The Spirit Ginseng child had an innocent nature, frowned with confusion, and spoke.
"Senior, there have been fewer and fewer immortals visiting the mountain over the years!"
"The fewer, the better."
Zhou Yi said, "I have never been interested in power or position. In the past, it was like being forced to herd ducks onto a perch. Once the Divine Enthronent is over, I won’t leave Qingyun Mountain anymore... Though I must still visit the Myriad Blossoms Tower in the city."
When the Heavenly Court was first established, almost every day immortals would co to Qingyun Mountain.
So ca for banquets, others to discuss the Tao, but no matter what, the conversation would eventually turn to the matters of the Heavenly Court.
"The affairs of the Heavenly Court have nothing to do with !"
Zhou Yi would always directly refuse, even if it was a fellow sect brother or a sworn brother who ca to visit, he wouldn’t interfere with the Heavenly Court’s matters.
Over ti, the number of cultivators visiting dwindled.
As the Heavenly Court got on the right track, and the Heavenly Emperor took control of great power, Qingyun Mountain’s "Heavenly Master" gradually beca a taboo among the gods. Yet the Heavenly Emperor never treated him unfairly; whenever the Heavenly Court had matters to attend to, they would send soone to invite Zhou Yi to co and discuss them together.
Zhou Yi always found a reason to refuse!
...
After the Heavenly Laws were introduced.
The Cultivation World was in disarray for ten years, but as the majesty of the Heavenly Court grew day by day, the chaos gradually subsided.
That day.
The Heavenly Emperor issued a second Jade Decree, beginning the ennoblent of rank three righteous gods.
The rank three deities were mostly City Gods, Mountain Gods, and River Lords of the land, with the addition of the Household Gods, Gate Gods, and Stove Gods, each managing different aspects of the mortal’s daily life.
To reduce the chaos caused by changing righteous gods, the Taisui Departnt aided the Ministry of Personnel in vetting the Mountain Gods, River Lords, and City Gods. If they had done no major evil and were willing to submit to the Heavenly Court, they could temporarily hold the position of a righteous god.
Any deities who had committed evil acts and caused trouble were captured and punished in the heavenly prison.
There were plenty of cultivators in the Cultivation World who wanted to join the Heavenly Court’s system, so there was no need to worry about vacancies in the ranks of gods.
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By recruiting a batch and purging another, the ennoblent of rank three righteous gods went very smoothly, and their number was even a hundred tis more than that of the Heavenly Court Righteous Gods.
Fifty years later.
The Heavenly Court had complete control over the Dongsheng Divine Continent, from top to bottom!
...
The sixty-first year of the Heavenly Emperor’s reign.
Qingyun Mountain.
That day.
The clouds were dense, and a torrential downpour fell from the sky.
The rain disappeared silently into the mist as it fell, and no matter how much rain ca down, it could not disperse the layered fog.
The people in the city below long believed there were divine beings atop Qingyun Mountain with boundless mana.
Many who sought immortality or answers climbed the mountain, only to mysteriously get lost around the halfway mark, then faint from hunger, and, upon waking, find themselves back at the mountain’s base.
After several such encounters, the people realized that fate with immortals could not be forced and that it was better to pray to the gods for their blessing.
Suddenly.
A figure shrouded in azure light appeared in the mist, towering over a hundred zhang tall, with a dragon crown on its head and wearing imperial robes.
It was hazy and elusive, like an illusion.
Whoosh!
The figure exhaled a boundless divine wind, and in a split second, the dark clouds were scattered, restoring clear skies and bright sunlight within a thousand li.
Pleased with the power of the divine wind, the figure nodded slightly and then faded away.
Hunters and mountain folk who had the luck to witness this spectacle recounted their experiences to the people, adding even more mythical allure to Qingyun Mountain.
Qingyun Temple.
It was once called the Mountain God Temple, but since the Heavenly Court started ennobling rank three righteous gods, its na was changed.
Eternal Prosperity Hall.
Zhou Yi sat cross-legged, a cyan phantom descended into his body, and slowly he opened his eyes.
"After more than a hundred years of rigorous cultivation, I have finally mastered the Azure Emperor Visualization Technique. As described in the cultivation technique, the Nascent Soul can transform into the soul of the Azure Emperor. It’s no longer small and feeble; even if the body is destroyed, it can still wield magic divine abilities!"
The Nascent Soul is the essence of the soul, and once it leaves the body, its power is greatly diminished.
With the completion of the Azure Emperor Visualization Technique, this shortcoming could be compensated for, allowing one to leave the body and fight using spells and divine powers.
Zhou Yi had just manifested the soul of Qing Emperor and utilized the innate annihilating divine wind, which turned out to be even more powerful than that of his physical body, perhaps because the soul added an effect that could scatter the spirit and disperse the soul.
Sixty years of arduous ditation on Cloud Mountain had greatly refined his mana and divine skills.
The ditation on the Qing Emperor was just one aspect; for instance, the True Dragon’s Nine Transformations had accumulated over ti, with dragon blood now making up ten percent of his body, and he had hidden over twenty hearts across the lands of the Dongsheng Divine Continent with the Divided Heart Spell Technique.
"The soul of the Qing Emperor, the body of a real dragon, exotic hearts... I’m becoming less and less human," he lanted.
Zhou Yi took out a divination tube from his sleeve and used the life-shortening technique to divine.
The spirit stick landed steadily on the ground.
"Having mastered divine skills is indeed a cause for celebration!"
After instructing Green Ox to guard the ho well, he transford into a streak of light and flew towards Chiming Prefecture City.
He found a deserted area ten miles outside the city, descended from his light, transford into a young scholar, and briskly made his way towards the city gate.
"I too should abide by the decrees of heaven!"
Outside the city gate.
Hundreds of people surrounded and watched with intermittent excited shouts erging from the crowd.
Zhou Yi easily squeezed into the throng and saw a red poster with a dozen or so nas.
"I’ve passed!"
A young scholar beside him saw his na on the list and couldn’t help cheering aloud.
"He passed, he passed…"
"Such a handso young man, my family owns thousands of acres of fertile land, abundant gold and silver, how about forming a marriage alliance?"
"My daughter is as beautiful as a flower and the moon, and her horoscope indicates she brings prosperity to her husband..."
There were those who spoke gently, and there were those who acted crudely and violently, as over a dozen strong servants rushed into the crowd, encircled the young scholar, and forcefully placed him onto a carriage, behaving like bandits.
"What’s this?" Zhou Yi looked surprised, for there was no tradition of capturing sons-in-law at the entrance examinations in Great Yong for a millennium. With a flick of his finger in calculation, he instantly understood the ins and outs.
"So it is the Daoist academy issuing the list!"
The Daoist academy was an institution established by the Heavenly Court in the mortal world. It didn’t study the Four Books and Five Classics or state governance but focused on reciting Buddhist and Daoist scriptures, with exams that involved interpretation and exegesis of ancient texts.
Not many among the common folk had the qualifications to enter the Daoist academy. Firstly, they tested for Spirit Root, instantly eliminating ninety-nine percent of the populace.
The few remaining individuals had to study Buddhist and Daoist texts, pass the Daoist academy’s entrance examination, to study within; and that was just studying, not cultivation to immortality.
One would need to graduate from the Daoist academy, understand the texts to the required standard, to receive the Immortal Register granted by the Heavenly Court and truly step onto the path of immortality.
The selection process was like trying to achieve immortality by earning a diploma through hard work!
"With such a rigorous selection, the difficulty for a mortal to cultivate to immortality has increased, not just tenfold or a hundredfold."
When Zhou Yi first ca to the Dongsheng Divine Continent, even the village fishern practiced so Qi Refinent techniques, but with the Heavenly Court’s ongoing crackdown on unauthorized sharing of cultivation techniques, such occurrences would beco increasingly rare.
"Those with poor Spirit Roots study in the Daoist academy, while those with good ones join the sects. Upon entering the Heavenly Court’s service, they are naturally split into two groups of officials. Initially, it’s the disciples from the great teachings who have the advantage, but over ti, it’s hard to say who will win or lose!"
"But then again, what does that have to do with ?"
"Who cares about immortals or Buddhas, about Heavenly Court or sects? None of them are as important as celebrating!"
Zhou Yi pushed his way out of the crowd, showed his travel permit to the guard soldiers, and made his way to Myriad Blossoms Tower with ease; alas, after more than twenty years, there were no familiar girls left in the tower.
He celebrated for a few days.
Then he continued back to the mountain to ditate in seclusion.
"When I ford my Nascent Soul, I announced I was three or four hundred years old, and now another hundred years have passed. I still have a little over three hundred years before my life’s end!"
"Even with life-extending spiritual dicines bestowed by celestial beings, I could at most elongate life by over a hundred years, living another five hundred years. When that ti cos, I must depart this life with dignity; if I overstay, I might find soone willing to ’helpfully’ hasten that departure."
Zhou Yi pondered for a mont, planning to refine an avatar and tell others it was his closed-door disciple.
"Just reveal a hint of a Heavenly Spiritual Root, and when it forms a Nascent Soul in two or three hundred years, no one will be suspicious, and I can continue to cultivate on Qingyun Mountain."
Qingyun Mountain was not a sect, and with Zhou Yi the only one residing there, no matter what he did, outsiders found it hard to pry.
What the Heavenly Emperor feared was only the "Heavenly Master"; and as for the descendants of the Heavenly Master, they could be granted honorary titles if he was in a good mood, or be no different from Loose Cultivators if he wasn’t.
Zhou Yi had also prepared for the worst-case scenario, such as if the Heavenly Emperor was petty and sought to completely eradicate the legacy of Qingyun Mountain.
At that ti, he could reveal the Seven Emotions Sword, which not only contained the mana of three people infused with immortal power but also reflected the dignity of the Sky-nding Sect. Even the Heavenly Emperor would not dare to act recklessly then.
"With such maneuvers a few tis, Qingyun Mountain would no longer attract attention!"
Zhou Yi breathed a sigh of relief, finally having a chance to withdraw from the vortex. Ever since being inadvertently embroiled in the divine enshrinent affair, he had gained divine skills and Spiritual Treasures far exceeding those of normal circumstances, but at the price of countless risks.
"The Heavenly Court should last three to five generations, ten to twenty thousand years. Within that ti, I should be able to achieve immortality, right?"
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