Da Zaojun

Chapter 184 Conferring the Title of Earth God!
Having accepted this recipe, Song Wuji's cooking skills quickly improved.

Song Wuji couldn't understand the writing on the recipe.

However, after being refined into the Stove Book, many changes occurred.

[The Thief of All Things]

Song Wuji sensed this change.

This is one of the three types of thieves.

Previously, Song Wuji only possessed the ability to "steal from others," which meant that when he was fully focused, he could observe the supernatural abilities, spells, and martial arts of others, and learn incomplete techniques, pseudo-skills, and freehand techniques. It was like collecting fragments; when there were enough, he could steal the entire book.

However, after using it so many times, Song Wuji only learned martial arts techniques, specifically the moves and movements, and could learn freehand techniques.

They couldn't steal anything because of supernatural powers or the inability to see through the underlying principles.

Now that I have obtained this page from the old stove book, I have gained the talent of [theft of all things].

The Thief of All Things: By dissecting rare birds and beasts, and refining them with a stove fire and imbuing them with the five flavors, one can create Food Spirits. Consuming Food Spirits has a small chance of permanently gaining their spells, supernatural powers, and talents. It also has a high probability of granting one's insights into their spells, supernatural powers, and talents.

Epic buff!
Eat, eat, eat! And you'll become stronger!

This reminded Song Wuji of the extreme power fantasy novels he had read before, but thinking about it, his own family had an extra processing step compared to those who ate raw meat and drank blood, so it wasn't just pure devouring.

"It seems that this page of the Kitchen God's Book records the method for creating special food spirits, which requires three different abilities."

After leaving the Rakshasa Karma Market, Song Wuji first explained to Huang Qiaoyun, "That Huang family compound is not simple; you shouldn't go there."

As for the Heavenly Weaver Girl saying that only those of the seventh rank could enter to explore, Song Wuji believed that he was no less than a seventh-rank official.

But let's try out the new ability first.

The text mentions rare and exotic animals and rare flowers and herbs, which Song Wuji guessed were recorded in the "Classic of Mountains and Seas," and were certainly not things that could be obtained from ordinary food.

If we're talking about rare and exotic beasts, Song Wuji could only think of the Luohu Python, which is a Blackwater Serpent. As for rare and exotic flowers and herbs, the only one that counts so far is the Qionghua flower he obtained from the Qionghua Garden.

These two items, when cooked with the five flavors to create a food spirit, have a chance to grant related spells, supernatural abilities, talents, etc.

Song Wuji was in high spirits, after all, he still had no clue about the Five Flavors of Sourness, and he had reached a bottleneck in refining the original demonic energy.

However, before that, let's set up the two shrines a bit.

One of these shrines is for the Earth God, and the other is for the Night Wanderer. In the traditional Shinto system, these are the last two deities.

When placed at a ley line node, it can gather the scattered power of heaven and earth and transform it into divinity. By firing a porcelain statue imbued with essence and blood, it can collect power in place of the gods...

Song Wuji had no interest in becoming a local deity or a night-roaming god, so he directly handed it over to Tian Chenghuang and asked him if he had any methods to use it.

Tian Chenghuang was suppressing an evil spirit. The spirit was also of the eighth rank, but in the Netherworld, it was a lower rank than a god. It was quickly captured by Tian Chenghuang and imprisoned in the Five Sacred Mountains.

Upon seeing Song Wuji's two shrines, he was slightly surprised: "With these two shrines here, I can try to subdue some evil spirits or powerful ghosts. However, if I want to confer titles on ghosts and gods, you and I will have to consume our luck together. For example, if this earth god shrine is placed at a node of the earth vein and governs the feng shui of a village, many evil spirits will want to enter it."

“Using this as bait, we can subdue some evil spirits and demons and control them for our own use.”

"Of course, we can also confer the title of god upon the meritorious spirits of those who have done good deeds in this region."

Tian Chenghuang said, "If the Night Patrol God is here, my affairs will be much easier. Little Song, I intend to subdue an assistant. At that time, I will need you to expend your luck to help with the conferment of a title. It doesn't need to be a high rank. The Night Patrol God can be a ninth-rank official, and can be promoted to an eighth-rank official in the future."

"Then you can have the shrine for the Night Wanderer God. As for the imperial decree, just let me know when you find a suitable candidate."

Song Wuji didn't comment on this, only saying, "I saw the Heroic Spirit Stele before, which had already gathered the soul of Doctor Li. Doctor Li practiced medicine extensively throughout his life, and the previous City God said that he could be directly appointed as the head of the Medical Department, a ninth-rank ghost god."

"I think we should entrust this shrine to him. It just so happens that the four local gods in the city, from east to west and north to south, have all been harmed by the former city god. I would like to ask City God Tian to select a burial site so that I can place this shrine."

Tian Chenghuang said, "Yes, you can actually hold two positions. You can take on the role of the local deity and also serve as the head of the Medicine Department of my twenty-four departments."

He immediately wrote a decree and affixed his official seal, while Song Wuji also wrote an appointment letter.

Even when the original Heavenly Court and Underworld existed, the merits of Physician Li were enough to make him a local deity. Moreover, now that the Three Realms and Six Paths have lost their order, so many demons and monsters can replace immortals and gods.

If it were said that bestowing a title upon someone who has neither virtue nor merit would require a great deal of luck, then Physician Li himself possessed merit, so after the seal of the Realm Lord was affixed, it did not consume much luck, and Physician Li was granted the position of the Earth God of the East City.

The shrine to the local earth god was moved to the original location of the earth god temple in the east of the city, as instructed by Tian Chenghuang.

In a short while, the spirit of Doctor Li emerged from the monument to the fallen heroes and strode toward the shrine. Soon after, a small image automatically appeared on the shrine, a manifestation of the earth's energy, in the likeness of Doctor Li.

Tian Chenghuang then gave him the imperial edict appointing him as the head of the Traditional Chinese Medicine Department of the Twenty-Four Departments of the City God, thus giving him dual duties.

The spirit of the old physician Li transformed into that of a wealthy gentleman, holding a rattan cane with a gourd on it, and a golden needle in his other hand. The old physician sighed, "This humble old man thanks the Lord of the Realm and the City God for their life-saving grace!"

Song Wuji smiled and said, "Old Doctor Li, you were the one who took me to the Medical Bureau back then. Now that I can help you, I will naturally do so."

Tian Chenghuang nodded and said, "Old Doctor Li, you can just focus on your cultivation here. You don't need to worry about anything else. Just help train doctors and make sure your medical skills are not lost."

He then said to Song Wuji, “Although there is a shrine and the earth’s energy has been gathered, it is still not a proper statue. We need to have a clay craftsman and a potter help us to make a statue, and then put twelve medicinal essences inside it. We also need to send our appointment documents and talismans to inform the people. Only then will it be considered complete.”

Song Wuji nodded: "There are already quite a few craftsmen in the city who have received the ritual. Although none of them have reached the ninth rank, they will soon. Once they have reached the ninth rank, we will sculpt a statue for Doctor Li and also carve your statue as the City God to complete the final step."

He then asked Dr. Li, "Now that you've become this land deity, what skills do you possess?"

The old physician Li said, "The City God is here to govern the souls, but he doesn't really have any other function. He is only nourished by the earth's energy. He has a spell to stimulate the earth's energy, similar to the Earth God's agricultural power, which can moisten the farmland. He also has a disease-curing spell that can cure minor illnesses and disasters for the people."

"Actually, in terms of healing, it is not as good as my medical skills. There is only one thing: in this earth god temple, there seems to be a natural secret realm waiting for me to enter and take over. There is nothing inside, only a well and ten acres of fields."

Tian Chenghuang said, "It's normal. This is the divine space, where your salary is located. It can transform incense, condense spiritual seeds, purify incense, satisfy your appetite, and even increase your cultivation."

"We are like humans and spirits, and authority is the foundation of our existence, but we also need to eat, drink and cultivate ourselves, which is what we use incense."

"It's just that the incense offerings are usually mixed and require special handling."

"The gods have all refined incense into gold and silver, and the earth deities have all condensed spiritual roots and precious trees."

"Only ghosts and spirits can cultivate the yin land, open up fields of blessings, and purify it through the methods of cultivation."

"After I joined the City God, although my current strength is only at the eighth rank, I enjoy the salary of a seventh rank. Therefore, I can cultivate three acres of blessed land, which can be used to purify incense and serve as sustenance for my cultivation."

Song Wuji, however, did not understand these things and learned something new: "So the incense millet obtained in the secret realm of vegetarian meals for monks is actually food for ghosts and gods?"

"exactly."

Tian Chenghuang said, "But we can take any offerings that the people make to us, such as grains, flowers, and fruits. We can either eat them directly or save them for planting, and then use incense to irrigate and fertilize them."

“My three acres of land have now been cultivated with the help of many evil spirits. In fact, it’s not just us who can eat like this. Ordinary ghosts can also cultivate blessed land in the underworld. The grains and fruits offered by relatives in the mortal world can also be planted. It’s just that they don’t have enough incense to water them, so what grows is pure yin energy.”

Song Wuji recited the description of the incense-fired millet: "Starving people are burned to ashes to achieve merit, and incense is used to irrigate a thousand bushels of millet."

Song Wuji's rituals were related to ghosts and gods, so asking more about these things was a preparation for future banquets for ghosts and gods.

"My incense for the Kitchen God is formed from the aroma of food. It is the incense of the Kitchen God and does not need to be processed. It is food itself... There are many ghosts in the underworld. It seems that I need to accumulate more incense for the Kitchen God. In the future, in addition to feasting ghosts and gods, it may also help to get rid of some dangers. At least those hungry ghosts cannot refuse my incense food."

"Of course, there are also some people whose incense is pure and highly nourishing, requiring no further processing."

Tian Chenghuang said, "For example, the incense you offer, Little Song, is a great tonic to me. It can quickly restore my magic power and slightly increase my understanding of authority. It belongs to the category of Daoist incense and merit incense."

This theory of incense was also discussed by the Taoist priest in the Iron Pillar Palace.

Song Wuji offered incense to the Spirit Official and the Salvation Lord at that place.

Having previously obtained ten Earth Incense Sticks from killing the Dream Soul Demon's Earthly Branch clone, Song Wuji directly used three sticks to sincerely offer one stick of incense to Doctor Li: "Doctor Li, this stick of incense is dedicated to your great medical skills and your dedication to saving lives!"

Song Wuji's rank is higher than that of the local earth god, but that doesn't mean he can't offer incense. Moreover, the local earth god, Doctor Li, is supported by Song Wuji. This stick of incense will only strengthen the connection between the two, and will be beneficial and harmless.

After receiving offerings from Song Wuji, the old physician Li's previously unstable spiritual position stabilized, his complexion became rosy, and a faint auspicious light emanated from the back of his head.

He then gave all the equipment that the land deity had previously possessed to Doctor Li, including the land deity's staff and the Shegong Nuo mask that Song Wuji had modified. This mask featured a Shehuo (a type of firework) that Song Wuji had modified from a stove, representing light and the expulsion of darkness.

These were all obtained from the Soul-Calling Secret Realm, and they can no longer keep up with Song Wuji's pace, but the land magic spells inside are quite comprehensive.

"This...this..." Teacher Li sighed, "This old man has received undeserved rewards and can only risk his old life to be at your disposal from now on."

Song Wuji waved his hand: "There's no need to say such things. I only hope that you, Doctor Li, will continue to protect the people and further develop medical knowledge."

"There are not many doctors in the city now. Of all the professions, medicine is the most important, as it is about saving lives and healing the wounded. Nowadays, apart from the City God's Medical Office, there are no other proper rituals."

"Although the people in the city have already practiced martial arts and are not easily susceptible to colds and flu, there is a real lack of manpower for things like sword wounds, poisoning by demons, illnesses caused by ghostly energy, or the development of elixirs."

"To take it a step further, there are pediatric and infant departments, or urology, gynecology, reproductive medicine, geriatrics... The city has a total population of over 20,000. Even if we don't say that there's one doctor for every 100 people, there's not enough for one doctor for every 500 people. Where are we going to find 20 qualified doctors here?"

The old physician Li said, "I dare not say anything else, but I will definitely devote myself to teaching medicine. However, one person is limited. I would like to ask the Lord of the Realm to agree to summon back the souls of those doctors from the Medical Bureau who were killed by the former City God. Although their souls have been scattered, some of them have been gathered at the Memorial Stele. Unfortunately, they are not complete and are mentally impaired. I often treat them while they are in the stele. If they can help me, firstly, they can be reintegrated into the Medical Bureau of the City God to assist me, and secondly, it will be beneficial to organize the medical prescriptions."

"As for passing on my skills to disciples, how many doctors are there in the city now? Can you send me a list? I will teach them some in my dreams tonight. We, being ghosts and gods, cannot take on apprentices, but they can. I will definitely ensure that they graduate with their medical skills and solve the needs of the people."

(End of this chapter)