Chapter 359: Azure Duckweed

Xu Jia also flushed red, using all his strength and methods to finally pull this tree up.

For Xu Jia, who had always been particular about elegance and decency, this was not at all in line with his image; although a dried corpse did not have much of an image, he was, after all, an Ancestor of a lineage and a figure at the level of a sect leader.

"Dao follows nature, immeasurable longevity to the Dao Venerable, Amitabha, Hallelujah..."

Xu Jia recited compassion with his mouth, but a dazzling sword appeared in his hand; this was the Heart Sword, not an Innate Divine Sword, a Compassionate Heart Sword, yet its killing intent was the same as the Innate Killing Sword. Why not compassionate? Why not benevolent? Why not righteous? "Heaven and Earth Mourn Together!"

The sword light fell, striking directly into the spirit of the Voodoo Wood.

How is "Heaven and Earth Mourn Together" to be interpreted?

There is a poem that can explain it.

"Before me, I see no ancients; after me, I see no successors. Thinking of the vastness of heaven and earth, I stand alone and shed tears!" A great man once felt this way, standing alone and shedding tears. Thinking of the affairs of the Six Dynasties, it only became a private scheme for one's own household.

This is Heaven and Earth Mourn Together.

That Voodoo Wood could not understand the heroic and impassioned meaning within, nor could it understand why such great killing intent existed under such great compassion.

Its spirituality gradually extinguished, and its Divine Ability could not resist.

The thousands of lotus flowers formed by the Azure Yang Qi purified those witchcraft curse spirits, and the Taiyi Salvation Power entered the Life-Entering Realm; the entire secret realm was covered in lotus flowers, only these lotus flowers were eerie, without roots, without leaves, not Womb Birth, not Egg Birth, but entirely Transformation Birth.

"Dissolve!"

Xu Jia unraveled the tree bark, just like taking off clothes.

This Voodoo Wood bark was an excellent material for curses, but thinking from another perspective, how could it not be material for the Book of Life and Death, or perhaps a Death Note.

As the bark was peeled away, the Voodoo Wood spirit inside trembled in fear; with the attached voodoo curse ghosts gone, only its original plant nature remained.

A cluster of green divine fire floated within, emitting a strange fragrance, seemingly poisonous, seemingly bewitching, seemingly intoxicating...

Xu Jia directly had the Nine Heavens and Ten Earths Questioning Skeleton swallow this cluster of divine fire; this was the core of the Voodoo Sect, a deity they had created out of thin air.

But now, it was left to Xu Jia to slaughter.

"You were timid before the battle even began, you are truly a coward; wouldn't it have been better to just spit it out for me?"

The wood spirit let out a whimpering sound.

"Truly a moron."

Xu Jia thought to himself, directly reaching out to extract the wood core. The wood core grows one inch every sixty years, one foot every six hundred years; at three feet and six inches, it required two thousand one hundred and sixty years of age. This Voodoo Wood had over three thousand years of cultivation, so Xu Jia could still leave a portion for it.

This wood core was emerald green, translucent, and permeated with dense vitality; there was no voodoo or curse inside, but rather a force of blessing.

Plants and trees have their spring; roots take hold in rotting mud yet possess vitality. These curse forces were like fertilizer, absorbed by it, resulting in this nearly pure blessing of vitality.

"Good, good, good," Xu Jia sighed. "You thing, the Africans raised you to waste; you didn't absorb a single essence of civilization, only dregs."

"I'll keep you. The effort just now was wasted, so I'll keep you. You've been raised to waste and have no potential, but your master is compassionate; since I've gotten what I wanted, there's no need to kill."

He then decreed the divine nature he had just obtained into a Talisman and injected the essence into this little thing, which was an Earth Immortal Register Method: "The Divine Path does not suit you; walk the path of the Earth Immortal. Manage this place well. Your voodoo materials are somewhat useful. This secret realm exists as a Blessed Land and Cave Heaven because of your existence; if you were gone, this place would collapse."

"The Voodoo Sect is not a place beyond the law. I originally intended to fell the altars and destroy the temples, but if you are willing to follow the Protector, there is a place for you."

The Voodoo Wood spirit cowered, but having received the Earth Immortal Register Method, it immediately became immersed in it, sensing infinite benefits. Following the nature of plants and trees, it received the essence of heaven above, obtained the clear spirit of Dry Yang, responded to the primordial spirit of the earth below, acquired the maternal nature of Kun Yin, flourished with the seasonal Qi, and divided the Yin Yang Five Elements.

Thus, it no longer felt aggrieved and grew small tentacles to submit and worship Xu Jia.

Xu Jia brushed the tentacles away in disgust and said, "Witchcraft, infamous since the time of Emperor Wu of Han, leaves endless disasters and is taboo in every dynasty. The Voodoo Sect established its sect with this secret Black Curse and spread its Evil Art, which also commits a taboo. In the past, no one taught you; these black-skinned people were all ignorant and unenlightened. Now, follow my sect's practices, and there will be disciples chanting scriptures to you daily: first Morality, second Yellow Court, third Purity. You must listen to these three scriptures, day after day, and you will be able to open your wisdom, awaken your true nature, and step onto the path of proper cultivation."

"These fortunes in exchange for your three-foot-six-inch wood core, you can consider yourself to have gotten the better end of the deal. From now on, you are spared from sinking into ruin and suffering from karmic obstacles. To tell the truth, with your three thousand years of Daoist Practice, to have ended up like this, failing to shed your form, was merely growing in vain."

Xu Jia rambled on, trying his best to explain clearly, PUA-ing this Voodoo Wood, the gist of it all being: "I am doing this for your own good."

"Now that the God Immortals who should have descended to the lower realm have all descended, leaving ten thousand Golden Lotus Platforms vacant, to tell the truth, if I sit on a lotus platform and can grab a spot, you can also serve before the lotus platform; big or small, it is still a position." After reciting this, Xu Jia withdrew and waved to the disciples who were still surrounding the area: "The item has been obtained. The next step is to pacify this tribe, absorb and accept them one by one; there is no need to create unnecessary killing karma. Establish a formal branch altar here; let's call it the Spirit Wood Altar."

The disciples all felt a bit disappointed, not having seen blood flow like a river or any mysterious magic battles.

However, those Voodoo Sect sorcerers really did not know why, but they offered no resistance at all.

Xu Jia took a step ahead, returned to Tongtian Temple, sat back on the Immortal Altar, gave a few instructions, and then used his Primordial Spirit to carry the Thousand-Year Wood Core back into his original physical body.

Just as Xu Jia returned to his physical body, Dongda sent people secretly to America to discuss cooperation with Tongtian Temple, only to receive one sentence: "You are all too late. The Ancestor has just left the altar. It is unknown when he will descend again, likely within six months to a year or two. However, we have an altar that can attempt communication."

Bringing the Thousand-Year Wood Core to Sanqing Mountain, Xu Jia sought out the Thunder Law Seal and asked, "What do you think of this item?"

The Thunder Law Seal had not been idle for these three months; refining Sand, Dotting the Acupoint, guiding dragons, and moving veins, the Feng Shui in the mountain had improved significantly compared to before. He took the three-foot-six emerald Thousand-Year Wood Core and said repeatedly, "A good treasure, the ultimate treasure of vitality. The True Person only needs to refine it into a scabbard for the Immortal Sword to wrap the sharp blade, harmonize the killing intent of life and death, and use it as the Ziwei for the Nine Palaces Star Pointing and the Sheng Ying for the Five Dragons Holding the Saint, forming the grand structure of the Nine-Five Morning Origin. That Blessed Land and Cave Heaven will naturally be achieved."

The Thunder Law Seal's eyes were bright: "But True Person, after the Blessed Land and Cave Heaven is cultivated, what are your plans?"

"What are my plans?" Xu Jia mused: "I made a vow of compassion, but many people hear it as too empty. I don't necessarily want to kidnap others to be like me, nor do I want to blame the base nature of the sinking masses. I only want to start from myself; save one if I can, influence one if I can. What do you say?"

The Thunder Law Seal said: "Is it that all living beings can cultivate? Can they all transcend?"

"I don't know," Xu Jia said. "What I think is, once the Blessed Land and Cave Heaven is built, it will shade the land with favorable weather, crops will have a bountiful harvest, the common people will have fewer illnesses, Ghost Gods will be restrained and not cause trouble, and those in cultivation will follow me in making great vows and putting them into practice."

"Just like spring has spring rain and summer has the scorching sun, naturally, the earth changes as the celestial phenomena change. In a day or two, the changes don't seem very large, but looking at it over the long term, the four seasons become distinct."

"If it were before, I only thought that those who plow the fields could plow in peace, and those who weave cloth could weave in peace."

"And now?"

"Now there are more choices," Xu Jia said. "I have established a Dao Kingdom overseas. If there is a chance, you can take a boat to see it."

The Thunder Law Seal thought for a while: "I will let some of the clansmen go overseas."

The Thunder Law Seal saw that Xu Jia's mind would not be content with a corner, nor would he only be a sect leader who opens a mountain to accept disciples. When building the palace, he came into contact with many knowledge, cultural, and theoretical ideas that Xu Jia brought from America.

At first, he thought he was a world-shaking Sage, but thinking carefully, this was a subversion, a subversion that would eliminate a large amount of labor.

He guessed that this might be the appearance of a major event about to happen, but he did not know how it would happen, or at what time or moment it would happen, so he could only wait.

Now he could not help but ask Xu Jia, and the answer given was not a firm one.

But living in this world, where would there ever be an answer that is always firm and never shifts? Xu Jia was also thinking about this question, and perhaps many people were thinking about this question too.

But only by holding power in one's hands does one have the right to choose.

Therefore, Xu Jia held this Weiji Immortal Sword.

The song is not yet finished, the East is white.

That is what this means.

Now this Weiji Immortal Sword has an extra scabbard, concealing its sharp edge; to conceal the edge is also to nurture it, and when it is drawn again, it will surely be "Water Fire Already Balanced."

The three-inch-six-foot wooden core wraps around that Immortal Sword which has no hilt and harms both others and oneself; only those who harbor great love and possess great compassion can wield it, otherwise they can only keep it hidden and unused, for fear of a backlash.

As the sword enters the wooden core, it becomes a new sword; the metallic sharpness fades away, leaving only a greenish hue, a greenish Immortal Sword that is metal within and wood without.

Xu Jia specifically engraved two characters on the wooden hilt: "Qingping."

The wooden sword began to hum, as if weeping and complaining, the lingering sound curling in the air.

"You have been elevated to a sage," Xu Jia sighed, "with the status of the Nine-Five."

(End of this chapter)