After Transmigrating into an Evil God - Chapter 4

Li Chi chose a room beside the courtyard, carrying his book chest as he pushed open the door.

The room was covered in a layer of dust. The outer chamber had a set of table and chairs, the inner room had an empty wooden bed, the windows were tightly shut, and the gauze screens pasted on them were covered with a layer of dust, making the light inside the room very dim. Only a few beams of sunlight shone through the torn window screens, forming pale golden columns of light.

Li Chi walked in and placed the book chest on the table. With a sweep of his sleeve, a clear breeze arose.

The windows burst open with a snap, the clear breeze swirled the dust into a ball and swept it out the window, where it fell into the flower bed.

The room became much brighter. Li Chi brushed his fingers across the table surface, wiping away the dust to reveal a clean and lustrous surface. The material was excellent rosewood that, even after being vacant for over two hundred years, showed no signs of decay or cracking.

Though residual runes on the altar still gathered spiritual energy, it was completely exposed to the elements. While Li Chi didn’t fear wind and rain, he wasn’t a stone statue either, so it was better to settle indoors. However, these window screens were already beyond repair…

Li Chi pondered for a moment, then moved his fingers slightly, pointing at the void around the window frame.

The spiritual essence in the wind stabilized for a moment, then dispersed again. Small whirlwinds oscillated between the open windows for a moment before returning to calm.

A fallen leaf drifted toward the window. Just as it was about to fall inside the frame, a sudden breeze arose, blowing the leaf back outside where it landed with a “plop” right on top of a small mouse that was poking its head around curiously beneath the stone steps.

The mouse was stunned for a moment, pushed the leaf aside, and seeing Li Chi’s face wearing a gentle smile, scurried up along the wall base onto the window sill.

Just as it was about to enter, a sudden wind arose between the window frames, brushing it off the window. Before the mouse could react, it tumbled toward the ground in confusion. Before it had time to be frightened, a slender hand caught it.

Li Chi scooped the mouse into the room and said with a laugh, “I’ll let you in this time, but don’t go barging in randomly next time.”

He placed the mouse on the table and made several similar gestures around the other door and window frames.

This was a clever method. With his divine power currently limited, he couldn’t establish strong defenses, so he simply embedded his will into the wind’s spiritual essence. As long as his will didn’t dissipate, the spiritual essence would sense it and generate clear breezes to push foreign objects out the windows.

The protective power wasn’t strong, but it didn’t require much divine power either. If enemies truly came to attack, it would be enough to alert him.

Li Chi looked at the small mouse on the table surface. A faint karmic thread was connecting them.

The mouse had quite a few karmic threads, but they were all very faint. This was likely because its spiritual nature had only recently awakened and its mountain forest life was simple. The Li clan members had left over two hundred years ago, and the Manor Spirit had been secluded here for a long time, so its karmic threads were similar to the mouse’s—equally faint and sparse.

Looking at himself, Li Chi found he had even fewer karmic threads—only three. But the original owner of this body couldn’t possibly have had such clean karma. Could it be that karmic threads were tied to the soul, and since he had transmigrated here with no prior connection to this world, his karma was therefore so clean?

It must be so. But among these three karmic threads on his body—one connected to the Manor Spirit, one to the mouse—who was the third one connected to?

Unable to reach any conclusion, Li Chi shook his head and set the matter aside. He sat down at the table, paying no attention to the mouse on the table surface, and picked out several books from his chest to read.

The mouse sniffed around for a moment, then crawled to Li Chi’s side, lay down, closed its eyes, and quietly began absorbing the clear, pure spiritual energy around it.

The sun set and the moon rose, the light gradually dimming.

Though darkness didn’t affect Li Chi’s vision, all things must have their limits.

Li Chi put down his book, placed the drowsily awakening mouse in his palm, and walked out of the room with it.

In the courtyard, misty vapors faintly rose from the half-dried pond. There was a spring at the bottom of the pond—this was why the pond hadn’t completely dried up after more than two hundred years.

The spring at the bottom barely qualified as a spiritual spring, but with spiritual energy now dissipating, it was nearly dried up. However, this pond had the effect of receiving moonlight essence at night. Though not much, during the full moon it was considerably better than the altar’s effect.

Li Chi walked to a large bluestone beside the pond, sat cross-legged, placed the mouse to one side, and closed his eyes to absorb spiritual energy.

The spiritual energy became misty, gradually transforming into pale white spiritual mist that gathered around Li Chi, gradually spreading outward and slowly enveloping the entire Li Manor.

The mouse standing to one side stared with wide, shocked eyes. After watching in amazement for a while, it finally reacted, closed its eyes again, and began absorbing spiritual energy according to its instincts.

In the storehouse, the Manor Spirit manifested its spiritual form, bowed toward Li Chi’s direction, then closed its eyes to cultivate. Its previously insubstantial spiritual body gradually solidified.

The vines grew greener, grass and trees sprouted.

Spring water in the pond slowly surged, rising imperceptibly under the spiritual mist’s shroud. When the moon reached its zenith, the full moon’s reflection fell perfectly into the spring pool.

Within the bright moon’s reflection, a fish shadow faintly appeared, swishing its tail within the moon’s image.

Splash.

The sound of water, both real and illusory, dispersed.

Li Chi opened his eyes. The moon’s reflection in the pond remained, but the time of peak moonlight essence had passed.

Without disturbing the still-cultivating mouse, Li Chi rose and returned to his room. Perhaps because of his severe injuries, though his divine body neither hungered nor thirsted nor accumulated filth, he still felt drowsy each day and needed to sleep for a while.

On the wooden couch, the clear and noble divine being reclined on his side and slowly closed his eyes.

….

Before dawn breaks, birds sing first.

Li Chi pushed open his door as pale white mountain mist flowed into the room.

Outside the threshold lay several wild fruits. Not far away, a small mouse with purple-gray fur was watching. Seeing the door open, it scampered out of the courtyard in a flash.

Li Chi smiled. He had been cultivating here for several days now, and this little mouse came daily to deliver fruits.

Now, Li Chi’s divine power had barely managed to fill the pond bottom. He estimated that he now had barely enough power for self-protection and could explore the surrounding mountain forests.

Li Chi pondered for a moment, then called out for the Manor Spirit to appear.

Mist swirled, and the Manor Spirit condensed into form, saying respectfully, “What commands does the High God have?”

“I wouldn’t dare speak of commands—I merely have some questions to ask,” Li Chi said. “I wish to travel through the surrounding mountain forests. Is there anything I should be cautious of?”

The Manor Spirit thought briefly and replied, “This mountain forest is a branch of the Daqing Mountain range. Though it has spiritual essence, the spiritual energy is scattered and floating. There are no dangerous places in the mountains, nor can any great demons emerge—only some spiritual animals and minor demons are born here. Over two hundred years ago, there were still some mortal villages at the mountain’s foot, but I don’t know their current state.”

Minor demons in the mountains… Li Chi pondered this. Spiritual animals were probably small beasts like the mouse, but he didn’t know what level the Manor Spirit’s “minor demons” represented.

He was currently in an injured state—perhaps not even as strong as a minor demon. If he wasn’t careful, he might dissipate before that unknown enemy even arrived to attack.

So Li Chi asked, “Minor demons in the mountains?”

The Manor Spirit indeed began explaining, “Just some insignificant little demon creatures. When the Li clan first left, some demons wanted to occupy Li Manor, but I drove them all away. Later, though my aura has weakened, Li Manor also fell into disrepair, so those great demons lost interest in this place, and the remaining minor demons are easy to deal with.”

Speaking of this, the Manor Spirit couldn’t help but sigh, his tone melancholy, “When the Li clan was at its peak, clan members numbered in the hundreds. When they left this place, only seven remained. I have guarded this place alone for over two hundred years and don’t know how they fared.”

But after two hundred years without news… it was impossible they had resolved the curse that caused their decline and prospered again. Perhaps… the Li bloodline had already been severed.

“The Li clan still has bloodline remaining in this world,” Li Chi suddenly said.

The Manor Spirit was stunned.

Li Chi smiled slightly but offered no explanation. He had three karmic threads—one connected to the Manor Spirit, another to the mouse, and the third extending into the void to an unknown destination. The Manor Spirit and mouse were the only two living beings he’d contacted since transmigrating here, so where did the third karmic thread come from?

But observing the Manor Spirit’s karmic threads today, one of them extended into the void in roughly the same direction as Li Chi’s third karmic thread.

And the only thing commonly related to them both but of unknown whereabouts would be Li clan descendants.

But this couldn’t be explained to the Manor Spirit.

After the Manor Spirit calmed his emotions, he felt the divine being before him was even more unfathomably profound. Seeing that Li Chi had no intention of continuing the topic, he could only suppress his desire to ask more questions and continued:

“In the Daqing Mountain range, peaks rise one after another, hiding who knows how many cultivators. What I know is all old news from over two hundred years ago. The nearest place I know of is Shekou Cliff, a hundred li to the north. There’s a waterfall on the cliff and a black water pool below. A Ghost King dwells there, intimidating thousands of demons and hundreds of ghosts—he’s the most formidable one in the vicinity.”

Li Chi noted this location and decided not to go there whether he had business or not.

Besides this, there was nothing else particularly noteworthy, yet the Manor Spirit didn’t leave but seemed hesitant.

Li Chi saw he was troubled and asked, “What worries you, friend?”

The Manor Spirit was startled and quickly said, “I don’t deserve the title ‘friend.'”

He steadied himself briefly, then suddenly rose and bowed to Li Chi, “I have troubles. Please, High God, grant me guidance.”

“Please speak,” Li Chi said.

“I am a spirit of objects, born from the spiritual essence of this place and the human vital energy of the Li clan. After the Li clan declined, I also weakened, finally nearly dissipating,” the Manor Spirit said. “Having gained spiritual nature, I desire to live. I beg the High God for guidance.”

Li Chi couldn’t help but pause. These words from the Manor Spirit somehow touched something, causing him to suddenly recall a great deal of knowledge.

Dead objects have no spirit. Even when they gain spiritual nature, they are born from human vital energy.

There are even cases where people worship non-existent gods, and over time, the accumulated prayers and faith actually give birth to real gods. Such gods are called Spirit Gods.

However, such Spirit Gods are born from human will and are also limited by it. Their power is influenced by others’ will, and their thoughts are affected by this as well. Thus, spirits of objects often follow their masters’ wishes, and Spirit Gods often become entangled with their believers.

It’s common for spirits to perish saving their masters, and for Spirit Gods to fall protecting their devotees.

If one day no one believes in them anymore, a Spirit God’s power will also dissipate, eventually leading to their fall.

The fundamental reason is that the souls of spirits and Spirit Gods are incomplete. They are more like spiritual beings formed by the convergence of human thoughts. Though in this process they also develop their own spiritual nature, if they lose human support before their spiritual nature grows sufficient to sustain their existence, they will collapse and disappear.

But spiritual nature can be awakened.

Li Chi slowly raised his eyes to look at the Manor Spirit across from him, his dark pupils deep as an abyss.

This gaze made the Manor Spirit’s spiritual nature jump, almost feeling as if his thoughts were being stripped bare under those eyes.

Li Chi smiled slightly, “Since you have the thought of ‘seeking to live,’ you need not worry about dissipating.”

The Manor Spirit was stunned and suddenly turned his perception inward.

He had the desire to “live on”—this thought wasn’t given to him by the Li clan’s human vital energy, but was born from himself. He was no longer just the Li Manor Spirit; he now had an “I.”

With this single realization, his spiritual nature became complete.

Spiritual essence surged between heaven and earth, spiritual energy converged.

After everything returned to calm, the Manor Spirit’s originally insubstantial spiritual body had become solid.

His eyes showing gratitude, he bowed deeply to the divine being sitting calmly to one side, repeating this three times.