Gentlemen, it's time to enter the Banner of Ten Thousand Souls.

Chapter 169 Burning Paper Money When Needed
Inside the City God Pavilion of the Yellow Springs Palace.

A dim light shone from the surroundings, and hundreds of statues of the City God surrounded the area.

Each statue is lifelike, some with fierce and majestic eyes, others with lowered brows and compassionate expressions, all surrounded by swirling incense smoke, each possessing a dormant spirituality.

The appearances of these ancestral spirits have been somewhat embellished.

The very center is where the ancestral spirit of the white bones, worshipped by the lineage of the high priest, is placed, but the statue is that of a thin Taoist priest in white robes, giving him a somewhat otherworldly and ethereal air.

The images of the other ancestral spirits, which were once ferocious, have been cleverly modified so that they no longer evoke the sinister and eerie image of the demonic sect at first glance.

Looking at the more than one hundred City Gods in various forms, Chen Ye felt a pang of emotion. He recalled that just over a year ago, he was nothing more than an insignificant little demon, living in constant fear that his identity would be exposed and he would be killed by righteous cultivators.

Now he has established Fengdu Yellow Springs, which allows him to bring over a hundred ancestral spirits under his command.

The concept of luck is vague and unpredictable, but Chen Ye has to admit that he has been having great luck for the past year or so.

Not only did they escape danger but they also had many miraculous encounters.

In that case, one should understand that what one has achieved is due to luck, not because one has any extraordinary ability.

"Avoid arrogance and impetuosity, avoid arrogance and impetuosity."

After repeatedly reminding himself twice, Chen Ye steadily approached the statue of the White Bone Ancestral Spirit, his expression solemn, and softly called out, "Please show yourself and have a talk with me."

As soon as the words were spoken, wisps of mist began to emanate from the statue, gradually condensing into the shape of a skeleton. Compared to before, this skeleton seemed to be draped in an illusory garment and was slowly transforming into the form of a statue.

The skeletal figure landed lightly in front of Chen Ye, its posture extremely respectful, and asked, "Sect Master, what are your orders?"

"I have something I'd like to ask you." Chen Ye pointed to the bamboo pole held in the right hand of the statue and asked, "I'd like to ask, since this object is symbiotic with you, is it considered part of your body, or a magical artifact?"

That wasn't something Chen Ye added later. The image of the White Bone Ancestral Spirit already had such a staff. Chen Ye only changed the appearance, but tried to keep the other details as original as possible so that the Ancestral Spirits could adapt more easily.

The ancestral spirit of white bones stretched out its hand, and mist condensed in its palm, transforming into a slender staff. Then it explained, "This thing has been connected to me since I was born with intelligence. It should be considered a magical artifact, but it is never separated from me."

Chen Ye reached out and took the staff from the White Bone Ancestral Spirit, examining it closely with his spiritual eyes.

Compared to the body of the White Bone Ancestral Spirit, the distribution of spiritual energy on this staff is slightly different, but it is clear that it is not the same as the body.

"They are all formed from the power of incense and prayers, yet they differ, perhaps due to the rituals performed during the ceremony..."

Chen Ye studied it carefully for a long time and asked the White Bone Ancestral Spirit about the various details of the Northern Frontier people's worship of their ancestral spirits.

I didn't know until I asked that there are actually many different ways to perform sacrificial rites.

Blood wine, war dances, live sacrifices, armor... all the methods are different.

The so-called blood wine is similar to a blood oath, mostly a ritual for forming alliances between tribes; the war dance is a ritual in which tribal warriors use their bravery to worship ancestral spirits. Although it is called a dance, it is often a real battle with real weapons; the most common is the slaughter of livestock, or even living people, to worship ancestral spirits through blood sacrifice; the armor is even more interesting. It is when tribal priests put on the ancestral spirit's clothes, invite the ancestral spirit to possess them, and communicate with the people of the tribe.

As the oldest ancestral spirit in the northern frontier, the White Bone Ancestral Spirit not only remembers these sacrificial methods clearly, but can also recount their evolution over the long years, which greatly inspires Chen Ye.

Ultimately, ancestral spirits are formed from the power of incense offerings and prayers; they simply develop sentience over time.

The power of incense and prayers can be condensed into various forms, including living beings and objects.

After talking with the ancestral spirit of the white bones for several days, Chen Ye finally compiled these sacrificial methods into a book and then selected the ones that he could use.

The method of sacrificial ceremony in armor was most useful to Chen Ye.

Wearing armor is a way to invite ancestral spirits to possess one's body. The priest will communicate with the people of the tribe in the identity of the ancestral spirit, offering encouragement or answering their questions. It is hard to say how accurate it is, but this method is the most effective way for the people of the northern frontier to feel the power of the ancestral spirits and to receive more incense offerings.

However, it is not easy to ask ancestral spirits to possess a person; if one is not careful, it may even shorten the priest's lifespan.

Therefore, unless absolutely necessary, the priests of each tribe would not use the method of wearing armor to worship their ancestral spirits.

Each time a deity dons armor, the ornaments on their body become imbued with the power of incense and prayers. These ornaments are then burned, and the incense is sent to the ancestral spirits.

This looks somewhat similar to burning paper money.

Chen Ye recorded the method of the armored sacrificial ceremony, carefully studied each step, and gradually came up with an idea.

"If a ritual is performed first, the power of the wish is concentrated in the object, and it is burned, it will fall into the hands of the dead, just like the staff in the hands of the ancestral spirit of bones, which may then be used by the spirits of the dead."

It's easy to say, but not easy to do.

It is unknown how many days it took until the City God Pavilion was filled with Chen Ye's drafts and a large number of sacrificial items.

Chen Ye took a brazier and solemnly placed it in front of the ancestral spirit of the white bones. He gently waved his hand, and a fire snake appeared in the brazier.

Flames erupted, engulfing the contents of the plate. Before the ancestral spirits of the white bones, Chen Ye murmured: "The netherworld is vast and the road to the Yellow Springs is long; today, with incense, I ferry your lonely souls across. Paper money serves as horses, smoke as bridges in the clouds; may this wish carry on, and may you soon escape the torrent of suffering..."

After a prayer, Chen Ye's thoughts transformed into golden light and fell into the brazier, as if adding fuel to the fire, causing the flames to leap half a zhang high.

Once the flames died down, the contents of the basin turned to ashes.

The ancestral spirit of white bones flew out of the statue, looking at the object in its hand with a puzzled expression—a piece of wood the size of a finger, which looked unremarkable.

The ancestral spirit of white bones asked in confusion, "What is this?"

Chen Ye laughed and said, "The item made from the power of incense and prayers has indeed been delivered to your hands."

What is the use of this?

"This...is of no use either."

Chen Ye burned a mahjong tile, a blank one at that.

It takes a small amount of incense and prayer energy to condense into a shape, but it's good enough that it can even take shape. It's not a magic weapon, so it's naturally useless. It probably wouldn't hurt much if you used it to hit someone.

But the White Bone Ancestral Spirit seemed to care a lot about this white board, holding it in its hand and rubbing it repeatedly, and even sticking it to its face.

The original skull face slowly revealed a bloody, fleshy silhouette, looking even more grotesque than before.

Pure bone is fine, but what's most frightening is when it's covered in skin and flesh but is incomplete; that's much more terrifying.

But Chen Ye knew this was a good thing. For the White Bone Ancestral Spirit, the growth of flesh and skin meant that it was more similar to the statue and more influenced by the incense offerings of the Yellow Springs Sect.

In a few more days, he should be able to completely transform into the appearance of that white-robed Taoist.

Only then can he be considered a true deity worshipped by the Yellow Springs Sect, rather than some ancestral spirit of the people of the Northern Frontier.

Chen Ye never expected that his unintentional act of using a small whiteboard would have such an effect.

Upon careful consideration, Chen Ye guessed, "It must be because I recited prayers and infused them with my own incense and vows that I had an influence on the ancestral spirit of the white bones."

Chen Ye was, after all, a cultivator at the Profound Realm, whose spiritual power was far stronger than that of ordinary people. The stronger his will, the stronger the incense and prayer power generated during his devout prayers.

Only the High Priest's lineage worships the ancestral spirit of the White Bone, and their numbers are few. Moreover, the High Priest himself is only at the Qi Sea Realm, far inferior to Chen Ye.

Chen Ye's offerings were very heavy, and had a great influence on the ancestral spirit of the White Bone.

Since it was a good thing, Chen Ye didn't stand on ceremony and burned the entire mahjong set for the White Bone Ancestral Spirit, adding a touch of anticipation as he recited his prayers.

The bewildered ancestral spirit of white bones stared blankly at the pile of wood before it.

The bewildered ancestral spirit of white bones looked at the pile of wood that had suddenly appeared before it, its face showing a mixture of confusion and curiosity.

Since it gained sentience, it has heard countless prayers from the people of the northern frontier. Some hoped it would grant them immortality, some prayed for wealth and glory, and others longed for invincibility... In all the previous sacrifices, it was essentially a transaction, or even more often just a one-sided demand.

But today was completely different. Chen Ye did not ask it for anything; instead, he presented it with the entire set of mahjong tiles as a "gift."

Although these mahjong tiles seem to have no practical use at the moment, for the Bone Ancestral Spirit, this is the first truly meaningful "gift" it has received.

The White Bone Ancestral Spirit carefully collected all the mahjong tiles, gathering them all in its bosom as if it wanted to merge them into its own body, afraid of missing a single one.

Upon seeing this, Chen Ye simply burned another wooden box for him to store the mahjong tiles.

The White Bone Ancestral Spirit bowed to Chen Ye in gratitude, carefully placed the mahjong tiles inside, and then inquired about each one one by one.

"What's this round one called? And what's this long one called...?"

Chen Ye patiently taught the White Bone Ancestral Spirit how to play each mahjong tile, and also briefly explained the rules. As time went by, flesh and blood grew on the White Bone Ancestral Spirit's face and body. After Chen Ye played a few rounds of mahjong with him, the once pale skeleton had disappeared, replaced by a thin Taoist.

Although its features were still somewhat blurry, it already resembled a human.

Chen Ye never imagined that playing mahjong could have such an effect, so it should be promoted even more; perhaps this is the true essence of human life. Once this essence merges with the many ancestral spirits, they will no longer be ignorant beasts, but will become true city gods guarding their respective regions.

Once the Bone Ancestral Spirit fully understood the rules of mahjong, he couldn't help but ask, "Sect Master, besides mahjong, can we burn other things?"

Chen Ye asked, "What do you want?"

The White Bone Ancestral Spirit is the head of all the ancestral spirits in the Northern Frontier. With his help, Chen Ye's plan to become a god could proceed smoothly. He has always been diligent and conscientious, so burning some gifts for him is nothing.

The ancestral spirit of the white bones thought carefully and said to Chen Ye, "Could you cook some food? I have received sacrifices for many years, but I have never tasted human food. Now I just want to know what meat tastes like."

(End of this chapter)