Chapter 286: Faith, Reincarnation

"After purging the nobles of the various duchies, the next targets will be the members of the Heaven Dou Imperial family."

"They are even simpler. Treason and rebellion are capital crimes. I can directly execute Xue Beng and Xue Xing. As for Xue Ye, because his younger brother Xue Beng and his own son Xue Xing rebelled, he fell ill from anger, and after long-term exhaustion, he was already sickly; he can simply die of grief and resentment from this incident."

"By then, after arranging the government affairs of the larger duchies and going through a transition period of at most half a year, I will be able to consolidate the power of the entire Empire. After that, it will be time to integrate the Spirit Master forces within the Empire."

"This is even simpler. After all, your Soul Spirits are hard currency. The quota for Soul Spirits alone is enough to win over quite a few Spirit Master forces. Furthermore, the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect supports me publicly, and if I secretly have people from the Spirit Hall cooperate with me, integrating the Spirit Master forces will be even more convenient."

"How do you plan to handle the Clear Sky Sect?" Shi Quan suddenly spoke up.

Qian Renxue's brows furrowed slightly; the Clear Sky Sect was undoubtedly the biggest thorn among the many Spirit Master forces and the most difficult to deal with.

"The Clear Sky Sect is special. My grandfather once made a pact with Tang Chen, a promise that those belonging to the Spirit Hall would never set foot on the mountain peaks where the Clear Sky Sect resides. I am not allowed to touch the Clear Sky Sect for the time being."

"Moreover, Tang Chen is powerful, even a sliver stronger than my grandfather. Although he is currently missing, my grandfather said that Tang Chen is not dead. One cannot help but be wary of the point that is Tang Chen."

Shi Quan tapped his fingers lightly on the armrest of his chair and said calmly: "Tang Chen is the Slaughter King of the Slaughter City. He currently does not have his own consciousness. If we want to destroy the Clear Sky Sect, there is no need to worry about Tang Chen's retaliation."

"You want to destroy the Clear Sky Sect?" Qian Renxue's eyes showed a bit more interest upon hearing this.

"Tang Hao died at my hands, and both of the Clear Sky Sect's Inheritance Soul Bones are in my possession. The Clear Sky Sect will certainly not let this go easily. That old fellow Tang Chen has something I want, so a battle is inevitable. Plus, with Tang San, that Evil Soul Master, the existence of the Clear Sky Sect is like a ticking time bomb. So, before it explodes, I plan to dismantle it first."

Qian Renxue stood up slightly. "When do you plan to take action? Do you need my help?"

Shi Quan chuckled. "Once I reach a Breakthrough to Title Douluo, I will gather the power of the Spirit Beasts to directly annihilate the Clear Sky Sect. If you can loan me a few Title Douluo, I would be very willing to accept."

"Title Douluo?" Qian Renxue's figure suddenly straightened, her hands involuntarily clenching a bit tighter. She said in a deep voice: "Shi Quan, what level is your soul power at now?"

"My soul power is already at level eighty-three."

"What?!" Even Qian Renxue could not help but be startled. She stared fixedly at Shi Quan, her eyes filled with disbelief. After a long while, she slowly sat back down in her seat and said in a low voice: "Let me know in advance when you are going to annihilate the Clear Sky Sect. I can call up at least two Title Douluo for you."

"Good." Shi Quan continued: "When do you plan to take action against those nobles?"

"During the Soul Spirit Assembly."

"That is indeed a good opportunity."

The Soul Spirit Assembly originated from the thousand Soul Spirit quotas provided by Shi Quan. The so-called assembly was actually a conference ceremony held for the thousand people merging with Soul Spirits.

The location for the event was somewhere outside the Star Dou Great Forest.

This conference ceremony involved various forces on the continent. The Spirit Masters sent were the pride of their respective forces, which would inevitably attract the attention of many factions. At the same time, a large number of Spirit Masters would accompany these talented individuals to attend this grand event.

By using the assembly to divert the attention of all parties, when everyone's focus was on the assembly and they were at their most relaxed, Qian Renxue taking action at that moment would undoubtedly deal a painful blow to those duchy nobles.

"By the way, on my way back, I encountered a group of Wolf Bandits slaughtering a village and dealt with them on the way. However, by the time I discovered them, most of the villagers were already dead or injured. Although the main force was wiped out, it is still better to send people to encircle and suppress the nearby mountain ranges to avoid any remnants. This is the specific location." Shi Quan took out a map, on which the specific location had already been marked.

Qian Renxue looked at the map and nodded. Shi Quan also continued: "I plan to collect Faith Power, and I might need you to help me promote it when the time comes."

"Faith?" Qian Renxue understood in her heart and nodded, saying: "It is not easy to make people generate Faith; it requires time. However, I will help you as much as I can. But what kind of Faith do you want to promote? Life? Plants?"

"No." Shi Quan shook his head. "My Faith is Reincarnation! I will perfect the theory of Reincarnation for you before the Soul Spirit Assembly. At that time, you only need to help me spread it; the rest can just be left to ferment."

"Reincarnation?" Qian Renxue looked puzzled; this was the first time she had heard this term. Seeing Shi Quan so confident, she still nodded and agreed.

They did not stay long.

After Shi Quan left the Heaven Dou Imperial Palace, he returned to Dugu Bo's courtyard for a day, then set off with Gu Yuena to return to the Star Dou Great Forest to begin preparing the Soul Spirits needed for the Soul Spirit Assembly. Besides Shi Quan, Gu Yuena and Di Tian could also craft Soul Spirits, which greatly reduced Shi Quan's workload.

Shi Quan had already obtained the list of a thousand people from Qian Renxue in advance. The list had detailed descriptions of their martial souls and strength. Based on the list, Shi Quan and the others extracted the Soul Spirits in advance, which also greatly eased the pressure on the day of the event.

Based on memories from his past life, Shi Quan began to outline the legends of the Underworld.

Shi Quan knew of the well-known Ten Yama Kings and the Five Directional Ghost Emperors, but as for the specific names of the Ten Yama Kings and the Five Directional Ghost Emperors, Shi Quan was not really clear; he only knew some of the more famous ones.

For example, among the Ten Yama Kings, Shi Quan only knew the two most famous, King Yama and King Qinguang. As for the Five Directional Ghost Emperors, Shi Quan did not know a single one.

Besides these, there were of course some other famous ghost gods that Shi Quan knew, such as Judge Cui and Zhong Kui.

Black and White Impermanence, who were responsible for collecting souls in the human world; Ox-Head and Horse-Face, who guarded the gates of Hell; and Meng Po, who was responsible for making all living beings forget their past lives before the Six Paths of Reincarnation.

There was also Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva, who made the great vow: "If Hell is not empty, I will not become a Buddha."

The Great Emperor of the Eastern Peak, the Great Emperor of Northern Yin Fengdu,

And the most crucial one, Houtu Niangniang.

The Six Paths of Reincarnation and the Underworld were evolved from this Houtu Niangniang embodying the Dao.

Although he did not know these detailed contents, Shi Quan understood that the so-called Underworld was essentially an institution. He did not need to refine the origins and abilities of every person; he only needed to roughly describe the responsibilities of the Ten Yama Kings and the Five Directional Ghost Emperors. Based on what he understood, he would outline a hierarchical system similar to the management system of the world, write out a brand-new world, and make people believe in the authenticity of this legend, believing that the world they lived in had a cycle and continuation of life. The so-called Faith would naturally and gradually emerge.

(End of chapter)