“Xiao Nu know this very well. Now that I have lost my inner elixir and injured my roots, it is inevitable that my soul will dissipate sooner or later. But can Young Master help to reduce my pain, even by just a bit?”
Shen Lian could vaguely hear the soul of the loquat tree sobbing.
He muttered, “I can do that. How do you want me to help you?”
Loquat tree said, “Can Young Master keep my soul in your sandalwood sword? I am feeling extremely unsettled under the hot noon sun”. It was not a clump of shapeless and formless soul matter. It was lucky that it had been stored in the shell that was hit by the Divine Lightning, the few days of torture by the hot sun was brutal.
Shen Lian’s sandalwood sword was the right tool for storage of souls and spirits. It was also his instrument for mental practices, so it should be able to keep its spirit for a brief moment, isolate itself from the scorching sun heat and soothe it a little.
Shen Lian replied, “This is definitely not a problem, come in as you wish.” Since this loquat tree was a pure soul, not tainted even with a slight hint of evil air, plus the fact that it was one of the trees at Mister Su’s, Shen Lian would not leave it to die.
Loquat tree had an innocent mind. It could not detect any ill intentions from Shen Lian, so it safely transformed into a gush of green smoke, left the tree trunk and swiftly entered the wooden sword hung on Shen Lian’s waist.
The wooden sword used to an instrument born out of mind when Shen Lian was practicing the Being and Non-Being of Sword Aura. He would never have thought that this would be the temporary shelter for the soul of the loquat tree from Mister Su’s mansion.
Just as the Loquat Tree soul entered the wooden sword, Shen Lian immediately felt an emotion, as if he was on a brink of life and death.
A wooden sword would have its own soul and spiritual presence as well. As both woods fuse together, that fusion was felt in his limbs as well.
Loquat Tree seemed to feel the same sensation, and it immediately felt in awe.
As Shen Lian thought of an idea, he continued on telepathically, “I see that even if you temporarily stay in my sword, you will still dissipate sooner or later. I do have an idea to help you survive in this world, not sure if you are up for it”.
“Xiao Nu just wish to steal as many breaths as I can on earth. Why don’t you just reveal your plan, Young Master?” Replied the Loquat tree-soul.
Shen Lian said, “I can build a temple for you, and put you up as spiritual guardian. You shall guard this place, and as long as you do your best in this job, naturally people will worship you and feed you joss sticks to nourish your soul. However, this method will bind you to this land and take your freedom away”.
This method of bestowment as described by Shen Lian, was actually a conferment. Thought both seemed similar to the path of Shen, it still had a slight deviation from Zhao Xiaoyu’s method.
He had only taken up this method recently. The Divine Qi of Taixu, merged with all beings, granted him with extrasensory with the spiritual presence of the sky, earth, mountains, and rivers. Shen Lian could collect the Qi of earth from this land, turn it into a talisman and apply it onto the soul of the Loquat Tree, granting it the approval from the water and earth elements from this land and not reject it as an evil being.
If it fulfills its responsibilities, guard this land, all the people would eventually worship it and feed it with joss sticks.
This would be a win-win situation and helped restore heavenly orders.
God was fair and may have its miscalculations as well. Hence there were natural disasters like floods, earthquakes that affected all living beings and disrupt the order in heavens. This was why in certain places, some spiritual guardians would be birthed to bring back balance to the Qi of vitality around the land. However, not all mountains, rivers, sky and earth had their own souls, so these spirits were also formed as a result of the joint of wishes of the local people who worshipped them. If it lost its task, people would not worship it, diminishing its godly powers, and finally failed to protect even its own presence.
This was what they called “One would prosper if one was hardworking; one would perish if one was careless”.
Zhao Xiaoyu was both similar and different compared to this kind of spirit. She possessed The Book of Nine Lotus, making her within the path of Shen. Her invincible martial arts and Dao attainment could help to plunder the power from the Empress, gain the combined strength of the people, build the country as gifted by the Gods, and even expand the discipleship of Nine Lotus Clan, observed as the empire rise and fall, make herself the Royal Pope, and rule above the Emperor. As long as her disciples were multiplied and scattered all around the place, never-ending, her position would be unshakeable. She could even expand her boundaries, conquer the countries around her and endorse the Religion of Nine Lotus. Finally, if she could unify all countries into one, turn it into the Country of Gods, she would achieve the Path of Zhenkong, reveal her real identity, even not bound to the Path of Shen.
This was why Zhao Xiaoyu wanted to take in Shen Lian, so Shen Lian could provide her huge assistance. To achieve extraordinarily, one would need extraordinary men to do extraordinary things. And these people would need to possess talents from out of this world, and the will of steel. Religions would also need these kinds of talents to inherit and expand its influence.
Actually, this was also because Zhao Xiaoyu observed Qing Xuan being one of the Four Grand Religions, got deteriorated due to a catastrophe, and the fact the Zhou Empire was not rich with vitality, hence her thought of this scheme was born. As when Zhao Xiaoyu achieved what she planned for, with the help of people from all corners, she would form a stage with endless development.
Although the Empress was brutal and destructive, she was still set up by Zhao Xiaoyu. Only that Zhao Xiaoyu had misread a step and let Shen Lian screw up her whole plan, and cause her great loss.
Shen Lian would not think lightly of Zhao Xiaoyu just because of her failure. Her attitude of viewing all things as a mirage and walk her own path, and with the strong willpower, she would have succeeded if she did not vanish.
He was also thinking of the Path of Shen originated from Zhao Xiaoyu; collect the intentions of all people, turn it into joss food, which would largely benefit the spirits, and easily extend the lifespan of Loquat Tree.
The Loquat Tree lost its inner elixir when it was hit by Lightning Trials of Transformation, it would just stay and wilt to death even though it luckily escaped with its shell.
Since Shen Lian had the ability to confer it as a spirit guardian, continue its lifespan, Loquat Tree naturally would not object.
As for freedom, there was nothing worth mentioning to a tree.
Moreover, Loquat Tree had never heard of any of its kind which embraced freedom. Since there was a peaceful land, where it could eternally stand in tree form, spent its life with the spirits of woods and grasses, it could spend the rest of its life there. As per Shen Lian’s saying from past life, all woods and grasses were the stay-at-home types.
After obtaining approval from Loquat Tree, Shen Lian proceeded to finalize this matter.
As Mister Shuo saw that Shen Lian stood in front of the tree, whispering to himself under the sun, he thought, “The way this little Daoist master is possessed, seemed a little different from the other monks.”
He mumbled in his heart, saw that Shen Lian turned around and walked back. Then he remembered his possessed face, stepped back a few steps, only to be held by his servants behind.
Yet, he saw that Shen Lian was smiling while he strolled back, did not look possessed. Mister Shuo was stunned and heard Shen Lian casually stating, “Now that I have gotten rid of the demon, you have nothing to worry about”.
Mister Shuo took a good look at Shen Lian who looked serious and not joking, his confidence increased by seven tenths, there was still a hint of suspicion. He pointed to a servant on his left, and ordered, “You, go and have a look there”.
