Chapter 1037: Red Lotus Karmic Fire
Dragon qi was a variant of earth qi, fused with fragments of faith and incense power. When a nation prospered and peace prevailed, the people had faith in the sovereign, so incense power could be gathered easily, hence an intense dragon qi. But when a nation declined and chaos reigned, the people’s faith in the sovereign would waver, hence a weakened dragon qi.
This showed how the people’s faith could affect dragon qi.
At the founding of a dynasty, the people’s hearts were tempered through countless deaths. The killing aura was strong due to the mountains of corpses, seas of blood that dyed the lands red.
In an age of peace, the people’s spirits soared. Dragon qi then becomes abundant and righteous, like the Confucian righteous qi. With such immense energy, one could build strong formations to guard the imperial city, keeping even Immortals from entering.
At the end of a dynasty, the people fell into chaos. Dragon qi would decay rapidly and turn into a poison more lethal than even the Xiaoyao Six Void Tribulations. Only a First-Tribulation Immortal’s indestructible golden body could withstand this corrupted dragon qi, suppressing the decay but not dissolving it completely.
When the Holy Xuan once battled the last Grand Libationer of the Confucian School, the latter wielded corrupted dragon qi as his weapon, inflicting grievous wounds upon the former.
However, corrupted dragon qi was rare. One must wait for the dying twilight of a dynasty to find it. Corrupted dragon qi had not been seen since then. Moreover, with the weakening of the Dragon Veins, the might of dragon qi became increasingly weaker with every generation.
The decline of the Central Dragon and the death of the Northern Dragon had nothing to do with dwindling faith. The root problem was in the earth qi itself. The world grew increasingly solid and real, which hardened earth qi, causing it to stagnate into a dead pool. This was how both the Central and Northern Dragons would perish, turning lifeless and stiff.
A Heavenly Tribulation would not befall pocket realms due to earth qi, allowing one to avoid a tribulation. Similarly, incense power protected divine kingdoms from a heavenly tribulation. Dragon qi was a combination of both, so it could also shield against tribulation for a short time. However, its core was still earth qi, ever flowing and shifting, like a rapid river. Even Immortals could not wield dragon qi for long and could only harness it briefly. Thus, it was simply unrealistic to linger in the mortal world by relying on dragon qi.
However, there was one method that allowed one to gather dragon qi through formations. The most famous examples were the formations in the Imperial Capital and the Wuxing Mountain. Once the formation was complete, one would be able to evade a heavenly tribulation as long as one stayed within bounds. But such a state was similar to being confined within a pocket realm or a divine kingdom. It was a self-made prison with too many limits. It would be better to cultivate the Godly Immortal path or merge one’s essence with the pocket realm rather than chase the volatile and sensitive dragon qi.
Moreover, as the end of the era approached, dragon qi would ultimately vanish. Pocket realms and divine kingdoms would fall to the mortal plane.
That was why the three Deputy Grand Masters no longer sought to pass a heavenly tribulation because it simply was not worth it with the end of the era approaching.