Five Pests and Six Parasites

Before long, the enthusiastic Sarilang, accompanied by the Guiche, retrieved a thick, gray bamboo scroll from the religious history archives, which was under the care (cleaning) of the Saintess. The scroll had apparently not been touched for several years.

"The five vermin of a nation, the six lice of a country—do you think rumors and gossip are just idle talk? Back then, those aristocratic families cultivated their knowledge and skills to the end, and they all became 'gossip immortals.' Look, I remember right here, and they look exactly the same."

"Flying Immortals? Clans? Wait, so the term 'parasites of the nation' isn't just a figure of speech...?"

Li Fan leaned closer to take a look and saw a lifelike drawing of a cockroach's anatomy inside the bamboo slip, as if a flat cockroach had been rolled up and killed inside. No wonder Sarilang recognized it at a glance. Imagine, during late-night self-study, this drawing suddenly appeared, revealing the truth behind it – he'd probably be scared out of his wits! How could he not remember it vividly...?

"These are secrets that can only be found in the sacred scriptures of the cult. Although they are extremely ancient, and many Guanmen have been wiped out, don't just tell anyone."

"Time for some gossip! "Sarilang thought excitedly. Guiche Li Fan glanced at her with a sly look.

"Ahem, according to legend, during the Ancient Immortal Palace era, when the Immortal Venerable established his rule over the world, the Human Race began to have a hundred schools of thought contending, and various paths vying for destiny. Later, the Immortal Emperor who ascended the throne revered Confucianism, appointed scholars and great Confucian scholars to assist in governing the Twelve Countries, compiled the Investiture of the Gods the Gods with books and registers, managed the unorthodox cultivators of the world with the Immortal Register, and collected the classics and Daoist teachings of the world, storing them in the Orchid Terrace. This formed the system of the Demon Palace we know today."

It was also from that era of Confucianism's dominance that powerful clans began to emerge.

The term "gate family" refers to the two pillars at the gate of an official's residence. The one on the left is called "gate" and the one on the right is called "review." The gate and the review were used to display merits, show off family achievements, and flaunt power. Such meritorious families naturally had family classics passed down through generations, which attracted talented people from all over the world to serve them. They would submit their letters and petitions, and as long as their talents were appreciated, they would have the opportunity to be accepted as disciples by a great scholar from the aristocratic family and then recommended to serve in the Ancient Immortal Palace.

The powerful clans that held sway over the central government of the Ancient Immortal Palace were all Confucian scholars. When they entered the palace, they served as generals and prime ministers; when they left, they taught and lectured. Their students and former officials were all over the world, and their descendants inherited their family learning, becoming high-ranking officials for generations, wielding immense power in the court.

Later, successive Celestial Emperors also noticed that these powerful clans and factions were forming cliques and becoming too powerful to control. So they launched the Party Prohibitions many times to suppress and quell these powerful clans. Then, the incident of the Profound Maiden assassinating the Emperor in the palace occurred.

From then on, the imperial clan weakened, the power of the Ziwei Yuan fell into the hands of other clans, and the Imperial Guards were also defeated by the Xuanmen. At that time, the Three Enclosures naturally fell into the hands of powerful clans.

In fact, at that time, the rebel army of Xuanmen had already fought to a standstill with the imperial guards of the Ancient Immortal Palace, suffering heavy losses. The immortal Immortal Palace still possessed the wealth of the world and still had vassal armies in various places, so it was not without a chance of victory. It was not that Xuan Nu could destroy the immortal Immortal Palace and change the dynasty just because she killed the Profound Maiden emperor.

However, the powerful clans of the Three Realms still took the initiative to negotiate, granting them Grotto-Heaven Blessed Land and removing them from the list of immortals and gods. What exactly the decision-makers were planning behind the scenes and what deals they made remains a subject of much debate.

However, for a long period after the ascension of the Profound Maiden and before the rise of the God Lord, the imperial court was much like it is today, with the three dukes from aristocratic families in charge, and naturally, infighting began within these families.

Back then, there were top-tier clans like Kong, Fu, Huan, Yang, Wang, Xie, Yuan, and Xiao, all of whom inherited classic teachings and were no less powerful than the Xuanmen (Daoist sect) of today. Meanwhile, our Divine Sect's Zhang, Duan, Ban, and Lu were originally just second-rate local strongmen.

However, fortunes change, and those powerful clans, vying for power, perished one by one, only to be wiped out by the rising power of the gods, thus exiting the stage of history. Naturally, their family traditions were lost along with them.

"What's with all these insects? Why are there ants and mantises too...?"

Li Fan flipped through the pages and found it was practically an encyclopedia of insects, containing not only cockroaches, but also cicadas, mantises, ants, and... moths...

"Don't rush, I haven't finished yet. Since the Immortal Venerable ascended to heaven, the policy of successive Immortal Emperors has been to strictly keep the cultivation methods of the Human Race a secret, using Foundation Establishment Pills, Divine Essence Pill Divine Infant Pill to control the Immortal Army. Only those who make meritorious contributions and are ennobled can receive corresponding rewards. They also hunt down and suppress unorthodox cultivators. In this way, they firmly control the cultivators and cultivation methods of the Human Race in the hands of the Imperial Family."

The reason why the Celestial Emperor chose to exclusively promote Confucianism was because "Confucius did not speak of strange phenomena, physical prowess, disorder, or spirits." At most, Confucianism was conferred by imperial decree after his death, and since it was detached from the Immortal Palace's edict, it lacked a solid foundation and would not shake the rule of the imperial clan.

However, there was one exception at the time: the Grand Master of Ceremonies.

Li Fan narrowed his eyes, "... What's wrong with Taichang?"

"The Grand Master of Ceremonies is the head of the Nine Ministers. The rites for establishing a nation and establishing a state, the rituals for bestowing titles upon gods and offering sacrifices to ghosts, astrology and divination, shamanism, medicine and prayer—these are all hereditary secret methods, indispensable. Therefore, the Immortal Emperor made an exception and allowed these Grand Masters of Ceremonies to practice these secret methods."

The Taichang (太常) also had a Taishi (太史) office, which served the emperor, recorded his daily life and the national annals. Under the Taishi were the Lantai Lingshi (蘭台令史), who were in charge of writing memorials and printing documents, and also proofreading the imperial collection of books and writings.

Those who served as the scribes of the Imperial Library at that time were naturally scholars and Confucian masters from aristocratic families. To be fair, in the era of the Ancient Immortal Palace, they were all elite talents selected from among thousands. When the ancient Daoist sects were cruelly suppressed by the Immortal Emperor and had no other way out, there was a capable person who, taking advantage of the opportunity to verify the records, actually memorized all kinds of secret treasures of the Demon Race collected and sealed in the Imperial Library. He even used this to deduce and comprehend a new Daoist method besides the Immortal Venerable's Body Refining Technique!

However, perhaps they misremembered something and went astray, or perhaps the difference between humans and demons was too great. In any case, the cultivation methods that Dr. Lantai deduced from the Demon Race Cultivation Method would inexplicably become like insects in the end, and they never knew where the mistake was. On the contrary, later, a mysterious Profound Maiden descended from the heavens and inherited the method of Qi refining, which finally allowed them to maintain their human bodies.

Therefore, the God Lord speculated that the powerful clans at the time betrayed the Immortal Emperor and secretly cooperated with the Xuanmen in order to protect themselves and obtain the method of human cultivation. The Xuanmen seemed to be in a similar situation. Although they worshipped Profound Maiden Mysterious Maiden, the Profound Maiden was not of ordinary human form, so the Nine Heavenly Books were not feasible. In the end, they had to turn to the method of ascension to put aside their feud with the powerful clans. However, the specifics are unclear.

As for the transformations into these moths, cockroaches, and ants, there's no necessary connection. It's mainly because the various scholars at Lantai have different understandings of Demon Race cultivation and their respective cultivation methods. No one knows which transformation is the correct path of cultivation; in short, they all recorded it.

At that time, Confucianism and Daoism were both family-based schools of thought, with classic texts passed down through generations. Therefore, they secretly recorded the cultivation methods from the Imperial Library in their own family books, in the commentaries on the Four Books and Five Classics, and thus managed to smuggle them out of the Imperial Library and pass them on secretly within their families. For example, the method of transforming into a cicada for studying the Book of Poetry, into a flying hawk for studying the Book of Changes, into a moth for studying the Book of Rites, and into a butterfly for studying the Book of Documents all originated in this way.

"This cockroach must be a disciple of some great Confucian scholar who studied the I Ching, right? Back in the day, the Yuan Clan Gen Province of Hebei, Hebei, were masters of the I Ching. Four generations of them held high office, and their disciples and followers were all over the country; they were the most famous."

"I never knew there was such a secret..."

Li Fan was also greatly impressed. In fact, the powerful clans had indeed declined in this era. Back then, all the major families had been wiped out by internal strife, and most of the survivors had flocked to the Xuanmen. Local Confucian and Daoist academies had long since stopped limiting themselves to students and were now recruiting disciples to study, but they certainly wouldn't teach any ascension techniques. In the end, it was still the same stuff from the Investiture of the Gods. The tradition had long been reorganized by the Xuanmen.

"That's right. The Ban Family, who are descendants of the Pure Dharma King, had ancestors who served as scribes in the Imperial Library. Many of the treasured secrets in this library of the Divine Sect are classics brought by the Ban Family when they were sent to the Western Regions."

Of course, most of it was later seized from Yuntai Peak by the Divine Lord. However, the Sword Ancestor Xuantian also brought people, and several rounds of fighting ensued, resulting in the severe loss of secret teachings, and many inheritances are now unverifiable. But these ancient secrets still exist."

Hmm? Wasn't the Xuan Girl Heavenly Book the one the Divine Lord snatched from Yuntai Peak? Or is the so-called Xuan Girl Heavenly Book and the Lantai Daoist Canon actually the same thing...?

Li Fan frowned and thought for a moment. The Yuan family had cockroaches, and the Yangxiang Marquis Xie Family had moths. Marquis Yangxiang, Minister Wang, was probably a direct descendant of a royal family to be able to take charge of the Weaving Bureau. He had also obtained a lot of books from the Xiao Family in Jiangling, and there were probably some classics from the Imperial Library among them. It seems that quite a few powerful families had indeed crossed the threshold and come into contact with the inheritance of ancient spirit insects.

Sarilang proudly boasted, "The Immortal Palace is outdated. No matter how powerful the Celestial Venerable is, he can't withstand the machinations of these four great families and eight great families. Those powerful clans think they've schemed everything and are manipulating the Celestial Immortal Palace, but how long can they laugh? In the end, they all fell to the Divine Lord. In the end, it's still my Divine Sect's methods that are truly powerful; even the Demonic Sect and the Celestial Immortals have to come and steal them."

Hey, don't be so arrogant...

Just then, a bell rang out from outside the hall Sarilang was startled and immediately put away the ancient scroll and sat up straight. Li Fan also knew that someone from the Divine Sect had come to pay homage to the Saintess, so he flapped his wings and transformed into a demon god protector, standing behind her.

Before long, a blood-red figure drifted into the hall to pay his respects. At the same time, four other blood-red figures followed, their escape lights shining into the hall. They were all the Saintess's protectors and bodyguards, also using their Blood God Child clones to surround the envoy, guarding against things like possession or assassination.

"Greetings, Saintess! A secret report has arrived from the Central Plains!"

Li Fan then stepped forward and took the Ghost-Faced God Lord Jade that the other party had given him. After checking that there were no poisonous curses or hidden attacks, he handed it to the Saintess for her to open.

He guessed that the blood jade probably contained the intelligence he had just mentioned: the Blood Talisman God Sect's army had set out for Duizhou to wage war against the Immortal Palace. He was now formally sharing the military progress with the Saintess, who was also one of the Ten Ultimate Venerables.

But to everyone's surprise, Sarilang opened the God Lord Jade, took out the blood talisman from it, pressed it to his brow, and glanced at it. He was so shocked that he jumped up and his expression changed drastically.

Oh, you've been an undercover agent for so long, you're really good at pretending it's the first time you've heard about this. But it's just war, isn't this a bit of an over-the-top performance?

Then, in the next second, Sarilang cried out in alarm, "What! The Demon Palace's Emperor is lost!"

Holy crap!

Not to mention Li Fan, even the Blood God Child Protectors and messengers all trembled and nearly lost their composure.

Sarilang feigned a slip of the tongue and gave Li Fan a look, "This matter must not be leaked! I need to contact the Sect Leader immediately. Guiche! Go outside and guard the main altar; strictly prohibit anyone from entering or leaving!"

Li Fan immediately understood, pretending to be obedient and being kicked out to guard the gate. At the same time, he quickly returned to his original body and used the key information he had unexpectedly gained to make calculations.

Good heavens, good heavens! No wonder the general guarding the pass dared not stop them, and the Grand Tutor was also keeping quiet, not daring to send people to arrest them!

After all that, it turns out that Ziwei Yuan lost wasn't just a mere half of the Tiger Tally!

It's strange, though. He's been to the Ziwei Yuan before; its tight security is no joke. So many people are watching the stamping robots. He remembers having three historians by his side when he met the Emperor. A few days ago, during the struggle for the Weaving Bureau, the Jingji was almost completely wiped out, yet the Grand Tutor and the Guardian General didn't budge. How did he manage to escape right under the Grand Tutor's nose?

Was it Xinling Gong's servant who was behind this? Most likely, they were involved, but how exactly did they manage it? Stealing the Tiger Tally is one thing, but having the emperor himself appear out of thin air to steal it is quite another.

What puzzled Li Fan even more was that when he tried to deduce the situation, he couldn't find anything wrong with the Three Palaces. It was as if the Three Palaces were perfectly fine, and the entire situation was under the Grand Tutor's control. Of course, if he could easily deduce that the emperor in the Immortal Palace was gone, the world would have been in chaos long ago.

But is the Grand Tutor really that sure? Or is the Divine Cult just bored and creating a big scandal out of nothing? Surely it doesn't come to that...

"Ahem, Li Fan, are you busy right now?"

Damn it! You guys are joining in the fun at a time like this! My hands are shaking while I'm casting the divination! Can't we talk about this later?!

'Uh... theoretically speaking, no... the kind where the sky falls down...'

Sigh... You guys are quite polite, even if the sky were to fall, you'd at least ask if I'm busy... Oh well, I can't figure that out anyway, so what?

"Oh, didn't we discover an external hacking chain earlier, and send you to investigate the prosthetic body? Heh, we made a mistake."

... It's alright, anyway, you guys never disappoint when it comes to being unreliable.

"No, don't say that. That guy's first connection time was too short, and it was in an area with so many interference sources, so it was inevitable that he would make a mistake. But we caught him the second time he appeared."

Here, I've sent you the coordinates. You jump over there, snap his neck, and that's it.

Hmm? Can I twist my neck now? No more touching my head?

'There's no need for that. This guy isn't a customer; he's specifically coming in from an external server. Logically, the company's firewall shouldn't be that weak. I think someone must have opened a backdoor for him, granting him backend administrator privileges.'

'Hmph, most likely it's the CEO from Zhuānxū's side. He doesn't dare completely trust his own son, so he's kept a backup plan, hiring hackers from outside to investigate. He's got two plans, one overt and one covert. Ha, what an old dog in the company.'

'This hacker must have gained some company privileges and keys, allowing direct access to local assets. If the first access was a trial, the second is probably a full-scale attack. But it's alright; judging from the vehicle's signal strength, it's just a level three creature, a weak, Golden Core- level Bio-Human. However, it seems to be wearing combat armor.'

Li Fan stroked his chin, glanced at the coordinates, and counted on his fingers. It seemed to be near Sanyuan...

"I said, you all heard what they said earlier, right? Something about the Immortal Palace's Emperor going missing... What a coincidence! Could it be this guy? I mean, the Immortal Palace has a lot of equipment. Could it be that he used company privileges and got mistaken for the Celestial Emperor or something?"

"Well, that depends on how the company writes the script. If those kings and generals are all clone actors, then the so-called Immortal Emperor's authority can indeed allow for free transfer between characters and direct access to company equipment. After all, it's just a line of code. This also makes it easier for the company's employees to write and act out the storylines."

'However, that hacker wouldn't easily use a key functional role in the script, causing a sudden increase in the deviation value, which would attract attention. Besides, logically speaking, changes in company system permissions shouldn't be noticeable to cultivators, unless...'

Unless what?

'Unless he's been poisoned.'

You mean the puppet?

'No, the puppet's attack is much more obvious; this data error seems more like a computer virus.'

Qin Jiu swallowed hard, looking at the metal-armored giant who had suddenly fallen from the sky. If he hadn't used cinnabar to stop it in time, he would have almost kicked it to pieces.

No, no! You said it was only the Foundation Establishment stage?? And are all the bandits in the Central Plains this level? That's going too far!