blueteamnovel Chapter 414 - 319: The Heavenly Emperor’s Centennial_2
Chapter 414 - 319: The Heavenly Emperor’s Centennial_2
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 Enthronement 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 come to Qingyun Mountain.
Some came 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 me!"
Zhou Yi would always directly refuse, even if it was a fellow sect brother or a sworn brother who came to visit, he wouldn’t interfere with the Heavenly Court’s matters.
Over time, 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 became 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 someone to invite Zhou Yi to come 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 ennoblement 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 Department 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.
Continue your journey with novelhall.Côm
By recruiting a batch and purging another, the ennoblement of rank three righteous gods went very smoothly, and their number was even a hundred times 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 came down, it could not disperse the layered fog.
A young scholar beside him saw his name on the list and couldn’t help cheering aloud.
"He passed, he passed..."
"Such a handsome 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 came to the Dongsheng Divine Continent, even the village fishermen practiced some Qi Refinement techniques, but with the Heavenly Court’s ongoing crackdown on unauthorized sharing of cultivation techniques, such occurrences would become 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 time, it’s hard to say who will win or lose!"
"But then again, what does that have to do with me?"
"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 meditate in seclusion.
"When I formed 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 medicines bestowed by celestial beings, I could at most elongate life by over a hundred years, living another five hundred years. When that time comes, I must depart this life with dignity; if I overstay, I might find someone willing to ’helpfully’ hasten that departure."
Zhou Yi pondered for a moment, 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 time, 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-mending Sect. Even the Heavenly Emperor would not dare to act recklessly then.
"With such maneuvers a few times, 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 enshrinement 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 time, I should be able to achieve immortality, right?"