Infinite Professions

Chapter 394: Chapter 205: Advancement (Part 2)

But he was not the only one whose body and mind were exhausted.

"Song Xiang!!!"

In the Yin Department Office, in the study of the Civil Judge, Lu Ji slammed the table, his eyes ablaze with anger: "You are utterly ungrateful!"

"Heh!"

Zhou Bo, seeing this, sneered coldly: "I told you, Brother Lu, you will surely regret this. This boy’s ambition is already as clear as day, and if we do not find a way to remove him, you and I will both suffer at his hands in the future!"

"..."

Lu Ji fell silent for a moment, then made a decision: "Let’s go with your suggestion, appoint him as the Assessor Magistrate of the Punishment Department!"

"This should have been done sooner!"

Zhou Bo was overjoyed and immediately said: "There is no time to waste, let’s go to seek permission from the Lord of the Mansion!"

...

Thus, another month passed, and the time came to autumn and winter.

The cool wind arrived, white frost descended, and cold cicadas chirped.

The autumn wind was bleak, the chill penetrated the bones.

In the Qinghe execution ground, all eyes were on the scene.

The executioner stood with a knife, and a person knelt in front, it was Song Guan from the Song Family.

After being imprisoned in the death cell for several months, he hadn’t become much thinner, just somewhat dispirited, now exhibiting signs of madness.

But his mouth was gagged, his hands and feet were bound, and madness was of no use.

"The noon has come!"

"Verify the identity!"

The one supervising the execution was the County Captain, Song Jian. Looking at his nephew Song Guan, there was not a trace of pity in his eyes; as soon as the appointed time arrived, he raised the Command Arrow.

The executioner followed suit, removing Song Guan’s convict’s placard, then raised his messy hair to reveal his face and confirm his identity.

"Is it really Song Guan?"

"The Song Family... so ruthless!"

"A hero cuts off his own arm, truly decisive."

"Song Wen, that old fox..."

Among the onlookers, many were nobles, specifically the heads of the Lu and Huang Families from Qinghe and Huangshan.

Of course, most were commoners, and upon seeing Song Guan’s confirmed identity, they began to discuss fervently.

"Is this really the eldest son of the Song Family?"

"To uphold justice even against one’s own, with no leniency, truly worthy of being the descendant of Song Shenjun!"

"The Mountain God is fair and stern, naturally incapable of tolerating the offspring wreaking havoc and harming others."

The crowd buzzed with discussions, their hearts growing more fervent, forming a belief, flowing like a surging tide.

Although Great Chen has clear laws, where a Patriarch killing a slave is not punishable by death, or even accountable for.

But... should this really be the case?

It seems justified.

Human hearts are like iron, the laws like a furnace, as implemented through millennia of dynasties, such laws have long been ingrained in people’s hearts. Even the killed servants themselves believed that the Patriarch bore no guilt.

This is the result of thousands of years of legal refinement.

But this is merely the surface!

Self-preservation is instinctual, and regarding such unjust laws, even if outwardly submissive, internally there will be some resentment, just unable to express, unable to expand.

The same applies to the parties involved, as well as the bystanders.

After all, when a rabbit dies, the fox grieves, and when one object is hurt, another feels its kind’s pain!

Regarding such laws, anyone who is not a head of the Noble Family or a beneficiary of privileges, who among them does not harbor a touch of resentment in their heart?

It’s just equally unexpressed.

This resentment, suppressed in the heart, now released in one breath, achieving expression, the outburst is imaginable.

A great deal of Faith Power coalesced into a magnificent destiny, vaguely forming into the shape of a flood dragon, with black scales covering its body, claws and teeth fierce, heading straight for Little Yellow Mountain.

At the same time, outside Qinghe County, a convoy was on the move, with Shadow Soldiers and Paper Horses traversing Yin and Yang, and the golden carriage and jade palanquin moving through illusion and reality, manifesting an extraordinary spectacle.

"Hm!?"

Inside the golden carriage, Lu Ji’s eyes tightened, watching as the flood dragon, baring its claws and teeth, filled with resentment and anger, headed straight for Little Yellow Mountain, his eyes full of alarm.

"Such violent wish power?"

"It is the flame of resentment in the hearts of Qinghe’s people!"

"When laws are unjust and the people’s hearts hold hatred, once it erupts, it’s like a breach in a dam, that’s how such violent wish power is condensed."

"If I hadn’t come today to elevate his official rank, he might have used this resentment of the people and the power of righteousness to forcefully break through, and then he could shed his shackles and independently become a god, dominating a region."

"Truly... a clever move!"

Lu Ji’s eyes shifted, then he urged his divine power, and the speed of his carriage increased rapidly as he rushed toward Little Yellow Mountain.

Even though he’s not a third-rank great god, having been the Jinyang Civil Judge for so long, he also knows some fundamental secrets of the divine dao.

The divine dao system, one’s official rank and title, mostly come from divine appointment, forged by upper gods granting divine seals to minor gods to achieve their positions.

Such divine appointments have pros and cons.

The advantage, needless to say, is fast success, not limited by aptitude, no cultivation required; as long as the upper god grants you a divine seal, even a common yin soul or even a pig, dog, cattle, or horse can leap to become a god.

But the downside is also obvious, which is that what is granted by the divine seal can also be taken away by it, life and death are at the hands of the upper gods, whenever the upper god is displeased, they can strip you of the divine seal and cast you back into the mortal world.

This is the shackle of the divine dao, much like the bureaucratic hierarchy in the mortal world, a higher rank crushes the lower, the sovereign holds the power over life and death.

But this shackle is not insurmountable; as long as you have enough faith wish power as your resource, even if the upper god doesn’t grant you a divine appointment, you can forcefully ascend and independently become divine based on wish power.

Because this is the root of the divine dao.

In this realm, the faith of living beings has power, as long as there is enough wish power, even a dead object can transform into a divine being.

The original mountain and land gods came to be this way.

That mountain, that land, were originally inanimate objects, without any divinity, but later, through people’s faith and offerings, they gradually became gods.

The earliest deities were thus born and began to delve into the application of faith wish power, eventually developing the core cultivation method of the divine dao: transforming faith into a god, wish into power, and integrating heaven and earth to form authority, commanding the heavens, ruling the earth, mastering the universe.

Yet this does not prevent the emergence of "innate deities."

As long as there is sufficient faith wish power, whether it’s a deity with a divine seal or a yin ghost without one, they can ascend to godhood with the support of faith wish power.

Such deities are innate deities, possessing many great powers, and more importantly, they are not shackled by upper gods, independent and free, not having to rely on anyone.

However, the method of innate deification requires tremendous wish power, feasible only in ancient times, requiring millennia of faith offerings and accumulation of wish power from ancient peoples.

And nowadays, with the established divine dao system, the structure set in place, the cultivation of faith is divided, there’s almost no room for the birth of innate deities, with upper gods imposing strict faith taxations, leaving little space for minor gods to break their shackles and independently transcend.

Song Xiang was originally the same.

But somehow, he managed to have surplus divine power after paying the prefecture taxes, which he used to flourish greatly in Qinghe and Huangshan, causing the population of the two counties to surge to a million in just decades, and now he’s invoking the resentment in the hearts of the people with a righteous force.

If I had been one step later, he might have used this force to become a god, breaking the shackles of Jinyang Prefecture’s City God, becoming an independent, self-sustained innate deity.

That would be a great calamity.

Fortunately, I came!

Lu Ji’s eyes were sharp, and his carriage galloped with the swiftness of the wind, arriving in an instant at Little Yellow Mountain.

Little Yellow Mountain, the land of deities, with splendid temples.

Lu Ji stepped down from the carriage, stood before the temple, surveying it coldly, hands clasped behind him: "Where is Song Xiang?"

Do not lose face, though forced into a passive position, the posture still must be maintained.

Before the words were finished, a golden light burst forth, paving a grand avenue directly to his front.

Subsequently, from the avenue of golden light, a divine being appeared, wearing a yellow robe and azure vestments, stepping in cloud shoes, surrounded by strongmen and palace maidens, accompanied by civil and military officials, incense lingering, clouds meandering, with a majestic and robust aura, overshadowing even this fifth-rank true god.

Lu Ji: "..."

In silence, the divine being approached, stopping in front of him, bowed with cupped hands: "Song Xiang, Mountain God of Little Yellow Mountain, greets the Civil Judge!"

"Merit Golden Light?!"

Lu Ji’s eyes narrowed, then returned to normal, looking at Song Xiang, whose manner was respectful in words but without a hint of humility in posture, and he wasted no more words, directly unfurling a jade scroll document.

"Song Xiang, Mountain God of Little Yellow Mountain, upright in office, meritorious in governance, is hereby promoted to Assessor Magistrate of the Punishment Department of Jinyang Prefecture!"

Having said that, Lu Ji waved two fingers, and three subordinates came forward, holding trays that carried an official robe, a gold seal, and a precious sword.

Thus, Lu Ji fell silent, merely observing Shen Hex and his retinue, secretly on guard.

At this point, will he accept the divine seal?

Lu Ji did not know, but he had prepared to tear off the mask.

The result he saw was...

"Song Xiang accepts the decree!"

Shen Hex smiled, stepped forward, and the official robe and gold seal on the tray rose, merging with his body in an instant, transforming into a cap above his head, a red robe on his body, and a sword behind him, marking him as the deity of Yin Division’s Punishment Department.