Daily Intelligence: From Water Snake to Jinghe Dragon King

Chapter 156 Six Sacrifices to Heaven and Earth to Beg for Godhood, Wronged Souls Block the Way and Offer Assistance

The sound of the wine jar shattering instantly silenced the group of river and mountain demons who were playing rock-paper-scissors.

The demons followed the gaze and saw that Yuan Datou was already climbing up the nine-zhang altar.

Upon instantly understanding, all the demons widened their eyes, held their breath, and eagerly awaited what was about to happen.

Liu Qing pretended to wake up, slowly opened her eyes, and looked at Hong Gu while lying in her arms.

Yuan Datou walked in front, followed by Lady Gu carrying the six sacrificial offerings. For ordinary sacrifices, three offerings were sufficient.
But today is a day for offering sacrifices to Heaven and begging for blessings, which requires six kinds of sacrificial animals: pig, cow, sheep, fish, pheasant, and fruit, five pungent and one vegetarian, which shows Yuan Datou's sincerity.

Lady Gu bowed and stepped forward, placing the offerings on the altar before hurriedly stepping down. Yuan Datou wiped his mouth.
He took out what was said to be a fine wine from the Western Regions, laid out six expensive glass bowls in a row, and poured the wine into them one by one.

The demons remained silent, watching Yuan Datou's actions.

After Yuan Datou picked up a bowl of wine, all the demons stood up and raised their clam-shell wine bowls as well.

"Thanks to the blessings of Heaven, we have achieved what we have today. The first cup is offered to Heaven!"

Yuan Datou held the wine cup above his head with both hands, facing the eastern night sky, and bowed deeply.

Below the stage, a group of mountain demons and river demons followed suit, raising their wine bowls and bowing to the heavens.

"Thanks to the blessings of Houtu, we are here today. The second cup is offered to the earth!"

After the demons shouted "Respectfully!", they kowtowed in reverence.

".Respect the moon!——"

".Respect the sun!——"

"Respect the stars!—"

Finally, Yuan Datou raised his forehead, which was red from kowtowing, and picked up the last bowl of wine: "This bowl is for myself, and for you all!"

"From this day forward, all karmic ties between me, Yuan Datou, and you all are severed. Come, brothers, let's drink!"

The demons below the stage, regardless of whether they had previous grudges, hatreds, or entanglements, all raised their wine bowls and gulped down their drinks.
With a smashed wine bowl, all grudges vanished instantly, and cause and effect ceased to exist.

This is the difference between demons and mortals, and between gods and demons.

The demons were at a loss for words to describe their feelings at this moment. They were reluctant to part with Yuan Datou after he became a god, and they were also envious of Yuan Datou's upcoming ascension to the Dao.

After the six sacrifices, Yuan Datou faced the demons, his gaze slowly sweeping over them before finally settling on Liu Qing's face. He smiled and said, "Brother, I'll be waiting for you up ahead. If you get tired of this Great Bay Lake, come find me, and we'll live a carefree and immortal life together!"

Liu Qing slowly rose and bowed to Yuan Datou, saying, "Brother, please go now. I will be back in a few days!"

With this confidence, Liu Qing had long awaited the vacancy of a divine position, just waiting for him to attain enlightenment.

Yuan Datou laughed heartily, no longer lingering, turned to face the eastern horizon, and spat out incense-like silver from his mouth.

In an instant, the millions of silver coins for incense flew out in a mighty torrent, transforming from beneath Yuan Datou's feet into a series of ladders leading straight to the heavens.

Yuan Datou revealed his true form as a grass tortoise, a full ten zhang in diameter. He slapped his fontanelle with his front paw, and his Yang spirit emerged, also in the shape of a grass tortoise.
With a squeal, it spread its four paws and began to climb the heavenly ladder made of incense and silver.

As they climbed, a little light began to bloom, and incense and divine power began to gather on Yuan Datou Yangshen, gradually increasing in number.

The demons dared not breathe loudly, their eyes wide open, not daring to miss a single detail. In particular, the several lords who had already reached the Yang God level but lacked enough incense money were watching even more closely.

Yuan Datou set an example for himself, so that when he asked for a divine title in the future, there would be no setbacks.

In the eastern sky, a faint divine light began to appear, piercing the darkness as if to welcome Yuan Datou.

Upon seeing Shenxi emerge, Yuan Datou was immediately filled with excitement. He kowtowed three times and respectfully proclaimed, "The grass turtle of the lake, having cultivated diligently for hundreds of years, has been willing to relieve suffering and nourish all people. It has committed no evil and has cleared its karmic debts in the mortal realm. Now, it relinquishes its physical body to return to its destiny, gathers incense and knocks on the gates of the gods, begging for Heaven's mercy to bestow upon it a divine position!"

Seeing Yuan Datou begging for a title so humbly, Liu Qing couldn't help but frown. Fortunately, he knew that in the future, whether it was for the continuation of his family line or for power, he would be the one to act, and he wouldn't need to beg like that.

Hong Gu frowned upon seeing this. Back when she was merging with the Dao, the old Dragon King almost snatched it from her by force, but he was not as humble as Yuan Da Tou. It seems that having a good background and connections really makes a difference.

After Yuan Datou pleaded, the divine light that flew in became even faster.

All the demons were happy for Yuan Datou, for perhaps in the next moment they would witness the river demon being deified.

But just then, a dark cloud appeared out of nowhere and blocked Yuan Datou's way.

Liu Qing sensed something was wrong and quickly used his Yin-Yang cultivation technique to look. He saw that the dark clouds had instantly changed their appearance.

What appeared in Liu Qing's eyes was no longer a dark cloud, but rather countless mutilated human souls, some missing limbs, others carrying severed heads, gathered into a malevolent cloud, emanating a dense aura of slaughter. Within the malevolent cloud, a soul with only half a head remained, cradling half a child in its arms, angrily roaring towards the sky:
"We are starving and freezing, and we beg for divine favor, but the gods remain silent; we are besieged by weapons, and we pray to heaven for help, but there is still no response!"

Now we common folk have become wandering ghosts, ignored by the land gods, river gods, city gods, and the underworld!

I just want to ask Heaven, if you ignore us when we need you, what's the point of having gods?

Countless remnant souls, their eyes red and tears of blood streaming down their faces, suddenly brandished their hoes and pitchforks: "Since gods are useless, why bother becoming gods?"

A question, a tearful accusation, and a long-suppressed anger soared to the heavens.

There was no answer from the heavens, only a dark and silent void. The spirits of those who had died amidst the chaos of war and bandits were even more enraged upon seeing this. They brandished hoes and pitchforks, their murderous intent relentless, determined to demand justice.

The divine spirit that came to guide Yuan Datou stopped, hesitating as if in fear.

Yuan Datou climbed the heavenly ladder, waiting for the Yang God to merge with the Dao, but was blocked below. Faced with a series of questions, the incense and divine power that had appeared began to dissipate.

Outside the ominous clouds where countless remnant souls gathered, a black and red color appeared, representing the murderous aura emanating from the human world.

In the eastern night sky, Venus briefly shone.

The hesitant Shenxi seemed to have found a backer. With a jolt, she raised her head high and charged towards the remnant soul cloud like a monstrous python.

Yuan Datou let out a frustrated roar, echoing Shen Xi, and pounced on him from behind.

A fierce roar erupted from the murderous aura, ominous clouds churned, and remnant souls brandished farm tools, shouting repeatedly, "You are not allowed to become a god! You are not allowed to become a god!—"

Several pitchforks pulled back Yuan Datou, and countless hoes chopped off Shenxi. At this moment, a fierce conflict broke out between the Heavenly Way and the Human Way.

Shenxi retreated, covered in wounds. Yuan Datou faced the divine path, which was so close yet seemed as if separated by mountains and seas. His angry and frustrated roars echoed through the sky.

I'm truly impressed. I, Yuan Datou, have cultivated Taoism for so long and have never committed any evil deeds. I have always been willing to help those in need, supporting the villagers on the banks of the Water Palace and ensuring good weather and abundant harvests in this region.
Why do you block my way now that I have become a god?

You died at the hands of bandits, your prayers to the gods were useless, but I, Yuan Datou, am not a bandit, and you haven't come to me for help.
Why are you coming to me instead of looking for the mastermind and culprit?
The river demons, lacking any eye-related abilities, couldn't see what was happening in the sky. They only heard Yuan Datou's frustrated roar and looked on with confusion.
Liu Qing, with his Yin-Piercing Eye Technique, could see clearly, and Hong Gu, having reached the seventh rank of Dao Integration, could also see. The couple exchanged a glance, both with solemn expressions.

“If we wait any longer, the divine light will be exhausted, and Yuan Datou’s request for a divine position will completely fail.”

“Yuan Datou took good care of me when I was weak and I am grateful. The key is that if it becomes a god, I can rely on it in the future. Sister, I want to help it.”

Hong Gu recalled the old Dragon King's actions when she attained the Dao, and instantly had an idea.

She unleashed a burst of divine power, drawing upon the golden authority she had gifted to Yuan Datou. Instantly, hundreds of taels of this golden authority transformed into a golden flame and soared into the sky.

Golden flames landed on Yuan Datou, and Liu Qing hurriedly shouted, "Don't delay, quickly break through the remnant souls of the evil cloud!"

Without time to think, Yuan Datou, following Liu Qing's reminder, roared and charged forward.

Then the golden flames ignited and surged into the remnant souls amidst the evil clouds. Countless remnant souls brandished hoes and pitchforks to attack, but as soon as they approached the golden flames, they were ignited.

The remnant souls screamed as they were burned by the golden flames, the dense malevolent aura surrounding their bodies instantly incinerated, turning into tiny specks of spiritual light that flew towards Hong Gu.
Hong Gu seemed to understand, and swallowed the original spiritual light left after the remnant soul had burned away its evil aura, then placed it into the jade tablet for temporary storage.
When the opportunity arises, they will be sent to the underworld one by one for reincarnation, with the hope that they will not be born into a chaotic world in their next life.

The remnant souls, like twigs, were burned by the golden flames, and the flames spread like wildfire, igniting everything in the blink of an eye.

Their malevolent energy was burned away, leaving only their original spirituality, and they were temporarily placed in jade tablets one by one.

The malevolent cloud formed by countless remnant souls began to dissipate rapidly, and the boundless killing aura it had created returned to clarity.

Venus disappeared, and Shenxi returned. Yuan Datou turned and kowtowed three times to Liu Qinghonggu, then pounced on Shenxi.
Shenxi was swallowed into her mouth.

The incense's divine power, which was about to dissipate, instantly gathered together and became extremely concentrated.

Yuan Datou closed his eyes tightly, allowing Shenxi to alter his soul body until his entire soul body was permeated by the divine power of incense, and his Yang spirit soul body completely transformed into the body of incense.

Yuan Datou was finally deified.

That ray of divine light transformed once more, turning into a token that hovered in front of Yuan Datou.

[Seventh-Rank True God, General Fubo of the Jing River]

After hundreds of years of arduous cultivation, Yuan Datou finally achieved his wish and was granted the position of a seventh-rank incense god, with the title of "General Fubo of the Jing River".

Hong Gu explained to Liu Qing in a low voice: "The path of the incense gods is divided into two paths: civil and military. The water gods who govern a pool, a river, or a lake are civil gods, while the gods who are responsible for calming the seas and rivers, pacifying the waters, and conquering evil gods and demons are military gods."

Liu Qing suddenly realized that the 'Ninth-Rank Snake Pool River God' within his Yin Spirit was of the Civil category, while General Fubo, Yuan Datou, was of the Military category.

(End of this chapter)