Chapter 223: Seeing the True Person Huang of the Underworld Again

"Can a fox like her really ascend?" Hu Jinhua was shaken. "Does that mean those of us who cultivate diligently are not even as good as her, taking a shortcut like this?"

Xu Jia revealed the origin of Hu Agui: "The Wild Fox Zen you practice was passed down by him. If you want to blame someone, you really can't blame him. He is the source of your bloodline and the one who initiated your hearing of the Dharma and cultivation."

"Do not think highly of yourself just because you have learned from me, looking down on this person or that. Hu Agui also cultivated for several lifetimes and groped in the dark for hundreds of years before having a moment of enlightenment. When it comes down to it—"

"It is only a pity that his aptitude was inferior. In the end, he offered 'Joyous' to all living beings in such a manner, gaining only a spiritual reception to ascend and transferring his consciousness into the Form Realm."

"Is there any difference in such an ascension?"

"The supreme ascension in Buddhism is to be received by the Golden Boat Amitabha, who comes personally to welcome one into a supreme position in the West, at the very least a Bodhisattva position. Although some Bodhisattvas are quite lackluster."

"The middle-tier ascension is to transform into a rainbow, achieving the Arhat Merit Fruit, which also grants a seat and one's own Daochang."

"Hers is merely an Arhat's prediction. After death, her consciousness was transferred, escaping the cycle of the Desire Realm to achieve the status of a celestial being in the Form Realm. She serves the Huan Xi Jin Gang as a heavenly maiden—perhaps a Joyful Heavenly Maiden, an Offering Heavenly Maiden, or a Jewel-Holding Heavenly Maiden, or a Flower-Scattering Heavenly Maiden. Although she can continue to cultivate, her status is average, roughly similar to a 'servant' in a great official's mansion."

Hearing this, Hu Jinhua became worried again: "That Huan Xi Jin Gang doesn't sound like a good person. Once she goes to the upper realm, won't she be harvested and plundered by others?"

Xu Jia said: "The Huan Xi Jin Gang values spiritual joy rather than physical bliss; it is the joy of wisdom and the joy of hearing the Dao. It is just that worldly people do not cultivate it properly, so you are overthinking it. Only at large Buddhist assemblies does the Huan Xi Jin Gang appear, representing the joy of all living beings hearing the Buddhist causal connection. Hu Agui has already escaped the Desire Realm and been reborn in the Form Realm, reshaping his body from a lotus flower. He is a celestial being without male or female form. Since there is no male or female form, there is no talk of harvesting or being harvested."

"You also have some Buddha Nature, stronger than his, but the Dharma and Magic are too easily confused, and they place great emphasis on aptitude. The Esoteric Buddhism, in particular, is prone to taking the wrong path. Therefore, it is better to follow me in cultivating the Daoist techniques. As for the Dharma, you only need to listen and understand; there is no need to practice it for verification. Just use it as a tool—a stone from another mountain to strike your own wisdom."

Hu Jinhua naturally took Xu Jia's words to heart.

Over the next few days, Hu Jinhua arranged to take over the local demons of Dexing.

The local demons of Dexing included a dog demon, a radish spirit, and a nest of local village foxes.

The dog demon was a pug, the kind that drools. It was raised by a wealthy family. They discovered that after twenty-some years, it was still as lively as ever, even after the ancestors had passed away, yet it remained healthy, so they guessed it had become a spirit.

Because the demon occupied human vitality and usurped the family's fortune, the household—not including servants—had thirty people, yet for three or four years, there were no new offspring. Instead, the living were all suffering from ailments, so they invited it to leave.

This pug did not have a bad heart. After being swept out the door, it went to guard the places its old master frequented while alive, and the common people called it a righteous dog.

This time, when the Dharma King occupied Dexing, it secretly crawled through a dog hole to bite him, but before it even saw the person, it was kicked half to death.

It belonged to the "Ke Zhen'e among demons"—although it had the heart, its strength was pathetic. It was originally paralyzed at the Earth Temple until Hu Jinhua picked it up. After eating some Cursed Jujubes, it recovered thanks to the powerful self-healing ability of a spirit.

Xu Jia looked at this gray-furred, black-faced creature, which looked like a fur ball stained in a coal pile, and was surprised: "You can become a spirit too?"

As for that radish spirit, it was even more ridiculous. It was just a white radish that had become a spirit, pretending to be a Ginseng baby. It wore a red bellyband, one eye looking left, the other looking right, and it was only a step away from drooling.

By logic, this radish was an annual plant grown in a vegetable patch and watered with 'five-grain reincarnation' (night soil), so it was unlikely to become a spirit. It should have been made into radish soup or dried radish, yet this one could become a spirit...

As for the local village foxes, they were basically all crooked melons and cracked dates.

"The slightly more powerful ones were caught by the Dharma King as Blood Food and used as supplements. The slightly smarter ones all fled elsewhere, and some were scared away by the thunderous momentum of Master Xu's Dharma battle. The rest are just these."

"They all ran away? Are there none that are useful?"

Xu Jia sighed. Cultivating a human disciple costs a huge amount and requires immense effort. These little demons are ready to use, which is much more convenient.

Now there was no other choice, so he immediately gave these two little demons names: "You shall be called Xu Xiaotian," and "You shall be called Luo Laifu."

Once the two little demons received proper names, their souls became clearer.

They then kowtowed and bowed to Xu Jia, showing great respect.

"Although the rainfall here has lessened significantly, the upper and lower reaches have not eased. If we want to repair water conservancy, I'm afraid it's not possible right now."

"Then we shall replan the city," Xu Jia said. "It just so happens that the City God is sealed in the City God Temple. In these two days, people from the underworld will come to take him away. Perhaps we will need to choose a new City God, and I can take this opportunity to move the Feng Shui."

The Feng Shui of Dexing has already been destroyed. The best Feng Shui is "political harmony and people's unity." With the people harmonious, but now first having the terrifying sacrifices of the evil god and then the flood, the people are panicked and restless, unable to settle down.

The City God, this guardian deity, has also been polluted. Within the Dharma Realm, there is no peace. It is only because Xu Jia is sitting in command here that things appear orderly.

Now that it is being rebuilt, Xu Jia has long had a plan. He intends to have the city back onto the mountains and face the water, backing onto Sanqing Mountain and leaning against the Xin River.

The city is not complex. It will follow a symmetrical structure, planning streets and wards. Part of the original city wall will be demolished, and part will be kept and repaired.

Although Dexing is a place of "Earth Spirit" and possesses a Five Metal Mineral Vein, it is difficult to develop into a central city. Therefore, Xu Jia did not deliberately plan the city to be very large, only reserving space for future expansion. Given that the terrain is not very square, it can accommodate about 100,000 people, which is already the limit.

As for the surrounding villages, Xu Jia paid more attention to them. The Feng Shui layout of small places is actually simpler than planning a city and is more adaptable to local conditions.

Xu Jia used the surrounding villages as the "Twenty-Eight Mansions," while in Dexing City, he arranged the "Three Enclosures." Thus, the Three Enclosures, the four directions and Four Symbols, and the surrounding Twenty-Eight Mansions became the established tone.

Responding to the stars in the sky above and the geography below, it also fits Xu Jia's "governance."

The Golden Toad used this flood to wash away everything, including the "land deeds" in the hands of the wealthy and the government's "Fish Scale Register," leaving them unknown as to where they went.

Therefore, naturally, it assisted Xu Jia in completing the "land reform."

The core of land reform is not allowing land to be annexed. From a small perspective, it makes it hard for farmers; from a large perspective, it swallows national capital, leading to a collapse in tax revenue.

What the Golden Toad is doing now is purchasing a large amount from wealthy families or farmers who cannot make ends meet and need to sell their land, and then renting it out as "low-rent land" to farmers who have no land. Similarly, many of the original Dexing merchant houses and shops were also taken over in this way, directly taking over, recruiting apprentices, and creating employment.

The second is the smelting plant reform. The original smelting plants were supervised by eunuchs sent by the imperial court. Now the eunuchs are dead, the people in the smelting plants have mostly scattered, and the government no longer cares. Xu Jia wants to revitalize them, so he asked the Golden Toad to take over, changing the forced labor of the past government-assigned corvée into recruitment and employment.

In the post-disaster reconstruction, the Golden Toad has become the biggest winner. A large amount of assets was swallowed into his belly and then converted into the Wealth God's Dharma Power. Although his own funds were limited, he successfully turned them over to the limit, completing the second stage of the Wealth God's cultivation: "Rapid expansion of wealth, rapid accumulation of capital."

It is just that he represents Xu Jia. What Xu Jia wants him to do is "virtuous wealth" and "regulation," otherwise, if it is triggered, Dexing will be no less than a second flood.

Where did the money he used for acquisitions come from? Naturally, it was from reissuing the Jin Chan Debt. The Jin Chan Debt has already spread from Yushan County to the surrounding areas. The Money Shop has opened four or five branches, squeezing out local money shops. Coupled with its own credit system, the large amount of real gold and silver brought by financing, and the large amount of gold and silver jewelry collected by the Dharma King, he was able to quickly acquire a large amount of assets from those wealthy families and landlords during the post-disaster reconstruction of Dexing.

In short, the territory of Dexing has basically recovered its vitality and become orderly.

Xu Jia estimates that it will take about a month to fully return to normal. The fields that were not severely damaged are also about to be harvested, which can bring in a batch of grain. Although it may only be sixty or even fifty percent of previous years, it is enough to get through the difficulties.

Just like this, another two days passed. During the day, Xu Jia led the people to build water conservancy, inspected the reconstruction situation, and solved the problems encountered. At night, he practiced Daoism and explained lessons to his disciples and little demons.

That night, suddenly, a sound of blowing and beating came.

In the Dharma Realm, there was a Ghost King clearing the way, followed by carriages and ceremonial guards.

On the road-clearing signs were written Fengdu, Mount Tai, City God...

It turned out to be the messengers of Fengdu, the messengers of Mount Tai, and the City God of Xinzhou.

They came to arrest the City God of Dexing. Before, when the City God of Dexing was forced back to the City God Temple by Jizui Leigong, Xu Jia had performed a ritual, sealed the temple gate, and closed the spiritual light, so these deities quickly captured the City God.

But soon, Xu Jia saw an old acquaintance here.

"Huang Zhenren!" Xu Jia was surprised to see the short, fat Daoist wearing a golden Dharma robe in front of him: "Why did you come personally?"

"Brother Xu, you haven't contacted me for so long. Are you being distant? I was bored down below, so I took the initiative to come out and walk around." Huang Zhenren sat down very familiarly and laughed: "Now it seems that you, brother, have also succeeded and become prosperous."

"What is this? Just a small fuss."

Huang Zhenren took a sip of tea and said: "It's no longer a small fuss. You have become a Heavenly Master of the Lingbao Lineage. Even if you are down and out now, you will definitely be extraordinary in the future."

Xu Jia knew that this Huang Zhenren would not get up early without a profit; back then, to exchange for that Return to Soul quota, he had worked for fifty years in the underworld, plus fifty years of Incense Fire in the mortal world to trade for it. Even if he were successful now, it was unlikely that this Huang Zhenren would come specifically for him, and furthermore, since they were currently in the Desire Realm, there was even less need, so he asked directly: "What instruction does the True Person have?"

Huang Zhenren coughed: "Heh, you really are a boring person."

He then said: "I heard that a treasure appeared here, a Heavenly Emperor Relic Jade; it is actually the treasure of the Yellow Heaven Sect, made from the corundum of Kunlun Mountain. I came here specifically to trade with you for this treasure."

Xu Jia heard this: "This treasure is a Dexing Earth Treasure, it is very important, and besides, I don't have any requests for the True Person right now... why would I trade this treasure?"

"Tsk tsk tsk, changing your face so quickly." Huang Zhenren said: "Although that jade is an Earth Treasure, Kunlun Mountain is the capital of all gods, standing in the Great Luo Heaven, so this jade is also an object left behind by the Great Luo Heaven. The Yellow Heaven Sect once used it to trade for the Heavenly Emperor faith of this world, and in the end, it was lost here and obtained by you."

Huang Zhenren rubbed his own Xiao Pang chin and said directly: "Although this thing is a treasure, it is more of a symbol, a supreme treasure of the Divine Path. You are a cultivator of Immortals and have no use for it, unless you want to switch to cultivating the Divine Path and establish yourself as a Heavenly Emperor."

Xu Jia thought for a moment: "I cultivate the Inner Landscape Dao; my spirit is the Emperor, commanding the three heavens and one hundred and eight thousand gods, so it does indeed count as establishing myself as a Heavenly Emperor."

Huang Zhenren heard this and tsked: "Then this world cannot contain you. To cultivate this path, one must practice the Saint King Qi, inner virtue and outer merit, divine and enlightened; you must establish a Dao Kingdom on the ground!"

"I have this idea." Xu Jia said: "Probably overseas; I heard that the Longevity Sect has already established a Changsheng Dao Kingdom overseas, and I plan to conquer some territory."

Huang Zhenren clapped his hands: "This is good. The Longevity Sect is also a wanted criminal recorded by the Heavenly Court, but that Long Life Sect Leader is only a step away from ascension. If you want to compare yourself to him, that is truly the difference between a firefly and the bright moon."

Huang Zhenren said: "How about this: you will ascend to Shangjie sooner or later, and you cannot take objects from the lower realm with you when you ascend. I will come to collect this Earth Treasure when you ascend, but..."

"But what?" Xu Jia asked: "Does Huang Zhenren have anything else to teach me?"

"Nothing else, you are just such a boring person." Huang Zhenren shook his head, then spoke: "That Dexing City God will likely take another ten years before a new person takes the position; you should temporarily serve as an official governing yin and yang."

"Also, collect fewer spirits and monsters; sooner or later, you will be burdened by them. The cultivation of non-human kinds is not like the human race; the wisdom required for enlightenment is more extensive, and those who can fall into the animal path all have some particularly turbid nature. Furthermore, let alone non-human kinds, even among humans, you see some people whose personalities are like pigs, like dogs, like cows, like horses; they just don't look like a true human, which means their turbid nature has not been severed, and they cannot attain purity."

Xu Jia nodded solemnly: "Thank you for your guidance, True Person."

Huang Zhenren smiled: "Even if I say it, you might not be able to take it to heart. Just cultivate well."

Having said that, he turned into a burst of smoke and dissipated.

Xu Jia pondered for a while and thought to himself: "I will just look to myself."

Thus, he settled his nature, calmed his heart, stopped overthinking, and continued to close his eyes, sitting in meditation to preserve his spirit and strengthen his Primordial Spirit.

Huang Zhenren returned to the other side, and an inquiry came from the sedan chair of the Mount Tai messenger: "How is his root nature now?"

"Although there is progress, there is still the Ignorance of refusing to turn back."

"Seekers of the Dao are inherently obsessed; that is normal. Who among those who truly succeed has not gone through a thousand tribulations and ten thousand hardships?"

(End of this chapter)