Daily Intelligence: From Water Snake to Jinghe Dragon King

Chapter 38 The Shrimp Demon's Story
A river shrimp seems a bit overconfident to let a horned boa constrictor that is several times larger than it call it brother.
But if the river shrimp monster is far more powerful than the horned boa, then it is not overestimating its own abilities, but giving you a big leg to lean on.

Liu Qing was able to transform into a demon and was summoned by the Water Palace for the first time. He felt unfamiliar with everything that was about to happen, so naturally he had to please the shrimp guest in front of him.

Besides, he is the Western Inspector of Dayawan Lake Water Prefecture. He is a sure-fire supporter to a newly-born little demon like Liu Qing.

"I'm being too shameless to approach you like that. Brother, please accept my respects."

Liu Qing climbed up the pole, curled his tail up, and paused three times, which made the shrimp laugh with joy.

It grabbed Liu Qing, its eyes bulging, and laughed proudly: "Well, you are a clever snake, with a sweet mouth and a strong body. You are worthy of my respect. If you need anything in the Water Palace in the future, just mention my name."

Liu Qing expressed his gratitude again, and free flattery poured out of his mouth, which made the silly shrimp demon smile.

One side was deliberately flattering, and the other side had never heard such sweet flattery. The atmosphere between the two sides instantly became harmonious and familiar, just like half-brothers.

Seeing that everything was going smoothly, Liu Qing could no longer hold back and asked, "Brother, I've just transformed into a demon and was summoned to the Water Palace by you. However, I know nothing about the Water Palace. I'm afraid I might offend the great demon and lose face for you. Could you please take the trouble to give me some guidance?"

"Of course, of course. Please be patient and listen to me explain it to you in detail."

"Speaking of the waters of Dawan Lake, there are seven pools, five rivers, and seventeen canals, a total of twenty-nine deep pools and canals. If you include your newly formed Ziwuyu Snake Pond, there are thirty in total."

"The Snake Pond was originally just a small pond, which the head of the family did not take seriously. But last year, a new water source appeared, and the pond became a deep pool.

There was also a few miles of water, and you, a snake demon, were born. You caught the eye of the head of the family, so he ordered me to recruit you, pay you homage to the head of the family, receive a status, and be under the jurisdiction of the Dawan Lake Water Palace."

Liu Qing nodded slightly. So that was the reason.

"Today, the waters of Dawan Lake have eight pools, five rivers, and seventeen canals, governing an area of ​​hundreds of miles. Deep pools and canals are scattered throughout the waters, irrigating the fields on both sides and providing nourishment for all seasons. Billions of creatures in the waters all obey the head of the family as their master."

"Under the Lord of the Mansion, there are countless great demons. According to their missions, they are divided into inner and outer palaces. For example, the great demons in the inner palace are responsible for guarding, training soldiers, as well as purchasing, catering, weaving, etc.

As for the great demons from the outer prefectures, we dispatch them to guard the various deep pools and canals, as well as patrols like my brother, and the most important of all, the incense messengers."

At this point, Xia Kexing's tone became serious: "Remember, my dear brother, from now on in this Water Palace, you can offend anyone, even the Palace Master, but the only person you must not offend is the Water Palace Incense Envoy."

"We, the alien race, have been despised and guarded against by the Heavenly Court since that monkey-headed creature caused trouble in the Heavenly Palace hundreds of years ago. We have confiscated all the cultivation techniques available to alien races.
Since then, the difficulty of cultivating for the aliens has increased several times. More than 99% of the aliens, because they have no methods to cultivate, can only exhaust their lifespans and die of old age in the mountains.

But the Great Dao has fifty, the Heavenly Derivatives have forty-nine, and the Queen Mother Wangshu is kind-hearted, and has given us, the alien race, a glimmer of hope for survival."

"This ray of hope is the path of incense and gods!"

"Wherever there are mountains, rivers, lakes, caves, or water palaces, there will be incense messengers."

"There are incense offerings for being the king of the tribe, incense offerings for adjusting the wind and rain in accordance with the four seasons, and incense offerings for helping and supporting the people. Incense can allow us, the alien species, to become gods and achieve immortality." Liu Qing took a sneak peek at the panel and saw the 3% incense offerings in the divinity column. He couldn't help but nod in agreement with Xia Kexing's explanation.

The king of the tribe can get incense. He became the king of all the snakes in the Snake Pond and harvested 3% of the incense.

Next, if we want the incense to grow, as Xia Kexing said, we must firstly follow the four seasons to regulate the wind and rain, and secondly, we must fulfill our wishes to solve problems and help the people.

However, it did not mention the divinity of authority at all. Was it hiding something, or was it unaware of it?

Liu Qing didn't dare ask, but he had a doubt that forced him to ask: "Brother, I heard from other spirits earlier that this path to godhood through incense is built on external objects, like a sky-high attic. The foundation is unstable and there are huge hidden dangers."

"If the winds are not in harmony, the rains are not favorable, or if the wishes are not fulfilled and difficulties are not resolved in time, and the people despise them, once the incense is damaged, they will be driven back to their origins, fall from the altar, and their life's hard work will be wasted in an instant."

Upon hearing this, Xia Kexing also sighed and said gloomily, "But what can we do? It's that damn monkey who insisted on causing trouble in the Heavenly Palace. Even if it becomes the Emperor of Heaven,

We, the alien race, shared in its blessings, but it failed, and now we are implicated, cut off from other paths of cultivation. This only path of worship was granted by the compassion of Goddess Wangshu, who begged hard for it from the Lord of Heaven."

"Hey, brother, you and I are still young, barely on the path to the gods. What you're worried about is too far away. Just enjoy yourself for now and don't worry about anything else."

"My cultivation is shallow and I am still far from being a god. I am just thinking about my brother. He is already a great demon. I am worried that he will be bound by the incense and lose his freedom. If he is not careful in the future, he will be implicated by the incense and fall into decline."

Upon hearing this, Xia Ke Xing laughed out loud, "I'm sorry to bother you with worrying about me, but I'm not a great demon. Compared to you, I'm just a little more advanced."

"When the newly born little demons see me like this, and that I can transform into a partially human form, they will all call me a great demon."

"In fact, a true great demon must transform every part of its body into a human form, and transform its meridians, organs, and bones into human-like ones. Only then can it be called a great demon."

"Humans are the foremost of all spirits, born with a Taoist body. Especially when we follow the path of incense and gods, transforming into a human becomes extremely important."

"Otherwise, apart from auspicious beasts like dragons, phoenixes, and unicorns, who would offer incense to a river shrimp?"

"Also, speaking from a Taoist perspective, those who can truly be called great demons have at least reached the realm of refining the spirit and returning to the void. At that time, they become as illusory as real people. People like me, who only have two feet and a torso, are only in the late stage of refining essence into qi."

Liu Qing nodded in agreement, listening and taking it in mind, gaining knowledge. As the two talked, he kept walking and unknowingly walked out of the mud cave.

As the light came on in front, he saw a cluster of reeds and the water was gurgling, which looked quite familiar. Liu Qing immediately realized that the river in front of him was the unnamed small river northeast of Lijiawu Fort.

Xia Kexing continued to lead Liu Qing forward, heading northeast along the nameless river. After half an hour, they arrived in front of a huge lake.

The lake is surrounded by three mountains, with only a waterway in the southwest. There is a small island in the center of the lake, and the tombs of Li family ancestors are on the island.

(End of this chapter)