A Long Grind to Daoist Monarch

Chapter 205 158: The Collapse of Heaven, Dao Era_2

Zhao Pijiang gazed into the distance, speaking across the void:

"The Five Emperors beheaded the Fallen Immortal, refined them into Profound Mysterious Divine Soldiers, and suppressed the national destiny of the Dragon Court. The Five Families and the Supreme Emperor each hold six of these soldiers to govern the myriad spiritual energies of the Red County Divine Land, to raise and lower thunder, to drive the tides, and to manage yin and yang... If the Meridian Sword Sect were to seize the Seventh Profound Mysterious Divine Soldier, even the Dragon Court would have to tread carefully."

The enchanting woman lifted her hand, painted with red polish, and played with her hair:

"If the Five Families and the Dragon Court were to join forces against them, wouldn't that spell catastrophe for the sect?"

Zhao Pijiang laughed heartily:

"If victorious, it would solidify an everlasting foundation for a thousand generations. If it were you, would you not take the gamble? Even if the Five Families and the Dragon Court were to join hands and wield the Profound Mysterious Divine Soldiers, they could at most deploy three of them. As long as the Meridian Sword Sect withstands just once, it could leap to become the foremost Upper Sect in the world.

After all, if I were the Grand General, I would definitely gamble!"

The enchanting woman pondered seriously, then shook her head and said:

"Holding a Profound Mysterious Divine Soldier not only allows one to exert pressure in the present but also to manipulate spiritual energies, devour the world, and even barren Demon Lands infected by the Turbid Tide could be cleansed and transformed into dreamlands for cultivators.

This temptation is simply too great to resist."

Zhao Pijiang's eyes shimmered like two giant stars, twinkling and dimming, full of profound meaning:

"Therefore, not only characters like Luo Zhaopeng but all the major true inheritances of the Meridian Sword Sect have started to post bounties. The one I killed in the Hidden Pavilion, Qiu Qianchuan, was not enough.

I must pressure Yan Xin into action and see what he's up to!"

The enchanting woman lowered her head and obeyed, as the Hidden Pavilion itself was the business of the Grand General, not merely for earning gold and silver daily but also to provide convenience for Zhao Pijiang.

If he wanted someone dead, he need not act personally but only suspend the person's name in the Hidden Pavilion.

...

...

"The rule of the Hidden Pavilion is, if it fails once, unless the price is raised, the bounty will downgrade. Those wandering souls and ghosts from those families, taking out a thousand taels of gold has already been difficult; it seems there will not be a follow-up."

In Tongwen Hall, Lao Dao sat by the door, chuckling:

"Young Master Qi, you can enjoy a period of peace now."

Bai Qi was in a good mood, carrying two bags of sugar-roasted chestnuts, and handed one to Uncle Dao:

"People die for wealth, birds for food, but no one is foolish enough to trade their lives unless necessary.

This time, Master set a trap successfully; around Black River County, nearly seventy to eighty percent has been swept clean."

Lao Dao's eye wrinkles slightly lifted as he peeled the crispy shell and tossed the glossy, sweet chestnut into his mouth:

"For the Young Master, this is not yet resolved. Among the Su, Mao, Han, and Fang families, only the Mao Family met a clean end due to colluding with the Evil Demon, but other families still have many left. Of course, the last lineage of the Su Family has also been extinguished now.

Upon close thinking, only the Han Family of the Pear Garden Lineage and the Gold and Bank Fang Family remain.

One dealing with the trade of catering to the powerful, one running banking and pawn businesses.

Either connected or financially strong, they are both troublesome."

Bai Qi smacked his lips twice. Anyone who could firmly sit in the chief seat of an industry was no simple fellow; if not for running into this iron board of a Master, they could have easily passed it down for four or five generations.

After bidding farewell to Uncle Dao, he returned to his resting compartment to tally his gains.

Two sets of Superior Martial Arts, one for horizontal refining, one in Daoist Skill, both valuable and good items.

Next came various healing medicines, external drugs, supplements, and even... aphrodisiacs?

"The Jianghu is a mix of good and bad; there are all sorts of dirty tricks."

Bai Qi curled his lip, thinking who among the decent people would carry aphrodisiacs with them.

He continued organizing, tossing the "Eighteen Flirtatious Acupoint-Seeking Techniques" aside, pressing it under the pillow.

"The material of the Ghost Head Saber is not bad. I'll take it to Master Li to have it melted down, forging a fine weapon of thousand-forge grade..."

Bai Qi picked and chose, surprisingly finding a pathos-stricken ancient text, with a waterproof-treated cover; although there were some insect-eaten marks inside, it was overall well-preserved.

"The Fallen Immortal descends upon the Great Thousand, the Turbid Tide rises in the void..."

He opened the front page and saw such a phrase, echoing the myths he heard since young. It was nothing more than an unknown Fallen Immortal falling upon the Red County Divine Land, triggering an unprecedented disaster of the Turbid Tide, corrupting spiritual energies, and presenting a "demon contamination" crisis for all cultivators.

Simply put, it was about the skyrocketing possibility of cultivators suffering from Qi deviation while absorbing spiritual energies, frequently committing the evil of betraying masters and ancestors and slaughtering fellow apprentices, causing countless once-mighty sects and heritages to collapse.

Until the emergence of the Dragon Court, which used the six Profound Mysterious Divine Soldiers to comb through spiritual energies and cleanse the Turbid Tide, restoring the original appearance of the Red County Divine Land.

"What exactly is a Fallen Immortal? An even more powerful being from beyond the realms? Or an immortal who is eternal and undying?"

Bai Qi felt puzzled, yet the pathos-stricken ancient text did not provide an explanation but proceeded to devote substantial length to praise the Four Saints and the Five Emperors. Curiously, the author listed the "Four Saints" before the "Five Emperors."

It is known that the Five Emperors reincarnated, descended into the mortal world, helped the Supreme Emperor unify the world, eradicated demons and evils, and recaptured the country's rivers and mountains, a fact already well-known to the people.

Each Prefecture city has a "Five Emperors Temple," where the Great Cyan Celestial Punishment Emperor, Great Red Celestial Law Emperor, Great White Celestial Sun Emperor, Great Black Celestial Water Emperor, and Great Yellow Heaven Ba Emperor are enshrined.

Their descendants and lineage are also called "Five Families," their status equivalent to royal kin.

Hence, there is a widespread saying: Dragon Court and the Five Families co-rule the world and jointly divide the Divine Land!

This is not mere boast, as the Supreme Emperor, who voluntarily abdicated to retreat into cultivation, once publicly set a rule that the Dragon Court Emperor may only marry a daughter from the Five Families.

"This is an utmost reverence, such treatment."

Bai Qi sighed, with the Supreme Emperor's actions amounting to restraining the succession of the Dragon Court throne within the Five Families alone.

"Since ancient times, the one thing those in power are most unwilling to share is their power. Unless there is an unavoidable reason."

He delved into reading further and discovered that the more the author progressed, the more biased they seemed, interspersing the text with derogatory words, almost like a rousing manifesto, accusing the Dragon Court of disrespecting true saints but instead worshipping false emperors.

"Are the Five Emperors false, while the Four Saints true? What are the grounds for this judgment?"

Bai Qi's brows furrowed slightly; within the book, a line was repeatedly emphasized, lamenting the absence of any temple dedicated to the Four Saints in the Red County Divine Land, deeming it a great disrespect, which the author believed to be the very reason for the Turbid Tide disaster.

"Indeed, why is there no temple for the Four Saints in the Red County Divine Land? The official explanation seems to be that the Four Saints have no names or forms, thus do not receive offerings, which doesn't sound very convincing."

Bai Qi gradually became captivated, his mind immersed, turning pages rapidly, reaching the end unconsciously:

"The cosmos was originally divided into five Dao Epochs, starting from 'Taiyi,' from which heaven and earth were birthed, everything void, never born.

The Four Saints broke through the Great Thousand, stepping forth, descending upon the Sea of Realms, seizing the great Dao's source from above, and converging this vast world below, creating countless living beings through transformation.

They established the Dao Court as the ancestral veins, spreading their name across the heavens, ruling the world and establishing order.

They stand as the form of the Dao, the foundation of law, appearing sparingly, with twelve Immortal Heads and bestowed the title of Daoist Monarch, governing the worlds; this was the 'Taichu.'"

The book only elaborates on the "Taiyi" and "Taichu" Dao Epochs, leaving the remaining ones unmentioned.

However, the author mentions an intriguing explanation: the earliest term for the rise and fall of the cosmos was "Kalpa," named typically after the number of Kalpas, until the Four Saints arrived, after which it was changed to "Epoch."

This person seemed to be a learned scholar who spent his life in pursuit of ancient knowledge, claiming to have scoured classic histories spanning millennia without finding an answer, expressing considerable regret.

At the end, he wrote out the names of the Four Saints —

"Great Wisdom Profound Monarch, Great Virtuous Celestial Venerable, Great Compassion Supreme Saint, Great Ailuo Deity."

Bai Qi's fingers brushed over, pressing down on blurred characters one by one, his mind inexplicably moved.

He abruptly closed the pathos-stricken ancient text, staring at the title:

"'Grand Historian Family Words,' what a strange name. This wasn't written by one person, but compiled over generations by a family, no wonder it could recount from the Fall of the Dao until the Dragon Court... spanning three thousand years in between."