Prince ranks as the first-grade, while a provincial King is a lower first-grade, a Duke is a second-grade, a Marquis is a lower second-grade, while an Earl is a third-grade.
Such changes, though downsizing the nobles' ranks, allow them to genuinely enjoy the benefits of Divine Rank. The master of the Divine Dynasty who holds the Golden Book and Jade Scroll no longer needs to worry about the rebellion of the vassal kings. With a wave of his hand, he permits the royal relatives to take part in affairs of the imperial court, and ordinary royals can also participate in the imperial examinations.
With such adjustments, almost no complaints were left, and they also reduced the burden on the Court.
"Initially, the Great Ming court was only balanced between the noble and civil officials. Now, the royals are introduced to create a triumvirate, making the balancing process simpler." Reading about this, Pei Xuanjing marveled at the political skills of his nominal disciple.
The following matters were those outside the border. Those powers had already acquired territories beyond the border and were speeding up their establishment, hunting the beasts in the grasslands to quickly cultivate their experts.
After all, the world now supports stronger experts, and there have been multiple returns of strong individuals from Tianhuang world. If they don't develop quickly, they will certainly fall behind.
Pei Xuanjing didn't care too much about this news as this was something that every alliance would do. Although the areas outside the border are now in their hands, they are far from being truly integrated. Various powers are restraining themselves, not wanting to create conflict.
However, it's foreseeable that in the not-so-distant future, after all these forces have digested these territories, their sights will unconsciously fall on those new areas. If anyone lags behind, they might become fodder for others.
"A strong individual from Tianhuang realm seems to have appeared, but their identity has not been confirmed yet." Pei Xuanjing's face slightly changed upon seeing the next piece of information.
Bai Xiaosheng's intelligence network encompasses the whole world, even overseas, with his agents collecting information. Now, as he presides over the Imperial Astronomical Observatory and collaborates with the Six Gates of the Factory Guard, he gained access to even more information and is in control of all affairs.
Ever since Xue Hanyi and others appeared, Bai Xiaosheng, knowing about Tianhuang realm, paid extra attention to its news.
Although several individuals from Tianhuang realm's forces have been encountered, Bai Xiaosheng once raised a question to Pei Xuanjing.
"Among those who have appeared, excluding the mysterious Mr. Wu, whether it's Xue Hanyi and his sibling, Heart Moon Lake, or the people from Great River Ancient Country who appeared at the Offering Ceremony, at most they belong to a prominent group in Tianhuang realm," Bai Xiaosheng asked with furrowed brows, "If these prominent forces from Tianhuang realm can send people back, then those top-tier forces couldn't possibly have not noticed the revival of Heaven and Earth, and couldn't possibly remain indifferent. If they really are like this, then they don't deserve to be top-tier forces, standing at the pinnacle of Tianhuang realm."
"The only explanation is that they've sent people back. However, because of your presence, their powers are insufficient, so they had to hide in obscurity and observe us secretly."
Pei Xuanjing's rare interventions, each explosive like thunder, have claimed the lives of a Spirit beast King of the Sixth Spirit Realm Level and a powerful expert of the Sixth Level of the Spirit Realm. At present, it is fitting to say that Pei Xuanjing is invincible.
Thus, having such a strong individual suppressing the world, even if those people return, they probably would not be Pei Xuanjing's match. Hence, they likely chose to hide, continue collecting information, and observe silently.
Pei Xuanjing agreed with Bai Xiaosheng's view and he even purposely inquired about it from the mysterious Mr. Wu.
Mr. Wu's reply was very similar to Bai Xiaosheng's: "Any power that survived the catastrophe of the Tang Dynasty and still exists should not be underestimated, especially those top-tier powers. Their training and education for disciples and followers are absolutely exceptional."
In Mr. Wu's view, Ying Zhong's performance was very disappointing that day. If it were disciples from top-tier powers, they wouldn't hesitate so much. They would either decisively act or decisively leave, and they certainly wouldn't waver.
"It seems there are more and more intriguing affairs in the world." Pei Xuanjing showed a faint smile.
He now mostly concentrated on his closed-door cultivation and rarely goes out because there are few people in the world who can threaten him, which somewhat diminishes the fun for him.
However, the return of these powers from Tianhuang realm may make the world much more interesting.
Even though he is only at the Sixth Level of the Spirit Realm currently, Pei Xuanjing is somewhat curious. With the Golden Book and Jade Scroll in his hand, could he, like what the rumors said, further strengthen his combat power?
You should know that although he has not yet refined his Divine Position, it is ready. As soon as he wishes, it will be in an instant.
The Divine Position in Pei Xuanjing's hands that hasn't been refined yet, is one of the only two Divine Positions of the Great Ming Divine Dynasty, named: the Supreme Shenxiao Yuzhen King, Emperor of the South Pole Eternal Life, simply referred to as Jade Purity True Monarch.
This is the Divine Position title that Pei Xuanjing chose for himself. He borrowed a title from the legendary Emperor of the South Pole Eternal Life, since Shenxiao Sect worshiped the Shenxiao Great Emperor, the God of Thunder, in the Jade Mansion, so his title can be said to be deserved.
According to Pei Xuanjing's study of this Divine Position, under the boost of the Divine Dynasty's current luck, if he refines this Divine Position, using the amplification of Divine Dynasty's luck, he may be able to exert the strength of Seventh Level of the Spiritual Realm without being restricted and limited by Heaven and Earth.
Spirit Realm Level Nine, ascending to the heaven in one step. The Seventh Level of Spirit Realm is indeed the last big step in the cultivation of the Spirit Realm. At this level, the strong have begun to ascend to heaven and tread on the path of immortality.
According to the information obtained from Mr. Wu, if there are really immortal routes, then the powerful experts at the Seventh Level of the Spirit Realm already qualify to seek immortality.
"Although Divine Position is good, it's best not to refine it if possible at present," Pei Xuanjing thought to himself.
He personally refined the Divine Positions of various factions in the martial arts world with the deputy volume of the Golden Book and Jade Scroll, so he has grown quite familiar with the structure of these Divine Positions.
The so-called Divine Position is in fact a kind of karma of Heaven and Earth. After being bestowed with the karma of Heaven and Earth, one can slowly rely on it to nourish their body, leading to the evolution of their life force, gradually bonding with the karmic position of Heaven and Earth, and thus gaining control over Heaven and Earth.
But there's a drawback. Those who obtain the Divine Position will unconsciously be influenced by the karma of Heaven and Earth, even dissipating their original Dao.
The vastness of heaven and earth is hard to grasp, unless one has an outstanding strength, the position of heaven and earth may clash with their own Great Tao during the evolutionary process. Either they abandon their own Great Tao, or they abandon the authority they hold.
Even with Pei Xuanjing's current strength, he is also extremely cautious about this impact.
Although the Divine Position of the Jade Purity True Monarch that Pei Xuanjing has now condensed is a good fit for his Taoist foundation, it is still not perfect.
Pei Xuanjing's current path should be based on the Shenxiao Heaven's Intention, practicing both the Refining Essence and Refining Spirit methods. However, the power he has now only includes that of Thunder, which is drastically different from his ideal goal.
The honor of the Jade Purity True Monarch should be the Shenxiao Yuzhen King the Emperor of Longevity, the Holy Emperor of Sky, and the Source of All Gods' Law. All the power of the gods comes from him.
His authority shouldn't just be composed of thunder, it should also include commanding all spirits, controlling the weather of the Four Seasons, summoning wind and rain, supervising Thunder and Lightning Gods and Demons, as well as controlling the central mechanism of the world's cause and effect.
However, with the current strength of the Great Ming Divine Dynasty, the Golden Book and Jade Scroll cannot possibly condense such power. In Pei Xuanjing's view, even if the Great Ming Divine Dynasty reaches its peak and restores the majesty that the Golden Book and Jade Scroll should have, it is still impossible to seal a Divine Position with such power.
"If one truly wants to seal a position for the 'Emperor of the South Pole Eternal Life', it is likely necessary for the Great Ming Divine Dynasty to transform the Golden Book and Jade Scroll into the Gods Sealing List and truly become the Heavenly Court that rules all heavens and spans through countless space-times, to foster such an existence," Pei Xuanjing thought to himself.
Commanding all spirits, controlling the weather of the Four Seasons, summoning wind and rain, supervising Thunder and Lightning Gods and Demons, and controlling the central mechanism of the world's cause and effect.
Only a being that surpasses the Fairy Gods can hold such power. In Pei Xuanjing's view, unless a position supported by the Heavenly Court is created, it is absolutely impossible.
Of course, while being cautious, one cannot let caution hinder action. After all, given the current situation, where the cost of simulations is becoming increasingly high, the key question for Pei Xuanjing is how to quickly enhance his own strength to face the many experts of the Sky Wasteland in the future.
So he came up with a solution, which was how to use the current Divine Position to enhance his strength without being affected by the Heaven and Earth Karma, or at least, minimize its impact.
"In the legends of my past life, gods would refine their own sacred artifacts, symbolizing their own authority. If I could refine a sacred artifact of my own and incorporate the Heaven and Earth Karma into it, I could learn and cultivate using the Heaven and Earth Karma, yet minimize the impact," Pei Xuanjing calculated inwardly.
The sacred artifact is different from the Divine Weapon. It can be a weapon, a treasure, and represent various things, but it's more often the symbol of authority.
Although Pei Xuanjing thought of this solution, he didn't start refining it because he didn't have the materials to begin with.
Even with the best plan, without adequate resources, it will be in vain. Even if Pei Xuanjing thought of a solution, he couldn't begin to implement it.
After all, not just any ordinary object could bear the authority of Heaven and Earth Karma, especially when he harbored a tremendous ambition of refining a growing sacred artifact, which required even more stringent materials.
"I just hope that Bai Xiaosheng can give me some good news."
Ever since Pei Xuanjing found out that the inherent Divine Material, Purple Lightning Divine Gold, could provide him with Taoyun, he asked Bai Xiaosheng to look for some extraordinary minerals for him. Many people from the Taoist School and Shenxiao Sect have also laboriously worked for this cause, but so far there has been no news.
Imperial City, Wenhua Hall.
Zhu Houji, the ruler of the Great Ming Divine Dynasty, was examining the reports in his hands and annotating decisions on the matters that the elders from the Cabinet could not make on their own.
"Your Majesty, Minister Yan requests an audience." After receiving the news from an internal servant, Eunuch Huang Jin from the Office of Imperial Sacrifices took a few small steps towards Zhu Houji and spoke softly.
"Hm?" Zhu Houji continued to annotate the report in his hand without raising his head, "Summon him in."
"Summon the Minister of the Ministry of Rites to the Palace." Huang Jin's sharp yet unoffending voice echoed.
Yan Weizhong, the Minister of the Ministry of Rites, straightened his official uniform outside the palace, walked into the hall, and knelt down to salute in front of the emperor:
"I, the Minister of the Ministry of Rites, Yan Weizhong, pay respects to His Highness, the Feixuan Emperor, Supreme Sovereign of Lingxiao and Uprising Sun, the Emperor of Eternity."
This was the formal title of Zhu Houji, the Emperor of the Great Ming Divine Dynasty, also known as his full Divine Position.
No one knew how strong Zhu Houji was at this particular moment, when he was seated in the heart of Tiandu, the place with the strongest Divine Dynasty Luck of the Great Ming Divine Dynasty, possessing an extremely high-quality Divine Position, and holding the Golden Book and Jade Scroll.
Yan Weizhong flattered the Emperor with his address, and it seemed that Zhu Houji clearly enjoyed it.
He put down the report and a smile appeared on his face: "Get up, my beloved minister, please take a seat."
"Thank you, Your Majesty!"
When Yan Weizhong stood up, a guard naturally placed a chair behind him.
But being as cautious as Yan Weizhong, he carefully only sat down halfway, prepared to stand at any moment.
"What brings you here today, my beloved minister?" Zhu Houji asked.
At present, the newly-established Divine Dynasty is dealing with countless matters. The officials in the Great Ming Divine Dynasty are busy all day long, especially these elder ministers who keep working without rest every day. However, those who possess the Divine Position are energetic, especially the original old ministers who may not have been reverted to their youth, but have recovered to the state of their youth. Even if they work day and night, they won't have any complaints.
As the Minister of the Ministry of Rites, Yan Weizhong not only needs to create a set of rituals and systems for the Divine Dynasty, but he also must assist Pei Xuanjing in the nomination of Taoist academy students. So, it's rather surprising that he even has time to visit.
"Your Majesty, I am here today on a matter that needs your decision," said Yan Weizhong.
Of all the tasks that he is currently overseeing, the rest can be put on hold, but one cannot be delayed—this matter is of the utmost importance.
"Speak, I am listening," Zhu Houji signalled for him to continue.
"The ordinances about the temple construction that Your Majesty was promoting across the land have been established. However, the selection of the accompanying sacrificial offerings requires Your Majesty's decision," said Yan Weizhong. He took out a report from his sleeves and the royal eunuch Huang Jin, who was in charge of sealing, took it and presented it to the emperor.
The sacrificial temple is the temple built for the emperor to worship, attracting worship and the power of the Incense Faith from the people. The main worshiper of this temple is naturally the emperor himself. However, as for who will be the co-worshipper, that is indeed an issue worth discussing.
After all, the Incense Fire God Refining Skill that leverages the Power of Incense Fire for cultivation is beneficial for all officials of the Great Ming imperial court. Almost all officials have practiced this skill.
However, no matter how large the temple for worship is, the number of accompanying worshipers it can accommodate is limited. It's impossible for everyone to participate.
The position of accompanying the worship is of great importance. It concerns every official's cultivation and the promotion of their Divine Position. Even Yan Weizhong would not dare to make a decision lightly without the emperor's decree.
After all, if there's the emperor's decree, he wouldn't mind being scapegoated. He wouldn't fear backlash or resentment from others because the emperor would shield him.
But if he made a decision hastily, he would not only provoke jealousy from his colleagues but also lose the emperor's protection.
Zhu Houji took the memorial scrolls and reviewed the plans thereon. Yan Weizhong sat down on a chair, solemnly waiting for the emperor's decision.
This plan seems straightforward, requiring only to pick suitable locations to erect temples within the current territories of Great Ming.
However, the matter is not so simple. Besides the vast territories of Great Ming, just the sheer number of temples required by each state-river network is a astronomical number. Once the number of temples is settled, people need to be dispatched to inspect local geographic conditions and select spots before confirming their suitability.
This is a massive project. In the past, even setting aside the difficulty of the task, just the depletion of labor resources and the grandeur of the project would have encountered opposition from countless officials.
But now, not a single official opposes this plan since it was proposed. Instead, this plan passed unanimously without any obstruction from officials of any departments.
Because all officials understand that these temples can absorb faith incense, which is the very thing that the Great Ming Divine Dynasty and they who seek longevity need most urgently.
"Temples are tentatively divided into three grades. Three-grade temples select a few First-Class officials for accompaniment, two-grade temples select a few Second-Class or above officials, and one-grade temples are limited to selecting Third-grade or above officials to accompany." said Zhu Houji, putting down the petition scrolls.
He had already made up his mind about this. He would take much of the power of ecense faith from the temples for himself, leaving part of it in the original temples for the officials of each province to control, using it as a precaution. The rest would be allocated to these accompanying officials.
Of course, he would not use all the collected Power of Incense Faith for cultivation. Instead, he would take a portion of it as a form of salary, distributing it to these officials, thus ensuring better control over the Divine Dynasty.
In Zhu Houji's view, the Power of Incense Faith is just like the taxes Great Ming collected every year. It's even more convenient than the annual tax collection. After all, people could hoard taxes privately, but for the Power of Incense Faith, all he needed to do was develop a thought with his Yin Spirit, and he could clearly calculate the Power of Incense Faith produced by each temple.
As long as he held this Power of Incense Faith in his hands, he would effectively control the entire Great Ming Divine Dynasty. Unless someone could snatch the Directory of the Golden Book and Jade Scroll, no one could shake his position.
"I shall follow your Majesty's inclination." Yan Weizhong nodded in agreement.
"By the way, it seems to be missing one person in this list of accompanying worshippers?" The emperor suddenly said.
As he flipped through the list of worshippers for the temples, he suddenly noticed a discrepancy. The name of the person he had in mind did not appear on it.
There was one person missing!
Yan Weizhong was startled by this oversight. It was inconceivable that such an error could occur, especially since he had supervised the matter personally. However, if the emperor said there was someone missing, then there was undoubtedly someone missing. He hastily knelt down, "Your servant is terrified, please enlighten me, Your Majesty."
"Where is the position for the National Teacher?" Zhu Houji asked with a frown.
How could the National Teacher's position for worship be missing?
Hearing Zhu Houji mention the National Teacher, Pei Xuanjing, Yan Weizhong was taken aback, and realized his oversight.
Originally, he believed that the master-disciple relationship between the emperor and Pei Xuanjing was merely superficial. Plainly because during the time Pei Xuanjing acted in Imperial City, he undoubtedly caused the royal family to lose face. Regardless of his merits in promoting the Divine Dynasty, possessing a copy of the Golden Book and Jade Scroll in his hands would inevitably cause the emperor's apprehension.
If the emperor's cooperation was initially reluctant, now he entirely has the qualifications to be on an equal footing with Pei. Despite his inability to entirely sever ties with Pei, he has the rights to ignore Pei on some matters. Therefore, he initially overlooked this, not wanting to offend the emperor. But it seems now that things are not as he expected.
Yan Weizhong felt a hint of surprise in his heart, but remained composed, listening to what the emperor had to say.
"The accompanying worship position is reserved for the National Teacher. Where there is a temple of mine, there is the National Teacher's accompanying worship."
In Zhu Houji's view, since Pei Xuanjing taught him this skill, and Pei also follows the Cultivating Three Ways Simultaneously approach, this skill must be vastly beneficial for him too.
Therefore, he should share part of this Power of Incense Faith with Pei without needing Pei to remind him of it. Otherwise, it would mean that he was incompetent at handling affairs.
Of course, he also had another test, which was to see whether Pei Xuanjing would use this Power of Incense Faith. If Pei used it, all would be well, but if refused or neglected it, then he would need to think deeply about it.
"Yes!"
Yan Weizhong was astounded, but dared not show the slightest hint of it on his face. He responded respectfully.
"Accompanying worship? Me?"
Pei Xuanjing expressed surprise when he heard this news.
"Indeed, you can consider this as a friendly gesture from His Majesty, showing that he currently has no intention to turn against you." Gu Ji said with a smile.
He was sent by the emperor to convey this message to Pei Xuanjing, and he also wanted to thank Pei Xuanjing for helping him in the past.
It should be noted that although a Divine Position can be obtained by Fourth-grade or higher officials, only those with Third-grade or higher capability could bear and refine the Divine Position to maximize its power.
It was Pei Xuanjing who personally intervened, helped him to enter the Third-grade Grandmaster Realm. Although it was only an imitation, for Gu Ji, it was a significant gain that allowed him to better bear the power of the Divine Position.
"Haha. Mr. Gu, you're good at playing dumb." Pei Xuanjing chuckled. He fully understood the implication behind Zhu Houji's move.
While it radiated good intentions and signaled that he did not intend to break their cooperation, wasn't Zhu also testing him, to see if he was also practicing the Incense Fire God Refining Skill?