"I understand, Uncle Carter. I'll go stay at the patrol team's dormitory for a few days first."

Although James Carter didn't take John Bennett too seriously, he still didn't dare to be careless.

If John Bennett had accomplices, he might not be able to handle it. Besides, he also had to guard against those behind the Black Tiger Gang seeking revenge.

Even though his Vajra Divine Power Sutra was strong, he only had one life. Knowing there was risk, he had to avoid it as much as possible.

Blind bravado doesn't lead to a long life.

Watching the taillights of Robert Foster's car fade into the distance, James Carter finally started up the stairs.

He lived in an old apartment building, so old that there weren't even lights in the stairwell.

Feeling his way up to the sixth floor in the dark, James Carter quietly unlocked and pushed open the door. The door made a dry "creak" that sounded especially harsh in the gloom.

James Carter closed the door, locked it, and bolted it. He didn't turn on the lights either; the dimness outside was enough for him to see his surroundings.

He washed his face, brushed his teeth, changed into pajamas, and relaxed on the bed.

Within seconds of closing his eyes, his consciousness began to fall into the depths of darkness.

In a daze, a burst of golden light suddenly flashed forth.

When James Carter regained consciousness, he was already standing in the middle of a palace.

The grand hall was in traditional Chinese style, with a domed ceiling covered in layers of emerald green glazed tiles, and interlaced beams and pillars that seemed to be cast from pure gold. The floor was paved with pure white jade bricks.

The magnificent hall glittered with gold and jade, as splendid as a celestial palace.

The entire palace was shaped like the character "大", or rather, a closed pentagonal structure.

The most eye-catching feature was the high platform in one corner, on which stood a long table with dragon patterns and a golden throne adorned with nine dragons.

Each of the other four corners had a large door, with the characters "Heaven, Earth, Profound, Yellow" written on them respectively.

At the center of the hall was a circular pool, with several lotus buds standing quietly in the water.

A beautiful young girl in white, Emily, was sitting cross-legged in meditation facing the pool.

James Carter kept his original appearance, but his clothing had completely changed.

He usually had short hair, but here it was styled in a high Daoist topknot, with a golden crown binding his hair.

His clothes had also become a pure golden Chinese robe.

On the pure golden robe, there was no visible fabric texture, as if it had been polished from a single sheet of gold. It combined the smooth, flowing drape of silk with the metallic sheen of gold, making it extremely unique.

The collar, chest, back, and cuffs of the golden robe were adorned with faintly visible crimson dragon patterns.

On his feet, James Carter wore golden boots with dragon patterns, simple yet elegant in style.

The whole outfit looked somewhat like an ancient emperor's dragon robe, but with an even more supreme and majestic grandeur.

According to Emily, this attire was the proper bearing of the Supreme Taiyi.

At times like this, James Carter always felt as if he had gained a touch of divine majesty, as if he were the supreme ruler of the nine heavens, with all things in heaven and earth bowing at his feet.

This magnificent palace was none other than the Taiyi Palace, which the Taiyi Order had transformed into within the depths of James Carter's consciousness!

Chapter 6: Apostle

After being brought to this world by the Taiyi Order, every time James Carter slept, his consciousness would enter the Taiyi Palace.

As the spirit of the Taiyi Order, Emily could help James Carter manage the Taiyi Palace. She could also help James Carter cultivate the "Vajra Divine Power Sutra."

This peerless martial art, transformed from the Daoist Heavenly Lotus, was profound and mysterious. Fortunately, with Emily's help in auto-cultivation, he was able to achieve some success.

However, cultivating the "Vajra Divine Power Sutra" required following precepts. Violating the precepts would result in a loss of cultivation. Maintaining the precepts for a long time would earn rewards from the Taiyi Order.

The precepts were simple: Do not speak or act improperly.

Simple as they were, following them was not easy. "Do not speak or act improperly" was a very broad standard.

Although the definition of "propriety" was up to James Carter, as a highly cultured man from the twenty-first century, his standards for "propriety" were quite high.

Because of this, killing a few evildoers didn't count as breaking the precepts. But accidentally swearing would.

In the twelve years since he crossed over, James Carter had broken the precepts more than a few times.

It was only in recent years, after getting used to maintaining the precepts, that he managed to keep them for 999 consecutive days.

Now that midnight had passed, he should have maintained the precepts for a thousand days in a row.

James Carter asked Emily, "Well, has the moral radiance been produced?"

Emily, who had been meditating cross-legged, leapt up lightly. She floated to James Carter's side and stretched out her small hand, a ball of golden spiritual light shimmering and swirling in her palm, both real and illusory.

"Daddy, this is the moral radiance you've accumulated from a thousand days of keeping the precepts."

Emily was also very excited: "Today we can finally awaken the second Daoist Heavenly Lotus."

Emily tugged on James Carter's sleeve and led him to the circular pool. She pointed at the lotus buds in the water and said, "Daddy, pick one."

Faced with a pool of lotus flowers, James Carter hesitated again.

It wasn't that he had trouble choosing; he just didn't like leaving things to chance.

In the pool, the lotuses were divided into green, black, red, and gold, with only one lotus of each color.

Clearly, each color had its own significance.

Unfortunately, Emily knew nothing about them. There was too little information to make any correct deduction.

John Bennett was a member of the demon clan, and it was still unknown whether he had accomplices.

At a time like this, any extra help was welcome.

If he kept hesitating, he might never figure out the meaning of the colors.

With that thought, James Carter made up his mind. He pointed at the black lotus: "That one."