Unsheathed

Approximately two hours passed, and Du Yu continued to add dry branches to the campfire the entire time.

After a while, Du Yu noticed the mighty senior opening his eyes with a slight smile on his face. He appeared to be in a fairly good mood.

Chen Ping'an raised his head and glanced up.

The thick sea of clouds that had enveloped almost the entire area above Verdant Bamboo Lake had already dispersed.

There was a round moon in the sky.

"Du Yu, the traditions and customs of Verdant Bamboo Lake have already been this way for one thousand years, so do you think it's impossible for anyone to change it?" Chen Ping'an asked.

"It will be impossible unless everyone from the top to the bottom is replaced," Du Yu replied boldly. "From the lake lord to the water deities of the three rivers and the two canals, everyone needs to go. In fact, the lake lord of Verdant Bamboo Lake needs to be the first to go, and only then will there be any chance of implementing change.

"However, trying to achieve such a great feat is impossible unless it's personally carried out by someone like Senior, a cultivator from the pinnacle of the mountains. Afterward, the powerful cultivator will need to waste dozens of years of their life to keep a close eye on the area. If this can't be done, however, then not replacing the deities at all will be the better option, in my opinion.

"Truth be told, Lake Lord Yin Hou of Verdant Bamboo Lake is a powerful ruler who isn't too cruel to his subjects. He did purposely cause some floods and droughts, but those were simply in order to obtain some beautiful maidservants for his dragon palace. Of course, several hundred commoners would die each time as a result.

“However, this is already better than some mentally challenged deities who can't even control the power of their own mystical abilities. With a whoosh, these reckless deities will easily kill thousands upon thousands of people. If they're a bit more short-tempered and always pick fights with other deities or offend other deities, then those in their jurisdiction will truly be subject to endless hardships and suffering.

"I've traveled around the cultivation world for many years, and I've come across many mountain gods, river gods, city gods, and mountain lords who only focus on the major matters and largely ignore the minor matters. They care nothing about mortal commoners, and they focus on building relationships with official immortals in the mountains, martial arts grandmasters with their own forces, the relatives of officials in the capital, scholars with good potential, and so on."

Chen Ping'an took a glance at Du Yu.