I changed the world.

Page 351

承和三十七年 2016年4月3日10:43 丹鼎山赭碧峰土地庙

In the deserted, dilapidated temple, a figure materialized from nothingness; it was Zhang Jing who had reappeared there.

Zhang Jing glanced at the dusty, indistinct clay statue inside the dilapidated temple, then flipped his hand, revealing a talisman rising from his palm. It was the Earth God talisman that had been formed after he had just conferred the title of Earth God of Zhaoyang Town.

The talisman, though only a short time had passed since its creation, appeared considerably more solid. Zhang Jing understood that as time went on and more land was granted to it, the talisman would undergo further changes.

In a sense, by just bestowing the land, he has already taken the first step in establishing a new pantheon. By utilizing the knowledge accumulated by the people of this world over thousands of years and transforming it from illusion to reality, he can truly make use of "faith," something invisible and intangible yet undeniably real.

Volume Two: The Truth Hidden Behind History: Chapter 702 Imperial Conferment! Land God of Huangjia Village!

At the same time, for Zhang Jing, these "deities" were also easier for him to control.

Their very existence stems from Zhang Jing's decree; to put it more clearly, it is based on high-level power, from which power seeds are born, and thus true spirits are bestowed.

As for the deities within the "system," their power depends on themselves but is also constrained by the system. Therefore, the majority of the faith they receive is actually meant to give back to the system itself.

Taking the land deity of Zhaoyang Town as an example, although it is known as the "Number One Land Deity Temple in the World," its rank within the "system" determines that even if it reaches its limit, it can only reach the limit that a "land deity" can achieve. The incense offerings it receives, apart from the portion it keeps for itself, will be used to support the system itself. To use an imperfect analogy, this relationship is somewhat similar to how local governments collect taxes, keep a portion for their own use, and hand over the rest to the central government.

This ensures that in some areas where incense offerings are abundant, there will be no situation where a lower-ranking deity surpasses a higher-ranking deity, thus preventing a situation where the system cannot cover certain areas where incense offerings are scarce.

A glint of fire flashed in Zhang Jing's eyes as he looked again at the clay sculpture. In the void, a distant, lofty decree seemed to echo:

"In this land, there is a righteous god of fortune."

Upholding loyalty and integrity, he accepted the mandate of heaven.

He governs the region and protects the common people.

The official in charge of transmitting memorials and managing the records.

Good and evil are clearly distinguished and responded to;

Merits and demerits should be clearly distinguished through careful examination.

He was loyal and filial to his parents, and his virtue was manifest and divine.

Today, the merits are complete.

Imperial edicts and decrees, honoring the gods of earth and grain.

"The main altar is in the town palace, and the land is in Huangjia Village!"

A moment later, a faint mist rose from the small temple, and then a white-haired old man, dressed in an earthen-yellow robe and holding a gnarled wooden staff, emerged from the clay statue. He looked somewhat similar to the local deity of Zhaoyang Town, except that his clothes were rather worn and not as splendid as those of the local deity.

The old man hurried a few steps to Zhang Jing and respectfully knelt down, saying, "Huang Zongyi, the local earth god of Huangjia Village, greets Your Excellency! I have been honored by Your Excellency's decree of promotion and grace, which is as if you were given a second life. May I ask Your Excellency's name?"

Zhang Jing's fiery eyes lingered on Huang Zongyi for a long time, until the local man became somewhat uneasy, before he finally concealed the fire in his eyes:

"Please rise, Earth God. My surname is Zhang, my Dharma name is Zongxuan, and I am a disciple of Kunlun Sect," Zhang Jing said with a faint smile, extending his hand to help him up.

The local landowner appeared extremely apprehensive until Zhang Jing offered a few words of reassurance. Only then did he stand up respectfully, bowing as he stood aside to reply.

"...So that the sir may know, I am an ancestor of this Huangjia Village. I was originally from Zhongzhou, but I fled south to this place to escape the war. At first, I cleared a piece of wasteland in the mountains, thinking that after a few years, when the war was over, I would return to my hometown to farm."

"Unexpectedly, after several years of farming, the weather was always favorable, and since this place was remote in the mountains and there was no government exploitation, they settled down here and their descendants spread..."

"His descendants worshipped him faithfully, and he became the local earth god. But... alas... recently his descendants have been unfilial, and the sacrifices have fallen into disuse..." The earth god sighed repeatedly as he spoke of the past.

"Land God, do not worry. Now that your merits have been fulfilled, the incense offerings will surely flourish again." Zhang Jing smiled and said, "As for this temple, although it is dilapidated, I lent you this auspicious place to receive Master Zhang when he came here the other day. I think he will rebuild the temple for you later..."

The local earth god was deeply grateful upon hearing this, and after a round of polite and humble greetings, Zhang Jing, in addition to giving the Huangjia Village earth god some advice as usual, also instructed him that the Ochre Peak was a forbidden area, guarded by a senior expert, and that as the local earth god, he could choose a day to go and pay his respects...

Upon hearing this, the Earth God naturally agreed wholeheartedly.

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承和三十七年 西历2016年4月3日10:31 临州云山坊1603号舞蹈室

“来，我们再来一遍，1、2、3、4；2、2、3、4……”

"Yes, very good, shoulders open... Yes... very good, hip rotation... well done..."

"Okay, let's move on to the next move..."

In the villa's dance studio, An Huiling is practicing for the day under the guidance of a fitness instructor.

An Huiling's life is still very regular. Every morning, a special coach will give her guidance on posture and dance.

After all, her official story to her family is that she is recuperating in Linzhou, and her physical condition has indeed changed quite a bit, which is hard to hide. The only way she can conceal this is by making herself appear to others as someone who "loves to exercise".

Fortunately, fitness is quite popular among the upper classes in both the East and the West. This is not hard to understand. On the one hand, fitness can indeed bring one a healthy body, and a healthy body is the foundation of all enjoyment. On the other hand, people in the upper class have money and leisure time, enough to engage in systematic training, which is different from the lower classes who have to work from dawn till dusk every day and come home exhausted.

Of course, when outwardly promoting themselves, they will emphasize that sticking to fitness is a sign of "perseverance," and a fit physique represents a person who is persevering and capable of self-management.

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………………

"Huiling is truly gifted and learns very quickly. These few movements are already very professional in my opinion. It's really not easy..." After the training session, the elegant female professor from the Dance Department of Southeast University praised her highly.

"Teacher Li is still the best teacher." An Huiling took the hot towel handed to her by Mei'er, wiped the sweat off her body, and replied with a smile.

After exchanging a few more pleasantries, An Huiling instructed Mei'er, who was standing nearby, "Have the driver take Teacher Li there."

"Yes, Miss." Mei'er replied respectfully, politely leading the professor out of the room. At this moment, a faint weariness was still hidden deep in her eyes. The young lady had only returned early in the morning. She had spent the night outside and hadn't slept a wink. She only breathed a sigh of relief when she saw the young lady return early in the morning.

However, in her view, this kind of thing was extremely dangerous, and if it got out, it would also affect the young lady's reputation. After all, the An family was not a prestigious family with hundreds of years of history; in the eyes of many, they were "newly rich" or "nouveau riche," and therefore, public opinion was much harsher on the young lady of the An family.

Mei'er pondered whether she should subtly offer another piece of advice to the young lady at some point...

An Huiling was naturally unaware of her maid's inner thoughts. After the posture teacher left, she used the equipment nearby to do some flexibility training before changing her clothes and heading downstairs to the study.

Volume Two: The Truth Hidden Behind History Books: Chapter 703 Old Master Si's Advice

In fact, with her current physical strength, this level of training was not enough to make her sweat. The sweat she produced was even forced out by her. As for the so-called "exceptional talent," it was not that the female professor was intentionally flattering her. After all, with a physical foundation that surpasses that of ordinary people, it was indeed not difficult to perform those movements once the knack was mastered.

Furthermore, physical and dance training is indeed something An Huiling enjoys. After all, it helps improve her posture, rhythm, flexibility, and temperament. Besides, isn't it said that... girls who can dance are more popular? Her senior brother will definitely like her too...

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承和三十七年 西历2016年4月3日10:50 临州云山坊1603号书房

In the study, An Huiling was flipping through a book on finance, a professional text her father had specifically requested she read. In fact, a finance director from the Jiangdong headquarters would come two days a week to explain financial concepts to her. Clearly, An Zhengquan had plans for his only daughter's future. For a qualified heir to a family business, professional knowledge wasn't necessary; after all, there were plenty of people in the world with relevant expertise, and it could simply be entrusted to professional managers.

However, one still needs to be knowledgeable about finances, not only knowledgeable but even proficient, otherwise one will be taken advantage of and still have to count the money for others.

In fact, besides finance courses, she also sets aside time to learn essential knowledge such as clothing matching, social etiquette, heraldry, and business management.

In the past, she was in poor health, so apart from her insistence on going to school, her family did not put any pressure on her, for fear of affecting her condition.

Now that she has recovered her health, these classes have returned to her daily life. Fortunately, these classes are not intensive and are taught by a private tutor on an irregular basis.

"Yes... Believe me, you can't be too rigid with the guy you like. You need to add some contrast sometimes to create romance. For example, you could... wear... black... lace... underneath..."

“…Ah, really…really?” An Huiling’s face was flushed, and her eyes were staring blankly at page 45 of the book “Unearthing the Value Behind Numbers” in her hand, as if there was something extraordinary on it.

"Yes, let me tell you, most men are two-faced. They seem to like women who are reserved and ladylike, but in private, if you..."

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"Wow... Luo Yan, you're so lewd..."

"Ugh, if Huiling hadn't asked me, I wouldn't have told you, hmph... I'd rather die than tell you..."

"By the way, Huiling, you never tell me who your boyfriend is! When are you going to send me a picture?" On the other end of the phone was An Huiling's best friend, Luo Yan. She had very few friends, and this roommate was the only one she could "consult" on "relationship problems." In fact, Luo Yan had always been very curious about An Huiling's boyfriend. Although An Huiling had never directly acknowledged his existence, Luo Yan considered it a done deal. She was even certain that her inexperienced roommate was pursuing someone else.

This made her even more curious: what kind of person could make her roommate, who was considered both "rich and beautiful," pursue her so relentlessly?

She knew perfectly well that even though her roommate was very low-key, before she went to Linzhou, they would often receive flowers and love letters in the dorm...

"Where...where is it; so cold and fast⑴...chess...right④, how did Luo (Yan, you and you)'s person die? Ba."

"Oh, it's alright, nothing special..." Luo Yan felt a little helpless when her roommate changed the subject so abruptly, but since the other person didn't want to talk about it, she didn't press further.

"Huh? You guys were already..."

“Yeah…but…I always feel like there’s no passion…” Luo Yan’s voice became a little weak, and she said listlessly, “You know, his grades are good, but…he doesn’t really like sports, and he’s not very physically strong, so…sigh…every time he gets a little into it, he just…”

"Ah...oh..." An Huiling's face was burning hot, and the blush had reached the roots of her ears.

"By the way, Huiling, how's your husband doing?"

"Wh...what, how?"

"Um... how long can it last?"

"I...I don't know..."

"I know... Yin Huiling (you are still seven) and your boyfriend... have been to a bar... right?" Luo Yan said in a strange tone. To her, her roommate usually appeared quiet and elegant, sometimes even giving off a cold and indifferent feeling. Only at times like this would she show a girlish panic.

Finding this amusing, Luo Yan lowered her voice and said, "Let me tell you a secret, Huiling, with your great figure... so curvy and long legs, you should find a boyfriend who's physically strong... otherwise, if he's the weak and delicate type, he might... come after a short while... and then he'll be stuck in the middle..."

"I...I'm not talking to you anymore...I'm going to eat..."

Hearing such outrageous words, An Huiling tried her best to remain calm, but compared to Luo Yan, a seasoned woman who had already dated several boyfriends, she simply couldn't stay composed and hurriedly hung up the phone. Afterwards, she stared blankly at her phone, her mind replaying what had happened not long ago…

Is it easy to kill in seconds...?

Senior Brother... is incredibly strong...

It felt like being tossed into the air by giant waves... one wave higher than the next... I tried desperately to control myself, but I couldn't. It was like a flame threatening to consume me... In the end, I had no strength left, my mind went blank... I almost thought I was going to die...

"Snap..." The book "Unearthing the Value Behind the Numbers" in my hand cracked open, and then more than two hundred pages of the book were completely torn through.