Confucian and Taoist scholar

Chapter 508 Inviting a God to Possess Him
After giving instructions, Zhang Yu led his men to the county government office.

Before leaving, he specifically instructed the people in the manor not to bother Lu Zheng and his group, and to do everything according to Lu Zheng's instructions if he gave any.

At this moment, Lu Zheng and the others were sitting in the study, which still had a leaky roof.

After a busy period, Lu is resting and recuperating, slowly recovering his energy.

Yun Xiao sat to the side, sipping the spiritual tea that Lu Zheng had brought out, looking quite content. "This magistrate is quite clever; he managed to get those people to contribute money and effort in no time..."

Lu Zheng said calmly, "They usually don't follow the right path, but when disaster strikes, they suddenly know to do the right thing. Speaking of which, it takes officials more effort to do evil than good, but good people are actually quite rare."

Yun Xiao said quietly, "When there is profit to be made, people are more likely to have impure thoughts. Even cultivators cannot avoid such thoughts."

Yun Xiao paused, then continued, "Didn't your Confucian sages believe that everyone can become a Yao or Shun? But there aren't many Yaos and Shuns in this world..."

There is always a gap between ideas and reality, and sometimes the gap is quite large.

Lu Zheng sighed inwardly and then asked, "Daoist, could you please invite a highly accomplished senior to clear away the rain clouds nearby?"

He is now more concerned about alleviating the flood, but unfortunately his own abilities are limited, so he can only ask others to help.

Yun Xiao glanced at Lu Zheng and said, "Tsk, that's enough. Do you really want to meddle to the end? The world is full of disasters and troubles, and you can't manage them all."

Lu Zheng smiled slightly and said, "Since I've heard about it and encountered it, I should naturally do my best. Daoist, just consider this my own effort for my cultivation."

"Your cultivation?" Yun Xiao raised an eyebrow.

Lu Zheng slowly said, "I have cultivated the spirit of saving the world."

Yun Xiao's eyes widened upon hearing this. "What? You cultivate this kind of literary mind! It's good for young people to have lofty ambitions, but they should act within their capabilities. Let me see..."

Yun Xiao found it hard to believe that Lu Zheng had actually managed to condense such a literary spirit.

Upon hearing this, Lu Zheng released his literary aura.

Yun Xiao carefully sensed it and indeed detected an unusual aura, containing a very pure thought: a heart dedicated to saving all living beings.

Yun Xiao clicked his tongue in amazement and quickly beckoned the two younger people next to him to come and see for themselves. "Look, they are only a few years older than you, but they have cultivated such a mind. You should learn from them."

The two young disciples of Qingyang Palace thought to themselves that they could never learn this kind of Confucian and Taoist philosophy.

Of course, both of them greatly admired Lu Zheng's literary talent.

They knew that without a pure and righteous heart dedicated to saving the world, such a literary spirit could never be formed.

Yun Xiao said leisurely, "You asked me to find someone to help, but I'm not very familiar with the Taoist temples and monasteries around here!"

Although he was a Taoist priest from Qingyang Palace with the title of "True Man," it wasn't something he could easily persuade by simply saying a few words to get other Taoists to help resolve the flood.

After all, with such heavy rain, asking others for help would inevitably leave us with a huge favor.

Yun Xiao added, "We have many acquaintances over there, but the journey back and forth is long. I reckon the rain will have stopped by the time we get here."

Qingwan, who was standing nearby, said, "I heard General Wang say that the Taoist priest is a very powerful figure. Could it be just flattery and not to be taken seriously?"

“Hey…” Yun Xiao raised an eyebrow. “You little brat, you’ve learned how to provoke me now? If I were here in my true form, this drizzle would be nothing more than a flick of my wrist.”

Qing Wan clicked her tongue and said, "Then why don't you summon your true form and let us broaden our horizons?"

Yun Xiao paused for a moment, then explained, "My true body is in seclusion, so far away that we can't communicate."

Qingwan couldn't help but say, "So, you still don't have any ability."

Yun Xiao said unhappily, "Who said I have no way? I can help you stop this rain without asking for help!"

Yun Xiao took a sip of tea and said with a serious expression, "It's time to show you my skills. I'll go and invite a god down for you!"

Upon hearing this, everyone's expressions varied, even the two Qingyang Palace disciples showed a hint of curiosity and surprise.

The Shu Kingdom worshipped gods, but their gods were different from those of the Chu Kingdom.

The origins of the righteous gods of the Shu Kingdom can be traced back to ancient great gods, but none of them actually exist. Instead, they are the great powers condensed by various Taoist sects and the imperial government through incense offerings, prayers, and the nation's fortune.

Its spirit exists between heaven and earth, and one can use special Taoist methods to invite the spirit to descend or possess one's body, so that one can temporarily obtain the blessing of powerful heaven and earth.

However, ordinary Taoist practitioners find it difficult enough to summon heavenly thunder, let alone the proper methods to invoke deities.

Summoning deities through rituals is not easy, and it can easily shorten one's lifespan or fortune. Taoist priests who are skilled at summoning deities generally do not do it lightly.

Yun Xiao counted on his fingers, "To eliminate the floods here, we need the power of a great god."

"The orthodox Taoist arts of this school have few side effects in summoning gods, but they are very taxing on one's energy and spirit. You'll have to provide the spirit stones and other materials!"

"Your physique seems quite good; directly invoking a deity to possess you shouldn't be a problem. That would make it easier to unleash your power..."

Yun Xiao stared intently at Lu Zheng, pondering how to invite a god, and which god to invite, so that Lu Zheng could gain the power to eliminate the flood.

Lu Zheng asked curiously, "No side effects?" Yun Xiao smiled and said, "The more compatible you are with heaven and earth, the fewer side effects you will have. Your cultivation has now reached the fifth realm, and you were able to draw upon the power of heaven and earth before, so you are obviously very compatible!"

"Even if there are some side effects, I'll get you some pills when I get back to Qingyang Palace, and you'll be fine after taking them."

Yun Xiao's expression carried a hint of arrogance, "We come from Qingyang Palace, so inviting a god is a piece of cake for us."

The two young disciples beside him remained silent; they had not learned such skills.

Lu Zheng thought for a moment, then looked at Qingyi and said, "Daoist Master, do you think she's suitable?"

Yun Xiao turned his gaze to Qing Yi, who was fiddling with a small mechanical toy, and asked with a puzzled expression, "Her? Invoking a deity to possess her?"

Lu Zheng walked to Qingyi's side and explained, "She is a drought demon."

At Lu Zheng's signal, a mysterious power was released from Qingyi's body.

Yun Xiao felt the scorching heat and immediately stood up, his eyes flashing as he sized up Qing Yi. "The legendary drought demon? Let me see!"

"Tsk tsk tsk, this physique is truly extraordinary! A spirit born of heaven and earth, how interesting! Where did you pick it up from? How did you manage to encounter such a creature?"

Although Qingyi's body was originally the corpse of a little girl, after being nurtured by the forces of heaven and earth, it had long since become extraordinary and was no longer an ordinary body.

However, Qingyi has a seal left by Mengyuan on her body, so it is difficult for outsiders to see that Qingyi is special.

Yun Xiao stroked his chin, surprised, "Hanba, still at the Profound Realm, only its power is temporarily sealed. But it is indeed more suitable for summoning a god to possess you!"

"Among the deities worshipped in our Shu Kingdom, there is one named Nüba, who is the daughter of the Yellow Emperor. I wonder if we can invoke her power!"

If Qingyi could be blessed with the power of that goddess, then clearing away the floods that stretch for thousands of miles would be a piece of cake.

After all, Qingyi herself had reached the Tongxuan realm, and could easily draw upon the power of a region of heaven and earth.

With the added power of the gods, floods in this area are no problem at all.

Thinking of this, Yun Xiao was even more eager to try it than Lu Zheng and the others.

Because he had never tried anything like this before, he was curious about how far he could go.

Qingwan, standing to the side, asked curiously, "When you perform rituals to invite the gods, can you actually summon the sage Laozi?"

Yun Xiao said quietly, "Although we have offerings to him, as a Taoist sage, his power is integrated with the Great Tao of Tao. Asking him is just asking for the Tao directly, but we don't have that kind of ability..."

"Oh I got it……"

Qingwan nodded slightly, indicating that she roughly understood.

Yun Xiao looked at Lu Zhengdao and said, "How about it, do you want to give it a try?"

Lu Zheng asked, "Qingyi doesn't have a good grasp of her own power. Will there be any problems?"

Lu Zheng was worried that Qingyi's power would get out of control, and the flood would turn into a drought, which would really cause a lot of trouble.

Yun Xiao said, "Don't worry about that. When I invite the god, I can let the divine power take the lead. I'll just borrow her body for a while, and she won't need to do anything."

Yun Xiao patted his chest and said, "You can trust me to handle things. When have I ever cheated you? By the way, do you have that many spirit stones and materials on you? If not, you'll have to find a way to prepare them."

Lu Zheng couldn't help but ask, "How much do you want?"

Yun Xiao blinked and said, "How many do you have? I see you've raised Qing Wan to this level; you must have acquired quite a few good things during your travels, right?"

Qingwan, standing nearby, couldn't help but say, "I didn't use many spirit stones or pills!"

She didn't actually spend a lot of spirit stones and pills to reach her current level of cultivation; she mainly relied on the power of heaven and earth that Lu Zheng brought in and various classic cultivation methods.

These things are many times more effective than spirit stones and pills.

Lu Zheng thought for a moment, searched around in the small space, and then took out a storage bag and gave it to Yun Xiao, "Is this enough?"

Yun Xiao took the storage bag and opened it curiously. "Tsk, when did you become so generous? You're willing to spend so much just to stop a rain..."

I've never seen Lu Zheng be so generous in the past when we did business together.

Lu Zheng said solemnly, "Spirit stones are just stones to me. If I lose them, I can find more. But if the lives of the people in this place are lost, then they are truly gone."

Upon hearing this, Yun Xiao sighed and said, "So many spirit stones... in the eyes of many cultivators, those lives aren't worth that much..."

Yun Xiao then said, "Actually, I don't need this much, but I'll take it first and return it to you if there's any left over after I've used it up."

"The most important thing about invoking a deity is my method, which is the most expensive part! Of course, I don't care about these spirit stones and materials, so consider it a favor you owe me!"

Hearing Yun Xiao say this, Lu Zheng smiled and nodded, saying, "Of course, I, Lu Zheng, owe the Daoist a favor."

Yun Xiao's expression was somber. "Sigh, it's only because I've run into a young man like you. If it were anyone else, I wouldn't have made a move so easily! Let me do some calculations and arrangements first, and then I'll broaden your horizons."

(End of this chapter)