Cultivation: When you take things to the extreme

Chapter 402: Chapter 260: Great Calamity_1

“This talisman… can it truly enhance a person’s Qi Blood, strength, and speed, and even their mental willpower?”

“Ancestor Emperor, what exactly did you comprehend in the Temple of War God that makes it so different from the Divine Martial skills employed by those Divine Martial Venerables?”

Xu Yang began to draw talismans for himself, while Su Shaoqing caressed his body, carefully feeling the effects of the Six Ding and Six Jia Bodyguard Mantra.

The Six Ding and Six Jia, protecting the body with a Divine Spell, boast many miraculous effects, enhancing a person’s Qi Blood, bolstering the soul and Primordial Spirit, and even forming a protective barrier of script to fend off invasions from External Demons. With this blessing, even the frailest of bodies can fight demons bare-handed.

Su Shaoqing, being a Martial Artist, felt these effects even more vividly, so his surprise was all the greater.

In this world, the Martial Path draws its myriad methods from the Temple of War God, and nowhere else is there a true method.

Whether it’s The Three sects Doctrines or the Demon Sects’ Sacred Places, what they all cultivate is martial arts; there has never been talk of spells. Even those babbling monks and Taoists are practicing martial skills from the War God’s Atlas.

All those Taoist Scriptures and Buddhist texts, at most, could cultivate one’s character. They had no substantial power, and things like spells and talismans were considered mere deceit and trickery. Aside from the gullible villagers, no one would believe in them.

But now…

Su Shaoqing, with one hand pressed to his chest, felt the faint power of the talisman and did not know how to express his feelings at that moment.

The Ancestor Emperor is truly deserving of the title. While others practiced martial arts, he pursued spiritual cultivation, just as he did back in the day. Other Martial Artists who embraced the path might live only five hundred years, dying without achieving Ascension. He, on the other hand, ruled the world for eight hundred years, still as vigorous as ever, and now he has returned from death. Calculating his age, he has already lived close to sixteen thousand years.

Although those treacherous officials took advantage of his absence, seizing the War God Heritage and usurping the throne of Great Zhou before the Ancestor Emperor awoke, with his methods, he will surely turn the tide, rectify the chaos, and revitalize the ancestral legacy…

“What are you thinking about?”

A light voice interrupted his thoughts.

Snapping back to reality, Su Shaoqing turned around, only to see Xu Yang, neatly dressed, seemingly having finished drawing his talisman, now sitting on a stone platform etched by Sword Qi, his gaze calmly fixed on her.

“It’s nothing,”

Su Shaoqing shook her head and said hastily, “Just marveling at the power of this talisman. Has the Ancestor Emperor really discovered such immortal techniques in the Temple of War God?”

“It is but Taoism and talisman making, nothing on the level of immortal techniques.”

Xu Yang shook his head and did not delve further into the topic, but instead asked directly, “Tell me, what has happened in the years after my death, and what is the state of the world now?”

Having previously failed in his soul search, he had to inquire from Su Shaoqing, who was informed of current affairs.

Upon his question, Su Shaoqing also recollected their current situation, her eyes reddening instantly, she knelt down on the ground: “We, your unworthy descendants, failed to safeguard the ancestral foundation. Please punish us, Ancestor Emperor!”

Xu Yang’s expression remained calm, unfathomable as an ancient well: “Speak, what exactly has happened.”

His tone was serene.

Why so serene?

Because it was all within reason, all expected.

There is no feast that does not end in this world, nor an eternal dynasty.

Although he had once unified the world, bringing peace to the Four Seas, extinguishing the false Taoists and Buddhists of The Three sects Doctrines and various demons and evil spirits, and had established a mature and deeply rooted legal system, this could at most just prolong a dynasty’s life, not change the fate of Great Zhou’s downfall.

After all, times change, and so do people’s hearts.

While he was alive, he not only possessed absolute personal martial power but also wielded absolute collective power.

With his teaching skills and various traits, he cultivated a large number of loyal and capable disciples, rallying them around him. This allowed his edicts and will to be carried out from the top down.

No clan or local strongman could compete against him. With a well-implemented legal system and established institutions, the country remained powerful, thriving for eight hundred years.

But what about after his death?

A series of inevitable problems surfaced.

No one else had absolute martial power, absolute authority, the ability to nurture a loyal power group, carry out the will of the monarch, maintain the nation’s laws, or ensure the stability and integrity of the system.

Power flows from the top down as well as from the bottom up. Without the support of a powerful and loyal power group, an emperor is just a mascot in the deep palace.

When those at the top are powerless, chaos must ensue below, deception and ignorance become the norm, along with selfishness among the people, leading to strife between ruler and ministers, party factionalism, and conflicts of interest becoming the norm in the imperial court…

How could such a state of affairs not lead to downfall?

What of laws, what of systems? Even the best laws and systems are nothing if not upheld and enforced by the people.

Even if he left descendants, righteous and legitimate heirs, they could not stem the tide of human nature.

Therefore, the downfall of Great Zhou was expected, not surprising at all.

Compared to the collapse of a dynasty, Xu Yang is more curious about something else.

That is the progress of technology.

History spirals upwards; unless there is a civilization disruption, no matter how dynasties change, technological progress will always advance, never regressing. Even temporary setbacks will ultimately be corrected by the overall ecology, as shown in the history of China.

Hence the question arises.

To gain entry to the Temple of War God, which moves through the void erratically, he not only propelled the progress of the Martial Path but also vigorously developed technology.

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