Faith from followers is not eternal.
As a celestial tree, it is necessary to constantly protect and support the followers.
Only by doing so can their faith remain unwavering.
Since the initial establishment of the Heavenly Court's incense rules, the Heavenly Court has already taken a step into the fourth-grade realm.
On this path of deities and immortals, Lu Qingyang has advanced far, gaining insights into many profound mysteries.
It is the same old truth:
While deities and immortals seek incense from their followers, the followers expect corresponding returns from the deities and immortals.
Peace!
Prosperity!
Longevity!
Cultivation!
All these desires are the deep-seated pursuits of the followers.
Lu Qingyang created the Heavenly Court chat group to greatly satisfy the various needs of the followers.
However, as the followers' cultivation advances, if the deities and immortals cannot continuously provide corresponding benefits, the faith of the followers will naturally change.
Over the years,
Lu Qingyang has witnessed many fervent followers becoming devout followers, and some devout followers slipping back to being ordinary followers.
Fortunately, no ordinary follower has completely abandoned their faith.
This is because, once they give up their foundational faith, they can no longer enter the Heavenly Court chat group.
Therefore, until the fourth-grade Heavenly Court market is built, Lu Qingyang can still rely on the Heavenly Court chat group to stabilize his foundation.
In this situation,
Lu Qingyang couldn't help but silently praise himself for creating the Heavenly Court chat group.
In fact, this move was extremely wise.
Without the Heavenly Court chat group as a bridge, Lu Qingyang would have likely lost a significant amount of incense over the years.
Sometimes, maintaining a firm foundation is truly difficult.
As the Heavenly Court's level increases, the value of the Heavenly Court chat group to the followers becomes greater, and their faith becomes more steadfast.
Similarly,
The firm faith of the followers can also accelerate the Heavenly Court's advancement.
This forms a mutually beneficial cycle.
It is worth noting that,
Over five years,
Lu Qingyang's cultivation has solidly progressed.
The ancient trees he endowed with intelligence, such as the Wanqing Ancient Tree, have also advanced to different stages of breakthrough.
Among them, the Wanqing Ancient Tree, which first broke into the initial third grade, has already advanced to the late third grade in five years.
With a little more accumulation, it could potentially reach the consummate third grade.
The other ancient trees like Tiangang and Tiansha have also stepped into the mid-third grade.
In theory,
With Lu Qingyang residing in the Ten Thousand Mountains, the spiritual energy here is incredibly dense, far superior to ordinary places.
Coupled with the fact that the Wanqing Ancient Tree and others are cultivating top-tier third-grade techniques, their advantages are unmatched by the outside world.
For others,
Even those with mediocre talent should now have the qualifications to challenge the consummate third grade.
Lu Qingyang speculated that this might be related to the nature of the ancient trees.
"Ancient trees have a different lifespan compared to mortals. If a mortal reaches the third grade, their lifespan can exceed the ordinary limit, roughly reaching around three hundred years."
"But ancient trees naturally have long lifespans. For ancient trees like the Wanqing Ancient Tree that have reached the third grade, their lifespan could be counted in thousands of years."
"With a long lifespan, cultivation naturally progresses slowly. This is a balance rule of the universe."
With a deeper understanding of the universe, Lu Qingyang developed his unique perspective on all things.
The Heavenly Dao is impartial,
Everything has its inherent balance.
It is already difficult for an ancient tree to develop intelligence. Even after gaining intelligence, its cultivation speed is slow, which is the downside of having a long lifespan.
Following this,
Lu Qingyang thought about himself.
He possesses the long lifespan of an ancient tree, yet his cultivation advances rapidly, which does not conform to the regular patterns.
However, Lu Qingyang quickly came to terms with it.
His ability to reincarnate was already beyond the norm.
Therefore, being different from other ancient trees was also normal.
"Moreover..."
"Since condensing incense and creating the Heavenly Court, my true form is no longer an ordinary ancient tree but has transformed into a celestial tree. Whether in my past or present life, I am worthy of the title 'deity'."
Lu Qingyang's mind returned to tranquility, then he silently restored the divine soul power consumed by his earlier communion with Heaven and Earth.
...
Time flowed by.
In the blink of an eye.
When Lu Qingyang's divine soul was once again exhausted, pulling him out of the state of communion with Heaven and Earth, he looked at his attribute panel.
...
[Name: Lu Qingyang]
[True Form: Celestial Tree]
[Lifespan: 22/]
[Cultivation Level: Late Fourth Grade (/)]
[Heavenly Court: Third Grade (/)]
[Abilities: Celestial Tree Spirit Root (Fourth Grade), Celestial Spirit Fruit (Fourth Grade), Celestial Whisper (Fourth Grade), Penetrating True Sight (Fourth Grade), Heavenly Court Domain (Fourth Grade), Command Wind and Rain (Fourth Grade)]
...
"It's finally enough!"
Lu Qingyang saw that the incense points had exceeded the ten-billion mark.
Reaching ten billion three hundred fifty-nine million, he knew his calculations were accurate.
This accumulation,
Not only added over one hundred fifty million.
After six years, the Heavenly Court could finally advance from the third grade to the fourth grade.
Without hesitation,
Lu Qingyang immediately upgraded the Heavenly Court.
An immense amount of incense surged forth, causing Lu Qingyang's sea of consciousness to tremble. As the Heavenly Court domain became more solid, his divine soul power increased at an astonishing speed.
If his divine soul power was previously considered one, it now increased tenfold.
Advancing the Heavenly Court from the third grade to the fourth grade increased his divine soul power tenfold.
...
Ten Thousand Mountains.
The celestial tree towered into the sky.
A barely perceptible fluctuation emanated from Lu Qingyang, as if an invisible giant hand tore through the clouds, stirring the winds and clouds.
That awe-inspiring pressure, akin to the Heavenly Dao, instilled a sense of reverence and fear in the beings like the Wanqing Ancient Tree.
"Father's power has grown stronger!"
Although they couldn't directly observe Lu Qingyang's changes, they could instinctively sense it.
For the existence that created them, the Wanqing Ancient Tree and other beings held absolute reverence.
This is the level of faith of naturally devout followers, with no possibility of abandoning their faith.
On the other side,
Lu Qingyang regained clarity from the changes brought by the breakthrough.
He then reviewed his attribute panel again.
...
[Name: Lu Qingyang]
[True Form: Celestial Tree]
[Lifespan: 22/]
[Cultivation Level: Late Fourth Grade (/)]
[Heavenly Court: Fourth Grade (/)]
[Abilities: Celestial Tree Spirit Root (Fourth Grade), Celestial Spirit Fruit (Fourth Grade), Celestial Whisper (Fourth Grade), Penetrating True Sight (Fourth Grade), Heavenly Court Domain (Fourth Grade), Command Wind and Rain (Fourth Grade)]
...
When he saw that the incense needed for the fifth-grade Heavenly Court was a staggering hundred billion, Lu Qingyang, despite being mentally prepared, couldn't help but feel a slight tremor in his heart.
It took him six years to accumulate ten billion incense points.
To gather a hundred billion incense points to upgrade to the fifth-grade Heavenly Court would require at least several decades.
However,
Lu Qingyang was not overly worried. What concerned him more was how to convert incense points into cultivation points after the fourth-grade Heavenly Court.
4o