Walking by the Abyss on Thin Ice

Chapter 288 – New Deities Invasion

In the temple, there was first silence, then an uproar. A spiritualist trembled and said, "Didn't you say you wouldn't resist?"

Su Yun glanced at him and said in surprise, "I said I wouldn't resist you, but I didn't say I wouldn't resist the gods you worship. If he wants to eat me, I will naturally kill him."

The spiritualist attacked, his voice filled with despair, "For the gods!"

Behind Su Yun, Winged Dragon's Heavenly Eye flashed, and the spiritualist was killed before he could approach.

The other spiritualists in the village were shocked and angry. "Didn't you say you wouldn't resist us?"

Su Yun shook his head and said, "I only said I wouldn't resist just now, not that I wouldn't resist for the rest of my life."

He looked at the indignant and restless people below and said calmly, "Tolerating you is my right because I am stronger than you. But it does not give you the right to blame me. I can tolerate you out of kindness, or I can kill you out of malice."

The people in the temple dared not approach Su Yun.

Behind Su Yun, the god that was killed quickly transformed from a flesh state into a golden body, only missing its head.

Su Yun crouched down and carefully examined it with the help of Winged Dragon's Heavenly Eye. His brows furrowed tighter and tighter.

Ying Ying flew out and whispered, "This god is the same as the ancestral god in the Yuan Shuo ancestral hall. It also uses people's prayers to refine its golden body. However, because all the gods are its incarnations, it can descend on any of its incarnations at any time."

Su Yun nodded slightly, his Winged Dragon's Heavenly Eye saw more things.

The golden body worshipped in this village was not strong, while the gods displayed in the Heavenly Court Scripture should be powerful incarnations of this god.

After the god was killed by Su Yun with a single glance, he saw something similar to spiritual energy and the retreat of the world's qi rapidly leaving the golden body. The retreat of the world's qi caused the god's physical body to quickly revert to a golden body.

It was precisely because of the effect of the world's qi that the golden body quickly transformed into flesh!

"Wait! The people of Yuan Shuo rarely worship gods. They often worship their ancestors. Although the rituals are different from those in the West, the effects should be the same. Ancestors with golden bodies can borrow the golden body to survive. The golden body can even transform into a physical body! Could it be that the worship of sentient beings can create a similar effect to the world's qi?"

Su Yun felt as if he had grasped something, but for a while, he couldn't figure out the connection here.

He had to put this matter aside for now and muttered, "Is the Heavenly Court God Emperor the god from the era of Winged Dragon, Brave Troops, and Hakutaku? Did he use the power of the people from the Western countries to enhance his own strength? So, was the invasion of Yuan Shuo by Da Qin and Da Xia and other Western countries secretly driven by this Western god? Ying Ying!"

Su Yun's eyes flickered, and he asked, "In the records of the Tian Dao Academy over the years, is there any mention of the establishment of similar temples in Yuan Shuo after the invasion by Da Qin and other countries?"

Ying Ying flipped through the contents of her book and nodded, "There are records of this. After Da Qin and Da Xia and other countries defeated Yuan Shuo, in addition to demanding land and reparations, they also established Western temples along the coast. The people along the coast called them the New Gods. There are rumors that as long as there is a temple, these overseas countries will not attack. Therefore, the incense is flourishing."

Su Yun stood on the altar and fell silent for a moment. He silently thought, "This is the invasion of the New Gods. Yuan Shuo has a population of 40 million, and the population of all the Western countries combined is not as large. If these 40 million people can all worship the New Gods, then their power will undoubtedly increase! However..."

He looked puzzled, "The New Learning was developed during the Pan Yang Rebellion. People studied the Heavenly Court Gods and developed it. However, as the New Learning developed, it gradually became opposed to the Heavenly Court Gods..."

Although the Heavenly Court Scripture was widely spread, as Su Yun's understanding of Da Qin's New Learning deepened, he found contradictions between the Heavenly Court Scripture system and the New Learning.

The New Learning aimed to use the Heavenly Court Gods, and all the Heavenly Court Gods had to be used by the New Learning. If they couldn't be used, the New Learning would inevitably abandon the Heavenly Court Gods!

"For example, the construction of earth and wood buildings in the New Learning does not require the power of the Heavenly Court Gods," Su Yun thought.

Ying Ying corrected him and said, "This new learning of earth and wood construction was actually created by Lou Ban when he studied abroad. Lou Ban studied abroad and became the head of the Tongtian Pavilion. He came into contact with the New Learning and absorbed its achievements to create earth and wood construction. The Heavenly Street in Yun Du was built by him when he achieved great success in his Daoist techniques in the West."

Su Yun suddenly realized, no wonder the cities of Da Qin were filled with pavilions, towers, and corridors, giving him a familiar feeling.

Suddenly, his heart shook, "Lou Ban's friend is the great saint of the New Learning. After achieving the original state, he left a trap for the New Gods. This trap is to let the New Learning break free from the control of the New Gods!"

He was extremely excited. The New Learning that developed during the Pan Yang Rebellion was based on theology. Lou Ban must have seen the ambition of this New God and used the study of earth and wood construction to show the Western spiritualists that they could completely break free from the shackles of divine blood!

"The Tongtian Pavilion has always been active overseas. Lou Ban was the head of the Tongtian Pavilion at that time, but he resolutely returned to Yuan Shuo and tried to change it. Unexpectedly, Emperor Ai did not even grant him the title of a sage, only the title of Heavenly Teacher, and asked him to build the Eastern Capital."

Su Yun shook his head. Yuan Shuo was deeply entrenched and missed the best period of development.

"Later, Da Qin's New Learning developed the Yuan Magnetic Divine Technique, which also does not require the power of the Heavenly Court Gods. The contradiction between the Western New Learning and the theology represented by the Western Heavenly Court will inevitably grow!"

His eyes brightened, and he referred to the Western Heavenly Court as theology. "This New God sensed Lou Ban's layout, so he also began to break free. His breakthrough is to become the head of the Tongtian Pavilion."

Su Yun stood up and walked outside, thinking, "No wonder I have always felt an indescribable strangeness in the situation in Da Qin since I came here. It turns out that the battle between the New Learning and theology has reached a critical point. It is probably about to erupt! And the catalyst is probably the battle for the position of the head of the Tongtian Pavilion."

His confidence soared. The battle for the position of the head of the Tongtian Pavilion would definitely trigger a war between the Western New Learning and theology!

And once this war started, it would continue until a winner was determined!

"Yuan Shuo can take advantage of this time to develop..."Su Yun strode out, his face gradually darkening, a chill settling in his heart: "If Master Shuijing were in charge of the court, implementing reforms, Yuan Shuo could take the opportunity to develop. But now, the court is controlled by Xue Qingfu and the cunning Dan Qing, who hides behind the facade of Wenguan Mountain..."

He stepped out of the temple, the night cool as water.

In front of the temple, a spirit soldier revealed a look of confusion, murmuring: "We're doomed. The Ashen Fiends are invading again, what should we do..."

Upon hearing this, Su Yun asked, puzzled: "Won't the officials do anything? You should seek help from them."

The people below were silent, someone whispered: "Only the gods care about our lives and deaths, the officials? The officials only care about the lives of the noble families..."

Su Yun pondered, this was completely different from Yuan Shuo.

In the villages of Yuan Shuo, the officials were responsible for the safety of the villages. Even in Shuo Fang, where the seven major families intended to rebel, in the face of the Ashen Fiends' unrest, they had to take the initiative to quell the chaos, earning a reputation for loving the people as their own children.

"Could this be the difference between seeking answers from gods and seeking answers from men? The knowledge of Yuan Shuo is based on seeking answers from men, while the knowledge of overseas countries is based on seeking answers from gods."

Su Yun thought to himself: "The two types of knowledge show different behaviors during natural disasters. The knowledge accumulated by Yuan Shuo over five thousand years doesn't seem to be that bad."

It was as if a huge stone had been lifted from his heart. Since arriving in Da Qin, he had felt an inexplicable pressure, feeling that Yuan Shuo was inferior in every aspect.

Although he had made a name for himself in Da Qin, he knew that if he only used the old sacred teachings of Yuan Shuo to fight against the scholars of Da Qin, he would definitely be defeated.

But now, he saw the strengths and weaknesses of both sides' knowledge.

The people in the temple were ashen, calmly sitting down to await death, while the spirit soldiers of these villages had already packed their belongings, planning to leave this place under the cover of night with their families.

Looking at this scene, Su Yun was still deeply shocked. He had never seen such a scene in Yuan Shuo, where the gods of the villages were killed by people, and the people completely lost their faith!

At this moment, the people were like walking corpses!

"The invasion of new teachings is a good thing, at the very least it can make the old sacred teachings progress, but the invasion of new gods is extremely terrifying. Yuan Shuo, must not let new gods replace the ancestors' positions, occupying people's faith!"

Su Yun and Xing Jiangmu boarded the Heavenly Phoenix Palanquin and headed out of the village. In the night sky, Ashen Fiends silently flew, circling outside the village.

Suddenly, a swarm of Ashen Fiends pounced towards the Heavenly Phoenix Palanquin. At that moment, the dust in the darkness transformed into a yellow bell, the bell sound reverberating, and the Ashen Fiends died one after another.

"Let's go." Su Yun dispersed the dust and said to Xing Jiangmu.

The Heavenly Phoenix Palanquin, illuminated by the dim firelight emitted from the distant Bo Mountain City, headed there.

In the darkness, in the nearby villages, one by one, the grand temples housed giant golden statues of gods that were resurrected one after another. They jumped down from their shrines, riding the clouds and mist, heading towards the village where Su Yun and the others had just stayed.

When they arrived above the small town, a deity descended from the clouds, reached out and grabbed a woman's head, lifting it up, his voice booming: "Where did that black-haired, black-eyed brat run off to..."

"Boom!"

A flash of fire came, the deity's head suddenly exploded, blood splattered everywhere. The other deities standing on the clouds saw this, their eyes shot divine light, looking in all directions, shouting: "Who?"

In the darkness, a figure enveloped in holy fire walked into the small town.

The deities on the clouds shouted angrily, flying up to attack, but suddenly, a primordial spirit rose from behind the fire person, towering high, with a wave of its hand, the deities were instantly turned into ashes, falling from the sky as piles of charred remains, not even their spirits could escape!

The holy fire on the fire person gradually extinguished, revealing an old man with white eyebrows and beard, it was Jing Zhao, the former master of the Fire Cloud Cave.

Jing Zhao was panting, fire spewing from his eyes, ears, mouth, and nose.

"Good disciple, if you don't hand over the Fire Cloud Cave, I will kill your beloved, the master of the Tongtian Pavilion, Su Yun!"