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

After bidding farewell to the two elders, Zhou Qingfeng returned to the Zhou residence and quietly watched the 'Prime Minister's' sacrificial ceremony in his study, silently preparing for his own ascension to the sacrificial steps. Upon careful reading of the 'Prime Minister's' sacrificial ceremony, he realized that its focus was on influence and control, rather than domination.

The rules of power and authority have subtle differences, and that's where the difference lies.

The "Prime Minister" is also a kind of rule of power, but the rule of power is not the only one. The rule of power tends to influence and control. That is to say, the stronger and greater one's influence and control, the more one will gradually understand, become familiar with and master the rule of power, thereby making one's rule power stronger and mastering the rule power more quickly.

When fighting others, temporarily set aside unstable and unknown factors such as combat awareness, combat skills, and equipment differences.

It's purely a contest of the strength of rules-based techniques or supernatural abilities.

That means it depends on whose magic power is deeper and whose spells are stronger. The weaker party will definitely have their body entered by the enemy's rule power and thus be affected by the enemy. At best, they will be injured by the rule, and at worst, they will explode and die on the spot.

It is worth mentioning here that the magical power of a cultivator in the Poisonous Realm is no longer simply magical power, but has been transformed into the power of rules. This is because the entire person has been fundamentally polluted by the Five Turbid Heavenly Dao, so the magical power will also undergo a great leap, becoming magical power containing rules.

Both their energy level and physical body level have undergone a fundamental leap, placing them on a completely different level from low-level cultivators.

This ascension process is also known as the Five Poisons Paying Homage to the Origin, a state of supreme supremacy.

The Five Poisons refer to the five poisonous minds: greed, anger, ignorance, doubt, and arrogance.

"朝" refers to paying homage and offering gifts according to ritual.

Yuan refers to the origin or source, namely the five turbidities of the heavenly path.

The phrase "I am the only one who matters" is easier to understand; it means that I am the rule, and the rule is me.

From then on, cultivators in the Poison-Eating Realm no longer ingested the malevolent energy of the world.

Rather, they are the five great poisons of the heart, born from all living beings in this turbid and evil world.

These are the five poisons of the mind: greed, anger, ignorance, doubt, arrogance, and pride.

Throughout history, both in China and abroad, only in times of great upheaval and change has the principle of putting people first been truly upheld.

The evil world's turbid energy is almost entirely created by humans. The more people there are, the more cultivation resources cultivators can absorb; the fewer people there are, the fewer cultivation resources cultivators can absorb. Therefore, whether cultivators like it or not, they must ensure the growth and stability of the basic population. If the population declines year after year, cultivators will be more anxious than ordinary people.

To put it bluntly, the Devouring Cultivators are demons who parasitize mortals, sucking their blood and eating their flesh. However, mortals cannot survive in this evil world without the protection of the Devouring Cultivators. The two are interdependent. Mortals nourish cultivators, and cultivators protect mortals. If either one is lost, the living environment will become ten or a hundred times worse than it is now, and the rapid extinction of the human race is not an exaggeration.

The ritual is not complicated. You only need to set up the ritual array according to the book, place the five poisonous hearts in the correct positions according to the steps, and then continuously call for the response of the Five Turbid Heavenly Dao according to the predetermined incantations and actions.

If the Five Turbid Heavenly Dao responds and takes away the Five Poisonous Hearts, then the sacrificial ceremony will truly begin. When the person ascending the steps completes all the procedures recorded in the sacrificial ceremony, they will be fundamentally corrupted by the corresponding rules at the moment of success.

In that instant, cultivators who consume turbidity will be favored by the Five Turbid Heavenly Dao. If they are fortunate enough to catch a glimpse of the true face of the Five Turbid Heavenly Dao, then they will be considered to have been fundamentally corrupted by the rules, and from then on, they will become the carriers of the Heavenly Dao's rules. If they can see it twice, then it is twice.

Two times is definitely better than one time. You can even come into close contact with the Five Turbid Heavenly Dao. As long as you can withstand the pollution of your mind, the root pollution will be more thorough and the benefits will be more numerous. After you advance to become a Poison-Eating Realm cultivator, your starting point will be much stronger than others.

Of course, once the ritual begins, it cannot be stopped midway. The ritual either succeeds or fails; there is no third possibility. Success is self-evident, but failure can result in being permanently stuck at that point, or even death, maiming, or even complete degeneration.

Zhou Qingfeng wasn't in a hurry; he liked to be well-prepared and confident in his abilities.

The ritual process of the "Prime Minister" involves proposing a suggestion and plan to the supreme ruler of the power to influence the direction of policy and participate in decision-making, thus having a profound impact on the politics, economy, and military of the power, whether for better or worse.

This requires waiting for the right opportunity. Only when the First City Lord proposes a new policy in the council chamber can one influence the direction of the policy, sway decision-making, and exert a profound impact on the Sword Tower, guiding the policy in a positive direction.

In this way, the entire sacrificial ceremony is considered complete.

This is very difficult for others, but it is very simple for Zhou Qingfeng. All he has to do is wait patiently. Zhou Qingfeng believes that the opportunity will come soon because the Sword Tower is a place where heroes gather and the grand stage of the Five Turbid World is never short of opportunities.

After watching the sacrificial ceremony for a day and a night, repeatedly reading and memorizing the steps, movements, and incantations, Zhou Qingfeng finally stored the ceremony in his sacred ring, intending to take it out from time to time to review it and deepen his understanding.

Then Zhou Qingfeng began to read the sacrificial secrets of the Mortal Serpent. There was nothing much to say about this; he could just take it out and look at it occasionally when he had time, and try out the sacrificial effects when he had the chance. There was nothing else to pay attention to.

The most urgent task is to quickly cancel the leave.

There's still a lot of work to be done in Sword Tower.

Two days later, at dawn, Zhou Qingfeng returned from leave and reported to the Censorate.

The three heads of the Censorate gathered in the side hall of the Chief Commander's office. These three heads were Zhou Qingfeng, Deputy Commander Mao, and Deputy Commander Jiang. Other heads of various departments were qualified to attend the meeting of the three heads of the Censorate, but Qiu Chengde did not summon them.

Zhou Qingfeng clasped his hands and bowed: "Your humble servant Zhou Qingfeng greets the Commander."

Deputy Commander Mao bowed respectfully: "Your humble servant Mao Anshi greets the Commander."

Deputy Commander Jiang solemnly clasped his hands in greeting: "Your humble servant Jiang Xuanling greets the Commander."

"Alright, it's rare to get the three of you together. Sit down and chat." Qiu Chengde, dressed in a blue official robe, sat steadily in the head seat, slowly sipping his tea. "I haven't been to the Censorate for a long time. I'll have to trouble you to take care of all the matters, big and small."

Mao Anshi suggested they sit down, and smiled slightly: "Commander, this is all my duty."

Jiang Xuanling took a sip of tea and said, "Commander, is there something important you need to discuss with us?"

Qiu Chengde put down his teacup, smiled, and pointed to Zhou Qingfeng: "This is Zhou Qingfeng, the deputy commander of the Censorate, in charge of the Plum Blossom Division of the Fifth Bureau. I'm sure you two colleagues have heard of him. I know you are both very busy with official duties and are important people, so I don't usually see you. Today, I'll introduce you on your behalf. I hope you two colleagues will take good care of me and give me some guidance in the future."