In the depths of the secular mortal world often had the thinnest Qi of vitality. Having spent such a long time in Qing Xuan, Shen Lian found it hard to adapt to the mortal realm again. The gains from his daily Qi cultivation were barely enough to keep his body pure and clean.
This was why the cultivators of Qi chose to retreat into the wilderness and the mountains and steered away from the secular mortal world. Unless absolutely necessary, they would not visit the secular mortal world.
The secular mortal world was not conducive for the cultivation of Qi, but was good for the cultivation of mind.
Techniques came from the heart, and with supreme wisdom, even a flower or a leaf could be the world. Then, one would not be restrained by whether one was in the secular world or otherwise.
The Dawei Dynasty spanned across ten thousand over miles, even in Yuan Continent, it was considered as one of the bigger countries. Even though there were quite a few of countries nearby, but none of them was wider a thousand miles, and the strength of the small nations was often nowhere near to that of Dawei. This was why most of them would have to bow to Dawei.
Even with their great supernatural powers, the cultivators of Qi rarely interfered with the changing of Dynasties in the mortal realm. The throne was tied to the mind of the people, which was the Emperor had the aura of dragon; every word and every move commanded great respect, and this was how the saying that “both punishment and reward from the Emperor are a blessing unto you” came by.
A divine response could be elicited even from a statue after a prolonged period of worship, what more the Emperor had always been receiving the worship of the people, and his grace and might was ingrained into the heart of the people for the longest time.
If the Emperor acted out of line and had the hearts of the people, even the gods would not go against him.
From what Shen Lian had gathered from the records, during ancient times, some Emperors who did not meditate and cultivate their Qi managed to transcend beyond the mortal world without even facing any trial and tribulation.
For such a huge country to change their dynasty, it was definitely a big deal. However, most of the state capitals remained unaffected.
The Emperor of the Dawei Dynasty had the surname, Zhao. However, as the last Emperor was weak and sickly, the Queen took charge instead. After the death of the late Emperor, the Queen took over and was known respectfully as the “Saint Queen”.
The Saint Queen was greedy and could not be content. Recently, she dethroned her own son and made herself the Empress. The title of the reigning dynasty was changed into “Da Zhou”.
The Empress had been controlling the dynasty for almost thirty years, and her cronies were everywhere, and they were deeply rooted in the dynasty. Even though there was a change in the dynasty, there was not too much uproar in regards to that.
Though, the three northwest states including the State of Qing had rebelled under the leadership of a member of the imperial clan.
The concept of Empress was not a novel concept in this side of the world. Amongst the many countries in the world, there were some matriarchal countries in which only the females were allowed to succeed to the throne, while some allowed for both males and females to succeed to the throne.
However, this was the first time that something like that had taken place here since the founding of Dawei Dynasty. Previously, there were Empress Dowagers who held political control over the country. However, they had to eventually relinquish their control to the rightful Emperor due to old age.
During the thirty year reign of the Empress, most of the clansmen of the imperial clan had been eliminated. However, the world was huge, and of course, there were some who managed to get away.
Humans loved being associated to those with a higher social status. The three northwest states were far away from the central power, and the member of the imperial clan was the descendant of the brother of the Founder of Dawei Dynasty, Qing He Jun Wang.
Qing He Jun Wang led the rebellion and generated a lot of talks, which shook the imperial court.
Even though the Empress was a woman, she was a hundred times more decisive than most men. She controlled the central power and commanded the three imperial armed services. In less than a month, she managed to eradicate the rebellion army commanded by the Qing He Jun Wang. Indeed, she acted with the speed of lightning, or maybe it was pre-planned.
Shen Lian made his way back and noticed that the State of Qing looked bleaker than back then. Wherever the armies passed through, it would be as though the robbers had visited. Whether it was the rebel army or the imperial army did not matter, the moment that the troop passed by, the people would suffer no matter how the army claimed to be disciplined.
Moreover, the rebel army was not considered as a strong, disciplined troop. Otherwise, they would not have been beaten so easily. The members of the rebel army who were on the run had brought hardship upon the people. Even though it was not as bad as not hearing the crowing of the cock within a thousand miles, but Shen Lian could hear someone crying wherever he went.
All he could do was just killing the soldiers who were taking advantage of the people when they were on the run, or to eradicate the robbers who took advantage of the situation as though they were weed.
This was actually the first time that he killed people. However, he did not feel much about it. With his state of mind now, even a mountain pile of dead bodies and a sea of blood would not disturb his inner peace. Unlike the normal people, he would not feel fear or nausea after killing someone.
The road he was traveling on was built by Old Master Shen for the convenience of the traveling merchants.
Shen Lian looked calm and collected, but he was actually walking quickly on the road as though he was the clouds and the smoke.
Even so, that did not stop him from eradicating the pests for the people.
Actually, most cultivators would have turned a blind eye if they were to encounter something like that. After all, the world was huge, and if they were to interfere whenever they encounter an injustice, they would not have enough time on their hands.
Shen Lian was not someone who found it necessary to interfere every time, but he would not be impartial when he encountered an injustice.
The State Capital of Qing was up ahead; the town looked the same, yet the same could not be said about the people.
He sneaked into the town quietly and found his way back to the Shen family. All he saw were collapsed walls and broken tiles.
Having expected this, Shen Lian still felt uncomfortable now that he was looking at it.
The old man who desperately wanted him to inherit the family legacy, the teenage girl who was irked by the sight of him; he still remembered everything clearly, down to the wrinkles of the old man and the tiny hair on the teenage girl’s earlobes.
He was not someone who was devoid of emotions, and he was slightly upset by what he saw. However, given the choice to do it all over, he would still choose Celestialism without a doubt.
The pride that he felt from eradicating the pests for the people turned into the greatest irony now.
He was not in the wrong, yet he felt guilty.
A paper materialized from nothingness, and it fell on his left hand. He made a small cut on his index finger with his right thumb, and blood seeped out. He did not try to stop the blood. Instead, he used the blood as ink and his index finger as the pen, and drew a blood rune on the paper.
With a wave of his left hand, a paper crane materialized in mid-air. The crane pecked and circled the courtyard before it flew towards a specific direction.
Shen Lian shifted slightly at the sight of it, and with a wave of his feather coat, his wide sleeves acted like a pair of wings and sent him flying after the paper crane.
Normal humans would not be able to see him. He did not want to draw too much attention and had covered himself up with an illusion trick.
The blood on the paper crane would lead him to the survivors of the Shen family, who shared blood-ties with him. So long as there was someone alive and the crane could capture his or her aura, Shen Lian would be able to locate him or her.
******
Mount Qing Xia was the private property of the Shen family. Since Shen Lian had left, no one had been taking care of the Qing Xia Temple on the mountain.
The business and trade scene picked up at the State Capital of Qing, and a lot of villagers at the foot of the mountain had shifted into the town. They earned so much more by working as compared to when they had to dig for food in the ground, which was why the villages at the foot of the mountain were deserted.
Two years ago, the last remaining family had shifted into town, and the area was completely abandoned.
In fact, no one remembered that the mountain and the surrounding area belonged to the Shen family.
The stone steps leading up to the mountain were covered by weed, and they looked nothing like they did before. Maybe landslides had taken place; this would explain why some parts of the body of the mountain that the stone steps were built against had collapsed.
No one would know that there used to be a hiking trail and that there was a Daoist temple deep in the mountains.
Even though it was called a Daoist temple, it was broken and rundown, and might not even be able to shelter one from the wind and the storm.
The paper crane fell from the sky onto a group of collapsed wall. Shen Lian walked closer, and eventually, he stopped. At the back of the wall, there was a little girl covered in sand and dust. She was squatting at the corner.
