Chapter 410: 215: Sacrifice to the Heavenly Pillars_2
Chapter 410: 215: Sacrifice to the Heavenly Pillars_2
Translator: 549690339
Now that Lu Yuan has formed an alliance with the Five Poisons Sect through marriage, the Miao People, who once bore a deep hatred for him, are no longer as uncontrollable as before.
It would be rather cruel to kill all of these more than 700 Miao workers for the sake of keeping secrets.
Furthermore, indiscriminate killing would only reduce his own population.
In that case, it would be better to make these people the guardians of the altar.
After all, these Miao people live in the mountains, and their families can be relocated here to establish a new mountain village near the altar.
With a Miao village nearby, the altar can be maintained, and outsiders can be prevented from destroying it, saving Lu Yuan the trouble of sending additional guards.
Given the Miao people’s preference for living deep in the mountains and their reluctance to venture far, coupled with his strict orders, they could be trusted to keep the secret.
In this way, there would be no need for killing, the Miao people could serve a purpose, and secrecy could be maintained – a perfect solution.
Seeing that the king had made up his mind, Li Qian naturally didn’t dare to say anything and simply said, “Yes, I will obey your orders.”
Then, Li Qian led a battalion of soldiers and drove the Miao people out of the valley together.
Afterward, following Lu Yuan’s instructions, a few teams of soldiers were sent to various places in the mountains to seal off the area within ten miles centered on the valley.
They guarded this secret location tightly.
After everyone else had left, only Lu Yuan and True Person Anqiu remained in the valley.
The mountain breeze was slightly cold, especially in the late autumn season.
The afterglow of the setting sun had disappeared, and the crescent moon in the sky was just beginning to show its sharp edges.
“To worship the Heavenly Pillar, you need the help of the altar. Use your soul to draw the power of Qi Luck, which gathers towards you from the people. Then use this power to communicate with the Three Great Heavenly Pillars standing between Heaven and Earth in this realm.
Once the Heavenly Pillars respond and imprint your soul within them, a connection will be established.
In this way, the worship will be successful. From then on, Fellow Daoist, as long as you are within a thousand miles of this altar, you can sense the Heavenly Pillars and draw on the Immortal Spirit Qi without restraint,” said True Person Anqiu, explaining the precautions to be taken during the upcoming worship ceremony.
Lu Yuan looked at the stone pillar on the altar for a while, quietly enjoying the mountain breeze. Then he turned to True Person Anqiu and said, “Fellow Daoist Anqiu, if there are no problems, I will begin worshiping the Heavenly Pillar now.”
Looking at Lu Yuan with a solemn expression, True Person Anqiu said, “Please do, Fellow Daoist.”
Lu Yuan nodded, closed his eyes and concentrated his mind. As described in the Taiping Dao Book, his soul began to sense the external Qi Luck and people’s emotions.
Within a short time, his meditation was enveloped by a milky white glow that surrounded him and emanated from countless spots of light.
Each spot of light contained an emotion, with good and evil, joy and sorrow, bitterness and happiness, worry and joy all filling the spots. Each spot represented a person’s emotions, and together they formed an ocean of emotions, like the Milky Way, making Lu Yuan feel insignificant like a speck of dust.
He gently approached a spot of light, and immediately the emotion within it was transferred over.
“Ah, it’s so bitter, why hasn’t this bitter world come to an end, and why do we have to fight again?”
A huge sentiment of sorrow enveloped Lu Yuan’s soul, almost making him unable to hold back his tears.
As he touched other spots of light, various emotions also emerged.
“Haha, it’s a good time to be alive. Back when Da Yue was around, I tried for ten years to pass the juren examination but never succeeded. Now that Da Yue is gone and Changsha has been established, I finally passed the exam and can become an official.”
“I will be on the battlefield tomorrow. I wonder how many people I will be able to kill and whether I will survive.”
“The year is almost over, and I still haven’t earned enough money. It seems there will be no meat for the New Year again.”
“The harvest was good this autumn, so I should be able to eat well next year.”
Different identities, emotions, and beliefs all appeared in Lu Yuan’s mind at the same time.
As their souls touched each other, he felt empathy for the emotions within the spots of light.
Several emotions surged through him at once, nearly driving Lu Yuan mad. He quickly withdrew from those perspectives, not daring to touch them again.
‘The power of Qi Luck and people’s hearts is truly terrifying. I only touched a few of them, and my mind and heart were barely able to withstand it. If the combined Qi Luck of a million people were to surge at me all at once, I would probably shatter my soul and die instantly!’
Lu Yuan looked around at the dazzling points of light that resembled the Milky Way, a tremor flashing in his eyes.
No wonder those who cultivated the Taiping Dao Book before could not last for two months and perished prematurely.
Who could withstand the torture of such poisonous Qi Luck and human hearts, even for a short time?
Even though the Taiping Dao Book had methods to shield them from the poison of Qi Luck and human hearts, keeping their minds unaffected, the cost was an extremely high toll on their bodies, continuously depleting their life force. It might not be lethal in a few days, but they wouldn’t live long either.
Cultivating this technique was indeed purely a suicidal path.
Those from the Dan Ding Path who dared not cultivate this suicidal technique were only too eager to let others do it instead. Their malicious intent was evident.
It was a pity for Anqiu, who always wore a smiling face before.
Yet, everyday, he pushed Lu Yuan to cultivate the Taiping Dao Book. Wasn’t this just urging him to hurry up and die?
‘So it was right to use the Five Thunders Book to cover up the Taiping Dao Book before, even risking a rift with the Dan Ding Path, and not exposing my strategy of being unaffected by life-shortening effects.’
Otherwise, given the viciousness of those from the Dan Ding Path, if they were to discover my secret…
I’m afraid they would do everything in their power to capture me and then probe the secrets within me.’
If Lu Yuan had only deceived the Dan Ding Path for some aid, it would be a significant loss for them.
But given Lu Yuan’s current strength, even if the Dan Ding Path wanted revenge, they would have to weigh the cost.
So it’s unlikely they would directly cause trouble for him; at most, they would secretly employ some small schemes, such as inciting rebellion among his subordinates, or instigating Yue Country and Zhou Country to attack him.
Lu Yuan had ways to deal with and resolve these troubles.
But if he faced the pursuit and assassination from the entire Dan Ding Path, that would be a different matter.
Facing the threat of several cultivators, even with an army of a hundred thousand to protect him, Lu Yuan could not say he was completely fearless.
Not to mention, in reality, he could not always have a hundred thousand soldiers with him.
‘So for now, I’ll have to be cautious, and keep a low profile. First, I’ll finish worshipping the Heavenly Pillar and obtain the entry ticket to freely use the Heavenly and Earthly Aura.’
As for how long I can fool them, it depends on when the Dan Ding Path discovers the truth.
I hope that day comes later.’
With this in mind, Lu Yuan hesitated no more and immediately guided the vast starry river before him according to the Taiping Dao Book.
Then, as the Milky Way circulated, an intangible rhythm spread from it, diffusing between Heaven and Earth.
After doing this three times.
In an instant, an immense divine power descended from the sky and followed the connection to land on the altar where it entered the stone pillar.
In Lu Yuan’s meditation, a majestic Heavenly Pillar emitting golden light appeared, piercing through the Milky Way. With just a slight stir, it absorbed the countless points of light, forming specks of light on its surface.
After completing this task, the Heavenly Pillar disappeared again.
The darkness in the void of meditation returned.
After a while.
Lu Yuan came back to his senses, still marvelling at the magnificent Heavenly Pillar.
Then he found that he had a faint connection with an enormous power, as if he could draw strength from the Heavenly Pillar and obtain Immortal Spirit energy at any time he wished.
Although this was the case, Lu Yuan didn’t try to do so, and instead, slowly opened his eyes.
Entering his sight were the stone pillar emitting a brilliant golden light, and the delighted face of True Person Anqiu beside him.
Well, seeing the latter, those brief feelings of joy in Lu Yuan vanished instantly.