Chapter 782: Shinto
Chapter 782: Shinto
"Greetings, Sir. I dare not be rude. "
Gan Yu set down his bamboo basket, adopting the formal posture of a disciple. After a long moment, he asked, "What book are you reading, Sir?"
"Oh, merely a collection of folk tales, titled 'Anomalies of Broadwood'. . . It's just a miscellany. You're studying for the imperial examinations, so you shouldn't be distracted. It's best to stick to reading Daoist scriptures," Fang Xi instructed, picking up the teacup beside him and taking a sip of the coarse tea.
The coarse tea was ordinary, casually brewed by commoners, but it possessed a unique rustic charm.
"Sir's admonishment is correct," Gan Yu bowed, accepting the lesson.
"When one bows low, they surely have a request. . . I already know your intentions."
Fang Xi turned and walked into the house. Before long, he emerged holding several thread-bound books: "I only have eighteen volumes of the thirty-six volumes of the Daoist Scriptures here. You may borrow three volumes at a time. . . Remember to return them immediately once you're done, as I still rely on these Daoist Scriptures to teach the master's children!"
"Thank you for your immense kindness, Sir. . ."
...
"Scholars. . . Heh. . ."
After Gan Yu departed, carefully cradling the three Daoist Scriptures, Fang Xi chuckled and continued reading the miscellaneous books.
From these assorted texts, he could glean more information about this world.
Although most were fabrications and rumors, by peeling back the layers, he could discern a portion of the truth. . .
For instance, "Anomalies of Broadwood" recounted a strange anecdote about a 'Prefect Wei,' who was said to 'serve as prefect by day and City God by night. ' Because he held a divine office, Dao Arts could not approach him. A wild Zen monk deliberately blocked his official sedan chair, intending to display his divine abilities and promote Buddhism. Instead, he was seized by several yamen runners and beaten to death. . .
"This world is quite peculiar. The imperial court isn't called a 'court'; it's called the 'Dao Court. ' However, the ruler is still the Son of Heaven. . ."
Fang Xi turned to another page, which told the story of a filial son named 'Wang Liulang' whose filial piety moved Heaven and Earth. After his death, he was canonized as a god and ascended to the Heavenly Court.
Before this, he had read an interesting unofficial history, claiming that in a previous dynasty, a certain Son of Heaven was so incompetent that a hundred officials collectively presented death remonstrances, calling themselves the 'Hundred Righteous Ones,' which became a tale of virtue for a time.
But in Fang Xi's understanding, it was likely because they all held divine offices. For these individuals, death was not something to fear but rather a release. Thus, they collectively 'went on strike' and ascended to godhood!
Clap!
Fang Xi put down the book in his hand. The various anecdotes and strange tales he had browsed through these days, like peeling back silk from a cocoon, revealed a completely new world to him.
"A Shinto world. . . That's why the ruler is called the Son of Heaven, not the Human Emperor."
"Furthermore, there are constantly legends of Heavenly Court envoys, as well as Heavenly Court divine decrees and ascensions to godhood. . . It seems even mortals can achieve this? As long as their souls are intact after death and their yin spirits are not deluded, they might be canonized as gods? !"
"Heavenly Court? The Heavenly Court governs the world, the Dao Court governs humans. . ."
Fang Xi inexplicably thought of that enormous Middle Thousand World. Now it seemed, that must be the legendary Thirty-three Heavens, where the Heavenly Court resides.
And between this Heavenly Court and the Human World here, there seemed to be no strong barrier of world-force.
Whether it was immortals ascending or Heavenly Court decrees descending, while not common, they were not rare either.
In comparison, the barrier between the Human World and the Earthly Immortal World was terrifyingly strong.
'It seems this is the peculiar nature of this Middle Thousand World. . . it can communicate freely with its subordinate Lesser Worlds? '
'And the mainstream system here doesn't seem to be Qi Refinement cultivation. . . instead, it's 'conferring of registers,' following the path of Shinto. . . '
'Cultivators in this world must pass the imperial examinations, becoming a 'Scholar' of the Dao Court, to be qualified to be recorded in the Daoist register and receive a Daoist register. From then on, their name is entered into the Heavenly Registry, and they gain a Daoist divine position. . . With a divine position, they can hold office! '
Fang Xi recalled "Anomalies of Broadwood" he had read. In it, any official could deter demons and ghosts, and even monks and Daoists found it difficult to display their divine abilities in their presence.
It was publicly claimed that they were protected by official qi and blessed by dragon qi, suppressing the five elements and prohibiting all techniques!
In reality, it was because they themselves were deities! They held divine offices! That's why they could make it so that when a sage was in power, ghosts could not manifest their divinity!
"Officials of the Dao Court govern humans by day and ghosts by night. . . Even after death, if their souls remain intact, they directly merge with their divine positions, truly achieving a righteous divine golden body. Those with great merit can even directly ascend to the Heavenly Court as officials. . . Thus, death for them is a welcome release. . . That's why a hundred officials could offer death remonstrances; it wasn't just individual loyalty, but because they all had a fallback plan. . ."
"A Shinto system? That's quite interesting. . ."
Fang Xi stroked his chin.
He had already gained a slight understanding of this system by observing the local Earth God day and night.
Specifically, it involved gathering the power of incense and prayers from a region through Shinto talismans, forging a golden body, and extracting divine power. . .
"This way, it's almost like being bound to believers, and one is susceptible to the poison of incense, facing the peril of 'losing oneself,' and with duties to perform, one cannot freely roam. . ."
"For enduring so many drawbacks, the benefit is that there are no requirements for talent or aptitude. And once achieved, the sheer power of one's cultivation far surpasses that of equivalent cultivators. . ."
After all, a cultivator relies solely on their individual strength, while a Shinto deity gathers the strength of the multitude!
"However. . . the biggest drawback is that with this Shinto hierarchy, it's almost impossible to advance a single step without promotion from a superior!"
"With such layers of enfeoffment and sustenance. . . just how terrifying must the Heavenly Emperor in the Heavenly Court ultimately be?"
Fang Xi suddenly recalled the powerful threat he felt when he desired to travel to the Middle Thousand World.
With the Shinto's tight network, even if he cast a spell to summon a spiritual rain, the local Earth God would detect it.
If he were to stir up trouble in the Heavenly Court's Middle Thousand World, he feared the 'Heavenly Emperor' would notice him instantly!
This was equivalent to a being who unified the Earthly Immortal World plus three thousand other worlds, and was also a local boss of the Shinto! Fang Xi even suspected that even if a True Immortal descended, this 'Heavenly Emperor' could suppress them. . .
Therefore, his initial decision not to go directly to the Thirty-three Heavens, where the Heavenly Court was located, was absolutely the correct one.
"It seems. . . the gain from this world should be an entirely new Shinto cultivation system?"
Fang Xi murmured.
"But. . . Shinto requires a conferred register. . . and the restrictions from superiors are too terrifying."
"It's better to find a guinea pig first, to test it out for me."
He was indeed quite interested in this Shinto method.
This wasn't for his own cultivation.
Fang Xi only wished to become an immortal and roam freely, too lazy to bother with such tiresome Shinto duties.
However. . . he thought of his subordinates from the Kyushu World.
He didn't even need the Taiyi Scripture to analyze it; he immediately knew that this Shinto system was a perfect match for the Kyushu World!
Even the Dao Court, with the people it governed, had never exceeded a hundred million.
Yet the Kyushu World casually had tens of billions of people. This was the convenience brought to ordinary people after a major technological breakthrough!
Furthermore, these were tens of billions of people who had received basic education and were quite outstanding in various aspects, making them high-quality believers!
Not to mention, in the Earthly Immortal World, after occupying Trapped Sky Island, they could also conduct environmental improvements and encourage childbirth. The Kyushu World's population could experience an exponential boom!
How terrifying would the deities born from such faith power be?
"Powerful enough, easily achieved quickly. . . and most importantly, easily controlled by superiors. . . it is indeed a system quite suitable for me. It can easily cultivate a large number of subordinates comparable to Return to Void and Void Amalgamation cultivators. . . At that time, even cleansing the human race's scum in the Earthly Immortal World, avenging the Fang Xian Dao Monarch, and rectifying the cultivation world's atmosphere would be enough. . ."
The death of the Fang Xian Dao Monarch was a pain in the hearts of the Kyushu World's cultivators.
However, if they were to slaughter relentlessly, allowing the demon and yao races to benefit for free, it would instead make them sinners to the entire human race.
It would be best to kill those who deserved to die while immediately having a large number of high-level cultivators ready to fill the void.
Even with the development of the Kyushu World, accumulating so many top-tier combatants would be unrealistic without thousands or tens of thousands of years of accumulation.
But now, with the Shinto system, everything would be different.
The leapfrog development of the Kyushu World was within reach!
Of course, everything would have to wait until Fang Xi personally investigated before a final conclusion could be drawn.
But from the information gathered so far, this Shinto path indeed had some ingenious aspects.
At the very least, Fang Xi felt that in the future, alongside his cultivation, raising a group of Shinto subordinates to supplement various miscellaneous tasks would be a great pleasure.
"The first one, perhaps, should be Gan Yu. . ."
Above Fang Xi's head, the six-rank Luck Gu lay sprawled listlessly.
Earlier, using this Gu, he had examined Gan Yu's luck, and it could only be described as ordinary.
Although he had some ancestral virtue, it had mostly been expended, leaving only a faint trace. His literary qi was also not particularly abundant.
It would truly be quite difficult for him to pass the 'Child Scholar' examination.
As for diligent study?
There were many diligent students in the world, some even studying day and night until they vomited blood.
But if they weren't meant to pass, they wouldn't.
"First destiny, second luck, third geomancy, fourth accumulated virtue, fifth study. . . The means of changing one's fate in this world are only those few."
"Since I am lurking in this world, I should not use too many unconventional methods. Instead, I should first try to solve problems within the existing framework. . ."
It wasn't actually difficult to help Gan Yu pass the Child Scholar examination.
Fang Xi was currently playing the role of a benefactor, sponsoring his studies.
Once he had thoroughly read all thirty-six volumes of the Daoist Scriptures, he could attempt the examination.
"Observing with the Luck Gu, this person's luck is still a bit lacking. . . but that doesn't matter."
Although Fang Xi wasn't very skilled in divination, he could use the Luck Gu to find opportunities that would boost Gan Yu's luck, then provide some guidance, and things would fall into place naturally.
"Actually. . . if I were to directly use a secret technique to make the Luck Gu feed back luck, that would also be feasible. . ."
"But that would be a bit troublesome. . . after all, it's a method of an external Heavenly Demon. . ."
His Divine Consciousness swept across the area; the local Earth God could not detect it at all.
And Fang Xi's Divine Consciousness extended out of White Sweet Village, spreading outwards. . .
Before long, his eyes lit up as he found an opportunity that could perfectly complement Gan Yu's destiny. . .
The second update will be later
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