Trying Parasitic Worms

Honestly, Yu Ziqing never imagined that the White Sun Evil Sacrifice would gain traction so quickly. In just a few days, they had already revised their scriptures, printed them, and distributed them to their lowest-level followers.

In this world, with such execution speed, why wouldn't they do something better? Even if they claimed territory, established a nation, and developed for hundreds of years to build a foundation, they might still have a chance to push back against Great Zhen. Why must they tread the heretical path?

Recalling a report from a hungry ghost about someone approaching the Locust tree forest, and others trying to approach Jinlan Mountain from areas not surrounded by the forest, Yu Ziqing understood. These people weren't just making up stories about rewriting scriptures; they had actually conducted on-site investigations.

Their method of attributing achievements to the wrong people was well-reasoned and skillful, because the true powerhouses of this era would certainly not dare to come here.

They proclaimed everywhere that this was their holy mountain. The higher-ups wouldn't believe it and wouldn't dare to come. The lower-level people who believed it couldn't come either. Without the possibility of falsification, whatever they said became the truth.

The more Yu Ziqing thought about it, the angrier he became. He was sitting at home, and trouble was coming his way. What's more, this wasn't just ordinary trouble.

What if a significant number of impoverished commoners truly believed their words? What if they starved to death? Their deeply ingrained, devout faith wouldn't disappear even after they transformed into hungry ghosts. Instead, it would cause the King of Hungry Ghosts and the White Sun Holy Mother to merge.

At that point, in the minds of these hungry ghosts, the King of Hungry Ghosts would be the White Sun Holy Mother, and the White Sun Holy Mother would be the King of Hungry Ghosts.

This wasn't simply piggybacking on popularity; it was an attempt to uproot Yu Ziqing from the very foundation.

From now on, if Yu Ziqing were to die of starvation even once, the awakened, mindless King of Hungry Ghosts could be seen as a powerful, ownerless vessel by the White Sun Holy Mother. Using the current layout, they would pry open a loophole and, using the devout faith of some lower-level hungry ghosts as a bridge, truly merge with the King of Hungry Ghosts.

At that point, Yu Ziqing would be completely finished.

These parasites aimed to gnaw away, bit by bit, from the very bottom, until they devoured this new path.

These heretical paths posed little danger to the Divine Dynasty. In this world, where power ultimately resided within oneself, and the Divine Dynasty controlled all upper-level forces and resources, the probability of being overthrown from the bottom was negligible.

But it was dangerous for Yu Ziqing.

"Cècè, chat more with Miss Gu Tianxin. She thoughtfully sent us intelligence. Although it could be seen as a test, it's an open scheme. Since we've learned some things, we can't afford to ignore it. Prepare yourself. We might need to head to Great Zhen next."

"Uh, Young Master, didn't we discuss before that going to Great Li would be most suitable?" Cècè asked, somewhat taken aback. Why the sudden change of plans? Had their discussion been for nothing?

"Maintain contact with Great Li; it mustn't be broken. It's just that we're going to Great Zhen now. There are parasites trying to infest our path and replace it. I know them best, and they actually have a chance of succeeding. How big that chance is no longer important. What's important is that those scumbags genuinely could do it. These audacious fellows have even dared to send some small fry to operate nearby. What else wouldn't they dare to do? They're different from the Divine Dynasty. The Divine Dynasty doesn't dare to take risks because they have too much to lose. They occupy high positions, and major changes risk their fall from grace. But these scumbags, compared to the Divine Dynasty, have nothing to lose but their lives. The barefooted are not afraid of the shod."

Yu Ziqing's expression was grim. He wasn't afraid of dying himself; he was afraid of his identity being discovered by these heretical paths. With his current strength, he probably couldn't even commit suicide. He feared that after his death, these heretical paths would seize his path, his body, and his name, kill his close friends and relatives, and then do things he wouldn't want them to do. That would truly be dying with regrets.

Now, the only way was to be decisive when the parasites began their attempt to parasitize. He needed to think of a way to kill them. Otherwise, by the time the parasites had burrowed inside and become one with his flesh and blood, it would be too late.

Understanding Yu Ziqing's meaning, Cècè was greatly delighted. "Young Master means you're willing to walk the path of the hungry ghost?"

"I can choose not to walk this path, and all of you can walk it, but no outsider can snatch it from me, nor can they snatch it from you."

Cècè immediately performed a deep bow, filled with joy and willingly prostrating himself. Even though Yu Ziqing was currently in human form, he could still cultivate the path of the hungry ghost. He was also, so far, the only living person who could cultivate the path of the hungry ghost in human form. The drawback was that he wasn't currently in the form of a hungry ghost, so the myth of a creator advancing one level per day was out of the question. The advantage, however, was that given his identity, his progress would be much faster than that of ordinary hungry ghosts. Even without any cultivation methods for the path of the hungry ghost currently available, Yu Ziqing could slowly deduce them based on the imprints left on his divine soul, which would be faster than the instinctive cultivation of most hungry ghosts. Furthermore, to be precise, it wouldn't be a complete deviation, and it would be almost error-free. He also had the path induction for Spirit Refining, and Old Yang even had cultivation methods for cultivating ghost paths in human form that he could reference. It wasn't impossible for him to forge a completely unprecedented path.

For the time being, Yu Ziqing continued to plant trees. Regardless, he had to surround the "holy mountain" first. His home couldn't be infiltrated. Countless hungry ghosts resided here. As long as true powerhouses didn't come, no one could force their way into this hundreds-of-miles-wide Locust tree forest. If someone tried to fly in, entering a Qi Refining forbidden zone and facing a village of Body Cultivators, along with countless surrounding hungry ghosts, the scene would surely be quite interesting.

A month later, Yu Ziqing, along with Cècè and Wu Shuangge, embarked on their journey to Great Zhen. Before they had even left the Wasteland, a streak of light descended from the sky. This was a new letter from Gu Tianxin to Cècè. It was an expensive letter, requiring at least eighty to ninety thousand spirit jade to burn. Old Yang cursed the prodigal every time he saw it. With that money, they might as well have rented Great Zhen's Kun You, especially since it wasn't a classified letter. An ordinary Kun You wouldn't cost that much to deliver a letter. If they could figure out Kun You's preferences and appease it, perhaps Kun You would help them for free privately, or take on long-term private jobs at a cheaper rate. As for burning a high-level communication flying sword every time... Damn it, what a spendthrift.

"Young Master, Tianxin says she has returned to Great Li. The situation in Great Zhen is unstable, and Great Zhen has no intention of emulating Great Li's benevolent governance. The White Sun Evil Sacrifice is quite active there, and it's possible they might cause major trouble." Cècè said this, then looked at Yu Ziqing's expression before continuing. "Moreover, they've revised their scriptures and are continuously proselytizing, so their followers are growing rapidly. On the southern border of Great Zhen, some followers dare to walk the streets brazenly during the day."

Yu Ziqing's expression remained unchanged, and he nodded.

"Send a reply saying we'll visit Great Li after spring. Also, they always bring small gifts with their letters, so you should send something back too."

Yu Ziqing flipped his hand, taking out the Alms Sacred Artifact, then another jade bottle, pouring half of the Sweet Dew into it.

"Take a commonly used bowl, spread the rice evenly, add a few drops of Sweet Dew, insert three incense sticks, form the alms mudra, and chant the alms mantra. This can accumulate good karma, calm your inner aggression, and purify demonic thoughts."

"Young Master, this... is it really necessary?" Cece asked, a little confused. This gift was incredibly valuable.

This was because, up to this point, no cultivation method for offering to hungry ghosts had ever been circulated.

This method was also created by Yu Ziqing, an effort to lower the barrier for offerings as much as possible. According to Yu Ziqing's plan, he wanted to lower the threshold so that even mortals could offer to hungry ghosts who had already spoken.

Giving such a return gift was, to a certain extent, equivalent to conveying some information to the other party.

"There's give and take in any relationship, and it prevents people from looking down on you. You understand social etiquette better than I do; you're just too worried because of me.

Don't worry so much. Setting aside everything else, even if it were just the friendship between close confidantes, you should still send a proper return gift."

"Thank you, Young Master." Cece bowed slightly in gratitude.

The jade bottle flew away with Cece's letter.

The connection with Great Li definitely couldn't be severed. At least for now, everyone was still quite happy.

They had already received a lot of intelligence from the other side, and they were continuously spending money to maintain this connection.

Frankly speaking, for them to do this when they didn't know who Yu Ziqing was, and didn't know his true identity, was already a very sincere way of making friends.

It was like having a wealthy female friend who spent hundreds of thousands on postage every time she contacted you, included gifts worth hundreds of thousands, and provided valuable intelligence that couldn't be bought with money.

And on this side, she was just the maid of a young master from a remote mountain village.

If you said this wasn't sincere friendship, then you truly didn't know what sincerity was.

Yu Ziqing read every letter, of course, not by peeking.

He wasn't stupid. He could tell that, setting aside other motives and thoughts, Gu Tianxin was genuinely making friends with Cece.

He had never intended for Cece to stay by his side forever as a tool-like housekeeper. He was actually very happy for Cece to have friends.

As for Wu Shuangge, who always followed him like a silent shadow, forget it. The guy still couldn't speak properly.

If it weren't for the lingering effects of starvation, he wouldn't have brought this stubborn mule out with him this time.

As for not bringing Er Han, one reason was that this guy was too conspicuous. He was practically a lure for Joy Lantern Priests. No Joy Lantern Priest who found him could resist turning him into White Robed Dao Soldiers.

Another reason was that the Village Chief said this guy knew nothing except Body Refining, and couldn't even do the simplest thing like slightly concealing his aura. His Body Refining was also too weak. He wasn't allowed to leave the village until he reached the Body Transformation Realm, or even the Supernatural Realm.

The other villagers were similarly affected. Those who only knew how to do Body Refining had to stay and work or refine their bodies until they reached a certain realm. Otherwise, they would just work themselves to death in the mines and wouldn't be allowed to leave.

Old Yang wanted to come along, but he was at a critical stage in his cultivation and couldn't travel. In the end, they traveled light. It was just Yu Ziqing, Cece, and Wu Shuangge, who insisted on following.

This group definitely wouldn't attract attention.

They headed north along the border between the Wasteland and Great Li, entering Great Zhen.

Yu Ziqing immediately sensed that the atmosphere had completely changed.

The roads, hard-trodden, were always visible, with people migrating towards Great Li.

But along the way, he occasionally saw a mortal cultist trying to brainwash these commoners and lure them away.

About eight hundred li into Great Zhen, Yu Ziqing sensed that something was wrong.

It already had a slight resemblance to the initial stages of disaster in the Wasteland.

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