The establishment of the Celestial Dynasty began with the bestowal of the title upon the River God.

Li Yichen returned to his official residence at the end of the hour and filled the Gallbladder Meridian Spirit Acupoint with Wood Qi, which took no more than half an hour.

"Qing has already accumulated half of the wood qi, which means that if one cultivates qi using the Jiamu Shaoyang Scripture, one only needs one hour each day."

This would save at least two hours compared to the "Detailed Rules for Gathering Qi in the Gallbladder and Wood." Even though time is precious in the military, with some extra time for physical training, it shouldn't be a problem.

After resting for a while, Li Yi was about to go next door to check on Erhu and Xiao Guan's progress when he suddenly sensed something unusual in the spiritual realm. So he sat back down by the window and quietly probed into his consciousness.

In just a few days, a piece of land and lake had formed in the original chaos, with a few fish, shrimp, birds and insects in it. Behind the plot of land was an adobe house, which had nothing to do with the immortal abode.

Green Snake was busy working on the adobe bricks when she looked up at Qin Kaixian, who was mixing mud with clay, and sighed:

"I was fortunate enough to be favored by the gods and granted a divine position. I have now reached the late stage of Qi Refining. Thanks to my exchange of spiritual energy with Brother Qin, the people in the city were able to eat fish and shrimp, and that's how they heard of me, the River God."

As a result, hundreds of residents have recently flocked to Dahan Mountain, and nearly half of them have changed their household registration, making the incense offerings even more abundant…”

Qin Kaixian was quite envious. Before becoming a god, he was just an ordinary flag officer in the garrison, and he had only just begun to try to break through to the later stage.

"If that's the case, what else is there to lament, fellow Daoist?"

The green snake looked helpless. "You too are a local deity enjoying incense offerings; how could you not know the pain of having your golden body forged?"

Qin Kaixian laughed heartily, "I see, that's indeed annoying."

"Unfortunately, things are not what they used to be. The City God said that since the fall of the Immortal Dynasty, there are no more divine officials in the world. Even if the surviving great gods have mastered the divine methods, they will not easily pass them on."

Green Snake's mind raced. "Looks like there's still a chance?"

Qin Kaixian slowly shook his head. "I asked the City God, who only told me to first cultivate my stomach and intestines and reach the Foundation Establishment stage."

Sure enough.

The green snake had anticipated this, and began piling up earth again, saying as it did so:

"The incense offerings we receive daily are mostly of the Yang nature. However, the Yin and Yang energies are supreme spiritual energies that only Golden Core cultivators can hope to master. If one can understand even a little bit about them after Foundation Establishment, it will not be in vain to have lived as a deity."

Qin Kaixian couldn't help but sigh, then flicked his finger to summon a stone, sat down, and said:

"Even the body-tempering or qi-cultivation methods based on Yin and Yang are, in my opinion, merely expedient measures, not true divine methods."

"Be good at being a god, accumulate virtue and do good deeds, and perhaps one day you will be able to exchange them for the Daoist teachings."

Li Yin silently left the spiritual realm, feeling both refreshed and somewhat troubled.

The Yin and Yang energies are far beyond the reach of ordinary cultivators, but he, Xiao Qing, and Lao Qin, although only at the Qi Refining stage, possess divine status and have come into contact with Yin and Yang early on, yet they suffer from a lack of cultivation methods.

He was well aware that most of the incense offerings he received daily were of a yang nature, but he had never considered the possibility of using them for body-strengthening techniques.

Since incense can be considered a kind of spiritual energy, there are naturally corresponding methods for body tempering.

Once you acquire the corresponding Taoist methods, you can cultivate like you are forging your body with wood qi, completely avoiding the suffering of body shaping. Wouldn't that be wonderful?

According to Lao Qin, even the Yin-Yang Qi method, which only Golden Core cultivators can access, is merely a temporary measure. What is so special about this incense and spiritual Qi?

After a moment's thought, Li Yi quickly came up with an answer.

Four words: the power of all beings' wishes.

The act of burning incense to create a golden statue, thereby gaining divine authority, inherently carries a great deal of the people's wishes and expectations.

In that case, in addition to using Yin and Yang Qi to temper the body, the divine laws and methods should also have the effect of consuming willpower to further sculpt a golden body.

The City God of Song wants Old Qin to build his foundation first. Could it be that he might bestow divine powers upon him at that time?

Seeing that incense was once again flowing from the Investiture of the Gods, Li Yi dared not hesitate any longer and hurriedly went outside to practice his basic skills.

Li Yi would accumulate wood qi whenever he had time, naturally fearing the pain of body shaping, and thus quite empathetic towards Xiao Qing.

Of the four stance exercises in the "Life-Refining Body Method," the walking stance is the most effective.

However, the book states that to master the body-strengthening method, one must first master four stances.

One should not be greedy for practicing stances on ordinary days; one should adopt a comprehensive approach and not neglect any particular aspect.

Li Yi's official residence was located among many sentry and cavalry quarters. It was not a private courtyard outside, but an open area where a group of small flag bearers, including the body cultivators under their command, were cultivating around it.

Li Yi was not a slow-witted person; while practicing his stances, he naturally noticed some subtle glances he was receiving.

Most of those gazes were probing, but after a moment's thought, he chuckled to himself and paid them no heed.

Xu Rong felt guilty when he saw Li Yi, but he didn't show it on his face.

His mind was no longer on Li Yi at this moment. From the beginning, he had been looking at Li Erhu several times and couldn't take his eyes off him.

"Could the method he cultivates be the 'Earth Nourishing Essence Technique'? I've heard that Lin Yue of the Vanguard Camp cultivated this body-forging method. Even a lowly soldier managed to obtain it by sheer luck..."

Sun Xueming and Chang Heng observed this and secretly realized that Xu Rong was also an earth-elemental body cultivator, but the method he practiced was only at the second rank...

If they had given up guessing the numbers back then and had stepped forward instead, wouldn't they be able to cultivate top-tier Qi Refining stage body tempering techniques by now?

This thought lingered in his mind, refusing to leave, and when he looked at He Shouli again, his eyes changed.

Everyone in the monastery practiced their own cultivation. Before half a day had passed, orders came from the garrison.

"By order of Commander Liu, all scouts are to assemble at the forward camp of Weiyuan Camp before 6:45 AM, having prepared their marching supplies!"

Upon receiving the order, everyone felt helpless.

While it is easy to gain military merit in the army, cultivation will always be delayed, especially for those who are earth-elemental body cultivators.

"This place has neither the nourishing land of Qin nor the ability to gather the five elements of Qi; it is no place for a human to live..."

"Don't complain."

Li Yifang obtained the "Jia Mu Shao Yang Jing" and was quite satisfied with the speed of his cultivation.

The two spiritual acupoints, Erhu and Xiaoguan, are rare, and one can cultivate them in less than the time it takes to burn two incense sticks each day.

As for Chung Wending, he remained smiling, seemingly detached from the sentries, observing everything with a critical eye.

As for Liu Zhi, he takes the Blood Qi Pills every day, but it's only been a short time and no changes are visible yet.

With noon fast approaching, Li Yi quickly ordered his troops to prepare, don armor, pack provisions, and set off on horseback.

Earlier, the army replenished the horses for each scout unit without investigating the reasons for the shortage—whether they were killed in battle or lost, no questions were asked, and all were assigned horses as if they had been killed in battle.

Li Yi reorganized his troops, checked their numbers, and set off immediately. He happened to run into Zhong Ming leading two scout teams, so they joined forces and traveled together.

He stood beside Zhong Ming, sized him up, and asked in a low voice:

Why are you so depressed?

Zhong Ming gave a bitter laugh, "We lost a brother yesterday..."

Li Yi sighed and said no more.

Losing one brother is already considered good; yesterday, everyone who encountered that cunning monkey, except for those from Sanyi Village, suffered some losses.

I wonder how many scouts were lost at the Weiyuan and Xiaguan barracks.

The two banners entered Weiyuan Camp directly, where the front camp's drill ground was densely packed with rows of soldiers.

The garrison has dispatched two thousand soldiers, plus these hundred scouts; they're probably all here.

Liu Tianyun looked back and waited for the two scouts to enter the ranks. After waiting a short while, he suddenly raised his voice and said loudly:

"By order of the Commander-in-Chief, leave the pass immediately!"