A hundred years had passed, and Xuan Yu still hadn’t returned to the temperament of his youth, perhaps truly having grown up, or maybe influenced by his past life.
The human heart is ever-changing, but there is no need to dwell on it!
Ling Weizi said, “This time I have called you back for two reasons: one is that I am about to die and wish for you to see me off; the other is concerning the Immortal Register. It’s best that you go earlier to the Earth God to record your name.”
“Passing it on to a disciple?”
Zhou Yi said with surprise, “What about Senior Sister?”
Ling Weizi gently stroked his long beard, proudly saying, “You lazy scoundrel with no ambition, how can you compare to Xuan Yu? She, with her first-rank status in the Daoist Academy, not only secured a place in the Immortal Register but also attained a divine position!”
“Congratulations to Senior Sister.”
Zhou Yi bowed respectfully and asked, “May I know what position Senior Sister has obtained? Hopefully, it’s not the Sui Department; fighting with demons and mages would be far less favorable than retiring with the Immortal Register to cultivate in the mountains.”
A hundred years ago, Sun Changsheng caused a great uproar in the Heavenly Court, shattered Lingxiao, and killed ninety percent of the righteous gods.
Among them, the Sui Department Righteous Gods who patrolled the world suffered heavy casualties. To swiftly restore its rule over the divine lands, the Heavenly Court made exceptional admissions of numerous righteous gods from various grand churches and Daoist academies.“It’s not the Sui Department, but the Earth God of Chongshan County.”
Xuan Yu said, “The original Chongshan Land Deity conspired with demons, causing harm to the people of the county. Once the incident was exposed, he was executed on the Immortal Slaying Stage. Now, I am taking over the role!”
“It serves him right!”
Zhou Yi couldn’t help but marvel at the Heavenly Court’s speed in settling past accounts, which was much faster than anticipated.
When the power of incense offerings wanes, the Heavenly Court loosens its rules, and naturally, righteous gods greedy for incense and merit will collude with demons to fool the populace.
Once the power of incense is replenished, the laws are tightened, and a rigorous probe into the past deeds of gods who had merits for the Heavenly Court ensues.
The guilty are captured, the culprits are killed, with not a hint of mercy!
The Emperor of Heaven’s manner is becoming increasingly similar to that of a mortal emperor, no longer concerning Himself with the distinction between the righteous and demonic paths, using whatever serves the interests of the Heavenly Court.
“Now that Senior Sister is the Earth God of Chongshan County, managing our own people, does that mean she can accept disciples now?”
“One mustn’t overdo it, though.”
Ling Weizi said, “After all, the heavenly laws are strict. Accepting a few disciples is fine, but if it becomes too noticeable and the higher-ups are alerted, they will surely send someone to investigate!”
Xuan Yu pondered for a moment before saying, “I’ve already built good relationships with the Mountain Gods, Land Deities, and River Lords around Mysterious Primordial Mountain. If the number of disciples in our sect doesn’t exceed a hundred, they will turn a blind eye.”
“Hard work pays off, Senior Sister. With the sect prospering, our master can pass away peacefully and meet our ancestors!”
Seeing Ling Weizi’s long face, Zhou Yi quickly changed the subject, “How was Master able to forge such connections? To my knowledge, few sect disciples manage to get appointed to nearby positions.”
To prevent regional powers from growing, the Heavenly Court often appoints sect disciples as rightful gods in places tens of thousands of miles away, sometimes even deliberately within the territories of rival sects.
“Back in the day, I worried about your Core Formation, so I stealthily harvested a Spiritual Medicine.”
Ling Weizi said, “As it turned out, you were traveling abroad and informed us via transmission that you had already achieved Core Formation, so the Spiritual Medicine was spared. In previous years, as I was running official errands for Xuan Yu, I accidentally learned that the disciple of the Jiazi Great Year Deity was in need of Core Formation Spiritual Medicine, so I sent it over.”
Now that the Emperor of Heaven has taken full control of the Heavenly Court, he has severely curtailed the privileges of disciples from major sects, including the Three Teachings’ disciples, all of whom must abide by the heavenly laws.
As a result, even the Infant Taoist Lords of the Hall find it difficult to prepare Core Formation Spiritual Medicine for their disciples.
After all, everything that flies in the sky, swims in the water, or grows on the ground belongs to the Heavenly Court. In the past, one could rely on their background to harvest privately, but now one must plant and grow their own.
In a hundred years, the value of Spiritual Objects necessary for breaking through realms has increased more than tenfold!
“So that’s how it is.”
Zhou Yi formed a spell with his hands, divining the cause and effect, not leaving behind any trouble. The Jiazi Great Year Deity indeed turned out to be a trustworthy person. He immediately praised with a clap on his horse,
“It is all due to Master’s solitary efforts over hundreds of years that we have today, and the revival of our sect is within sight!”
“It’s just so-so.”
Ling Weizi’s mouth curved upwards; completing such a feat as his life approached its end, he suddenly felt less fear towards death. Instead, he harbored a strange desire to report the good news to his ancestors sooner rather than later.
“But what are the stipulations for recruiting disciples?”
Zhou Yi asked again, “Do we post notices in the surrounding county towns and wait for disciples to come to the mountains to pay homage, or do we directly go to the foot of the mountain to examine everyone’s Spirit Root and select the best?”
“Cough, cough, cough!”
Ling Weizi, frightened by the question, coughed a few times and reprimanded, “You brazen scoundrel! How dare you violate the heavenly laws so blatantly. Either of these methods, if utilized, could spell the disaster of our sect’s eradication.”
Zhou Yi slightly relaxed, feeling relieved that Ling Weizi still retained his sanity, or else they would have had to move to another region to cultivate.
“Then how do we recruit apprentices?”
“It’s all down to luck.”
Ling Weizi helplessly said, “The celestial regulations are getting stricter by the day; remember not to violate them. If you secretly take on disciples, you must also properly handle the family affairs of those disciples, and don’t report the missing children to the authorities!”
———— The author hasn’t finished writing, and there’s no leave notice again, I’m very sorry, just wait for the refresh.
“Congratulations, Senior Sister.”
Zhou Yi bowed in respect and asked, “May I know what position Senior Sister has been granted? I hope it’s not the Sui Department, where fighting against demons is a daily affair. It would be better to receive an Immortal Register and quietly cultivate in the mountains!”
A hundred years ago, Sun Changsheng wreaked havoc in the Heavenly Court, shattered Lingxiao, and killed ninety percent of the righteous gods.
Among them, the gods from the Sui Department who patrolled the world suffered heavy casualties. In order to quickly restore its rule over the land of the gods, the Heavenly Court exceptionally recruited quite a few righteous gods from the various major churches and Taoist academies.
“It’s not the Sui Department, but the Earth God of Chongshan County.”
Xuan Yu said, “The former Chongshan Land Deity colluded with demons, harmed the county’s common people, and, after the incident came to light, was executed on the Immortal Slaying Stage. I am now taking over his duties!”
“That’s as it should be!”
Zhou Yi couldn’t help but marvel at the speed with which the Heavenly Court settled old accounts, much faster than he had anticipated.
When the power of incense and virtue is scarce, the laws of heaven are relaxed, naturally attracting righteous gods eager for incense and merit to collude with demons and deceive the common people.
Once the power of incense is ample, the regulations are tightened, and a strict investigation ensues concerning those righteous gods who had previously achieved merits for the Heavenly Court.
They would be captured or killed without hesitation!
The Emperor of Heaven, acting more like a mortal emperor, no longer concerned himself solely with the righteous or demonic paths. As long as it served the interests of the Heavenly Court, it was exploitable.
“Senior Sister, now that you’re the Earth Deity of Chongshan County, managing our own people, does that mean you can take on disciples?”
“We can’t go too far with it either.”
Ling Weizi said, “After all, the celestial regulations are strict. Accepting a few disciples is fine, but if it gets out of hand and can’t be concealed, people from above will surely come to investigate!”
Xuan Yu pondered for a moment, then said, “I have already fostered good relationships with the Mountain Gods, Earth Gods, and River Lords near Mysterious Primordial Mountain. As long as the number of disciples in our sect does not exceed one hundred, they will turn a blind eye.”
“Hard work pays off, Senior Sister. With the sect’s prosperity, our master can pass away peacefully and meet our ancestral masters with ease!”
Zhou Yi, seeing Ling Weizi’s face grow long, quickly changed the topic, “How did our master manage to arrange this? As far as I know, few sect disciples manage to secure positions nearby.”
Heavenly Court, in order to prevent local forces from growing too powerful, typically assigns positions to sect disciples far away, tens of thousands of miles distant, or even deliberately sends them to work in the territories of rival sects.
“Back when I worried about your Core Formation, I secretly harvested some Spiritual Medicine.”
Ling Weizi said, “But then you went out wandering, and the word came back that you had already achieved Core Formation, so the Spiritual Medicine was saved. A few years ago, when doing bureaucracy for Xuan Yu, I accidentally learned that a disciple of Jiazi Great Year Deity was in need of Core Formation Spiritual Medicine, so I sent it over.”
Now that the Heavenly Emperor had taken full control of the Heavenly Court, he had cracked down severely on the privileges of the great teachings’ disciples, including those from the Three Teachings, who all had to follow the celestial regulations.
As a result, even a Nascent Soul Daoist Lord found it difficult to prepare Core Formation Spiritual Medicine for their disciples.
After all, everything that flies in the sky, swims in the water, or grows on the land belongs to the Heavenly Court. In the past, it was still possible to privately harvest using powerful backgrounds, but now one had to grow it slowly on their own.
In a hundred years, the value of Spiritual Objects necessary for breakthroughs in cultivation had increased by more than tenfold!
“I see.”
Zhou Yi made a spell gesture and divined the ins and outs, ensuring there were no catastrophes left behind. He then wholeheartedly praised, “Thanks to the painstaking efforts of our master for hundreds of years, we now have hope for the revival of our sect!”
“It’s just average, just average.”
Ling Weizi’s mouth curled into a smile, as his lifespan neared its end accomplishing this matter made him surprisingly less fearful of death. Instead, he felt an odd urge to hurry and report the good news to the ancestral masters above.
“So, what’s the procedure for taking apprentices?”
Zhou Yi inquired again, “Do we announce in the surrounding county towns and wait for disciples to come up the mountain and worship, or do we go down to the foot of the mountain, test every person’s Spirit Root, and select the best?”
“Cough cough cough!”
Ling Weizi choked on his cough, scolding, “You really have become bold, daring to so blatantly defy the celestial regulations. Either of those methods, if used, would bring about the annihilation of our sect.”
Zhou Yi slightly relaxed, feeling relieved that Ling Weizi still retained his sanity, or else they would have had to move to another region to cultivate.
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