Random recommendation:

People came and went at the market in the Plague tribe’s territory; it was extremely lively.

A figure wearing a conical hat and draped in a black robe was sneaking up to passersby, furtively opening their mouth to say, “Fellow villager, do you want scriptures?”

“Huh?” The passerby looked alert and confused.

The person in the conical hat lifted their black robe slightly, revealing a dazzling array of Buddhist scriptures hanging in an inner pocket. “Orthodox direct transmission from San Bao Shan, Buddhist Xiao Sheng Seng hand-copied scriptures, thirty volumes to choose from. How about it, want one? Frequent recitation accumulates virtue and guarantees your Buddhist law will be profound and your cultivation will achieve success.”

The passerby took a step back and shouted loudly, “Someone is spreading a false faith! Don’t let him run!”

But before the words could fully leave his mouth, the person in the conical hat had already disappeared.

In another corner of the market, the person in the conical hat darted out again, blocking someone. This time the approach changed: “Hello, may I ask if you want to go to the Bliss World?”

“What is the Bliss World?”

“A world where you don’t need to work, you don’t need to study, you don’t need to suffer, and you just eat, drink, and play every day.”

“How do I get there?”

“Take refuge in my Buddha, have firm faith, and when you die you can go… hey, why are you attacking—”

Jing Li, gray-faced and dirt-covered, ran out of the Plague tribe ahead of an increasingly large pursuit team.

He really didn’t understand exactly where the problem had occurred.

His junior brother had assigned him the task of propagating the Buddhist law in the Futu world. The goal was to occupy a corner in this world’s divine path faith in advance to keep timely track of Ao Kui’s movements within the faith.

It was the so-called “cicada aware before the autumn wind moves.”

But propagating Buddhist law, such a simple thing, when he casually recited a scripture near the Xuan Kong Si, countless believers would surround him… how could it be so difficult in Futu?

He had copied and distributed scriptures, he had performed prayers and consecrations, he had even provided a Bliss World pickup service, but none of it worked! He had been out for so long without even one believer. How could he report this to his junior brother?

“Lost!? I told you to properly guard the shrine before I left, and this is how you report to me?!”

Inside the Jing Shui tribe’s water shrine, Jing Shui Cheng Yan was thundering.

The boy standing opposite him could only nod repeatedly, apologizing profusely.

As Jing Shui Cheng Yan’s closed-door disciple, if there were no accidents, this boy would be the next shaman priest of the Jing Shui tribe. Looking at his expression, actions, and posture, they were all proper and seemed quite genuine and sincere, indicating he had talent.

Ji Huo Yu Xiu tilted his head to look at him, just about to say something, but was interrupted by Mister Lin Chuan stroking his hair.

Mister Lin Chuan smiled warmly and said, “It’s alright, just move the remaining research materials over. Where in life have people not made mistakes?”

Jing Shui Cheng Yan was still waiting to lecture his disciple a bit, but when he saw Mister Lin Chuan’s seemingly smiling eyes, he choked up and hastily stood up, saying, “I will go fetch it myself.”

In the high and spacious great hall of the water shrine, Jiang Wang sat steadily in the guest seat. Ji Huo Yu Xiu’s wheelchair was beside him, and Lin Xian stood behind him.

The future shaman priest of the Jing Shui tribe — a boy of about eleven or twelve years old — now knelt in the center of the shrine hall with his head lowered.

Looking out from here, one could see the outer square where an ice-crystal-like goddess statue stood.

“Alright, your master has left, don’t kneel.” Jiang Wang lifted his hand, and an invisible force lifted the boy up.

“Hey.” He looked at the young boy and pointed to the goddess statue in the outer square: “What is this statue? You don’t believe in gods, right?”

“This may not be a god,” the young boy said very seriously. “This is the incarnation of beauty, wisdom, and war. It is the concrete representation of the source totem shining upon the world, humanity’s executor. Its name is Feng Yao.”

It could still be like this!

Jiang Wang’s eyes widened, and he suddenly understood.

Futu world, to be precise, didn’t not believe in gods; they didn’t believe in gods in the narrow sense beyond the source totem. This world was a world of source faith.

But if the five elements of gold, wood, water, fire, and earth could have source totems, if wind, thunder, and plague could have source totems, then why couldn’t beauty, wisdom, and war?

Cui Cheng Hou’s eldest daughter had not only contacted the totem system of the Futu world, but she had also gained a profound understanding of it that year and integrated herself into the totem system, plundering resources to the maximum!

Looking back now, who exactly harvested the most in the Futu world was still debatable.

Why Jiang Wu Xie, Li Feng Yao, Lei Zhan Qian, and the others all used their original names when traveling in the outer heavens. Jiang Wang could also now understand clearly; this was also a way of expressing their path to the outside world. When the myriad realms of the heavens praised their names, their paths were also transmitted. Relying solely on their own Xing Lou to express their path to the universe would naturally be much less efficient.

He hadn’t understood before. In a populous and resource-rich outer heavenly world like Futu, he had used a pseudonym, thinking it was cautious and risk-averse, and even felt self-satisfied about it. Unbeknownst to him, he had entered a treasure mountain but lost the great treasure. Of course, this wasn’t because he wasn’t smart enough, but purely because of the limitations of his origin and perspective.

Li Feng Yao’s statue stood outside the Shui tribe’s first source shrine, and a large number of people truly believed.

Several years from now, the Futu world might not see the emergence of totems of beauty, wisdom, and war, and the corresponding tribes… how rich would those resources be?

Jiang Wang even began to design the images of the totems in his heart—the beauty totem could be an abbreviated image of Sister Feng Yao; she was extremely beautiful just by standing there. The wisdom totem could be Sister Feng Yao thinking on a throne, and the war totem could be Sister Feng Yao drawing a bow and killing enemies?

Jing Shui Cheng Yan carried a large box of books at this time and walked into the great hall. He placed it flat on the table and opened the lid for Jiang Wang to see: “Please look, Mister. These are all the Jing Shui tribe’s many years of research on You Tian. They are all respectfully offered now.”

The box was filled with stacked manuscripts, densely packed with Futu characters, exuding the scent of ink.

Jiang Wang bowed his head and said, “Many thanks. The demon dragon’s execution had a part in the power contributed by the Jing Shui tribe.”

Lin Xian walked forward and took the box of books away. The firewood knife hanging at his waist was not sharp, but rather thick and clumsy. He seemed as dull as his firewood knife, but he had a more solid sense of power.

“Mister Lin Chuan is too polite.” Jing Shui Cheng Yan stood there, weighing the tone of seeing a guest off: “I know Mister is busy with many affairs, so I won’t…”

“Right,” Jiang Wang said to himself. “I still want to inquire about one thing.”

Jing Shui Cheng Yan tried to use a tired standing posture to make the visitor self-aware: “Please speak.”

Jiang Wang acted as if he didn’t notice: “Does your noble tribe have records of the details of the change at Sheng Shou Shan that year?”

Jing Shui Cheng Yan looked back at the chair and finally sat down opposite Jiang Wang, placing his hands together: “I didn’t expect Mister Lin Chuan to be so clear about Futu’s history… The change at Sheng Shou Shan that year was a pending case, with no useful clues and naturally no reasonable explanation. That was the case then, and a thousand years later, what records could there be? Nothing more than ‘Sheng Shou Shan collapsed, the cause and effect are unclear.'”

Jiang Wang nodded and said in a natural tone: “Did your noble tribe’s shaman priest not go to Sheng Shou Shan to investigate that year? I heard later… it was related to the trip to Sheng Shou Shan?”

Jing Shui Cheng Yan said: “Lord Yi Yuan died from a failed sublimation of the totem holy spirit seven years after the collapse of Sheng Shou Shan. This matter is recorded in books. I believe his death is unrelated to Sheng Shou Shan.”

Jiang Wang said again: “That year’s change at Sheng Shou Shan left no clues. The four venerable totem spirits who investigated for the first time all died within ten years. This also led to changes in the patterns of their respective tribes. Among them, the strongest Xuan Feng tribe split into eight tribes, and the Hun Tu tribe and Xiao Lei tribe were both severely weakened, declining and never rising. Only the Jing Shui tribe has maintained its position as the head of the water tribe after a thousand years… do you think there are special reasons?”

This visitor from the blue sky’s understanding of Futu history clearly far exceeded Jing Shui Cheng Yan’s imagination.

He sat up straight and cautiously said, “Saying there are special reasons isn’t quite right. The Jing Shui tribe has been able to be passed down to this day, and everyone’s lives are still decent. First, it relies on the favor of heaven and the endless emergence of talents. Second, it relies on unity of heart; all the people of the Jing Shui tribe are of one heart and strive bravely… thus, we are only fortunate enough not to disgrace our ancestors.”

“Speaking of ancestors,” Jiang Wang said leisurely, “I remember in legends, the ancestor of the Jing Shui tribe was the first to cleanse Ya Gan Lake, extract drinkable water, and change Ya Ku to Ya Gan people?”

Mister Lin Chuan’s arrival at the Jing Shui tribe was absolutely not a temporary idea, but rather something prepared in advance!

Jing Shui Cheng Yan had this realization in his heart, and his tone became more humble: “Legends are all like this. Among the thirty-six races of the Water tribe, most ancestors are related to Ya Gan Lake.”

But Jiang Wang did not pursue relentlessly as he had expected, but changed the topic: “In that incident, first there was the trap at Ya Gan Lake, then the collapse of Sheng Shou Shan. Speaking of which, I know Ya Gan Lake is the mother river of the Futu people and cannot be named with ‘Sheng’. Why can Sheng Shou Shan have the character ‘Sheng’?”

Jing Shui Cheng Yan let out a breath and explained: “In ancient legends, the earliest people gathered on Sheng Shou Shan, with trees as houses and vine leaves as clothes. They drank Ya Gan water, ate fish from the great lake, picked fruits from the sacred mountain, and hunted beasts from the old forest. Thus they multiplied and thrived, their population grew, and later they migrated to various places… We Futu people are all people from the mountain. So that mountain has its sacred name.”

Jiang Wang listened quietly and then stood up and said: “Many thanks to the shaman priest for resolving my doubts. I have caused much disturbance today.”

Jing Shui Cheng Yan was already prepared for being continuously asked about historical secrets and did not expect Jiang Wang to leave as soon as he said he would.

Originally hoping he would leave, he was instead a bit at a loss: “Mister Lin Chuan is leaving just like that?”

Jiang Wang smiled and asked: “Does the shaman priest want to keep me?”

Jing Shui Cheng Yan shrank back: “You’re busy, you’re busy…”

Jiang Wang lifted his foot but stopped: “Your noble tribe seems to be trying to create totems of beauty, wisdom, and war. How about I give some suggestions?”

Jing Shui Cheng Yan fiercely glared at his disciple, but did not rush to deny it, saying cautiously: “Please speak, Mister.”

Jiang Wang lifted his finger and sketched out three images of Li Feng Yao with Ru Meng Ling, pressing them onto the table: “That goddess statue outside is not very clear; you might as well refer to these.”

Jing Shui Cheng Yan was suddenly shocked: “You and Lord Feng Yao are…”

“We are family friends in this world and have always called each other sister and brother. Her biological younger brother is also my close friend; we often fly eagles and fight dogs together,” Jiang Wang smiled. “So the shaman priest doesn’t need to be so guarded against me.”

Jing Shui Cheng Yan said seriously: “I have absolutely no guard against Mister Lin Chuan; I am open-hearted, a piece of sincerity.”

Jiang Wang smiled and waved his hand: “This is it; no need to see me off. If there is any news of world-ending demon dragons or demon artifacts, remember to send a message in time.”

Then he really stepped into the air with Lin Xian and Ji Huo Yu Xiu and left.

“Uncle Lin Chuan, there is one thing I don’t understand,” Ji Huo Yu Xiu asked in the wind.

Jiang Wang strolled calmly, his eyes surveying the mountains and rivers, not concealing his existence from this world. He said: “Speak.”

Ji Huo Yu Xiu asked: “The You Tian materials that Jing Shui Cheng Yan gave were obviously not complete. It’s also impossible for that boy to have lost important materials in the time his master was out. Why did you stop me from exposing him?”

Jiang Wang smiled and only asked: “Why expose him?”

Outside the room where Play Fate and the other two were interpreting the Creation God texts in the general’s mansion of the Qing Huo Yuan Chen tribe, a sneaky figure hesitated and approached.

“Xiao Bai, Xiao Bai…” He tiptoed and transmitted sound.

Bai Yu Xia put down the manuscript in his hand, pushed the door open, and looked a little puzzled: “What’s the matter, Xiao Sheng Seng?”

“Shh!” Jing Li hurriedly shushed him.

He looked east and west for a while, pulled Bai Yu Xia to the corner of the wall, and then said mysteriously: “Let me ask you something.”

Bai Yu Xia straightened his clothes: “Please ask.”

“Just how do you propagate the faith of San Bao Shan?” Jing Li said with a bitter face: “No matter what I say, they don’t listen.”

Ever since Bai Yu Xia instigated him to start the wine house consecration business and practically filled his money pouch, Bai Yu Xia had become a symbol of wisdom in his eyes. In terms of cleverness, he was only slightly less so than Junior Brother Jing Shen.

His junior brother had assigned him the task, and he swore to accomplish it. Of course, it was not good to ask his junior brother with a gray face and dirt-covered, so he came to ask Shopkeeper Bai.

“What did you say?” Bai Yu Xia asked.

“I just said it straight,” Jing Li said. “San Bao Shan is the orthodox school of Buddhism, direct transmission from the World Honored One. My master is the next abbot of Xuan Kong Si, I am the next next, and my junior brother is the next next next, or I can be the next next next too. Take refuge in us, and you absolutely won’t go wrong.”

Bai Yu Xia was silent for a moment and said: “Let me ask Xiao Sheng Seng a question — and let’s not talk about Futu, are there many people in the present world who believe in Buddha?”

“Many, everywhere!” Jing Li said as a matter of course: “I investigated near Xuan Kong Si, and ten out of ten believe in Buddha.”

“…Xiao Sheng Seng is very rigorous!”

“Let’s not talk about this for now. Junior brother should be back soon. Quickly teach me how to do it.”

“This matter is actually simple!” Bai Yu Xia smiled lightly: “Among the Buddhist laws that Xiao Sheng Seng cultivates, what is the most important?”

“I don’t know.”

“You don’t know?”

“I cultivate my Buddha, and I manage what It says, and what is most important to It.” Jing Li spoke words that could be called arrogant, yet his expression was normal, and his eyes were even clearer, without a trace of arrogance.

Bai Yu Xia thus understood that he was not “arrogant,” he was “true.”

This speech truly had a Buddha mind!

Bai Yu Xia gave up trying to induce him step by step and decided to give him the solution directly: “Just assume it’s ’cause and effect’. You create a shell for a cause and effect totem, claim to be a cause and effect shaman priest, and then give out some rice, flour, and eggs, and people will naturally be attracted to believe.”

“Is there anything else?”

“That’s enough.”

Jing Li didn’t quite understand but didn’t doubt either. He said “oh” and then went to practice.

Jiang Wang brought Ji Huo Yu Xiu down at this time.

He landed and said: “Xiao Sheng Seng, don’t go out for now, accompany me on a trip to Sheng Shou Shan!”

The door of the inner room opened, and Play Fate walked out with his hands behind his back. Lian Yu Juan’s sword hung at his waist. They walked out together, all in full combat readiness.

The most important mountain in the Futu world was involved in the origin of the Futu human race and was also the beginning of a millennium great change.

Ao Kui was very likely hiding there!