The lotus pond, in its pitiful twin blossoms, held only the sister's soul, appearing somewhat lonely and bored.
Yan Shouyi stood by the pond, craning his neck, carefully observing the child's soul. Seeing that the child was unharmed, he finally breathed a sigh of relief.
"Once the Min Jiao Dao Dian is out in the world, our children and descendants will no longer have to suffer the Five Inauspiciousnesses and Three Deficiencies," Lin Ziqing said with a smile.
Some things, some sacrifices, if their generation didn't undertake them, they would be left for the next generation.
Yan Shouyi did not want to leave trouble for his descendants, so he wished to eliminate the Grand Tutor as soon as possible to create a peaceful and prosperous era for future generations.
Lin Ziqing then asked, "Xiao Long's soul is still here. What are your plans?"
Yan Shouyi shook his head. "Although his soul is still present, Xiao Long is dead. According to the laws of nature, he should go to the underworld for reincarnation. Given what he did in this life, he should be reborn into a wealthy family in his next life, with no worries about food or clothing."
As it had not yet been seven days since Long Fei's passing, and his three souls had not fully returned, his consciousness remained in a state of confusion. Yan Shouyi was unable to communicate with him.
"Have you considered that he might not want to leave?" Lin Ziqing sighed.
Yan Shouyi said in a low voice, "Xiao Long has already done enough. To remain in the mortal world would only be to continue suffering."
"Let Xiao Long make his own decision."
With the abilities of Yan Shouyi and his wife, it would be easy to keep Long Fei alive in the mortal realm, but it would inevitably come at a cost for Long Fei.
For example, if forced to remain in the human world, he would be judged by the underworld's officials at the time of his next reincarnation, ultimately leading to a sentence in hell and much suffering before he could be reborn.
Zhang Santong, with his boundless magic power, had long seen through this. In this life, he would either remain in the human world or be utterly destroyed, so he cared not.
As for Wen Yuxian, her obsession was too strong. She refused to leave without seeing her grandchildren born, so even if it meant suffering more, she wished to remain in the human world.
Grandfather Yan Baixiang and the Heavenly Master Zhang Yin actually had the ability to remain in the human world, but they chose not to.
"We can only wait until the seventh day after his death, when Xiao Long's soul is complete, and then ask his wishes."
Yan Shouyi paused, then continued:
"Although I severely injured the Grand Tutor this time, he will eventually return, and he will undoubtedly be much stronger than before. We must unite all forces that can be united if we are to have any hope of defeating him."
"What is your plan?" Lin Ziqing asked.
"The immediate priority is naturally to resolve the conflict between the two factions. Therefore, I plan to gather the leaders of the major folk religious sects after Xiao Long's seventh day memorial to meet at West Lake. After that, your due date will be approaching, and I will take the opportunity to visit Longhu Mountain to mediate relations between the two factions and also bring my brother's soul home."
Yan Shouyi's only concern now was for the twins in Lin Ziqing's womb. He did not even wish to engage in a final battle with the Grand Tutor until he saw them safely born.
"There is also one matter that requires some thought," Yan Shouyi said. "Abbot Yan Song of Hanshan Temple helped me remove my malevolent thoughts and seal them beneath the Maha Pagoda. To eliminate these malevolent thoughts, I must go to the Kingdom of Siam to find the Demon Subduing Pestle."
Lin Ziqing frowned. "Siam has many restrictions, and we are unfamiliar with the place. It won't be easy to find the Demon Subduing Pestle. Moreover, you have many other pressing matters. It would be better to send someone else to find it for you."
"That is precisely my intention. After the seventh day, I will have Ah Gong lead a team to Siam to search for the Demon Subduing Pestle," Yan Shouyi replied.
The malevolent thoughts were also a huge hidden danger, their threat no less than that of the Grand Tutor.
Although Lin Ziqing was nearly nine months pregnant and her movements were inconvenient, it did not affect her thinking.
The two of them discussed their plans by the lotus pond, talking for the entire night.
...
On the morning of the second day after Yan Shouyi arrived in Rongcheng, the other four major powers of the folk religious sects received invitation letters from Min Jiao in Rongcheng.
As the promulgator of the Min Jiao Dao Dian, Yan Shouyi now possessed immense prestige among the disciples of the folk religious sects.
And his sending out invitation letters at this time allowed all parties to guess his intentions – this young man wanted to unify the folk religious sects.
With the Min Jiao Dao Dian in hand, Yan Shouyi was undoubtedly a figure who could be recorded in the history of folk religious sects. Coupled with his countless accolades and the battle with the Crimson Flower Society that showed everyone Yan Shouyi's noble character, he was now a person who could command a hundred responses within the folk religious sects.
Under the current circumstances, regardless of whether these leaders were willing or not, they would ultimately have to meet Yan Shouyi in person.
Otherwise, they would not be able to command the respect of their followers, and their subordinates might all jump ship to Min Jiao.
Fortunately, Yan Shouyi's methods were open and aboveboard, and it seemed that there was still room for negotiation, which made the other leaders less resistant to Yan Shouyi.
On the second day after the invitations were sent out, two more pieces of news caused a stir on the Min Jiao forum, trending on hot searches.
First, the Spark Gang in Chang'an, led by the tomb keeper Li Chongxi, publicly announced that they would join Min Jiao, with everything to be led by Yan Shouyi, and he himself would merely be a spokesperson managing the Spark Gang.
This news was both unexpected and within reason for everyone.
After all, Li Chongxi and Yan Shouyi had a good personal relationship, and currently, Cui Yu, Xu Zhiping, Xu Qian, Yin Tang, Huang Ying, and others in the Spark Gang were almost all devoted fans of Yan Shouyi.
The key lay in the second piece of news.
Second, after suffering two losses (Ji Bing removed internal traitors, and Taoyuan Village was annihilated), Witch God Mountain's membership had dwindled to less than two hundred, leading to its complete decline, making it no longer qualified to be compared with Min Jiao. Therefore, Yan Shouyi dispatched the Zhao family from the Northeast, with the family head Zhao Zhenghao and Min Jiao elder Zhao Yiyao taking action to directly absorb the Northeast Witch God Mountain.
The remaining members of Witch God Mountain had no intention of resisting; instead, they were happy to have a stronger backing and joyfully joined Min Jiao.
With the release of these two pieces of news, the momentum of Min Jiao had risen significantly.
Of the five major folk religious organizations, three were now under the banner of "Yan," leaving only Zhou Yan of Wudu Hongyadong and Hou Jingchen of Changlin Army in Yongliang Province yet to declare their stance.
One could imagine the immense pressure these two were currently facing.
This entire affair had also attracted considerable attention from the major orthodox sects.
After all, if the folk religious sects were to be completely unified, the threat to the major orthodox sects would increase exponentially. Furthermore, with the Min Jiao Dao Dian, the influence of the folk religious sects was now incomparable.
Those major orthodox sects that had previously targeted the folk religious sects and sought to create conflict between the two factions were now as silent as cicadas, cautiously observing the situation.
On the third day after the invitations were sent out.
Explosive news followed one after another, not only sweeping the Min Jiao forum but also causing a sensation within the circles of the major orthodox sects!