Free Web NovelChapter 334: Chapter 241: A Borrowed Foundation Establishment, Killing with a Borrowed Knife (2)
Only Daoist Ling Xia was at a complete loss, having gained nothing at all.
But he had clearly benefited greatly the last few times.
Why had he gained nothing from listening to the thunder’s roar this time?
Daoist Ling Xia’s heart was filled with terror, but he didn’t dare make a scene. He waited for the crowd to disperse before quietly departing with them.
Daoist Qing Feng sat in the Hall of Roaring Thunder, watching the crestfallen Daoist Ling Xia and shaking his head. He thought to himself:
’A hundred years of cultivation wasted on him. He doesn’t even understand that trouble comes from a loose tongue!
When Han Qiang and I complain, we do it in private. How could we dare speak so recklessly in public?’
As a veteran of the Hongde Blessed Land, Daoist Qing Feng’s understanding was far deeper than Daoist Ling Xia’s.
Shenxiao Thunder City had countless government offices and innumerable official posts. Among them were the Weiling Merit Officers, who specialized in observing the myriad heavens, rewarding good, and recording transgressions.
Daoist Ling Xia was ignorant of their power and had dared to spout nonsense in the Hall of Roaring Thunder.
As the saying goes, words have echoes.
One of the symbolic aspects of the Thunder Core is the ’Voice of Heaven and Earth’.
The Daoist Scriptures also record that thunder is a sound that can be heard for a hundred li, shaking the nine heavens and moving the nine earths, startling the four seas and churning the four oceans.
Therefore, the moment Daoist Ling Xia’s words left his mouth, they were inevitably heard by the Weiling Merit Officers who drift through the eight thousand blessed lands, monitoring all the Cultivators of the myriad nations.
’A pity about Daoist Ling Xia’s century of cultivation. He’ll probably be arrested and made to answer for it.’
Daoist Qing Feng sighed. Among the many precepts of the Immortal Dao, one was to refrain from creating negative karma with one’s words.
The blessed lands under the Thunder Core’s jurisdiction were relatively lenient, only requiring that one not speak rashly or falsely to avoid stirring up trouble.
But in the infinite blessed lands ruled by the Tai Yang Daoist Lineage, one’s body and mind had to be utterly sincere in their reverence for the Emperor.
During the "Emperor’s Birthday," which occurred once every few years, there were always examples of insincere individuals who chanted the "Three Yang Daoist Treatise" and were turned to ash by its majestic light, their insides incinerated.
’If the Demon Dao is about Lower Cultivators not daring to hate Upper Cultivators, then the Immortal Dao is about ants not daring to resent the Emperor.’
Daoist Qing Feng closed his eyes and entered a meditative state, continuing to praise True Monarch Yingyuan Sijie.
...
...
「Shenxiao Thunder City, Scrutiny Department.」
An Immortal Official holding the Book of Good and Evil frowned slightly, as if listening to the sound of thunder.
A moment later, he flipped through a few pages of the book. His gaze fell upon the Hongde Blessed Land, and from among the many registered Daoists, he found the name "Ling Xia."
He then took out a vermilion brush and with a light stroke, crossed the name out.
"Slandering the Daoist Lineage, insincere toward the Dao Path. Strip him of his foundation in this life. In the next, he will be reborn as a pig or a dog to cleanse his transgressions."
With a check from his vermilion brush, Daoist Ling Xia of the Hongde Blessed Land would henceforth be plagued by karmic tribulations, destined to be annihilated by the Five Thunders sooner or later.
"Qing Feng, Han Qiang... these two have accumulated enough Merit. They can be promoted."
The Immortal Official wrote out a memorial, burned incense, and submitted it. A wisp of green smoke slowly rose.
Before long, the book-holding Immortal Official of the Merit Bestowal Department received the memorial and carefully examined the two’s backgrounds:
"
From a Geng-rank blessed land, no Foundation Establishment True Master in their family for ten generations. Their cultivation talent is truly poor... They can only be transferred to a ’Wu’ rank. Though it’s not exactly a carp leaping over the dragon gate, it will help their descendants accumulate some foundation and allow their children and grandchildren to benefit from their legacy."
After finishing the inspection, this Immortal Official reported his findings to the Examination Department.
For Cultivators from the lower blessed lands to be "promoted" to a higher-level blessed land, they had to be approved by the "Three Departments."
If it involved the blessed lands of the Jia, Yi, Bing, and Ding classes, or even a promotion to Shenxiao Thunder City, the approval of the Karmic Retribution Department and the Execution and Investigation Department would also be required. The process was exceedingly complex.
’The True Monarch has sent down an Opportunity recently, allowing quite a few Cultivators from the blessed lands to receive a great fortune...’
The book-holding Immortal Official mused to himself:
’I wonder how many can forge a superior Dao Foundation and refine that pair of ’Wind and Thunder Treasure Wings’.’
Residing in Shenxiao Thunder City, his information was far more current than that of someone like Daoist Qing Feng.
True Monarch Yingyuan Sijie did indeed intend to select and cultivate high-achievers at the Qi Cultivation Twelfth Layer from the blessed lands below.
The reason he had ordered the Cloud-Summoning and Rain-Making Department and the Five Thunders Execution and Investigation Department to activate the Thunder Core’s portal, sending down the rumbling thunder that cleansed the soul and awakened one’s Dao nature, was precisely to nurture these Immortal Seedlings.
Minor figures like Daoist Qing Feng were merely basking in the reflected glory.
"Hoh! Another Immortal Seedling today! Quickly have the Thunder Soldier Department send someone to receive them."
As the book-holding Immortal Official was pondering this, he suddenly sensed something. He hastily turned a page and saw a name.
"A Ren-rank blessed land, Cao Qiu... an Immortal Seedling from such a desolate place?"
The book-holding Immortal Official couldn’t help but be astonished. The great Dao’s thunderous roar contained a First Grade technique called the "Thunderclap Devil-Sweeping Incantation."
Only those who listened to the thunder’s roar, comprehended this technique, and successfully cultivated it, showing the potential to forge a superior Dao Foundation, could be considered an "Immortal Seedling."
’I must inquire with the Scrutiny Department and check this person’s background.’
The book-holding Immortal Official dispatched a Weiling spirit. A moment later, he received a reply.
He took a closer look, and his expression changed.
"He’s actually from the great house of a True Monarch! A great-grandparent served as a Dean in Shenxiao Thunder City, and his father holds a post in the Thunder Division! Which noble scion is this, descended to the mortal world to undergo a trial?"
...
...
「Shenxiao Thunder City, Karmic Retribution Department.」
The Director in charge of this office was a Third Layer Foundation Establishment True Master.
His desk was piled high with submitted memorials and reports, giving him a splitting headache.
The Karmic Retribution Department was responsible for settling karmic debts and initiating thunder punishments, making it a department with real power.
But lately, they had been unbelievably busy.
"The higher-ups just move their mouths, and we subordinates run our legs off."
The Director looked as wilted as a frost-bitten eggplant, his expression bitter.
The True Monarch had sent down the great Dao’s thunderous roar to nurture the Immortal Seedlings of eight thousand six hundred blessed lands.
Among them, there were certainly lucky ones who seized their fortune and opportunity, successfully leaping the dragon gate;
but far more were "noble scions from great houses" who had been demoted and sent down to the mortal world to undergo trials.
These characters, whose ancestors included True Monarchs and whose connections were deep and tangled, were all troublemakers of the highest order.
If not, they wouldn’t have been driven out by the high-ranking Gate Valve clans and tossed into the lower blessed lands to taste the hardships of the mortal world.
"Cao Qiu! He’s from the Cao family, which belongs to the Tai Yang Daoist Lineage! How did he end up being sent here to the Thunder Core for his trial!"
"And Qin Xiaoyun, Qu Jin, Jun Jiusi... each one is burdened with heavy karmic tribulations and entangled in immense causality.
And now the True Monarch’s great Dao thunder has awakened their past-life memories, allowing them to step into the Qi Cultivation Twelfth Layer!"
The Director felt his head was about to explode. All of these personages came from illustrious families; their arrangements could not be made lightly.
The True Monarch was cultivating Immortal Seedlings to find masters for three Magical Treasures: the ’Wind and Thunder Wings,’ the ’Cloud-Snatching Shroud,’ and the ’Heaven-Shattering Drill.’
If an Immortal Seedling cultivated the "Thunderclap Devil-Sweeping Incantation" and forged a superior Dao Foundation, they would be perfect for nurturing a Thunder Core Magical Treasure.
By borrowing the Divine Techniques of a Golden Position, they could step half a foot into the Foundation Establishment Realm ahead of time.
This was the method of "borrowing power through an object"!
The Director didn’t know why the True Monarch was cultivating so many Half-Step Foundation Establishment cultivators, but it was undoubtedly a "dead-end path."
Falsely holding a Foundation Establishment position was equivalent to severing one’s own Dao path. It would be impossible to refine the five methods and ascend to True Monarch in the future.
’When the time comes and the great houses place the blame, they naturally won’t dare to trouble the True Monarch. I’m afraid they’ll take their anger out on me.’
The Director’s face was full of worry. He was in a very difficult position.
He was the head of the Karmic Retribution Department, wielding great power. In the upper Fourth Class blessed lands, he would be a top figure, like a regional lord.
But this was only a case of being better than those below; he was far inferior to those above.
Within the Immortal Dao, only the Tai Yang Daoist Lineage of White Jade City was truly absolute, genuinely controlling the continent, their words carrying the weight of the nine cauldrons.
Previously, when the True Monarch was struck by a Qi Cultivation sword from the Nanzhan Continent, that Emperor personally came to Shenxiao Thunder City, directly established a heavenly rule, and had the numerous Lower Cultivators who dared to gossip recklessly burned to death.
Although this act was meant to maintain order and couldn’t be faulted, Shenxiao Thunder City was True Monarch Yingyuan Sijie’s Grotto-Heaven. For the Emperor who sat high in the Tai Yang to come as he pleased and wield the power of life and death...
From this, it was clear that the Thunder Core was far inferior to the Tai Yang.
"How did this hot potato end up in my hands?"
As the Director grimaced, the aide beside him offered some advice:
"My lord, why worry? Cao Qiu, Qin Xiaoyun, Qu Jin, and Jun Jiusi—they have either self-severed a lifetime’s Foundation Establishment cultivation to be reborn and perfect their Dao heart, or they have committed grave errors and are being punished with a trial... These chosen ones are the most astute.
Now that the great Dao’s thunder has awakened their past-life memories and they recall their former lives, you might as well let them choose for themselves."
The Director frowned.
"These noble scions from great houses have always valued themselves above all else. Why would they refine a Magical Treasure to falsely hold a Foundation Establishment position?"
The aide gave a meaningful smile, leaned in close to his ear, and reminded him in a low voice:
"My lord has perhaps forgotten that the Juku Continent has opened up over in the Nanzhan Continent. I believe the True Monarch’s goal in nurturing these Immortal Seedlings is likely far-reaching."
The aide’s words were suggestive but stopped there. However, the Director of the Karmic Retribution Department understood.
Could it be that the True Monarch wanted the numerous Immortal Seedlings to eliminate the Innate Daoist poised to inherit the Shao Yang Golden Position?
That would make sense.
After all, the symbolic image of the Thunder Core had been greatly damaged, and the root cause was that very person’s sword strike.
’If a noble scion from a great house were to take the head of the new Shao Yang sovereign, it would be a great service to the Tai Yang Daoist Lineage as well.
They might even be directly appointed to White Jade City and taken as a disciple by the Emperor himself.
With such an Opportunity before them, how could they refuse?’
Listening to his aide’s eloquent explanation, the Director of the Karmic Retribution Department still had doubts.
Why would the True Monarch go to the trouble of selecting candidates from the Tai Yang Daoist Lineage?
To refine and nurture the three Magical Treasures—the Wind and Thunder Wings, the Cloud-Snatching Shroud, and the Heaven-Shattering Drill—wouldn’t someone from the Thunder Core Daoist Lineage be more suitable?
