Chapter 358: The kingdom of the sky

In the Baiyue Area, spiritual energy is thin, and the Dao conflict has led to many incomplete Dao lineages, with many major Dao Orthodoxy even disinclined to spread their teachings here.

Cultivators are also extremely rare, relying entirely on the support of their respective Country Lords.

The Country Lords of Baiyue are all different individuals from various places; their commonality is that they have basically reached a ‘dead end’.

They have no hope of Breakthrough to Fifth Grade, and no hope of traveling beyond the domain.

Having no other recourse, they chose a very simple Human Dao method.

That is, to gather the strength of the masses to achieve their own self, establish a country, use it as their Dao foundation, and tie the entire national Luck, the domestic mountains and rivers, the populace, and even more profound things to themselves.

At the cost of revealing an absolutely undeniable weakness, and acquiring many entanglements and people who hold them back, they can advance to Fifth Grade.

The Baiyue Kingdom Lord can be said to be the easiest to target among the Fifth Grade.

It's obvious that their Dao foundation is their country; destroying the country would likely cause them to drop in grade immediately.

However, Li Qi sighed.

In Li Qi’s eyes, the Baiyue Kingdom Lord was a typical owl, clutching his dead mouse and refusing to let go.

However, even this dead mouse is something many people crave but cannot obtain… A method to stably advance to Fifth Grade, this is a priceless treasure for many, not something just anyone can get.

Thinking this, Li Qi descended from the sky, landing on the ground, as always, unseen by anyone.

So he didn't even pass through the city gate, landing directly on a street in the city center.

Arriving here, Li Qi looked around.

“This scene… it really is familiar.” Li Qi gave a wry smile and shook his head.

Because, before him, it was not the strange and fantastical scenery of Shaman God Mountain or Tang Nation, not a prosperous and thriving city that, though different in style, was clearly very developed.

Instead, it was a typical feudal city, just like the Prefectural City of Li Prefecture in the past.

The streets were narrow, filled with Mortals, each with some incomplete cultivation method, but only barely useful; even Cultivating to the peak, it would be impossible to enter any grade.

Li Qi walked along the street, sewage flowing underfoot.

As he walked, someone suddenly shouted from overhead: “Careful! Careful! Careful!”

Li Qi heard this and looked up.

He saw someone above holding a chamber pot, about to pour it down, while others nearby quickly dodged.

Seeing this, Li Qi also quickly retreated, swiftly jumping to the corner of the street.

He heard a splash, and from a third-floor attic, a servant directly poured a bucket of fecal water down, splashing across the street.

Li Qi actually felt a bit nostalgic about this.

When he was a Lifter in Li Prefecture Prefectural City, this scene was not uncommon.

The reason was simple: the city's drainage System was very poor, with no sewers. Wealthy families had chamber pot carts, relying on servants to collect feces and then transport it away centrally.

Ordinary people didn't even have chamber pots, so of course, they relieved themselves anywhere, usually finding a river or a secluded corner to do it.

As for those with a small building but not truly wealthy, they usually just poured it out directly.

Because someone would come to clean it up.

Li Qi remained in his natural state, watching as people immediately gathered.

They were dung collectors.

These people also Cultivated cultivation methods, agile in their movements, carrying a bucket, with a shovel and tongs in hand, scooping up the filth from the ground, putting it in the bucket, and then moving to the next spot.

They used the shovel for liquid waste and the tongs for solid waste, quickly collecting the filth from the streets.

This was something that could be sold; once enough was collected, it could be gathered and sold to farmers outside the city to fertilize their fields.

Yes, although within Shaman God Mountain and Tang Nation, agricultural Magic, weather control, earth Qi composting, and mountain god blessings for agricultural yield had long been popularized, Baiyue was still using farm manure.

Li Qi knew that the fertilizers used by Human Dao were Medicinal Pills, buried in the soil, capable of maintaining fertility for ten years.

This was originally developed by the agricultural branch of Human Dao’s Hundred Arts and had been widely used in various places requiring agriculture.

Shaman God Mountain, on the other hand, directly allowed mountain Qi to gather, which was even more convenient.

But in Baiyue, neither of these was widespread because they had too few Cultivators.

At least an Eighth-Grade agricultural Cultivator, or a pharmacist who had learned agricultural Magic and Pill Formulas, could refine them.

Similarly, one needed to be able to command the local mountain god to gather earth Qi and fertilize the fields.

But in Baiyue, such people were far too few.

An ordinary Eighth-Grade was already enough to become a leader of a prefecture; if one could reach Seventh-Grade, they could basically reach the pinnacle of power in Baiyue, and above that were the Country Lords and their lackeys.

With such a level of Cultivation, it was naturally impossible to popularize these things.

Although this scene brought back memories, Li Qi still shook his head.

Baiyue, oh, Baiyue…

Thinking this, Li Qi suddenly became interested. He led his old horse, maintaining his natural state, and walked towards the river of Lingxiao Kingdom’s city.

Every city must have a river; after all, rivers are the lifeblood of cities. Without a river or lake, even obtaining water would be difficult.

For the cities of Baiyue, there was no convenient thing like tap water; they had to fetch water from the river to drink.

It was precisely because of this habit that water Gu were rampant.

People defecated and urinated in the water, and there were many dead bodies in the water, yet others still had to fetch water from the river.

If there wasn’t enough fuel to boil it, it was very easy to contract water Gu, with worms growing in the stomach, forcing one to seek out a local Shaman doctor.

Doctors were rare in Baiyue; local Shamanes undertook most of the medical care.

Li Qi used to pull boats in the water every day and contracted water Gu, his belly swelling enormously, filled with wriggling worms.

Later, Uncle Six invited a Shaman doctor for him, who surrounded him with eggs and flowers, then chanted and danced. Finally, he had a bout of diarrhea, expelling all the water Gu, and only then did he recover.

If one didn’t even have money to invite a Shaman doctor… then they would probably die.

Li Qi recalled his past in Baiyue, leading his old horse to the riverside.

By the river, there were other Boat Towmen.

These Boat Towmen were mostly unclothed; pulling ropes while dressed was dangerous, as the rope and clothes could easily get tangled, pulling one into the water.

Of course, there was also the factor of reluctance.

Clothes were too expensive; wearing them while pulling ropes made them easily worn out, which was too heartbreaking.

Looking at those Boat Towmen, Li Qi couldn't help but recall what he was like when he first came to this world.

He was probably similar to them.

Those Boat Towmen were panting with exhaustion, constantly shouting their work chants.

The water flowed downstream, but some boats needed to turn around to enter the dock or certain tributaries; at such times, they needed to go upstream.

For a boat to go upstream in the water, it naturally had to be pulled by people.

Li Qi originally shouldn't have interfered. According to Shaman Dao, all of this was ‘as it should be’; unless it affected the balance of natural, there was no need for excessive intervention.

It was just that he felt some empathy, having experienced it himself.

So, Li Qi reached out, and many strands of Qi forming a Magic gathered in his hand.

This was a suppression Magic.

He hooked a finger with his other hand, and a tiny insect in the water was caught by him, then stuffed into the suppression Magic.

This was a very famous Shaman Dao technique, the Detestation Curse, a Magic that subdues people or objects with incantations.

He muttered: “Shadows accumulate to form shapes, able to interact with humans, this is called water Gu, spreading poison in villages, killing many…”

As he chanted, the Gu worm began to struggle frantically.

But Li Qi was already Seventh Grade, how could he let these water Gu break free?

As he continued chanting, the suppression Magic took shape. He pinched the water Gu in his hand and threw it into the river.

He felt a cool sensation, sweeping through the entire river with a whoosh!

If someone were to observe all the water Gu in the entire river, they would find that all the water Gu in the entire river were ‘suppressed’; a surge of Magic sealed them all at the bottom of the river.

At the same time, Li Qi’s face immediately turned bluish-purple.

This was the backlash from the Detestation Curse.

Detesting all the water Gu in an entire large river…

This was not one species, but dozens of different parasitic species, which would cause a series of chain reactions, leading to changes in the ecological scope.

Certainly, the ecological niche occupied by water Gu could be filled by other life, or gradually occupied by other foreign water Gu, but there would definitely be a lot of turbulence in between.

This turbulence was the source of the backlash, the resistance from the Heaven and Earth where this great river was located.

Fortunately, Li Qi's Cultivation was already quite strong; he only turned bluish-purple for a moment, then quickly swallowed the backlash and returned to normal.

The backlash from Heaven and Earth was indeed something; it was just a river, and this river's grade was at most Eighth Grade, yet it could lightly injure him.

In the outer domains, Li Qi estimated that suppressing an Eighth-Grade world would result in a similar backlash.

Of course, he hadn't tried it, only estimated.

This was the first time Li Qi had used the Detestation Curse on such a vast area and group.

“This thing… if applied to suppressing the Heavenly Dao…” Li Qi pondered.

Just as he subconsciously began to think based on his discovery, he suddenly looked up and gazed into the distance.

In the distance, there was a… uh, man?

He exuded an aura similar to an official position, but far inferior in quality.

It should be the degraded version of official positions unique to the Baiyue kingdoms.

Li Qi had some understanding of this.

This degraded version of official positions only provided power enhancement, not the corresponding grade.

In other words, it could only strengthen your existing power, but it wouldn't directly promote you, and it would also burden the user.

If the official position was too high and your own Cultivation was insufficient, you wouldn't receive the enhancement from that official position; just the Luck of a prefecture brought by that official position could crush someone with low Cultivation.

In essence, it was similar to a Spiritual Artifact, but more profound, incomparable to the official positions in Tang Nation.

Li Qi looked at the man, dressed in robes, black and white, with a Yin and Yang fish on his crown.

He was a wild Daoist…

The reason he was called a wild Daoist was because the headwear of orthodox Dao Orthodoxy had strict requirements.

What Lotus Crown, Five Crane Crown, Coiled Dragon Crown, who wears what crown was all particular; wearing the wrong crown would be severely punished by one's sect elders.

Only those wild Daoists without orthodox Legacy, who didn't understand the differences, would wear crowns haphazardly.

Like the Daoist in front of him, though he looked like an immortal, the Yin and Yang fish on his crown, spinning back and forth, immediately revealed him to be a wild one.

“Greetings, Daoist Priest.” Li Qi cupped his hands and looked at the Daoist not far away.

This Daoist was also Seventh Grade; he should be the prefect here, right?

Speaking of which, Li Qi only knew this was Lingxiao Kingdom, but not what part of Lingxiao Kingdom it was. This was a good opportunity to inquire.

After all, besides reminiscing and doing something that made him feel comfortable, there was another reason for his suppression of the water Gu: to attract people.

Suppressing water Gu was no small matter; it would certainly attract important figures.

The Daoist over there smiled at Li Qi, cupped his hands, and said, “May I ask from where Your Excellency hails? This technique of the Detestation Curse is truly astonishing. Your Excellency is indeed benevolent, unable to bear seeing these commoners suffer.”

“I am not a good person either; it’s merely empathy.” Li Qi shook his head.

He was indeed not a good person. Even now, he had no intention of changing the Baiyue kingdoms, as a complete change would be very, very difficult and would break many existing balances.

Perhaps only when he reached Third Grade or even stronger would he be qualified to do such a thing.

As Li Qi said, he had no intention, nor the ability, to change many things; it was best to let everything follow its natural course.

He was a good person in a narrow sense; if he encountered evil deeds similar to Jin Buhuan in Qingwu City, he might lend a hand, but to truly work for the welfare of the entire world, Li Qi did not have that ambition.

Today, he felt empathy for these Boat Towmen and thus did this, so the Boat Towmen in this great river might have an easier time in the future, and that was all.

But he could not make Baiyue as developed as Chang'an in Tang Nation, nor could he make everyone live a good life.

“To be able to empathize is already being a good person. How many people in the world can’t even empathize?” The Daoist sighed, saying so.

It seemed he also had some feelings.

“May I ask who Your Excellency is?” Li Qi cupped his hands and asked the Daoist.

“I am Mu Xiulan, the Prefect of E'zhou. Seeing Your Excellency suppress the water Gu in this great river of my prefecture, I specially came to express my gratitude.” The Daoist bowed and saluted Li Qi.

“No need for such courtesy, it was merely a small effort.” Li Qi said.

But he immediately said, “Your Excellency’s small effort would take me at least ten years of hard work, so Your Excellency must accept this bow.”

Li Qi heard this and no longer refused, accepting the bow.

However, he was somewhat speechless.

E'zhou… calyx?

With this name, were the other prefectures perhaps the flower stalk, petals, corolla, and stamens?

Was this truly the lingxiao flower Kingdom?

Was the Lingxiao Kingdom Lord too casual with names?

Mu Xiulan finished his bow and then looked at Li Qi: “May I ask where Your Excellency comes from and where you wish to go? Passing through E'zhou, would Your Excellency allow me to fulfill my duty as a host?”

Seeing this, Li Qi immediately said, “I come from Star-Mansion Array and wish to pay my respects to the Lingxiao Kingdom Lord, and also to see the appearance of Zunfo Mountain. As for banquets, would I not trouble the Prefect?”

“How could it be a bother? For a humble abode like mine to have Your Excellency grace it, it naturally shines. I could not ask for more.” Mu Xiulan said, “Moreover, if Your Excellency wishes to visit the Country Lord, it would be better for me to introduce you than for you to rush in like a headless fly.”

Li Qi was waiting for him to say that.

Hearing the other party speak, he said, “Then, it would be disrespectful not to accept.”