From the Carp that Brings Children to the Celestial Officials

Chapter 168 The Battle for the Great Dao
As a deity of the [Discipline Bureau], Zhu Xin was extremely well-informed about all sorts of rumors and gossip.

In fact, he had been waiting for the City God to announce that all the population would be handed over to Yuanling Mountain for management. After all, Yuanling Mountain had only 20,000 people in 23 villages, yet it had achieved a population increase of 7,000 in eight years.

This number is dazzling.

The reason for such an exaggerated number is twofold: firstly, the blessing of children from Yuanling Mountain is indeed effective; secondly, Yuanling Mountain has also cultivated a professional team of midwives in areas such as childbirth and childcare, which minimizes the infant mortality rate.

Yuanling Mountain even encouraged midwives to go to villages outside of Yuanling Mountain to deliver babies, so that women in places where his divine power could not reach could also give birth smoothly.

It is precisely because of this that these midwives have accumulated a great deal of merit.

In the past eight years, several midwives have passed away due to old age, but because of their high merits, they have also entered the candidate list for the Shinto religion.

They will fill any vacancies that arise.

Logically speaking, given the outstanding work of Yuanling Mountain in nurturing the offspring, cooperating with them would be entirely beneficial.

But it would be better if everything in the world were that simple.

It should be known that the realm of granting children is always the most complicated, as it concerns population, and almost all the gods want to get involved.

Therefore, some people have set their sights on the belief in bestowing children in Changning County.

Logically speaking, the deity behind You Ming is Bixia Yuanjun, and normal deities would give him some face, since it's just a county-level position and not worth offending Bixia Yuanjun.

However, several groups of people repeatedly put pressure on the City God.

This is also why the City God has been hesitant to hand over all the responsibilities of bestowing children and raising them to You Ming.

However, Zhu Xin also vaguely learned that these forces seemed to have conceded some benefits in support of Changning's elevation from a county to a prefecture. This was the heaviest weight on the City God's decision-making scales.

Zhu Xin's divine position was relatively low, and some of the information he obtained from rumors was true and false, but he told You Ming everything he knew.

This is why he chose to completely side with You Ming.

"The other groups of forces..."

Upon hearing the news Zhu Xin mentioned, You Ming's expression changed slightly.

He naturally knew why someone would challenge him. It was because Bixia Yuanjun had just obtained forceps, and the effects of this tool had been proven in real experiments. Once it was widely adopted, almost every midwife would have one of these magical tools, greatly reducing the difficulty of childbirth.

This event almost affected the very foundation of the entire fertility pantheon, and it's even possible that the entire pantheon could be completely unified by Bixia Yuanjun, allowing her to be elevated to the status of the mother goddess of humankind.

Bixia Yuanjun holds a high position, but in the celestial realm, there are no fewer than ten other deities of similar status.

There are also several deities with whom there are conflicting beliefs.

Not to mention the numerous deities of lower status who are associated with marriage and childbirth, the relationships behind them are extremely complex.

Naturally, no one wanted to see Bixia Yuanjun monopolize everything.

"However, if you want to fight me in the ring, then let's face each other head-on."

You Ming understood some of the causes and consequences, and his resentment towards the City God lessened considerably.

This matter is indeed not something that local deities can decide.

However, since someone is causing trouble, as one of the Empress's agents in the mortal world, he naturally has to share the Empress's burdens.

We don't provoke trouble, but we're never afraid of trouble either.

"Thank you for the information, Lord Night Wanderer. It's very useful." You Ming cupped his hands in thanks to Zhu Xin, his words very warm.

Zhu Xin quickly declined, saying he dared not, but he felt relieved, knowing that his statement was correct.

Since he had chosen to bet on Yuanling Mountain, there was only one path to take: if he won, he would make a fortune; if he lost, he might be stripped of everything.

Zhu Xin had a gambling streak in his personality; he was willing to gamble on future wealth and status.

……

"I've been in seclusion for so many years, keeping a low profile, yet people are still bullying me."

"Since we're going to have a showdown, let's wait and see."

You Ming stood on a blue stone on Yuanling Mountain, with the little white dragon half-squatting beside him, sticking out its tongue happily.

Eight years have passed, and apart from its increased appetite, the little white dragon has hardly changed in size, and its cultivation level is only at the first level of cultivation. You Ming frowned as he watched.

However, after several attempts to train him failed, he gave up and just treated him like a dog.

On the back of Yuanling Mountain, the Azure Extreme Divine Tree grows lush and green, almost as tall as the mountain itself. However, because its true form is hidden by the Immortal Abode, mortals cannot see it.

"I've had this mountain embryo planted for quite some time now, and today I'm finally bringing it to full bloom. I want to make a fuss and let those people think that my Yuanling Mountain is easy to bully."

You Ming's mindset is different now than before.

Previously, he was just a small carp with no powerful backing. Although he was in the Heavenly Official Rank, he was essentially a free-range little god who had nowhere to seek justice when he was bullied.

But now he is the direct descendant of Bixia, and he represents Bixia Yuanjun's face in the mortal world.

Since he enjoys all the benefits bestowed upon him by Bixia Yuanjun, he must stand up and protect his own goddess at crucial moments.

As soon as he finished speaking, he formed a hand seal, and in an instant, the spiritual energy of the entire Yuanling Mountain was mobilized.

In the entire Yuanling Mountain, strictly speaking, there is only one cultivator named You Ming. Most of the spiritual energy is unused and has been stored here.

Now, the rich spiritual energy that had been stored up for eight years gathered together and transformed into a long river of smoke, which suddenly sank into the depths of the mountain and disappeared into the foundation of the mountain range.

The extremely rich spiritual energy seemed to have transformed into some kind of most potent medicine, causing the roots at the base of the mountain to grow deep into the ground like writhing dragons.

A barely audible "click" sound also quietly emanated from the mountain skeleton deep within Yuanling Mountain.

Immediately afterwards, the entire mountain trembled slightly, as if a sleeping person had suddenly turned over. Leaves on the mountain fell in a rustling sound, and some birds were startled into flight, but instead of fleeing, they fluttered their wings in a panic.

On the exposed rocks of Yuanling Mountain, countless naturally formed mountain-patterned spirit arrays appeared, but they quickly disappeared into the depths of the mountain.

Then, You Ming felt the entire mountain moving.

It wasn't a violent force like collapse or bulge, but rather a life rhythm where bones stretched, muscles expanded, and breath awakened.

Like a living giant crouching there, at this moment...

He slowly stood up.

The structure of the entire mountain also appeared in You Ming's mind.

It was a complex line drawing that almost overlapped with the rules of the Great Dao, with mountains, spiritual veins, water ridges, wind lines, magnetic fields... intertwined layer by layer, forming a vast and gigantic life.

(End of this chapter)