"In any case, I hope you can give it a second thought."
After Feng Bingwen made a gesture of seeing him off, the old City God naturally got up to take his leave. However, before leaving, he turned back to Feng Bingwen and said the following.
In his view, this would not harm Feng Bingwen at all. Even a great cultivator of the Taoist sect would not refuse a divine body formed from incense offerings, since it would not affect his own fundamental nature.
"I'll consider it."
Feng Bingwen responded with a polite smile.
Then, he watched as the old man before him transformed into a dazzling divine light, soaring into the sky before disappearing into the distance.
After the City God left, Feng Bingwen's small courtyard suddenly came alive. The osmanthus tree in front of the door, the green bamboo in the courtyard, the flowers and plants, the bluestone steps... all came to life, as if they had been holding their breath for a long time.
After all, he was a city god. Even if he deliberately restrained his divine power, he was still too terrifying for these spirits who were less than a year old.
"A little movement is fine, but don't overdo it."
Seeing his own spectacle in the courtyard, which was no less impressive than the Night Parade of a Hundred Ghosts, Feng Bingwen made a comment and then turned back into the house. The two little flower spirits who had been pouring tea and water nearby quickly followed him.
"Sir, why won't you agree? What that scary old man said made a good point, didn't it?"
As soon as they entered the house, the little flower spirit Bo Yao, who had just been quietly pouring tea and water, couldn't contain herself any longer and curiously asked Feng Bingwen,
"Is he lying?"
"No, he didn't lie to me; everything he said was true."
Feng Bingwen sat down on the bed and, hearing the little flower spirit's question, casually replied,
"If I wanted to, the current emperor might actually issue a decree of amnesty!"
"Then why not agree?"
The innocent and romantic Su Ya sat on Feng Bingwen's shoulder, tilted her head, and asked with some confusion.
Why not agree?
Feng Bingwen repeated the question, smiled,
"Because he who eats another's food is bound to him, and he who takes another's money is bound to him!"
The idea of forging a divine body by refining the incense offerings of countless people is indeed very tempting, and it would be difficult for great cultivators from both the Buddhist and Xuanzong sects to refuse. However, it should be known that there is never a free lunch in this world.
The Daqian Dynasty's generosity must have been for a reason. Having received the divine title bestowed by the emperor and the offerings of the people, many things would become more difficult.
"That sounds so complicated!"
Little White Peony Su Ya was confused by what she heard, but this little one was also a wise person who pretended to be foolish. She couldn't understand many of the intricacies, but she firmly believed in one thing.
“However, Master will surely make the right choice. Suya will listen to Master. Whatever Master asks Suya to do, Suya will do.”
"You little rascal!"
Feng Bingwen smiled smugly, but in fact, he had already finished thinking about it and made what he believed to be the right choice since the City God spoke.
He will not accept any imperial decree!
He already possesses the innate Five Elements Dao Body, destined for immortality and longevity. Why should he burden himself with shackles and get entangled in such useless karma for the sake of a Dharma Body?
Moreover, while a royal decree can indeed elevate an ordinary person to the status of a deity, receiving the incense offerings of the people is not necessarily a requirement for such a decree; it is merely a shortcut.
If one wants to receive offerings from the people, why would one need an imperial decree?
Given his future potential, he could confidently retort to the Great Gan Emperor...
Who do you think you are?
You dare to bestow titles upon me!
Having made up his mind, Feng Bingwen naturally did not respond. He would only occasionally check the Heavenly Book to see if there were any people with whom he had a karmic connection who had committed evil deeds. If so, he would go out and punish them with thunder according to the severity of their evil deeds.
The government continued to turn a blind eye to his behavior, ignoring even small-scale, personal worship of the God of Heaven's Punishment at home.
Neither acknowledge nor suppress!
It was an ambiguous and ambiguous attitude that made many people in Yunze Prefecture dissatisfied, yet they were helpless. What could they do when the government did nothing?
Under these circumstances, Feng Bingwen, as the true form of the God of Heavenly Punishment, actually sensed the incense offerings. Even though the people had never seen his true face, incense still clung to Feng Bingwen after their sacrifices.
"Every offering of incense represents a cause and effect!"
Feng Bingwen played with the cloud-like incense smoke in his hand, which was faintly permeated with the scent of sandalwood.
Five-colored light swirled in his eyes, and his spiritual consciousness was immersed in it. In the blur, he saw a farmer with a sorrowful face worshipping a crude clay sculpture. There was even an offering table with three chipped bowls containing white duck, pork, and tofu respectively.
"Heavenly God above... I beg you..."
Feng Bingwen seemed to still hear the farmer's prayer, but he couldn't hear the whole thing, and he didn't even know what the farmer was asking for.
However, Feng Bingwen's spiritual senses issued a warning at this moment, and his consciousness immediately broke free from the wisp of incense smoke, not truly immersing itself in it.
"This is truly dangerous!"
Feng Bingwen recalled his feelings just now and couldn't help but sigh.
For cultivators who lack talent or comprehension, the opportunity to enter the divine path is something they desperately desire. However, for them, if they were to inadvertently step into the divine path, it would be to ruin their future.
He wasn't refining a divine body just now. The so-called divine body is just a fabricated, controllable avatar that indirectly receives offerings, and it also isolates one from cause and effect to prevent calamity from entering.
The power of incense is indeed mysterious and unparalleled. In terms of the speed of power growth, no other path can compare with it. However, in terms of the number of restrictions and shackles of the divine path, no other path can surpass it.
Take the City God of Qingshan County as an example. Although he was a great sage and virtuous man in his lifetime, he was essentially just an ordinary person. However, after his death, he received offerings and was elevated to the status of a deity.
With just a few decades of accumulation, they can even create a realm comparable to a celestial paradise. In the path of immortality, only immortals can create a paradise independent of the mortal world.
Within the Dharma Domain, the City God can contend with, and even suppress, cultivators at the Yuan Dan level.
However, the prosperity of a nation depends on the worship of its deities, and the decline of a nation can lead to the loss of its incense offerings. Often, when humanity faces great calamities or when dynasties change, a large number of deities associated with worshipping the gods will perish, and only a very few will be able to continue the tradition.
Therefore, although the worship of incense and deities is said to grant immortality, most incense and deity worshippers only live for a few hundred years, and those who can live for a thousand years are extremely rare.
"It's best to use this kind of incense with caution."
Having gained some understanding of cause and effect, Feng Bingwen was reminded that incense offerings are essentially the offerings of countless ordinary people, and that one must respond to those offerings.
During the great calamity of humanity, many deities who offered incense perished. This is because those who accepted incense but failed to fulfill their duty to protect the people and ensure their safety naturally met their end in death and the dissipation of their spiritual essence.
"Do not venture into unfamiliar territory. Even if you want to cultivate a divine avatar, you must first understand it."
Feng Bingwen made up his mind that he should do everything within his capabilities. He didn't mind doing good deeds and accumulating merit, but all of this was on the premise of protecting himself, so as not to fall into a deep pit without knowing how and be able to get out.
"Well, the Taoist canon that my master gave me doesn't mention the divine way. There are only a few words about it, but it doesn't touch on the fundamentals. So it doesn't seem like a good idea to seek the canon from the government."
"By the way, the Dragon Ascension Banquet—the Dragon Palace must have plenty of divine scriptures. Judging by the timeline, it seems there are only a few months left."
Thinking of this, Feng Bingwen's eyes lit up. Without saying anything else, given his current status, it wouldn't be unreasonable for him to ask the Dragon King to borrow a few books to read.
With this in mind, Feng Bingwen looked forward to the Rising Dragon Banquet several months later.
However, although the Dragon Ascension Banquet will be held several months later, cultivators within the Great Gan region who pay close attention can sense the changes in rivers and lakes over the past year.
Xi Muqing, the son of the renowned Mirror Sea Dragon King from overseas, who was enfeoffed as the Dragon Lord of Xuanting Lake in Donghua Continent, successfully traversed water and transformed into a true dragon. This news had already spread throughout the world, and the aquatic creatures of the eight wastelands and six directions were overjoyed.
The true dragon is the supreme being among aquatic creatures, and this is not just a saying. Every time a true dragon appears in the world, it means that the aquatic creatures of the world will benefit more.
Therefore, when Dragon Lord Xi Muqing set the date for the Ascension Banquet, it caused a great stir throughout the world, because the day the banquet was held was only a little over a year after he successfully completed his tribulation. This meant that this Dragon Lord had completely transformed into a true dragon body in such a short period of time.
The banquet hosted by this newly transformed Dragon King naturally attracted a vast array of aquatic creatures from all over the world. Not only aquatic creatures from within the Great Gan region and Donghua Continent, but even aquatic creatures from overseas who felt they could establish a connection with him tried every means to come over.
However, the Dragon King of Xuanting held his Ascension Banquet in the Dragon Palace of Xuanting Lake. Now that the Dragon Lord has been promoted to Dragon King, his Dragon Palace has naturally been expanded again. But no matter how much it is expanded, it is impossible to accommodate all the guests from all corners of the world.
Therefore, there must be a large number of aquatic creatures whose origins and backgrounds are not qualified enough to even enter the Dragon Palace, and they can only stay in the banquets set up along the river.
This was not something Feng Bingwen was worried about. He was not worried at all about not having a place in the Dragon Palace. He remembered that when the Xuan Ting Dragon King sent an avatar to invite him, he found a way to harm him and suffered a loss in silence.
Given the magnanimity of this newly crowned Dragon King, it's impossible for him to hold a grudge; in fact, he might value him even more.
Therefore, even though Feng Bingwen could occasionally sense the powerful demonic energy and divine power passing around Wolong Lake, he ignored it and saw no need to join in the fun.
These guys arrived at the Dragon Palace of Xuanting Lake months in advance, just in case they were late and couldn't even get a spot. They were just trying to reserve a spot. Feng Bingwen only found out this after he stopped a giant black tortoise that was passing by.
Feng Bingwen vividly remembered that when he first stopped the giant tortoise, which was dozens of feet in diameter and had a shell, the tortoise was quite impatient. However, after he summoned the ancient pagoda, the tortoise became amiable.
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