Chapter 495: Chapter 434: Emperor Donghua, Trivial Matters of the Human Clan
"Leaving already?"
The Queen Mother of the West had been prepared in her heart, yet she hadn’t expected it to be so soon.
Only a brief few decades of encounters, compared to a reunion spanning thousands of years.
"Indeed. I still have pressing matters in the Small Thousand World I oversee. I’ll return next time."
"Alright. A thousand years from now, I’ll let you witness a different Kunlun."
The future seemed distant, but the Kunlun Divine Mountain, imbued with vitality by Song Lin, was certain to endure for a millennium, or even ten thousand years.
Song Lin first returned to Penglai to handle millennia’s worth of affairs. He reaffirmed his standing to the people and personally handed over the Nine Elders Immortal Capital Seal, which he had carved himself, to Hou Yi. Then, under the watchful eyes of all, he transformed into the sun and disappeared.
The Penglai Immortal Mountain, guided by the principles of the Donghua Taoist Sect, became known for its mission to eliminate the strong who oppressed the weak, rescue the world, and create countless legends.
The myths spread widely. The names of the Eastern King and Emperor Donghua of the Kunlun God System gained renown, and with Kunlun’s expansion, their fame would eventually resound across all heavens and myriad realms.
...
In the real world, Song Lin awoke from his trance-like state.
[World]: Qi Land Eight Gods.
[Thirty-Six Heavens]: Eight Gods’ Destructive Tribulation Realm.
[Time Flow Speed]: One month to one.
[Arrival]: Physical body.
[Type]: Qi Country Myth, Middle Ages Myth, Eastern Penglai Myth.
[System]: Shan Hai God System.
[Karma Effect Cycle]: Perfected. ...
Karma had become perfected.
Without hesitation, Song Lin directly exchanged for the Heavenly Burial Coffin...
Name: Song Lin (Third-rank Shangqing Great Cave Talisman, Beidou Destiny Lord, Taiyi Jinhua Palace.)
Realm: Primordial Spirit Stage
Taoist Realm: 2,050 years
Divine Skills:
Pure Yang Golden Fire Lamp, Yang Immortal—Nine-Transformation Mysterious Skill (Great Jade Capital Divine Thought), Celestial Star Pivot Thirty-Six Cloud Seal Talisman (Thirty-Six Cloud Seals), Innate Yang Qi, Chiyou’s Martial Dao...
Items: Heavenly Burial Coffin...
Skipping the various trivial details, Song Lin focused solely on what he had gained in this world.
The harvest this time was undoubtedly tremendous. First, with the help of Innate Yang Qi, he refined a Pure Yang Primordial Spirit. In the future, it would enable him to comprehend the Great Dao of Innate Yang Qi.
Next were Chiyou’s Martial Dao, the Heavenly Burial Coffin, and many others.
Thanks to this world, he successfully broke through to the Primordial Spirit realm and now had three Daos to choose from.
"Currently, there are five Daos: Burial, Martial, Five Mountains, Xuan Ying, and Innate Yang Qi. Including the Four Spirits of Gold, Wood, Fire, and Wind, there are a total of nine Daos."
Aside from Innate Yang Qi, the others were mostly of the acquired type.
There was no rule that one could only comprehend a single Dao.
Comprehending multiple Daos and merging them could make one even stronger.
However, the first Dao was always the most important, akin to a person’s main occupation. After stabilizing the main occupation, one could then venture into side pursuits—only then would one avoid losing on all fronts.
If Song Lin wanted to comprehend a Dao, Martial Dao, as well as the Five Mountains, Xuan Ying, and others, could all be initiated immediately.
These were minor Daos. In the past, Song Lin might have just settled for one. However, upon learning from the Queen Mother of the West about the Small Thousand World and the Divine Court, his ambitions immediately grew larger.
He was no longer confined to the title of Heavenly Master. Even a Dragon Head Master would merely dominate within this small locale. For this Small Thousand World, it might be considered above average, but among the vast heavens, it was utterly insignificant.
To change the world, sweep away the Six Heavenly Old Qi, and promote the Donghua Dao, creating a Divine Court was the only way.
Instead of struggling within others’ systems, it was better to create his own.
And the Innate Dao was the fundamental requirement for establishing a Heavenly Court.
Chiyou was the strongest among the Eight Masters, yet even he required the other Eight Masters’ abilities to establish a Heavenly Court.
Song Lin summoned the Heavenly Burial Coffin and then brought out Chiyou’s Skeleton, studying them closely.
The difference between cultivation in the story world and reality was vast, and Song Lin still needed some time to adjust.
Pure Yang Golden Fire, Yang Qi Golden Flower, Yang Immortal Taoist Realm, and so forth.
Admittedly, physical traversal posed immense risks—one wrong step could result in losing both the mission and one’s foundation. However, the benefits were equally clear: any technique mastered would be directly projected onto his real self.
Of course, there were also many discrepancies between the story world and reality.
Even if one trained for thousands of years in the story world, the Taoist Realm in reality aligned solely with real-time progression.
Soon, Song Lin entered closed-door meditation again.
The Donghua Taoist Sect continued to operate as usual. Where Song Lin differed from others was his preference for delegating authority—and delegating generously.
Routine matters were generally handled by Shi Yinhua, while others carried out their respective duties.
This was partially due to the Donghua Taoist Sect’s minimal entanglement with mortal interests. Its principle was to avoid interfering with the mortal world’s operations whenever possible.
Additionally, the restrictions of the Three Laws prevented cultivators from descending to the mortal world casually to show off, leaving the sect with fewer responsibilities and hence, less work overall.
From the clear blue sky, meteors streaked occasionally.
These marked the patrols of the Erlang God and Ghost King. When a meteor flashed intermittently, it meant Erlang God and his group had engaged in combat.
The conflict in the western regions was intensifying, leading to numerous demons scattering. Some native demons took advantage of the chaos, worsening public safety issues.
Fortunately, prior collaboration between the Yuzhen Sect and Donghua Sect, including preemptive defenses, ensured that the homeland remained safe and peaceful.
Of course, there were sacrifices involved.
There were no more night markets in mortal towns; strict curfews were enforced instead.
Currently, the southwest and southern regions were engulfed in warfare due to parts of the Taoist Alliance controlled by the Witch Gods and Black Heaven. Wu Country was ablaze with conflict.
The southeastern corner, home to the Heaven and Earth Xuan Sect and Miao Fa Netherworld, could not remain unaffected.
At the Spirit Treasure Sect.
"Report! Envoys from the Longbo Clan and Giant Turtle Clan of the Demon Islands request an audience!"
A Taoist disciple conveyed the message.
Seated atop the Heavenly Law Platform, adorned with the Eight Diagram Lotus Crown and bathed in mystical golden light, the Spirit Treasure Celestial Master abruptly opened his eyes, the faint red hue around them disappearing gradually.
Though titled Elder Tianji, his appearance didn’t betray his age. At first sight, he appeared to be a refined and handsome man of gentle temperament.
"What’s causing such commotion? Haven’t Azure Dragon and Bai Mei received them?"
"They have, but an argument broke out."
"What did the demons say?"
"The demons demanded we cede Maple Island under the jurisdiction of the Yuzhen Sect to serve as their stationed base. Additionally, they require an annual tribute of one million people and various materials. All demon expenditure must be covered by the Taoist Alliance. Only then will they consider an alliance with us."
"One million?"
The Spirit Treasure Celestial Master could hardly believe his ears.
In the past, the tribute paid once every ten years amounted to only a few hundred thousand at most.
Now, these bastards were demanding one million annually?
Though the Heaven and Earth Xuanmen Alliance governed over 400 million people, and annual population growth ranged from 8-9 million with 6-7 million deaths, losing one million annually would severely impact the population.
What’s more, most of the tribute comprised able-bodied individuals. Their absence would leave the elderly and children at risk—this translated into a population loss of three to four million annually.
A year would mean three to four million, and a decade would be thirty to forty million.
Not to mention the additional toll of materials, labor, and resources.
"The demon envoys also stated they would not negotiate!"
"Haha, and what do they take me, Elder Tianji, for?"
The Spirit Treasure Celestial Master stood abruptly, exuding an overwhelming aura that suppressed all beings within the Nine-layered World, leaving them gasping for breath.
"No negotiations? To dare open their lion’s mouth this wide—do they truly believe I won’t retaliate? Tell Azure Dragon to behead the two envoys."
"Let’s fight first. Negotiations can resume during battle."
The Spirit Treasure Celestial Master’s dominating aura was unrivaled.
Ever since Qingchen seized full authority, the Spirit Treasure Celestial Master had been holding back resentment.
Who else wasn’t once a Heavenly Master of indomitable fame?
Now that these two clans had stumbled into his trap, he might as well teach them a lesson before bargaining. It wouldn’t do for others to think his reputation had faded after decades of inactivity.
"Order the Four Taoist Sects to gather personnel and prepare to confront the Longbo and Yuanfu borders."
"At once!"
Moments later, the heads of the two envoys were delivered to the East Sea.
In an uproar, the two clans rallied their forces, igniting the flames of war as their armies advanced!