Forty Millenniums of Cultivation

Chapter 1381 - 1400

Chapter 1381 - Our Past

The remark raised yet another round of laughter. Everybody was shaking their head and feeling proud of themselves, as if beating the tax officers of the court back was a glorious endeavor.

While laughing, they were still eyeing Li Yao the same way people usually eyed a retard.

Li Yao had many words he wanted to tell the ordinary people who had been undernourished so long that they were dark, thin, and looked like a different species from the Cultivators.

However, under their pitiful gazes, he did not know where to begin.

After he left the tea shop, under the guidance of the teacher, he went to visit the local temple, which was said to be a popular place.

Religions were very important on the two sides of the Sorcerers' River. There were many temples in the villages and even in the forests.

However, it was rarely the groundless deities that were enshrined in the temples but the Cultivators of the local sects who had sacrificed themselves in the operations to slay monsters.

It was said that the Cultivators' souls would not entirely wither after they perished and that if the souls were enshrined, they would still protect their hometown and the people.

Therefore, after Cultivators of the Stone Martial Hall perished, temples would be established for those who had a high Cultivation and position. The deceased low-level Cultivators would also be allotted to the temples and be enshrined together with the seniors.

Most of the villages had more than one temple, which were often the most splendid buildings in the village. With green bricks, beautiful tiles, stone lions, and a bronze gate, they were a major contrast to the low, ragged cottages around them.

Inside every temple, the souls of three to five Cultivators were enshrined.

They were the things in highest demand. Every time a Cultivator of the Stone Martial Hall passed away, all the local villages would fight for them. Everybody would promise the most generous reward, hoping that the soul of the deceased could be led back to their town.

The number of souls enshrined was a symbol of the capability of a town!

Four Cultivators were enshrined in the temple that Li Yao visited, including an elder and a leader of the Stone Martial Hall. It was known as Four Saints Temple and was the largest temple nearby. No wonder the villagers said that it was a popular place and that the prayers there were often very effective.

The statues of the four Cultivators, enshrouded in gold powder, were standing inside the Four Saints Temple. A few rune arrays that could trigger colorful light had been carved in the darkness, too, making the statues look rather elegant and vivid. If the ignorant villagers ran into them at night, it would be quite understandable for to mistake them for resurrected heroes.

A few bronze plaques nearby had been carved with the life events of those Cultivators and the reasons for their demise.

Li Yao read carefully, only to discover that three of the Cultivators had perished when fighting the ferocious animals in the forests while the leader, who was at the peak of the Building Foundation Stage, had been killed by a strong evil Cultivator who had happened to flee to the local area.

Li Yao did not know how he should comment on them anymore.

It was obvious that a Cultivation sect could not solely live on the taxes of local villages. For training, the Cultivators had to hunt the demon beasts in the forests, retrieve their meat and cores, and excavate the Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures and crystals from the mountains. That was the bedrock of a sect.