People in Conferred Gods: Rising from humble beginnings, I am the God of Wealth

Chapter 276 The Emperor's Incense Offerings Are on Par with Saints!
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Yang Xuan and Qing Luan stood on the bustling street, but no one noticed them.

After learning about what had happened in Kyushu over the years, Yang Xuan frowned slightly, a look of doubt on his face.

"Something's not right..."

Before heading to Huoyun Cave, Yang Xuan made a special trip to Yangcheng and Shangcheng to ascertain the situation in the two cities and to deduce the approximate time when Shang Tang destroyed Xia.

Although the city was prosperous at that time, it controlled the economic lifeline of a large area of ​​surrounding cities and had a great reputation in the prehistoric world.

However, given the circumstances at that time, it would have taken at least another one or two more cycles before Tang of Shang overthrew the Xia dynasty and established the Shang dynasty.

As it turned out, he only stayed in the Fire Cloud Cave for tens of thousands of years. When he came out again, the first dynastic change had already occurred in the Nine Provinces, and the Great Xia Dynasty had become a thing of the past.

Tang of Shang successfully overthrew the rule of the Xia Dynasty and established the Shang Dynasty with Shang City as its capital.

Moreover, according to the people of Shangcheng, Tang of Shang did not rebel when he established the Shang Dynasty.

Instead, he raised his arm and gained the support of many high-ranking human leaders, as well as the assistance of the Phoenix Clan. Later, even the Dragon Clan stood up for him.

Ultimately, after only a few years, Xia Jie abdicated, and Shang Tang took the opportunity to establish the Shang Dynasty.

When dynasties change, the fate of the human race is inevitably affected.

For a period of time afterward, the human race was somewhat unstable, but with the sages of the past generations of Fire Cloud Cave in charge, stability was restored within a few years.

Furthermore, the form of human destiny changed from the shape of a golden dragon to a dragon and phoenix, and the connection between the human race and the dragon and phoenix races became even closer.

Although the human race is protected by the Nine Cauldrons Formation, they are unlikely to be attacked by foreign races in the Nine Provinces.

However, compared to the major powers of the prehistoric world, the spiritual energy concentration of the Nine Provinces is only average, even with the help of the Heavenly Court and the gods to speed up the construction of the Nine Provinces.

The human race, an acquired race, cannot compare with the prehistoric races in terms of the number of spiritual roots and spiritual treasures.

After the establishment of the Great Shang Dynasty, the main connection between the human race and the dragon and phoenix races was the trade in spiritual roots and spiritual treasures, as well as the sorting out of the earth veins of the Nine Provinces and the refining of spiritual treasures.

As the earliest protagonists of the primordial world, the Dragon and Phoenix races were far more powerful than the human race of today at their peak.

In addition, there weren't as many creatures in the prehistoric world back then as there are now. The prehistoric world had just been born, and all kinds of spiritual objects could be seen everywhere. They plundered a lot of innate and acquired spiritual objects.

Even though the Dragon and Phoenix clans have declined, the variety and quantity of their spiritual creatures are still beyond the imagination of the human race, which is an advantage that the Heavenly Court does not possess.

By cooperating with the Dragon and Phoenix clans, the human race can accelerate the cultivation of spiritual roots.

Later on, the cultivated spiritual roots and unique spiritual materials from the Nine Provinces can be exported to trade with the Dragon and Phoenix clans for acquired spiritual treasures and elixirs, thereby increasing the cultivation speed of the human race and strengthening its overall strength.

As for the current stage, it is only the support from the Dragon and Phoenix clans.

The reason why the human race's fortune presents the auspicious image of dragons and phoenixes is that the dragon and phoenix races could not do so without paying a price.
Perhaps it was because before establishing the Shang Dynasty, Tang of Shang devoted himself to the development of commerce in Shang City, gradually gaining control of the economic lifeline of many surrounding cities.

After the establishment of the Great Shang Dynasty, trade between the Great Shang and the Dragon and Phoenix clans became more frequent, and the Shang City became the trading center of the Nine Provinces.

Yang Xuan is also the master of the trade routes in the Nine Provinces, and the only talent among the human race.

Therefore, a large number of Emperor Temples were built in the city, and the largest Emperor Temple in the city was built right next to the Imperial Palace.

Although this Emperor Temple is not as large as the imperial palace, it is still just a temple.

However, its scale is in no way inferior to the imperial palace, and in some aspects, it is even higher. Every day, countless people enter the Emperor Temple to burn incense and pray. The prosperity of the incense offerings is simply terrifying.

For those who also practice the Tao of incense offerings, a thriving incense offering scene is naturally a good thing.

Because of the flourishing incense offerings among humans, the surrounding areas of Kyushu, the dragon race, and the Heavenly Court, Yang Xuan's Incense Golden Body has now accumulated an unimaginable amount of incense offerings.

If the subsequent cultivation methods of the Incense and Divine Path had not yet been developed, the realm of the Incense and Divine Body would probably be even higher than that of Yang Xuan's physical body.

This reveals both the advantages and disadvantages of the incense-based religious system.

The advantage lies in the fact that, as long as there is enough incense offering, the speed of cultivation in the divine path is terrifyingly fast.
The disadvantage is that the path to divinity is uncertain, and it is an accident that even those who cultivate to the level of a Great Luo Golden Immortal through incense offerings and golden bodies can achieve this.

Over the years, Yang Xuan has only grasped the method to break through to the Great Luo realm. As for the path ahead, he still has to explore it on his own.

Regarding the current excessive incense offerings, Yang Xuan has two ideas.

Firstly, it is stored within the body of incense and gold, as it is now.

Secondly, they developed a sophisticated method for refining the body through incense offerings, allowing the incense-based golden body to be tempered like a physical cultivator.

How can a statue made of incense and gold be called a 'golden statue' if it breaks at the slightest touch?
Given that Yang Xuan possesses the Nine Revolutions Primordial Technique, the most advanced body-refining method in the primordial world, it's not impossible for him to deduce a method for forging a golden body.

He even has some ideas now, but since the incense-infused golden body has no blood and qi, the tempering method he has come up with is somewhat unusual and dangerous, and he still needs to continue to improve it.

Although we cannot effectively utilize these incense offerings now, having more incense offerings is always a good thing.

What annoyed Yang Xuan was that several other temples had been built next to the Emperor Temple in the palace, forming a temple complex.

Among these temples, some belong to other celestial deities of the Heavenly Court, and it is normal for these temples to be ranked below Yang Xuan's Emperor Temple.

However, among this group of temples, there are four temples that do not belong to the Heavenly Court, and they have extremely important origins.

These four temples are Taiqing Palace, Yuqing Palace, Shangqing Palace, and Nuwa Palace!

It was a temple built by the human race for the four saints!

The problem is that these four temples dedicated to sages are only slightly taller than Yang Xuan's Emperor Temple, and from certain angles, they even give the impression of being on par with the temples dedicated to sages.

Yang Xuan was standing on the street outside the temple complex, looking at the five temples at the highest point, and he felt terrible.

“I know you have deep faith in me and value business ethics, but you can’t build my Emperor’s Temple together with the temple of a sage…”

Yang Xuan was completely stunned. According to later records, one of the triggers for the Investiture of the Gods was Emperor Xin's disrespect for the sages, which is why the sage Nuwa sent the three demons of Xuanyuan to wreak havoc on the Shang Dynasty.

Now that's how it is, if you build the temple like this, you won't even have to wait for Emperor Xin to write the lewd poem. The way the temple is built could become a breakthrough, and you might even end up dragging Yang Xuan down with you.

"It's fortunate that I came to the mall, otherwise this matter might have caused trouble."

Yang Xuan immediately decided to go to the Human Emperor's Palace in the marketplace. He did indeed want to participate in the Investiture of the Gods calamity and seek more benefits for the Heavenly Court and the Underworld. However, he planned to remain behind the scenes and had no intention of directly entering the calamity.

If the temple built for him by the Shang Dynasty leads to his calamity, then there's truly no way to seek justice...

Given Yang Xuan's current prestige among the human race, entering the Human Emperor's Palace would be no problem as long as he revealed his identity.

Just like Qi before him, the contemporary emperor Tang of Shang treated Yang Xuan with the same great courtesy.

Moreover, Tang of Shang held Yang Xuan in a much higher esteem than he had held Qi in the past.

One reason for this is that Yang Xuan's cultivation level is now higher, and his reputation in the Nine Provinces and even the entire prehistoric world is far greater than it was when Qi first took power.

Another reason is that the Shang Dynasty of today is different from the one recorded in later generations. When Tang of Shang became the ruler of Shang City, he attached great importance to the way of commerce. It is no exaggeration to say that he started his business based on the way of commerce.

As the master of the trade routes in the Nine Provinces and the only god of wealth for the human race, Yang Xuan naturally commanded even greater respect from Shang Tang.

The reason why Yang Xuan's Emperor Temple was built to such a high standard was because it was ordered by Tang of Shang.

In front of Yang Xuan, Shang Tang even acted like a junior, not at all like a newly enthroned emperor.

Yang Xuan was quite unaccustomed to Shang Tang's demeanor. After a few brief pleasantries, Yang Xuan got straight to the point, pointing towards the temple complex with a serious expression.

"Your Majesty, I feel that the arrangement of these temples is somewhat inappropriate. I am merely a second-rank emperor of the Heavenly Court. How can the scale of an emperor's temple be comparable to that of a sage's temple?"

“A sage with the world in his heart would not care about such a trivial matter, but the human race is the protagonist of the primordial world, and countless beings are watching.”

"If we were targeted by certain people with ulterior motives, they might use this as an excuse to accuse humanity of disrespecting the saint."

"At that time, the sage will not care, but the sage's disciples will probably be dissatisfied. If they come to Kyushu to cause trouble, it will not be a good thing."

"The human race is still in the development stage. It's best to avoid unnecessary troubles if possible."

"The reason I have come here is to ask Your Majesty to lower the status of my Temple of the Emperor and place it below the Temple of the Sage!"

In closing, Yang Xuan bowed to Shang Tang.

Seeing this, Tang remained silent, his heart filled with countless emotions.

As the practice of incense offerings became a supplementary cultivation method for the celestial beings in Heaven, they placed increasing importance on incense offerings and became more proactive in responding to believers and fulfilling their divine duties.

As the main source of incense offerings, such changes naturally could not be hidden from the human race of Kyushu.

As early as when Tang of Shang overthrew the Xia dynasty and established the Shang dynasty, he realized that incense offerings were becoming increasingly important to the gods and immortals of the heavens.

As the person most revered by Shang Tang, he began to build temples to Emperor Yang Xuan inside and outside the city, so that all those who did business with the city would deepen their faith in him.

After establishing the Shang Dynasty, he, as the Human Emperor, initiated a wave of temple construction in major cities throughout the Nine Provinces, hoping to increase the number of worshippers of Yang Xuan.

Unexpectedly, Yang Xuan made a special trip to the Emperor's Palace to ask him to reduce the scale of the Emperor's Temple.

The reason Yang Xuan gave was not a major problem for Shang Tang.

In his view, Yang Xuan's Emperor Temple was already half a step below the temples of the Sage. With the Sage's magnanimity, even if he knew about the temples, he would not care.

As for whether the disciples of the sage would have any objections, Tang of Shang did not care at all.

This is the Nine Provinces, protected by the Nine Cauldrons Formation. Even disciples of saints would be suppressed by the Nine Cauldrons Formation when they enter the Nine Provinces. How could they dare to create momentum in the Nine Provinces?

Moreover, there are still four Quasi-Saints and three Sub-Saints guarding the Fire Cloud Cave. Now that the human race's fortune is gradually stabilizing, they are not unable to leave the Fire Cloud Cave.

If someone can withstand the suppression of the Nine Cauldrons Formation and defeat the Great Shang Dynasty without any resistance, there are still these ancient human sages to back them up, so there is no need to worry about them at all.

Simply put, as long as there is no saint involved, the human race has nothing to fear from anyone in the Nine Provinces. This is the source of the human race's current confidence.

However, Yang Xuan made a special trip for such a small matter, which impressed Shang Tang greatly.

"The Emperor truly deserves to be called a great sage of the human race. Although the Emperor was not born of the human race and did not seek any benefit from the human race, he has done more for the human race than 99% of the human race."

"After seeing this today, I finally understand that what the elder said was true. In his heart, the interests of the human race are actually higher than his own prosperity."

"No wonder the elders said that..."

After a long silence, Shang Tang finally nodded.

"Your Majesty is absolutely right. I did not consider this matter thoroughly. I will immediately order it to be rebuilt!"

Although he felt that the matter of the temple was not a big deal, Yang Xuan had made a special trip, so agreeing to Yang Xuan's request was not a problem.

Even if Yang Xuan's Emperor Temple were to be downgraded in scale, it wouldn't have a significant impact on its popularity; it would still remain the most popular deity among the human race.

Seeing that Shang Tang nodded in agreement, Yang Xuan breathed a sigh of relief. In this way, a considerable hidden danger was resolved.

After resolving the matter, Yang Xuan exchanged a few pleasantries with Shang Tang before taking his leave.

Afterwards, he strolled around the mall, found the celestial deities of the local area, gave them a few instructions, and then sat cross-legged on the back of the Azure Phoenix, flying towards the Heavenly Court.

Now that the necessary preparations have been made, it is time to head to Zixiao Palace.

Even though he didn't meet Hongjun Daozu in Zixiao Palace, the Dao aura that Zixiao Palace itself brought him great benefits and gave him more insights into the Great Dao.

However, Yang Xuan did not expect that when Shang Tang summoned the important officials of the court to propose to lower the scale of the Emperor's Temple, he was met with unanimous opposition.

Even though Shang Tang said that this was Yang Xuan's own opinion, most people still opposed it.

After some discussion, Tang himself felt that the specifications of the Emperor's Temple were not a problem, so he ordered that the matter be spread out first to see how the people of Shang City would react.

In today's Kyushu, everyone can cultivate Taoism and become an immortal, and people don't have the same reverence for the royal family as they did in later generations.

The news had barely spread when the people of the city were in an uproar, with many expressing a sense of urgency: if you dare to demolish the Emperor's Temple, I dare to demolish the Emperor's Palace.

Even the celestial gods and immortals who guarded the nine provinces, as well as the members of the dragon and phoenix clans, shared the same sentiment.

In the end, Yang Xuan's Emperor Temple not only did not decline in status, but its incense offerings became even more prosperous...

(End of this chapter)