Chapter 501: (2): Some Principles Are Natural and Right

The young woman sat there and contemplated some matters.

She could already be regarded as a young prodigy in the Silver Screen Nation and the surrounding nations, but compared to those two people, she knew that she was still very much inferior. One was a young boy at just fifteen years of age, yet he had already advanced to the Abode Tier two years ago. The other was a young woman at twenty years of age, and she had further enjoyed endless fortunes and a smooth journey of cultivation, also possessing an incredibly valuable treasure. If it weren't for the fact that they hailed from two opposing top-notch immortal sects that were arch-enemies with each other, they would have been the perfect pair of Golden Boy and Jade Girl.

There were a dozen or so nations in the region, and it appeared as if everyone in the mountains and outside the mountains were watching them grow and compete.

Each meeting between them would result in an exciting story that everyone discussed with relish.

In reality, the young woman was very envious of these two young prodigies.

This was because the intelligent young boy who was destined for fame since childhood indeed looked like an otherworldly immortal. His personality was warm and gentle, and he was exceptionally skilled at instruments, Go, writing, and painting. She couldn't fathom how there could exist such a captivating young boy in the world.

Seeing his senior sister become adrift as she sat there, the young man thought that she was worried about their mission afterward, so he said in consolation, "Senior Sister, if we're not confident about completing the mission, then we can leave after we find that child. There's no need to worry about this unavoidable calamity. Master also said that cultivators like us need to understand fate and act according to the trend. Since Imperial Accompanying City has already enjoyed the fortune of being protected by a deity for several hundred years, it's only right that they suffer this significant destined calamity."

The young woman nodded in response before warning, "Be careful of eavesdroppers."

The young man smiled and said, "I do believe that there are all kinds of people in the prefectural city, including strong and mysterious people. However, to say that we'll come across powerful beings at the city gate...? I don't believe this. We're not from some small third-rate immortal force either, so which old immortal or young immortal from the mountains do we not recognize? Perhaps that person who's mucking around with a monkey is an immortal concealing his aura? Or perhaps that young wanderer wearing a bamboo hat is actually a superior grandmaster from the cultivation world?"

The young woman's expression changed slightly, and she scolded, "Have you forgotten the teachings of our master? We need to speak carefully and act carefully when we leave the mountains and travel around outside!"

As she said this, she quickly glanced at the old man with the monkey squatting on his shoulder as well as the young man who had walked over to an ox-drawn cart. There was nothing to worry about regarding the latter, with the young man completely oblivious to her junior brother's offensive remarks. However, her heart shuddered when she looked at the former, and this was because the old man who had been feeding the small monkey on his shoulder just then also turned around to look at her, pursing his lips with an unfriendly expression. The young woman stood up and cupped her fists in apology.

However, the old man wasn't very understanding, and his gaze wandered around as he looked her up and down from head to toe. He then smiled coldly and retracted his gaze, seemingly uninterested in her looks and figure.

The young woman didn't care too much about this, but a ball of flaming fury instantly welled up inside her junior brother's chest. This old bastard actually dared to humiliate his senior sister like this?! He was just about to step forward, but his senior sister gently grabbed his sleeve and shook her head at him, saying, "We were in the wrong first."

The young man shot a furious glare at the old man with the monkey on his shoulder, making sure to commit his appearance to memory. When they entered Imperial Accompanying City afterward, the numerous forces would definitely end up with chaotic relationships with one another as conflict broke out. As such, he would definitely give this old bastard hell once he found a suitable opportunity to make a move.

Chen Ping'an was actually observing everything, and he couldn't help but sigh with emotion upon seeing the two parties mysteriously build animosity with each other. Their tempers were truly quite bad.

In reality, the Silver Screen Nation and the surrounding dozen or so nations all suffered from a lack of spiritual energy, making them unsuitable locations for cultivation. As a result, these nations were rife with martial artists from the cultivation world, and the Spring Dew Garden's Song Lanqiao had also commented that the Qi refiners in these nations were like a group of frogs at the bottom of the well.

These Qi refiners liked to lie inside their small ponds and act arrogantly there, and they were happy about the lack of powerful figures from outside as this would give them free rein to act as they pleased. With the two opposing forces both led by Golden Core Tier immortals with terrible cultivation foundations, they liked to frequently gather together groups of underlings to taunt and fight each other. This had already been going on for several hundred years.

However, even though Song Lanqiao had spoken casually, Chen Ping'an was still accustomed to acting carefully when he traveled around the cultivation world. Caution was the key to longevity, after all.

Cultivators in the mountains were skilled at all sorts of weird and wonderful immortal techniques, so once conflict broke out, the level of one's cultivation base and even the grade of one's immortal treasures weren't necessarily accurate indications of who would come out on top. The circulation of fortune and the effects of schemes were all factors that could affect the results.

After entering the prefectural city, Chen Ping'an didn't continue to follow the sturdy man and his two children to the market near the fire god shrine, lest the man suspect that he harbored ill intentions. Instead, Chen Ping'an made his way to the city god temple first.

In reality, Chen Ping'an could tell that the sturdy man was actually a pure martial artist at around the fourth tier, and it was only after Chen Ping'an had approached him that he had purposely muddied his breathing and caused his walking to become choppy. According to Chen Ping'an's understanding, a third tier martial artist with a decent cultivation foundation should have enjoyed some minor fame in the cultivation world of the Silver Screen Nation, so as for why this man had become a woodsman in the countryside selling firewood to the city to make a living and causing his family to also suffer as a result, it was very likely that he had his own story and reasons. Chen Ping'an wouldn't probe into these personal matters, especially since he didn't know the man well enough.

After they parted ways...

The sturdy man walked forward with the ox-drawn cart, and his two young children remained as carefree as always as they looked around at the surroundings. The man smiled and glanced back at the young wanderer disappearing into the distance, murmuring to himself, "He couldn't even tell that I was a member of the cultivation world, so he's probably just a junior at the second tier or the third tier. Sigh, why is he coming here to involve himself in this mess? Those immortals from the mountains are like powerful flood dragons when they unleash their immortal techniques, with a casual wave of their arms being strong enough to end the lives of countless commoners in the city."

Chen Ping'an smiled when he heard this.

The sturdy man was a kind-hearted person, and he had purposely told Chen Ping'an that the Spirit Treasure City in the north was also worth visiting. This was presumably so that Chen Ping'an would leave this dangerous prefectural city sooner rather than later.

By a stroke of coincidence, the old man carrying a monkey on his shoulder and the young man and young woman carrying swords on their backs were also heading in the same direction as Chen Ping'an, making their way to the city god temple first.

Chen Ping'an purposely walked slowly to increase the distance between himself and the three cultivators, and he then stopped at a calligraphy and painting shop along the way and looked at the works inside for around fifteen minutes. He didn't purchase any calligraphy works, but he did spend a few taels of silver to purchase a few books that the shop usually gave away as gifts for purchases. These books especially introduced the famous works of the calligraphy masters of each dynasty and generation, and even though the books were relatively high quality, they couldn't be regarded as rare or valuable. It was simply that their contents were quite interesting.

Chen Ping'an left the shop after putting the books into his bamboo case, and the old man and the two young cultivators were already nowhere to be seen.

Chen Ping'an's expression became slightly solemn as he approached the city god temple. There were wisps of incense smoke rising into the sky, and one could smell the unique fragrance of the incense smoke even from the streets outside the city god temple. However, if one had visited many temples and shrines of deities before, then one would understand that the amount of incense offerings wasn't the most important thing. Rather, what was important was the purity of the incense offerings and how many kilograms of incense essence could be collected. This was the same for both official temples recognized by the imperial court and illegal temples constructed by commoners or spirits.

When Chen Ping'an focused his gaze and observed the city god temple, what he saw was incense smoke lingering around the large and majestic temple as if the city god had used some secret technique to confine them and prevent them from seeping out. This could be regarded as an audacious move given that all of the temples and shrines officially recognized by the imperial court — including mountain god temples, water god temples, city god temples, martial sage temples, and scholarly temples — were required to feed some of the incense offerings back to the local mountains and rivers.

A certain portion of incense essence would be dispersed into the surrounding area, thereby benefiting the world and protecting the local residents. It was only then that a positive cycle could be created and maintained. This was in stark contrast to the situation that Chen Ping'an was currently observing, with the city god temple claiming everything and preventing a single drop of incense essence from leaving his territory.

Chen Ping'an heaved a soft sigh. In reality, he could understand why this was happening, and it was simply a case of the city god disregarding all other matters in an attempt to save his godly body. This was analogous to drinking poison to quench thirst, a short-term solution that would only cause bigger problems in the future.

Chen Ping'an didn't enter the city god temple that was responsible for protecting the prefectural city. The sturdy man selling firewood had explained things very clearly just then, but he was ultimately someone who had come here to pray in a sincere manner before. As such, Chen Ping'an had a rough understanding of the deities who were honored in the front hall and the back hall of the temple.

The rules of the city god temple in Imperial Accompanying City were fairly similar to that of other cities, and apart from the front hall, the back hall, and the Star Deity Pagoda, there was also a god of wealth hall, the Yuanchen hall, and other halls constructed according to the architectural styles of the local area.

Even so, Chen Ping'an still visited an incense shop near the city god temple and asked the old shopkeeper in detail about the situation. The old shopkeeper was a talkative person, and he happily explained the history of the city god temple to Chen Ping'an. As it turned out, the deity honored in the front hall was an ancient general from one thousand years ago, someone who had provided meritorious service to an empire and was praised in the history books. However, the godly body of this heroic spirit was naturally enshrined somewhere else.

Meanwhile, the actual city god responsible for controlling fortune and calamity and patrolling the yin world and the yang world was a renowned scholarly official who was honored in the back hall. He was an official of the Silver Screen Nation whom the emperor had bestowed the title of third-rank feudal lord.

After saying this, the old shopkeeper smiled and asked, "Young lad, are you unable to figure out why he was only bestowed the title of third-rank feudal lord? After all, this scholarly official had been a second-rank head minister when he was still alive."

Chen Ping'an smiled and replied, "I am indeed slightly puzzled, and I was just about to ask Mr. Shopkeeper about this. Is there a reason for this?"

If this pertained to the rules and practices of the many temples and shrines in the Majestic World, then Chen Ping'an was actually well aware of everything already. However, if he wanted to adapt to the local traditions and customs, then he naturally had to understand these traditions and customs first.

The old shopkeeper smiled and didn't say anything.

Chen Ping'an hurriedly asked the old shopkeeper for a tube of incense.

He was quite quick to catch on.

The old shopkeeper laughed heartily and finally started to reveal some secrets, saying, "Young lad, it's clear that you're someone who travels around the cultivation world, so it's very normal for you to not understand matters regarding the imperial court. Noble ranks and official ranks are slightly different, and the ranks of esteemed deities who enjoy incense offerings are different yet again. How is it? Are you confused yet?"

Chen Ping'an nodded and replied with a smile, "It is indeed a bit complicated."

The old shopkeeper started to show off his knowledge, bobbing his head around as he explained, "The city god of this prefectural city was initially only bestowed the title of fourth-rank feudal lord by the founding emperor of the Silver Screen Nation. However, praying at this city god temple was always very efficacious, so when the new emperor ascended the throne a few years ago, he issued another edict and promoted our city god to the position of third-rank feudal lord.

"It was a grand event at the time, and the head minister of the Ministry of Rites — such a high-ranking official— personally left the capital to visit Imperial Accompanying City with the imperial edict. After entering the city, he chose a bright and auspicious day and had his subordinates and servants clean the street all the way from the beginning to the end. Yes, do you see that street behind the stall there?

"However, outsiders weren't allowed to watch this, and it was only because I decided to sleep in my shop the night before to catch a glimpse of the grand event that I was able to catch sight of the lofty head minister. Tsk, as expected of the Wenqu star descending into the mortal world.[1] Even taking a glance from far away, I could tell that he was noble and lofty."

There was a proud expression on the old shopkeeper's face as he continued, "Our city might only be a prefectural city, but the treatment that our city god enjoys is already on the same level as the city gods of provincial cities. Apart from the city gods in the capital and the secondary capital, no other city god enjoys a bestowed title as lofty as our city god.

"So, young lad, you definitely need to pray more sincerely and kowtow a few more times in the city god temple now that you've obtained a tube of incense. Even though the city god temple has always been more efficacious for scholars praying for literary fortune, our city god is high-ranking and capable, so I surmise that he'll also look after you as long as you're sincere enough."

Chen Ping'an asked a few more questions about the subordinate literary officials in the city god temple, and sure enough, they were magistrate judges as expected. There were six departments in city god temples, as well as two day and night wandering deities and one shackle and chain general. These subordinate officials who served the city god also had their own origins and histories that the old shopkeeper was extremely familiar with, and he was able to describe everything logically and clearly as he explained these matters to Chen Ping'an.

However, the old shopkeeper was rendered speechless when Chen Ping'an asked about whether he had seen the divine manifestation of the city god before. His expression was slightly unnatural, and he replied that commoners like them obviously wouldn't be able to see the true body of the city god. In fact, they wouldn't be able to recognize the city god even if he were standing right in front of them.

Hearing this, Chen Ping'an smiled and said, "This is completely reasonable and expected. As the saying goes, true immortals don't carelessly show off their powers, and those who carelessly show off their powers aren't true immortals. I assume that the same is also true for deities."

The expression of the old shopkeeper improved slightly when he heard this.

The etiquette pertaining to city gods of the Silver Screen Nation was largely similar to that of the Eastern Treasured Vial Continent, but there were still some small differences, for example, regarding the official grades and accompanying officials.

However, the current emperor of the Silver Screen Nation promoting the city god to a higher grade was quite abnormal, and the reason for doing so was most likely because the emperor had noticed the unusual state of the city god's godly body. As such, the emperor had been willing to go as far as to promote the city god to a higher position than was reasonable.

After leaving the incense shop, Chen Ping'an stood on the bustling street and glanced at the city god temple.

It was preferable to sleep at a desolate graveyard rather than at an abandoned temple.[2]

This was the reason behind this saying.

Once the spiritual energy of the mountains and rivers turned, it was very easy for fortune to transform into misfortune.

1. Wenqu star (文曲星) means star of literature. ☜

2. This is an old Chinese saying that reflects the mindset of the past. People were scared to stay at abandoned temples due to their belief that malicious ghosts potentially entered these temples to look for victims or due to their fear of desecrating the enshrined deities. At the same time, abandoned temples might also be frequented by bandits in the regions. As such, staying at desolate graveyards would be preferable even though these were inauspicious places. ☜