Chapter 12 What Do You Think?

“Hoo!”

His soul returned to his body.

Sa Wuling sat up abruptly. Only when he saw An Qisheng in front of him did he breathe a sigh of relief, “Se, Senior.”

When his soul returned to his body, there was a moment of confusion. In an instant, he remembered many things from his ‘dream’.

“How was the City God’s banquet?”

An Qisheng smiled slightly.

Although Sa Wuling had been in An Nuo County for decades, in fact, he only had some prestige in the nearby villages. In An Nuo County, he was just a nobody. This was the first time he had encountered such a thing.

Sa Wuling put on his shoes and gave a wry smile, “Senior, don’t laugh at me. Where was that a banquet? It was clearly the three families dividing the incense, and they just had us there to witness it.”

Although his cultivation was not good, he was not stupid.

He naturally understood the purpose of this banquet after thinking about it.

However, although he was just an attendee, the meal was quite beneficial to him. At this time, his spirit was very agile and excited, as if he had taken a great tonic.

An Qisheng walked to the table, lit the candle, and looked at Sa Wuling through the dim light:

“What do you think of this matter?”

“Senior is asking me?”

Sa Wuling was slightly stunned, then said, “That Rulai Monastery is probably no match for the Heavenly意教 (Tian Yi Jiao/Heaven's Will Sect). The Heavenly意教 (Tian Yi Jiao/Heaven's Will Sect)'s foundation is too strong. Unless the City Gods…”

Speaking of this, he suddenly realized, “That’s right, the Heavenly意教 (Tian Yi Jiao/Heaven's Will Sect) is powerful, and the City Gods have suffered from it for a long time. This time, that Rulai Monastery has the intention of going against the Heavenly意教 (Tian Yi Jiao/Heaven's Will Sect), so they will probably help with all their strength.”

“They won’t help with all their strength. These ghosts and gods are very shrewd.”

An Qisheng slowly sat down, his eyes deep and quiet:

“However, that Rulai Monastery is not that simple either. With the secret help of these City Gods, the outcome is hard to say.”

From the memories of the City God Pei Yuanhua, the Heavenly意教 (Tian Yi Jiao/Heaven's Will Sect)'s Jia An, and the Rulai Monastery’s Dexing, he had sorted out a lot of things.

This event was not only aimed at An Nuo County, but the entire Liang Province.

Behind the scenes, the layout was by the Abbot of Rulai Monastery, Ruyi Seng, and the Liang Province City God, Gongliang Shen, targeting the Daqing State Preceptor, Tianyi Zhenren.

Since they dared to probe, they naturally had something to rely on.

“These things shouldn’t have anything to do with us, right?”

Sa Wuling said with some uncertainty.

After this gathering, he vaguely felt that the Heavenly意教 (Tian Yi Jiao/Heaven's Will Sect) would become a quagmire. If he really joined the Heavenly意教 (Tian Yi Jiao/Heaven's Will Sect), would he become cannon fodder?

It was a pity that even though he had hinted at it this time, this senior didn’t say he would pass on the method of receiving the Lu (a Taoist priest's certificate). Otherwise, he wouldn’t be so embarrassed.

“How could it not have anything to do with us?”

An Qisheng shook his head slightly:

“I want to settle down here. How can I allow them to fight each other and make a mess?”

That Tianyi Zhenren used human flesh, blood, and souls to refine pills, and that old Daqing emperor ate human flesh essence and souls, undoubtedly a great demon of a chaotic world.

Now that he had seen it and knew about it, he naturally couldn’t pretend he didn’t see it.

His voice was calm, but Sa Wuling’s heart skipped a beat:

“You…”

An Qisheng lowered his eyes and asked lightly, “The City God is unrighteous, wrongly receiving the incense of the people. He cannot eliminate natural disasters above, nor can he benefit the people below. Do you have any dissatisfaction in your heart?”

The City God receives incense, but he is not the protector of mankind. In the end, it is a symbiotic relationship. And prosperous times only offer a stick of incense, while chaotic times offer the power of faith. How could the City God not really know about the many demons and ghosts in An Nuo County?

It was just because their existence was more beneficial to them.

An Qisheng’s voice was neither high nor low, but Sa Wuling’s body trembled, and his heart buzzed, as if hearing thunder in a rainy night.

All kinds of distracting thoughts disappeared in an instant, and he couldn’t help but nod:

“Yes…”

The City God parasitizes the human race, but allows demons and ghosts to harm people in order to obtain incense and faith. In the decades he had walked through the countryside, he had seen too many of these things. How could he not be dissatisfied?

“The Heavenly意教 (Tian Yi Jiao/Heaven's Will Sect) controls the imperial court, refines pills with evil techniques, and plunders the people’s wealth and incense faith on a large scale. Are you dissatisfied?”

An Qisheng asked a second question.

The Heavenly意教 (Tian Yi Jiao/Heaven's Will Sect) was all over the country. Over the past hundred years, how many believers did it have? Countless devout believers had bankrupted their families and died in order to seek blessings from the gods.

Sa Wuling was in a trance, as if hearing thunder. His mind was questioned, making him unable to tell a single lie:

“Yes!”

“Daqing is unrighteous. Many harsh taxes and levies force the people to live in poverty. The emperor of a country uses the people’s flesh and souls as pills, just for his own longevity. Are you angry?”

An Qisheng’s eyes were deep as he asked again.

“Yes!”

Sa Wuling stood up suddenly.

“Are you willing to teach the people, punish the fatuous and muddleheaded court, regulate the City Gods and ghosts, and break this Heavenly意邪教 (Tian Yi Xie Jiao/Heaven's Will Evil Sect) that preys on the people of the world?”

An Qisheng asked again:

“Even if the whole world is your enemy, are you still willing?”

“Yes…”

Sa Wuling’s eyes became clear. His previous glibness was gone, replaced by a rare solemnity, “Willingly.”

“Good!”

An Qisheng nodded slightly, “In that case, tomorrow, I can pass on the method of cultivation to you.”

Sa Wuling, this old Taoist, was glib, had many thoughts, feared danger, and was greedy for small gains. The only good thing about him was that he still had good intentions. This could be seen from his decades of performing superdu (a Taoist ritual for the dead) and performing rituals for the nearby villages.

“Thank you, Senior… Teacher!”

Sa Wuling came back to his senses, overjoyed, and immediately knelt down on the ground:

“Disciple will never dare to forget the teacher’s teachings!”

“I hope you remember these words.”

An Qisheng took a deep look at him, then turned and left.

After An Qisheng left, the room returned to calm again.

Sa Wuling was very excited. He walked back and forth in the room. After a long time, he suddenly thought of something, and his expression changed:

“The whole world is my enemy? Me?”

Pointing at himself, Sa Wuling felt a little guilty again.

He was so old, where did he get the bloodlust to make the whole world his enemy?

But just thinking about how he could get in touch with the method of receiving the Lu (a Taoist priest's certificate) tomorrow, he felt a little excited again.

As for being the enemy of the world…

Just kidding.

With his strength, how could he be qualified?

…

An Qisheng’s original plan was to send Sa Wuling to join the Heavenly意教 (Tian Yi Jiao/Heaven's Will Sect) and gradually obtain the cultivation methods of this world.

However, after the Yizhuang incident, after learning that the Heavenly意教 (Tian Yi Jiao/Heaven's Will Sect) leader used living people’s souls and blood to refine pills, and that the old emperor used the people’s flesh and blood to prolong his life, he changed his mind.

This dynasty, these sects, these City God underworlds, and even this heaven, were really not to his liking.

What’s more, after obtaining the essence of the City God’s Incense Becoming God Canon, the Heavenly意教 (Tian Yi Jiao/Heaven's Will Sect)’s Heavenly Dao Nine Questions Sutra, and the Rulai Monastery’s Great Sun Tathagata True Sutra, it was meaningless for Sa Wuling to go to the Heavenly意教 (Tian Yi Jiao/Heaven's Will Sect) again.

Back in his room, he didn’t light any candles or oil lamps.

He sat cross-legged directly on the bed. Between the opening and closing of his eyes, three spiritual imprints exploded in his heart at the same time.

Pei Yuanhua, Jia An, and Dexing, among these three, the weakest City God Pei Yuanhua was equivalent to the fourth level of cultivation, the Origin Life realm, in the An Nuo County City God’s mansion. The highest cultivation base, Dexing, had vaguely touched the edge of entering the Dao (the path).

They were definitely not top experts in the Huangtian Realm, but they were not small characters either. They were already qualified to come into contact with some truly profound cultivation methods.

The cultivation method of the Yin Si City God, the Incense Becoming God Canon, the Heavenly意教 (Tian Yi Jiao/Heaven's Will Sect)’s Heavenly Dao Nine Questions Sutra, and the Rulai Monastery’s Great Sun Tathagata True Sutra, although not complete, had already obtained the essence.

Especially the old monk Dexing, he had obtained nearly half of the Great Sun Tathagata True Sutra.

Buzz~

Many essences flickered through his eyes.

There were very few words in the cultivation classics, but one word had many meanings. There were also various hidden words, secrets, deletions, etc. Even if ordinary people obtained these classics and wanted to learn them, they would be scammed to death.

The exception were the monks in the deep mountains and old forests who left behind their inheritance before they died.

However, An Qisheng naturally didn’t have this trouble. Not to mention that his foundation could distinguish right from wrong, he could also compare with the cultivators, and even see the scene of their master teaching them, so naturally there would be no mistakes.

In the Huangtian Realm, cultivation secrets were divided into five types: Jue (訣/methods), Fa (法/techniques), Dian (典/canons), Jing (經/sutras), and Dao (道/the Way).

This time, he obtained two ‘Sutra’ level cultivation secrets!

Although they were incomplete, what he needed at this time was only the ‘Heavenly Mandate’ part.

“The Great Sun Tathagata Sutra, using the Great Sun visualization to enter the door, visualizing all kinds of magical instruments. The magical instrument is the Lu (a Taoist priest's certificate), and it is also the prototype of the Origin Life. It’s just that this step requires a great sacrifice to get the approval of the heavens and the earth!

And incense can speed up this process. No wonder the Rulai Monastery wants to intervene in the incense battle…”

An Qisheng thought to himself.

Among the several methods and classics he had obtained at this time, the Heavenly Mandate was different, but the essence was the same, which was to obtain the permission of ‘Heaven’ in various ways.

The Lu (a Taoist priest's certificate) itself was just a carrier.

The carrier itself did not have the ability to absorb the essence of heaven and earth, and derive immortal spiritual energy, Buddhist power, Yin evil ghost energy, or demonic energy. It could only do so by obtaining the permission of ‘Heaven’ in various ways.

The rest, such as incense, sacrifices, and various secret methods, were all means to assist this process.

Whether it was taking the City God’s Mansion as the Lu (a Taoist priest's certificate), the incense burner as the Lu (a Taoist priest's certificate), or the flying sword as the Lu (a Taoist priest's certificate), there was no need.

These three classics further verified his conjecture.

“In that case, my deduction is feasible. The interaction between my Qi Seed and the geomagnetic field does not require the permission of Heaven…”

Ripples appeared in An Qisheng’s heart.

The composition of the Huangtian Realm and the Xuanxing Universe was not entirely the same. The role of the magnetic field, or aura, was equally enormous. If the magnetic field did not exist, the stars would disintegrate, all life would be unable to survive, all matter would separate and drift away, and everything would be completely destroyed.

Therefore, the interaction between his Qi Seed and the heaven and earth did not require the permission of Heaven.

Unless this Heaven truly had intelligence, or even a crazy intelligence, it would not be able to stop him.

“Then, I can truly try…”

An Qisheng’s mind was calm.

In his dreams, he had tried many times. He found that replacing the Heavenly Mandate with the Qi Seed was not as difficult as he had imagined, because he had completely solved the biggest problem for countless cultivators, which was abandoning the spiritual energy of heaven and earth!

And the Qi Seed had already condensed.

Therefore, after these few secret methods verified his conjecture, he entered the dream again and began to try.

Time passed, and the sky gradually brightened.

At a certain moment, An Qisheng, who had tried countless times in his dream, suddenly opened his eyes. With it, a shapeless and immaterial Qi Seed formed by the integration of the magnetic field in his body moved accordingly!

In the depths of his spirit, the Wang Quan Sword buzzed and trembled, and another world was outlined in the brilliance.

That was the Infinite Cave Heaven, also the Reincarnation Blessed Land!