"A mountain god? I've never heard of a mountain god within a thousand miles of here." A trace of puzzlement stirred in Li Chen, but he still sent a message through his divine sense, dispatching two mid-to-late Foundation Establishment Transformed Demons to deal with it.
Then he dismissed the dancing girls and sat alone in the rear courtyard, pondering.
The Great Qian established its rule through an apotheosis system. Mountains, rivers, valleys, peaks, and great marshes all have their lords, mostly yin spirit cultivators sheltered by incense offerings. Though this method does nothing to help one comprehend the Great Dao, it is certainly practical, much like the mutated dharma body Manifestation I'm cultivating now.
This seems related to the distribution of spirit veins in this region. Across the entire Righteous Qi Continent, spirit veins are scattered throughout the land. Apart from the bitterly cold borderlands and certain desolate stretches of Gobi and desert, most places have levels of spiritual essence comparable to lesser blessed lands on the Eastern Victory Continent. Spiritual energy spills out into heaven and earth, allowing everyone to cultivate.
That's also why I can mine spirit iron, refined gold, and other materials nearby. They're all gifts of nature.
The spirit veins of the Righteous Qi Continent differed from those of the Eastern Victory Continent, giving rise to distinctive local customs and ways of life.
Once, universal cultivation on the Righteous Qi Continent had been regarded as an exceptionally advanced form of civilization. Yet precisely because everyone wanted to rise in the world, enjoy themselves, and stand above others, productivity had instead declined, and rebellion and warfare had erupted everywhere.
This had caused tremendous difficulties for the Great Qian dynasty's rule. Only later, when the Confucian Dao flourished and helped imperial authority stabilize its governance, had it become