Ten Thousand Households

Inside a private room.

Fang Yu held a young woman by the waist with one arm while drinking to drown his sorrows.

The more he thought about it, the more miserable he felt. Those were mid-grade Spirit Stones! He didn't need much. If he could have secretly mined a million mid-grade Spirit Stones in a year, that would probably have been enough to cultivate all the way to the Golden Core stage.

Even if he couldn't mine that many, or ran into danger along the way, he could simply flee to the Dao of Qi Ingestion. Surely no one would chase him all the way there?

At worst, he could hide there for a few decades before returning.

But it was no use thinking about it now. The fortuitous opportunity had already slipped through his fingers.

After downing a cup of wine, he rose, scooped the young woman beside him into his arms, and carried her to the bed in the adjoining room. He tossed her onto it and pounced.

Two hours later.

Fang Yu returned to the small courtyard, his gloom mostly dispelled. What was past was past. A person had to look forward.

It's been five years. The sparks should be just about ready. It's time I went to reap a harvest.

With that thought, his figure vanished.

Dao of Qi Ingestion. Anping Prefecture.

The first day of the sixth month.

More than a thousand Great Peace Village followers had gathered in a village square.

Their voices reciting scripture joined in a humming spiritual atmosphere.

"Let the heart be an ancient well reflecting the river of stars, and the will a steadfast rock amid surging waves. Gather Qi at the three pure times, practice facing the five virtuous directions. Without, withstand the turbid waves of the three calamities; within, nurture the primordial true yang. Upon reaching great consummation, the body itself shall be Great Peace Village..."

As Fang Yu listened to the followers below reciting the scripture, sparks appeared in his eyes. Looking at the crowd gathered below, he could clearly see a flame burning in each person's chest.

Some flames were large, some small. Some blazed fiercely, while others were only as big as beans. A few followers mingled among them whose heart flames had not been kindled at all.

"Collect!"

At Fang Yu's soft command, the flames in the followers' hearts trembled slightly, then emerged from their bodies and drifted toward him. Soon, a spark floated above his palm.

Then came a second spark, and a third. More and more sparks gathered together, turning the single spark into a flame.

"It takes several thousand people to gather a single Fire of Ten Thousand Households, and forty-nine such fires to gather a single breath of Spiritual Qi."

Fang Yu turned his hand, put away the Fire of Ten Thousand Households, and headed for the next gathering of Great Peace Village followers.

Great Peace Village held gatherings on the first and fifteenth of every month. During the busy farming season, they gathered only on the evening of the fifteenth.

The gatherings consisted mainly of reciting scripture, settling disputes between neighbors, treating illnesses, and handling marriages. In practice, they had replaced the authority and power once held in the countryside by clans, village elders, local tyrants, and landlords.

Fang Yu had never interfered with these practical arrangements; they had all formed spontaneously. Nor had he ever considered relying on these followers to vie for supremacy over the world.

Here in the Dao of Qi Ingestion, anyone who wanted to vie for supremacy over the world needed someone above them, just as Embroidered Tiger had Mount Longmen's tacit approval. Otherwise, they probably wouldn't even know how they died.

For now, he merely collected the Fires of Ten Thousand Households. He had never openly stepped forward, nor had he left himself a back door in the scripture, such as giving himself the identity of a "savior."

Thus, he would not attract Mount Longmen's attention in the short term. After all, there were plenty of sectarian societies within Ping'an Prefecture these days, and Safe Village was far from the only one.

Many other folk sectarian societies had been established by Rogue Cultivators. Their purpose was essentially the same as Fang Yu's: to seize the chance to practice their Dao and increase their Dao Attainment.

Of course, different fates and different Cultivation Methods required different rituals and different things to be gathered. Some needed Qi and Blood, some living souls, some Sha Qi, some plague Qi, and so on. The source of it all was the hundreds of millions of mortals in Anping Prefecture.

Several months later.

At a gathering, Fang Yu collected the last Fire of Ten Thousand Households. His figure immediately turned into a red streak and vanished.

Several hours later, he arrived in a cave and took out the Fires of Ten Thousand Households.

The flame formed by the forty-nine Fires of Ten Thousand Households resembled a lotus in full bloom. Though it burned constantly, he could feel no heat from it.

This fire comes from the human heart. It seems to have no heat, but it is extremely dangerous. It could easily injure me!

Fang Yu murmured to himself, recalling the contents of the Starfire Heart-Burning Instruction as he quietly prepared.

The fire I kindled with the Essential Techniques of Peace came from hearts seeking peace, so it shouldn't be too dangerous. I should be able to withstand it.

Fang Yu took several deep breaths, closed his eyes, and circulated his Cultivation Method.

"Inhale..."

As he breathed, the flame trembled slightly, then turned into a wisp of fire that entered Fang Yu's nose. It traveled through his meridians, transforming into a wisp of Qi Ingestion Law Power that gathered in his heart meridian.

Suddenly, voices and images appeared:

"Kill them! You damned landlords!"

"Thank you, General Zhang Sheng, for ridding us of such villains!"

"I only want to farm in peace. Why are you forcing me?"

"Killing intent becomes an auspicious haze when it meets me, and weapons turn gentle when they touch my body. This is the Peaceful Clear Light Shield! You rebel soldiers, why haven't you accepted death?"

"So long as Embroidered Tiger agrees to Safe Village's autonomy, provisions are open to negotiation. Otherwise, there's nothing to discuss."

"..."

As Fang Yu ingested the Fire of Ten Thousand Households wisp by wisp, the images and voices flashed before him like a revolving lantern.

An unknown time later, Fang Yu opened his eyes. The Fire of Ten Thousand Households had vanished, transformed into a strand of Qi Ingestion Law Power coiled within his heart meridian.

"The karmic ties and fortune in this fire are so heavy!"

Fang Yu's expression grew grave. He had not expected the karmic ties and fortune attached to the Fire of Ten Thousand Households to be so heavy. Ingesting this fire was equivalent to linking his fortune to that of thousands upon thousands of mortals.

No, I can't bear karmic ties this heavy!

Fang Yu murmured to himself, then called out, "Yuanchen Pearl!"

The Yuanchen Pearl spun in his sea of consciousness. The strand of Law Power was immediately drawn into it and transformed into Primordial Qi, which then became Starfire Law Power and was reinjected into Fang Yu's heart meridian.

At the same time, another separate area was carved out of his sea of consciousness, and points of starlight streamed from the Yuanchen Pearl into it.

Sensing that the Law Power was now utterly pure, without the slightest trace of fortune or karmic ties, Fang Yu breathed a sigh of relief.

"With the Yuanchen Pearl, I can remain untouched by karmic ties and unaffected by the fortune of others!"

That way, he no longer had to concern himself with Safe Village's survival. He could leave it to develop as it pleased; whether it lived or died had nothing to do with him. Even if a Purple Mansion mighty figure calculated its fortune and karmic ties in the future, they would not lead back to him.

"But what are these?"

His consciousness turned to the newly isolated area, and he gently touched one of the tiny points.

The next moment, he understood.

These were actually fragments of the followers' fortune.

With this fortune, he could theoretically calculate everything about them at any time, as though he had opened a back door.

Of course, he could also weave their fortune, thereby influencing their fate.

"Hmm! Using this fortune as a guide, I could draw their true spirits to me after they die and use them to refine soldiers and horses of the three altars. Unfortunately, I'm not a disciple of Mount Longhu. Otherwise, I could easily have my own troops of the five camps, or even heavenly soldiers and generals."

Fang Yu had studied the introductory Cultivation Methods of the major Dao lineages in detail, and the relevant fate abilities of Mount Longhu's lineage immediately came to mind.

But he could only think about it. Core inheritances like those of Mount Longhu could not be obtained easily. Even if he obtained them, he lacked the corresponding fate and could not cultivate them at all.

"Hmm, the auction in Mosquito Immortal City is about to begin. It's time I went and broadened my horizons!"

Fang Yu murmured to himself, and his figure vanished.