Chapter 698
Li Shangxian pondered for a long time, as if he had come up with something. “You all wait here for a moment; I’ll go find Zheng Fa for a chat.”
...
Seeing Li Shangxian suddenly come to him, Zheng Fa felt a bit puzzled.
“Alliance Leader, you’re practicing the Divine Path?”
Li Shangxian noticed Zheng Fa nodding and sighed, “Then I suppose you’ve also sensed the troubles that come with the power of incense.”
Zheng Fa’s expression reflected a hint of unease.
The distractions within the power of incense were truly countless.
Some wished for spirit stones to fall from the sky.
Some longed for grand mansions and spacious homes.
Even more so, there were those who dreamed of ascending in a day, achieving immortality, and having thousands of celestial maidens at their beck and call.
And there were hidden malevolent thoughts lurking in people’s hearts, which usually went unnoticed but became glaringly obvious in the presence of incense.
The Yang God found himself amidst this chaos, as if plunged into a sea of desires, constantly at risk of losing his mind.
Fortunately, with the method of transforming Qi into the Three Purities, although he could feel these desires, it was akin to reading a book that had nothing to do with him.
It was the Yang God who suffered the most, and Zheng Fa could only occasionally rouse him from his stupor.
If Zheng Fa were practicing the Divine Path himself, he would likely regret it by now.
Li Shangxian shook his head and sighed, “It’s my fault.”
Zheng Fa was momentarily taken aback. He had come to trust Li Shangxian more, and while observing the Yang God, he hadn’t heard any discussions from Li Shangxian and the others.
Thus, he didn’t quite understand the meaning behind Li Shangxian’s words.
“Never mind…” After a moment of silence, Li Shangxian stated his purpose, “Actually, it’s not entirely hopeless.”
“Hmm?”
“My Taishang Dao predecessors also practiced the Divine Path in their early years,” Li Shangxian explained. “They improved upon it, and there are two methods to slightly circumvent these flaws.”
Zheng Fa was surprised to hear this.
Li Shangxian continued directly, “The first method is the fundamental inheritance of my Taishang Dao, which cannot be passed on to you.”
“Fundamental inheritance?”
“Correct. The ‘Taishang Wangqing Jing’ was created by the Daoist Lord. Although it’s not the Divine Path, it greatly restrains the desires of all beings.”
Zheng Fa suddenly looked at Li Shangxian and tentatively asked, “Forget?”
Li Shangxian nodded slightly, seemingly reluctant to elaborate further, and added, “The other method, however, is not a secret and is very suitable for you, Alliance Leader.”
Zheng Fa’s interest was piqued. “What method?”
“Dongtian Fa.”
Zheng Fa’s face showed confusion, and Li Shangxian explained, “The so-called Dongtian refers to what you call the Tianbei Realm. In my Taishang Dao tradition, we call it Dongtian. The Daoist Lord once said that the Tianbei is the monument marking the realm of celestial beings.”
Upon hearing this, Zheng Fa’s heart trembled, but he didn’t reveal his thoughts. He simply responded, “So, what is Dongtian Fa…”
“Essentially, it’s about refining Dongtian treasures using the power of incense,” Li Shangxian explained. “My Taishang Dao ancestors discovered that those who practice the Divine Path can temporarily maintain their true nature by merging with Dongtian treasures.”
“And as the Dongtian treasures grow, the cultivation of the Divine Path practitioners will also enhance, allowing them to withstand stronger desires from the incense.”
Zheng Fa immediately thought of the Tianhe Fa. It seemed that the idea of using treasures to maintain one’s true nature indeed originated from the Divine Path.
Li Shangxian added, “This method isn’t particularly rare.”
“Hmm?”
“What’s rare are the Dongtian treasures,” Li Shangxian chuckled. “There were many Dongtian in the past, but now they’ve dwindled significantly. In this era, as far as I know, the only Dongtian that has emerged is the Jiushan Realm.”
This was understandable:
No matter how precious a secret method is, if one cannot practice it, it becomes useless.
Zheng Fa couldn’t help but feel a sense of anticipation. Although he wasn’t as afraid of the desires from incense as others, it didn’t mean the Yang God didn’t need this method.
The influence of incense desires on cultivators was indeed multifaceted:
The most severe consequence was, of course, the risk of losing one’s true nature.
Moreover, during daily cultivation, cultivators could easily be disturbed by these thoughts, making it difficult for the Yang God to meditate and practice.
One could even say that the advantage of practicing the Divine Path lies in the almost limitless spiritual energy, while the disadvantage is that one must dance with their inner demons daily, making it impossible to calm down and cultivate.
Thus, Zheng Fa’s greatest concern now was how the Yang God could cultivate.
“But I must remind you, Alliance Leader,” Li Shangxian continued, “this is not a fundamental solution. The power of incense required for the Dongtian treasures to advance is immense, and the desires that cultivators must bear will also grow stronger.”
“My Taishang Dao ancestors discovered that even if the Dongtian treasures advance, they can only temporarily suppress the desires of all beings, not resolve the suffering caused by them. Over time, the cultivator’s nature will be subtly influenced by the power of incense, leading to irreversible consequences.”
“Therefore, this Dongtian Fa can only delay the onset of madness; the Divine Path… is not the ultimate path.”
Li Shangxian pondered for a moment and revealed a secret, “Later on, there were no longer many mortals within the Dongtian of my Taishang Dao.”
Upon hearing this, Zheng Fa contemplated silently. He didn’t particularly care about how the Dongtian Fa restrained the desires from incense, but that didn’t mean he didn’t want the Dongtian Fa!
From Li Shangxian’s words, Zheng Fa deduced something: as the Dongtian treasures advanced, Divine Path practitioners could also advance, meaning this was actually a fast track for progressing in the Divine Path.
In the context of the Yang God’s cultivation being disturbed by the thoughts of incense, this method was even more suitable for Zheng Fa, who wanted to rapidly enhance the Yang God!
Perhaps others would be wary of the power of incense, thus hesitant and even selective about the residents of the Dongtian to achieve a certain level of purification of the incense thoughts.
But Zheng Fa wasn’t afraid!
He cupped his hands to Li Shangxian and said, “Thank you for the reminder, Shangxian.”
“It’s no trouble. I won’t pass this method on to you for free,” Li Shangxian chuckled, then made a bitter face and said, “Speaking of which, this is also my fault…”
Seeing Li Shangxian’s self-reproachful demeanor, Zheng Fa was even more confused and could only sigh:
This Li Shangxian, though he didn’t seem very clever, was… a good person.
...
Soon, Zheng Fa learned the price of the Dongtian Fa.
In the reception room of Zheng Fa’s small courtyard, two rows of wooden chairs were arranged.
Several high-ranking members of Jiushan Sect and Li Shangxian’s group sat on either side.
Zheng Fa held a jade tube, looked at a stick of incense, and then handed it to his side, where Sister Zhang was sitting.
Li Shangxian spoke up, “I wonder what your thoughts are, Alliance Leader?”
“I generally agree to these terms,” Zheng Fa recalled the contents of the jade tube and said, “In the matter of resisting Haoriyama, my stance aligns with your sect’s, so I’m naturally willing to join forces.”
The conditions set by the Grandmaster of Taishang Dao essentially boiled down to two points:
One was a united front against Haoriyama.
In simple terms, it meant attacking Haoriyama together.
There were also details regarding information sharing and mutual assistance, all revolving around this.
Thinking of information sharing, Zheng Fa glanced at Li Shangxian with a meaningful expression. “I didn’t expect Taishang Dao to value Tongjian so highly.”
Li Shangxian smiled.
Zheng Fa couldn’t help but marvel; among the great cultivators he had seen, there were those limited by their knowledge, but none were truly foolish.
A live broadcast of a Dao fruit battle seemed to have allowed Taishang Dao to see the capabilities of Tongjian and even guess at Jiushan Sect’s intelligence capabilities.
Now, mentioning information sharing might indeed carry a hint of wanting to take advantage.
Zheng Fa could even guess that Taishang Dao likely had some reservations about Tongjian as well.
Seeing Li Shangxian silent, Zheng Fa shook his head, feeling that the agreement was quite fair.
Taishang Dao’s role for Jiushan Sect was also significant:
One was naturally to withstand the pressure from the Four Sects, especially the pressure brought by Xie Qingxue.
Most importantly, with Taishang Dao around, Zheng Fa felt that Jiushan Sect was truly safe:
Although Haoriyama currently had only one true immortal, he was still wary of Leiyin Temple’s shameless interference. With Taishang Dao, that concern was naturally greatly reduced.
In this regard, the interests of both parties were nearly perfectly aligned.
The other point of the agreement was negotiable—trade terms.
Sister Zhang put down the jade tube in her hand, looked up at Li Shangxian, and asked, “Exchanging magical tools and spirit talismans for elixirs?”
Li Shangxian nodded, smiling, “My Taishang Alchemy is unparalleled, and your alliance has some magical tools and spirit talismans that are… quite unique.”
It was clear that Li Shangxian had searched his mind for a compliment and finally found a suitable word.
This wasn’t meant to belittle Jiushan Sect; rather, for Taishang Dao, Jiushan Sect’s current alchemy and refining capabilities could indeed only be considered unique.
Madam Xuanhua was still in the late stage of the Nascent Soul, and since she hadn’t yet transformed her spirit, she naturally couldn’t refine spirit artifacts.
For Taishang Dao, especially for someone like Li Shangxian, these magical tools and treasures were indeed somewhat low-end.
Li Shangxian added, “Oh, and it can also be exchanged for Dongtian Fa; I forgot to write that down.”
Zheng Fa and Sister Zhang exchanged glances, seeming a bit hesitant.
To be honest, this trade agreement was quite fair.
The Grandmaster of Taishang Dao seemed to have a bit of an obsessive-compulsive tendency, as many items had their prices clearly stated, some even down to half a spirit stone.
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