If you don't give up, I'd like to be your adoptive father.

Chapter 1240 The Convergence of Buddhism and Taoism
Xiao Yu said, "Heaven and earth possess righteous energy, which manifests in various forms. Below, it becomes rivers and mountains; above, it becomes the sun and stars. In man, it is called the vast and righteous spirit, which fills the boundless sky."

At the end of the dynasty, the world was in chaos, and killings broke out everywhere.

The righteous energy between heaven and earth is dispersed by malevolent energies such as killing intent, baleful energy, bloodlust, and calamity. This naturally has a great impact on people's hearts, and it also has a negative effect on ghosts and spirits in the human world.

I understood this principle long ago, and I have also personally witnessed the fallen gods.

For example, the local earth god and earth goddess on the outskirts of Daze Township.

For example, the massacre of the City God of Fuli County.

That fellow openly solicited prostitutes, bringing famous courtesans from the blessed markets of the underworld to his office for pleasure.

Unfortunately, even though I understood it, I didn't notice the huge potential profits of this case when I personally experienced a catastrophe for the first time.

Now, reminded by the Venus deity's register, I immediately feel the pain of losing dozens of mid-level divine positions!

Grand Tutor Yu did not hide the regret on his face or the annoyance in his tone.

Of the one hundred "medium-level divine positions" that Taibai Xingjun gave to Yang Li, about 60% belonged to the ghosts and gods of the Yin State of Shenzhou.

They committed a crime, and the Heavenly Court has not yet dealt with it.

Earlier, when Xiaoyu encountered the case of the Earth Goddess and Tu Ji openly soliciting ghost prostitutes, he lamented that the divine way of China was "corrupt in its administration and the Heavenly Court was doing nothing."

Now she understands.

The Heavenly Court was simply slow to react, not inactive.

During the Great Calamity, if any deities commit offenses, the Heavenly Court's envoys and officials will record them in the "Book of Good and Evil." It's highly likely that the final reckoning will be settled after the Great Calamity ends—a group of old, fallen gods will be exonerated, and a new batch of heroic spirits will be selected from the calamities to fill the vacant positions.

In this way, the Heavenly Court's divine system can be continuously updated and replaced in the endless cycle of great calamities.

This can, to some extent, ensure the purity of the Shinto order.

At least for the Heavenly Emperor, the divine way is the foundation of his enlightenment, and he certainly does not want the divine way to completely decay.

Xiao Yu hadn't considered this point before, thus overlooking the immense value contained within the "fallen gods"—to depose them before the Heavenly Court could, and then replace them with his own people.

"Just because the Heavenly Court can identify the fallen and sinful gods doesn't mean we can accurately find every ghost or god who has committed a crime."

Yang Li glanced at the roster again and said, "Take Tu Ji for example. At most, we can find out that he had secret contact with Chen Sheng and may have been involved in the struggle for power among the dynasties."

Given the capabilities of the Imperial Observatory, it's impossible that they would be so aware of his hiring of ghost prostitutes.

Moreover, his crimes went far beyond hiring prostitutes.

According to the records in the divine book, the Heavenly Court had already set its sights on him at least thirty years ago.

He had been warned more than once over the past thousand years.

Such private matters are known only to the Heavenly Court and the Underworld. Since we do not know them, we cannot arbitrarily abolish the gods and spirits.

If we make a mistake, the Heavenly Court will definitely hold us accountable and may even strip the deities we appointed of their titles; the price would be too high.

Grand Tutor Yu shook his head and said, "What you said was not wrong in the first place, but you underestimated my methods."

At a glance, I could see all the evil deeds committed by the gods in the county.

Once the target is identified, and with the help of the City God to conduct a detailed investigation, we're guaranteed to catch them all.

Yang Li asked in surprise, "The power of the Grand Tutor has such a strong effect?"

He had heard about what Grand Tutor Yu had done in Western Shu.

No matter where the demons or evil cultivators hide, she can accurately lock onto their targets using her aura-gazing technique.

But at that time, she held the power of a human king.

Gods and demons are not the same as evil cultivators.

Fallen gods do not eat people like King Guangfu. They may be like Tu Ji, summoning ghost prostitutes and interfering in mortal affairs. They do not have the evil aura of black mist, but they still violate the laws of heaven.

Most deities reside within their divine realms year-round, and outsiders can never perceive their presence.

Xiao Yu said, "Relying solely on the power of the Grand Tutor is still a bit insufficient. I have recently been reconstructing the ley lines of the Divine Land and have gained the power over the land."

I can't see the gods in the heavens, but I can spot the deities hiding in the blessed lands of the gods with a single glance."

"So, does that mean we'll never lack divine positions again? Since we won't lack divine positions, there's no need to be upset that the Heavenly Court used this list of gods to make us 'lose' dozens of divine positions," Yang Li said with a smile.

Xiaoyu was speechless and said, "In this list from the Heavenly Court, 60% are underworld ghosts and gods, and the rest are heavenly gods."

Do you think the Heavenly Court would rather appease us with positions of ghosts and gods, or waste its already scarce number of divine positions?

Yang Li immediately realized what was happening.

The Heavenly Court would certainly prefer that all one hundred mid-level divine positions be held by ghosts and gods.

At this time, 40% of the 100 divine positions were celestial positions, indicating that there were only 60 mid-level deities who had committed offenses in the human world.

Their desire to never lack divine positions was nothing but wishful thinking.

The Heavenly Court can only find 60 offending ghosts and gods; they cannot find any more.

"Let's not set our expectations too high. Being a local deity in China is actually quite good."

Xiao Yu clenched her right hand, and a small golden ball radiating divine power appeared in her palm.

She casually tossed the ball upwards, and the golden ball "whooshed" out of the window, traveled more than ten miles, and landed in the Jing River outside the city.

"I have released the position of the god of Huai River. Now take this divine book and go to the underworld to confer godhood upon the loyal and heroic spirits."

Yang Li said, "Why not hold a grand investiture ceremony to demonstrate the court's benevolence?"

Xiao Yu shook her head and said, "There's no need. You should also try to keep a low profile. We should try our best not to betray the loyalty of the martyrs and try our best to arrange a good future for them, but we cannot encourage the Qin ministers and generals who are still alive to fight to the death."

Yang Li was even more puzzled, "Does the Grand Tutor intend to protect the destiny of the Great Qin?"
Even if we don't encourage them, they shouldn't be so negative!

Xiao Yu sighed, "If I were to exorcise demons and monsters in Western Shu, I would definitely publicize the Investiture of the Gods."

We encourage all human heroes to stand up and fight to protect their people.

But now it's internal strife among the Chinese people. The more intense the fighting and the more bloodshed, the happier the Xiongnu and the North Sea demons outside are.

Even more crucially, the Qin Dynasty's problem was not that its military strength was too weak.

The Qin Dynasty had no need for many civil and military officials to be 'loyal' to the court on the battlefield.

Those military officers who live off the emperor's salary, just don't be afraid of death or neglect your duties, that's enough.

What the Qin Dynasty needs is the Mandate of Heaven, to implement benevolent governance in the land, and to let the benevolence and righteousness of the Ying clan take root in people's hearts, or rather, to change the people's inherent impression of the Qin Dynasty.

The destiny of the hidden dragons can be fought out.

When one hidden dragon kills another, its fortune will expand significantly, and its destiny will be stronger.

The Qin Dynasty, however, was different. The Qin Dynasty's destiny did not lie on the battlefield; winning one or two major battles would not increase its destiny.

Even if Chen Sheng is killed, there are still Liu Sheng and Xiang Sheng; it doesn't really make a difference.

"What if we kill all the quasi-Da Luo behind Chen Sheng?" Yang Li asked.

Grand Tutor Yu said calmly, "If you can kill them all, you can become the Grand Tutor, and I will assist you."

Yang Li said awkwardly, "I certainly can't do it; I was just making a hypothetical statement."

“Suppose I had the power to sweep away all quasi-Great Luo Immortals and make even the Dao Ancestor dare not step in to stabilize the situation, I would definitely be wrong. With such strength, what would I be doing causing trouble in the mortal realm?” Grand Tutor Yu said.

Yang Li was speechless.

"Grand Tutor, when I went to Zongxuan Cave Heaven, I saw immortals tearing down the notices posted by the imperial court. I heard them say that it wasn't just the Huashan Divine Palace doing this."

They seemed to have joined forces, with the Five Sacred Mountains and the blessed lands of the land clearing away the imperial edict.

Xiao Yu said, "Do you know how long you've been in the Heavenly Court? In the few days you were gone, Qiu Mingzi and the others have already returned."

Only Ye Jiutian remained, still distributing leaflets about the "Oath-Breaking Case" in Beiju Luzhou and Xiniu Hezhou.

"I was quick and didn't waste any time."

Yang Li didn't waste much time, but the difference in time flow between the mortal realm and the immortal realm was simply too great.

His expression was grave as he asked, "How does the Grand Tutor intend to respond?"

"You don't need to worry about it. Take the divine book and go to the underworld to confer titles upon the gods!" Xiao Yu said.

"Who should be deified, and what divine positions should they be given? Please provide me with a form, Grand Tutor," Yang Li asked.

Xiao Yu pondered for a moment and said, "This time, we will only confer titles on those who are loyal and righteous. Those who have made contributions but lack loyalty will not be deified. We will only let Yama give them a better afterlife."

Chen Sheng marched thousands of miles from Dazexiang, conquering cities and territories along the way, capturing dozens of cities, and finally taking over Chen County, the capital of Chen Commandery, in which many Qin generals and Qin officials died.

Some died for the greater good, unafraid to sacrifice themselves. Others had little loyalty to the court; they only led troops to resist because they were driven by the instinct of "officials" to protect their positions and families when bandits attacked.

Before they could even think of surrendering and the situation turned bad, they were killed on the battlefield.

Some people went to the battlefield in a daze and died in a daze.

Xiaoyu's idea is to only seal off the first category of people.

Dying for righteousness, even if their "righteousness" does not conform to the will of Heaven, can make them gods.

The second type of person can also be considered to have sacrificed their lives for the country and made contributions to the nation, but they themselves do not have the qualifications to become gods.

A deity must surpass ordinary people in some moral aspect.

Take, for example, Xiaoyu's "evil child" Wang E. He died for the sake of all living beings, so the Heavenly Court made him a god.

Xiaoyu Fengshen also intends to abide by this rule.

Yang Li said, "With the Mirror of Retribution, the reasons for death are clearly discernible. Finding the heroes who died for righteousness is not difficult. But why should we grant a better next life to those who have merit but lack righteousness?"
The underworld is unwilling and unable to grant them special treatment, as there are too many people involved.

"If you open the back door, the Book of Life and Death will surely be filled with a mess of records."

Xiao Yu frowned and said, "In Xiniu Hezhou, you can ask a high-ranking monk to perform a ritual and write a 'recommendation letter for the deceased,' which can help the spirit of the deceased be reincarnated into a better life. Do you know that?"

In fact, the effects of monks chanting scriptures are not very noticeable in the Xisha Islands at present.

By the time of the "Journey to the West" period, the monks' scriptures seemed to have been given a superpower, with effects that were ridiculously strong.

For example, Liu Boqin, a hunter from Liangjie Mountain, had a father who died long ago, and his soul was suffering in hell, unable to be reborn.

The monk Tang only recited a few scrolls of scriptures for him and wrote a "Memorial for the Deceased," and Old Man Liu was immediately freed from his suffering and could even be reborn into a "wealthy family in a rich land of China."

Being born in China, regardless of the place of birth, will certainly bring different blessings.

Being born in Beijing, Shanghai, or Guangzhou is definitely better than being born into a remote mountainous area in the Northwest. Being born into a wealthy family is certainly better than being born into a poor one. Even among wealthy families, if the father has a dignified and elder-like demeanor and the family environment is better, the person will definitely be happier.

Therefore, the short phrase "a blessed land in China, a home for the elderly" carries an astonishingly high level of significance.

The "good father and good mother" that reincarnated gods seek is exactly this kind of configuration.

Yang Li said, "What is a memorial for the deceased? In China, we only have a small number of itinerant monks, not grand monks who perform rituals."

There's no need for that. What monks can do, I, a Taoist priest, can do even better.

What monks can't do, we can do too.

"A memorial to the deceased is also a type of 'memorial.' It's written for the deceased and sent to the underworld, which can reduce their sins. Can you write one?" Grand Tutor Yu asked.

Yang Li asked doubtfully, "Can writing a petition for the underworld really ignore cause and effect and karma?"
One or two is fine, but if it becomes the norm, wouldn't the system of cause and effect collapse?

Xiao Yu said, "You don't understand. The petition for the deceased must be accompanied by the 'Scripture for the Salvation of the Dead.' First, recite the 'Scripture for the Salvation of the Dead,' and then write the petition and send it to the underworld."

Cause and effect do not increase or decrease out of thin air, but rather are transferred from the deceased to the chanting monk.

The highly accomplished monk, through Buddhist scriptures, eliminated a portion of his karmic burdens.

The Taoist scriptures of the Xuanmen school, however, do not have this effect, because the underworld is run by the Venerable Master Lingshan.

Yang Li felt uneasy and said, "There are no great monks in Xianyang, so we cannot perform a ritual for them."

However, we can invite Taoist priests from various palaces to hold a grand "Luo Tian Ritual," which will allow the departed souls to live happily in the underworld.

The Buddhist water and land ritual can help the deceased reduce their bad karma, thus performing a subtraction.

The Taoist Luotian Grand Ritual does not diminish karma, but it can add new good karma for the deceased souls by burning paper money and helping to build blessed lands in the underworld.

The dead have money, big houses, and are cared for by "nobles" in the underworld. Wouldn't they be happy?
This is addition.

Xiao Yu said thoughtfully, "If monks and Taoist priests joined forces to hold a water and land ritual, wouldn't the souls of the dead be overjoyed?"

She felt she had glimpsed a new destiny.

Everything that benefits the well-being of the people and promotes humanitarian development will eventually happen. What is detrimental will be eliminated.

“There are no great monks in Xianyang, and the Central Plains do not welcome great monks. Taoists only participate in the Taoist Luotian Grand Ritual, not the Buddhist Water and Land Ritual,” Yang Li said, raising his voice.

Grand Tutor Yu pointed to himself and said, "I am a 'living Bodhisattva.' Go to the underworld and tell King Yama to place all the officials, soldiers, and civilians who died in the war in a new city of the unjustly dead."

Alternatively, a piece of land could be cleared from the original City of the Unjustly Dead to be used as a place to house the deceased who suffered the calamity.

I will hold water-based rituals regularly at the Temple of Earth in Xianyang. Well, since you all like the Luotian Grand Ritual, let's just call it the Luotian Grand Ritual. I don't care about the name or anything.

At that time, I will use Buddhist teachings to deliver the souls of the deceased, and you will use Taoist methods to comfort them.

"If our Buddhist and Taoist paths converge, and we can bring peace to the people of Qin, we will accumulate a great deal of merit!"

(End of this chapter)