Chapter 1 The Yearning for the Past

Ji Xiang listened to the girl's prayer, her tone filled with a sorrowful longing for her homeland.

It wasn't grief for the Ming Dynasty, but lament for the Song Dynasty.

"A Song Dynasty martial general?"

For Ji Xiang, although the Wanshou Palace was doing evil, patriotic people of ideals had constantly emerged throughout the Song Dynasty. Unfortunately, the emperors were mostly unmotivated, and the civil officials held great power, preventing the martial generals from rising. The saying that a good man doesn't become a soldier originated in the Song Dynasty.

"The scholar-officials and the emperor jointly governed the country, leading to the gradual corruption of power in the hands of the civil officials. The Song Dynasty did not kill scholar-officials, nor did it confiscate property and exterminate families. Since there was no fear for their lives, people gradually degenerated in corruption. There were more and more officials, and they increasingly lost their moral integrity..."

"In the late Ming Dynasty, the Donglin Party's power was immense, and it was the same principle."

"The benefit lies in the early stages, adding intellectuals to the country and improving the social environment... the harm lies in later generations... but if the martial generals have too much power, the end result will only be a repeat of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period."

Ji Xiang briefly muttered a few words in his heart, watching the girl return to her statue, no longer moving.

"A Song Dynasty female general, and one who is fondly remembered... Mu Guiying?"

The most famous one Ji Xiang could think of was the Yang Family's female generals. Although Mu Guiying herself was a fictional character, it was normal for a deity, with a statue, to be born from countless incense offerings and the wishes of the people.

"I remember, in Shuntian Prefecture, those storytellers in Tianjie had books called *The Biography of the Northern Song*, which was compiled during the Jiajing period and sold in the early Wanli period, a heroic biography of the previous dynasty..."

"That's also the source of Mu Guiying."

Many famous fictional characters in later generations mostly appeared during the Ming Dynasty. During this period, a large number of storybooks, novels, and operas emerged, creating countless legendary figures in the fictional world and gaining widespread recognition among the people. By the Qing Dynasty, these fictional characters already had many temples, enjoying the incense of later generations.

.......

When the rooster crowed for the fifth time, the girl came down from her statue and bowed before the Zhenwu statue.

"Today, in response to the world's changes, there are demons harming the town, I shall eliminate them with the law."

"Demons of heaven, heretics, ghosts and monsters, seeing me as blood, turn into purple dust!"

She recited a passage from the Zhenwu mantra, then took some loose silver and copper coins from the donation box, but not much. Then she took some incense ash from the Zhenwu statue, but only the surface layer.

But it still alarmed Ji Xiang, who withdrew from his cultivation, just in time to see her leaving in armor.

"Yesterday she wore the ordinary clothes of a Ming Dynasty man when she entered the temple, the second time she appeared in a red robe, but today she's wearing armor... What kind of armor is that?"

Although Ji Xiang's predecessor was well-read in the classics, some of the previous dynasties' armor was beyond his recognition. Moreover, this kind of armor was merely protective gear, not some kind of magical treasure displaying great power. The Inner Vision Divine Tablet did not reveal its name.

The iron armor was black-green in color, clean and bright, reflecting the hair. It was strung together with musk leather straps, looking soft, thin, yet strong.

It didn't seem like ordinary people could wear this armor, but its specific shape was completely different from the famous Song Dynasty Mountain Pattern Armor.

Not long after the girl left, the door opened and the temple caretaker came in.

In ordinary temples, the caretakers stayed overnight in the temple, usually people who had lost their families or had no homeland, and had nowhere to go, so they took care of the temple. But this caretaker seemed to have a home to return to, and he didn't stay in the temple at night, perhaps out of reverence for the girl's power.

When the sun rose on the second day, the caretaker discovered that the newly hired workers had not come to the temple on time, and many chores were piled up, and the yard had not been cleaned.

The caretaker waited for a while, and when he found that the workers he had hired yesterday still hadn't come, he immediately understood and could only shake his head:

"Those people are indeed greedy for money, coming here in the middle of the night. I'm afraid they'll be dead in less than two days."

The incense-offering pilgrims heard about this, and they all discussed it. In the past, the temple deity had indeed shot and killed a scholar who lacked virtue. Although most pilgrims had not seen it with their own eyes, at least when they were bragging to each other, they told it with great detail.

"I know, that scholar wrote obscene poems in the temple at the time."

"You're mistaken, that was King Zhou."

"You're both wrong, that's just a plot from *Investiture of the Gods*."

"I have a question, was there a post of commander-in-chief in the Shang Dynasty?"

"Of course! It's written in the book, so there must have been!"

"Isn't Li Jing a Tang Dynasty general in the Martial Temple? He was a Duke of the Tang Dynasty!"

"What? Can't there be a Li Jing in the Shang Dynasty?"

The identities of the pilgrims were different, but those who came here early in the morning were generally rich people, because ordinary people had to go out to work early, and only those who didn't have to work would come to the temple to offer incense, showing their piety.

Ji Xiang was inside the statue, listening to these wealthy pilgrims discussing the plot of *Investiture of the Gods*, and couldn't help but mutter to himself.

"In this Ming Dynasty, the trend of people reading novels is really enthusiastic. *Investiture of the Gods*... this book seems to have a very big influence on the people."

Ji Xiang was thinking about important things.

The name Biyou Palace came from *Investiture of the Gods*, and it seemed that the Patriarchs of the Shangqing Sect had instructed it, and in order to cooperate with the story, they had specially given the Qingping Sword to the Lord of Biyou Palace, so that he could bring out the Shangqing Sect.

"Could it be that naming one's sect or disciples according to some of the names in *Investiture of the Gods* will cause something to happen?"

"Or is it easier to gather incense and condense wishes this way?"

Thoughts flew, and suddenly he thought of what he had heard in the Forbidden City, the occult arts used by the Wokou on the Korean battlefield.

"*Jin Wu Yu Tu Ji* is also a book that has a major influence in Japan..."

"The Patriarchs of the Shangqing Sect won't do useless things. They specially created a Biyou Palace to cooperate with *Investiture of the Gods*. It must be for some major event."

"The three religions of Confucianism, Buddhism, and Taoism, the three teachings of elucidation, interception, and humanity, the three mountains of Tianshi Longhu, Shangqing Maoshan, and Lingbao Gezao...."

Ji Xiang felt that these things were related, but when he thought about it, they were all separate and did not have a very clear clue.

He still needed to obtain more information.

He still needed information that could connect these clues, that was the key.

This must be related to the dynasty's great Dao that those immortals in Lishan River were planning.

The incense was strong, and the donation box was soon filled with copper coins and loose silver again.

Soon, the old foreman who came to work at the temple told the caretaker that each of the new hires from the previous two days had developed large sores on their backs, and pus was flowing non-stop. Their families were spending a lot of money to hire doctors in the city.

"There are highly skilled doctors in Qiantang County, but when they heard what they did, they were afraid to help them."

The old foreman's tone was very emotional. The temptation of greed, now they've fallen to this end. These were all strong young men, which was really a pity.

The caretaker snorted: "They can't control their hands, so now they have this trouble."

The old foreman laughed: "You're still saying sarcastic remarks, aren't you afraid that the relatives of those guys will come here to make trouble?"

Caretaker: "My words are harsh, but if they had money, they wouldn't come here to steal these merit coins. Since they have no money, their families are not wealthy, and they are all poor people who work hard to make a living. They idle around and come to me to ask for work. I took them in and had them do errands in the temple. As a result, they offended the gods themselves and suffered punishment. Even if the Magistrate of Qiantang County is in front of me, I am justified."

Old Foreman: "Is the magistrate also afraid of the gods' punishment?"

Caretaker: "That's not the case. I heard that these officials don't revere the gods and ghosts very much. I always feel that there is a special aura fluctuating inside when I go to the yamen to do business. I can't tell, it's like the aura of incense, but it's a little different."

The caretaker didn't understand the affairs of cultivation, but after years of contact with the aura of incense, he had some special abilities, and he could sense the existence of the Ming Dynasty's power, which meant that he was no longer a simple mortal.

Ji Xiang, listening to their conversation, also understood what place this was.

So it turned out to be Qiantang County, Hangzhou.

The famous Lingyin Temple was located here. No wonder there were no demons causing trouble here, but rather a prosperous and peaceful scene. With such a large Buddhist temple here, those earth immortal-level demon kings didn't dare to get close.

The old foreman was still chatting with the caretaker. He looked at the Zhenwu statue and said:

"By the way, Zhenwu has manifested."

The caretaker was surprised: "Zhenwu manifested?"

He raised his head and looked at the statue. The old foreman explained: "Those workers said that they were laughing and joking when they took the donation box last night, saying that Grandfather Zhenwu was a big rich man, with thousands of incense offerings in countless Zhenwu temples throughout the Ming Dynasty, and that it wouldn't matter if they took a little. They also said that if Grandfather Zhenwu really cared about these incense offerings, he would move and snatch them back! Guess what? Then Grandfather Zhenwu's eyes suddenly shot out a burst of light, and they fell to the ground with a thud!"

The caretaker was also shocked: "Really? Speaking of which, during the day yesterday, the statue of Grandfather Zhenwu was indeed more powerful than usual, and the incense in the temple was very strong..."

The old foreman suddenly understood: "Yesterday, the incense in the temple suddenly became strong, is that why?"

He also looked at the Zhenwu statue and sighed: "After so many years of worship, it seems that Grandfather Zhenwu has noticed our little temple. It's a pity that the master of the temple still doesn't have much incense."

The caretaker glared at the old foreman: "Okay, don't talk nonsense. Stop it. This temple master is a petty person. Be careful she shoots you with an arrow."

The old foreman smiled: "She saved me, so she won't shoot me."

The caretaker snorted: "The temple master protects our small area, while Grandfather Zhenwu manages the Great Ming Dynasty. It's normal for the incense to be strong. Go and do your work."

The old foreman responded and left, while the caretaker began to offer three incense sticks to the girl's statue.

The green smoke curled up, and the caretaker kowtowed sincerely a few times, and then restored his mercenary face, soliciting all kinds of pilgrims, and vigorously promoting what happened last night.

Sure enough, after the incident that Zhenwu seemed to have manifested yesterday was spread, there were many more people who came to offer incense in front of the Zhenwu statue than the previous day.

There were only a few incense sticks in the incense burner in front of the girl's statue, while in front of the Zhenwu statue where Ji Xiang was, the incense burner was filled with long and short incense sticks, so many that they could be burned as torches. The place was filled with smoke, like smoking opium.

"This power is too great. I just scared those mortals last night, but I didn't expect that those people would immediately start worshiping me crazily. In contrast, this temple master seems to manifest herself often, but not many people worship her... I guess it's because she shoots people to death with incense arrows at every turn, which makes others afraid to worship her."

"How can she get incense like this? Pilgrims are guests, and gods can't care about the loss of a little incense. But as a folk god, she herself depends on incense to exist. With so little incense, even if she has overwhelming magic power, I'm afraid she can't even display half of it."

"By the way, she also said that she was going to subdue demons and eliminate evil... Could it be that she is also responding to a pilgrim's prayer, adapting to the changes in the world?"

Ji Xiang wondered what kind of demons the girl was fighting, leaving before dawn and returning late at night.

Besides, what pilgrim runs into demon lairs every day for no reason?

"Don't tell me that a cultivator is colluding with demons..."

Ji Xiang had seen too many things like this, so his first reaction to the appearance of demons was definitely that there was a traitor among his own people.

The Milong Casino, Jinshan Water Mansion, and many other things were like this. Gods or cultivators colluded with demons, and even the cultivators in various major sects had traitors. The demons were actually driven by them, while they themselves, on the outside, looked like immortals.

The so-called confusion of good and evil by the Peacock Great Bright King was very appropriate for the current situation.

One day passed, and the incense was stronger than the previous day. Ji Xiang felt that he would soon be able to restore his form and spirit, and even get a lot of incense to replenish himself. With the incense replenishment, he could buy thirty or fifty pounds of talismans to scatter around.

Moreover, due to the large amount of incense replenishment, Ji Xiang's incense body began to increase in cultivation. At the same time, he constantly absorbed the vitality of this world, and even the realm of the physical body began to loosen, and he could continue to advance to a higher level.

"Incense cultivation is of great benefit to my body. Even the physical body can be gradually strengthened. Mortals can't stand incense, but cultivators can use incense to unleash strength far beyond their current realm. Incense and wishes are things that countless people pursue, and some people can even transform from mortals into cultivators with the help of incense..."

"Compress, compress! My realm is constantly compressed, and then cultivated, and then released!"

"When Lingbao Tianzun taught me the Jade Purity Hidden Book, I had already entered the stage of Five Qi Towards the Origin, and now the Golden Elixir... is about to be formed..."

Ji Xiang tempered his vitality and the foundation of his realm by repeatedly falling and rising again. This made Ji Xiang's realm extremely solid, and even if someone used poisonous techniques or spells to damage cultivation to attack Ji Xiang, Ji Xiang would not be easily taken away from his current realm, and could even directly dissolve it, unaffected.

The Inner Vision Divine Tablet emitted a faint light, and Ji Xiang reached the peak of the Five Qi Towards the Origin.

The three flowers on the top and the five qi in the chest were all complete.

The vitality in Ji Xiang's eyes was strong, and even the Zhenwu statue became more and more divine!

"I will form the Golden Elixir, after today, I will wield wind and thunder, and enter the realm of Earth Immortal!"