Foreign lands
The wishing pool really did work.
But Fang Weiyan wondered whether, after the koi had taken effect on him, its influence had extended to the incense offerings.
He really had felt that considerably more people had been coming to offer incense lately.
After casually clearing away the incense ash and pulling out some incense stubs, Fang Weiyan did not linger in the main hall.
The worshippers who came later all liked to ask him to tell their fortunes and such whenever they saw him.
This left Fang Weiyan rather helpless.
He could hardly tell every single person's fortune, no matter how many came each day.
Besides, he truly had no way to keep telling other people's fortunes now.
So for the moment, it was better to hide away and consider it going off to cultivate.
Linbei County.
Fang Weiyan returned to Linbei County and sought out the Earth God.
He told the Earth God that he wanted to cultivate.
After hearing Fang Weiyan's words, the Earth God fell silent for a long while.
"My lord, cultivation is far too difficult for mortals. Besides, this humble god has no cultivation method that would allow you to cultivate."
It was not that the Earth God did not want to help Fang Weiyan; he truly was powerless to do so.
"Even this humble god only obtained this minor divine office because countless common folk sang my praises during my lifetime and established a divine seat for me after my death. Even now, I still need to rely on the people's incense offerings to have divine power."
The Earth God briefly explained to Fang Weiyan how he had obtained his divine seat.
He had never known how to cultivate in the first place.
Hearing this, Fang Weiyan immediately felt rather disappointed. If even the Earth God did not know how to cultivate, whom should he seek out for guidance next?
"In that case, are there no other people in this world who understand cultivation?"
Still somewhat unwilling to give up, Fang Weiyan asked another question.
At this, the Earth God fell silent for a moment, as though pondering something. "I have heard of some, but such people rarely show themselves. This humble god has never met them and has only heard of them."
Heard of them...
Listening to this, Fang Weiyan sighed inwardly.
He knew that he probably would not be able to cultivate anytime soon.
But if there was no way for the moment, he could put it off.
As long as there was even the slightest chance, he should be able to encounter it in the future.
With that thought, Fang Weiyan prepared to bid the Earth God farewell and return to the yamen.
Seeing that Fang Weiyan was about to leave, the Earth God hesitated before finally speaking.
"My lord, if you truly wish to cultivate, there is another way..."
"What way?"
Hearing this, Fang Weiyan immediately perked up. He turned around and looked at the Earth God's divine tablet with shining eyes.
"That would be to establish a divine seat for you. Linbei County no longer has a City God. If you wish, you could have a City God statue sculpted in your likeness."
"Establishing a divine seat for you now would count as registering you with the Underworld Administration in advance. Should you one day grow old, or die in an accident, as long as your divine seat has accumulated enough incense offerings, you would be able to become the City God directly."
"That way, you would be able to cultivate as well."
The Earth God explained the method to Fang Weiyan step by step.
First, Fang Weiyan would need to establish a divine seat and have a City God statue made, one modeled after his own appearance.
But if he did so, the incense offerings in Linbei County would henceforth be divided between the Earth God and Fang Weiyan.
There had not been many incense offerings to begin with. With Fang Weiyan added to the mix, he might very well take the lion's share.
This would be very bad for the Earth God, but after thinking it over, he still chose not to conceal anything and told Fang Weiyan about this method.
Fang Weiyan's expression immediately stiffened as he listened.
What kind of netherworld cultivation method is this? After all that talk, wouldn't I still have to die before I could cultivate?
"Can't mortals directly absorb incense offerings and turn them into divine power?"
Thinking about what the Earth God had said, Fang Weiyan felt that it was a little too much of a netherworld approach.
He still wanted to be able to cultivate while he was alive.
"Mortals may be able to do so, but this humble god knows no method."
The Earth God replied, telling Fang Weiyan that he did not have that ability.
At this, Fang Weiyan sighed. "I understand. Let me think this matter over."
If there truly was no other way, what the Earth God had suggested did indeed seem like a possible path.
At the very least, it could guarantee that he would still be able to go on living if he died in an accident.
Would that count as giving myself an extra life?
Fang Weiyan pondered the matter, considering whether it would work.
A short while later, Fang Weiyan followed the cement road back to the yamen.
By now, the roads in Linbei County had almost all been renovated.
The smooth, level roads were much more comfortable to walk on.
This was especially true for the people of Linbei County, who normally wore straw sandals.
Though they were accustomed to it, walking on uneven roads covered in stones would still hurt their feet somewhat.
Things were different now. Walking on these roads was several times more comfortable.
In his study, Fang Weiyan took out the books he had recently obtained and began reading.
These were books from this world, filled with accounts of gods, ghosts, and strange occurrences.
Some things were fabricated, but others were true.
These books had only been found after that elderly teacher from before had spent a long time searching.
Fang Weiyan opened the books and read carefully.
He wanted to use these books to learn more about this world.
In their accounts, Fang Weiyan once again saw mention of the Merfolk Kingdom and the Kingdom in the Clouds.
As he read the records in the books, Fang Weiyan raised his brows slightly.
The mermaids of the Merfolk Kingdom were skilled at weaving merfolk gauze. This gauze was said to be exceedingly expensive, shining like moonlight and impervious to water and fire-a true treasure.
The cloud cloth woven by the fairies of the Kingdom in the Clouds was likewise a costly fabric that was its equal in every way.
Here in their Jiang Kingdom, these were treasures that even ten thousand in gold could scarcely buy.
Looking closely, Fang Weiyan found that the book even contained some rough illustrations of cloud cloth and merfolk gauze.
The illustrations were extremely indistinct, but he could roughly make out that both seemed quite extraordinary.
After studying the illustrations before him, Fang Weiyan casually turned the page, intending to read the next one, only to freeze a moment later.
At the bottom of this page, there was another line of small text.
"By chance, in a book brought from a foreign land, I learned of an account concerning the fairies of the Kingdom in the Clouds. Rumor has it that these fairies are not actually fairies, but merely women with rather unusual bloodlines who live and reproduce within a Law Treasure."
"'Fairies of the Kingdom in the Clouds' is, in fact, merely what the people of the Jiang Kingdom call them."
Foreign lands? Bloodlines?
Reading the line written there, Fang Weiyan could not help being taken aback.
Judging by what is written here, isn't the Jiang Kingdom the only human kingdom in this world?
If what is written here is true, it seems...
The foreign lands seem to be more powerful than the Jiang Kingdom. Otherwise, they wouldn't have such a clear understanding of the Kingdom in the Clouds.