Chapter 1 Disturbance

In the temple, the Zhenwu statue suddenly blazed with light, a scene that startled the pilgrims outside. But their shock quickly turned to joy, which they expressed with great excitement, prostrating themselves in worship!

Zhenwu is showing his divine power!

The statue emanated waves of majestic power, and the people below, witnessing this, rushed forward eagerly!

To the front!

A cacophony of chaotic voices, praying and making wishes, rose and fell. People fought to insert their incense sticks into the incense burner, pushing and shoving. Unable to secure a good spot, some at the front even resorted to physical violence to earn the privilege of offering incense!

The aroma of incense in the temple grew stronger.

It seemed to intensify the fiery energy within people, not just their internal organs working harder.

Fire governs the heart, and the people's hearts grew restless, also due to the rising fire energy around them. Their tempers flared uncontrollably, because fire, in the Five Elements, represents the growth of yang energy, which has no limit.

"I was here first! Even if Lord Zhenwu is answering prayers, he'll definitely grant my wish first!"

"This is about sincerity! How could Lord Zhenwu grant your wish, you greedy merchant!"

While exchanging insults, people also traded punches. Some, desperate to offer incense, even stepped on the backs or shoulders of those in front of them while they were kowtowing, jamming the incense into the base of the Zhenwu statue or between the folds of its robes.

Lord Zhenwu, take my stick, my incense is stronger!

"How dare you step on me! Do you know how much my clothes cost!"

Most of those crowding at the front were wealthy merchants, accompanied by three or five servants. A brawl broke out as fists and feet flew, knocking people to the ground. Those who were hit refused to back down, and as more and more people crowded in, the fighting intensified, turning the temple into a martial arts tournament!

"Stop fighting, stop fighting! The donation box has been overturned! Everyone gets to offer incense. I'm raising the price, now it's ten coins per stick. Those who don't have money, please step back… Ouch! Who hit me!"

The temple keeper tried to use the skill of raising prices to stop the chaos, but someone without money punched him, giving him a black eye.

Those who weren't particularly wealthy were enraged: "Does not having money mean we can't worship Lord Zhenwu? Are we worshipping a god or worshipping you?"

The temple keeper, trying to appease them, said, "Alright, I know a carpenter in town. I'll tell you where he is. Go find him and have him carve a Zhenwu statue for each of you to buy and take home to worship. It's too crowded here."

But the people wouldn't have it: "The statue in the temple has divine power. If Lord Zhenwu is answering prayers, it's in this place! You want me to buy those little wooden carvings from the street?"

"Do you think I can't afford ten coins? I'm just angry that you're raising the price on the spot! I'll beat you to death, you profiteer!"

The temple keeper was instantly mobbed, and the entire temple descended into complete chaos. The servants of the wealthy merchants fought each other, and even some Jianghu wanderers who happened to be passing by joined in for fun, showing off their martial arts skills.

Qiantang County already had a large population, and the incense trade at various temples was always good. But this small temple was seeing a commotion unlike any of the larger temples. The old foreman, seeing the temple keeper being thrown out, was shocked:

"Good heavens! A fight broke out! What's going on?"

The temple keeper said, "Quick, go report to the authorities! Tell the county magistrate that Zhenwu is displaying his divine power. If he wants everything to go smoothly, he should come quickly to protect the statue, or it will be smashed!"

"Also, tell him my ribs are broken in ten places. This can't be resolved without a hundred taels of silver. Just tell him that, he'll understand."

This matter cannot be resolved without one hundred taels of silver, and after it's done, we'll split the profits three-seven.

The old foreman asked, "A total of one hundred taels to compensate you?"

The temple keeper cursed, "Bullshit! Everyone here, without exception, owes me one hundred taels!"

The old foreman nodded repeatedly, indicating that he used to be the fastest runner in the surrounding villages when he was younger. He told the temple keeper to wait for good news before running away in a puff of smoke.

The temple keeper then started to shout abuses at the people inside the temple:

"You bunch of rascals dare to hit me! I'm the temple keeper here! When the main god in the temple shows his power, he'll shoot an arrow into each of your backs, condemning you all to a horrible death!"

"Damn you! Pay up!"

.......

Yang energy in its state of birth is called "wood," in its state of growth is called "fire," in its state of harvest is called "metal," and in its state of storage is called "water," while the process of transition between growth, harvest, and storage is called "transformation," which is "earth."

Ji Xiang locked all the power from his breakthrough within his body, his mind highly focused, unaware of what was happening outside the statue.

But even so, the fire energy diffused by using divine fire to refine the body's flourishing state still affected the outside world.

The three flowers and five energies of the human body are manifestations of the body's vitality. Thus, reaching the realm of Three Flowers Gathering at the Crown and Five Energies Merging at the Origin allows the creation of jade nectar. At this point, the essence of essence, qi, and spirit condenses to its peak, and the energies of the Five Elements—metal, wood, water, fire, and earth—generated by the five viscera converge, returning to their original state.

If the fourth realm, Fetal Breathing, is the threshold for mortals to transform into cultivators, then the Golden Core realm is the first step for cultivators to enter the realm of immortals.

The ancient *Zhong-Lü Chuan Dao Ji* divided immortals into five classes, with ghost immortals at the bottom and human immortals next, both of whom only gained skills in the Dao but could not achieve longevity. Taoism believes that celestial immortals and ghost immortals are at opposite extremes and are not ideal pursuits for attaining immortality. Only the three ranks of divine immortals, earth immortals, and human immortals are the goals that cultivators aspire to achieve.

Therefore, the level of earth immortal and above is considered the realm of true immortals.

Forming a golden core is the threshold for entering the realm of earth immortals. The so-called Golden Core Great Dao means that with a golden core, one can break free from the cycle of the five grains in the mortal world.

Earth immortal is a term for a level of attainment, while the Golden Core realm refers to cultivators who have reached the tenth realm of cultivation. Only at this level can one be considered an earth immortal.

"The key to the Golden Core Great Dao lies in the way of 'reversing the flow,' which is to reverse the positions of the postnatal Kan and Li to restore the prenatal Qian and Kun."

Ji Xiang chanted:

"Gold is qi, and the core is pure yang. Pure yang body is refined from golden qi, and then it directly points to the perfect and flawless Great Dao."

"Without forming a golden core, even if one's magic power is strong… like that ghost immortal, although he has strength comparable to the Yellow Court realm, it was bestowed from an external source and not cultivated by himself. Without a golden core, he is no more than a withered tree, his heart like dead ashes, his divine consciousness guarded inward, with only a single unwavering will."

At this moment, Ji Xiang's spirit was completely integrated into the three flowers and five energies, which transformed into jade nectar, and from the jade nectar, a golden core was produced.

Two streams of divine fire energy shot out from his body, reaching directly to the Baihui acupoint. Ji Xiang's body became scorching hot, locking the breath inward to prevent it from leaking out. He had to endure more than twice the pain. The divine fire burned out the golden core, and after the golden core dissolved, it would give birth to the primordial spirit.

"Five Teeth Heavenly Scripture, turn!"

Ji Xiang operated the wondrous methods in the Five Teeth Heavenly Scripture, causing the Five Elements energy in his body to operate normally. If there were any deficiencies, he would seek them from the outside world. And for some unknown reason, the Five Elements energy outside seemed to be very rich?

"Although I don't know what's going on outside, the rich Five Elements energy is a good thing. Flourishing transforms into jade nectar, and the jade nectar transforms back into a golden core in the burning divine fire…"

"That's right, there's also Jambudvipa gold!"

Ji Xiang, in his spiritual consciousness, suddenly thought of this matter. Jambudvipa gold is of great use for those who shape golden bodies, and at this time, he was transforming into a golden core, achieving the level of earth immortal. Using Jambudvipa gold could gather huge amounts of incense and vows to be used for his own purposes, and could also strengthen indestructibility. All worldly metal-based power would yield before the golden body.

An even greater benefit was the ability to use more of the Ascension realm's Dao techniques. It seemed that after achieving the level of earth immortal, matching the full power of the pure yang realm was no longer out of reach. Even without using various dispelling spells, he could fight back and forth with pure yang.

As for those below pure yang, they were all insignificant!

........

The people in the temple were breathing heavily. They had been fighting for a while, and many of the incense burners in front of the gods had been knocked over. They were feeling physically and mentally exhausted, much more tired than usual.

"Patriarch, the Li family is too strong, they seem much more powerful than usual."

A servant was speaking to his master, while the servants on the other side were saying the same thing:

"How did these Zhou family people become so strong?"

In the midst of the melee, it was inevitable that the nobles would be accidentally injured. Some women even had their faces disfigured, and were knocked to the ground during the shoving. The Five Elements energy in the temple was being consumed in large quantities, and the majestic aura of the Zhenwu statue was becoming increasingly strong.

People felt as if the statue was about to come to life!

In an instant, they were struck by lightning, shivering all over. Their previously irritable tempers subsided as the Five Elements energy in their bodies decreased.

Anger is an emotion caused by excessive fire energy among the Five Elements.

For mortals, if they lack one of the Five Elements, they add a character with that attribute to their name.

Seeing the mess in the temple, and the temple keeper lying outside the temple gate, his wallet gone, obviously stolen in the chaos, these wealthy merchants, who had been blinded by the incense offering, suddenly woke up as if from a dream, realizing they had caused a great disaster.

"How did we suddenly start fighting each other? It's just offering incense!"

"Quick, let's go, let's go!"

The wealthy merchants were preparing to escape, but the government officials had already arrived. The county magistrate of Qiantang led a team, jogging all the way here, certainly not for the one hundred taels of silver per person, but to uphold justice!

"I heard someone is causing trouble here… The temple keeper is lying on the ground! Quick, quick, help him up!"

The magistrate of Qiantang had come well-prepared. The constables and yamen runners brought bamboo poles, pitchforks, and even something resembling a stretcher. He also brought a white-robed monk from Lingyin Temple, and even grabbed a few doctors along the way, just to collect money while rescuing people here...

Bah! It's to uphold justice, this is called feudalistic rescue!

"This official wants to see who is causing trouble here! Ah, aren't these the big merchants from the Li, Zhou, and Chen families…"

The county magistrate looked at the leading merchants and recognized them at a glance as belonging to certain prominent families.

Merchants in the Jiangzhe region are numerous, like grasshoppers after autumn. This is no exaggeration. The merchants of the Ming Dynasty even had professional "merchant guilds." Simply put, they were "merchant associations."

The power of the merchant guilds was immense, and their influence was felt everywhere in the south. Many merchants joined the guilds to receive their protection. The main ones were the Huizhou merchants, the Shanxi merchants, the Longyou merchant guild, and the Dongting merchant guild. If you were from Zhejiang, you would naturally be protected by the Longyou merchant guild.

The merchants put on smiling faces, realizing that they couldn't avoid the matter, and quickly pleaded with the magistrate.

The magistrate looked at the temple keeper lying half-dead and immediately berated them: "Don't think that just because you have a little money, you can do whatever you want here! You almost caused a death over offering incense, and you also caused property damage… Do you know what temple this is!"

"We know, we know!"

The merchants nodded like chickens pecking at rice.

The magistrate of Qiantang cursed: "You know and you still dare to act wildly here! There are gods three feet above your head, not to mention that the god in this temple answers prayers according to the times and is even more eccentric. But she is the daughter of a famous general from the previous dynasty, loyal and chaste. By causing trouble here, aren't you slapping the faces of loyalty and righteousness!"

"That's the same as slapping this official's face!"

"Slapping this official's face is the same as slapping the face of the Ming Dynasty!"

The merchants didn't understand how the magistrate had jumped to the issue of the dynasty's face, but at this time, they still had to show weakness. Although the merchant guild was supporting them from behind, the matter did start with them.

Being rich is great, but being powerful is even greater.

"Therefore, you are all responsible for this matter! Look at the state you've destroyed this temple!"

"How about this, each of you will contribute one thousand taels to renovate this temple and hand the money over to this official."

The merchants smiled obsequiously: "One thousand taels per family is not much, not much, we should pay it."

The magistrate of Qiantang said: "Hmm? One thousand taels per family? Are you dreaming?"

He counted on his fingers: "The people who participated in the fight are all your servants, right? Your servants also have to pay one thousand taels each. If they can't afford it, you'll have to pay out of your own pockets. Let's see how much money you can cough up."

The merchants almost vomited blood!

And the temple keeper, upon hearing this, almost performed a medical miracle on the spot.

Too ruthless, as expected of the parent official. The so-called parent official means that they will confiscate your income like parents.

He had only asked for one hundred taels, but he didn't expect the magistrate to have a bigger picture.

"Your Honor, this is extortion! We can go to the Longyou merchant guild and compete against you!"

The merchants were naturally unconvinced, but the magistrate of Qiantang just sneered.

Let the government compete against the merchant guild?

Are you out of your minds? The merchant guild's power is indeed great, and there are even rumors that they are supported by cultivators, but would those cultivators dare to provoke the Ming Dynasty?

Who dares to accuse this official in court?

At this moment, the white-robed monk next to the magistrate of Qiantang made a move. He walked to the front of the Zhenwu statue, his eyes filled with solemnity.

He said to the magistrate, "Amitabha, Your Honor should first have these people leave this temple. There is something wrong here."

After speaking, golden light flashed on his finger, and he lightly leaped onto the altar, pressing a palm on the forehead of the Zhenwu statue.