Incense

“This…”

Obtaining the art so easily set alarm bells ringing in Lu Qiancha’s mind.

Her brow furrowed slightly, her eyes filled with unconcealed doubt.
The Immortal Dao placed great importance on cause and effect.
To be granted this art so readily was likely not a good thing.

“This junior god feels this art is too hot to handle.
If the Venerable God has a task for me, or something you require, please speak plainly.
Within this junior god’s ability, I will surely repay you with all my strength to settle this heavy karma.”

Lu Qiancha took a deep breath, her eyes locked on the old man as she cupped her hands in a solemn gesture.

Hearing this, the smile in Venerable Xiao Shi’s eyes rippled outward, and he gently tapped his crooked wooden staff on the ground.

“Hehehe… In that case…” His laughter grew louder, his words tinged with a bit of mischief, “then this old one will truly have to play the part of a greedy old man who jacks up the price on the spot.”

“Venerable God, please speak your mind.”

Lu Qiancha maintained a proper, faint smile, but the wariness deep within her eyes surfaced slowly, like an iceberg rising from the depths.

“Good!” Venerable Xiao Shi’s smile vanished, and he once again became that compassionate and benevolent Earth God.

“The Mountain God need only give this old one a single spirit monster whose intelligence has been awakened.” His gaze fell calmly upon Lu Qiancha, his words light.
“One spirit monster in exchange for this art.
What does Your Excellency, the Mountain God, think?”

Hearing this, Lu Qiancha grumbled inwardly: ‘Well, well, so this old coot was waiting for me here.’

This was karma that Lu Qiancha had to repay.
Otherwise, when she faced her Immortal Ascension Tribulation in the future, disaster would surely entangle her.

However… Lu Qiancha raised an eyebrow.
Looking at the dozens of crabs coming and going at the temple entrance, she looked toward Venerable Xiao Shi and asked, “Before the Venerable God’s seat, you already have many devotees.
The spirit monster this junior god enlightens will be ignorant and weak, and I fear it will not be worthy of the Venerable God’s esteem.”

She tactfully declined, suggesting again, “How about… this junior god offers a stick of heartfelt incense at the Venerable God’s shrine? It would both clear the karma between us and add to the Venerable God’s faith power.
Would that not be convenient for us both?”

“Absolutely not!”

As soon as these words were spoken, the usual calm benevolence on Venerable Xiao Shi’s face instantly cracked.
His old face changed dramatically, and he waved his withered hands repeatedly.

“Your Excellency, the Mountain God, you absolutely must not do this!”

His voice carried an unprecedented gravity, even a faint plea.
“It is but a minor art of enlightenment.
What virtue or ability do I possess to dare accept an incense offering from a fellow true god in their rightful position?! This karma is too heavy.
This junior god’s divine body is frail, and I fear it would greatly shorten my lifespan.
I truly… cannot bear it!”

He caught his breath, the bitterness on his face so thick it was as if it had been soaked in the waters of the Yellow Springs, almost dripping.
Even his straight back seemed to stoop a little.
“As for the devotees the Mountain God mentioned…”

He let out a long sigh, his gaze sweeping黯然 over the diligent crabs, filled with a sense of frustrated disappointment.
“Alas! The Mountain God is unaware.
Though this secret realm is excellent, the path of enlightenment has its constraints!”

“Among the aquatic spirit monsters: fish and shrimp are naturally bound to water, born and dying within it.
Even after enlightenment, they remain in the waves and cannot come ashore.
How can they serve?”

“Seashells slumber in the sand, their spiritual intelligence even more chaotic.
Enlightenment leaves them muddled and unable to grasp the subtleties of incense faith…”

His wooden staff struck the ground heavily as he pointed at the stone crabs.
“Only these stone crabs by the sea! They can endure the bitter salt, withstand the wind and waves, climb the reefs, and even survive for three to five days out of water… They are indeed worthy of being carved and enlightened!”

“However!” His tone shifted abruptly, full of anguish.
“The lifespan of a stone crab is too short.
They molt in spring and die by the height of summer! Even with their intelligence awakened, the amount of incense faith they can provide… is but a drop in the bucket! As thin as autumn frost!”

Venerable Xiao Shi beat his chest and stamped his feet, his wooden staff rapping against the ground.
The exhaustion, anxiety, and irresolvable troubles in his words almost materialized.

“So that’s how it is…”

A look of realization dawned on Lu Qiancha’s face, and the icy doubt deep in her eyes finally began to thaw.
The Earth God’s predicament did make sense.

Then, she sensed the art within her body, and her expression suddenly became troubled.

“The Mountain God seems to have a concern?” Venerable Xiao Shi’s gaze was sharp as he spoke.
“Why not give it a try on the spot?”

“Forgive me, Venerable God,” Lu Qiancha said with an embarrassed look.
“This art requires pure incense faith as fuel to operate, and this junior god currently…” She spread her jade-like, empty hands.
“…has empty pockets, without a single speck of incense.”

“…Uh.” Venerable Xiao Shi was clearly taken aback.
The fingers stroking his beard paused for a beat.
His old eyes studied Lu Qiancha carefully for a good while before he let out a soft, faint sigh.
“It seems this old one… was not thoughtful enough.”

“Never mind, never mind,” he smiled again, waving his hand as if making a great concession.
“I shall lend fellow Daoist seven wisps of incense catalyst! You can repay it on another day when you have the time!”

With that, he pointed his crooked wooden staff at the three sticks of incense burning silently before the shrine.

“Go!”

Seven wisps of incense smoke, each an inch long, condensed like golden threads and radiating a rich aura of faith power, flew up at his command.
They coiled and spiraled like living snakes, sinking with perfect accuracy into Lu Qiancha’s dantian’s sea of qi.

At the same time, the incense sticks before the shrine seemed to have been invisibly cut short.

The flames visibly shrank by a small fraction.

Lu Qiancha only felt a warmth in her dantian.

Seven wisps of incomparably pure incense faith power had already taken root within, like seven tiny yet incredibly warm suns, both reflecting and clashing with her own spiritual energy.

“Many thanks for the Venerable God’s generosity!” Lu Qiancha suppressed her thoughts and gave Venerable Xiao Shi a deep, solemn bow.

She then closed her eyes and focused, her spiritual sense sinking into the Peach Blossom Spring secret realm.

A moment later, Lu Qiancha found a small peach tree by the lake, no thicker than an arm, its branches and leaves still tender and green.

“A single spark of cinnabar fire, illuminating the chaotic abyss.”

“A sprout of wisdom born in the Purple Mansion, a pious heart naturally attains the profound.”

“Go!”

With a thought, she drove the seven wisps of golden-thread incense, mixed with a stream of her own pure spiritual energy, into a strange, interweaving streak of gold and cyan light that silently sank into the small peach tree.

Whoosh—!

In that instant.

The originally motionless peach tree was violently shaken, as if dragged from a deep slumber by an immense, invisible force.
The entire trunk trembled violently.
Its branches and leaves thrashed wildly without any wind, rustling loudly.

And then—

Pfft.

The soil on the ground cracked open.
The peach tree’s gnarled roots coiled and, with a great effort, pulled themselves clean out of the earth.

It swayed its still-tender trunk, like a drunkard, spinning in a clumsy circle on the spot, its branches quivering.

Then—

“Thud!”

Using its branches as arms, it faced the direction of Lu Qiancha’s spiritual sense, facing the world of the Peach Blossom Spring.

As if facing its supreme creator, it bowed with the utmost reverence…

Once, twice, three times!

The posture of its kowtow was extremely primitive and clumsy, yet it contained a pure piety and gratitude.

A faint but incredibly clear fluctuation of divine sense connected to the Mountain God Talismanic Edict within Lu Qiancha’s body.

At the same time, a wisp of incense faith power began to emanate from the newly intelligent peach tree spirit.
It crossed space and flowed into Lu Qiancha’s dantian, taking up its own place among the six remaining wisps of golden incense.

Following that, Lu Qiancha repeated the process, using the remaining six wisps of incense to enlighten a large tree and another small tree, turning them into spirits.

The small tree spirit consumed two wisps of incense to be enlightened, while the large tree spirit consumed three.

According to this pattern, it seemed the more one enlightened, the greater the consumption of incense.

After being enlightened, these two peach tree spirits also bowed three times to Lu Qiancha, allowing her to gain two more wisps of incense.

At this point, only the three wisps of incense provided by the peach tree spirits and one borrowed wisp remained in Lu Qiancha’s dantian.