Free Web NovelChapter 313: Chapter 42: Under the Rule of the True Yang Sect
Dalinfu City.
From a distance, the city looked like a great fire burning on the plains, as it was a sea of crimson from one end to the other.
Wang Ping entered the city from the south. A large sacrificial ceremony was underway on both sides of the straight road leading from the city gate. The object of worship was none other than the True Yang Sect’s Lieyang True Monarch.
Below the altar stood the members of a clan, and the one presiding over the ceremony was even an Entering Cultivator. He was chanting a prayer of worship. Wang Ping couldn’t understand a word of it, but he could read from the Cultivator’s soul that he was beseeching the True Monarch to bless the nobles present.
Passing commoners also took part, grabbing free incense and candles from the roadside, lighting them, and walking over to say a few auspicious words or pray for a bit of good luck.
Doing as the Romans do, Wang Ping also took three sticks of incense and placed them in a nearby censer. He then made a perfunctory Taoist hand gesture. As he was leaving, a young attendant approached and handed him some bits of silver, explaining that it was for Wang Ping to have some tea in the city.
’The True Yang Sect has a tradition of worship too?’
Yu Lian asked, confused. In her spare time, she had read almost all of Wang Ping’s books and learned many things from them, but she had never heard that the True Yang Sect was fond of sacrificial rites.
Wang Ping tested the weight of the silver in his hand and replied in his Spirit Sea, ’This place is only a few hundred li from Shangjing. It’s not surprising that some of its sacrificial customs have spread here. We didn’t encounter this back on Houjiang Road.’
’If Lieyang True Monarch can truly sense them, wouldn’t their constant prayers disturb his cultivation?’ Yu Lian’s question came from a unique angle.
Wang Ping was taken aback for a moment. He recalled the prayers he’d overheard from the commoners as he passed: prayers for a sick child to get well soon, prayers for a son, and at most, a prayer for a child to pass the exam to become a Child Student. There were even some gamblers praying to win a little more once they got into the city.
’If I were pestered by them like this every day, I’d definitely give each of them a Misfortune Talisman,’ Wang Ping replied.
’That makes sense!’ Yu Lian said thoughtfully, then added, ’The Emperor watches over the entire world and faces worship from all corners every day. Can his mind even handle it?’
’You’d have to cultivate a Divine Technique to know.’
’Are you going to cultivate one?’
Wang Ping fell into thought. He could, in fact, cultivate a Divine Technique. After all, he had quite a few believers on Nanlin Road, and Divine Techniques were very powerful in the later stages. However, the first step—to know oneself and clarify the heart—was a barrier for most. To maintain this state of self-knowledge and clarity, one had to undergo a century of seated meditation and quiet cultivation.
The Imperial Family relied on their heritage, using their bloodline as a conduit to forcibly expel all desire, becoming mere puppets who wielded the nation’s Divine Artifact. In a way, these Emperors were quite tragic.
As for Xia Yao, she first cultivated the water meridians, joined with the Dragon Monarch’s ninth son, and advanced to the Second Realm. Then, she used a Divine Technique to forcibly transform her physical body into a Spirit Body. Feeding on the karmic fortune of Zhongzhou with incense offerings and her own bloodline, she would steadily achieve a Primordial Spirit. With her Primordial Spirit, she could then receive the nation’s Divine Artifact, attaining a level of incense-fueled cultivation comparable to a Lord.
Both the True Yang Sect and Lishui Prefecture had placed heavy bets on Xia Yao, and the number of people watching from the shadows was countless.
Furthermore, the moment Xia Yao completely controlled the karmic fortune of Zhongzhou would surely be when the Xiao Shan Lord advanced. At that time, he would be surrounded by watchful dragons, and Wang Ping would have no choice but to stand with the Xiao Shan Lord.
’Are you worrying again?’
’A little!’
As Wang Ping replied, he looked toward the city wall. The fiery red of the walls didn’t come from dye. Instead, the outer walls were inlaid with planks of Fire Candle Tree wood. The surface of the planks was carved with vivid flame patterns, and if you didn’t look closely, it really seemed as if the walls were wreathed in fire.
The city gate had similar decorations, but the carvings were even more lifelike. Entering the gate felt like plunging into a sea of fire. Below the wall, the guards were collecting the entrance fee as usual. It was very cheap—only one copper plate per person, with merchant caravans charged separately.
There were no signs of anyone pocketing the fees, because True Yang Mountain was visible in the distance. The city guards checked Wang Ping’s backup identification token but did not waive the one-copper-plate entrance fee just because he was a member of the Daoist Scripture Hall.
The outer walls of the buildings in the city mimicked the city walls, inlaid with planks of Fire Candle Tree wood. In remote alleys, some low-lying courtyards were built directly from the wood itself.
’There are Water Element Arrays set up in many places throughout the city. What a strange combination,’ Yu Lian remarked.
Wang Ping discreetly dropped some plant seeds and quickly confirmed that what Yu Lian said was true. The arrays were all simple Water Control Arrays. He wasn’t too surprised, since Fire Candle Tree wood was flammable. The Water Element Arrays were surely meant for putting out fires.
But it seemed they weren’t just for putting out fires. Through his spreading vegetation, Wang Ping saw someone intentionally set their own house ablaze, apparently trying to please the True Yang Sect deity they worshipped. Fortunately, a nearby Water Element Array activated in time, saving the whole family.
’This world is full of lazy people who dream of getting something for nothing. People like that aren’t worth saving. Letting them burn to death is the best solution.’ Yu Lian also sensed the fire in the corner of the city through Wang Ping’s Spirit Sea and offered her own, different opinion.
Wang Ping remained noncommittal. In an age where gods and immortals were real, mortals would always have all sorts of wonderful fantasies. But fantasies, in the end, were just fantasies.
There were no vendors along the city streets. Occasionally, he would see merchants pushing handcarts, sweating profusely as they hurried further into the city. He figured the Prefecture Magistrate’s Office must have designated a specific market for trade.
Half an hour later, Wang Ping followed the crowd to a crossroads. The path straight ahead clearly led to the city center, where the tower of the Daoist Scripture Hall was already visible in the distance. To the left, a hubbub of voices rose, and since the handcarts were also heading that way, he guessed that was the city’s market. The road to the right was clean, with many carriages passing by and a heavy scent of rouge in the air; that was likely where the city’s brothels were located.
After a brief survey, Wang Ping walked straight ahead. He wasn’t going to the Daoist Scripture Hall. Instead, he had spotted an inn secretly run by the internal affairs division of Qianmu Temple. Before leaving, Zhao Wan had given him information on all the division’s contact points throughout Zhongzhou.
The inn’s exterior was decorated to match local customs—entirely red. The first thing he smelled upon entering was the aroma of wine, followed by the stench of sweat, as the most common patrons were Jianghu Travelers and traveling Taoists.
Wang Ping’s arrival only caught the attention of an attendant, who enthusiastically bowed and trotted over. "Daoist, what can I get for you?" he asked cheerfully.
"Do you have a private room?"
"We do!"
"Take me to one..."
"Right away! This way, Daoist."
The attendant turned sideways and led the way.
The private room was on the second floor and was quite small. The attendant went in first to open the window, and as the clamor from the street below drifted in, Wang Ping followed him inside.
"Daoist, what would you like?"
Wang Ping took a few specially marked pieces of silver from his pocket and gave them to the attendant. "I’ve been traveling a long way. I hear the cured sausage here in Dalinfu City is excellent. Bring me a couple of links to try, and a pot of yellow wine."
"Right away. One moment."
After the attendant left, the sound of a suona horn drifted in from outside the window. Wang Ping subconsciously used his Primordial Spirit to connect with the plants that had sprouted from the seeds he’d scattered and investigate.
A funeral procession was coming from the North City, yet the procession was dressed in an unusually festive manner.
