Beauty, you have a sign of great misfortune

[Year 48, age 66.]

[You and Zhenpin crossed a great river named "Tiansha" and entered the territory of Xiliang.]

[There are three countries in Xiliang.]

[These three countries are quite special; they are religious regimes.]

[There are kings, but they are merely puppets or mascots. The true power lies in the hands of the religions behind the states.]

[The Vajra Temple that Zhenpin yearns for is one of the Eight Pillars. Although it is considered a religious faction, it does not control a country and leans more towards being a martial arts sect.]

[The national strength of these three countries is quite average, and they have deep-seated conflicts, each calling the others heretics.]

[Therefore, even though the Central Plains are currently in total chaos, these three small countries are just busy with infighting, with no thought of getting involved in the affairs of the Central Plains.]

["Old monk, which is the most wicked religion in your Xiliang?"]

["That would be the Holy Fire Cult. These heretics worship fire, and their initiation ritual involves burning their entire bodies. They are utterly mad."]

["Good, this is good!"]

["This is good?"]

["No, I mean, these heretics must be purged! Lead the way, I'm going to carry out justice on behalf of heaven!"]

[Zhenpin is a native of Xiliang. Although he began wandering the world in his middle age, he is still quite familiar with everything in Xiliang.]

[It is not easy for ordinary people to find the Holy Fire Cult. After all, it is a wicked organization. Even in Xiliang, which is wicked as a whole, it belongs to the underground forces and does not have an open sect entrance.]

[But Zhenpin is highly experienced, and he has a way.]

[Zhenpin leads you to the Kingdom of Wutuo, one of the three major religious countries in Xiliang.]

[Here, you continue westward and arrive at a border city named Wulanba.]

[The culture and customs of Xiliang are very different from the Central Plains, somewhat resembling the Western Regions during the Tang Dynasty in your homeland, Earth.]

["In order to endure the burning pain of their burns, members of the Holy Fire Cult all need a pill called 'Qingbuliang'. Because the demand is too great, it is not cost-effective to buy from other alchemists, so they learned to refine it themselves."]

[Zhenpin brings you to an herbal field market outside Wulanba City.]

[There is a spirit vein here, along with a large swath of terraced fields planted with all kinds of spirit herbs.]

["The raw material for 'Qingbuliang', 'Flame-Melting Grass', is sold here. Members of the Holy Fire Cult disguise themselves as ordinary people to come here and purchase 'Flame-Melting Grass'."]

["I see! I remember you saying that people in this evil cult burn their entire skin. As long as we find someone with burns on their face, they are highly likely to be a member of the Holy Fire Cult!"]

[Then you see veils all over the street.]

[Wearing headscarves and veils when going out is a custom of the Xiliang people.]

["Ah, this... Old monk, can I just pull off all their veils?"]

["In Xiliang, that is highly disrespectful. This herbal field belongs to the Heavenly Sound Cult, which is a first-rate faction in Xiliang. Neither of us can afford to provoke them."]

[However, Zhenpin has a way.]

["Benefactor, your glabella is dark, indicating a looming bloody disaster. This poor monk can read your fortune and avert the disaster. I wonder if you would be willing to take off your veil and let me take a look?"]

["Yes, yes, yes, Master, please be sure to avert the disaster and resolve my difficulties!"]

[You can't help but give a thumbs up.]

["Brilliant!"]

[This is defeating magic with magic!]

[The people of Xiliang are generally religious. No matter which religion they believe in, they believe in these supernatural things anyway.]

[Saying that your glabella is dark would get you scolded as a charlatan in the Central Plains, but in Xiliang, it is taken seriously.]

[You follow his example.]

["Beauty, your glabella is dark, indicating an omen of great misfortune. This old man can read your fortune and avert the disaster. I wonder if you would be willing to take off your veil and let me take a look?"]

["Old pervert!!"]

[The beauty runs away in a flash, leaving you standing there dumbfounded in the wind.]

["Old, I admit, but what did I do to be called a pervert?"]

[Zhenpin walks over and laughs, "Benefactor Chen, do you not know the principle that 'clothes make the man, just as gold leaf makes the Buddha'?"]

["I understand it today."]

[Zhenpin has a bald head, wears a cassock, and holds a monk's staff.]

[Never mind whether his cassock is torn or not, and never mind that he secretly drinks wine, eats meat, and breaks all taboos.]

[When others see him like this, at least at first glance, they will think he is an authentic monk.]

[Through the unpretentious method of exhaustion, Zhenpin finally finds a suspected target.]

[It is a middle-aged man, looking sneaky and wearing a veil, with burn scars all over his face.]

["Master, how should I avert this bloody disaster?"]

[The middle-aged man with the burned face is still asking sincerely.]

["Amitabha, then it will require my senior brother, Zhenchen, to help the benefactor."]

[Zhenpin steps aside, and you walk over from behind him.]

[You have shaved your head bare and draped a torn curtain you picked up from nowhere over your body to pass off as a cassock.]

["Amitabha, benefactor, you only need to honestly answer a few questions for me, and this disaster will not be hard to avert."]

[There's no other way; when in Rome, do as the Romans do.]

[Xiliang has many religions, and pretending to be a monk is the lowest-cost way for strangers to understand you.]

["Please ask, Master."]

["Are you a believer of the Holy Fire Cult?"]

["This..."]

["Do not hesitate! Do not delay! Do not lie! Strictly follow the answer in your heart! Three feet above your head are gods... Buddha!"]

["I dare not deceive the Master. I did indeed join the Holy Fire Cult recently. However, the world has many misunderstandings about the Holy Fire Cult. I hope the Master will not expose my faith."]

["Rest assured, I... this poor monk has the tightest lips. Second question: does your Holy Fire Cult have any pills, secret arts, or the like that can allow a person to break through a realm bottleneck and advance their cultivation?"]

[Hearing this, Zhenpin, who is standing to the side, frowns slightly.]

[He probably thinks, so you were looking for the Holy Fire Cult to break through your realm. I actually thought you were going to purge heretics.]

[The middle-aged man thinks for a moment.]

["I joined not long ago, but I have heard that if a believer of our cult encounters a bottleneck in their martial arts cultivation, the cult will help them break through via the 'Myriad Fires Devouring the Heart' art."]

[You reveal a look of joy.]

[As expected, evil cultivators have many methods!]

[Then, you casually bluff him with some nonsense.]

[Stuff like going home to drink some Guanyin clay, bowing in a certain direction, and not going out on the first and second days of the lunar month.]

[These words would be hard to fool anyone in the Central Plains, but they work quite well in Xiliang.]

[After all, how normal can the brain be of someone who is willing to burn their entire body just to join an evil cult.]

[After the middle-aged man buys the raw materials for Qingbuliang, you and Zhenpin secretly follow behind him.]

[Zhenpin already possesses the cultivation of the Spirit Condensation Realm. He has divine sense and can see through this person's realm, which is merely the Spirit Gathering Realm. Therefore, with the two of you tailing him from behind, he cannot detect you.]

["Old monk, are the people in this Holy Fire Cult powerful?"]

["Their doctrines are not worth mentioning."]

["Who is discussing faith with you? I'm talking about their martial arts level."]

["Average. Decades ago, they were a first-rate faction in Xiliang and once stood as equals with the Vajra Temple.

Later on, I don't know what happened, but all their elites and higher-ups perished. Only a few small fry were left behind, barely managing to pass down their teachings.

Nowadays, they can barely be considered a third-rate faction. I'm afraid they don't even have a single Golden Body Realm cultivator left."]