Cultivation: From Poor Peasant to Celestial Lord

Chapter 307: Chapter 163: Night Patrol God, Beastkeeping Authority

Emerging from the Underground Palace, the dense cyan mist outside seemed to have been thinned considerably by the pillar of divine light that had just shot into the sky.

The violent tremors that had wracked the mountain range had subsided, replaced by a steady, heavy rhythm, as if the entire Lingma Mountain had found its breath again.

Chu Bai, still clad in his green robes, moved swiftly through the scattered rocks and ancient trees with the small, clay-sculpted old man on his back.

But now, the way the figure in the basket addressed him had quietly changed.

”Lord Envoy.”

The little old Land God’s voice was no longer hoarse and muddled. Instead, it carried a heartfelt deference, even a touch of awe.

In the Divine Dao, the hierarchy was strict. The title ’Lord Envoy’ was typically used by lower-ranking Divine Spirits to address high-ranking beings who carried a decree from the Dynasty and possessed immense hidden Merit.

”Lord Envoy, where shall we go next?” the Land God asked softly. His probing tone from before was gone, replaced by a sincere desire to assist.

Chu Bai casually pulled a Blood Spirit Grass from his robes—it was crimson all over and still caked with dirt—and popped it into his mouth, chewing it like a radish.

When the juice entered his mouth, that searing, magma-like energy once again exploded within his body, only to be instantly tamed by his Nourishing and Exquisite Fate Chart and converted into pure physical foundation.

”This grass isn’t bad. Its medicinal properties are a bit fierce, but it’s excellent for replenishing Spiritual Power and vital Qi and blood.”

Chu Bai exhaled a turbid, blood-tinged breath, his eyes glinting. ”Take me to find more like this. If I can raise my Cultivation to Perfection before the Celestial Ladder opens, I’ll have more confidence in this Celestial Examination.”

”Yes.”

The Land God bowed his head in acknowledgment. Although the Mountain God’s Divine Soul had not yet returned, its rank had been restored, which in turn greatly expanded the Land God’s own authority.

Under the guidance of the Land God’s Divine Thought, Chu Bai could feel the map in his mind expand from a five-li radius to fifteen li.

Within this fifteen-li radius, the flow of the Earth Veins, the faint glimmers of treasure, and even the resting places of powerful abominations were all as clear as the lines on his palm.

”Old-timer, there is something I’m curious about.”

Chu Bai kept moving, avoiding several campfires where other Cultivators had gathered. ”This realm may be a fragment, but it was once a great world,” he asked. ”How many Divine Spirits like you are left?”

This was a very important question.

Lighting a Land God Temple yielded a hundred points of Merit, and lighting a Mountain God’s altar would grant an uncountable amount.

If he could find a few more, he wouldn’t need to bother hunting Demon Beasts to secure the top spot on the leaderboard.

Hearing this, the Land God let out a long sigh, his tone filled with a desolation that spoke of unbearable memories:

”To answer you, Lord Envoy, when the great world shattered and this fragment broke off, there were over a hundred Earth Spirit City Gods like myself.”

”But over ten thousand years of erosion by Evil Qi, most of my colleagues have had their Spirituality dissipate, their bodies becoming mere shells for those abominations that know only slaughter... Now, I can only sense a few dozen whose presences still flicker.”

”What about those like the Mountain God?” Chu Bai pressed.

He could sense that the Land God’s rank was roughly equivalent to a Regular Eighth-Grade, comparable to Qi Cultivation Perfection.

The Lingma Mountain God, on the other hand, must have been a Great Cultivator at the Foundation Establishment Stage in his prime, perhaps even stronger with the boons of his divine office.

Between Qi Cultivation and Foundation Establishment lay a heavenly chasm.

For the current Chu Bai, if he encountered a Demonized, Foundation Establishment Level Divine Spirit that still possessed some of its Spiritual Power, it would be an opponent he absolutely could not face.

The Land God fell silent for a moment, seemingly searching his mind for those lingering phantoms of the past.

”Originally, there were five who held sway over the core of this fragment, including my Commanding Officer. They each guarded one of the five cardinal hubs, and every one of them was a being capable of moving mountains and rivers.”

”Five of them?” Chu Bai’s heart tightened. ”How many of them still have their Spirituality intact?”

”I do not know.”

The Land God said with a sigh, ”Too much time has passed. Some may have completely degenerated into Demon Ghosts, while others might still be struggling to hold on, like this old one. My Commanding Officer only retained a complete Divine Body because he was protected by the Earth Vein Essence. The other four... their fates are likely even harder to predict.”

Chu Bai nodded, engraving the information about the ’Five Great Forbidden Lands’ into his mind.

The risk was enormous, but risk often came with opportunities great enough to defy heaven and change one’s fate.

”Lord Envoy, thirteen li to your front-right, there is a dried-up Medicine Stream. This old one senses an extremely dense concentration of wood and plant Essence Qi there, no less potent than the Blood Spirit Grass from before.”

The Land God suddenly offered guidance.

”Good.”

A flicker of a smile crossed Chu Bai’s eyes as he instantly activated Fire Step Ascension.

”Lead the way.”

Here in the Cyan Netherworld, he was like a veteran hunter with a personal map.

While the other examinees were still fighting to the death over a tael of Cyan Nether Pearls, he was already speeding toward the next Treasure Vault, one that would make even the Noble Families green with envy.

Thanks to the defection of this clay Land God, the Qingzhou Celestial Examination had already become Chu Bai’s personal land of opportunity.

...

「Half a month later.」

The Cyan Nether Realm, outer southeastern region.

For the surviving examinees, the violent Gravity and dense cyan mist that had once ravaged these ruins had become just another part of the background—something they had been forced to accept.

The Celestial Examination was now halfway through. Of the more than ten thousand people who had entered the Secret Realm, nearly thirty percent had already perished. Those who remained were, without exception, either the best of the best among those at Qi Cultivation Perfection or shrewd survivors who excelled at self-preservation.

Within this devastated landscape of ruins stood a dilapidated settlement known as Black Stone Town.

Most of its walls had long since been destroyed, and stark white bones could be seen everywhere under collapsed eaves. Yet, in the center of the town, a towering temple had miraculously remained intact.

Though its green bricks and red tiles were mottled with age, it showed no signs of decay. Instead, it radiated a solemn majesty that put one’s heart at ease.