Beihong, the immortal's residence.

In the quiet great hall, the figure veiled in clear qi sat cross-legged with his eyes closed. Feeling the vast merit flowing steadily into his body, he let a smile touch the corners of his mouth.

A careless move back then had thrown Hongze into a bit of turmoil for a while, and that alone had gathered this much merit.

Even if his luck was a little bad and no suitable post came up, this merit was still more than enough to buy a place in the register of immortals at junior seventh rank.

Why had he never thought of doing it this way before?

Tch. A backwater had its own uses.

He only hoped those idiots would get the job done and stir up as big a kalpa of slaughter as they could. If this round of merit wasn't enough for this Shi to return to the Celestial Court, at least there would be something to look forward to when he ran it again.

Of course, succeeding the first time would be best. A trick like this could just as well be saved for later.

He only hoped the gourd he had sent up to heaven would do some good.

At that thought, Shi Ren slowly opened his eyes and looked at the golden dharma form before him. He shook his head and sighed. “You…”

The word had barely left his mouth when his expression shifted slightly and he whipped his head around to look outside.

“Roar——”

In the immortal's eyes, the white rhino blotting out the sky woke in an instant. Its giant hooves, spanning all four Hongs, came stamping down hard, and in a place no one else could see, the spiritual qi of heaven and earth across the four Hongs rolled outward in vast, boundless waves.

On the face of this lifeless thing, rage showed, as it rarely did.

Under its hooves, the immortal power of the four Hongs was locked down tight. Not a shred of it could be moved.

“Courting death!”

The smile drained quickly from Shi Ren's face, and…