Daily Intelligence: From Water Snake to Jinghe Dragon King

Chapter 162 Incense Offerings and Top-Grade Earthly Treasures, Dragon Boat Festival Incarnation and Godhood

The sword intent suddenly flew out, slaying the Black Fox Mountain God, and then flew back into Liu Qing's Yin Spirit. With each in-and-out motion, it seemed to solidify considerably.

Chang Hao, a disciple of the Jie Sect, had never heard of anyone being skilled in swordsmanship. How could this sword intent be so terrifying?

Hong Gu retrieved her lost magical treasure, and seeing her husband unleash a sword intent that annihilated the eighth-rank mountain god, her eyes shone with admiration.

But they didn't bother to get to the bottom of it; the more capable the young man was, the better. As for how capable he was, why bother asking?

Even those around us are not allowed to have their own opportunities and good fortune?
The two women helped each other down the mountain. Liu Qing and Hong Gu had inexplicably fought, and feeling rather bored, they prepared to go down the mountain.

Just then, the intelligence box emitted a golden light.

Liu Qing's eyes lit up, and she quickly opened it.

[Today's intelligence, gold grade: Beneath the statue of the Black Cloud Mountain God, grows a ginseng. After a hundred years of incense offerings, it has transformed into a top-grade earth treasure, the Incense Ginseng. Its function is to nourish the soul. Although it is only top-grade, its miraculous properties are no less than those of ordinary top-grade earth treasures.]

Heaven and earth possess extraordinary beauty; what is in the water is called river treasure, what is in the mountains is called earthly treasure, and what is in the sky is called heavenly spirit.

This precious ginseng, though of superior quality, is comparable to the finest grade. Its function is to nourish the soul, making it exactly what Liu Qing desperately needs.

After swallowing the incense ginseng, Liu Qing had a premonition that the two Yin spirits within his body might be able to completely transform from Yin to Yang, becoming Yang spirits, and then unite with the Dao and be conferred as gods.

Liu Qing happily stepped forward, waving away the shattered soil from the statue. Sure enough, beneath the statue's base, she discovered a ginseng plant tenaciously growing in a crevice.
The ginseng's stems and leaves twisted like gnarled dragons, climbing upwards along cracks in the ground, intending to absorb sunlight and grow strong.

Unexpectedly, the area above was blocked by the statue of a deity, preventing it from receiving the essence of the sun and moon. However, by a twist of fate, it ended up with the mountain god.
The offerings from woodcutters, herbalists, and passing merchants who came into the mountains were distributed among the incense offerings. Over the centuries, by chance and destiny, the land has become a treasure.

Its stems and leaves were slender and curved, not green, but rather dark gray, as were the roots. Liu Qing carefully dug it out.

Instantly, I smelled a rich aroma of incense.

Before she could even ask a question, Hong Gu waved her hand and said, "I don't want it. This ginseng looks weird, and I don't like it."

Knowing that Hong Gu was being accommodating, and that Liu Qing truly needed the item, he didn't bother with further politeness and swallowed it whole, allowing his Elephant-Swallowing talent to refine its medicinal power.

As the process of refining occurred, the incense smoke was removed, leaving only the original, miraculous effects, which then acted upon the two Yin spirits.
The two Yin spirits breathed in and out, absorbing the medicinal power of the incense ginseng as if swallowing and exhaling moonlight, and slowly began to transform.

The Water-Avoiding Golden-Eyed Beast, Shui'er, was sent back to Dawan Lake first, leaving her without a mount. Liu Qing suddenly smiled, picked up Hong Gu around the waist, and...

Instantly, two fiery wings appeared on the left and right sides of his body, as thin as cicada wings and fiery red in color. After flashing a few times, they carried Liu Qing into the air.

Hong Gu exclaimed in surprise, then smiled radiantly, burying her head in Liu Qing's chest, her silvery laughter echoing in the air.

With a flicker of fire, it covered a hundred miles in an instant. Enveloped in demonic mist, and beyond that mist, moisture, it appeared from afar like a dark cloud, hurtling towards Great Bay Lake at breakneck speed.

Back above Da Wan Lake, Liu Qing landed with his fiery wings flashing, but Hong Gu, reluctant to leave the warmth in her arms, grumbled and asked Liu Qing to fly one more time.
Liu Qing lowered her head, pouted, accepted the fee, and then flew back into the sky, flying back and forth along the waters of Dawan Lake several times before finally landing.

While flying in the sky, Liu Qing passed by the Snake Pool and stopped to look down several times. He saw Crab Left Hand leading a group of river monsters and hundreds of monkeys mining and boiling salt.

Although he was absent, they did not slack off and worked diligently as before. Liu Qing was very pleased and decided that letting Crab Left Hand take over the post of guarding Snake Pool was the right arrangement.

However, Snake Pool, as the place where he started his business, also bore the heavy responsibility of mining and salt production, making it a place of great importance.

With only a river demon at the late stage of Qi Refining on the left and a group of subordinates, mostly spirits, the crab's strength was rather weak.

Liu Qing was somewhat uneasy about having anyone else stationed there. He was more at ease using Crab Left Hand, but his cultivation level was rather low.
Sigh, my rise to power has been too rapid, and even my closest confidant, the river demon, can't keep up. It's really giving me a headache.

There's no good solution for the current situation, so let's just leave it at that for now.

Back at the small courtyard on the island in the lake, nothing major happened for several days. The only updates were reports from the catfish-bearded man on the daily market revenue, and the steward asking about the arrangements for the old master's former blackfish and bluefish guards.
In addition, the eighteen snakes and pythons of the Liu family reported on the growth of the planted spiritual grain seeds.

These five grain spirit seeds, thanks to the Eight Treasures Mud brought by Hong Gu from the Dragon Palace, are growing vigorously. In just ten or twenty days, they have already grown to over a foot tall, and the seedlings are sturdy.
I imagine that when it matures, it will surely yield a good harvest of spiritual grains.

With everything going smoothly, Master Liu felt relieved. After playing a few rounds of mahjong with Hong Gu and Bai She'er, he called out and plunged into Yangxin Garden.

The medicinal power of the top-grade earth treasure incense ginseng that I swallowed a few days ago has been fully absorbed. The two yin spirits in my body are now the same size as before they split, and the yin spirits are warmer and the coldness is almost gone. They are only one opportunity away from transforming into yang, and soon that opportunity will come.

The fifth day of the fifth lunar month is the Dragon Boat Festival, which is the time of year when the yang energy is at its peak.

Although Liu Qing, a monster from the Qin region, didn't eat zongzi (sticky rice dumplings), he still celebrated the Dragon Boat Festival, not to commemorate Qu Yuan, but to celebrate the suicide of an enemy minister who drowned himself in the river.

The culinary expert, Little Snail Girl, had originally prepared excellent noodles with minced meat sauce. However, after listening to the master and mistress explain how to make Qu Yuan steamed buns, she grasped the essence and made Qu Yuan steamed buns that were even more fragrant and delicious than the original Qu Yuan steamed buns made by Lady Gu.
With noodles and Qu Yuan steamed buns, the entire Liu family enjoyed a hearty and happy Dragon Boat Festival.

At noon, Liu Qing, who had just finished eating, felt listless and lethargic. He yawned, lay down under the shade of the mulberry tree Sang Qingjun, and drifted off to sleep.
From Sang Qingjun's body, the two thickest branches quietly stretched out, using their lush mulberry leaves as a sunshade to shield the master from the sun.

The sunlight may be blocked, but the yang energy between heaven and earth cannot be blocked.

Unbeknownst to Liu Qing, who was asleep, wisps of yang energy surged from all directions, gathered above him, and then entered through his fontanelle.

Mulberry trees are inherently yang wood, but Liu Qing lying under a mulberry tree to cool off is going in the opposite direction.

Although this action was completely contrary to the natural order, it inadvertently coincided with a stroke of luck, and wisps of yang energy began to seep into Liu Qing's fontanelle.
Upon arriving at the sacred site, they discovered two Yin spirits, but like a madman encountering a prostitute, they excitedly pounced on them.
The two Yin spirits trembled, relentlessly tormented by the Yang energy. With each repeated torment, the already limited Yin energy within them was gradually expelled.

As the yin energy is dispelled and yang energy flourishes, it increases until it reaches a certain peak.
Suddenly, a crimson light enveloped the entire Yin spirit, and its original form of black clothes and white face swiftly transformed into red clothes and a white face.

Although both had white faces, the former was a gloomy, pale white, while the latter had a rosy white complexion, the skin tone of a young, healthy person.

Thus, the Yang Spirit was formed.

As if sensing something, Liu Qing woke up from her deep sleep, stretched, and felt a sense of comfort from the inside out.

Upon examining the body, the demon saw two red-clad, white-faced yang spirits and immediately laughed.

For snakes, the Dragon Boat Festival is one of the four great dangers, but not only did they easily get through it by sleeping, they also received great good fortune.

The transformation of a Yin spirit into a Yang spirit saves a great deal of time. If the Yin spirit were allowed to slowly refine itself, it would likely take months or even years.
I just took a nap.

It should be noted that other river and mountain demons took anywhere from a few years to a dozen or even a hundred years to transform from Yin spirits to Yang spirits.

The transformation of Yin spirit into Yang spirit is the most difficult hurdle for the river demon before it is conferred the title of god.

Liu Qing nodded to Sang Qingjun, then walked briskly to Yangxin Garden, instructing Hong Gu not to disturb her unless it was urgent.

He sat cross-legged, and with a thought, one of his Yang spirits pounced on the divine position of the 'Ninth-Rank Snake Pool River God'.
No need for six sacrifices to Heaven and Earth, no need to pave the ladder to the heavens with incense and silver, no need to beg Heaven; just a gentle touch, and...
He then merged with the Dao.

The divine token floated above the head of the Yang God.

The next instant, divine light shone brightly.

Within the divine light, the faint scent of incense wafted out. As time swiftly passed, the scent grew stronger. The red robes of the manifested Yang God were the first to be enveloped in a layer of divine light, within which flickering specks of smoke seemed to indicate faceless beings performing sacrifices and prayers.

The red robes manifested by the Yang God transformed into a light blue round-necked official robe, with a badge on the chest bearing a snake pattern.
He wore a turban with outstretched ends and a turban with a lining, and a belt with a copper sash around his waist. This was the official attire of a ninth-rank official.
The divine token continued to function, and the divine light changed from the outside in. Liu Qingyang's spirit was infiltrated by the divine power and merged with the soul power. Incense also emanated from him. Only when he was completely transformed into a body of incense did the conferment of godhood end.

Today, Liu Qing wears a ninth-rank official robe, with a belt around his waist and a divine token hanging from his head, and is known as 'Ninth-Rank Snake Pool River God Liu'.

The Yang spirit merges with the Dao, and the incense is offered to confer divine status, thus concluding the event perfectly.

The Ninth-Rank Divine Willow Qing flew out from its true form and bowed respectfully, saying, "Greetings, Your Excellency."

"We are one, there is no need for formalities."

The ninth-rank Divine Willow Qing closed his eyes to sense it. After achieving the ninth rank through the Dao Integration Incense, he received the blessing of the incense's divine power, and his cultivation leaped to break through the Refinement of Void and Integration of Dao, reaching the early stage of the Divine Power Realm.

However, Liu Qing's true form remained at the early stage of the Refining Void and Integrating Dao realm, a full major realm higher. But since his true form was to pursue the path of divine authority, he was not in a hurry.
Looking at the Ninth-Rank Incense God Avatar, Liu Qing smiled smugly. From this day forward, he had a backer, and that backer was himself.

In this case, if you want to curry favor, you should curry favor with your own powerful backer.

After the avatar merges with the incense offerings, unlike Yuan Datou, the divine token does not impart divine spells. This is understandable.
Yuan Datou's divine authority token was granted by the Heavenly Court, so it naturally possessed divine magic, while Liu Qing's divine authority was self-evolved, so how could it possess divine magic?
(End of this chapter)