Chapter 229: Summoning a Deity for Possession
Just as expected.
Once the channel for summoning deities had been opened, as the Heavenly Dao, Cheng Qisheng could follow it from the perspective of the Heavenly Dao and see what was happening, even if the channel hadn’t been intended for her.
It was a little like the believer perspective.
The difference was that previously, the anchor point for Cheng Qisheng’s believer perspective had been the [Believer]. On Fallen Heaven Star, however, the anchor point was the [Deity Channel].
In other words, all the deity channels now had to pass through Cheng Qisheng, their central switchboard, whenever they were opened. As a result, she could see everything.
Cheng Qisheng now felt as though she had two separate accounts.
One was her main account in Blue Sea, while the other was her alt account on Fallen Heaven Star.
Not that she minded. In fact, she was rather pleased with the arrangement.
Cheng Qisheng loved this feeling of being able to see everything. It was probably some kind of lingering side effect of having once been a Creator God.
At this moment, she could easily follow the channel and see what was happening on Ming Moyu’s end.
To the people standing around Ming Moyu, she was making hand seals while chanting something under her breath. Not a single person could understand the words, yet she recited them with such fervor and passion that she seemed incredibly imposing.
In truth, Cheng Qisheng couldn’t understand what Ming Moyu was chanting either. This set of incantations for “inviting the Patriarch to possess one’s body” sounded like neither the Fallen Heaven language nor the Blue Sea language. It was incredibly convoluted and tongue-twisting. It was a wonder Ming Moyu had managed to memorize it all.
As Ming Moyu chanted, she also had to keep stomping furiously on the ground. That was because the Patriarch she was trying to summon had already become a Yin Deity. In Fallen Heaven Star’s dimensional framework, he was currently “underground,” in Youdu.
—Lu Luo, who had now taken up his post as a Judge in the Office of Merits and Transgressions, was busy burying himself in official paperwork.
Suddenly, a streak of spiritual light descended. He raised his hand and caught it, and Ming Moyu’s voice immediately came from within.
The complicated, tongue-twisting incantation that sounded like music to everyone else had somehow condensed into a single sentence when it reached the person concerned.
“Patriarch, bail me out!”
Although Lu Luo was busy with official duties every day, he occasionally chatted with the local ghost officials when they brought in box after box of documents.
As a result, he had also learned what “bail me out” meant.
This child… She hadn’t even been away from Youdu for half a month, and she’d already gotten herself into trouble again?
Lu Luo grasped the streak of spiritual light and immediately understood what he needed to do. He turned to the clerk beside him and said, “I’ll take a short break.”
Then the Judge of the Merits and Transgressions closed his eyes.
His [body] remained in Youdu, but a streak of spiritual light shot rapidly out through the channel.
——
Qingtong Prefecture—
Xiu Er stared at Ming Moyu, who was making hand seals, muttering something under her breath, and furiously stomping her right foot against the ground.
“……”
The last time he’d seen someone perform such a bizarre routine was when he was a child and had witnessed a madman from his village having an episode.
Was this a cultivation technique?
Daoist cultivators had all sorts of methods for exorcising demons and suppressing evil spirits. Many of them weren’t particularly dignified, but this technique seemed a little too undignified, didn’t it?
For a moment, it was impossible to tell whether Fellow Daoist Ming was performing a spell or had simply been driven mad by the realization that there was no way out of their predicament.
The tiger demon evidently had much the same thought. Confident that most of the common folk had already become its changgui minions, it simply burst into laughter, treating Ming Moyu’s antics as entertainment.
“Little girl, I’m not picky about what I eat! Even if you’re just pretending to be crazy, I’ll eat you all the same!”
But then Ming Moyu suddenly snapped her eyes open.
This time, everyone could understand what she said.
“Patriarch, please lend me your strength!!”
Her ordinary mortal eyes suddenly erupted with a brilliant white light.
When she spoke again, however, the voice that came out was that of an elderly man.
“What a wicked demon! Today, I shall send you straight to Youdu!!!”
Xiu Er’s eyes widened.
What? What on earth was that?!
The other Tianyuan Sect cultivators reacted much the same way, all of them looking utterly stunned.
As for Yun Xiangyi and Luo Shuqing, the two ordinary mortals, they clung to each other. They were practically on the verge of screaming for their mothers.
Even the tiger demon was so startled by this sudden turn of events that it instinctively took a large step backward.
“What the hell are you?!!!”
Judge Lu Luo had actually wanted to deliver a few more threatening words, but he discovered that speaking caused large amounts of divine power to leak away. So after delivering a single intimidating line, he shut his mouth and focused entirely on allowing more of his divine radiance to spread over his descendant cultivator.
Under the astonished gazes of everyone present, including the tiger demon, they watched as white light began pouring not only from Ming Moyu’s eyes but also from every part of her body.
The clothes she wore were rapidly covered by a layer of black official robes with wide sleeves, shimmering with a faint white glow.
The official robes were covered in intricate dark patterns. The insignia on the front depicted a divine one-horned sheep, and the hem of the robe was so long that it trailed along the ground. A black gauze official hat also appeared on top of “Ming Moyu’s” head.
As these official robes enveloped her, the ordinary mortals might not have noticed anything unusual, but the tiger demon, whose senses were sensitive to changes in aura, watched in disbelief as this little cultivator, who had only just reached the second realm, Form-Condensation Realm, began to rise in cultivation level as though she’d swallowed some miraculous tonic.
Peak Dharma-Manifestation Realm… Early Cloud-Riding Realm… Peak Cloud-Riding Realm…
And finally, she reached the peak of the Mountain-Suppressing Realm!
Cheng Qisheng watched with great interest. This was far more entertaining than any movie.
Especially since she also had the Heavenly Dao perspective. She could even clearly see that, as Lu Luo was summoned to possess the cultivator, the fortune hovering above the group of cultivators suddenly surged upward by a considerable amount.
As for the tiger demon, its previously overwhelming black fortune, which had practically occupied the entirety of Qingtong Prefecture, was rapidly dissipating.
Being able to summon a deity for possession was really useful.
Cheng Qisheng immediately decided to spread this method to more local cultivators.
The cultivation system on Fallen Heaven Star was divided into distinct realms, with only seven in total.
Yet with a single technique for summoning a deity to possess one’s body, a young cultivator not even twenty years old, whose personal cultivation was only at the second realm, could suddenly soar to the peak of the fifth realm, Mountain-Suppressing Realm, when facing an enemy.
She just wasn’t sure how well it would work in actual combat.
Cheng Qisheng decided to watch and see first. If the technique performed well in battle, then it absolutely had to be spread.
And if it didn’t go well? Well, she already knew Qingtong Prefecture’s coordinates. She could simply call over some nearby Old Eighths to come to the rescue.
Unlike Cheng Qisheng, who was in high spirits, the tiger demon, whose cultivation was roughly at the mid-level of the Mountain-Suppressing Realm, was in a much less optimistic position.
It couldn’t help taking another step backward. No longer hesitating, it roared at its changgui minions, “Stop her!!”
After issuing the order, the tiger demon immediately turned around and tried to flee.
But it was already too late.
“Ming Moyu,” who had finished loading the [Upgrade Package], extended her right hand. A long whip wreathed in yin energy materialized out of thin air in her grasp.
The whip appeared to be only two meters long, but the moment it was swung, the abundant yin energy infused into it caused it to extend dramatically. Like a venomous snake, it lunged forward and sank its fangs viciously into the tiger demon’s body.
“ROAR—!”
Yin energy mixed with divine power, which was especially harmful to demons and monsters. The tiger demon let out a howl of pain, but it still had no desire to engage in a prolonged fight. All it wanted was to escape as quickly as possible.
The surrounding changgui minions were driven forward, attempting to stop “Ming Moyu” from approaching through sheer numbers.
But “Ming Moyu” simply produced another long whip with her left hand and used it to sweep up a stack of Xuan paper from a nearby Shumo Studio.
The sheets of paper then flew into the air. “Ming Moyu” formed hand seals, and vast quantities of yin energy spiraled upward.
When Lu Luo had still been alive, he hadn’t been able to use this technique. But after death, years of cultivation and his appointment as a Yin Deity had left him with an abundant supply of yin energy and divine power.
As the sheets of paper descended, they were infused with yin energy and divine power, transforming directly into layers of paper walls stuck together. These walls blocked all the changgui minions outside.
In just a moment, the countless minions who had seemed so terrifying that a single glance at them was enough to plunge someone into despair could no longer get anywhere near the group.
The only things on the other side of the paper walls were a group of utterly dumbfounded cultivators and two members of the imperial family, staring at the minions in disbelief.
Just like that, these people had gone from being in “the most dangerous position” to having “the best seats in the house.”
Only after ensuring that all the younger generation were safely protected did Lu Luo leap into the air and land directly on the tiger demon’s back.
His long whip coiled around its neck. Ignoring its struggles and pleas for mercy, he viciously lashed the whip across its body, tearing away several chunks of flesh.
The tiger demon rolled over, attempting to bite him, but Lu Luo controlled Ming Moyu’s body and flipped downward along with it. He then wrapped the whip around its limbs.
In an instant, he had flipped the enormous beast onto its back, leaving all four legs pointing skyward.
The long whip now acted like a rope, binding the tiger demon tightly from head to toe. Although there was only a single cultivation realm between them, divine power naturally countered demons and monsters on Fallen Heaven Star. Lu Luo was therefore able to completely overpower the tiger demon.
After several more exchanges, Lu Luo had originally intended to demonstrate a few more techniques, giving the younger generation a chance to learn from his experience. However, he suddenly sensed something.
There was a time limit on possessing a descendant cultivator’s body. At present, he could remain for no more than a hundred breaths.
Otherwise, if he stayed too long, Ming Moyu’s body would likely disintegrate from bearing too much divine power.
Besides, there was still a mountain of official paperwork waiting for him at the Merits and Transgressions Office. He couldn’t afford to remain away for too long.
At that moment, Lu Luo decided to get serious. He abandoned all the flashy techniques and focused every attack on taking the giant tiger’s life.
The giant tiger was naturally suppressed by divine power, and its cultivation was also one full realm below his. It could only endure the relentless assault, until the two long whips, one on either side, sliced the enormous tiger apart, literally cutting it into three pieces.
With the giant tiger dead, the changgui minions who had been innocent victims before being brought under its control finally regained their freedom.
Once these people, who had suffered unjust deaths and been turned into minions against their will, regained consciousness, they all bowed in the direction of “Ming Moyu.”
“Thank you, esteemed cultivator, for saving our lives!”
Then, because it was daytime, the bodies of these spirits gradually turned transparent. They transformed into streaks of spiritual light and scattered in all directions, seeking shelter in dark places.
For a moment, Qingtong Prefecture became eerily empty. The pot at the wonton stall was still steaming, but apart from their group, not a single person remained on the streets.
The official robes covering Ming Moyu’s body faded away.
—Lu Luo had returned to Youdu to resume his work.
Ming Moyu suddenly let out a long breath. She felt terribly weak, and her face had turned deathly pale.
After all, this had involved using an ordinary mortal body to contain the spirit of a deity. She would probably need at least three to five days of rest before she could gradually recover.
“Senior Sister!!”
The Fenglu Sect cultivators, who were still standing there in stunned disbelief, saw how weak Ming Moyu looked and immediately rushed over to support her.
The Tianyuan Sect cultivators also hurried over.
As for Yun Xiangyi and Luo Shuqing, the way they looked at Ming Moyu was practically as though they were looking at a deity.
Xiu Er opened and closed his mouth several times, wanting to say something, but he kept stumbling over his words.
“You… I… Well… That… Just now…”
Ming Moyu smiled at him.
“Senior Brother Xiu Er, there’s no need to worry. That was the third-generation Patriarch of my Fenglu Sect.”
Xiu Er: “Ah… The third generation? But your sect has already passed down seven generations. Wouldn’t your third-generation Patriarch… have already…”
Ming Moyu: “That’s right. Our third-generation Patriarch has passed away. However, his elderly self now serves as a Yin Deity in the underground realm of Youdu.”
Xiu Er: “…”
He had a vague understanding of Youdu. According to what he’d heard, reincarnation now depended entirely on Youdu. It was apparently a divine system that had never revealed itself to the world before, only making its existence known after the Reincarnation Bureau collapsed.
He also knew what a Yin Deity was.
But—
Your Fenglu Sect can summon a deceased Patriarch to come back and fight on your behalf?!!!
Yun Xiangyi, however, first cast a somewhat sorrowful glance at the now-silent streets of Qingtong Prefecture. Then her eyes lit up as she turned toward Ming Moyu. Once again, she promptly performed a grand bow.
“Daoist Priest, you are truly incredible!! Thank you for saving my entire family’s lives. I humbly ask that you also help me reclaim my rightful position!”
“I, Yun Xiangyi, swear that if I receive the assistance of all you Daoist Priests, then once I return to my father’s side, I will certainly report this matter to him. I will have your respective Daoist sects rebuilt and grant each of you a thousand mu of fertile farmland! Whatever else you request, I shall grant without hesitation!”
Cheng Qisheng, however, had no intention of continuing to enjoy the sight of Xiu Er’s worldview collapsing, or the expressions on the two members of the imperial family as they went from deeply worried to completely reassured that they could return to the imperial capital.
Her attention had now been drawn elsewhere, to something far more important to Blue Sea.
After Lu Luo returned to the Office, the hall, which had originally been no larger than an ordinary palace, suddenly expanded outward, gaining an enormous amount of additional space.
“The Divine Kingdom…”
Cheng Qisheng narrowed her eyes slightly as she gazed at the new area that had appeared in Youdu.
This land hadn’t come from the territory Blue Sea had seized from the Green Lizard Civilization.
It was a Divine Kingdom native to Fallen Heaven Star.
It should have something to do with the faith power of the people of Qingtong Prefecture.
After all, Lu Luo had rescued the entire population of Qingtong Prefecture from the clutches of that wicked tiger.
At the same time, however, although this Divine Kingdom had expanded the hall, it hadn’t become entirely affiliated with Lu Luo. Instead, it seemed to have become part of the Luofeng Youdu Prefecture itself.
Cheng Qisheng’s control over Youdu had already become so absolute that it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to call it Blue Sea Number Two.
With just a glance, she could tell that Lu Luo had brought back approximately twenty thousand square kilometers of usable land for Youdu on this trip.
That was just about right. It was roughly the size of the entire Qingtong Prefecture.
Wonderful! Wonderful!
The more Divine Kingdoms the local gods possessed, the more firmly they could establish their presence. In the future, when Blue Sea reclaimed its own territory, there would be no need to worry about the mission immediately failing the moment it took that land away.
This was already something worth celebrating.
But Cheng Qisheng could actually sense that she had gained another piece of land, approximately twenty square kilometers in size, which she could manipulate at will.
The sensation was much like that of controlling the land area of Blue Sea Safe City. Yet Cheng Qisheng was certain that this particular piece of land had been brought back by Lu Luo.
Using her mental power, Cheng Qisheng manipulated the twenty square kilometers of land, slowly guiding it out of Fallen Heaven Star.
—It could actually fly out?
She watched as the land smoothly attached itself to Blue Sea Safe City, becoming part of Blue Sea.
Just like that, Blue Sea Safe City gained another twenty square kilometers of territory.
Compared with Blue Sea’s existing area of over a hundred thousand square kilometers, twenty square kilometers really wasn’t much.
But taken on its own, that was still thirty thousand mu of land.
Compared with the Forbidden City, it was equivalent to twenty-eight Forbidden Cities combined.
And most importantly, it was absolutely free!
Furthermore, it hadn’t come from the Old Eighths or any other Blue Sea residents. It had come from a local deity who didn’t even know Cheng Qisheng existed.
What did this mean?
Could it be that when local deities affiliated themselves with the [New Heavenly Dao Co., Ltd.] system and obtained Divine Kingdom territory, she, as the acting Heavenly Dao, could skim a commission of one-thousandth of the land they acquired?
Cheng Qisheng immediately perked up.
A one-thousandth commission might not seem like much.
But don’t forget, Fallen Heaven Star alone was home to tens of billions of ordinary people.
It was an entire planet, after all!
Even though the people of Qingtong Prefecture were already dead, the faith they had generated was still enough to grant Youdu a Divine Kingdom roughly the same size as Qingtong Prefecture.
If Cheng Qisheng could spread the deities of the [Blue Sea Great Luo Heavenly Court] throughout the world, so that the people in every region came to worship them…
Wouldn’t their Divine Kingdoms eventually become as vast as the entirety of Fallen Heaven Star?
Blue Sea Safe City’s population had reached its five-hundred-million capacity, and the city was once again becoming cramped and overcrowded. Its city lord, the current Acting Heavenly Dao of Fallen Heaven Star and the great Creator God of Blue Sea, Cheng Qisheng, suddenly became incredibly energetic.
She had Aether take out a calculator, and together, one human and one AI brain immediately set about crunching the numbers.
Just how much was one-thousandth of Fallen Heaven Star’s total land area again?
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