Influence

On Huaxiu Mountain God's side, the mountain gods finished their discussion, received their benefits, and understood the matter. So they stopped eating at the banquet, left a table full of food and wine, and all of them ran outside.

Once outside, they each displayed their Divine Ability.

Some transformed into their true demonic forms and ran at high speed.

Some of them soared away on clouds, half-flying and half-drifting.

Some of their collections contain Law Treasure, which they can use to ride flying swords or cloud boats and disappear in an instant.

However, there is no such thing as the Huaxiu Mountain God transforming into a strange wind or directly escaping into the earth's veins.

This is a trait unique to him as a mountain spirit; very few people could unleash such Divine Ability during that period.

After watching the mountain gods depart, Huaxiu Mountain God, turned to the three Human Race Shaman and asked, "Gentlemen, as Shaman, you must possess extraordinary abilities. How can you help that Shaman?"

The three Shaman laughed and said, "We naturally have our own methods. Although they can't compare to the grandeur of the mountain gods, they are still quite presentable."

Upon hearing this, the Huaxiu Mountain God understood.

This method cannot be shown to the public.

However, he was very magnanimous and waved his hand, saying, "Then let's split up and search on our own. If you find anything, remember to come back here and leave the information in the cave abode."

"Respectfully seeing off the Mountain God." Several Shaman immediately bowed and watched the Huaxiu Mountain God depart.

They watched with envy as the Huaxiu Mountain God walked out, then with a swift movement, his body transformed into a strange wind, and he departed gracefully.

After witnessing the Technique Method, the three Shaman began to whisper among themselves.

But look at these three.

The man had dark skin, was tall and strong, and looked like he had done manual labor and practiced Body Refining Cultivation Method. He must have worked his way up from the bottom.

The other person looked like an ordinary passerby, but he was bald, and his eyes occasionally flashed with a sharp light, indicating that he was a cultivator.

Another person was a middle-aged man who looked to be in his fifties or sixties. He was very thin, but had a big beard, and his every move subtly indicated that he was the leader of the trio.

The burly man exclaimed in amazement, "Such Technique Method is truly miraculous! It allows one to go wherever one wants and come whenever one wants. Walls cannot imprison it, nor can they confine it. It is truly the work of a god."

"Alright, didn't you hear what the mountain gods said? This one is a mountain spirit who became a god, naturally separated from demons and monsters, and is worlds apart from us. Stop thinking nonsense." The bald man curled his lip, envious but even more so jealous.

It's just a difference in background. The other party possesses such amazing Technique Method, and it's innate. They even have a long lifespan.

As natural deities, mountain spirits can live for thousands of years even if their cultivation doesn't reach immortality. This long lifespan greatly reduces the risk of their advancement.

Unlike Human Race cultivators, who can easily die of old age if they lack talent, they are not so fortunate.

Or, for the more extreme insect-type cultivators, that's what it means to race against time. The period before reaching the rank is like a race car with the engine revved up. The longest they last is two or three years. Before reaching the rank, they die of old age. The shortest they live is a day. Only by reaching the rank within a single day can they survive.

Those born with innate spirituality are superior to others in cultivation; they possess Divine Ability even without cultivation.

"Alright, there's no point in envying others. You should focus on improving yourself. If you can become a disciple of the Wushen Mountain, these are just petty tricks." The thin middle-aged man interrupted their words of envy.

Upon hearing the words "become a disciple of the Wushen Mountain," the other two also perked up, took a deep breath, and were filled with ambition.

Seeing his companion become excited, the middle-aged man nodded and continued, "If what the Huaxiu Mountain God said is true, there is a big shot from Wushen Mountain who wants to ask someone for a favor. If we handle this matter well, who knows, we might get a helping hand from this big shot during the outer sect assessment."

"Look, such pure divine energy, even if it's not used for cultivation, but simply used as a one-time Law Treasure, could probably easily kill an eighth-rank cultivator, and even withstand one or two seventh-rank cultivators. It's clear that this Shaman's cultivation level is definitely not low!"

The other two he mentioned looked excited and eager to try.

The burly man nodded. "The old man is right. We are definitely no match for the mountain god when it comes to finding people, but if we talk about Art of Divination, even that Shaman's Art of Divination couldn't find his mount. Can we find it?"

That powerful figure was also Shaman. If even he had to rely on the mountain god to find him, then it would be even more impossible for us to find him using our Art of Divination.

The bald man pondered for a moment, then suddenly looked up and asked, "Does this old man possess Secret Method?"

Upon hearing this, the old man chuckled and said, "Of course, otherwise how would I dare to ask you guys to take on this job?"

He said, "I have a Secret Method that can establish a connection using memory as a guide, and then I can sense the location from afar. It only requires someone who has seen that Dragon Steed before. I need to drain its blood, take its brain, and sacrifice its soul to extract its memory, and then I can make the guidance."

"It's that simple?" The burly man frowned, seemingly incredulous.

"The old man wouldn't lie to us. We're all brothers who have been through thick and thin together. Don't you trust him?" The bald man was somewhat displeased with the burly man's doubts.

"It's not that I don't trust it, it's just that it's too simple, and I'm not comfortable with it." The burly man shook his head.

The middle-aged man just smiled and said, "Whether it will work or not, we'll only know by trying. Let's first find someone who has witnessed the Dragon Steed."

"Yeah, let's give it a try first." The other two nodded and decided to give it a shot.

"Besides, this time we have this Shaman's backing, so we're not afraid to make a big fuss. He's got our backing," the bald man laughed.

The other two smiled, clearly understanding what he meant.

Since it was an order from a high-ranking Shaman, it's not unreasonable for them to use this title to make some money for themselves, right?

Anyway, as long as the information can be found, the big shots won't care too much.

From beginning to end, they never questioned the sheer brutality of the Technique Method.

Because it's unnecessary.

The Shaman Path does not impose any restrictions on such things, nor does it care about so-called good and evil. The good and evil of Shaman depend entirely on their own thoughts. This Dao Path itself does not impose any constraints on the behavior of practitioners.

Good and evil, in themselves, are meaningless under the overall laws of nature.

For example, if a tiger eats a deer, who is good and who is evil?

The answer is no matter.

There is no good or evil, no right or wrong. The Shaman Path treats all things equally and doesn't care. What they pursue is to maintain the supreme laws of the universe. As for everything else, it is simply a product of the natural operation under the supreme laws.

Many high-ranking Shaman will carefully nurture a new world, becoming beings in that world similar to sowers of life, practically the embodiment of kindness.

But at the same time, these 'embodiments of goodness' will also casually end a world that is heading towards its end, erasing this world and the hundreds of billions of lives in it, simply because doing so will allow a new world to be born.

The balancer of the laws of the universe, the balancer of the laws of nature, the convergence point of communication among all things.

The clues can also be seen from the three orthodox Shaman lineages.

The diviner was responsible for statistically calculating the patterns of all things.

The Shaman is the center of communication between all things, maintaining the balance between Heaven, Earth, Humanity, Spirits, Ghosts through their own actions.

The clan leader promotes all laws and governs all existing things.

In this realm, there are only the cold, unyielding laws of nature and the theorems of the universe; there is no room for concepts like good and evil.

Of course, for high-ranking Shaman, or Shaman with self-awareness, there is no need to be bound by good and evil. Their actions are motivated by the desire to make the universe as a whole better.

Therefore, indiscriminate killing is not only meaningless, but also has negative effects. Thus, high-ranking Shaman, apart from being strange and treacherous, do not actually have a reputation for being bloodthirsty.

However... that's all.

Those who do not crave killing are mainly middle and upper-class Shaman. They have come to understand many things and have thus formed their own unique views on good and evil, which are mostly impartial.

However, among the lower-level Shaman, especially those from rural areas, the killing was quite serious.

Blood Sacrifice, Gu refining, soul sacrifice, and corpse snatching are quite common. They have even developed into a branch called Ghost Shaman, which specializes in refining human souls and manipulating ghosts. They have deviated from the proper path and entered the realm of unorthodox and evil ways.

The Great Way emphasizes the Way, aiming to encompass the universe, explore the ultimate principles of the cosmos, and interpret the entire universe using its own Dao Lineage and theories.

The lesser path focuses on techniques, only concerned with exploring how to do something well, how to perform certain Technique Method and skills, such as brewing tea, practicing swordsmanship, taming beasts, raising ghosts, and so on.

The lineage of Ghost Shaman has long since strayed to the level of minor paths, to the point where they no longer care about the core of Shaman Path, but merely use Shaman Path methods to command ghosts and gods to satisfy their own selfish desires.

Unfortunately, whether it was the county magistrate of Snake Tail County whom Li Qi had met before, or these three people in front of him, they were all from the Ghost Shaman lineage.

This is also the most common and easily accessible Dao Path for rural shamans.

There's no way around it; it's easy to get started, and it doesn't require any specific mental discipline—it's just like practicing martial arts with negative energy...

As long as there are enough people killed and enough souls collected, the process of obtaining items will be very fast.

However, it cannot be said that the true Shaman Path is entirely without responsibility. The fact that Ghost Shaman has developed to this point is actually largely due to the indulgence of the Shaman Path.

The indifference to the lower classes brought about by neither good nor evil is the norm in Shaman Path; sometimes, this indifference leads to leniency.

As long as it doesn't affect the overall natural order, the great shamans don't even bother to look at a few casualties.

In nature, death and predation are perfectly normal. Even orthodox Shaman wouldn't concern themselves with these things; Ghost Shaman are just another kind of predator.

Like now.

These three Ghost Shaman then began their predation.

How do they hunt?

It's very simple. There are also commoners in Wushen Mountain, and even more than just commoners. Within the Wushen Mountain area, there are naturally multiplied demons, humans, and other races, forming a mixed society.

The area under the jurisdiction of Wushen Mountain, like the territory of the Tang Kingdom, has its own unique ecology.

The three of them quietly arrived at the foot of the mountain and began searching for passersby.

At the foot of this mountain, there is a Human Race village.

Inside the mountain stronghold, people were celebrating.

As you can see, the men in the mountain village seem to have caught a big wild boar. Everyone is very happy and they have lit a bonfire.

Most of the buildings here are made of wood, with only a few made of stone. They look like simple primitive tribes, or perhaps like Human Race from the prehistoric era.

Their clothes were also very simple, some were linen clothes, some were animal skins, but none of them had the fashionable feel of the Tang Kingdom.

If we're going to make a comparison, it's like comparing modern society to primitive society.

However...

Half of the people in the village are of the ninth rank, and basically all adult men have successfully entered the rank.

They may seem backward, but their cultivation levels are all surprisingly high!

Because this is the heart of Wushen Mountain, where everything thrives, and people are no exception.

Despite the brutal competition and predation of nature, the overall situation is developing in a positive direction, with abundant Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi and auspicious omens and wonders emerging one after another.

The combined power of Wushen Mountain is even greater than that of the Tang Kingdom.

Both in terms of population and the number of experts, it is greater than that of the Tang Kingdom.

However, internal strife was quite severe because there was no stable government. People existed as individuals or in communities, practicing slash-and-burn agriculture and leading a less modern life.

This kind of arrangement makes it difficult to unite all forces into one force, just like the Tang Kingdom.

However, productivity is by no means low.

Everywhere there are mountain and water deities, and humans and gods live in harmony and maintain a distance from each other, neither too close nor too distant. As a result, the weather is favorable Upper Heaven is strong, so the grain production is no less than that of the Tang Kingdom.

Furthermore, although there are not many Law Treasure, the demons or humans living in the Wushen Mountain area are generally stronger in terms of aptitude and physical fitness than the Tang Kingdom.

They were born and raised in the Wushen Mountain area, unlike the Tang Kingdom who plundered the land and sky. As a result, the Spiritual Qi was abundant, and the physical functions of all races became stronger under the nourishment of this spiritual source.

In the Wushen Mountain region, the number of naturally born deities is much greater than in the outside world, and the probability of animals Demon Transformation is also much higher. Human Race also have their own characteristics depending on where they live. For example, those who live in the mountains have natural divine strength and tough skin.

Those born in water can control water and breathe underwater.

This is a natural effect that arises after the world becomes powerful and prosperous.

This is also the future that Wushen Mountain is pursuing.

When the entire universe and all world groups operate according to that supreme law, the whole world will become stronger and stronger. Sooner or later, all life will become beings born like gods, and the whole world will reach the highest perfection.

It may seem backward, but it is not backward at all; the progress is just in other areas.

In the mountain village, people greeted each other warmly.

Several hunched old men, puffing on their opium pipes, looked at the young man carrying the wild boar. "Hey, young tenth brother, you've got a good haul this time!"

The young people laughed and said, "Uncle, I didn't hurt the skin this time. I just pierced through the eye. I'm just afraid that Grandma won't be able to eat the pig brains she loves!"

"It's alright, it's alright. Your grandma has good teeth and can eat meat!"

The whole village was filled with joy and harmony.

But just then, the sky outside suddenly darkened.

Countless ghosts began to run!

The undead ghosts gathered in the Unseen.

Some were wounded by weapons, while others died from fire, water, or thieves.

Some were driven to their deaths by being robbed of their money, while others died after their wives and concubines were forcibly taken from them.

Some died unjustly due to punishment or misfortune, while others died from natural disasters and epidemics.

Some were killed by wild beasts and poisonous insects, while others died of hunger and cold.

Those three Ghost Shaman summoned countless wronged ghosts, gathered them outside the mountain stronghold, and blocked out the daylight!

All of this was because of Li Qi's casual instruction, which gave them the audacity to intimidate him.