Ancestral Worship in the Central Plains: Sustaining the Power of the Ancestral Dragon

Now, there is nothing more to say.

Everyone here was a Martial Sage; there was no fundamental difference in strength.

The titles over their heads were merely "So-and-so of the Li Imperial Family."

You, on the other hand, had a whole bunch.

It was an absolute crush.

Even if Li Liushui and the others weren't completely subservient to you, they at least had to grant your every request.

Merely meeting the Emperor was nothing at all.

This time, you met Li Chengqian in the Qianyang Palace, the main hall where state affairs were discussed in the imperial palace.

"The progress has sped up..."

In the last simulation at this point in time, Li Chengqian should still be playing the fool.

But this time, he had already begun to rule. Although he hadn't grasped all the power over the court and the military, he no longer needed to play blind man's bluff with the maids in the small garden.

"Benefactor! It really is you, Benefactor! We haven't seen each other in decades, and to think that you are already an expert in the Martial Sage realm. I am truly amazed!"

Old friends reunited.

In front of all the civil and military officials, you chatted about your chance encounter at the Qing River in the past, and about the fireworks on New Year's Eve.

The high-ranking officials of the Great Qian Dynasty present were all astonished to see that a commoner like you did not kneel before the monarch, and even joked and laughed with the Emperor, stopping just short of putting an arm around his shoulder.

One by one, they all guessed what your background could possibly be.

"Benefactor, coming to find me this time, is there something you need me to step forward for?"

"I want to borrow a little something."

"Please, speak freely! I must set an example for the people of the world. Repaying kindness is a traditional virtue of my Great Qian!"

"The Nether Soil of the Imperial Mausoleum."

Before Li Chengqian could even open his mouth.

Qin Rong, who stood at the head of the left column in the hall, had already shouted in reprimand.

"Audacious! The Nether Soil of the Imperial Mausoleum is the foundation and lifeblood of our Great Qian. How can an outsider like you be allowed to borrow it, even a single speck!"

A group of civil officials immediately followed suit.

They successively presented memorials, hoping the Emperor would refuse your request, even if it meant giving you more gold, silver, treasures, and noble titles.

If it weren't for the fact that this old geezer Qin Rong didn't waver when dealing with foreign enemies, you would definitely teach him a lesson right now.

After all, Li Chengqian was currently at a critical moment of seizing power and could not openly go against the officials.

Therefore, he proposed a solution.

In a few days, it would be the grand sacrificial ceremony. At that time, he would draw lots in the Imperial Mausoleum to ask the Ancestral Dragon.

If the Ancestral Dragon agreed, he would take out some of the Nether Soil of the Imperial Mausoleum and give it to you.

You and Li Chengqian exchanged a glance.

You understood.

No matter how this lot was drawn, there would only be one answer.

A few days later, in the Imperial Mausoleum gardens outside the capital, you witnessed a massive sacrificial ceremony.

Important officials from all over the country, along with hundreds of thousands of soldiers and civilians, worshipped at the same time.

The most shocking thing was that you saw hundreds of thousands of livestock being driven into the Imperial Mausoleum.

Afterward, terrifying screams rang out, and a bloody light emanated from within the Imperial Mausoleum.

You tried to probe with your divine sense, only to find that it was blocked outside.

As a Heaven-rank Array Master, you did not see any isolating arrays in the Imperial Mausoleum.

In fact, you didn't even see a decent protective array here.

Logically speaking, as the cemetery for generations of imperial relatives, it should be guarded and defended by arrays.

"Li Wentian..."

Combining what God Xiaoyao and Patriarch Shen had told you, along with some information you had probed yourself back then.

It was not difficult to analyze.

The second Dao Protector of the human race after the Immemorial Era, the Martial God Li Wentian who single-handedly established the Great Qian Dynasty and was called the Ancestral Dragon by later generations of the imperial family.

Although he was dead, his power remained.

The annual ancestral worship at the Imperial Mausoleum was actually to prolong this power, so that it could last even longer.

Therefore, even though wars were being fought in both the north and the south, the grand sacrificial ceremony was still carried out meticulously.

Compared to maintaining the power of the Ancestral Dragon, the wars on the northern and southern fronts were nothing but a drizzle.

As long as Li Wentian's power could still strike, it would be impossible for the imperial family of these Five Regions to change their surname.

You heard that the earliest sacrifices were not livestock, but living humans.

About five thousand years ago, Emperor Yingzong of Qian abolished human sacrifice and improved the method of sacrifice so that livestock could be used as substitutes.

In previous years, the livestock used for these sacrifices were all cattle and sheep sent from the Northern Region.

This was a very important reason why the relationship between the Central Plains and the Northern Region had always been fairly good.

This year, to cooperate with Li Chengqian's plans, the Northern Region did not pay tribute. The livestock used for the sacrifice were bought from farmers and herders within the Great Qian borders.

Anyway, the imperial court definitely allocated funds.

Whether the grassroots officials actually paid the money and how much they paid was clearly something the Great Qian court, currently in a troubled time, had no energy to manage.

After the grand sacrificial ceremony ended.

Li Chengqian brought out a portion of the Nether Soil of the Imperial Mausoleum using a specially made container.

He said the lot given by the Ancestral Dragon was an agreement.

Qin Rong and the others couldn't argue with him and say he was lying.

This was an open scheme.

Giving each other a way out; don't be ungrateful.

"Thanks."

"Benefactor, there is no need to thank me. Whether I can seize back the imperial power from those treacherous officials still relies on your big brother."

When there was no one else around, Li Chengqian did not refer to himself as 'Zhen' when speaking to you.

"Once my big brother helps you take back power, Chengqian, I hope you can continue to cooperate with the Shen family's plan, arm all the citizens, and prepare for war against the enemy!"

"Naturally. In fact, this has always been ongoing, but I know that Qin Rong and the others haven't truly taken it to heart. They are only reluctantly cooperating out of fear of the Shen family's martial power. Afterward, I will formulate a more detailed and specific strategy to face the enemy. No matter how powerful the enemy is, the Central Plains and the Five Regions will definitely fight to the very last moment!"

"Although people like Qin Rong are greedy and hungry for power, they are also rare combat assets. You can suppress them, but do not kill them. We can settle the score after the Human Realm successfully survives this tribulation."

"Benefactor is wise; we think exactly alike."

Looking at the container in your hand and thinking about what the Nether Soil of the Imperial Mausoleum inside actually was, your expression became quite uncomfortable.

In the last simulation, you discovered that this thing didn't look like soil; it looked more like flesh.

This time, your status and position were higher, allowing you to communicate on equal footing with figures like Patriarch Shen, the Dao Protectors, and God Xiaoyao, so you had already learned what this was from their mouths.

Prolonging Li Wentian's power required more than just the annual sacrifices.

It also required that after each emperor passed away, their physical bodies be merged into Li Wentian's corpse using a secret art left behind by Li Wentian.

With generation after generation of emperors continuing this practice, today, Li Wentian's corpse was completely unrecognizable, resembling a terrifying, chilling, and indescribable entity.

The Nether Soil of the Imperial Mausoleum was exactly this mass of flesh and blood.

Thinking about how you were going to use this thing to refine pills and then eat them, you naturally felt a bit nauseous.

Fortunately, pill refinement involved high-temperature sterilization, so it wouldn't be a big problem.