Chapter 217: Dragon Vein Fortune, Establishing the Immortal Dynasty

"Can I really do it?" The little fox's voice trembled.

The people of this mortal realm had rarely, if ever, seen a Celestial God. Even the descent of one or two Celestial Gods from the Dao Palace or Cave Heaven realm would have been enough to shock them, let alone the legendary Jianmu Earth Mother, Qing Teng, the teacher of the Heavenly Dao...

Mengmei gazed at the little white fox.

The fox's father was a Wizard, and its mother was a Demon; it was still a hybrid of both. However, at first glance, it didn't possess the innate primordial spirit phenomenon that Dao Changsheng once had.

"I will only teach you for three years," Mengmei said, looking at the fox.

She now had a direction in her heart, awakened by Mu Yuancheng's dying words, and wanted to give it her all.

Had she truly exerted herself to the limit in her breakthroughs?

In truth, she knew she hadn't pushed herself to the brink, and the fact that Mu Yuancheng had endured until now touched her somewhat.

"It's the same with those red-named players; they're truly insane! But I've just been a spectator all along, too comfortable, never personally stepping into the fray. I've always stayed in the background, observing, never truly striving," she whispered to herself.

"I will teach you the Nine Revolutions Mysterious Art," Mengmei said, looking at the little white fox. "This is a method to achieve Dao through sheer force. Whether you can learn it, whether your aptitude is sufficient, will depend on destiny."

Mengmei opened a spatial rift and pulled out a stack of tattered books, worn from years of use: "Analytic Geometry of Space: From Novice to Giving Up," "Calculus: From Enthusiasm to Baldness." They instantly formed a small mound.

"Secret manuals for immortality!!"

The little white fox's eyes shone brightly, and it immediately regarded them as precious treasures.

Meanwhile, the boy beside them hesitated, then mustered his courage and asked, "Earth Mother Celestial God, our dynasty is no match for those Jianghu heroes. Is it true that cultivators of spiritual arts are inferior to body cultivators? Can you grant us a solution?"

Mengmei turned to look at him.

The boy's gaze was pure, and he had been diligently studying, likely harboring grand aspirations of saving the world and governing the nation, hoping to achieve official status.

And since he had been chosen by Mu Yuancheng to be adopted alongside her daughter, the little white fox, his aptitude and talent would certainly not be ordinary.

After a moment's contemplation, she said, "These past few days, as I've traveled through countless mountains, rivers, and towns, observing this new era after the mythical Heavenly Court, I have naturally also observed your court. You have strayed onto a wrong path."

"A wrong path?" The boy's voice trembled.

"Your Great Zhou Dynasty certainly has some ingenious ideas!"

Mengmei strode forward, pointing vaguely towards a distant mountain village in the pouring rain outside the window. "In this era, with the mortal realm having lost the protection of Celestial Gods, you can only protect yourselves... The Great Zhou Dynasty has allowed local scholars and renowned benevolent people to divide land, govern the populace, absorb their incense offerings for cultivation, and protect them... However, while everyone across the land is absorbing these offerings, their cultivation is not strong. What good is a large quantity if it lacks quality transformation? In ancient times, Human Ancestor Xu You Nian, by gathering the collective luck of an entire race, achieved terrifying levels of cultivation."

The boy was greatly shaken.

Indeed, with everyone scattered, they could only reach the first stage of Foundation Solidification or the second stage of Spirit Condensation.

While this maximized the number of guardians and protected more people across various regions, their cultivation levels were generally low.

Qing Teng, the Earth Mother, then smiled and said, "You should establish official ranks and grades, submitting incense offerings tier by tier. Local county magistrates would remit a portion of their incense to their superiors, the prefects, and the prefects, in turn, would remit a portion to their superiors, the state governors, with this progression continuing upwards....

"Ultimately, the Great Zhou Emperor could gather the luck of the entire nation, achieving naturally extremely high cultivation, capable of moving mountains and filling seas. After all, how terrifying would it be for one person to be empowered by the luck of an entire nation? It would surely far surpass ancient cultivation environments."

The boy's mind reeled, overwhelmed.

He was incredibly intelligent; he understood at once. This was an ingenious plan, holding terrifying potential!

Officials would be divided into nine ranks, receiving incense offerings as their salary according to their position. The higher the rank, the better the cultivation environment. It was likely that those who reached the positions of Prime Minister or Imperial Advisor would already be earth-shattering existences.

Moreover, the effect of concentrating incense offerings in this manner wouldn't be worse; in fact, it would be better. While local areas might be weaker, if demons, monsters, or other powerful enemies appeared, the issue could be escalated tier by tier: if a county magistrate couldn't handle it, they would report to the prefect; if the prefect couldn't, they would report to the state governor.

This was a complete system!

Perhaps... this wasn't merely a human court; this was an Immortal Dynasty!

Furthermore, if cultivated to prosperity, the entire nation's officials could become gods, and the whole nation could ascend to the Immortal Realm.

Without ancient gods to guide their cultivation, people could absolutely use this method to establish a court-based cultivation system!

The Earth Mother, Qing Teng, then added, "The Great Zhou Dynasty is not simple. How could their court, capable of conceiving the idea of dividing land and letting county magistrates cultivate, not have seen this level? Concentrating incense? They must have thought of it, but found it difficult to implement."

The boy's mind suddenly stirred.

Indeed!

The Great Zhou Dynasty must have had capable individuals to devise such a system to protect its people, yet they were still subjected to utter humiliation when Duan Qianyu invaded the palace. It must have been impossible to implement this immortal court system.

The tiered incense offerings, increasing layer by layer, seemed simple but were in fact extremely difficult to achieve because there was no way to transport the incense! This system appeared straightforward but would be incredibly hard and unimaginably complex to implement.

"Then, Earth Mother..." The boy couldn't help but become excited.

"Of course there's a solution. I call it: the Dragon Vein Method!"

"Dragon Veins?" The boy was puzzled.

The Earth Mother, Qing Teng, smiled and said, "As the Earth Mother, I command the earth. I can embed dragon veins within the land. These dragon veins, like root systems or spiderwebs, would spread beneath the entire dynasty, buried under mountains, in rivers, and within the soil. They would connect to the prefectural and county official residences on the surface, transporting incense offerings from various regions, increasing level by level."

"However, these dragon veins are the very foundation of the nation. It will be crucial to prevent local malefactors from seizing the opportunity to sever or steal them, as this would cause the nation's luck to dissipate. Especially if the main dragon vein is cut off and stolen, the Great Zhou Dynasty might perish!"

The boy trembled all over.

The Dragon Vein Method opened up an entirely new world for him—a path to governing a nation.

He couldn't help but say, "Since dragon veins are crucial to the rise and fall of the dynasty... a position for 'Imperial Inspectors' could be established. They would travel throughout the land, pacify the military and the people, investigate those who embezzle incense offerings and salaries, inspect local dragon veins, and prevent evildoers from stealing them and plundering the nation's luck!"

Mengmei glanced at him and nodded, acknowledging his intelligence.

Indeed, those local county magistrates and prefects could even be called local deities or mountain gods, for they would manage a region, subsist on incense offerings, and protect the populace.

This might usher in a new era, a glorious age of an Immortal Dynasty, where imperial scholars in official robes, holding their positions, imbued with incense offerings, and possessing righteous qi, could scatter ghosts and gods with a single roar.

There would also be geomancers and mountain-moving strongmen, transformed into Imperial Inspectors, who would determine the earth's dragon veins, calculate luck, and execute corrupt officials!

Furthermore, there would be Jianghu heroes who, instead of cultivating the Sea of Consciousness, heaven-and-earth, or incense, would cultivate their own Dantian, capable of uprooting mountains and rivers—earthly immortals freely roaming the world.

"I can vaguely see a new era emerging, an age of luck and incense... And these dragon veins would naturally be the roots of my Jianmu form... After all, I am essentially a tree formed from twisted vines, capable of spreading underground and transmitting energy."

She continued to ponder, her eyes growing brighter and brighter. "It seems my destiny is not to perish; I cannot die! I must strive hard to break through! This era cannot do without me! All living beings need me! I will break through, and then I will lie down every day, eating the dragon vein's kickbacks until my belly bursts and I burp, making even the Heavenly Dao envious of me!"

Xu Zhi, sipping his phoenix spiritual tea, nearly spat out a mouthful.

"Are you sick?! Just a moment ago, you looked as if you were about to die, resigned to it, and now you're suddenly so excited..."

"This person is full of wild ideas..." Xu Zhi glanced at the eager Mengmei but paid her no mind. After all, the new era was gradually recovering, and she still had some time left for teaching her apprentices.

Meanwhile, on the other side, after more than a day and over thirty hours of continuous high-speed flight in outer space, the "Emperor Qi" had encountered a small meteoroid and stopped. He was already beginning to exit the spacecraft hatch.