Daily Intelligence: From Water Snake to Jinghe Dragon King

Chapter 164 The Alchemy Reverses the Innate, the Goose-Eating Man-Cackling Demon Lord
Jiang Ziya was appointed as an envoy of gods on behalf of Heaven, while I was appointed independently. In any case, I am more powerful than Jiang Ziya.
Moreover, the gods appointed by Jiang Taigong were subject to the Investiture of the Gods and were driven by the Heavenly Court. By analogy, wouldn't the gods appointed by him also be under his control and driven?

The Investiture of the Gods, the Heavenly Emperor, a great calamity on earth, the Investiture of the Gods begins again.
Liu Qing's heart pounded, and he dared not think any further, lest it corrupt his Dao heart.

Suppressing his ambition, Liu Qing took a deep breath to calm himself, and looked at the more than ten thousand taels of incense money in front of him.

Finally, I made up my mind to temporarily refrain from absorbing the incense divinity contained within it!
Looking again at the Golden Touch Divine Power, Liu Qing's lips curled into an inscrutable smile. Since he had decided not to absorb the incense money for now, he would use it as capital.

Go to the sacrificial altar and experience a thrill.

As for Explanation 2, it is actually a supplement to Explanation 1. Since absorbing the divinity of incense offerings can evolve into new divine positions and even deify others,
Therefore, it would be impossible to cultivate the supernatural power of incense offerings again; after all, Liu Qing couldn't have all the benefits.
The original benefit of nurturing supernatural powers has been transformed into the function of 'deifying others'.

He sent the incense god clone he had secretly summoned back to the snake pool to guard it.

Liu Qing himself looked at the more than ten thousand taels of incense money in front of him and reached out to tap it.

The supernatural power of incense can transform incense offerings into gold, a power that can conjure up hundreds of taels of silver at a time. At a lesser level, it can transform thousands of taels at a time, and at a greater level, it can transform tens of thousands of taels at a time.
Following this logic, it is estimated that at its peak, it can transform 100,000 taels of silver at once. The growth rate of this supernatural power, in essence, remains unchanged; it still transforms incense silver into power gold.

At most, there is some improvement in speed and efficiency, saving some time in the process, but the essential mystery remains unchanged.

With a flick of his finger, the Alchemy power was activated, and the hundred taels of incense silver before him instantly transformed, changing from silvery-white to brilliant gold, ultimately yielding one tael of power gold.
The ratio of one to one hundred was the key to Liu Qing's plan to go to the Dharma Realm to collect money.

After the gold inlay, Liu Qing attempted the most important change: whether the incense silver, after being inlaid with gold into the power gold, contained any divine authority.

Liu Qing opened his mouth and inhaled, and wisps of divine authority were swallowed, while the value in the 'Divinity of Authority' column increased by 0.1%.
Liu Qing finally felt relieved.

After the incense, silver, and gold were added to the power and authority, not only did their appearance change, but their essence also changed, just as described.
Once the gold-making technique is used, it reverses the acquired things like incense and silver into the innate power of gold.

In this way, he wouldn't be discovered, and he wouldn't worry about absorbing counterfeit power gold. After verification, Liu Qing then activated his alchemy ability.
He converted all of the more than 10,000 taels of incense money into power gold, and obtained a total of 130 taels of power gold.

Liu Qing was extremely excited as he ran his hand over the 130 taels of gold representing power and swallowed it into his mouth.

This supernatural power is extraordinary; it can transform ordinary acquired items like incense and offerings into innate power gold. In this way, Liu Qing will have a stable source of power gold.
As long as the offerings of incense and silver continue, power gold will be continuously produced. This gold can be absorbed to increase one's divine power and evolve divine authority, thus ensuring a worry-free path to divine authority.
It can also be used by Hong Gu and the others. Since they've come with me, they can't always go back to their parents' house to get money.

As a man, I have to be able to support them.

If we calculate it this way, the shrimp merchants bring over ten thousand incense coins each month, which are converted into over one hundred power coins.
It seems that it won't be until next year that divine authority and office will evolve, which is still too slow. Besides, relying solely on the salt trade revenue sharing can only support ourselves at best, and cannot take care of Hong Gu and the others.

This time, Liu Qing plans to go to the Dharma Realm to make a big profit.

I remember when they were offering sacrifices at the Dharma Realm, Liu Qing took out fifty taels of gold for authority, which he eventually exchanged for twenty-five thousand taels of silver for incense offerings—an exchange rate of one to five hundred.

Under the power of alchemy, the ratio of gold for authority to silver for incense offerings is one to one hundred, while within the realm of sacrificial rites, the ratio is one to five hundred.
With such a huge difference between the two sides, Liu Qing would not be able to forgive himself if he didn't profit from the exchange rate difference.

Liu Qing was extremely anxious because he only had the capital today.

Having made up his mind, Liu Qing was about to call upon Hong Gu and the Water-Avoiding Golden-Eyed Beast Shui'er to go together, but unexpectedly...
On the other side of the Incense God's clone, a sudden change occurred, and Liu Qing quickly shifted all his attention to the Incense God's clone.

The Ninth-Rank Snake Pool River God, as Liu Qing's incense offering avatar, possesses independent thought and can handle matters on his own in daily life. However, he retains memories that can be viewed by the true body.

At the same time, if necessary, one can also summon the original body through contact. Although the two are separate entities, they are actually one.

After Liu Qing's soul was divided and merged with the incense offerings, he achieved the ninth-rank position of Snake Pool River God. His jurisdiction expanded from the original Snake Pool and Xiaolugou waterway to the north and south, extending approximately twenty li further.

This range represents the maximum limit that Liu Qing's clone can sense. Leaving aside the water veins, this newly expanded twenty-mile north-south area...
It includes the cliff north of Snake Pool, part of the forest north of Xiaolugou, and the clan land belonging to the Li family to the south.

The river god can harmonize wind and rain, adapt to the four seasons, control floods, alleviate droughts, and fulfill the wishes of almost all deities.

A large white goose, about ten feet tall and three feet long from head to tail, led a herd of white geese of various sizes, surrounding the tenant farmers who were working in the Li family's fields.

They all walked with their toes pointing outwards, swaying and squawking, their eyes red, seemingly harboring great hatred for humans.

"I am the Demon Lord Gaga, the master of this land. You thieves, you have trespassed into my territory without my permission, you all deserve to die!"

The largest white goose, who called himself the "Clucking Demon Lord," had barely finished speaking when it opened its massive jaws and lunged at an old man.

The old man instinctively swung his hoe, but with a clang, the hoe was snapped in two by the goose-like demon king's hard beak.
The goose's beak was flat, orange, and as hard as iron, about the size of a palm. After pecking the hoe out of the old man's hand, its momentum didn't wane; it pecked at the old man's arm with lightning speed.

With a snap, the old man's arm bone was immediately broken by the pecking. The quacking demon king swung his head, ripped off the arm, held it in his mouth, and swallowed it.

After swallowing the old man's severed arm, the bloodlust in the eyes of the Gaga Demon Lord intensified: "You used to eat me, today I'll eat you too, Gaga, how satisfying!"

Originally, seeing the geese talking and their enormous size, even though I knew they were demons, I didn't feel the same fear towards geese—domestic fowl I was used to—as I did towards tigers, leopards, bears, and wolves, due to centuries of raising them.

But when the old man's arm was pecked off and swallowed, and blood gushed out, the surrounding tenant farmers felt fear and were all terrified.

Some timid women and children were so frightened that they collapsed to the ground, kneeling in the field, clasping their hands together in prayer: "Grandpa River God, the monster wants to eat us! Please come and save us! Waaah!"

When people are in danger, their subconscious cry for help might be to the river god, the mountain god, or the local earth god or city god; it's just something they say casually, without really knowing what they're doing.
This snake pool already has a river god!
When the Li family's tenant farmers cried for help, Liu Qing's incense-burning avatar, with its talisman trembling at its waist, sensed the farmers' plea and urged its avatar to go and "fulfill their wishes and relieve their suffering." After a moment's thought, the incense-burning avatar relayed the message to its main body, who immediately descended and rushed to the scene.

Regardless, these people were tenant farmers of the Li family. For Li Shimin's sake, they couldn't be allowed to be eaten by monsters.

Most importantly, this scoundrel actually claims this place as its territory, so what am I, Master Liu?
A goose that came out of nowhere dares to steal your master Liu's territory; it's as if it's destined to be missing an iron pot!

Liu Qing's incense-burning clone arrived.

After sensing the aura of the flock of geese, I noticed that the leader, the Gagga Demon Lord, had the cultivation level of the early stage of the Refining Emptiness and Merging with the Dao. The other geese, numbering one or two hundred, had different cultivation levels. Some were refining essence into qi, some were refining qi into spirit, and most were ordinary geese that had not yet awakened their spirit and transformed into demons.

A new dynasty was about to rise in the human world, and calamities were about to break out. The evil demons that had been hiding in the shadows sensed the changes in the world and began to wreak havoc.

"You wicked beasts! I am the river god of this land! How dare you harm mortals! Today I will not let you go!"

Liu Qing's clone emanated divine power and was surrounded by incense smoke. Through these, one could see that he was wearing the official robes of the River God and had a divine token hanging at his waist, displaying divine majesty and a magnificent aura.

The Li family's tenant farmers were overjoyed to see that there was indeed a divine response. They all knelt down and bowed to Liu Qing in gratitude.

With sincere worship, wisps of incense-infused divine power began to emerge on Liu Qing's clone. If Liu Qing wished, he could transform this newly generated incense-infused divine power into incense silver at this moment.

As expected, those who wish to help others in distress will receive offerings of incense. However, since the Heavenly Court and the mortal realm are now almost completely separated, those who wish to help others in distress will not receive rewards from the Heavenly Court.
But the incense offerings alone are enough to make up for it, so it's not like the work was for nothing.

Liu Qing's clone suddenly appeared, startling the cackled demon lord. The group of white goose demons behind him also retreated in fear.

Before transforming into a demon, all things in the world had their natural enemies, and the number and variety of them were numerous and varied. However, after transforming into a demon, all monsters only have one natural enemy: the gods.

The GaGaga Demon Lord couldn't help but cackle, its small eyes looking at Liu Qing's clone, its ferocity and fear shifting, clearly showing its inner conflict.

Liu Qing has come in an avatar this time; his true body's bloodline talent and authority abilities are unavailable, only his incense offering abilities are usable.

However, the incense-related supernatural powers that were developed—namely, incense transfer, strength, yin energy manipulation, gold-making, and soul division—are all auxiliary abilities, lacking in offensive capabilities.
Therefore, the Gaga Demon Lord hesitated, and Liu Qing's clone was also uneasy. He could only pretend to be calm and planned to scare them away first, and then his main body would come and kill them one by one.

At this moment, Liu Qing's true form had already unfurled its fiery wings from Da Wan Lake and was rushing towards this place with all its might.

Although the two places are close, it still takes time. Liu Qing's clone planned to intimidate the ghoul demon king first, but unexpectedly, a gust of wind blew past, bringing the bloody smell from the old man's severed arm into its nostrils.
Having previously consumed human flesh, and now stimulated by the stench of human blood, the Gaga Demon Lord's killing intent surged instantly. His eyes, once again unchanging, now revealed nothing but savagery and a craving for human flesh.

"Hehe, how many of my kind have these thieves eaten? My eating them today is just karma."

"So what if you're the River God? You're just a mere ninth-rank cultivator with a green skin. I've also achieved the Void Refinement and Dao Integration stage, so I'm not afraid of you!"

"quack!--"

With a sharp cry, the cawing demon lord's massive beak lashed out, moving with lightning speed. Liu Qing's clone hastily used his divine token to block the goose's beak, but after a clang of metal on metal,

The divine token flew back, flicked its beak, and pecked at the goose again. This time, Liu Qing had no way to deal with it, so he had to activate his supernatural power, increasing his strength by two thousand jin, clench his fist, and block the goose's beak.

With a thud, the goose's beak was narrowly blocked, while the incense-infused divine power in Liu Qing's fist trembled. The two were evenly matched, neither able to gain the upper hand.
After Liu Qing assumed the divine role and achieved godhood, his shortcomings were magnified infinitely, namely, his lack of powerful supernatural abilities and spells to defeat enemies.
It seems I need to improve the combat power of my incense clones as soon as possible. Due to the short time available, the Eastern Sea magic manuals taught by Hong Gu...
The clone has not yet fully comprehended the techniques and only knows some minor spells with limited power, such as water arrows, water shields, and water balls, which have little effect on the GaGa Demon Lord.

After some time, once Liu Qing has thoroughly mastered some of the powerful spells within the East Sea's collection, defeating this Gagga Demon Lord will be a piece of cake.
After all, Liu Qing's incense clone also had the cultivation of the early stage of the Divine Power Realm, which was much higher than the Void Refining and Dao Integration Realm of the Gaga Demon Lord.

The two sides were evenly matched, and it would be difficult to determine a winner in a short time. Seeing this, the Gaga Demon Lord ordered: "My children, kill all these thieves for me, including the unawakened juniors of the Creation Clan!"

Liu Qing's clone was immediately anxious, but despite his best efforts, he was still entangled by the Ga Ga Demon Lord and could not break free. When the other goose demons saw this, their fear lessened, and they all rushed towards the tenant farmer, pecking at him repeatedly with their beaks.

The one-armed old man died first, his chest pecked open by a goose demon, who tore off his heart and liver and swallowed them. Under the influence of the Yin-Yang magic...

The old man's soul emerged from the corpse, standing there bewildered. Just then, the goose demon that had pecked open his chest...

With a honking sound, it summoned the younger geese in the flock who had not yet awakened their spirits. The geese pecked at the old man's soul and fed it to the younger white goose.

The white goose instinctively made a swallowing motion, and the next instant, its eyes reddened, no longer cloudy, but bright and alert.
Upon seeing this, Liu Qing's clone was horrified, but after a moment's thought, he understood the key point.

Birds, beasts, fish, and insects are born with only two souls and four spirits, their souls and spirits incomplete, thus their intelligence is obscured. Through a fortunate encounter, an additional soul and three spirits develop within their bodies; this process is called spiritual awakening.
But that depends on luck and destiny; even among 100,000 birds, beasts, insects, and fish, it's rare for even one to awaken its spirit and transform into a demon.

However, if one takes a shortcut, using the soul of a recently deceased person to devour and replenish one's own deficiencies, one can instantly awaken one's spirit. This shortcut is the same principle as when Liu Qing's soul traveled through the water snake.

As expected, a great calamity struck the human world, and all sorts of demonic and monster magic began to appear.

Another woman had her throat pecked to pieces, her eyes staring blankly at the sky, gradually losing her life. Her soul emerged from her corpse and was fed to the younger members of her tribe by the goose demon waiting nearby.

"Grandpa River God, please, please kill these monsters quickly and save us!"

(End of this chapter)