Master of Strange Dao

Slowly, things began to change.

The power of the Earth Deities grew stronger and stronger. Initially, it was to balance the local forces, but once the Earth Deities reached a certain level of strength,

and with collusion and bribery of favored ministers, deceiving both above and below, those who accepted the imperial edict from the Emperor Dui began to change.

From the moment the first member of a powerful family was appointed as an Earth Deity, everything began to spiral out of control.

The Divine Country of the Earth Deities merged with the local area, transforming into an inner world that continuously absorbed people, turning them into incense-eating people.

No one knew how the first incense-eating person appeared or transformed.

At that time, natural disasters and human calamities were incessant, corpses of the starved filled the land, and the emergence of incense-eating people was beautified as a necessary act, and from then on there were no more starved corpses.

This moment was actually the last chance to stop it.

But the court was dominated by treacherous ministers, who did not stop it, but instead praised it greatly and pushed it forward vigorously.

Incense-eating people did not eat grains, which saved a huge amount of resources.

Moreover, they lived longer lives, and overall, they were stronger than ordinary people, especially when done consuming incense. They were immensely powerful, one incense-eating person could fight several ordinary people and still hold the upper hand.

If within the Divine Dynasty, all were like this, the overall foundation would become stronger.

This was what the treacherous ministers deceived the Emperor Dui with.

The most crucial thing, on the surface, it seemed to be true, so naturally, the Emperor Dui believed it.

And then, things completely went out of control.

The expected confrontation between local powers and Earth Deities slowly transformed into an alliance between local powers and Earth Deities.

And slowly, under the cover of the Divine Country, many things were hidden.

Additionally, people who served as information channels also began to be corrupted, so the Emperor Dui and the higher-ups could no longer see the truth.

As a result, Earth Deities began to be stronger than local powers, turning the local areas into powerful forces dominated by Earth Deities.

Stronger and more troublesome than before, and with all people transforming into incense-eating people, the situation became unsolvable.

To this day, in the Divine Country, incense-eating people were normal people, while normal people were instead the alien species.

Orthodox cultivators, especially Qi Refining cultivators, were treated as the Evil Dao. They overused the spiritual energy of heaven and earth, continuously bringing forth natural disasters, making them indefensible members of the Evil Dao, and anyone could kill them.

Earth Deities were particularly fond of the blood and flesh of Qi Refining cultivators and their divine soul. If captured alive, they were the best offerings.

Meanwhile, practitioners of the Incense Fire Dao were considered the true orthodox path.

Body Cultivation was still arduous. Among the practitioners of the Incense Fire Dao, there were still some who practiced Body Refinement.

However, those who only practiced Body Refinement were still considered the Evil Dao.

Practicing the Incense Fire Dao alongside Body Refinement, that was acceptable.

The governance system that was once dominated by Prefectural Governors and County Magistrates had basically become nominal.

The Faceless Men were not much different; those who did not follow the Incense Fire Dao among the Faceless Men were particularly easy to die.

Just like those Prefectural Governors and County Magistrates who pursued normal cultivation.

Even now, court affairs were almost entirely controlled by treacherous ministers.

Bing Bajiu's tone was low, unable to hide a trace of struggle and despair, as he slowly described the events.

Yu Ziqing, upon hearing this, immediately asked a question.

"What about the Emperor Dui?"

"Your Maj– Emperor Dui focused on cultivating the Incense Fire Dao..." Bing Bajiu was overwhelmed with despair, almost to the point of overflowing.

"..." Yu Ziqing was utterly shocked.

"The Emperor Dui pursued the Incense Fire Dao? What was he trying to do? Was he insane?"

"I don't know either. Our leader, Jia Shisan, risked his life to submit a memorial and was sentenced to death. No one knows what happened in between; the lord only conveyed one sentence before his death. The Emperor Dui wanted to become a god."

"Ha..." Yu Ziqing laughed out loud, looking skyward: "Hahahaha..."

"Before ancient times, countless martyrs shed their blood across the sky, finally overthrowing the deities.

Now, the dignified Emperor Dui empowered the Earth Deities until they lost control and became Evil Gods.

And he himself wanted to become a god, did he seek to live eternally?"

Yu Ziqing laughed sarcastically, while Bing Bajiu remained silent.

"Do the Faceless Men still have a leader now?"

"Jia Shisi led many Faceless Men in rebellion, but he himself was sealed, so now there's no longer a leader."

"Sealed as a disaster?" Yu Ziqing was shocked, yet oddly not surprised.

"Jia Shisi was incredibly talented and practiced the Execution Blade, but they couldn't kill him, so they could only seal him."

"Then, here, who exactly performed the sealing?"

Yu Ziqing had a vague suspicion.

Bing Bajiu remained silent for a long time, finally speaking with a bitter tone.

"Back then, Jia Shisi gathered all the officials within the court who hadn't followed the Incense Fire Dao.

He entered the Ancestral Temple of Dadui, using the Blood Sacrifice Method to offer sacrifices to Dadui, declaring it to the heavens and earth.

At the same time, all normal people who were not incense-eating throughout Dadui entered their respective clan ancestral halls.

Hoping to start with the Ancestral Temple and connect all clan ancestral halls throughout Dadui.

Burning the fate of Dadui, connecting all bloodlines to destroy their foundation.

We were almost—just a little bit away from succeeding.

Just a little bit more..."

"What happened?"

"The Emperor Dui intervened. The Emperor Dui acted to stop us.

He, in order to stop us, allied with the Twelve Prefectural Governors and sixty County Magistrates who had already turned into incense-eating people, along with all the Earth Deities.

With this, he turned what we were about to do into a disaster that could overturn Dadui, sealing it.

Jia Shisi fought desperately, wanting to stop them; those people were no match for him, yet they could still seal him.

Everything became irreparable."

Yu Ziqing's mind buzzed with disbelief.

He had speculated on many possibilities.

He had once guessed whether the Emperor Dui had discovered something, a disaster capable of overturning Dadui, so he had no choice but to seal the entire Dadui.