Chapter 342: Chapter 285: Disciple of Heaven’s Gate

Soul Search!

The background of the scholar rose before his eyes, indeed as he had said.

The destitute scholar’s serendipitous encounters allowed him to progress through Qi Refinement, Foundation Establishment, and Core Formation. Looking back, he once again took the imperial examination and succeeded, becoming a scribe in the Salary Bureau of the Da Heng Ministry of Revenue.

An eighth-rank official in the capital, and a position in the wealthiest of the six ministries, the Ministry of Revenue – he was already a personage of great importance in the eyes of the common folk.

“Hmm, and he married quite a few wives too. Such experiences surely qualify him as the protagonist of a tale!”

Zhou Yi returned to the Mountain God Temple, where the Spirit Ginseng child had already burrowed out from the underground, bowing earnestly in greeting.

“Congratulations on the condensation of your Nascent Soul, Immortal Elder!”

“You have the nerve to show your face after standing by and watching my statue be destroyed.”

Zhou Yi waved his hand and shattered the scholar’s statue, replacing it with the Daoist’s statue and leaving behind a trace of Nascent Soul mana to deter visitors when he was out.

The Spirit Ginseng child ingratiatingly said, “I was just following the Immortal Elder’s teachings: to hide if enemies come, avoid them if possible. After all, I have a long life ahead; when he dies, I can dig up his grave and scatter his ashes!”

“Hmph! Now go down the mountain and switch back the other statues.”

Zhou Yi did not harangue the Spirit Ginseng child; since gaining intelligence, it had followed him in flight everywhere, and had naturally become accustomed to this way of life.

A few days later.

The people living near Wu Mountain had a new Mountain God Statue to worship.

The statue they had worshiped yesterday was today fueling the kitchen stove – truly a reflection of the coldness of the world.

The flag on the city tower changes with the king’s decree; as one departs the stage, another enters. The rotation of deities was like a revolving lantern, and the common people had long grown accustomed to it.

They did not actually worship the deities on the throne!

Whether it’s Buddhism or Taoism, righteous or evil, the common people didn’t care and didn’t have the power to support or oppose; they offered incense to the position of the deity.

“After twenty years of hard work, in the eyes of the people, I am only a Mountain God who is good to pray to; only about a hundred or so are truly devoted worshippers.”

Zhou Yi didn’t know much about the way of the gods and incense, but judging by the current situation, there were issues with the reverence for the gods and the incense offerings in Daheng and even Dongsheng Divine Continent.

The worship of mortals wasn’t heartfelt, more like punching in for a job, resulting in weak and shallow incense and wish power.

The deities had to intensify the harvest of incense to coalesce Wish Power Beads, indirectly causing mortals to disbelieve in deities.

This vicious cycle made it difficult for the way of the gods to prosper.

“Such a major trend is beyond poor Daoist’s contemplation; moreover, I do not require Wish Power Beads. Pure cultivators like myself actually benefit from the decline of the divine way!”

Zhou Yi shook his head slightly, lamenting that if the divine way continued to develop this way, there would surely be more cases like that of Linyang Land.

In the end, the common people suffered!

Leaving the Mountain God Temple to the Spirit Ginseng child, Zhou Yi ascended on clouds and mist, flying toward Da Heng Capital.

On the way, Zhou Yi used Thunder Escape, enhanced by his True Dragon Transformation and the Blood Burning Escape Technique, breezing past Qingyun Prefecture in just half an hour.

“With such speed of escape, far surpassing that of the Dragon Emperor back in the day, I am already among the top within the Nascent Soul Realm!”

Zhou Yi’s accumulation of thousands of years exploded rapidly after his breakthrough, his mana reached its peak, and various magic divine abilities naturally perfected themselves, just like a venerable Daoist of many years.

The next day.

The Da Heng Capital loomed in the distance.

Built upon a mountain, spanning three to four thousand miles, cloaked in clouds and mists, it appeared as if it were an Immortal Realm in the heavens.

From a distance, one could vaguely make out the pavilions and towers within the city.

The towering city walls were fortified with numerous formations, creating a barrier between the inside and outside, forcing even those in the Nascent Soul and Divinity Transformation stages to properly enter through the main gate.

“Mount Heng is one of the top Spirit Veins in Dongsheng Divine Continent. According to the classification of the Nine Continents Cultivation World, it should be rated as heavenly level. It’s said that nurtured over tens of thousands of years, the Spirit Vein has given birth to a blessed land, which is the foundation of the Li Imperial Clan!”

Immortal Mountain Blessed Land is commonly used to describe the abodes of cultivators, but it actually exists as a realm.

According to the records, the way of heaven and earth manifests within the blessed land, wonderfully mysterious, making it easier for cultivators to comprehend the Dao and make breakthroughs. Some speculations propose that the environment of the blessed land is similar to that of the Immortal Realm.

Zhou Yi landed from his flying light, paying ten Spirit Stones as the entry fee into the city.

“At this price, it’s nearly impossible for ordinary mortals to enter the city!”

Indeed.

The streets were bustling and busy, yet few mortals could be seen; Da Heng Capital was almost entirely composed of cultivators.

There were not only humans but also demons with beasts’ heads walking naturally on the streets.

“This is the true flourishing age of the Cultivation World!”

Zhou Yi sniffed and detected that each person emitted a scent of incense, strong or faint.

“A prosperous era where everyone is like a dragon cannot be without the aid of incense and wish power. The Cultivation World of the Nine Continents, at its peak, was not weaker than Dongsheng Divine Continent, yet no city of cultivators has ever emerged!”

The scarcity and randomness of Spirit Roots have separated the worlds of immortals and mortals in the Nine Continents.

Even the Golden Elixir True Monarchs and Nascent Soul Ancestors had to humbly accept the inferior talents of their descendants, relying on marrying widely and producing many offspring to birth a Spirit Root.

Wish Power Beads have infinite uses; even without a Spirit Root, one could initially practice martial arts, and with a large array of Spiritual Objects and the double blessing of incense and wish power, could quickly reach the stage of drawing Qi into the body.

Dongsheng Divine Continent doesn’t lack Spiritual Energy, Spiritual Objects, or Cultivation Techniques; the fear is the slow progression of cultivation and insufficient lifespan, which is precisely what the Incense Condensing Spirit Technique compensates for.

With more in the Qi Refinement stage, there will be more in Foundation Establishment and Golden Core.

“One technique prospers one continent… Why is there always a sense of familiarity?”

Zhou Yi was not yet interested in investigating the origins of the technique, but spent half a month in a well-informed place in the city to grasp the general situation of Da Heng Capital.

The structure of the capital was similar to that of a mundane imperial city, or rather, it had evolved from one.

Imperial palace, noble mansions, the six ministries – all kinds of official positions were fully represented, the difference being they were all held by cultivators.

“The imperial city is extraordinary indeed!”

Zhou Yi had experienced the highest forms of Dual Cultivation, far more exquisite than those of Miaoyu Pavilion, and had heard from the girls that there were Golden Core and Nascent Soul realm male and female cultivators working part-time in the pavilion.

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