Daily Intelligence: From Water Snake to Jinghe Dragon King

Chapter 229 Promotion to Fifth Rank as the God of the Jing River, Splitting Oneself and Merging with the Dao to Plot for Power

Upon arriving at the Jing River, one sees that the original entrance to the temple where the Dharma Realm was worshipped, the former temple of Wei Xiaokuan from the previous dynasty, has been demolished.

Li Shimin sent people to rebuild a temple, which was the Jinghe River God Temple of the first incarnation.

Upon entering the temple, the statues inside shone brightly, and the first avatar appeared: "Greetings, Your Majesty—"

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

"Reporting to Your Excellency, the sacrificial realm is now completely under your control. What should we do next? Please advise us."

Liu Qing had already prepared a response, and said directly: "There are two points. First, you need to continue to maintain the order of the sacrificial realm, and on this basis, build the sacrificial realm into the largest trading market in the Jing and Wei River basins, and earn a continuous stream of wealth."

As one's divine rank increases, even with external advantages, the required incense money and authority gold become astronomical figures.

Speaking of the first clone, he is currently a sixth-rank river god of the Jing River. If he were to be promoted to the fifth rank, he would need ten million taels of incense money.

As for Liu Qing himself, he is currently an eighth-rank Zhenshui Duwei. If he wants to be promoted to the seventh rank, he needs 100,000 taels of power gold, which is equivalent to 10 million taels of incense money.

Although Liu Qing killed the deposed crown prince Yang Yong and other Sui Dynasty incense gods, and plotted to sacrifice to the Dharma realm, killing Benboerba, Baboerben, and Linggan Dawang, three powerful gods of the Five Qi Realm, he still reaped tens of millions of taels of incense silver.

However, these are ultimately baseless sources and cannot always be obtained through robbery. A continuous channel for acquiring incense offerings, power, and gold is needed.

The purpose of transforming the sacrificial site into the largest trading market in the Jing and Wei River basins was for this purpose.

The previous salt production at Snake Pool had reached a point where it could no longer meet Liu Qing's current needs, and the monthly profits were being distributed as welfare to the river monsters who worked tirelessly for him.

As for the clones achieving the position of River God, the incense silver produced by the daily sacrifices of believers can continue to increase, but at present the River God is in great need and lacks a systematic approach, so the incense silver produced is still too little to keep up with Liu Qing's consumption.

Thinking of this, Liu Qing looked at the divided spirit within his body. After this period of nurturing, as well as assisting him in cultivating the Nine Revolutions Profound Technique and the Upper Clarity Immortal Technique, he realized that the spirit had been nurtured and strengthened over time.

The 256 divided spirits within his body have all reached the perfect state of Yang spirit and are ready to unite with the incense offerings of the Dao.

Just as the first avatar took control of the sacrificial realm and officially settled in the Jing River, the river god system of the various branches under the jurisdiction of the Jing River was also completed.

Without hesitation, Liu Qing summoned the pre-evolved River God's Divine Position Tokens and merged his divided spirit with the Dao within his body.

[The Nine-Rank River God of Jade Pool in Dawang Lake pays homage to the Divine Lord.]

[The Ninth-Rank River God of the Hunshui River at Shilang Lake pays homage to the Divine Lord.]

[The Ninth-Rank River God of the Heima Canal of the Malian River pays homage to the Divine Lord.]

One by one, the river gods who had achieved Dao Integration greeted Liu Qing, their true master. This batch consisted of nearly two hundred river gods who had achieved Dao Integration and were at the ninth rank.

With the addition of the nine seventh-rank river gods from the five lakes and four rivers that had previously joined the Dao, the water palace and river god system under the jurisdiction of the Jing River were now complete.

"You should quickly go to the water veins that are in harmony with the Dao, and be willing to help the people and receive offerings. There is also an urgent matter to attend to: after taking office, gather the authority of the water veins in your respective areas and hand it over to the Venerable One."

"I have given my order, and I will obey it."

Nearly two hundred River Gods of the Ninth Rank, each receiving their orders, then harnessed the divine power of incense and went to their respective ditches and pools.

Liu Qing then looked at the first clone.

The first clone is currently only a sixth-rank Jinghe River God, which is not high enough for him to control the vast Jinghe River.

If one's position is not high enough, one cannot fully cover the entire Jing River, thus affecting the subsequent gathering of power over the Jing River.

Looking at the tens of millions of taels of incense silver in the mouth-filled cave, Liu Qing no longer hesitated and immediately swallowed and refined the incense divinity within ten million taels of incense silver, re-evolving it into a fifth-rank divine position.

The fifth-rank river god of the Jing River.

The fifth-rank Jinghe River God, with his status and potential for divine advancement, is sufficient for his first avatar to completely control the Jinghe River and quickly gather the power over the river's water veins to assist his main body.

The first clone was promoted to the fifth-rank Jinghe River God, and its previous sixth-rank River God position became the 'Sixth-Rank General of the Mist'.

The sudden shift from a clerical to a military post seemed intentional; it could only be said that the external cheat was mysterious and perfectly suited to Liu Qing's wishes.

Otherwise, how could two civil officials serving as river gods coexist? Although one is a sixth-rank official and the other a fifth-rank official, there are still conflicts in their powers and responsibilities.

It's good that he's now changed to the military rank of General Buwu, which will allow him to play a supporting role.

Liu Qing temporarily retained the divine title of the sixth-rank Buwu General and did not bestow it upon him.

There were still more than 20 million taels of incense silver left in the Kounang Cave. Liu Qing took out another 10 million taels and used his gold-making supernatural power to transform it into 100,000 taels of power gold.

The divine authority within the 100,000 taels of gold was extracted, and Liu Qing was promoted from the eighth-rank Zhenshui Duwei (Commander of Water Control) to the seventh-rank Pingshui General.

In terms of authority and divine office, Liu Qing follows the path of martial divine office, starting from the ninth rank, which is divided into four levels: suppressing, pacifying, conquering, and pacifying.

With the millions of taels of incense silver still remaining in his body, Liu Qing absorbed and refined its incense divinity, evolving into incense deities of the ninth, eighth, and seventh ranks.

These incense-offering divine positions were reserved for the river demons under his command. If they died in the subsequent battles to aid the Tang in overthrowing the Sui, Liu Qing could use these divine positions to ensure their immortality, so that their service to him would not have been in vain, and they could call him Lord of the Prefecture.

After doing all this, Liu Qing sent his first clone to the Jing River to activate his power and gather control of the Jing River's water veins. He himself, on the other hand, meditated in the River God Temple.

Since practicing the Shangqing Immortal Technique, Liu Qing has become addicted to cultivation, and he never forgets to cultivate whenever he has time.

While cultivating, the divided spirit within his body was still tasked with comprehending the Heavenly Gang and Earthly Fiend Techniques and the Intercepting Sect's formations.

Nearly two hundred spirits had previously joined the Dao and offered incense, then went to various ditches and canals to take up their posts, busy gathering power over the ditches, canals, and ponds.

With the remaining sixty spirits, Liu Qing once again used his Soul Splitting Divine Power to split them twice, bringing the total to two hundred and forty spirits.

The main body and its avatars are in meditation, while the avatars that have already attained the Dao are busy gathering the power of the water veins. Each of them has been assigned a task and is working hard.

However, the arrival of Li Jing, Qiu Ran Ke, Hong Fu Nu, Shan Xiong Xin, Luo Cheng, and Dao Zi, several close confidants of the river demon, disrupted this busy period.

"Lord of the Manor, we have come here today to ask you for a favor."

After the river demons stood still, they bowed, and Li Jing answered on their behalf.

"Please speak freely about what it is."

Li Jing, Qiu Ran Ke, and Hong Fu Nu, three carp spirits, glanced at each other and then said, "Master, you previously arranged for us to escort the Li family's salt cargo fleet here at the Jing River, but now that the Li family has risen up against the Sui Dynasty, the road to the east has been blocked, and the salt cargo fleet cannot travel for the time being. So we thought we should go and serve in Li Shimin's army, so that we can also try to achieve immortality through the divine way."

Liu Qing glanced at the three demons, thought for a moment, and said, "Alright, I will write you a letter later. Take this letter to Li Shimin, and he will definitely give you a chance to show your abilities."

Li Jing, nicknamed "Scarface Carp," and Qiu Ran Ke, nicknamed "Bearded Carp," both learned military skills from Changsun Wuji and have surpassed their master.

Now that the Li family has raised an army against the Sui Dynasty, it is the time for the two of them to show their skills. Although Hong Fu Nu is not knowledgeable in military strategy, she is Li Jing's Daoist partner and has also recognized Qiu Ran Ke as her sworn brother. Since the two most important people in her life are going to join the army, she will naturally follow.

Subsequently, Liu Qing wrote a letter and gave it to Li Jing, instructing the three of them to go to Li Shimin's army.

The three revealed their true forms as carp, their bodies already several feet long, and their cultivation had reached the level of Refining Emptiness and Merging with the Dao, making it the perfect time for them to seek the divine path.

Liu Qing did not stop them, nor did he directly offer them divine positions to help them achieve Dao. He knew that things easily obtained are not cherished; only through hard work and failure would they realize how good a backup plan the divine positions Liu Qing had prepared for them truly were.

After Li Jing and the three demons left, Liu Qing looked at Shan Xiongxin, Luo Cheng, and the three demons with knives.

All three demons had reached the stage of refining emptiness and merging with the Dao.

"Where are you three?"

Shan Xiongxin hesitated for a moment, then clasped his hands and said, "Sir, I don't want to go to Li Shimin's army. I want to look around first."

"I, too, want to see the world first and appreciate its beauty."

“I’m always inseparable from Brother Shan Xiongxin. Wherever he goes, I, Daozi, follow.”

Liu Qing nodded, which was taken as an agreement.

"After I leave, I hope the Lord of the Manor will tell my godfather not to fight so recklessly. I'll take care of everything. Once I've made a name for myself outside, I'll bring him to enjoy a life of luxury."

After Shan Xiongxin finished speaking, he, Luo Cheng, and the two demons with knives knelt down and kowtowed. Then he revealed his true form and swam eastward along the Jing River.

They're all a bunch of troublemakers. I just hope that once you go, you won't end up on opposing sides, fighting like brothers.

However, I'm too lazy to care. If any of you are killed, I'll take care of it for you.

Let's just call it a trial by fire in the mortal world.

After the six demons left, Liu Qing meditated for another half month before being interrupted by reports of news.

"Reporting to the Divine Lord, the power over the water veins of the Jade Pool in Dawan Lake has been fully gathered."

"Reporting to the Divine Lord, the water vein authority of the Great Bay Lake Water Palace has been fully gathered."

"Reporting to the Divine Lord, the authority over the water veins of the Lake Water Palace, Minister, has also been fully consolidated."
Liu Qing was overjoyed; he had finally waited for this day.

"Quickly send over the authority over the water veins—"

Soon after, the various river gods, each in their own form, came and handed over the authority over the waterways under their jurisdiction.

The watercourses that were originally scattered throughout the river were gathered together again, and the small ditches and pools transformed into grass snakes and small pythons.

Larger rivers and lakes transformed into water pythons and snakes, all trapped within the divine power of the incense. Seemingly sensing their ultimate fate, they let out silent roars at Liu Qing.

Joy flashed in Liu Qing's eyes. He reached out and summoned the Kou Nang Cave Heaven. Then, he put the grass snakes, water pythons, small pythons, and vipers, which represented the authority of each water vein, into the Kou Nang Cave Heaven one by one.

Finally, Liu Qing poured the divine power of the authority within his body into the water vein authority, refining it and integrating it into the Kou Nang Cave Heaven.

Soon, ditches, rivers, pools, and lakes of all sizes appeared in Kounang Cave.

(End of this chapter)