Three days later, Jiangdong, Tianwu City.
Lu Yang withdrew his consciousness. Forming an alliance with Chong Guang could be described as unexpected. However, on the other side, Emperor Jiayou's mood was very poor.
No... where is he?
Inside the Tianwu Hall, Emperor Jiayou gazed at Jiangbei from afar and calculated on his fingertips, only to discover that the overwhelming momentum of seeking gold had collapsed like a paper tiger.
Lasting only a short three days and it dispersed.
Chong Guang didn't seek the golden core, and the Saint Sect had no reaction, as if saying "nothing happened," making Emperor Jiayou feel like his punch landed on empty air.
Not doing it anymore?
"Incomprehensible. He really is a demon!"
One must know that to contain the other party's seeking Golden Core, he gave out a First Rank official position of Commander of Nine Gates. Now if you don't seek, didn't I give it for nothing?
Emperor Jiayou had the mind to summon Lu Yang back and retract the official position of [Commander of Nine Gates]. But words spoken were like water spilled, and a sovereign word is law; how could he retract it just like that? Therefore, Emperor Jiayou could only grumble inwardly, effectively accepting this injustice in silence.
However, just then, Lu Yang entered the palace.
"This subject greets Your Majesty."
Upon entering the palace, Lu Yang manifested the official position of [Commander of the Nine Gates Infantry and Patrol Five Battalions] without a second word, saying loudly: "This subject requests to return this position!"
"...Oh?" Emperor Jiayou raised his eyebrows.
"What? Minister Du dislikes this official position and finding it too low?"
"its not like that, Your Majesty!"
Lu Yang lowered his head: "Your Majesty bestowed this position on me to go to Jiangbei to meet the enemy. But now Jiangbei has no turmoil; and I have not yet rendered any service. How dare I accept this position?"
"Please, Your Majesty."
As Lu Yang's voice fell, Emperor Jiayou was silent for a moment, then laughed loudly: "Good, good, good... Minister Du is indeed a loyal minister of my Dao Court!"
But praise was praise. Since Lu Yang offered a way out, Emperor Jiayou naturally pushed the boat with the current. With a hook of his finger, the official position of Commander of Nine Gates above Lu Yang's head disappeared instantly.
His aura also fell from Foundation Establishment Great Perfection back to Foundation Establishment middle-stage perfection with a boom. Even his back hunched a bit unconsciously.
Seeing his appearance, Emperor Jiayou also felt some pity.
After all, although Lu Yang was sensible in this matter, his behavior was indeed somewhat unseemly. However, for him, official positions could not be granted lightly!
It involved the foundation of the Dao Court.
Because all the official positions in the Daoist Court, from the first to the ninth rank, are essentially derived from the four Dao Fruit positions through the [Immortal Kingdom Dao Laws].
The greater the official position, the more Dao Fruit power it contained.
The more official positions, the more Dao Fruit power was extracted.
This seemed like a bad thing for the Dao Fruit and the Perfected Lord above the Dao Fruit, but placed in the Jiangdong Dao Court, this had another layer of symbolic concept.
That was "Title and Power".
The more positions occupied in the Dao Court by official positions split from one's own Dao Fruit, the deeper the control over the [Immortal Kingdom Dao Laws]—the foundation of the Dao Court.
How did the previous Dao Court Grand Preceptor reach middle-stage Golden Core?
it was because he wielded immense power and had the support of all officials, allowing him to attain an unfalling Grotto-Heaven under the blessing of the [Immortal Kingdom Dao Laws] and obtain the mighty power of the middle stage.
Emperor Jiayou was the same.
He could achieve middle-stage Golden Core relying on overthrowing the previous Grand Preceptor and ruling Jiangdong alone for hundreds of years.
But for Emperor Jiayou who was already middle-stage Golden Core and about to break through the late stage, the situation was reversed. He needed to preserve the Dao Fruit power as much as possible.
Therefore, he would appoint as few officials as possible.
This was also one of the reasons he gave up the [Capital Skies Division] and handed it to the Three Excellencies for appointment.
And on this basis, the [Imperial City Division], a department that didn't need to consume his Dao Fruit power and relied completely on incense, was naturally favored by the Emperor.
"Alright, rise."
Emperor Jiayou raised his right hand slightly, smiling: "I have seen your loyalty, Minister Du. Loyal ministers should be rewarded. So, I will reward you with another 'yuan' of salary."
"In addition, although Minister Du returned the position of [Commander of Nine Gates], the [Imperial City Division] has already successively taken over the defense of the Nine Gates since yesterday. There is no need to withdraw. Let it remain. Minister will temporarily act in the duties of [Commander of Nine Gates]. It won't be too late to bestow the position again after establishing merit in the future."
The implication was that he should do a good job —although I've taken your position as Commander of the Nine Gates, I'm retaining your responsibilities. If you perform well, the position will be yours again.
"Thank you, Your Majesty!"
Lu Yang hurriedly revealed a look of expectation and ecstasy upon hearing this. His originally hunched waist straightened up again, looking like he was full of fighting spirit.
Only then did Emperor Jiayou nod with satisfaction:
"Go."
Lu Yang bowed and backed out of the Tianwu Hall step by step. Riding a beam of light back to his quiet room in the [Imperial City Division], only then did he heave a sigh of relief:
"Phew..."
Regarding the First Rank official position just handed over, Lu Yang didn't take it to heart. After all, in these three days, he had used up the three privately embezzled [Immortal Kingdom Dao Laws] blessing permissions, successfully digesting the [Wei Earth] Dao comprehension contained in the official position. With this gain, he didn't lose out.
As for the function of the First Rank official position condensing Golden Nature?
Lu Yang didn't care about this either. Compared to Golden Nature condensed by official positions, he felt steadily improving cultivation and condensing Golden Nature by himself was more worthy.
The time has come...
With a thought, Lu Yang had already used [Marionette] to control Yu Suzhen far away in Jiangbei, making her leave the Saint Sect and hurry all the way towards overseas.
With the Immortal Fetus Incarnation protecting in secret, he ensuring she could arrive smoothly at the [Emerald Sun Cultivation World].
[Wu You Heaven], open!
Currently, he only lacked the last [Ji Earth] Dao comprehension. As long as he completed this one, he could immediately refine the Heavenly Spirits and Earthly Fiends, and officially reaching Foundation Establishment Great Perfection.
By then, Emperor Jiayou would be useless.
Perhaps I should find someone to help me assassinate him... Hmm, fortunately I've already chosen the target. This matter is most suitable for [Sky-shrouding] to do.
With a thought, Lu Yang looked inside the [Myriad Spirits Banner], at that Grotto-Heaven residue where [Sky-shrouding]'s spiritual thought was located.
The Dao Court of the previous life quickly restored stability under the circumstances of the Son of Heaven and Three Excellencies all going into seclusion. It should be arrangements made by Emperor Jiayou before seclusion.
However, what Lu Yang wanted was a leaderless Dao Court.
So in this life, he didn't intend to give Emperor Jiayou a chance to arrange. To achieve this, [Sky-shrouding]'s [Knowledge-Perception Barrier] was undoubtedly the first choice.
...
[Netherworld], Unspeakable Place.
[Sky-shrouding], who was originally meditating in seclusion, opened his eyes abruptly, looking around with a tight frown: "Karmic fluctuation... someone is plotting against me?"
"That mysterious Foundation Establishment?"
Thinking of this, [Sky-shrouding] was also somewhat helpless. For some reason, the connection with the spiritual thought he left in the mortal world had actually been completely severed.
For the other party to achieve this, they must have a sealing-type Supreme Treasure in hand that could isolate karma, and be extremely vigilant against him. This made [Sky-shrouding] quite helpless. If he wasn't certain he had never seen that Foundation Establishment before, he would have thought he had dealt with the other party many times.
Why guard against me so much?
Do I look like a bad person?
"...No, i can't just sit and wait for death."
[Sky-shrouding] unfurrowed his brows and quickly made a decision: "Perhaps it's time to activate that backup plan and retrieve Mu Changsheng's Dao Sin."
[Perfected One Primordial] Mu Changsheng died seeking [Eternal Flowing Water], leaving only a dao sin. [Sky-shrouding] had designs on it long ago, so he specifically interfered with the inheritance he left behind, leaving a hidden hand in the [Primordial Dao Scripture], which could affect cultivators practicing this method if necessary.
With this thought, [Sky-shrouding] started to act immediately.
However, as he sensed the practitioner of the [Primordial Dao Scripture], what met his eyes was a magnificent concept of [Eternal Flowing Water], and a loud voice:
"When false is taken for true, true becomes false; when nothingness is taken for existence, existence becomes nothingness."."
"Mu Changsheng leaves [Wu You Heaven] here, to aid future generations."
[Sky-shrouding]: "...Ah?"
The next second, majestic Dao Fruit power expanded, instantly dispersing [Sky-shrouding]'s sensing, and also causing his mood to sink into a deep abyss.
A sense of unease surged inside him.
Hong Yun's Grotto-Heaven fragment was gone, [Perfected One Primordial]'s Dao Sin was also gone, his own spiritual sense was sealed by someone, and his identity was most likely discovered by someone.
Something is wrong!
Every step I took during this period, the many hidden pieces I set were actually all uprooted by someone. There is someone behind this, someone is laying out a plan to plot against me!