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Chapter 339: Chapter 336: Restrictions
Lingxiao City.
It had been a month since Gu Jinlai returned.
At that moment, in the drawing room, Xin Tianqi, Liu Jingtiao, and Zhang Lihuo were all sitting before him, sipping tea and chatting leisurely about the situation in Tian Nan.
"I heard that Emperor Qian, Jiang Tianji, has already decreed, appointing the Palace Master as the King of Tian Nan, tasked with guarding the south of Tianhe. This is a noble rank for someone not of his surname. Apart from defending the Endless Mountain, no one else, not even the two saints of the Sanqing Hall, enjoys such treatment," Liu Jingtiao said with a smile.
"Governor Gu... Master Gu truly shocked the world with this battle. He slayed two Devas, a Beast Taming equal to the Demon Demon King, along with eight Primordial Spirit True Monarchs... Even Wu Tiandi, known as the first below the Saints, only managed to save his life using the trump card left by Emperor Tianji, hastily fleeing. I knew you had a reason to gather the world’s gold with substantial wealth; I never expected you could create such a powerful War Spiritual Artifact," Xin Tianqi remarked with some emotion. "The name Warlord is indeed well-deserved."
"It’s but a mere title. No matter how powerful, it only shows off among the Devas. It still falls short compared to the Saints. Moreover, among the five great Saints in our Qiantian World, not one is weak, and they shouldn’t be regarded as ordinary Saints," Gu Jinlai said.
Xin Tianqi and Liu Jingtiao, hearing what Gu Jinlai said, did not deny it.
Among the five great Saints of Qiantian World, the strongest were undoubtedly the three controlling the Divine Weapons: Tai Yuan, Wu Nian, and Wu Zhong.
Although the three had yet to be acknowledged by the Divine Weapons and couldn’t wield their true power, even so, the deterrent power they possessed was still superior to Li Mufeng and Di Luo.
After all...
The fame of the Divine Weapons was tremendous.
Before engaging in battle, no one knew to what extent the bearers of the Divine Weapons could unleash their power.
Beyond these three great Saints, Di Luo and Li Mufeng, one was the older brother of Emperor Tianji, a mighty saint renowned for centuries.
The other was also the direct disciple of Wuying, the former carrier of the Xu Wu Divine Weapon and the Earthly True Immortal who once fought Emperor Tianji.
In such a scenario, not to mention Gu Jinlai being unable to determine if Cheng Ying Mecha could compete against a Saint, even if Cheng Ying Mecha truly possessed the power of a Saint, it would still lack confidence against Di Luo and Li Mufeng.
"Saint-level power is indeed the pinnacle existence in Qiantian World. With Master Wushi’s life or death unknown and in seclusion, each Saint serves as an ultimate trump card and a magic stabilizer; no one dares to provoke them lightly," Xin Tianqi stated and glanced at Gu Jinlai: "This is also why the Daqian Royal Family conferred the title of Southern King to the Palace Master! They recognize your rule over the south of Tianhe."
Gu Jinlai nodded.
Regarding the Emperor’s conferment...
He was somewhat surprised.
Although he knew that once his military exploits were made known, the Emperor of Daqian could not remain indifferent.
Yet he did not expect such magnanimity.
Ennobling him as king.
The King of Tian Nan.
And granting him all of Tianhe’s south.
Indeed, south of Tianhe spanned fifteen states with a population of three hundred million.
The territory exceeded one third of the Daqian Dynasty, and the population reached slightly over thirty percent.
Such an ennoblement...
Was almost equivalent to giving him a third of Lingxiao City’s or Lingxiao Palace’s domain.
Even the Sanqing Hall did not receive such a privilege.
After all, although the Sanqing Hall’s occupied Mu State was an Upper State, its area was not large, meriting mention only because its population reached one hundred million.
"This must be the Daqian Royal Family’s desire not to raise more formidable foes, trying to win us over," Liu Jingtiao speculated.
"Win us over..."
Zhang Lihuo, now a newly promoted Heavenly Monarch, thought for a moment and said, "Actually, I personally believe it should relate to our attitude and stance towards the Demons."
"Demons?" Liu Jingtiao was slightly taken aback.
"Correct."
Zhang Lihuo nodded: "Since his ascension, Emperor Qian, Jiang Tianji, has been trying to reduce internal strife among the Human Clan in Qiantian World because he knows very well that if the Human Clan continues to fight among themselves, the only beneficiaries would be the Demons. To this end, he did not hesitate to allocate massive resources from the national treasury and, using the Heaven and Earth Qiankun Map, established the Demon Refining Hall, which has prevented the spread and escalation of the demonic Rebellion. From this point, this Emperor has made significant contributions to the state."
Liu Jingtiao and Xin Tianqi, having listened, nodded thoughtfully.
"Emperor Qian is earnest in wanting to eradicate the demonic unrest and has been actively recruiting the Heavenly Masters, preparing to guard against the Demon Spirits. Within the major forces of Qiantian World, only we, and Prince Zhenbei, truly intend to combat the Demons. Therefore, they first conferred the title of North King to the saint Li Mufeng, and then appointed Master Gu as the Southern King, which also seems reasonable," Zhang Lihuo continued.
"Emperor Qian, Demons..."
Gu Jinlai listened to Zhang Lihuo’s words and slightly nodded: "From this point, Emperor Qian, Jiang Tianji, indeed genuinely wishes to protect the realm and state of Qiantian. When he decentralized power across the land, he must have anticipated a scenario where numerous heroes would emerge, yet he still proceeded. Perhaps at that time, he intended to do something but had to stop due to limited ability. However, it cannot be denied, he counts as a good emperor."
"If Jiang Tianji knew the Palace Master thought so highly of him, he would probably be quite pleased," Xin Tianqi said with a laugh.
He wasn’t just being polite.
With the combat power and influence Gu Jinlai had now displayed, this evaluation, once made public, was not just verbal praise, it even subtly aided in solidifying Jiang Tianji’s position on the throne.
Others thinking of moving against this Emperor would now have to consider whether they would offend this Saint-level being.
At that moment, a figure walked in from outside.
It was his disciple, Gu Xiangyang. 𝓷𝓸𝓿𝓅𝓊𝓫.𝒸ℴ𝓶
"Master, the Purgatory Sect has sent a batch of disciples, willing to submit to your judgment."
"Oh."
Gu Jinlai responded briefly, glancing at Liu Jingtiao.
The Supreme Elder of the Purgatory Sect solemnly said, "Since Master Gu has spoken, those who committed grave sins must pay the price for their past actions and face trial. The entire Purgatory Sect will naturally cooperate fully, especially since..."
He paused slightly, "Now there is no Purgatory Sect, only Purgatory Hall. Purgatory Hall, Cold Moon Palace, and Huangquan Hall are all under the control of the Palace Master. We will carry out any orders from the Palace Master without any ambiguity."
Gu Jinlai nodded slightly.
Lu Zhanxian, Monarch You Quan, Fang Daoqian, and others unanimously requested him to integrate the sects of Tian Nan and take charge of the overall situation, and naturally, he also had his demands.
That was that all those who had committed heinous crimes must face trial.
Of course, if he were to strictly implement his original justice system, nearly thirty to forty percent of the high-ranking members of the three major sects would be purged. Therefore, for those who weren’t completely corrupt, he allowed them to redeem themselves by forming a special team to venture into Mu State.
This would weaken the Devil’s forces on the one hand, and spy on Mu State’s information on the other.
After all, the next target Gu Jinlai planned to confront was the Mu State Demons.
Know your enemy and know yourself, and you will never be defeated.
"There are still many matters to be integrated for the establishment of Lingxiao Palace. I won’t interfere too much with these affairs. However, a month from now we will set out to Mu State to start the recapture war. During this period, Lingxiao Palace must form a team of five thousand cultivators to coordinate with the Demon God Guards and ensure the safety of the Sword Heavy Cannon squads,"
Gu Jinlai said.
"Master Gu, rest assured, we will not let you down,"
Liu Jingtiao promised, bowing.
Xin Tianqi also nodded in agreement.
Expectation flickered in Zhang Lihuo’s eyes.
He knew the reason for Gu Jinlai’s haste to bring Mu State under control.
Gold mines.
After proving the strength of Cheng Ying Mecha with the blood of two Devas, his expectations for this War Spiritual Artifact had only increased.
The main material for Cheng Ying Mecha is Immortal Essence Gold.
Immortal Essence Gold is refined from gold mines.
Once Mu State is controlled, coupled with the current scale of the Heavenly Master and improvements to mining tools, a surge of resources would be possible...
In three to five years, they might gather the materials needed to build a second Cheng Ying Mecha.
And this Cheng Ying Mecha would undoubtedly be piloted by him, naturally making him look forward to the upcoming battle in Mu State with great anticipation.
...
After completing the trial of the batch of people sent by the Purgatory Sect, Gu Jinlai returned to his cultivation room.
"Although the Cheng Ying Mecha is strong, it is ultimately an external object. If faced with Saints or even surprise attacks by Devas, there won’t be time to don the Cheng Ying Mecha, and I would still inevitably meet a mortal end. Therefore, what I need to do next is to find a way to strengthen myself,"
Gu Jinlai contemplated his current cultivation system.
The Eternal Furnace had reached Perfection.
A Perfect Level Eternal Furnace meant he did not lack energy.
What he lacked was a vessel to contain these energies, Divine Skills, magic, and even a body.
At least, his recent efforts to temper his body seemed to be decreasing in efficiency.
More power but slower refinement effects?
Ultimately, it was because he could not precisely control his own power.
"In terms of control, for cultivators, it’s Divine Thought, which has undergone spiritual transformation and ultimately evolves into an Undying Will. But our Heavenly Master lineage seems to only speak of Spiritual Sense. As time goes by, the Spiritual Sense grows stronger... With limited energy inside the body, the operation of Spiritual Sense becomes a bit slower, but no other problems arise. However, now that the output of the Eternal Furnace has reached its peak, the disadvantages of Spiritual Sense compared to Divine Thought have started to emerge,"
thought Gu Jinlai.
He knew that one could not have the best of both worlds.
Desiring the "awaken" effect on all spirits from Spiritual Sense and the refined control of Divine Thought, such good fortune did not exist in the world.
"I wonder if there is any way to elevate Spiritual Sense in the Heavenly Master Path. If it really can’t qualify... then I will just have to increase the quantity,"
thought Gu Jinlai.
Spirit and Spiritual Sense are probably equivalent to Dao Level and Mana.
If the Dao Level increases but Mana is insufficient, it still causes many negative effects and holds one back.
And even though his True Spirit Core and spirit had reached the Third Step of Heavenly Monarch Level, his Spiritual Sense, equivalent to Mana, was not sufficient.
With the help of the Heavenly Spirit Pearl, he had just entered the rank of Heavenly Monarch not long ago, far from reaching the Peak of Heavenly Monarch.
This was like a scientist who had top-level knowledge and brought back top-level equipment only to find that his own country’s power generation was not enough to start these devices.
In such a case, no matter how profound the knowledge or advanced the equipment, what use could they be?
"If only I could get another Heavenly Spirit Pearl, but who knows when the Aries Star Palace will descend,"
lamented Gu Jinlai.
According to the Artifact Spirit, it would take several years.
And now, it was still far too early.
For a moment, Gu Jinlai was struck with a thought.
"The Aries Star Palace hasn’t descended yet, but why not go searching for them myself?"
