Chapter 185: Seven Grades

In the Wen Ti Academy, Zhang Jian perceived the changes around him as clearly as seeing fire, including the many spies of Southern Chu appearing around the Zhang family manor, as well as some heterodox cultivators.

Although the Daoists of Dongshen Guan helped deal with them, Zhang Jian still felt displeased.

These people regarded him as "Tang Sanzang's flesh" and actually harbored ill intentions toward him.

Zhang Jian disliked this feeling, but soon his worries completely vanished.

A special deity came to visit.

That night, Zhang Jian had just lain down to sleep fully clothed with Qi Yuhua when, in his dream, he sensed a vast divine power appearing around his manor.

He immediately drew his sword and went out, but in the distance he saw a divine light flying down, and a golden carriage slowly approaching from afar.

Within the divine light, string music sounded faint and distant, and he also saw countless divine soldiers and generals standing in attendance; a divine being descended from the golden carriage.

He came before Zhang Jian.

"The City Lord of Haojing, Wei Fang, pays respects to Mr. Zhang!"

At this moment, Zhang Jian gazed in astonishment at this extraordinary deity.

This was a deity whose divine power surged like an ocean all around his body.

The City Lord of Haojing—was he not the City Lord King of the Great Qian, also the Supreme City Lord? This was also a deity ranked among the Supernal Grade.

"Your Highness, the City Lord King, is overly courteous!"

At this moment, Zhang Jian's face showed astonishment, and he then said: "I do not know why Your Highness, the City Lord King, has come in the night—could there be some important matter?"

Only hearing the City Lord King laugh: "It is not anything urgent; I merely appeared because I heard that a sage had emerged in Haojing City, and hearing this filled me with joy. Since I cannot go out during the day, I have come in the night to pay a visit, hoping Mr. Zhang will forgive me!"

Upon hearing this, Zhang Jian's eyes flickered, and he thought to himself: I believe your old ghost's nonsense.

However, the other party's demeanor was very proper, so he could not directly refuse; he then guided this City Lord King toward his home.

At the same time, he was also observing the City Lord King's entire being, drawing from the various phenomena manifesting around the City Lord King to judge the depth of his Dao cultivation.

Divine Dao cultivation differs from the orthodox path of longevity.

Divine Dao cultivation also has two paths.

One is achieving divinity through the flesh—this is not greatly different from the longevity path sought by ordinary cultivators.

The difference lies in achieving divinity through the flesh, cultivating a powerful divine body, the flesh becoming like that of ancient deities, overseeing various divine offices, and roaming mountains and seas.

The other path is collectively known as the Incense Dao.

Similar to how Prince Wei Fang of the Great Qian royal family, after his fall, achieved divinity as a ghostly City Lord through ghostly means—this is an incense deity.

The Incense Dao has seven grades.

Starting from the weakest, the seventh-grade deity corresponds to the Qi Refining realm of minor cultivators.

A seventh-grade deity has just gathered incense, given birth to spiritual awareness, possesses divine power, and can initially interfere with reality.

A sixth-grade deity corresponds to the Foundation Establishment realm through fate measurement, able to ignite its own yang fire, illuminate a region, possess a small divine bureau, and thus establish itself.

After the Red Flower Lady condensed the fire god seal, she became a typical sixth-grade deity.

In fact, the starting point of a deity is already high.

Compared to cultivators, a sixth-grade deity is much stronger, but among beings possessing such great divine power, it is merely a minor god.

A fifth-grade deity corresponds to the completion of the Golden Core, where yang fire merges with the soul, awakening the divine office, transforming into a divine soul, initially possessing the authority of various deities; at this level, one can refine one's natal divine Dao magical artifact and correspondingly cultivate various great powers and techniques.

A fourth-grade deity corresponds to the Yin Spirit realm of cultivators.

A fourth-grade deity has a complete foundation, its incense faith is fulfilled, it initially grasps the authority over life and death in the unseen, and its divine power can make the illusory real, creating things from emptiness.

Deities of this level are usually the main source of gods in mythology.

A fourth-grade deity usually cultivates its divine golden body to a certain extent, can initially free itself from the influence of its divine bureau, can wander everywhere, and with a single thought manifest various legal domains.

A third-grade deity has initially freed itself from the influence of incense; the incense deity's divine body is fully rounded, begins to master various heavenly and earthly laws, cultivates various special divine bodies, like the mighty deities naturally born in ancient ages, possessing the ability to roam the stars and rivers.

Reaching the heavens above and descending to the yellow springs below, even moving mountains and filling seas is no problem.

The City Lord King before him was not a third-grade deity, but a fourth-grade peak deity.

As for second-grade and above star lords and heaven lords, they are all ancient deities of legend.

Such deities, blessed across ages, are beyond what mortals can imagine.

The reason he could make such a clear judgment was because Zhang Jian saw black qi shrouding the depths of City Lord King Wei Fang's brow, evil power carefully restrained, and on his body there was also a thick blood-slay aura faintly clinging to his divine power.

This was not the omen that a truly flawless, leakless yang deity should have.

Zhang Jian roughly guessed what this fourth-grade City Lord King sought by coming in the night.

Knowing the other's intention, Zhang Jian naturally knew how to respond.

After entering the Zhang family manor, however, he saw Wei Fang lightly wave his hand, and behold—spacious hall, several boxes appeared out of thin air.

Looking at these boxes, Zhang Jian's eyes moved, and he asked: "Your Highness, what is the meaning of this?"

Only seeing the boxes opened, inside were stack upon stack of souls suffused with blood qi.

Wei Fang laughed:

"When I just came to visit Mr. Zhang, I happened to see many ill-intentioned people lurking around Mr. Zhang's residence; therefore, this time I came without bringing any gifts, and privately decided to take action to help Mr. Zhang dispose of them conveniently, as a small token of sincerity; I hope Mr. Zhang will not blame me for meddling rashly!"

Zhang Jian glanced at these souls.

Among them were not a few who had already entered the path of cultivation.

As for the saying "do not strike a smiling face," Zhang Jian gave a slight, light smile.

"These unlawful bandits, disregarding court laws, harboring ill intentions toward court officials—Your Highness binding them by law is indeed doing a good deed."

Upon hearing this, the Supreme City Lord could not help but laugh heartily, feeling a secret joy in his heart.

It was not in vain that he had spent this period sending people to watch closely; today's move indeed softened Mr. Zhang's attitude, at least eliminating any resistance.

At this moment he had a request in his heart, but he was not in a hurry; instead, after chatting with Zhang Jian about current affairs, Wei Fang then tentatively opened his mouth and laughed:

"Mr. Zhang, I will not hide it—I came this time also because I harbor another request; the gods of the capital all say that your talent and erudition are already sufficient to match the ancient sages, your heart holds the grand and righteous qi that can suppress all evils, you can command ghosts and gods; in my life, I most admire the traces of the sage's path—hearing this, I truly find it hard to eat or sleep; thus I have come in the night, hoping to obtain a piece of your calligraphy and painting; I do not know if Mr. Zhang can…!"

At this moment his gaze turned to Zhang Jian, the depths of his eyes flashing with a questioning look.

Wei Fang was also somewhat worried at this time.

As Zhang Jian had expected, after obtaining the profound secret from his niece Dongzhen Daoist, he was itching to try it out.

The situation he and Dongzhen Daoist encountered was similar.

However, what he faced next was the Yuan Shen barrier.

But because he had suffered a backlash from the former dynasty's dragon qi, his divine body could never become perfectly integrated, so naturally he dared not even attempt to break through to the third-rank realm and achieve the Yuan Shen realm.

But the appearance of Zhang Jian before him now gave him a glimmer of hope.

He tried to use the power of the Way of the Sages to see if he could resolve the dragon qi backlash throughout his body, at least suppress it, and create a sliver of opportunity for himself.