novelraw Chapter 66: Qinghua Palace
Chapter 66: Qinghua Palace
The most frequently worshipped deities are typically those of Heaven, Earth, and Water.
Heaven refers to the Seasonal Heavenly Spirits, while Earth and Water encompass local Mountain Gods, Land Gods, and Water Gods, all falling under the category of Earth Deities.
This is because the four seasons and the mountains and rivers are essential for the production and daily life of all people. Without them, humans cannot survive or thrive, thus people often hold them in awe and offer sincere veneration.
As recorded in the Rituals section of the Zhu Book: "For Heaven, one burns wood for sacrifice; for mountains and rivers, one ascends to offer sacrifice; for rivers, one submerges offerings; for Earth, one buries them."
Water is the blood and qi of the earth, flowing like veins and arteries.
Water is the standard for all things, the essence of all life, the foundation of right and wrong, gain and loss. Therefore, there is nothing it cannot fill, nowhere it cannot reside. It gathers in heaven and on earth, is contained within all things, originates from metals and stones, yet pervades all living beings, thus bearing the responsibility akin to the earth's blood.
This nature of water determines the nature of Water Gods as a category of deities.
Water Gods are responsible for transporting the resources of heaven and earth, like blood vessels, regulating the qi in various regions to maintain the vitality of heaven and earth.
All these are stated in the Zhu Book.
Li Qi's own understanding was that the water cycle is very important.This holds true in both worlds.
And in sacrificing to the Water God, one should praise water's merits in this regard, praising how water carries away stale qi and brings in fresh qi, allowing all things to operate and flourish endlessly.
The sacrifice Li Qi arranged was precisely such an event.
Drums beat on fish-skin drums, ten people sang loudly, and Li Qi, as the ritual priest, stepped forward to offer the invocation and preside over the ceremony.
Passersby were curious, some stopping to watch, others observing as they walked past.
Li Qi, however, paid them no mind, concentrating on presiding over the ritual.
Burning incense.
Beating the fish-skin drum.
Releasing paper boats, laden with offerings.
One paper boat carried meat, another gold, one the mane of a Dragon Steed sacrifice, another a cup of yellow wine. Then, a fifth paper boat held a lit candle, ignited to guide the way, and sent into the river.
White candles were extremely expensive; one cost a hundred qian.
As he sent it off, Li Qi's heart bled.
But he couldn't show it.
Once everything was complete, confirming that the ritual's progress bar had fully reached 100%.
Li Qi had been extremely careful throughout. This small sacrificial ceremony had cost him over three thousand qian to perform, comprising two thousand three hundred qian in direct costs, plus the piece of gold worth a thousand qian.
After confirming everything was done, Li Qi drank his portion of wine, reserved for the ritual priest.
Closing his eyes, he began to employ the unique methods of the ritual priest.
Yes, such a sacrifice, a mere offering, would have no effect; that would simply be pure worship of a deity.
But a ritual priest is not someone who merely worships deities.
Li Qi, having read nearly 3% of the Zhu Book, had come to deeply understand this.
A ritual priest is someone who negotiates with deities, a broker between gods, a bridge for communication between humans and gods, using sacrifices as a means of dialogue and transaction to communicate with deities, exchanging what they have for what they need.
The ritual priests of Wushen Mountain were never servants of deities; they would never engage in pure devotion.
He drank a second cup of wine, and with the drumbeat, he widened his eyes, gazing at the paper boats.
In the river, a small whirlpool suddenly appeared.
This water vortex swallowed the paper boat with the candle, followed by the other four paper boats, gradually engulfing them into the vortex.
Some people eyed the gold with covetousness.
Others nearby mocked Li Qi, calling him a fool for throwing gold into the river.
Some even directly jumped into the river, preparing to fish out the gold.
After all, this was a public sacrifice held by the Li River, not an official one but for private purposes, so it was normal to have such ignorant onlookers.
Li Qi ignored them, watching the paper boats being swallowed by the vortex, then drank the third and final cup of wine.
Bang!
Bang!
Bang—!
Three consecutive drumbeats were struck by the laborers he had hired.
As the fish-skin drum resonated, Li Qi suddenly felt the water qi within his body begin to stir!
That was the internal qi refined from the Carp Flowing Intent!
He seemed to have formed a subtle connection with the river before him.
This gave him a sensation.
Following this sensation, he stepped forward and leaped into the river.
Upon leaping into the river, he felt as if he had stepped into a teleportation gate.
In an instant, heaven and earth were cut off!
The river surface was no longer the channel of Yixian.
The riverbed no longer showed the original muddy riverbed.
Instead, there were... countless palaces, extending from the riverbed to the surface, piercing the sky. Yet above the sky, it still seemed to be the water surface, infinite water encompassing this world.
Before his eyes stood golden and silver palaces, their crystalline light dazzling. Within the palaces, coral branched out, with pearl flowers, jade flowers, and agate flowers, a dazzling array.
Although seemingly underwater, layers upon layers of pavilions suddenly appeared, their stories infinite, expanding with each count, no less than several hundred levels high. Some were veiled by ornate windows, others encircled by railings, their five-colored crystal light blinding to the eye. Even more precious jewels revealed their individual wonders.
The waves held reflections of islands, with emerald green light and verdant hues, layered upon layered, beyond the skill of even the greatest painters. There were also various water birds and fish, swimming with swaying tails, beautiful beyond compare, making it impossible to see far.
Even Li Qi, as a modern man had never witnessed such a magnificent scene!
What was this place?
The Qinghua Palace?
A phrase immediately popped into Li Qi's mind, something Shen Shuibi had mentioned when introducing Luofu Mountain.
"Luofu Mountain is located within a Grotto-Heaven. The Dao is fundamentally formless, yet from its indistinctness, matter and qi arise. The primal void begins, and by riding the flow of transformation, it divides into forms. Profound and manifest essences arrange palaces in serene realms; subtle and hidden qualities coalesce, opening grotto-mansions in famous mountains. Its celestial origins are layered, its phenomena varied, entirely different from the current world."
This place gave him a feeling of being completely detached from the human world, a true immortal realm.
This reminded him of that old invocation, the one that spoke of the Spirit of the Li River within the Qinghua Palace.
Could this truly be the Qinghua Palace?
However, before he could fully appreciate the scene, a shooting star fell from the sky.
It struck him squarely.
Li Qi had no reaction; he hadn't even noticed it before!
He was hit directly, instantly feeling his head spin, and instinctively swam upwards.
"Hoo!" He broke the surface, finding himself back in the Yixian river channel.
The fantastical scene he had just witnessed felt like a mere illusion.
But Li Qi breathed a sigh of relief.
He knew it wasn't an illusion.
Because within his body, thirty strands of pure water qi were now circulating with his Ying Qi and Wei Qi.
The sacrifice was complete!
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