Once I enter the pass, great Confucian scholars will surely debate the classics for me.

The rules of power are all rules that have the power to control, influence, and dominate others.

No matter how many innovations ancient and modern masters have made in the sacrificial rituals, they have always remained true to the original principles. However, due to the different sacrificial rituals, the emphasis will be different, which will lead to subtle differences in their paths to advancement.

Slave owners focused on control, and their main practices were oppression, brutality, abuse, exploitation, and enslavement.

Such rules are too brutal, too exploitative, and too oppressive; they will inevitably be met with a backlash from slaves and will hardly last long.

To possess powerful combat strength, one must enslave immortals, gods, Buddhas, demons, monsters, humans, and ghosts of the same level, thereby achieving a terrifying increase in combat power where 1+1 is greater than 2. Enslaving lower-level immortals, gods, Buddhas, demons, humans, and ghosts does not significantly increase one's own combat power, and the backlash is also less harmful.

However, beings of the same level are certainly unwilling to be slaves for life, so they will definitely try to break free from control. When they find an opportunity, they will turn against their slave owners. Slave owners are often killed by their slaves in times of crisis, so it is very difficult for a sixth-level cultivator to appear.

Through the 'slave master' sacrificial ritual, one can become a master cultivator of the fifth realm.

As far as Zhou Qingfeng knew, there was only one person in the world who was famous, and the rest were all unknown.

Therefore, it is not that the upper limit of a slave owner is the peak of the fifth realm, but rather that due to practical circumstances, they are unable to go higher.

This sacrificial ceremony was mostly chosen by slave hunters, slave traders, and the like.

Moreover, the process of the ritual to become a slave owner and the path to future advancement are extremely brutal.

The process of the 'slave owner' sacrificial ritual: Tens of thousands of slaves were forced to perform heavy physical labor, deprived of their personal autonomy, and their actions were strictly controlled. Slaves who disobeyed orders or cheated were subjected to bloody and cruel punishments, and female slaves were subjected to inhuman sexual exploitation and abuse.

Thus, the slave owner officially succeeded in the ritual and became a 'god' who controlled the rules of power.

Once you become a 'god' who wields the rules of power, is your path over? Not at all! Because you still need to move forward, to deepen your understanding, familiarity, and control over the rules of power. This means that if you want to go higher and further, you must continue to climb as a slave owner.

From then on, every bit of exploitation and oppression of slaves would be transformed into resources for cultivation, nurturing the power of the slave owners' rules.

Once a cultivator chooses to ascend to the Poison Eater Realm through the 'Slave Master' sacrificial ceremony, their future growth path is severely restricted. Switching to other cultivation paths is not impossible, but there are significant sunk costs involved, and very few cultivators would switch paths halfway through.

If the rules are highly compatible and have a high degree of overlap, then it's fine to switch to another rule.

Due to practical reasons, Zhou Qingfeng eliminated the option of slave owners because of their limitations and drawbacks.

After all, countless geniuses throughout history have failed to break the sixth realm curse. What makes Zhou Qingfeng so confident that he can break the "slave master" sixth realm curse? This is a path of hellish difficulty. If he had no other choice, why would he make things difficult for himself?

The "Conferment of a Title" ceremony: Participating in a major war, personally leading a thousand-strong army to defeat the enemy, winning a local battle, and being formally conferred the title of "Conferment of a Title" by the supreme ruler, receiving a fiefdom, and inheriting the title hereditarily.

The ritual of the 'Prime Minister' involves presenting a suggestion and plan to the supreme ruler of the power to influence the direction of policy and participate in decision-making, thus exerting a profound influence on the politics, economy, and military of the power, for better or for worse.

The sacrificial ceremony of the 'Great King': to launch a war against foreign powers, to conquer vast territories, to dominate a region, to announce to the world, and to be crowned king.

Each of the three rituals is difficult, but this does not mean that all rituals are this difficult.

The rules of the Power Path are indeed extremely powerful. Among the many types of sacrificial rituals, very few can rival the Power Path. Moreover, the Power Path is recognized as one of the strongest rules in the world, so it's no wonder that the path to advancement is difficult.

However, once a cultivator successfully ascends to the next level and wields the power and rules, they are virtually invincible among their peers. Other cultivators simply cannot compete with them. The power and rules possess the power to dominate, control, and influence, and when combined with spells and supernatural abilities, their individual combat capabilities are already excessively strong.

What's even more outrageous is that almost all cultivators who practice the rules of the Dao of Power share a prominent characteristic: they have a large number of powerful subordinates. Even the most reviled 'slave owners' can quickly raise a beggar army composed of slave cultivators.

To wield power and rules, whether in one-on-one duels or group battles, is simply too unfair.

If the difficulty of climbing the steps is too easy, then it will stand out from the crowd.

Why bother with all this cultivation? Everyone should just study the rules of power and authority.

Because the difficulty of ascending to the next level is extremely high, only a very small group of people have ever studied the rules of the path of power.

"Lord, Prime Minister, King".

"Which one to choose..."

Zhou Qingfeng examined the three sacrificial ritual texts in front of him and fell into deep thought.

Of the three, the Great King is undoubtedly the most powerful, but the sacrificial ceremony is too difficult.

With the resources Zhou Qingfeng currently possesses, it would be difficult to successfully complete the sacrificial ceremony. This sacrificial ceremony seems to be tailor-made for the royal family members and many city lords, and only they are probably capable of completing the 'Great King's' sacrificial ceremony.

After much deliberation, Zhou Qingfeng still preferred the titles of feudal lord and prime minister.

The sacrificial rites for feudal lords and prime ministers were relatively simple for me, and I had the means and ability to complete them.

Moreover, the rules of power and authority of 'Lord', 'Prime Minister' and 'King' are highly compatible and overlap, and do not conflict at all. If one has enough resources, one can try to switch to the 'King' path when climbing to the fifth or even sixth realm.

As for which one to choose, Zhou Qingfeng preferred the prime minister, followed by the feudal lord, and lastly the king.

Fate split into three forks here, each representing a different outcome.

Zhou Qingfeng didn't dare to make a decision lightly, after all, it concerned a major matter of cultivation. If he took a wrong step, he might regret it later. After all, if the direction was wrong, all his efforts would be in vain. If he made the wrong choice, even if Zhou Qingfeng was talented and hardworking, he would inevitably take some detours and suffer some hardships.

Thinking of this, Zhou Qingfeng still summoned the Crimson Divination Bucket from the depths of his consciousness.

A scarlet divination bucket slowly appeared in my consciousness, filled with divination slips.

Zhou Qingfeng had a sudden thought and silently said: Draw lots!

The scarlet divination bucket swayed as if an invisible pair of hands were holding it and casting lots for divination. After a while, the lots gradually stopped moving inside the bucket, and one lot after another flew out of it.

[A very bad omen, a sacrificial ceremony for a 'slave owner', ominous.]

[A very bad omen; the sacrificial ceremony for the 'Great King' is ominous.]

[Neutral divination, Taoist ritual of 'conferring a title', neutral]

[Auspicious Chinese divination slip: A sacrificial ceremony for the 'Prime Minister' - Auspicious

Following the principle of choosing auspicious if there is good fortune, and choosing neutral if there is no good fortune, Zhou Qingfeng did not hesitate to take the 'Prime Minister' sacrificial ceremony into his hands. Then he picked up the sacrificial secret manual about the giant serpent of the mortal world that was placed aside, got up and walked to the two elders of Qingming, and clasped his hands in a salute.

The two elders, Qingming and Niqing, looked at him with smiles. Niqing said, "You've already made your choice?"

Zhou Qingfeng clasped his hands in response: "Yes, Senior Ni Qing."

Ni Ming said, "Want to choose again?"

Zhou Qingfeng shook his head: "Hesitation only leads to more trouble. Now that I've made a decision, I won't be picky or worry about gains and losses anymore."