balls falling to the ground.

Immediately after, his teeth rapidly grew from his mouth, transforming into sharp fangs.

The benevolent-looking Abbot now had no semblance of a human; he was a complete evil monster.

"Although I don't know why devouring this Power Of Faith makes me look like this, as long as there is power, everything is worth it, isn't it!"

Li Haotian shook his head helplessly.

"The Power Of Faith obtained by coercing others is not recognized by the Heavenly Dao. You becoming like this today is entirely your own fault. Do you truly believe that Power Of Faith is something you can freely extract?"

"If you honestly did good deeds and great deeds for these villagers, they would naturally have faith and believe in you. But you used despicable methods to plunge them into fear, and the Power Of Faith you obtained is undoubtedly tainted with madness and bloodshed."

"You deserve what happened to you today."

Upon hearing these words, the Abbot trembled with rage. His claws, which had transformed into Vicious Beast claws, fiercely swiped at Li Haotian's position.

"Go!"

Li Haotian roared, and the heaven slaying sword appeared in his hand. He swung a powerful strike at the Abbot before him, almost instantly splitting the Abbot in half.

"Impossible! How could you, a Powerhouse who just entered the Heavenly Human Peak, be a match for me, a Heavenly Human Peak Powerhouse!"

The terrified body of the Abbot revealed an unwilling expression. Then, he opened his blood-red mouth, his eyes filled with disdain and mockery.

"If you think I'm the only one doing this, you're too naive. This world has long been in Chaos, and I am immortal! Even if you kill me, you will soon see me again!"

The Abbot roared hysterically, then his vital signs grew weaker and weaker, finally closing his eyes.

Li Haotian didn't understand the meaning of his words, only feeling a chill in his heart, because he could clearly sense that something else was watching him from the shadows, though it hadn't revealed itself.

After observing him for a while, the other party slowly departed.

Li Haotian took a deep breath, and a burst of Black Flame ignited the entire Temple. The Powerhouse hiding in the shadows had not attacked him. Li Haotian had initially thought the opponent would ambush him during his fight, but it turned out they were merely watching from a distance.

The villagers were long dead by now. The insect eggs they had consumed had, at this very moment, hatched using their flesh and bones, fiercely gnawing at their Physical Bodies from within, devouring them completely in a short while.

Subsequently, an overwhelming inferno engulfed these insects.

Li Haotian left the Temple, more doubts surfacing in his mind.