Qi Cultivation Starting from the Repair Panel

The Divine Court has only thirty-six thousand five hundred divine positions, yet cultivators who practice the Incense Fire Divine Path number in the millions.

Once you enter the Divine Court, you may still be ousted from the rank of Orthodox God, and if you fail to enter, you are relegated to the ranks of Indecent Sacrifice, becoming a Wild God without the protection of the Divine Court.

The fights among Indecent Sacrifice Evil Gods are extremely brutal. Wars frequently break out over the struggle for incense believers, and countless Indecent Sacrifices have been wiped out from ancient times to the present.n/ô/vel/b//jn dot c//om

The majority of cultivators who practice the Incense Fire Divine Path perish in the end.

Yuan Dazun now placed his hopes on this Dao Lord who had suddenly emerged. If this Dao Lord could become influential in the future, Yuan Dazun might share in his success and would likely receive many privileges.

Just like the Food God, who coincidentally prepared a meal for that Great Emperor and is now a mainstay of the Divine Court.

...

...

In the blink of an eye, seven years had passed.

With the untiring efforts of Yuan Dazun, the number of Chu Zheng's believers had increased significantly.

The number of True Believers had grown to over a hundred while False Believers had already surpassed ten thousand.

Daoist Venerable Zheng Chu now had his first temple, and magic artifacts inscribed with the name of Daoist Venerable Zheng Chu had been produced by the thousands, worshipped by numerous believers in their home shrines.

The power of incense flowed to Chu Zheng's original body every day, a steady and constant trickle.

The sky gradually darkened, snowflakes fell from the sky, and the cold stars twinkled.

Outside the Dao Lord's temple, several True Believers rotated in guarding the place, ceaselessly alternating day and night.

Within the vast temple spanning over six zhang, Chu Zheng, dressed in a black and white robe, sat cross-legged at the center of the temple, quietly cultivating.

This temple was built through the combined efforts of Yuan Dazun and many True Believers, costing a significant amount of Spirit Stones. Though it was not luxurious, it was nonetheless grand but understated.

To avoid exposing his true name, Chu Zheng had not left his abode since he began cultivating the Incense Fire Divine Path, preferring seclusion and entirely focusing on his cultivation, which had now successfully formed a Dao Embryo.

This body was now twelve years old, but under Chu Zheng's deliberate control, it appeared to be sixteen or seventeen.

It must be said that the abundance of Yang Qi in this body certainly made practicing Qi-refining Techniques much easier.

Not far behind him, his Golden Body, long nourished by the incense fire willpower, had been advanced to Divine Embryo Perfection and was about to conceive a Soul.

Once the Soul emerged, this clay body would be the embodiment of Chu Zheng's practice on the Incense Fire Divine Path, with an unending stream of believers to sustain its existence.

Chu Zheng's own cultivation had also improved considerably. Although most of his believers were mortals or cultivators who had not yet entered the Entry Stages of cultivation and only had a superficial understanding of the craft, they provided a stable source of incense fire willpower.

In seven years' time, this incense fire willpower had pushed his cultivation to the peak of the Middle Stage of Divine Infant, just a step away from entering the Late Divine Soul Realm.

Stepping into the Late Divine Soul Realm was not far from the Divine Transformation Realm.

It should be noted that only a little over a month had passed in the Cangyun Realm; such speed of progression was startling to behold.

Knock, knock—

A knocking sound came from the door, and Chu Zheng slowly ended his practice and opened his eyes:

"Come in."

Creak—

The door made a faint noise as it opened, and the cold wind, along with heavy snow, drifted into the hall.

Yuan Dazun crossed the threshold, hurrying to Chu Zheng's front, a taut expression on his face as he lowered his head in greeting, "Venerable."

A Venerable is the title for a deity's spokesperson. In every Incense Fire God's absence from major events, it is the Venerable's duty to manage all the affairs of the believers.

This was also the identity Chu Zheng had publicly established for himself.

"What has happened?"

Seeing that Yuan Dazun looked troubled, Chu Zheng's mind tensed. He detected a whiff of blood and, upon closer inspection, noticed Yuan Dazun's face was injured and his breath slightly unstable, indicating internal injuries.

"The Venerable of the Cold Pond Spirit Lord has discovered my actions; he no longer allows me to preach and recruit believers in the city, and moreover..."

Yuan Dazun raised his head, glanced at the Faceless Golden Body behind Chu Zheng and clenched his teeth:

"He demands that the Dao Lord appear before him within three days, and henceforth, of the incense fire willpower received, thirty percent may be kept while seventy percent must be handed over..."

The inevitable had still arrived.

Chu Zheng's expression remained unruffled by surprise, as he fell into contemplation; he had long anticipated this day.

Among the Incense Fire Deities, the competition for believers was ever-present.

This time, the trouble might not be greatly related to preaching; it was more likely targeted at him.

After years of secluded cultivation without stepping outside, the Tribulation Qi by his side had already accumulated to a certain extent, yet had never erupted.

The title of Incense Fire Deities correlates with their power.

The Spirit Lord Realm is divided into three tiers, according to the classification of the Incense Fire Divine Path, belonging to the Third to Fifth Realms.

The River Towning Spirit Lord he had encountered before possessed the strength of the Third Order.

Over the last ten years, except for searching for Magical Instrument Fragments, Chu Zheng seldom left home, which left him with little understanding of the numerous deities within the city.

After pondering for a few moments, Chu Zheng lifted his head and asked, "What realm is this Cold Pond Spirit Lord from?"

"Middle-Rank Spirit Lord, Fourth Realm Deity; nearly a thousand True Believers, and over a million followers," came the reply.

Seeing Chu Zheng's calm demeanor, Yuan Dazun's anxiety also subsided considerably, and he gradually suppressed his impatience.

The Fourth Realm, equivalent to the Qi Refining Golden Core or the Immortal Path Divine Infant, was a force Chu Zheng's avatar was not yet capable of defeating.

Chu Zheng turned around to look at the Faceless Golden Body not far away, his eyes slightly narrowed.

However, there wasn't entirely no solution.

A seventy percent share was too exaggerated, especially since it also affected the speed of his main body's cultivation; there was no possibility of any concession.

The only option was battle.

For him personally, this was the optimal moment for a rapid transition. Should he devour the million followers of the Cold Pond Spirit Lord, advancing to the Late Divine Soul Realm or even achieving Divine Infant Perfection seemed imminent.

Although Yuan Dazun forcibly suppressed his impatience, the sense of urgency in his heart did not diminish in the slightest.

Even in ancient times, Dao Lords were very strong, but now, he was just an Incense Fire God with only over ten thousand believers, far inferior to the Cold Pond Spirit Lord.

One misstep and this newly built temple might be razed to the ground.

If the Dao Lord endured this moment of humiliation, bowed his head, and handed over the collected willpower, it would be an unspeakable blow to his own followers.

For the True Believers, that might still be tolerable, but for those hard-earned ten thousand plus False Believers, they might directly be taken by the Cold Pond Spirit Lord.

For False Believers, abandoning their current faith to worship a stronger deity was as common as eating and drinking; their belief was inherently mixed and impure.

Especially for a newly-started deity like the Dao Lord, being abandoned by them was nothing abnormal.

Seeing Chu Zheng silent for a long time, Yuan Dazun could not help but ask:

"Venerable, what should we do?"

Chu Zheng pointed out a ray of Spiritual Light, healing Yuan Dazun's wounds, and spoke slowly:

"Wait for him to come seeking his own death."

Feeling his body restored to its original state, Yuan Dazun's eyes brightened slightly, and his mind settled a lot:

"Understood."

He bowed deeply and exited the temple, walking into the snowstorm.

That very night, Yuan Dazun contacted some of his followers and quietly leaked the news that the Cold Pond Spirit Lord would come to the temple in three days.

Since Chu Zheng was so confident, he might as well make a big fuss; he could also take this opportunity to gather more followers for the Dao Lord.

No number of mythical tales could compare to witnessing a divine miracle with one's own eyes.

If the Cold Pond Spirit Lord returned without success, or even suffered a massive defeat, the situation would be reversed. How many of his million followers would remain was an unknown; even his own safety wasn't guaranteed.

At this moment, Yuan Dazun's thoughts coincided with Chu Zheng's—they both saw the potential in the million followers under the Cold Pond Spirit Lord's command.

...

...

As the sun rose and the moon set, three days passed in the blink of an eye.

As dawn broke and the sky had cleared, a sudden swirl of wind and snow started to stir, covering every pavilion and palace with a layer of frost.

An imposing figure, over ten zhang tall and shrouded in billowing incense smoke, walked over the icy stream towards the exposition outside the Dao Lord's temple.

Just appearing already caused a hundred li to freeze over; such manipulation of the weather filled the multitude of early-onlookers with fear and trepidation.

Instantly, the incense smoke cloud surrounding the Cold Pond Spirit Lord surged dramatically.