The Law of Animacy

Earl Ying opened a secret compartment in the bookshelf behind him, pulled out a scroll painting, and had Ming Shu open it.

"This was collected by our ancestor, Duke of England, when he followed His Majesty the Grand Ancestor in conquering the realm. Although it isn't a cultivation technique, it isn't of much use either."

In truth, it was just an ordinary sheet of paper. Ming Shu sensed neither animacy nor Spiritual Energy from it.

On it was a scholar holding a scroll, a Daoist wearing a robe and carrying a ritual sword, and an old man standing atop a high platform, gazing up at the starry sky. Beneath each of their feet were several tiny words.

Earl Ying told Ming Shu, "Just remember this sentence—all things possess animacy!"

"This is the foundation of cultivation. All cultivation begins here."

The scholar was one who borrowed from spirits. By comprehending the rules and the Great Dao between Heaven and Earth, he used those rules to borrow power from other beings possessed of animacy.

This was called Word-Spirit, where words spoken made the laws obey.

Thus, they themselves needed to be familiar with all kinds of rituals.

The strongest in ritual arts were actually the Dao Sect. They originally cultivated the Primordial Spirit. Back when the Immortal Realm still existed, they would cast off their fleshly bodies, have their Primordial Spirits ascend to the Immortal Realm, and use Immortal Power to recreate their bodies.

Later, the Immortal Realm fled, making ascension impossible. The Dao Sect used their methods of cultivating the Primordial Spirit to blaze a new path connected to the soul. The human soul in particular was fragile, but after being refined by the Dao Sect, it became something else entirely.

It could even remain in the world for a long time after the body died.

Some could even grasp certain powers.

Martial Artists, however, did not cultivate the soul. In the early days, they focused solely on refining the body, only beginning to cultivate both later on. And the Martial Artists of the Central Plains had actually learned from the northern barbarians.

Their bodies were naturally stronger and tougher than those of Central Plains people. The Demon Locking Pagoda of the barbarians was formed by their fighting monsters, eating their flesh, drinking their blood, and absorbing their power to strengthen themselves.

In the end, the bones of those monsters piled up to form it, and countless fragmentary souls left behind by dead monsters were trapped inside.

After evolving through the workings of Heaven and Earth, the Demon Locking Pagoda came into being.

The reason the Dao Sect had headed north back then was actually to scheme for that Demon Locking Pagoda and the countless monster spirits within it.

After a thousand years of effort, they had truly succeeded.

Amid the great upheaval that transformed Heaven and Earth back then, the Immortal Realm had in fact completely withdrawn from this world, bringing about countless natural disasters and mutations.

And the root cause that forced the Immortal Realm away was actually the extraterrestrial demons.

They borrowed the stars and constellations to refract power into this world, giving birth to many demon spirits among mortals.

The first to discover and learn how to use the power of demon spirits was the Star Cult. Now, they were called the Sky-Toppling Observatory.

During that era of upheaval, the founding Grand Ancestor, the leaders of the Star Cult, and figures like their ancestor Duke of England gathered together. In the end, they founded the Great Jin Immortal Dynasty, a prosperous age that endured for a thousand years.

After the founding of the dynasty, the Star Cult devoted itself to refining the Demon Subduing Hall and collecting demon spirits from all over the realm for in-depth study. In turn, it produced the "perfunctory" system of sorcerers for dealing with humans.

These were all secret tales.

Ming Shu eagerly committed them to memory first. After all, he had the Life Book. He no longer needed to immerse himself in the moment to record things while listening.

As for why Earl Ying was teaching him all this, he couldn't be bothered to think about it.

Earl Ying directly stated his purpose as well. He hoped the youth would not be content to serve as a pawn for the Star Cult, but would make plans of his own.

Whatever the Star Cult and the Sky-Toppling Observatory wanted to obtain from him, they would have to pay a sufficient price.

As long as he could drive such a tiny nail into the Sky-Toppling Observatory, that was already enough.

The truth was often plain and unadorned.

The Sky-Toppling Observatory's schemes reached too far into the distance. For a time, even Earl Ying couldn't figure out what they could possibly be plotting to obtain through Ming Shu.

As for Qing Shui County? Let the warriors from the north go and contend with the Sky-Toppling Observatory.

Earl Ying merely reminded Ming Shu to keep his little life safe first.

He also told him to record tonight's teachings. Once he grew up, he would naturally understand the key points within them.

The stories Earl Ying told appeared as similar murals on the inheritance walls of certain ancient sects and Lineages. The specific details, however, had to be passed down by word of mouth.

The relevant records could not be written down in any form of script. The moment they were written, they became linked to some mysterious power.

They would be affected by distant forces and erased.

While recording things in the Life Book, Ming Shu wondered how a young person should act when faced with such a situation.

He truly had little talent for acting. Would staring blankly and looking dazed be too astonishing?

Or would it seem that he simply couldn't untangle all the twists and turns for the moment?

True history had long been buried beneath the dust. Especially after being affected by mysterious powers, what had happened before the previous dynasty could no longer be proven. All that remained were various conjectures.

Ming Shu continued to stare blankly, as though he were trying his best to memorize the contents of Earl Ying's recent teachings.

Earl Ying felt that he had done about as much as he could, so he continued reviewing and handling the documents on his desk. He also summoned his attendant back in.

Old Zhao followed behind them and returned to stand behind Ming Shu. He did not appear overly curious, merely watching his young master with concern.

Ming Shu now understood Earl Ying's sudden actions that night. Although Earl Ying was hostile toward the Sky-Toppling Observatory, there was no conflict of interest between him and Ming Shu.

What he wanted even more was to wrest Ming Shu from the hands of the Sky-Toppling Observatory—or, more precisely, the future Ming Shu, who would possess strength after being supported by the Sky-Toppling Observatory.

As another old adversary of the Sky-Toppling Observatory, he understood their habit of laying out plans decades in advance. So he had also planted a nail ahead of time.

Once a pawn developed thoughts of his own, where would he go in the future? Whether anything unexpected would happen along the way—none of that could be said for certain anymore.

Earl Ying had someone escort Ming Shu to a guest room to rest, but Ming Shu refused. He felt it was about time to leave. Even if it was more dangerous outside, Chong Li and Ren Yuan should still be waiting for him out there.

Although Ming Shu had too many questions about the ancient history Earl Ying had described and the origins of the various powers, he also knew that he lacked the qualifications and capital to ask about the details.

Nor could he connect all those stories together and form them into a system. Perhaps Earl Ying himself did not know much either.

Who knew whether Earl Ying had slipped some personal inventions into what he had just told him?

In any case, judging from the matter at hand, Ming Shu's gains tonight had already exceeded his expectations.

Earl Ying and the forces behind him had certainly taken part in the conspiracy within Qing Shui County. They might even hold the dominant position at this very moment.

The enemies who had come from the north were even more unscrupulous and crazed, yet they were not fully prepared. The current outbreak of trouble was also because Earl Ying and the others had been stirring things up in secret.

After Ming Shu repeatedly requested it, Earl Ying finally let them leave the estate.

Chong Li and Ren Yuan, who had been waiting outside for half the day, were currently surrounded by a patrol of yamen runners, being questioned.