Chapter Thirty-Eight: The Essence of the Divine Path—The Offering Method (Seeking Continued Readership)

Boom!

As soon as Wang Cheng finished reading, a thunderous roar echoed in his mind, each word dazzling like pearls, striking him to the core.

He had grown up at his father’s side and had heard many a ship’s master summarize the cultivation of the Divine Path, yet never before had he encountered such a direct and incisive exposition of its very essence.

No wonder, then, that everyone claimed the success of the Ninth-Class and Outer Eight Branches officials was so difficult to replicate.

To know the surface but not the reasoning behind, to be blinded by a single leaf and fail to see the mountain beyond.

He read it again, and then a third time. The light in Wang Cheng’s eyes grew ever brighter as he ruminated on every phrase:

“To seek the gods is not as good as to seek oneself.

Divine Path cultivation begins at the lower three ranks: refining one’s dwelling, lighting the heart-lamp, forging the pure yang of the life-fire. Using a single method of offering, one offers oneself to become divine!

External luck, spiritual elixirs, powerful weapons, rare delicacies, grand mansions, luxurious garments and beautiful servants… These are, in essence, offerings and resources for the official’s cultivation.”

At the outset, Divine Path officials are divided only into upper, middle, and lower three grades.

Their essence is captured in three words: “Essence, Qi, Spirit.”

Offer to the Three Treasures, advancing together.

The lower grades focus on “Essence,” the middle on “Qi,” and the upper on “Spirit.”

In the myriad professions—three hundred and sixty trades—so long as one reaches the upper three grades, the spirit and soul become fundamentally powerful, granting a high chance of transforming into a deity or land spirit after death.

His late father had been a second-rank “Whitewater Gentleman” on the verge of reaching the summit, yet had stalled there, unable to advance a step further.

In his master’s words, the reason the Water Division’s Thirty-Six Halls had not, in thousands of years, produced a first-rank official through steady cultivation was likely that the major official posts, based on the “Whitewater Gentleman,” were inherently limited, lacking further potential.

Only by cultivating other posts, mastering more related powers and authorities, could one hope to create new, more potent posts, perhaps even surpass the Lords of the Land and glimpsing the mysteries of the Water Emperor!

The path of Divine Path cultivation unfurled ever more clearly before Wang Cheng.

He lit a stick of “Treasure Incense,” hand-blended by his master from rare ingredients such as aloeswood, clove bark, and jiazhang incense.

“Inhale—exhale—”

Seated on his bed, he continued to temper his essence and energy with the internal practice “Dragon’s Breath Technique,” refining the lamp oil and beginning his journey in the lower three ranks.

Even without a hundred thousand sea treasures, cultivation was not impossible; the deep mountains and wild forests were also filled with rare and precious materials.

Treasure incense from the perfumers, elixirs like Yellow Sprout Pills from alchemists, all had similar effects.

Even the fish and meat he ate, the vegetables and fruits, medicinal stews and supplements… all could serve as “offerings” to be transformed into essence and energy, continually fueling the heart-lamp.

During this first session of the offering method, his heart’s light gradually brimmed, and the fires of fortune, prosperity, and longevity burned ever brighter.

Wang Cheng also began to probe his true heart, seeking to unearth his deepest desire.

After a moment’s thought, amidst the swirling incense smoke, he made a sincere wish to himself for the first time:

“To be made a marquis is not my wish; I only hope for calm seas!

Whoever dares disturb the peace, I will quell them!

Come on, Master Wang!”

In his personal ledger of “Rare and Precious Goods,” a new line appeared—a steadfast and unshakable core conviction.

...

With the howling north wind, time quietly slipped into the twelfth lunar month of the thirty-ninth year of the Shaozhi era. There were still several days before his scheduled voyage with Han Shushu, the reserve “Sea Diver.”

Beyond his diligent cultivation, Wang Cheng had gradually adapted to his new identity.

After several impressive performances, and having become Master Shen’s disciple, the once-impoverished scholar “Wang Fugui” had become a figure of some note in Yue Harbor.

The handful who knew him had even bestowed a new nickname: “Fourth Master.”

Given the status of Shen Yuting, the Straight-Year Hall official, Wang Cheng, as his fourth disciple, indeed had the credentials to borrow the tiger’s might.

Yet, he had not acted ostentatiously; he kept a low profile, emerging only occasionally. During the day, he took turns manning the shop with the other four counters, honing his eye and laying a solid foundation for his role as a steward.

Sometimes, he would take his Bluecoat Fishermen out to sea.

During this period, he caught another “hundred-thousand-sea-treasure” fish. Unwilling to sell it, he once again divided it among his allies according to the Bluecoat Pact’s rules.

With the support of the offering method, Wang Cheng’s own heart’s light grew steadily stronger.

The brothers Zhang Wu and Zhang Wen, who had each mastered the “Eight Blades of the Breaking Wave” and the “Yaksha Staff Technique,” were only a step away from kindling their own heart-lamps.

Wang Cheng did not neglect the ordinary boatmen with unremarkable fates, whose souls were a dull gray; he often guided them in external cultivation techniques.

As his original crew, even if they failed to become officials, they could still be carefully trained into “Five Peak Candidates” or “Sea Islet Ghouls”—the temple’s ghostly soldiers.

“This wretched weather is getting colder by the day. At this rate, even Fujian in the south may see heavy snow this year.”

Wang Cheng walked down the street of antique shops, pawnshops, and money houses with Zhang Wen, tightening the fur coat his master had given him, his eyes constantly scanning the roadside stalls.

Recently, he had been honing his skills at the Fenglin Studio; his mastery of “Rare and Precious Goods” was improving rapidly, and with the aid of his “golden finger,” his own appraisal skills grew by leaps and bounds—his hands itched for a find.

He wanted to see if he could pick up a real treasure.

The items on the small stalls were varied: antiques, calligraphy and paintings, scholar’s tools, cinnabar talismans, weapons of all sorts.

There were even blond, blue-eyed “Franks” selling muskets and cannons openly.

On the same stall, one might see both Western firearms and Daoist “Thunder Pellets”—a spectacle unique to this era.

Browsing these stalls was far more interesting than sitting in a pawnshop waiting for goods to come in.

These past few days, he had occasionally come out and had indeed dug up quite a few good things.

Fortunately, few people yet recognized “Fourth Master Wang.” He kept a low profile, making a fortune quietly.

“One must have ethics.

If you profit and then boast about it, how is that different from chewing lavish delicacies in front of beggars? Utterly lacking in manners.”

As he walked, Wang Cheng finally spotted his target. He bought some inexpensive trinkets from a certain stall, playing the part of a clueless enthusiast and letting the stall owner make a small profit.

All the while, his gaze had already drifted to a “door plank” on the neighboring stall.

It was about the size of a door, but carved on it was a majestic lion’s head. Though the paint was faded by wind and sun, the overall impression was still imposing.

The lion’s eyes, especially, were vivid and piercing; from any angle, it seemed to meet your gaze.

So, this was not a mere door plank in the eyes of the uninitiated, but a lion-head figurehead, a standard fitting on the prow of a sailing ship!

“I’ve heard some shipmasters from the Five Peaks Banner, who have dealt with the Franks, say that many Western sailing ships, so different from our Fujian junks, are equipped with all sorts of figureheads.

Some of the finest even bestow special abilities upon the vessel.

The mainstream Fujian junks of the Imperial Dynasty also have similar protective artifacts, not just one but several, known as: Dragon Eye, Lion Head, Tail Wing, and Loach Fin—each with its own unique power.

The lion-head board mounted on the prow is one of them.”

Wang Cheng looked up. In the anchorage of Yue Harbor, ships from all over the world were moored. The Imperial Dynasty’s Fujian junks were the most numerous, their features the most distinctive.

Aside from their formidable crews, these ships always carried the four great protective artifacts and worshipped their ship gods; only thus fully armed would they dare to put to sea.

A few of the Fujian junks, in Wang Cheng’s eyes, shone with special light—rays of gold and auspicious clouds.

Some old items aboard, steeped for years in incense and wishes, or touched by momentous historical events, gained sympathetic resonance, becoming true “Resonant Artifacts” with extraordinary powers.

As for the one before him, it seemed…

“My friend, you have a keen eye. This lion-head board is indeed a genuine artifact.

Such treasures are reserved for those with true destiny. Our meeting is fate—let me take a loss and sell it to you for just five hundred taels.”