The Post Sky Tipping Era
Chapter 761 - 542: Pretend to Cultivate True Skills Through Deception

Chapter 761: Chapter 542: Pretend to Cultivate True Skills Through Deception

The City Guardian holding a copper mace was staring at Li Yi with great shock at this moment.

Initially, he thought that this person who had barged into Xinzhou City was just a mountain Daoist without the proper documentation and planned to teach him a lesson by swinging the mace a few times to drive him away. However, to his surprise, striking down with the copper mace forced out the Dragon and Tiger Energy from the stranger instead.

Being one of the City Guardians of Xinzhou City, he was a True God appointed by the court and possessed some insight.

The Dragon and Tiger Energy was also known as the Emperor’s Aura.

Only Emperors were qualified to possess it, though some Princes might also have such qi.

"You, how do you have the Emperor’s Dragon and Tiger Energy on you? Who exactly are you?"

The City Guardian retreated in shock, no longer daring to swing the copper mace, not only because of the stranger’s identity but because the silver-striped ferocious tiger was now glaring at him.

If he dared to swing the mace again, the silver tiger would surely pounce and devour him in one bite.

"I am merely a cultivator wandering the Four Seas and Eight Continents, with nothing special about me. You’ve already made a move once; I can overlook it considering your duty. But if you strike again, I won’t be as forgiving. If I accidentally kill you, don’t blame me."

Li Yi did not want to entangle too much with the City Guardian and continued striding forward.

The City Guardian’s expression changed as he clutched his copper mace but dared not move, only able to watch him enter the city.

A Daoist possessing the Emperor’s Dragon and Tiger Energy—such an outrageous matter was beyond what a mere City Guardian could handle. This had to be reported up for others to deal with, and it was best not to get involved.

Thinking this, the City Guardian immediately left his post, transforming into a wisp of blue smoke and flew toward the City God Temple in the city.

Li Yi glanced at the trail of smoke but didn’t stop it. As long as they didn’t provoke him, it was fine. If anyone was foolish enough to cause trouble, he would not hesitate to use the Wind Summoning Technique to blow these troublesome spirits into dust.

After entering the city, he discovered that the power of faith in this world was indeed pervasive.

Passing by an inn, Li Yi saw a shrine within with three sticks of incense beside it. Although the shrine was quite old, it glowed softly in his sight, gathering Spiritual Energy and infused with the Power of Incense and Belief.

It was clear the shrine had a god, but the god was not present.

He also saw two stone lions placed in front of a residence, which were also blessed with the power of faith, becoming intelligent over time and watching the bustling streets. Any spirit monsters daring to intrude would be pounced on by the lions.

The longer the residence prospered, the stronger the stone lions became. Conversely, if the place declined, the power of the lions would wane, eventually becoming mere ordinary objects.

"Those stone lions did not receive incense offerings but were imbued with the power of faith. The people subconsciously believed the lions could deter spirits and demons, and over time, belief accumulated, turning the stone lions truly into spirit guardians."

"In this world, there were originally no gods. With enough believers, gods emerged, so whether lions can guard a household, or whether divine statues can protect, all depends on people’s faith. If they believe, then it is true; if they don’t, it isn’t. Thus, the power of incense and belief is both a strength and a constraint. Once belief collapses, everything will once again disappear."

Walking down the street, Li Yi felt a sense of enlightenment within.

"If you wish to make ordinary people believe, everything must first take shape. The lion’s majesty allows it to guard a house; if it were a cat instead, its form would fall short, and people would not believe a cat could guard a house. Therefore, form must align with image."

"Earlier, the divine statue in the Land God Temple was destroyed by a bolt of silver lightning from me because the form was lost, and so was belief. People will worship a statue, not a pile of dirt, despite their similar essence. The dirt lacks form, and thus cannot take shape or gather the power of incense and belief. A statue is crafted and shaped into the image of the Earth God, so people believe it can protect them, and that’s why the clay statue of the Earth God acquires its powers."

"The same goes for the Emperor. People believe that the Emperor is the son of the True Dragon, hence he naturally possesses Dragon and Tiger Energy. If the Emperor’s image is lost, the belief crumbles, and his fate will be the same as the Earth God statue."

"So in this world, be it humans, gods, or the Emperor, they all need to maintain their image. I saved that lady once, and Old Liu and the others believed I was a high cultivator who saved lives, which is why I gained their power of belief. Earlier in the temple, I did not get their belief because they suspected I was a spirit monster in disguise."

"No wonder the City Guardian was unwilling to let Daoists enter the city. With so many people, if I use spells to heal and save, I could easily acquire the beliefs of the masses, and my strength would grow rapidly. The City God of this place definitely won’t sit idly by and let an outsider Daoist steal the power of incense and belief, as it would be no different from robbing a bank."

"Wait a minute, I didn’t read many books, why do I have such insights?"

Li Yi suddenly realized something was off; how could he comprehend these cultivation principles?

But soon enough.

He perceived the anomaly in himself, noticing a phantom crystal-clear bud appearing above his head, which was the Primordial Spirit Flower planted by Xiang Xiangzi within him.

Obviously, this level of comprehension didn’t belong to Li Yi, but came from Xiang Xiangzi.

As a top cultivator in the Tri-Floral Realm, Xiang Xiangzi’s talent for understanding and insight was extraordinary, otherwise, she couldn’t have become one of the Seven Immortals of the Heavenly Dao Sect, wielding three top Daoist Skills.

"If I build a divine statue of Xiang Xiangzi in this world and have it worshipped by incense offerings, then Xiang Xiangzi wouldn’t even need to wait for me to break through the Tri-Floral Realm; her Primordial Spirit could awaken once more. As I continue to speculate, could I leave a wisp of Primordial Spirit Power in the statue and nurture a second Primordial Spirit using the Power of Incense?" Ideas flooded Li Yi’s mind.

He felt that this world of incense becoming a god held infinite potential, and if he could harness it for himself, it would be incredible.

"So, I have to rebel?"

Li Yi scratched his head; in order to monopolize the Power of Faith and Incense of this realm, there was no other way but to rebel and become the Emperor, because just by sitting on the dragon throne, the people’s faith would automatically empower you, whether you are Li Yi, Taiyi, or Da Yi didn’t matter.

The people only recognize the Emperor, not your identity.

This is the power of image.

If Li Yi truly became the Emperor, then he would only need to maintain his Emperor image without collapsing, and the power of incense would flow continuously, accelerating his cultivation day by day.

"However, the power of incense has significant drawbacks. Once faith collapses, my fate would be as dreadful as that of the Earth God, so the power of incense is false, not real. What I need to do is cultivate truth from falseness, harness the power of incense to refine my own strength, so even if I leave this realm, the absence of incense will not affect me."

Li Yi became increasingly enlightened.

Xiang Xiangzi’s Primordial Spirit Flower is truly useful, especially fitting for a martial artist like him who lacks cultural knowledge; otherwise, he wouldn’t have come up with such an excellent idea.

Thus, he didn’t want to perform the Heaven and Earth Qi Gathering Technique to absorb nature’s spiritual energy; his current aim was only one thing: to gather incense and faith.

As relying solely on self-cultivation is too slow, leveraging incense to achieve the Dao is the real shortcut.

In Xinzhou City, the crowd was bustling, with a constant flow of pedestrians coming and going. Although there were spirit monsters and ghosts causing trouble in the more remote areas outside the city, within such a large city, it was still vibrant, akin to boiling oil.

Li Yi walked along and saw many scarce goods.

He saw a person selling centipedes by the roadside—a black and red centipede as thick as an adult’s arm, nearly two meters long, looking fierce and terrifying.

However, this centipede was in high demand, with many people bidding to purchase it.

Ultimately, a wealthy merchant bought it at a high price, and upon purchase, he publicly cut open the back of the centipede and extracted a bead the size of a thumb.

"It’s a win, it’s a win, they really gambled on a centipede bead," someone exclaimed, while others regretted not offering more money to buy it.

"It really contained a bead; it seems my luck isn’t too bad."

The wealthy merchant was very pleased, packed the treasure bead in a brocade box, and gifted the centipede to the centipede catcher, allowing him to sell it to a pharmacy for some silver coins as a reward.

Li Yi stood aside and listened for a moment, only then understanding what was happening.

It turned out that this centipede had become a spirit monster; if caught, one could luckily extract a treasure bead from its back, known as the centipede bead or Wind Stabilizing Pill.

The centipede catchers dared not gamble, fearing loss, so they sold it, allowing rich merchants to gamble for the bead.

"These things are similar to the mountain treasures and earth gems of the Four Seas and Eight Continents." Li Yi mused silently, "This world has abundant spiritual energy, so the mountain treasures and earth gems it nurtures must be more plentiful than those in the Four Seas and Eight Continents, and many people are knowledgeable about mountain treasures and earth gems, not unfamiliar. Most people are aware of the probability of a Wind Stabilizing Pill being nurtured behind a centipede."

He then walked a bit further and saw someone selling three toads. These toads were covered with flies, full of maggots, looking utterly disgusting.

But it seemed the seller was intentionally selling maggoty toads.

A passing itinerant doctor saw them and became interested, haggled over the price with the toad seller, and finally, with some pain, took out a hefty sum to buy one maggoty toad.

"Doctor, what use is there in buying maggoty toads?" Li Yi couldn’t help but ask out of curiosity.

The itinerant doctor, seeing Li Yi dressed as a Daoist, swiftly greeted him respectfully, "Greetings to the Daoist. You may not know, but maggoty toads are a rare and valuable medicine because toads are toxic. After death, flies typically don’t land on them, or they’ll be poisoned. However, out of tens or hundreds of dead toads, there are always exceptions, bitten by flies and growing maggots, just like this. After I take it back, I’ll mash it and prepare it into an ointment specifically for treating..."

Mid-sentence, the itinerant doctor stopped, chuckled, unwilling to reveal the treated condition to avoid leaking the formula.

"I see, thank you, doctor, for the explanation." Li Yi nodded, not probing further.

After exchanging a few polite words, the itinerant doctor didn’t linger long and hurriedly left, evidently heading to a pharmacy to prepare the ointment.