Daily Intelligence: From Water Snake to Jinghe Dragon King

Chapter 196 The Judge Gifts a Century's Savings, the City God Angered by Liu Qing's Chaos in the Sui Dynasty

Liu Qing was a little curious. Li Hu, the judge, held a high position and great power in the City God's realm. Why did he insist that she take two female ghosts out with him? Could it be that with his power, he couldn't protect two mere female ghosts?
Upon reflection, he seemed to understand that the only person a sixth-rank civil judge could be wary of was the fifth-rank City God.

"Senior, this is my first time visiting the City God's realm. I am very curious about the City God. Could you please enlighten me?"

"Chang'an is an ancient capital city, and the city god of this city is a fifth-rank official, which is not something that an ordinary person can hold."

"Therefore, the City God of Chang'an was also a prominent figure in his lifetime. He was Yang Zhen, the founder of the Yang family and one of the Eight Pillars of State of Western Wei, just like me."

Liu Qing suddenly realized that this Yang Zhen was the great-grandfather of Emperor Yang Guang of the Sui Dynasty.

"As one of the Eight Pillars of State, this fellow was fortunate. His descendants were ambitious and turned his family into a country, establishing the Sui Dynasty. He was posthumously honored as the City God of Chang'an."

"My Li family descendants, though they are quite capable, are not as good as the Yang family, which has caused me to be overshadowed by that old devil Yang."

Li Hu, the civil judge, waved his hand and said, "I know what you're worried about. Don't worry, although my official rank is not as high as Yang Laogui's, he wouldn't dare to offend me easily. He's just protecting his own juniors. He still has that much face to give."

Subsequently, Judge Li Hu asked Liu Qing why he had come to the City God's realm. Liu Qing explained that he had accompanied Yuan Datou to recruit ghost soldiers.

Upon hearing this, Judge Li Hu frowned: "Recruiting ghost soldiers? I advise you to give up this idea."

"Recruiting ghost soldiers requires reporting and application, and it needs to be personally approved by that old ghost Yang. When you recruit them within Xuanjian City, you will definitely fall into old ghost Yang's eyes."

Your companion is fine, but if Old Ghost Yang finds out about you, you'll definitely be in big trouble.

"Even I, a civil official, know about your assistance to the Li family. How could Old Ghost Yang, as the City God, not know?"

“He is the ancestor of the Yang family, protecting the Yang family’s empire. He must hate you for helping my Li family. Before, it was fine when you were outside, as he couldn’t leave the City God’s realm. But now that you’ve come to the City God’s realm, once he finds out, he will definitely cause you trouble.”

“That old ghost Yang is a fifth-rank city god. He receives a lot of incense offerings from all over the world and is blessed with the dynasty’s fortune. His cultivation has progressed rapidly. In just one or two hundred years, he has already reached the Three Flowers Realm. You are only at the Refining Void and Integrating Dao Realm. You are far inferior to him and are no match for him.”

At this point, Li Hu, the civil judge, said with some envy: "To transform one's home into a nation, to receive incense offerings from all under heaven, and to possess the dynasty's fortune—for a ghost or god like myself, this is a miraculous elixir that can cause my cultivation level to advance by leaps and bounds."

I remember back then, we were both at the Divine Power Realm, but now I'm only at the Five Qi Realm, while he has already awakened the Three Flowers at the Top of His Head, surpassing me by a whole major realm.

Liu Qing's eyes flashed.

Having transformed his family into a nation, receiving offerings and sacrifices from all under heaven, and with the dynasty's fortune bestowed upon him, Yang Zhen had already reached the Three Flowers Realm.
This was the first time Liu Qing had ever heard of someone with such profound cultivation.

Three Flower Realm!
In terms of cultivation alone, he surpasses Liu Qing by four major realms, from the Refinement of Emptiness to the Integration of Dao. Although Liu Qing was confident that his strength had increased several times after his seclusion, and he now possessed more than ten clones, along with a wealth of supernatural powers and spiritual treasures...

But even facing such a terrifying existence, one can't help but feel a chill.

Liu Qing was confident that he could crush opponents of the same realm in a one-on-one fight, defeat opponents across realms, and remain undefeated even across two realms. However, if he faced an enemy four realms higher than himself, he would have to stay as far away as possible.

In the eyes of the City God, the patriarch of the Yang family, his act of assisting Li Shimin in seizing the Yang family's throne was an heinous crime.
Once they discover themselves, they might kill.

I am no match for him now. The only thing to do now is to get away from this City God's realm immediately.

Liu Qing clasped his hands in a fist and said, "This junior will take his leave now, otherwise my life will be in danger."

If you can't beat someone, just say so. There's no need to worry about saving face. Seeing Liu Qing's self-awareness, Li Hu, the civil judge, admired him even more.

"A true man knows when to yield and when to stand firm; I have not failed to value you."

"However, that old ghost Yang can't care about you right now, so don't worry, have a drink with me first."

Judge Li Hu smiled mysteriously, waved his hand to summon a pot of Drunken Soul Spring wine, and with his other hand, he swept the ground, instantly transforming the soil into a set of tables and chairs. In the blink of an eye, the soil transformed into jade.
This mysterious and strange magic made Liu Qing secretly startled.

Li Hu, the judge, stated that he was only at the Five Qi Realm and had not felt anything before. It was truly astonishing that he could so easily conjure tables and chairs and that his divine power could change the nature of objects.

"Young Daoist, once you reach the Five Qi Realm, with the Five Elements circulating and the Five Qi rotating within your body, you too can be like me." Liu Qing drank a cup of wine, unable to contain his surprise and doubt, and asked, "Senior, you said that the City God is temporarily unable to attend to me, but I wonder what has delayed him?"

Li Hu, the judge, chuckled, a hint of disdain in his expression: "That old ghost Yang is busy sending messages in dreams right now. During the day, the pilgrims who come to offer incense in the city all see that the Sui Dynasty is about to collapse and want to ask the City God to point out a way to abandon the Yang family and join the righteous army."

"Hehe, haha, they've really gone so far as to ask the King of Hell for longevity. They're courting death. Old Ghost Yang is furious. So, he's been sending messages in people's dreams at night, trying to scare the worshippers away from their thoughts of defecting to the enemy and to continue protecting the Yang family's empire."

Upon hearing this, Liu Qing was both amused and exasperated.

These powerful and influential people in Chang'an did such a stupid thing, asking the patriarch of the Yang family to tell them which anti-Yang rebel army to join. What is this if not stupidity?
No wonder the City God Yang Zhen was furious. He prayed during the day and then visited the City God's dreams at night to harass him. He couldn't tolerate it for even a day; anyone in his shoes would probably have.

You eat and drink the food of the Yang family, but now that the Yang family's empire is in danger, you parasites don't think about protecting the Yang family's empire, but instead want to join the rebels?
What's even more infuriating is that you actually asked me, the patriarch of the Yang family, to give you guidance?
I'll give you pointers my foot! I'll scare you to death in your dreams tonight, you bunch of lousy bastards.

After laughing, Liu Qing felt relieved. The City God was busy sending messages in his dreams to intimidate him and couldn't take care of him for the time being. He was safe, so he could stay a little longer and have a few drinks with the City God before leaving.

"Old Ghost Yang just can't see the big picture. It's obvious that the Yang family's empire is about to collapse, but he's still stubbornly holding on. All his efforts will probably be in vain in the end."

Liu Qing agreed with this, and as it turned out, the Yang family ultimately perished after three generations.

After taking a sip of wine, Liu Qing exhaled a comfortable breath of alcohol, and his inner spirit seemed to grow stronger again.

"Does this wine have nourishing effects on you?"

Liu Qing nodded, and Li Hu, the civil judge, didn't ask any further questions. Seeing Liu Qing nod, he simply waved his hand, and instantly, a hidden space appeared where the two were sitting.

Judge Li Hu waved his hand, and in the blink of an eye, hundreds of jars of Drunken Soul Spring wine flew out from the cave.

"Since this wine is useful to you, I will give you all the wine I have been hoarding for many years."

As a gift from an elder, Liu Qing dared not refuse. With a smile, he stored nearly ten thousand jars of Drunken Soul Spring wine into his storage space. He had tried to buy more at the taverns in the city, but unfortunately, there were purchase limits, which infuriated him.
Unexpectedly, things took an unexpected turn; Li Hu, the judge, had so many, and generously gave them all to him.
Hua Liuqing didn't offer a single tael of incense silver; otherwise, a single jar of Drunken Soul Spring would cost fifty taels of incense silver. If we were to buy all these nearly ten thousand jars of Drunken Soul Spring, wouldn't it cost four or five hundred thousand taels of incense silver?
This means that Liu Qing indirectly gained a huge sum of money, amounting to four or five hundred thousand taels of silver for incense offerings.

Li Hu, the judge, was a great cultivator at the Five Qi Realm. He had long since established his Incense Realm, and now it was only a few steps away from evolving into a true grotto-heaven.

Therefore, the area inside was extremely large. Liu Qing had only glanced at it just now and saw that so many jars of Drunken Soul Spring wine only occupied a small corner of it.
Elsewhere, the grounds were piled high with all sorts of yin-based medicinal herbs and spiritual materials from the City God's realm and even the underworld, making Liu Qing extremely envious.

Seeing this, Judge Li Hu chuckled and waved his hand. Instantly, countless incense sticks, silver incense, and medicinal herbs poured out and floated in front of Liu Qing.

"You address Shimin as your brother, which makes you a close junior to me. As an elder, how could I not offer you a gift when we meet for the first time?"

"These medicinal herbs and spiritual materials are all accumulated by me over the past one or two hundred years. If you see anything you like, just take it. Don't be polite with me."

Liu Qing was overjoyed.

Having already accepted the gift from an elder, I dared not refuse. Without further ado, I widened my eyes and began sifting through the large pile of Yin-Yang medicinal herbs and spiritual materials.
Soon, he selected the alchemy and weapon-refining materials he needed, and even more so, various yin herbs that could nourish the spirit.

The Yin medicine produced within the City God's realm is countless times more potent than the vegetables, fish, and meat Liu Qing himself acquired from within the realm.
With these Yin medicines, Liu Qing roughly estimated that he could create dozens or even hundreds more clones of himself.
In addition, the yin herbs suitable for alchemy, as well as the spiritual materials for weapon forging, also allowed Liu Qing to refine several types of third- and fourth-grade pills.

And he crafted dozens of low-grade, mid-grade, and high-grade magical artifacts.

Since yin medicines can be used to refine elixirs, spiritual materials from the underworld can naturally be used to forge magical artifacts. Moreover, the magical artifacts forged from these artifacts will further amplify the ability to perceive ghosts and spirits.
With these magical artifacts crafted from the spiritual materials of the underworld, even Xia Kexing, the weakest among Liu Qing's subordinates, dared to confront a powerful incense deity at the Divine Power Realm.

As for the outcome, it's estimated that Xia Kexing will lose, since that guy is the least diligent in his cultivation.

After Liu Qing had made her selections, she expressed her gratitude. Li Hu, the civil official, waved his hand and said that since they were like family, there was no need to thank him for a small gift. He said it was not polite.

Liu Qing knew that Li Hu, the judge, was trying to win him over on behalf of the Li family, and also as a way of thanking him.

Now that the Yang family has lost its power, the whole world is vying for it. The Li family naturally also wants to transform their family into a state. However, facing numerous competitors, how can the Li family stand out and ultimately succeed in the struggle for power?

Therefore, it was necessary to win over all available forces. Liu Qing, the river god of Dawan Lake and the lord of thousands of river demons under his command, was naturally among those being courted.
(End of this chapter)