Chapter 339: Mortals Woes
After observing the cottage for a brief moment, the group of three entered it. To their surprise, there was nothing much inside besides a cultivation mat along with a small table.
However, all of them could feel the [Emperor Dao Rhymes] enveloping the entire room, which meant that whichever Great Emperor stayed there was there for quite some time.
"I finally understand why the Death God could use the Armor Law Secret Technique; he must have become enlightened of it in this room," said Li Jun.
"This could be the reason for his title as the strongest God."
The group looked around for a few minutes but did not find much. The only benefit of discovering this room is that it is a good place to cultivate. However, they also knew that using an Enlightening Place, it was best to use it during the Void Shattering Realm to understand the law.
Once their cultivation reaches a certain level, the sect will also grant them access to their own Enlightening Place. And with the Dao Opening Sect having nine Great Emperors, they have more options or choices than others.
"Did you learn anything else from the Death God’s memories?" asked Yan Liling.
"No, he seemed to have erased a lot of them before his capture," replied Wang Ju.
Li Jun nodded his head before saying: "We already knew that the water of this world was deep, now we have proof of this. Although with our strength, it should be quite easy to conquer a Middle Thousand World.
"However, this one is obviously special, so we have to be more cautious in our actions."
After not finding any other information in this cottage, they decided to establish a schedule to allow each of the four of them different times to come to cultivate here.
Then, they left the Death God’s Heavenly Abode.
A month passed by. Li Jun was in the Imperial Palace of the former Death Kingdom writing on a paper. Wang Wei told him to summarize some steps in the process of conquering a world to establish a standard or some sort of reference guide for the future.
Although there has not been enough information yet to write the entire thing, Li Jun still had some ideas.
While he was deep in concentration, he heard footsteps approaching him at a regular pace. A few minutes later, Tie Gang came to see him.
"How are the social reforms?" asked Li Jun without raising his head. "By now, the livelihood of ordinary people should have improved, making it easier for us to gather incense."
Tie Gand paused for a moment, then took a deep and loud sigh.
"You would think so, right? Unfortunately, the progress has been remarkably slow."
"Oh?" asked Li Jun as he raised his head to look at him. "What’s the problem?"
"These mortals are too used on relying on the Gods for so many things that many of them are resisting our reforms; it seems as if the concept of ’self-sufficient, self-reliance and self-improvement are completely unknown to them.
"After so many years of being enslaved by these Gods, their minds and ways of thinking have been shackled."
Tie Gang took another sigh, "In the eastern plain, there are vast fertile lands, so we tried teaching them about agriculture and so on. However, many of them complained that they did not need to learn all of these since the Harvest Goddes would just bloom their harvest for them.
"They refused to build homes and shelters because the Wood God and Earth God could instantly do it for them.
"The concept of smithing is basically nonexistent in this world. Although these mortals rarely need things like weapons or iron products, when they do, they will pray to the Metal God will do it for them."
Li Jun frowned after hearing this, "These Gods not only occupied all the knowledge of this world but also made sure that mortals relied solely on them.
"Without them, not only do mortals have no purpose, they lost their basic abilities to function normally as a society."
Tie Gang agreed with Li Jun’s conclusion. As a person from a Lowe Thousand World, he always assumed that higher worlds were more advance than lower ones.
And in many ways they were. However, when he compares the mortals of this world to his own, he felt a slight sense of superiority. Although he knew this was because these Gods treated mortals as lambs to be raised in a barn, this did change how he felt.
"What do you think we should do?" he asked. "Do you think we should spread education in this world? That way, we can gather merit and deal with the current problem."
Once the people are educated and learn the concept of "self-reliance", it would be easier for them to gather incense. However, Li Jun shook his head at this idea.
"Just like all the Gods, what we need is incense. So, keeping the mortals ignorant is beneficial to us. Once we open their wisdom, it is possible for them to realize that the so-called Gods are just powerful individuals.
"And if they know about the concept of cultivation, we will have no choice but to use force to control them; this will make it harder to achieve our goals."
"In that case, what’s the plan?" asked Tie Gang.
"Simple, we begin a smear campaign against these Gods. We tell them that their beloved Lords are in fact Devils that treat them as nothing but food and playthings.
"Once they die, they will not really go the Heavenly Abode as the Gods claimed, but their souls will be swallowed to increase their strength."
"What about young master? He’s supposed to also be a God in this world."
"We will proclaim him as the one and only True God. We will glorify him as the savior fighting for the mortal’s salvation. On top of that, we can weaponize their fears of death."
"Oh?" exclaimed Tie Gang slightly while wondering since when was this guy Li Jun so insidious and cunning.
"The mortals in this world have no concept of Samsara and believe that after death, they will ascend to their Gods’ Heavenly Abode and live a life full of bliss and happiness.
"As long we make them believe that by only believing in big brother Wang Wei they can reach the [True Holy Land], they will not hesitate to change their faith to us."
After pondering for a moment, Tie Gang knew that this plan was feasible. After the events at the Emperor Enlightening Academy, he understood the power that rumors and gossips have on not only cultivators but also mortals.
As long something spread far enough and is heard or believed to be true by enough people, then the real fact does not matter. The general population would automatically assume it to be true–especially in a world with such a low level of wisdom.
Even if one day someone were to tell these mortals the truth, they will not believe. Even if irrefutable proof was shown to them, the vast majority of them will refuse to accept the so-called ’truth" as it challenged their cognitive views.
To them, living in a false world is better than the truth; it is more comforting; it is what they know or has known for countless years.
Tie Gang sighed after coming to this conclusion. As a cultivator, his life was not so different from mortals. Who knows what truth he believes in all his life and was nothing but lies by a powerful cultivator. Or maybe, even Heaven and Earth.
If one day his worldview was shattered and he learns these truths, would he react any different?
The answer is most likely negative. Only a few individuals have the heart and mind to accept the truth of this world and face it head-on. Tie Gang does not think that he is one of those people.
However, his young master may be one of these people. And by following him, he does not have to face these truths heads on. And maybe, one day, these truths will be dictated by his young master.
After figuring this out, Tie Gang suddenly felt his mind sublimated, his spirit cleared of any dust: he knew his path forwards.
"Congratulations, brother Tie Gang," said Li Jun who guessed that his friend was enlightened based on his sudden change in aura and temperament.
"Thank you," replied Tie Gang with a smile on his face. With this sudden enlightenment, his Dao Heart has sublimated a little, and with his spirit cleared, it will be easier for him to enter the Heaven Stage of the Divine Body Realm and control the Power of Heaven and Earth.
When it comes to talent, Tie Gang knew that he could not compete with the members of this group. Only with hard work, strong will, and the support of a lot of resources that he could keep up with these people.
So, he greatly values any form of progress.
After his small breakthrough, Tie Gang discussed for a while how to further proceed on developing the Death Realm before going to execute this plan.
Meanwhile, after watching him leave, Li Jun took a Communication Talisman to talk with Wang Ju.
"It’s time to activate your mole.. Tell him it’s time to expand."