Chapter 725 — The Southern Domain Emperor Lord's Face

"The Taiwei Calculation Scripture, when deduced, remains a blank expanse. It can derive the rules of a higher Great Dao that were never noticed before, but to calculate them out requires a great many masters of the arts of number and fate.

" "The Primordial Magnetism Divine Art is much easier. Cult Master Shen has already devised several equations, and by using them to reckon the primordial magnetism runes, one need only derive equations of a deeper order and work out the foundational runes of the Primordial Magnetism Divine Art; then the outlines of that divine-art system can be fixed. " Xu Shenghua took counsel with Jing Yan.

"I intend to found the Shangcang Academy, but Shangcang is still not in my hands. Founding the Shangcang Academy must be done; otherwise, in the Jingping of the future there will be no foothold for Shangcang. Yanzi, what say you?

" Jing Yan said, "To this day no academy has been established in the Western Lands. Why does my husband not summon his people from the Western Lands? The Western Lands hold many talents, but the sectarian prejudice of the great clans is deep-rooted. If my husband goes and founds a Shangcang Academy that casts aside all sectarian prejudice, the Zhentian Palace Master will surely be glad to help you.

To help you is to help her break the great clans and powerful houses of the Western Lands. " She thought for a moment and said, "The Western Lands were conquered by Cult Master Shen, and the great clans and powerful houses of the Western Lands revere him above all. If the Shangcang Academy is to be built in the Western Lands, Cult Master Shen must be invited to serve as its Libationer. With his name, and with the support of the Zhentian Palace Master, there will be no resistance. Once the Shangcang Academy is built, my husband can strike back at Shangcang and utterly root out the running dogs the Heavenly Court left behind there; from that day on, Shangcang will fall into my husband's hands. And when Shangcang is merged into Jingping, the Emperor will support you with all his strength.

" Xu Shenghua's eyes lit up, and he laughed. "Yanzi's idea is a good one.

Let it be so. Then, of Cult Master Shen's Taiwei Calculation Scripture and his Primordial Magnetism Divine Art, which direction should my Shangcang Academy choose? " Jing Yan pondered. "The Daoist sect was founded long ago and has depths of foundation beyond measure, while the Shangcang Academy is not yet founded; my husband has not the capital to contend with the Daoist Sovereign. Moreover, the Taiwei Calculation Scripture must be exceedingly troublesome, and within several years it will hardly yield results, while the Primordial Magnetism Divine Art yields results very easily. A few years from now, the Shangcang Academy and the Tiansheng Academy will share the fruits of the Primordial Magnetism Divine Art, and borrowing the Tiansheng Academy's name to spread its fame throughout the world, once it has made a name for itself, the scholars of the realm will naturally be glad to enter the Shangcang Academy to study.

" She smiled. "And by then, the Daoist sect should have achieved little in its study of the Taiwei Calculation Scripture.

My husband will then have both fame and people, and can join in the study of the Taiwei Calculation Scripture.

" Xu Shenghua felt greatly reassured and laughed. "With a wife like this, what more could a man ask for? " Husband and wife having settled their plans, Jing Yan said, "Princess Xiu is a Commandery Princess of the First Rank, Second Class, in the Western Lands. The Emperor trusts her greatly, and she is a woman, a heroine among women. The Western Lands honor women above all, and they trust and admire her deeply; her connections are vast.

I will go and visit Princess Xiu and open up that connection, and through her open up the connection with the Zhentian Palace.

My husband shall take counsel with Cult Master Shen and open up his connection as well; then there will be no resistance. " Xu Shenghua decided on the spot and told Shen Mu of the matter. Shen Mu laughed. "In the Western Lands there is only one Zhentian Palace. The Zhentian Palace was originally a subordinate of Shangcang, but in recent years its grip on the Western Lands has not been what it once was, to the point that the great clans and powerful houses of the Western Lands stand thick as a forest. In peacetime it hardly matters, but should turmoil arise, the Western Lands will surely rebel. Brother Xu's idea of founding the Shangcang Academy is a good one.

I can lend my name to your Shangcang Academy.

You should also pay a visit to Sister Yuxiu; her roots in the Western Lands run very deep.

Then, together with her, submit a memorial to the Emperor.

The Emperor will allot you funds and men and help you found the Shangcang Academy the sooner.

" Xu Shenghua was overjoyed.

When Shen Mu had dealt with a few odds and ends of the Tiansheng Academy, the First Ancestor Human Sovereign said, "Shen'er, it is time for us to set out!

" Shen Mu answered, took his leave of Granny Zhu, and followed the Woodcutter, Di Yiyue, and the others. "In the Bazhou Prefecture ahead there is a stone statue of a calamity god.

" The Woodcutter Sage said, "Does the Heavenly King wish to go and take a look?

" Di Yiyue said calmly, "It would be just as well to take a look. " Shen Mu went with them to Bazhou Prefecture.

The statue had thrust up out of Bazhou City itself, exceedingly tall, towering in the city like a mountain peak. The statue had a bird's head and a human body, wings half spread, and eyes exceedingly keen.

It was the stone statue of a woman.

Her body was draped in the fire-marked feathers of the Vermilion Bird. Though her frame was immense, her figure was very graceful; if one did not look at the bird's head and the bird's claws, the whole was full of beauty. The statue had already been walled about with brick and stone, but outside the wall there was much incense ash and many candles, no doubt left by ignorant folk who had come to worship. "Do these people not know that the statue is a calamity god, come to exterminate them?

" Seeing that some common folk had actually come to burn incense and pray, Di Yiyue could not help shaking her head. "When the statue revives, it will send down calamity upon Jingping. These common folk with no cultivation or strength will surely be the first wave to die in the calamity. What sense is there in worshiping a calamity god that comes to send down calamity and kill them?

" Shen Mu said, "Elder Sister, this is the difficulty of shattering the gods in the shrine of the heart. The more terrible a god is, the more the ignorant folk revere it, and the more readily it receives worship.

The Imperial Teacher of Jingping reformed the customs precisely to shatter the gods in the hearts of the people: whether wielders of divine abilities or gods and demons, all must be used by men and serve men. " The feathers of this stone statue had already turned from stone into true feathers; clearly it had absorbed no little blood and qi of the dead, and there were faint signs of its revival.

The scales on her legs were growing distinct as well, and on the skin of her neck one could faintly see divine blood flowing beneath the skin. Though Lou Yunqu had fled, the poison he left was deep; many stone statues within Jingping's borders had come to the verge of revival.

The statue in Bazhou was only one of them. In truth, even without Lou Yunqu, these stone statues would sooner or later revive; even the common people of Jingping dying natural deaths would become offerings to the statues.

Lou Yunqu had merely hastened the process many times over.