The Post Sky Tipping Era
Chapter 797 - 578: The God of Taihu

Chapter 797: Chapter 578: The God of Taihu

Taiyue City.

Li Yi spent three days and nights traveling from the Capital City, breaking mountains and temples to reach here. He did not proceed further but stopped to let the three thousand Jinyi Guards eat and rest.

The local officials dared not slack off and were diligent in their hospitality.

Although the situation in the Capital was tumultuous, in the eyes of the officials in Taiyue City, Master Taiyi was the State Preceptor of the current dynasty. The three thousand Jinyi Guards he led were also the Emperor’s personal guards. Such a significant figure could not be neglected, even though Li Yi came and broke mountains and temples, killing several Incense Gods. These court matters were not something the local officials could influence.

At this moment, in a Prince Mansion in Taiyue City.

Nature’s spiritual energy gathered, and simultaneously, dazzling beams of light shot up into the sky, absorbing that vast spiritual energy and transforming it. Finally, a mysterious black beam of light converged into the main hall of the mansion.

The hall was empty, and a few Golden Eyes Guards stood guard around, prohibiting anyone from approaching.

"No matter how many times I see it, such a phenomenon of cultivation always amazes me." Golden Eyes Guard Wang Ning raised his pale golden eyes to gaze at the sky.

In the eyes of ordinary people, the sky was normal, a vast starry sky with bright moonlight. But in the eyes of cultivators, the sky within several hundred miles of Taiyue City had changed colors. Red Cloud Qi surged, golden light crisscrossed, and green treasure light reflected. The three colors intertwined beautifully, like auroras, captivating everyone.

However, the appearance of these three colored lights was not just for beauty, but a transformation of Heaven and Earth Energy.

Li Yi performed the Heaven and Earth Qi Gathering Technique, drawing six hundred miles of spiritual energy, dividing the Five Elements, and gathering energy into the acupoints.

Moreover, he was trying to gather the water energy of the heavens and the earth into the Kidney Acupoint, striving to break through to the Fourth Level of the Five Qi Realm as soon as possible. It would be best if he could open sixty acupoints, completely finishing the Five Qi Chaoyuan path. In this way, his cross-border journey would be worthwhile, but at this rate, it would probably take at least half a year.

Because Li Yi had been stripped of his State Preceptor position by a Yin Emperor, his Incense Fire Belief Power was greatly reduced, and his acupoint opening speed was slow.

He hadn’t rewritten a Holy Decree to reappoint himself as the State Preceptor because, as long as the Yin Emperor remained, his actions were meaningless. After all, the moment he made himself State Preceptor again, it would immediately be nullified. He had to find a way to settle the incense gods once and for all to truly enjoy the Incense Fire Power of the State Preceptor position.

Luckily, within those nine days, Li Yi utilized Incense Fire Belief Power to falsely cultivate real strength; otherwise, he would have stumbled.

While Li Yi was cultivating.

Suddenly.

A bird flew from the direction of the Capital City, directly into Taiyue City and quickly tracked down the heavily guarded Prince Mansion, heading straight for the hall where nature’s spiritual energy was converging.

However, before the bird could land, it transformed into a maiden in the air, who was dressed in colorful clothes and exceptionally alert.

"Golden Eyes Guard Bai Ling, seeking an audience with Master Taiyi." This Bai Ling maiden was actually a Golden Eyes Guard and a spiritual bird turned spirit.

"Bai Ling, is there important news from the Capital?" Wang Ning, also a Golden Eyes Guard, stepped forward to ask.

Bai Ling said, "The Emperor has an order, which can only be conveyed to Master Taiyi."

"I will report." Golden Eyes Guard Wang Ning immediately walked into the hall.

Inside the hall, a golden Xiangyun floated half a meter above the ground, with a handsome young man of unparalleled presence sitting on it. Around him shimmered red, gold, black, and blue colors, occasionally interwoven with silver lightning, extraordinary and awe-inspiring.

Moreover, the room was filled with a faint fragrance, akin to the scent of incense but resembling the fragrance of summer lotus flowers, elegant and sublime, transcending mortal realms.

"True Man, Golden Eyes Guard Bai Ling brings important news from the Capital, waiting outside." Golden Eyes Guard Wang Ning said respectfully.

Li Yi, who was cultivating, calmly opened his eyes. He continued to channel spiritual energy, fingers forming seals: "Let her in."

"Yes, True Man." Golden Eyes Guard Wang Ning immediately brought Bai Ling into the hall.

Seeing Li Yi, Bai Ling’s heart trembled. She had flown from the wild into towns and then into the Imperial Palace, meeting countless capable individuals and Incense Gods, but the person before her was the most extraordinary, truly like an immortal or deity, utterly different from the others—a difference in realm, not compensable by any incense.

"Golden Eyes Guard Bai Ling, pays respects to Master Taiyi." She did not dare to scrutinize further, hurriedly kneeling with utmost respect.

Li Yi said, "What news from the Emperor?"

"The Emperor sent a letter, requesting Master Taiyi to read." Bai Ling promptly took a letter and handed it over.

Li Yi caught the letter from a distance, opened it, and saw the writing was in simplified characters, which people in this world couldn’t understand, making it the best encryption method.

With just a glance.

He immediately laughed.

As expected, everything was as he had predicted; the Incense Gods of the world could not sit still. It had only been three days, and they already launched their counterattack.

"Champion Marquis, Heavenly Might General, Shoushan God, White Water Lady... all renowned Incense Gods from across the world, including some spirit monsters who attained the Dao. Though their numbers aren’t large, they are experts, and teaming up clearly shows they are confident in victory, aiming to completely kill me."

"If I can eliminate these Incense Gods, then even those Yin Emperors would likely feel uneasy."

Li Yi’s gaze shifted slightly as he pondered.

He knows that the waters of this world are deep. Although on the surface there are just some spirit monsters and City Gods with not much strength, upon in-depth exploration, it can be found that the true masters are hidden in the shadows. Only after truly clashing can one understand the immense gap in strength between these top-tier masters and ordinary spirit monsters.

"I understand this matter. Go back and tell His Majesty that I am confident in handling it." A silver lightning then struck down, destroying the letter completely, after which Li Yi spoke.

"Yes, True Man, your subordinate takes leave."

Golden Eyes Guard Bai Ling then stood up and retreated. After leaving the hall, he transformed into a spiritual bird, flapped his wings, and swiftly flew towards the Capital.

"Rest well these two days. At noon the day after tomorrow, cross Taiyue Mountain with me and head to Taihu." Li Yi then spoke.

"Yes." The Golden Eyes Guard took the order and immediately left.

But the two days passed quickly, during which Li Yi did not encounter any attacks from masters. He stayed quietly in Taiyue City, knowing it was merely the calm before the storm.

On the third day, the Jinyi Guard ate and drank well, rested adequately, and then gathered once more.

At noon, Li Yi once again used the Cloud Soaring Technique to directly bring these people over Taiyue Mountain and arrived at another city, named Hu Guang City.

As usual, he spread the three thousand Jinyi Guards into the city. These guards harmed no one, disturbed no civilians, and did only one thing — destroying divine statues and temples.

Everything went normally.

However, when they were about to destroy a temple known as White Water Lady’s Temple, they faced fierce opposition from local villagers. But the opposition was futile; the temple was still destroyed by the Jinyi Guard.

"No wonder this city is called Hu Guang City. Standing on the city wall, gazing towards the south, the water of southern Taihu sparkles and reflects the light on the city wall. Such a beautiful scene indeed." At this moment, Li Yi stood on the city tower, his expression calm, appreciating the beauty of this Otherworld.

Such peaceful, harmonious scenery cannot be found on Earth now.

After the Cross-border Gate opened, Earth is filled with extraordinary creatures, disasters are frequent everywhere; where can one stand quietly to appreciate the natural scenery?

"The beauty of Taihu is famous worldwide. Master Taiyi is also a cultivator; why do you want to spoil the beauty?" Suddenly, a woman’s voice broke the silence, as a small boat surfaced from the bottom of Taihu in the distance, with a young woman aboard, rocking the boat leisurely towards Taihu City.

Though there was some distance, the woman’s voice lingered by the ear, not fading away.

Clearly, this woman is not an ordinary person but a cultivator with considerable skill.

Li Yi’s eyes moved slightly as he looked at the woman, smiling while he said: "You must be the legendary White Water Lady?"

"I am Qiu Baishui, met Master Taiyi." The woman admitted her identity while bowing respectfully.

Li Yi said: "Qiu Baishui? Nice name. But why do you think what I do spoils the scenery?"

"From the Capital, you have slain the four National Guardian Generals, destroyed mountains and temples along the way, causing many Gods of Incense to die one after another. Such excessive killing... isn’t it spoiling the scenery?" Qiu Baishui said: "The world is newly settled, everyone wants to live a stable life. Why would Master bring forth such turmoil for personal desires?"

"Have I killed anyone?" Li Yi asked.

"That indeed hasn’t happened." Qiu Baishui said.

Li Yi smiled: "Since I have not killed, why claim that I am creating turmoil? The common folk, I do not dare to touch. All I do is merely compete for some incense; you people contend over the incense of this world, but why can’t I? What kind of reason is that?"

"Master is revered as a State Preceptor, enjoying the incense offered by the world. How could you lack incense?" Qiu Baishui retorted.

Li Yi said: "How could a sparrow understand the ambitions of a swan? You rest comfortably with some incense to enjoy longevity, immortality, and leisure. But I need to leverage the Incense Fire Belief Power to cultivate the Great Dao, acquire Divine Power, avert Sky Tipping, and handle a world-ending crisis. Naturally, the incense I need is more."

"But the incense of this world is only so much, you take a portion, he takes a portion, what’s left for me is mere scraps; naturally, I cannot be content, thus I must destroy mountains and temples, forcing everyone to release the Power of Incense from their mouths."

"I don’t understand what you’re saying." Qiu Baishui furrowed her brow: "I only know, your methods are too extreme, violating the natural order."

"You don’t need to understand; you just need to know, in the struggle for the Dao, there’s no life without death. You fear I will cut off your Power of Incense; I equally fear you monopolizing it, leaving me hopeless in advancement." Li Yi sighed at this moment.

"If you insist on this, then today I can only bury Master in the depths of Taihu." Qiu Baishui spoke seriously at this moment.

Because she had sensed that the White Water Lady’s temple nearby was being dismantled, and the Power of Incense on her began to rapidly diminish.

Fortunately, the Incense Fire Belief Power accumulated over more than a thousand years was immense; for the moment, it did not cause much harm, but if allowed the Daoist before her to continue his mischief, she the White Water Lady might become history.

"If you truly have this ability, I don’t mind my flesh and blood feeding the fish and shrimp of the lake. But I hope you can achieve it, because if you don’t kill me today, I will kill you." Li Yi’s expression remained calm, as still as lake water, unperturbed.

He also wanted to see how powerful the famous God of Incense in this world truly was, and how it differed from the previous Four National Guardian Generals.

Qiu Baishui, at this moment, had already sailed to the shore. She looked up at Master Taiyi on the city wall, her gaze gradually grew colder.

This Daoist is truly mad to the extreme, beyond saving; apart from killing him, there was no other way to stop his acts of destroying mountains and temples. Originally, she wanted to persuade him, hoping to avoid conflict since both were cultivators, neither had it easy; but now it seemed she must set aside this compassion.

"If that’s the case, then today I ask Master Taiyi for guidance." Qiu Baishui bowed respectfully again, then exuded a chilling intent to kill.