Chapter 148: Supreme Heavenly Altar Jade Grid

"If I don't give you these three thousand taels, you can go report me to the officials!" Xu Jia said, "Are you still afraid I'll run away?"

"Just a moment ago you were saying you went astray and practiced evil arts; now it seems you are evil yourself. What decent person would even think of such a thing?" Wang Mintong looked resentful.

"How are you talking to our Great Immortal Xu?" The little foxes crowded around. "Old man, we didn't beg you; it was you who shamelessly tried to extort us. Who has malicious intent is still up for debate!"

Xu Jia smiled kindly: "What are you doing? Acting like gang thugs? You must respect the old and love the young, you must learn the four beginnings of Mengzi, understand?"

"Fine, fine, fine!" Wang Mintong realized it now: this place was a Yao Cave, and Xu Jia was the king of the Yao Cave. It's just that other kings were demons, while he was a human—a human-shaped Great Demon.

If he didn't accept this IOU and didn't transmit the Celestial Master Register, he feared he wouldn't be able to leave.

"Alright, alright, it was my eyes that were mistaken."

"I will transmit the Celestial Master Register to you!" Wang Mintong put away the IOU and took out a thin booklet. On it were drawn talisman diagrams and stamped seals, but the lines for the name and date at the very top were left blank.

"Just this?"

"What else did you expect? Should I set up a Daochang for you according to the Supreme Heavenly Altar Jade Grid?" Wang Mintong said, "There are no conditions for this. For this Register, just find an opportunity, set up an altar, offer sacrifices to the Three Pure Ones, and then burn it. There are no other requirements."

You fool me, and I fool you.

Xu Jia, however, was not afraid of him fooling him. He knew the rituals for setting up altars himself. He had never set up a Jade Altar, which was the Zongtan, but he had set up a Gold Altar. In the Jingming school of entering the Dao, there were three methods of altar construction: the superior grade was the Jade Altar, which was the Heavenly Immortal Altar; the middle grade was the Gold Altar, which was the Divine Immortal Altar; and the inferior grade was the Silver Altar, which was the Earthly Immortal Altar.

Of course, this did not mean that if one received the lower altar, they could not achieve the status of a Heavenly Immortal. After cultivating into an Earth Immortal, one could hold promotion rituals step by step, it was just more troublesome.

Xu Jia took the booklet to look at it and saw that it clearly stated the authority, official rank, which troops could be mobilized, and what the precautions were.

"At Longhu Mountain, only a Great Master of the Third Rank or higher can be a candidate to receive this First Rank Celestial Master Register. You have never received a Register before, so even if you take a shortcut, you won't be able to use it. This Celestial Master Register depends on one's virtue. If your virtue is sufficient, all laws and spirits will respond, and you can mobilize troops and generals, capable of anything. If your virtue is insufficient, it is just a piece of waste paper."

Xu Jia naturally knew from his previous life's cultivation that the Register from Longhu Mountain could not mobilize the troops of True Gods. People were already borrowing the methods of Lushan to refine Chang soldiers, and even the Northeast Out-Horse Immortals dared to say "Southern Mao, Northern Horse," meaning the most efficacious in the south was folk Mao, and the most efficacious in the north was Out-Horse.

As it happened, Xu Jia had dabbled in both.

Whether the troops of True Gods listen to you depends on whether you have strictly observed every precept. Many Daoists commit precepts consciously or unconsciously, so naturally, they cannot summon troops. For example, the Supreme Heavenly Altar Jade Grid states that one must not offer sacrifices to statues of the Three Pure Ones on the altar, because the Three Pure Ones are the Dao and can only be offered via written text. How many Daoists observe this? If one could observe the "Female Green Heavenly Law" and the "Black Demon Law," one could certainly mobilize Heavenly Soldiers and Generals at will. The troops of True Gods are certainly not comparable to Chang soldiers; any single Heavenly Soldier or General could easily take on an evil god one-on-one.

Xu Jia was naturally not the type to follow strict rules and regulations. If it works, it works; if not, he could refine his own methods. He only wanted the status of "Celestial Master Register" so that he could open a Zongtan and establish his own sect in the future.

Wang Mintong was about to leave with the IOU, and the little foxes wanted to stop him, but Xu Jia waved his hand: "Let him go. By the way, give him thirty taels of silver."

The silver and copper coins of Dizang An had all been carried back by the foxes and weasels, but they were all misers by nature—only taking in, never paying out.

"This thirty taels of silver is the down payment. Once I have refined it, I will pay you the balance."

Hu Jinhua reluctantly took out thirty taels of silver.

When Wang Mintong got the silver, he immediately showed a smiling face: "Can you give a little more? It's hard for me to report back!"

"The landlord's family has no surplus grain either; it's gone."

Only then did Xu Jia remember the matter of the Treasure Basin and asked Hu Jinhua: "Didn't you and Kan Yinwu go to find the Treasure Basin and subdue the Lao Zhupo of Lan Shi Huo? How did that go?"

"Master Xu, the Lao Zhupo has been subdued, but that Treasure Basin is extremely evil. After Kan Yinwu and I dragged it back, we hid it away, not daring to let the little foxes see it. If they see it, it will stir up evil thoughts."

"It's that powerful?" Xu Jia asked: "And what about Kan Yinwu?"

"He went back to set up the genealogy and establish the hall. He had previously gained the offerings of a group of petty thieves and beggars. The petty thieves worshipped him, so it wouldn't be easy for them to be caught or beaten when stealing; the beggars worshipped him, so they could have a higher success rate in begging."

"That corresponds to his professional duties."

Hu Jinhua said: "Should I ask him to change it? Stop protecting these petty thieves?" "Then these petty thieves will be beaten to death? They won't be able to survive?" Xu Jia asked.

"That's not exactly what I meant..."

"Everyone has their own way of survival," Xu Jia said. "Catching thieves is the business of the government. Those who offer incense come from all walks of life. Can we manage whether our believers are thieves or bandits?"

"However, Kan Yinwu should indeed change his direction. If begging becomes easy, the beggars will become increasingly lazy; if they aren't beaten for stealing, they will become increasingly rampant—petty thieves will become big thieves, and petty thieves will become bandits."

"Then what should be done?"

Xu Jia thought for a moment: "Guide them. Guide them to work and create wealth, rather than just not protecting them. Didn't I give you the copper coins of the Wealth God Authority? This is a legitimate source of Wealth God believers. If they can all become prosperous, your Merit will be achieved. As for those who are truly lazy, think of a way to remove their 'lazy tendons'."

Wang Mintong hadn't left yet. His ears caught the mention of the Treasure Basin, so he wanted to stay a while longer. Hearing Xu Jia teach Hu Jinhua like this, he was surprised for a moment. Just a moment ago, he thought Xu Jia was the leader of a den of demons, but now he saw another side of him.

He nodded secretly: "There is actually some atmosphere of the Righteous Dao here."

However, he still walked out with big strides. But after walking out, he touched the thirty taels of silver and headed straight for a place to drink, intending to enjoy himself properly.

After the old man left, Xu Jia began to lecture the little foxes on principles, especially Hu Jinhua: "How much longer until you reach a hundred years of Daoist Practice?"

Hu Jinhua said: "Recently, my Daoist Practice has been growing very fast, and cultivation in the Dharma Realm is also very rapid. Previously, when Master Xu was lecturing on the methods of cultivation to the Daoists in Shanju Guan, I listened to some of it and gained some insights. It won't be difficult to get through the hundred-year Great Tribulation. It's Huang Pipo who still has the two-hundred-year Ershinian Dajie to pass."

"That is her Cultivation Tribulation, not a Human Tribulation. However, I have already refined the Five Elements Pill here. Tell her to come to my place when she has time, and I will give her three hundred pills, which should make it easier for her to pass."

"Since the Lao Zhupo of Lan Shi Huo is willing to surrender, I will write a Hall Genealogy for her as well."

Hu Jinhua remembered: "That Lao Zhupo was already very old when she became a demon, and now she has become even fatter. She lies down all day, living by breathing miasma. She also really wants to come and pay respects to Master Xu, but she is just a mass of old flesh."

Xu Jia frowned: "A mass of old flesh? Her physical foundation is too poor. Her essence and Qi are not being nourished, and she has no method for Refining Essence. She has been constantly consuming her Acquired Essence, and the Acquired Essence is stagnant. She isn't breathing in pure Qi, but poisonous miasma. I'm afraid she is already blocked up inside. Is she severely swollen?"

"I don't know about that, but she is very fat—a fat pig as big as an elephant!"

Xu Jia nodded: "That's it then. I'm afraid her meridians are not reaching her limbs, and the Girdle Vessel at her waist has a problem. Presumably, when she was a Lao Zhupo, she bred too many offspring. The Girdle Vessel is connected to the female womb, and excessive childbearing leads to these symptoms: paralysis and swelling."

Xu Jia said: "Tell her to eat more bugs that like to burrow in the ground. With the help of this Qi, perhaps she can clear the Girdle Vessel, and then nourish and nurture the female womb. Once the female womb returns to normal, the old flesh will slowly return to normal."

"Is that so!" Hu Jinhua said: "It's a pity none of us are good at practicing medicine."

Xu Jia thought and said: "Your disease-dispelling arts, combined with my Curse Date Technique, are enough to treat some minor illnesses, but not major ones. To treat major illnesses, one needs a hedgehog that has attained the Dao, or a rabbit that has attained the Dao. A hedgehog that has attained the Dao can learn acupuncture and often achieves great results. A rabbit that has attained the Dao will know how to pick prescriptions and grab medicine, eating all kinds of herbs and knowing the medicinal properties of herbs."

"As for hedgehogs, where would we find hedgehogs in the south? We only have porcupines."

"Porcupine quills are too thick and large," Xu Jia laughed. "And they are hollow with barbs. If you used those for acupuncture, wouldn't you pierce the person through?"

"A Fox Immortal like you could actually learn to refine your whiskers into fine needles, though your talent might not be as good as a hedgehog that has become a demon."

"I am too busy and don't have the time to practice medicine," Hu Jinhua said. "I'd better use my demon connections to see where there is a rabbit that has attained the Dao and invite her to sit in the hall. These days, dealing with the incense of the common people, besides asking for wealth, they are actually asking more for the treatment of illnesses."

"Some children have fevers that keep recurring. It's not evil Qi entering the body, and even after I perform the disease-dispelling art, it doesn't get better. Such small children can't even eat the Curse Date; I really don't know what to do. When their parents get anxious, I feel guilty too."

Xu Jia said: "Children's illnesses are the most troublesome, and therefore they are the most likely to die young. However, if it's about children's illnesses, I do have a prescription here called the Protecting Red Pill, but the required procedures are too cumbersome—over sixty steps. Unless it's a veteran medicinal worker or physician, only a rabbit that has become a demon could refine it."

When Hu Jinhua heard the word "cumbersome," she shook her head: "I'd better just manage the Wealth God Authority well. Any illness is ultimately a 'poverty illness.' They can't afford to go to a medical clinic, so they can only come to find shamans and witches. These shamans and witches are all disciples in our hall. We know what kind of skills they have; we can only try to find ways to get them some money. Once they are fed and clothed, there won't be these illnesses."

"That is the other thing I wanted to talk about. Since the Lao Zhupo of Lan Shi Huo has been subdued, the rotten persimmons can no longer be allowed to rot. They must be picked intact and turned into an industry to drive the villagers to make money. Doing this won't make them rich, but it will be enough to fill their stomachs."

(End of chapter)