Chapter 404: Meeting the Wufeng Shizhe Again

The method of laying down restrictions requires at least the cultivation of an "Earth Immortal," and a certain level of understanding of the Great Dao. Ultimately, it is the art of Talismans, and both professional knowledge and operation of Array Dao and Feng Shui must be impeccable.

But seeking veins does not require this. As the saying goes, "Three years to seek a dragon, ten years to dot the acupoint." Seeking veins requires more patience and a keen eye.

Xu Jia does not need the minor demons to seek any great Dragon Veins, but the heavens and earth bestow creation everywhere, and the sun and moon shine upon all with perfect fairness. Seeing the big through the small, building a Daochang inside a snail shell is still feasible.

In the days that followed, while the mundane world farmed and the cultivation world engaged in research, the demon-spirit world began the vigorous work of "civil engineering surveying."

In a short time, they truly found many locations suitable for constructing micro Spirit Veins. Xu Jia personally applied the restrictive methods one by one, and soon, around Three Pure Ones Mountain, Yushan, and the two counties of Dexing, he established seventeen or eighteen micro Spirit Veins.

This day, they traveled to Little Mao Mountain. Little Mao Mountain is adjacent to Three Pure Ones Mountain and also possesses clear and beautiful scenery.

The minor demons surveyed to this point and perceived that the Spirit Machine here was abundant, which perfectly suited Xu Jia's intentions, so they reported it up.

Xu Jia had just arrived when a thought arose, recalling the past. There was once an Eighth-Rank Wind God of Shangjie, Wufeng Shizhe, who had bumped into a fairy maiden bathing in this pool at Little Mao Mountain. This fairy maiden was a palace attendant of the Immortal Qin First Emperor in Shangjie, and because of this, Wufeng Shizhe was demoted here, and the very pool where the fairy maiden bathed was transformed into a black fish.

Because the bathing pool here had its location leaked, the fairy maiden no longer used it and switched to another.

It is strange, though; it has always been very difficult for beings of the Form Realm to descend to the lower realms. The ancestors of various sects can only offer revelations through dreams. Only deities on official business, fulfilling their duties, can descend. Why, then, are there frequent legends of fairy maidens descending to bathe?

Moreover, the Form Realm is itself a world of stainless Pure Land, while the Desire Realm is a vat of turbid thoughts. One wonders if they specifically come down to bathe because they want to wash clean, or because they are not clean? Xu Jia walked to the Fairy Pool of Little Mao Mountain and saw a large black fish floating on the surface, swallowing and spitting, possessing quite a bit of spiritual nature.

This was precisely the reincarnation of Wufeng Shizhe. He immediately held his ruyi and pointed it at the fish.

The black fish then transformed into a fish-headed human. Although its appearance was ugly, it had already opened its spiritual wisdom.

"Wufeng Shizhe, do you still recognize me?"

"I recognize you, I recognize you!" The black fish spirit spoke with a gurgling sound, still holding water in its mouth, but said: "I have lost my divine position now and only count as a fish spirit. Heavenly Master should still call me Wufeng. Once I cultivate into a Demon King, I will be Wufeng Great King."

Xu Jia sighed: "You helped me in the past, and there is kindness in that. Arriving here today, there is also some opportunity. I have a Register Method here; I will pass it to you first, and then connect the Yin-Yang Dharma Vein here to generate a Spirit Vein, so that you may cultivate without worry."

"A Spirit Vein?" Wufeng Shizhe's expression shook: "The Small Thousand World only has Dragon Veins; how can there be Spirit Veins? No, it is a man-made Spirit Vein. Eh? You have walked the Yellow Heaven Earth Deity Path?"

"Oh? This is the Yellow Heaven Earth Deity Path?"

"Exactly. Yellow Heaven Holy Venerable was an Earth Deity who left home, skilled in constructing Cave Heaven Blessed Lands, repairing the End of Dharma Era world. He also had methods for ascension, capable of turning a Small Thousand World into a Middle Thousand World, a Middle Thousand World into a Great Thousand World, and even refining the three thousand Great Thousand Worlds in one go to become a Great Luo Eternal Universe."

"This is no less than the remaking of heaven and earth. It is just a pity that Yellow Heaven Holy Venerable only lived in the world for ten thousand and fifty years before transcending and becoming free. It is hard for the powers of all heavens and Buddhas to work toward the same goal again."

"If the Holy Venerable were still here... sigh, how could we low-level deities have had our status become so poor... how could these Small Thousand Worlds have gradually become disconnected..."

Xu Jia did not want to hear him reminisce, only saying: "You have been in this pool for several years. How is this pool water special, allowing a fairy maiden to descend to bathe? Although she was only a palace attendant to a Fifth-Rank Imperial Lord, she was still no ordinary person; she would not specifically make a trip to the lower realm just to bathe."

"You do not know, these fairy maidens are not cultivated from humans. The Weaving Maiden was cultivated from a silkworm, becoming a moth; descending to the lower realm as a demon, she became a spider—all of them spin silk. These fairy maidens of theirs, after all, are not true fairy maidens of the Heavenly Palace. The lowest are Seventh-Rank Heavenly Immortals, and they cannot yet be considered to have Didao, so there is the 'saying of skin shedding,' which is 'Feathered Ascension'."

"Feathered Ascension in the Form Realm always carries great risk, so they descend to the Desire Realm. 'Nine Shedding Feathered Ascension,' which is nine feathered ascensions, will truly allow them to be reborn."

"These fairy maidens bathe here merely to moisturize their skin so that they are more comfortable during Feathered Ascension. Those clothes of the fairy maidens in the legends are nothing more than the skin they shed."

"As for the pool water here, although it has some special qualities, it cannot be considered much. It is just a natural Yin-Yang Spring; one side is a Hot Spring, the other is a Cold Spring. The cold and heat are balanced, and on the surface, there is nothing else to it."

"So that is how it is." Xu Jia had originally thought fairy maidens were beautiful sisters, but it turned out the fairy maidens were "fairy moths"—actual fluttering moths. He immediately felt that Wufeng Shizhe had been wronged.

However, upon asking out of curiosity, he learned that Wufeng Shizhe was not cultivated from a human either, but was a slender-waisted black bee.

That being the case, it was actually quite a fitting match.

After enlightening Wufeng and connecting the Yin-Yang Cold and Hot Springs' Dharma Veins to form a Spirit Vein, Little Mao Mountain suddenly truly had the appearance of a real Mao Mountain. "Wufeng, you must cultivate well. In the future, there may not be a lack of opportunity for you to stand out."

"In my past life, I walked the path of a Wind God; in this life, I shall walk the path of a Water Deity. The Immortal Path is not friendly to us oddities; if we cultivate successfully, we inevitably end up on the dinner table. The Divine Path cultivates the virtues of heaven and earth; if they want to eat us again, they must consider the karmic debt of heaven and earth. Sigh, it was better when Yellow Heaven Holy Venerable ruled the world. For us oddities who achieved Didao, and those of the human race who achieved Didao, it was basically treated the same. Now, sigh..."

Xu Jia consoled him: "One must always look forward. By the way, who rules the world now?"

"It is a human Emperor, the master of the Great Heng Earth Court. He was originally the son of Yellow Heaven Holy Venerable, born while held in the Holy Venerable's hands. The Great Heng Dynasty, which exists in all the heavens and myriad worlds, was founded by his descendants."

"But now he doesn't manage things either. Anyway, none of them are as good as when Yellow Heaven Holy Venerable ruled the world..."

Xu Jia left Little Mao Mountain; otherwise, he might really be led astray by Wufeng, feeling as if the Yellow Heaven Teaching Method was frantically brainwashing him.

But Xu Jia still firmly chose the Lingbao Teaching Method. This stuff is useful. Yellow Heaven—could it be anything good? They are all officials of the previous dynasty; they cannot cut the sword of the current dynasty.

Reports of victory came one after another. In the entire Jiangnan West Circuit, now only the southernmost "Ganzhou Prefecture" was still resisting. Ganzhou Prefecture, speaking of it, is also a place of abundant natural treasures. Adjacent to the land of Yue, the soil is fertile; it is a genuine "land of fish and rice in Jiangnan."

The Prefect of Ganzhou absorbed the lessons of the fall of Nanchang Prefecture and Jiujiang Prefecture, and directly took the initiative to preside over an "official version" of Equal Field.

But what he presided over was not equalizing fields for the poor middle and lower-class farmers, but advocating for large landlords to return fields annexed from small landlords or rich farmers. He was striving for the support of the small landlord class and the rich farmer class. Among this portion were scholars and martial artists; they were the "decision-makers" of each local village—that is, "village heads, neighborhood leaders, and pavilion chiefs"—those who were the vested interests exploiting the poor middle and lower-class farmers, and also the backbone of the patriarchal clan system.

To tell the truth, where would the farmers and ordinary handicraft laborers have "awakened"? They were all illiterate and ignorant. Would they listen to outsiders, or to their own relatives and elders?

Why were Jiujiang and Nanchang so easily broken before? It was because these rich farmers and small landlords had gone bankrupt in large numbers and were annexed by large landlords, large bureaucrats, and large clans.

The truly poor farmers starved to death without even knowing why they starved. They were nearly starving to death, yet they clearly knew whom to hate.

After the Prefect of Ganzhou studied it carefully, he felt he had mastered the method for certain victory, and even memorialized the imperial court, hoping for it to be implemented throughout the world to eradicate the abuses, which would naturally lead to a bright and peaceful world.

It is a pity that this is just like the Wang Anshi reforms; when the small privileged class touches the large privileged class, it is like an egg hitting a rock—a death sentence.

Even the local aristocratic families of Ganzhou, who had members serving as officials (half the imperial court's civil and military officials are from Jiangxi), thought the Prefect of Ganzhou was messing around...

In short, the Prefect of Ganzhou was matched with a group of pig-like teammates. But he himself still managed to carry out the "Equal Field" matter, greatly increasing the military strength and economic power of Ganzhou City.

There were even sea cannons borrowed from Guangzhou and Immortal Elders from Luofu Mountain specifically to deal with those demon-people, and their weapons were specifically replaced with imported firearms from the "Western Ocean"...

"Commander, if Ganzhou is not taken, it will be difficult for us to continue our advance south. Although the Longevity Sect's Wanshou Emperor was executed, there are still many Elders and Protectors. They are still causing chaos in the lands of Yue and Min. These two provinces have many ancient ghosts of the six heavens and all sorts of monsters and demons; they are the perfect places for us to destroy altars and break temples. Only by accumulating external merit in this way can we attain the Earth Immortal fruit position sooner."

"Don't be impatient."

Chen Gongming held a telescope enhanced with the "Hearing and Seeing Wonderful Method" to observe the situation in Ganzhou, and said: "Those in the city are nothing but a rabble. Their observation of Qi lacks method, and the common people are still in the midst of fire and water. We should still follow the old method: encircle the cities from the rural areas. In the villages and towns, preside over Equal Field. Secondly, hold struggle sessions and trials for the local bullies and hooligans."

"The Prefect of Ganzhou has already done these things!" the intelligence officer said.

This intelligence officer was not a human, but a yellow dog. The large yellow dog stood on its hind legs, and its face was already three or four parts like a human's.

How did he gather intelligence? He only needed to pretend to be an ordinary large yellow dog, mix into the village, and ask the other large yellow dogs in the village to know too many things.

"What he did is all wrong. We must clearly understand who is our enemy and who is our friend. Unite all that can be united. Look, he only united the village heads, neighborhood leaders, and even some self-cultivating farmers with fields in a village, but he didn't put the majority of tenant farmers in his eyes. Tenant farmers have no fields of their own and are the true proletarians. If we unite them and let them be the masters of their own house, can we not succeed?"

"What must be done is to let them awaken, to know that they are being persecuted, being exploited, and are meat-livestock destined not to resist."

"Tomorrow, take a portion of our men, distribute the firearms we have phased out to those fellow villagers, and then establish a branch within the enemy's ranks."

(End of this chapter)