Chapter 48: Root of the mountain

“Ugh… Haa…” Shen Shuibi was so tired she couldn't straighten her back. “Li Qi, why are we… moving stones? I’m so tired.”

As Shen Shuibi spoke, she supported the basket on the old Dragon Steed’s back.

The basket was tied with a vine and hung on the old Dragon Steed, while Shen Shuibi was responsible for steadying it and putting stones inside.

She couldn't carry it on her back, so she could only pick up stones one by one and put them into the basket on the old Dragon Steed’s back, then let the old Dragon Steed carry them while she supported it from the side.

Li Qi, however, had no old Dragon Steed to use; he could only move the stones himself and carry them up the mountain.

After all, as Boat Towmen, being treated like livestock was a common occurrence.

No, it should be said that the profession of Boat Towmen itself was inherently about being treated like livestock.

Hearing Shen Shuibi’s confusion, Li Qi explained, “You had a sudden whim, and so did I. My observation of the Five Clouds also showed a disaster of blades and weapons above my head, so I must be prepared.”

“Of course, I know I need to be prepared… So, what does this have to do with moving stones?” She had already lost all her cultivation, and now she was doing heavy manual labor again, utterly exhausted, so she couldn't help but ask Li Qi.

Li Qi was carrying a large stone weighing three to four hundred catties, hauling it up the mountain. Hearing Shen Shuibi’s question, he said, “To make traps, of course. There’s a mountain and water here, and among the three of us, only I have combat power, so we still need to prepare first.”

“However, it’s almost done. You and the old Dragon Steed go rest. I’ll handle the rest myself; there’s not much left.” Li Qi glanced, about one-third was unfinished, but if he worked hard, he should be able to finish by midnight.

But Shen Shuibi pursed her lips and still shook her head.

The old Dragon Steed neighed a few times, not retreating, but continuing to carry the stones up the mountain.

Seeing this, Li Qi said no more.

Going up the mountain, he immediately arranged the stones to form an altar.

Yes, he wanted to use the sacrificial methods he had learned before to see if he could create a trump card.

“Mountain Spirit, sacrifice with pure-colored livestock…” Li Qi silently recited the words from the Book of Zhu.

The so-called sacrifice, 'xi' refers to pure-colored livestock, and 'sheng' refers to edible livestock.

To sacrifice to the Mountain Spirit, one should use pure-colored livestock as offerings.

Where could he find pure-colored livestock now?

Simple, wasn’t the old Dragon Steed right there?

Although the old Dragon Steed was old, as a Dragon Steed, his coat was pure black and shiny, very handsome.

So, he walked over to the old Dragon Steed with a knife.

The old Dragon Steed was startled and took two steps back.

“Oh, come on, don’t make that face…” Li Qi scolded with a laugh, “I’m not actually going to kill you.”

The old Dragon Steed neighed twice, looking very wronged.

But Li Qi couldn't actually kill him for a sacrifice; after all, they had spent a few days together, and the old Dragon Steed and he were quite close, so he couldn't do such a thing.

He made a cut on the old Dragon Steed’s hindquarters with the knife, collected some horse blood, and then cut off a lock from the old Dragon Steed’s flowing and handsome mane.

The old Dragon Steed neighed twice, feeling wronged.

Li Qi laughed and slapped him on the hindquarters, “I’ll give you a wisp of Azure Dragon Divine Qi in a couple of days, look at you!”

The old Dragon Steed was delighted to hear this and walked away, sticking out his hindquarters.

That small wound didn't even need attention; the bleeding stopped within twenty minutes. Li Qi had only taken about two hundred milliliters, which for the old Dragon Steed’s body size, was roughly equivalent to a nosebleed.

And Li Qi took the old Dragon Steed’s blood and mane and placed them on the altar built with stones.

“Carve stone and erect a monument, to appease the Divine Spirit…”

“Southern Shrine Mountain Spirit, sacrifice with pure-colored livestock and sweet wine…”

Sweet wine, originally, should have been actual wine, but Li Qi didn't have any at the moment, so he took another meaning of the word 'li', which was sweet spring, or clear spring. He specifically had Shen Shuibi run over two mountains to fetch the sweet and clear spring water from another mountain spring.

Pure-colored livestock and sweet wine, all complete.

The altar was also built with stones, and Li Qi even used some mechanical principles; he even did a force analysis to ensure that although it looked like it was about to collapse, it wouldn't collapse unless it encountered vibrations.

Even if it were to collapse, it would fall towards the spring at the bottom of the cliff, not on him.

He identified the direction, faced south, and then offered the sacrifices.

Li Qi then used the back of his hatchet to smash open a relatively regular stone, barely shaping it into a human figure.

In fact, it could only be described as a stone-carved 'teru teru bozu', barely counting as a person…

He placed this human figure on the altar.

Then, facing south, he began the Invoker ritual.

All spirits of heaven and earth, achieve the Dao by absorbing Qi.

In this world, not only can Mountain Spirits and water Anomolus Spirits become Mountain Spirits, there is another way: the 'mountain' itself becoming a god.

This is very difficult. A mountain has spirit but no consciousness; without consciousness, it has no Awakening, cannot perceive things, and thus cannot cultivate.

Therefore, most Mountain Spirits in the world are Anomolus Spirits, not the great mountains themselves.

But what Li Qi was trying to do now was to artificially create a Mountain Spirit.

Is it possible? Basically, it’s impossible.

To do such a thing, it would require at least a village of people to worship monthly, continuously for decades, for several generations to nurture some intelligence through incense, gradually Awakening, and then for the Qi of heaven and earth to nurture it for several hundred more years, and then it might be born.

Therefore, what Li Qi was doing would most likely not result in the help of a Mountain Spirit.

But he knew that himself.

If a Mountain Spirit were willing to help him, he would truly be worry-free, completely safe from any danger, and he didn't expect such a windfall to occur.

So, the main purpose of this sacrifice was to obtain a trace of Mountain Root Earth Qi.

This method was actually invented by other Invoker and recorded in the Book of Zhu.

The principle relies on the characteristic of these primitive Mountain Spirits, which have spirit but no consciousness or Awakening, to summon a portion of the Mountain Spirit and place it into the carved stone statue. This was the first phrase he chanted: Carve stone and erect a monument, to appease the Divine Spirit.

Then, sacrifice to this portion and offer a wisp of one’s own Qi, allowing it to be imbued with the characteristic of 'human'.

In this way, this portion of the Mountain Spirit will temporarily Awaken consciousness, but it will be like a person still in the womb; although it has consciousness, it lacks spiritual wisdom.

Thus, the summoned portion of the Mountain Spirit and the original Mountain Spirit, though one entity, will develop a difference, as if one’s own hand suddenly grew a brain.

The Mountain Spirit itself will resist this change. Although it is unconscious and unaware, mountains and waters actually have spirits, and they will expel such attempts to pollute them.

Although such pollution is nothing to them, the Mountain Spirit is extremely vast; to completely pollute it with human Qi would probably require a blood sacrifice of over a million people. A single person’s wisp of Qi is truly just like making the Mountain Spirit spit out a bit of saliva.

Therefore, the Mountain Spirit will cut off this tiny portion polluted by human Qi and leave, and thereafter will never respond to this person’s sacrifice, even if the Mountain Spirit truly becomes a god in the future, it will naturally dislike this person.

But Li Qi couldn’t afford to care about all that anymore.

What this portion of the Mountain Spirit expelled was what Li Qi wanted.

Mountain Root Earth Qi!