Poseidon ran off to the God Realm Central Hub, a place where the laws of the universe are manifest, to conduct research that might be detrimental to the God Realm, while Yun Ming returned to his Chamber.
Yun Ming opened his eyes, feeling quite satisfied. His move to "invite a god" had been the right one; with Poseidon's help, he had saved himself an untold amount of trouble, and his grand undertaking of becoming a god had finally officially begun.
Thinking about how smooth and fruitful today's initial discussion had been, Yun Ming couldn't help but thank the one who started it all: that nameless "hero." If it weren't for him, Yun Ming might still be stuck in his old ways, unable to find the correct path. And that man who helped Yun Ming achieve this breakthrough was none other than the last sect master of the Clear Sky Sect, Tang Xiao!
That's right, it was him again. Back when Yun Ming was condensing his Soul Core, it was a strike of his Great Sumeru Hammer that provided the inspiration for Ring Detonation, giving Yun Ming a helping hand. And now, it was still him, shattering yet another massive stumbling block on Yun Ming's path to success.
In his previous life, Yun Ming's ideas were actually quite similar to Poseidon's. He had always been thinking about how to turn Douluo Star into the foundation of his God Realm. He had spent decades researching this problem, and although he had made some progress along the way and created his current godhood, the main issue remained unresolved—until that explosion from Tang Xiao's Great Sumeru Hammer cleared the fog before his eyes and left him enlightened.
If all the power of a Spirit Ring could be fully integrated into a martial soul, could the God Realm also be integrated into a martial soul? Why must he open the God Realm outside of his body? With this thought in mind, Yun Ming turned his focus inward, leading to the current prototype of the Microcosm Divine Path Method.
Tang Xiao was a kind soul! After all these years, Tang Xiao was still influencing the future landscape of the Soul Master World and even the God Realm in his own way. He was a great man! Thinking of this, Yun Ming even felt a twinge of guilt. He had been so cruel to the man back then; it wasn't right, it really wasn't right!
After a few seconds of minor guilt, Yun Ming couldn't sustain it anymore. It was time for cultivation, and he had to begin his daily practice. If he wanted to feel guilty, he would have to wait until the next time it crossed his mind.
In the time that followed, Yun Ming lived a leisurely and fulfilling life: working during the day, cultivating at night, and holding a small meeting with Poseidon once a month to discuss progress and absorb the wealth of knowledge accumulated over his long years. This continued until three months later, when the Heaven Spirit Empire had initially stabilized.
Heaven Spirit Imperial Palace, Imperial Study
Han Yang stood before Yun Ming, watching him carve patterns onto a token. Yun Ming was busy, so he waited quietly, waiting for Yun Ming to finish.
Only when the final stroke was carved, the patterns became complete, and a spiritual light shone, did Yun Ming heave a sigh of relief and retract his carving knife.
"Catch." After finishing the carving, Yun Ming tossed the token directly to Han Yang.
Although Han Yang's cultivation was poor, he was a soul master after all, and he easily caught the token Yun Ming tossed his way.
Looking at the freshly minted token in his hand, Han Yang was completely bewildered.
"Your Majesty, what is this?"
Yun Ming said.
"The key to sealing the Saint Spirit Elder's cultivation."
Gasp!
Hearing this, Han Yang's hand trembled. What was going on? Why was Yun Ming giving him this? Before he could ask, Yun Ming tossed him another token.
He recognized this one: made of Hetian jade, carved with a large shield on one side with two crossed spears in front of it, and the patterns of a grand hall on the other. It was Yun Ming's Dou Spirit Hall Master Token, far more important than the unsealing token he had just received.
Yun Ming spoke with majesty.
"Han Yang, hear my command!"
"This subject is here!" Hearing Yun Ming speak, Han Yang snapped back to reality, quickly bowing and waiting for Yun Ming's orders.
"I am leaving for a period of time. Tomorrow, I will announce to the court that I am going into seclusion. During this period, you shall preside over all major state affairs."
Hearing this order, Han Yang asked in surprise.
"Your Majesty, may this subject ask one more question?"
Yun Ming: "No."
He knew what Han Yang wanted to ask—nothing more than where he was going, how long he would be gone, and similar questions. He hadn't yet decided whether to let the Heaven Spirit Empire know about the existence of the Douluo Continent, so he simply chose not to explain.
Han Yang: "...This subject obeys the decree!"
Fine! If the boss didn't want to say, he had no right to ask. Accepting the order was all there was to it. As for presiding over state affairs, it mainly involved completing the various tasks Yun Ming had laid out. With clear goals and a large group of court officials to assist, nothing major could go wrong.
Yun Ming continued.
"As for these two tokens, you likely understand their purpose."
"If anyone commits treason or disrupts the peace of the world, I authorize you to use these two tokens to mobilize the Dou Spirit Heaven Favored Army and the Saint Spirit Old Man to exercise the power of justice and quell the chaos!"
The empire was newly established, and there were still many stubborn remnants of the original seven kingdoms. If he didn't leave behind military power, trouble might arise.
As for the unsealing token for the Saint Spirit Old Man, Yun Ming had left it for the Spirit Beast Forests and the Fallen Soul Masters. He had already scouted the major Spirit Beast Forests of the Dou Ling Continent and discovered three Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beasts. Although it was unlikely these beasts would cause trouble after the Evil King had dealt with them, one could never be too careful in case they went mad and launched a beast tide! And as for the Fallen Soul Masters, although he hadn't discovered any overly powerful entities, he couldn't afford to be unprepared.
"Yes, Your Majesty!" Han Yang responded, accepting the order.
Yun Ming stood up, walked over to Han Yang, and patted him on the shoulder.
"If the unsealing token is activated, I will naturally sense it and return in time. So, do not worry; do your job well."
"I believe in you!"
Han Yang felt moved.
"Yes, Your Majesty."
The next day, Yun Ming announced his seclusion and handed over power to Han Yang, while he himself headed east, embarking on his journey home.
Two weeks later, Douluo Continent, Martial Soul City, Douluo Hall
Qian Daoliu frowned as he looked at the request for war sent by Bibi Dong. The Martial Soul Empire had only just finished a period of rest and stabilized the situation within the country; why was Bibi Dong in such a hurry to send troops?
Jin E watched Qian Daoliu frown and said in a deep voice.
"Big Brother, what is it? Is there a problem?"
Qian Daoliu shook his head. In his view, whether to send troops or not was fine either way, but Bibi Dong's eagerness to act made him feel that there were reasons behind it that he didn't know about.
After a moment of thought, Qian Daoliu made his decision.
"Reject the application for war. Tell Bibi Dong to focus on managing the country and recuperating for now."
No matter what Bibi Dong intended to do, he would simply refuse her.
"Understood!"
Jin E accepted the order and was about to withdraw to relay it when he saw a gentle beauty with Dark Green Long Hair running in from outside the hall; it was none other than Ya Li.
"Grandpa Jin E, is there any news about Brother Ming?" Ya Li stood before Jin E and asked with a hint of anxiety.
Watching Ya Li like this, Jin E shook his head helplessly.
"None. We haven't received any word here, nor has there been any from Heaven Dou City."
Hearing that there was still no news, Ya Li felt very disappointed. She turned her head to look at her teacher with a resentful gaze. She was thinking of running away again.
Qian Daoliu felt a headache coming on as he looked at Ya Li, silently cursing Yun Ming for being so irresponsible and causing trouble for an old man like him again. Yun Ming had been missing for several months, and his correspondence with Ya Li had been cut off for just as long. Since Ya Li couldn't find Yun Ming, she had come to cause 'trouble' for Qian Daoliu instead.
"Good disciple, rest assured! With that brat's strength, nothing will happen to him," Qian Daoliu sighed.
"I know Brother Ming is very strong, but... I'm just worried!" Ya Li replied, feeling aggrieved.
At this moment, Qian Daoliu noticed another blonde beauty at the entrance of the great hall. She looked a bit older than Ya Li, but was equally stunning in appearance; it was Qian Renxue.
Seeing the faint worry and disappointment in the depths of Qian Renxue's eyes, Qian Daoliu became even more irritated.
And just as the invincible-in-the-sky Qian was busy trying to soothe everyone inside Douluo Hall, at the gates of Martial Soul City, a handsome man with an outstanding temperament and appearance had already stepped his left foot into the city. He looked toward Pope Mountain in the distance, a smile appearing on his face.
"Finally arrived, Martial Soul City."
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Translated by: randomtranslator.com
Proofread by: DaoistReader