Chapter 374: (4): Encountering Old Friends in a Foreign Land
Using the lesser heat coins that were worth one hundred snowflake coins each, Chen Ping'an's four subordinates all returned with some new purchases. Zhu Lian, for instance, had nothing whatsoever in the beginning; by the time they'd left Old Dragon City, however, he was carrying a bag on his back. And now that they were about to leave Wasp Tail Ferry Station, the bag on his back had become even heavier.
Zhu Lian regarded himself as a scholar now, so he naturally had to travel around with books on his back.
Chen Ping'an and the others traveled to the capital of Azure Phoenix Nation on foot. Of the three nations surrounding Wasp Tail Ferry Station, Azure Phoenix Nation had hosted a grand Liberation Rite of Water and Land[1] two years ago. The emperor had personally organized the Liberation Rite.
In response to this, both Lofty Sky Nation and Fortune Mountain Nation hosted a Heavenly Worship Ceremony at almost the exact same time last year as if there were some sort of competition. The two ceremonies had attracted almost all of the Daoist cultivators and caught Azure Phoenix Nation by complete surprise.
However, the emperor of Azure Phoenix Nation didn't back down, and he planned to host a debate between Buddhism and Daoism during spring this year. He was going to pick either Buddhism or Daoism to become the national religion of Azure Phoenix Nation. The winner would be placed higher than Confucianism, while the loser would be relegated to last place.
Because of this, Chen Ping'an felt like Zhang Shanfeng and Xu Yuanxia would remain in the capital of Azure Phoenix Nation until at least the end of spring this year.
Most likely due to their close proximity to Wasp Tail Ferry Station and the large number of Daoist temples, Buddhist temples, mountains, and rivers in their jurisdictions, these three nations had sufficient spiritual energy. They were not among the places with such little spiritual energy that they were viewed as Dao-less territories. In fact, there was far more spiritual energy in these three nations than Water Combing Nation, where Chen Ping'an had ventured in the past.
He had only been a pure martial artist at the time, so he hadn't been able to fully appreciate the situation, only having a rough gauge instead. Now that he had refined the water seal into a bonded item and was able to slowly absorb spiritual energy, however, he could discover the mystical nature of the situation when comparing the two different regions.
Of the several nations in the central region of Eastern Treasured Vial Continent that Chen Ping'an had traveled through on foot, it was Colorful Garment Nation that contained slightly more spiritual energy than the other nations.