Chapter 383: Bestowal of Incense and Talisman
Though it seemed unbelievable, Lü Yang tested several more times until the old man nearly had his soul scattered before finally confirming he had truly been ambushed.
Then there was nothing more to say.
Act now—soul search!
Fortunately, after leaving the Earth God's temple, the old man's rank had drastically fallen—from a false Foundation Establishment level to merely Qi Refining Perfection with great divine abilities.
Against Qi Refining cultivators, there was no need to go all out.
Soon, as Lü Yang's divine sense surged in, fragments of the old man's memories surfaced all at once—decades of cultivation experience laid bare.
"This Earth God was originally just the first village chief of Bai Village. Back then, he led dozens of families to cultivate the wilderness of Taiyue Mountain and established Bai Village. After his death, the villagers spontaneously worshipped him, bestowing incense and talismans, which eventually elevated him to become the current Earth God of Taiyue Mountain..."
"Bestowal of incense and talismans?"
Lü Yang lowered his eyelids, quickly extracting the most crucial information from the Earth God's memories—the current cultivation system of Seven Luminaries Heaven.
The cultivation of Seven Luminaries Heaven could be summarized in eight words:
Bestowal of Incense and Talismans, Five Steps to Ascension!
Initial bestowal, receiving worship from a village's populace, could make one a Fude She God—also known as an Earth God. In remote areas, this granted false Foundation Establishment-level power.
However, such incense gods faced severe limitations. The greatest restriction was their domain. For example, this Earth God possessed false Foundation Establishment strength within his temple, but once he left, his rank plummeted to merely Qi Refining Perfection with great divine abilities.
"Still, even this is astonishing."
False Foundation Establishment was still Foundation Establishment. Having rank was always better than lacking it.
More importantly, this cultivation method was incredibly fast. As long as one received mortal worship, incense blessings could elevate them to heaven in a single step!
Hadn't this Bai Village Earth God done exactly that?
A mere mortal in life, yet after death, he became a false Foundation Establishment cultivator—enough to make countless Qi Refining cultivators in remote regions green with envy.
"Above Earth Gods are City Gods."
City Gods had four ranks:
County City God, Prefecture City God, Provincial City God, and the highest—Capital City God, corresponding to Early, Mid, Late, and finally Perfected Foundation Establishment respectively.
As the names suggested, a County City God received worship from an entire county. However, a significant portion of this incense was siphoned upward to higher ranks, giving rise to Prefecture City Gods, then Provincial City Gods, and ultimately the Capital City God who governed all City Gods nationwide.
Layer upon layer, like a taxation system.
Thus, an all-encompassing, ironclad City God system was established, governing the entire Central Plains of Seven Luminaries Heaven.
"Similar to the Dao Court, but far inferior."
Lü Yang pondered. This populace-based system resembled the Jiangdong Dao Court, but the City God system relied heavily on incense offerings, making it dependent on mortal faith.
In contrast, the Dao Court's [Official Positions] had far fewer restrictions—bestowed entirely by the Dao Court's emperor. The populace merely needed to maintain certain numbers.
Moreover, the Dao Court was far stricter.
Under its rule, rogue cultivators simply didn't exist. All factions had to be registered within Dao Court departments—otherwise, cultivation itself became impossible.
Compared to this, the City God system had too many loopholes.
The biggest flaw was fickle human hearts. The so-called incense offerings could too easily be stripped away—not everyone worshipped City Gods faithfully.
Hence, the rise of [Heretical Worship].
"Heretical worship refers to establishing faith systems separate from the City God system, bestowing talismans to create gods—even attempting to overthrow the City God system itself."
"Most heretical cults aren't strong, mostly lurking beyond the Central Plains in desolate regions where powerful incense gods rarely emerge. Only two exceptions exist—the [White Lotus Sect], worshipping [Wusheng Laomu], and the imperial ancestral temple."
Reading this, Lü Yang's eyes gleamed brighter.
"This Incense Qi Divine Path... what a treasure!"
With just basic faith, mortal devotion could be converted into incense power to elevate cultivation and rank—perfect for him!
Because he possessed the Myriad Spirits Banner!
In Lü Yang's view, Seven Luminaries Heaven's City Gods were too naive—always relying on protecting mortals to gain worship.
Why bother with such hassle?
Simple mind-control techniques could achieve the same.
The [White Lotus Sect] dabbled in such methods to gather incense, but compared to the Myriad Spirits Banner, they were mere amateurs.
Because White Lotus followers could betray.
The Banner Spirits were absolutely loyal!
With this in mind, Lü Yang began calculating: "According to Bai Village Earth God's memories, current incense offerings can sustain at most three Capital City Gods."
Now divided among the City God system, White Lotus Sect, and imperial ancestral temple.
Though these three factions competed, they maintained delicate balance—none willing to allow a fourth peer to emerge.
Their method was simple:
Population control.
Since the Incense Qi Divine Path relied on people—more population meant more faith, more incense, and thus more incense gods could be sustained.
By controlling population growth, they prevented a fourth Capital City God from appearing.
"But conversely... if Seven Luminaries Heaven's populace reproduced wildly, not just three—even nine Capital City Gods could be sustained!"
Nine Capital City Gods? Nine Perfected Foundation Establishment cultivators!
"This is my opportunity!"
At this thought, cold light flashed in Lü Yang's eyes. If this could be achieved, he might truly return to that wretched place!
Yet soon he calmed again.
The first step was hardest. Though the ideal was plump, reality was bony. To specialize in the Incense Qi Divine Path, one fundamental problem remained:
He wasn't a local!
Though Seven Luminaries Heaven tolerated outsiders under Daoist Hong Yun's influence, granting them equal treatment was unlikely.
'Including my Banner Spirits—they aren't natives of Seven Luminaries Heaven. Without Fruit Position influence, no matter how loyal, they can't spontaneously generate faith incense. If I want to walk the Incense Qi Divine Path, the only way is for Seven Luminaries Heaven to accept me as one of its own.'
But how?
Lü Yang stroked his chin. Unless he could bribe this realm like he did in the Ten Thousand Martial World, he'd forever remain an outsider here.
What to bribe with?
'Earth Vein Qi... no—an entire spiritual vein!'
The eight-hundred-mile Skeleton Mountain!
'Looking back now, I should've taken Skeleton Mountain's spiritual vein back in Jiangbei—yet I completely overlooked it then...'
Lü Yang smacked his forehead. He should've noticed something was off—Skeleton Mountain's vein was precious, yet he'd inexplicably forgotten it. In hindsight, Heaven and Earth had likely been subtly manipulating his thoughts through the immortal spirit's form even then!
The more Lü Yang thought, the angrier he grew.
"If Heaven and Earth show no benevolence... then don't blame me for being unrighteous."
With this, Lü Yang resolved: he'd undermine Heaven and Earth—starting with eight-hundred-mile Skeleton Mountain. How else could he progress in Seven Luminaries Heaven?