Stealthily cultivating in the chaotic world of demons and martial artists
Chapter 925 - 781: God Path

Chapter 925: Chapter 781: God Path

"I’ve come to pay my respects to Mr. Fang, and I dare not be disrespectful."

Gan Yu set down his bamboo basket, posed as a disciple paying respects, and stood aside. Only after a long while did he ask, "What book is Mr. Fang reading?"

"Oh, it’s just a collection of local tales, named ’Record of Oddities’... It’s a miscellaneous record. You need to focus on your studies for the Imperial Examination, so it’s better to just read the Taoism Scriptures."

Fang Xi picked up the tea cup beside him, took a sip of the coarse tea, and instructed.

This coarse tea was just average, casually made by the markets, but it held a unique charm of the wild.

"Mr. Fang’s instructions are right."

Gan Yu bowed to accept the teaching.

"When courtesy is extended, something is sought... I already know the purpose of your visit."

Fang Xi turned and went into the house. Soon after, he returned holding several thread-bound books: "There are thirty-six volumes of the ’Taoism Scripture’, but I only have eighteen volumes here. You may borrow three volumes at a time... Remember to return them as soon as you are done borrowing. After all, I still need these few volumes of ’Taoism Scripture’ to teach the children of the eastern household!"

"Thank you so much for your kindness, Mr. Fang..."

In Gan Yu’s voice, there was actually a hint of a sob. For him, that Mr. Fang would lend books without hesitation was an enormous favor...

...

"A scholar... huh..."

After Gan Yu left, holding the three volumes of the Taoism Scripture as if they were a precious treasure, Fang Xi smiled and continued reading the miscellany.

From these miscellaneous books, he could learn more about this world.

Although most of it was speculation and false tales, after parsing through them, part of the truth could still be glimpsed...

For instance, this ’Record of Oddities’ recounted an odd occurrence of a ’Prefecture Magistrate Wei’ who was said to ’act as Magistrate during the day, and as City God at night’. Because he held a Godhood Position, he could not be approached by Daoist magic. A monk who practiced wild fox Zen deliberately stood in front of the official sedan to show off his Divine Skill and propagate Buddhism, only to be subdued and beaten to death by a few bailiffs...

"This world has quite some peculiarities; the court is not called a court but a ’Taoist Court’, though the ruler is still the Emperor..."

Fang Xi turned to another page, which told the story of a filial son named ’Wang Liulang’, whose filial piety moved heaven and earth, and after his death, he became a Deity, ascending to the Heavenly Court.

Before this, he had also read a quirky historical anecdote about a certain Emperor of a previous dynasty who was incompetent and corrupt. All his officials chose to die in protest, called ’The Hundred Righteous’, becoming celebrated as a tale of the times.

But according to Fang Xi’s understanding, these individuals likely held Godhood Positions. Death was not something to fear for them, but rather a release, which is why they all stopped working, ascended to become Deities!

Smack!

Fang Xi put down the book in his hands. The various strange tales and anecdotes he had browsed through these days revealed a whole new world to him.

"A Daoism Hierarchy... Hence rulers are called Emperors, not Monarchs."

"Apart from that, there are frequent legends of messengers from the Heavenly Court, as well as talismans, ascension to Deity status... It seems that anyone can do it, as long as one has a spirit after Death, and the soul does not fade away, there’s a chance to be enshrined as a Deity?!"

"The Heavenly Court? Heavenly Court governs the world, Taoist Court governs the people..."

Fang Xi suddenly thought of that enormous Medium Thousand Worlds, which now seemed to be what was referred to as the Heavenly Court in the Thirty-Three Heavens of the rumors.

And between this Heavenly Court and the Mortal World, there didn’t seem to be any strong interface power serving as a barrier.

Whether it was Immortals ascending or the Heavenly Court issuing edicts, although not common, they weren’t rare either.

In comparison, the barrier between the Mortal Realm and the Earth Immortal Realm was terrifying to the extreme.

’It seems this Medium Thousand Worlds have a specialty... they can communicate with their subordinate smaller worlds anytime?’

’Moreover, the mainstream system here does not seem to be Qi Refining Cultivation... but ’granting of Taoist Records’, following the ’God Path’...’

’In this world, Cultivators must pass the Imperial Examination and become Jinshi of the Taoist Court to have their names registered in the Taoist Record, be granted it, and thus be recorded in the Heavenly Talisman with a Godhood Position... only with a Godhood Position can one hold an official post!’

Fang Xi thought of the ’Record of Oddities’ he had read; where any officials mentioned were difficult for Monsters and ghosts to approach, and it was tough for monks and Daoists to exhibit their supernatural powers in their presence.

They claimed outwardly it was because they had the protection of the official aura, Dragon’s blessing, to suppress the Five Elements and deny all magic!

In reality, it was because they themselves were divine beings! They held Godhood Positions! Thus they could ensure that when a Saint occupied official status, neither ghost nor Deity would dare to intrude!

"Taoist Court officials govern the people by day, and the ghosts by night... Even after death, their Divine Souls are immortal, directly merging with their Godhood Position to attain a true Deity’s golden body; those with substantial merit could even ascend directly to the Heavenly Court to hold an office... Hence for them, Death is instead a liberation to look forward to... That’s why a hundred officials willingly died in protest, not because they all had such integrity but because they all had their backdoors..."

"A Daoism Hierarchy, huh? Quite intriguing..."

Fang Xi stroked his chin.

He had already learned a bit about the mysteries of this system from his nightly observations of the Earth God.

Specifically, it involved using Taoist talismans to gather the Power of Faith from a region, shape a golden body, and extract divine power...

"Such a method is essentially like being bound to believers, plus being tainted by the Poison of Incense Fire, facing the peril of ’Lose me’, and carrying an inherent duty, making it difficult to live freely..."

"The downside is significant, but the advantage is that there are no requirements regarding talent, and once successful, the level of cultivation is extremely strong, far exceeding that of Cultivators of the same level..."

After all, Immortal Cultivators rely on their individual strength, while Deities of the God Path gather the strength of the masses!

"However... the biggest downside is that in this kind of Daoism Hierarchy, without promotion from a superior, it’s virtually impossible to achieve any advancement for a lifetime!"

"With such tiered enfeoffment and support... how terrifying must the Heavenly Emperor at the top of the Heavenly Court be?"

Fang Xi suddenly recalled the formidable threat he felt in his desire to travel to the Medium Thousand Worlds.

With the tight-woven net of the God Path, even if he cast a spell to summon a rain of spirits, the Earth God would detect it.

If one were to stir up trouble in the Heavenly Court, within this Medium Thousand World, they would probably be detected by the "Heavenly Emperor" in an instant!

This being is equivalent to the ruler of not only the Earth Immortal Realm but also the three thousand worlds beyond, and is the local snake god of Daoism!

Fang Xi even suspected that even if a True Immortal descended, this "Heavenly Emperor" would be able to suppress them...

Therefore, not choosing to directly go to the Thirty-Three Heavens where the Heavenly Court was located from the beginning was definitely the most correct decision.

"It seems... my harvest in this world should be a brand new Daoism cultivation system?"

Fang Xi muttered to himself.

"It’s just... Daoism grants its followers the Taoist Record... the restrictions imposed by superiors are too terrifying."

"I might as well find a little mouse to experiment on my behalf first."

He was indeed very interested in this method of Daoism.

But it wasn’t for his own cultivation.

Fang Xi only wished to become an immortal and wander freely, too lazy to do the arduous work of Daoism.

However... he thought of his subordinates in The Nine States.

Without even using the Taiyi Sutra to analyze, he knew that this Daoism hierarchy was the perfect match for The Nine States!

Even the Taoist Court, which ruled over its subjects, never exceeded a hundred million in population.

But The Nine States easily boasted populations of tens or hundreds of billions, a convenience brought by the great technological development for the common folk!

Moreover, they were billions of people who had received basic education and were outstanding in various aspects, essentially a populace of high-quality believers!

Not to mention, in the Earth Immortal Realm, after taking control of Falling Sky Island one could undertake environmental transformations, encourage population growth, and The Nine States’ population could completely undergo exponential explosions!

How terrifying would the deities be that were spawned by such power of faith?

"Strong enough to easily rise rapidly... Most importantly, it can easily be restrained by superiors... Indeed, it is a system quite suitable for me, capable of easily training a large number of subordinates comparable to those at the Returning to Emptiness or Integration stages of cultivation... When the time comes, even if it means purging the wretched human race from the Earth Immortal Realm to avenge the Fang Immortal Taoist Master and reverse the cultivation trends, it will be enough..."

The death of Fang Immortal Taoist Master was a pain in the hearts of the cultivators of The Nine States.

However, if one slaughtered too many, leading to a river of blood, and the Demon and Demonic Beast clans were to benefit from this, one would instead become a sinner of the entire human race.

The best approach would be to eliminate those who should be slain, and immediately afterward, have a large number of high-level cultivators ready to fill their places.

Even with the development of The Nine States, amassing such a vast top-tier combat force without thousands or tens of thousands of years of accumulation was unrealistic.

But now, with the Daoism system, everything was different.

The leap forward for The Nine States was just in sight!

Of course, everything still awaited Fang Xi’s own inspection before any final conclusions could be made.

But from the information gathered thus far, this path of Daoism did indeed have some ingenious aspects.

At the very least, Fang Xi felt that in the future, in addition to his own cultivation, raising a group of deities as subordinates to supplement miscellaneous affairs would indeed be a great thing.

"The first one might as well be Gan Yu..."

Above Fang Xi’s head, a lethargic sixth-order Fortune Worm lay on its side.

He had previously used this worm to investigate Gan Yu’s fortune and could only say it was ordinary.

Although there was some ancestral virtue, it had nearly been exhausted, now only a sliver remained, and the literary energy was not particularly abundant.

For Gan Yu to become a Scholar was truly a bit difficult.

As for studying diligently?

There are many who study hard in the world, some even to the point of vomiting blood from their nighttime reading.

But those who should fail the exams, still fail.

"One’s fate, two their fortune, three feng shui, four accumulation of virtuous deeds, five studying... The ways to change one’s fate in this world are just those few."

"Since I’ve chosen to lie low in this world, I shouldn’t use too many extraordinary methods that deviate from the norms, but first try to solve the problems within the framework..."

Helping Gan Yu become a Scholar wasn’t too difficult, after all.

Fang Xi was now playing the role of a noble personage, sponsoring the other party’s schooling.

After thoroughly digesting the thirty-six volumes of Taoism Scriptures, it will be time to attempt the exams.

"According to the Fortune Worm, his fortune is still slightly lacking... but that doesn’t matter."

Although Fang Xi was not particularly skilled in the Skills of Divination, according to the Fortune Worm, finding an opportunity that could enhance Gan Yu’s fortune and giving him some advice would lead to success.

"Actually... If I directly used a Secret Skill to feed fortune back to the Fortune Worm, it would also work..."

"But that would be somewhat troublesome... after all, it’s a technique from the Sky Demons..."

His Divine Consciousness swept through, and the local Earth God of the village could hardly detect it.

But Fang Xi’s Divine Consciousness left Bai Gan Village and spread outward...

It wasn’t long before his eyes brightened, and he found an opportunity that could perfectly enhance Gan Yu’s fate...