Chapter 725 — The Southern Domain Emperor Lord's Face
The Herdsman of the Wasteland · Page 2 of 5
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.