Even Mr. Wu had to admire Pei Xuanjing's destiny, or perhaps, his Qi Luck.
Waiting for those ancient forces to return, everything had already been set in stone, possessing enough qualifications to contend with the other side.
After all, even destroying the Divine Dynasty would require a huge price. In this possible era of Becoming Immortal, which force would willingly take the initiative to make a wedding dress for others?
"But, did all those people from the past really fall?" Mr. Wu began to wonder in his mind, about other matters.
After all, after his return, he had received many notifications about the emergence of various Forbidden Places and Blessed Lands and many familiar inheritances had come out from these places. He couldn't help but doubt some things.
Nine Realms of Spirit and the zenith of cultivators' cultivation path, just one more step and they would become a True Immortal with everlasting life. Would such a powerful being really perish easily without leaving any backups?
This was something he couldn't guarantee because there were many things that even he couldn't see or understand. He didn't dare to pry, afraid of leading to disaster.
"This world is about to fall into chaos! Perhaps someone will become a True Immortal with Immortality in this catastrophe." Mr. Wu thought to himself.
Indeed, it's a catastrophe.
In Mr. Wu's opinion, the revival of Heaven and Earth is not a good thing for the Ancestral Land. Instead, it could possibly bring about a catastrophe similar to the one that occurred in the Tang Dynasty thousands of years ago.
"However, isn't this the day I've been waiting for? If it were a mere revival of Heaven and Earth, why should I pay such a high price in exchange for the early return?" His eyes flashed, showing a hint of coldness.
For Mr. Wu, the current situation of the Sky Wasteland was too stable, so stable he could hardly seize an opportunity to achieve his goals.
The reason he paid such a large price for the opportunity to return early was to take the opportunity to make preparations for his plan.
In terms of the Divine Dynasty on the ground, Pei Xuanjing's plan was almost the same as his own.
Even if Pei Xuanjing didn't push this plan, he too would push it with all his means.
Originally, his plan was to return in advance to look at the situation of the Ancestral Land. If there was a dynasty, he would try to gain the trust of the dynasty and promote the establishment of the Divine Dynasty on land.
However, he didn't expect that he didn't need to make any efforts. Someone in the Ancestral Land had made a similar plan, and it had been in operation for a long time.
For him, this was undoubtedly an excellent opportunity, which could save him a lot of time and let him lay out his plans with ease.
"Wait for your arrival, I will give you an unexpected surprise. I hope you will not be frightened." A sneer appeared at the corner of Mr. Wu's mouth.
At the same time, Pei Xuanjing had returned to the hall where he secluded himself. He did not immediately begin cultivating or hurriedly check the two items he had obtained that day. Instead, he was reminiscing and sorting out the information he had gathered that day.
It has to be said that the news revealed by Mr. Wu was too huge and astonishing, dispelling many of Pei Xuanjing's doubts and leading him to a clearer understanding of some things.
The Golden Book and Jade Scroll, the Gods Sealing List, the Heavenly Court, the Enthroning God War… These hidden news were truly staggering and gradually unveiled the truth about this world.
After a long while, Pei Xuanjing finally calmed his mind and focused on the two items he had obtained that day.
He took the Purple Thunder Immortal Gold first, circulating his Primordial Qi to feel this top-grade Divine Material.
[Purple Thunder Immortal Gold: A spiritual material of Heaven and Earth, born from the Heaven and Earth, engraved with the pattern of Thunder Path, it is a top-tier material for artifact refining. Upon refining, one can get 100,000 Taoyun points.]
"Hmm, I didn't expect this top-grade Divine Material to contain Taoyun points." Pei Xuanjing's brows raised, and then a smile of surprise appeared on his face.
He never expected that even this Divine Material, born from Heaven and Earth, would contain Taoyun. Although it only contained a mere 100,000 Taoyun points, compared to the Taoyun points he needed for one simulation now, it was like a drop in the ocean. Yet, it opened up a new door for him, so he wouldn't have to solely rely on acquiring skill manuals as a means of obtaining Taoyun points.
After Pei Xuanjing's last life simulation, his strength had taken a step further, and the Taoyun values needed for the life simulator had increased again, now reaching 5 million Taoyun points for one simulation.
Five million Taoyun points were undoubtedly a huge number. Even if Pei Xuanjing refined the Taoyun of his skills day and night, the amount would still seem astronomical and would require a long time to accumulate.
But now, if such a naturally born Divine Material can stimulate Taoyun, then for him, this is another method which can help him accumulate Taoyun faster.
Of course, this still needs to be validated to verify whether it is really the case. But anyways, it is good news.
Setting this information aside for now, Pei Xuanjing picked up the Jade Scroll to check the cultivation skill in it.
[Incense Fire God Refining Skill, top-tier Fifth Order God Refining Skill, refining can get 1.2 million Taoyun points.]
When Pei Xuanjing picked up the Jade Scroll for inspection, his simulator gave him a prompt about this skill.
"1.2 million Taoyun points, this is an extremely generous amount of Taoyun. Even if this God Refining Skill has issues, just this amount of Taoyun is of great value." Pei Xuanjing thought to himself.
Next, his spirit sunk into it and began to examine this God Refining Skill.
The Incense Fire God Refining Skill was created by a powerful practitioner of the God Refining Skill path.
Humans have three souls and seven spirits, residing in the body. However, the body is weak while the spirit is strong.
The God Refining Skill should focus on the spirit, striving for an undying Divine Soul. Even if the body perishes, the Divine Soul will forever exist in the world and live eternally amidst Heaven and Earth.
After a long while, Pei Xuanjing came back to his senses, a look of emotion appeared on his face: "So that's it, this how the Incense Fire God Refining Skill is practiced."
The God Refining Skill, as one of the three cultivation paths, is already extremely difficult and considered one of the rarest branches. It's different from the Air Way of connecting Heaven and Earth, and also different from the Way of Essence Refinement for an Indestructible Body. The God Refining Skill seeks to have an undying Divine Soul, to exist forever.
Most practitioners of the God Refining Skill path simply try to polish their own Yin Spirit, strengthening it continually. But the creator of this skill, he found another way: The Incense Fire God Refining Skill.
In simpler terms, it's the God Refining Skill through faith.
He willingly absorbs faith and uses faith and incense fire to continuously refine his spiritual consciousness, continuously differentiating his spiritual consciousness.
According to deductions, once the spiritual consciousness has differentiated enough, reuniting it must inevitably allow the cultivation to make great progress.
"Giving me this skill, is it really just a coincidence?" A sharp glint appeared in Pei Xuanjing's eyes.
Pei Xuanjing rubbed the jade symbol in his hand, his mind racing with countless thoughts.
The Heavenly Divine Dynasty was originally a collective path, leveraging its power to enfeoff the Gods, controlling the authority, with a part of the immense power of these enfeoffed Gods originating from the authority they wield, and another part derived from the faith and incense worship of the subjects of the Divine Dynasty.
Pei Xuanjing's insurgence of the Divine Dynasty plan was precisely to allow himself to cultivate the faith of the Divine Dynasty after its establishment. After all, even with the power of the Divine Dynasty, even if there were no methods of Refining Spirit, he could forcibly catalyze the metamorphosis of his own Yin Spirit.
"When I need the techniques to refine the spirit, the method is delivered right to me, and just so happens to be the most suitable method, the Incense Fire God Refining Path. If this is a coincidence, I don't think even you would believe it." Pei Xuanjing muttered to himself.
It was too much of a coincidence, as if he had met a pillow in his sleep. The skill given by the other party was the most suitable and most aligned with his current needs.
"The Incense Faith – this is absolutely not an ordinary thing. According to the conjecture derived by the creator of this technique, if one can truly walk this path to the end, perhaps one can truly achieve Becoming Immortal." Pei Xuanjing recalled some of the words left by the creator of this technique in his mind.
If this was shown to others, they might sneer, feeling that the creator was blowing his own trumpet, making boastful claims.
After all, over the years, countless strong men have opened up countless skills, even those top-tier skills that lead directly to the Nine Realms of Spirit created by the strongest individuals, have not been able to achieve Becoming Immortal. Otherwise, there would not have been no one becoming Immortal over the years.
Then how could a mere technique that has only been extrapolated to reach the Spirit Realm Sixth Level, which cannot even reach the pinnacle power of the Nine Realms of Spirit, claim itself to be capable of Becoming Immortal? Such a claim is absurd.
However, Pei Xuanjing would not think so.
Because according to some clues speculated and guessed by Pei Xuanjing, there should be five types of True Immortals: Heaven, Earth, Human, God, and Ghost.
And this Incense Fire God Refining Skill should belong to the path of God Immortal.
God Immortals, controlling the Heavenly Authority, acting in place of the Heavens, coexisting with Heaven and Earth. As the divine entities took on thousands of manifestations, receiving incense worship, the continuous flowing incense, unceasing faith, they might indeed achieve longevity in the world, not necessarily unable to achieve undying longevity.
So, in Pei Xuanjing's view, the strong man who created the Incense Fire God Refining Skill might not be on the wrong path. If he truly reaches the Great Completion Realm, he might have a chance of success.
"However, the incense is poisonous. If one truly cultivates this technique, in the future if one cannot sever the invasive effect of Incense Faith, one might be deeply mired and unable to extricate oneself, ultimately losing oneself." A trace of cold color flashed in Pei Xuanjing's eyes.
Every advantage has its disadvantage. This Incense Fire God Refining Method leads to Becoming Immortal, but it will not be easy.
According to this technique, one needs to differentiate the spiritual consciousness, manifest in thousands of forms to gather the Power of Incense Fire to strengthen oneself. But each sentient being has its own mind. If one cultivates using Incense Faith, it will inevitably affect the purity of one's Divine Soul. If one cannot remove these miscellaneous thoughts, one will be affected and lose oneself.
"With such a huge interest at stake, don't the royal family, the ministers in Court, and the King and Lords want to renege?"
In the Military City Lord's Mansion, Wang Bo'an, the commander of this battle, said to his good friend Gu Ji, the special envoy sent by the Court.
Such a large benefit is right in front of them, and they are allowing the world's forces and ordinary Martial Artists to divide it up. Are the big figures in the Court really willing to do so?
"Ha ha, Bo'an, you're really underestimating the Courtiers!" Gu Ji raised his brow upon hearing this and said solemnly.
However, seeing Wang Bo'an's serious expression, Gu Ji stopped joking and said with a bitter face, "Renege? How could they not have thought about it?"
Gu Ji dismissed the question contemptuously after a look around ensuring nobody was around. "You're not new to being an official, Bo'an. How could you not know what they think?"
In Gu Ji's view, to Wang Bo'an, this was no more than stating the obvious, none of those people could probably resist such a thought of reneging.
From the moment of receiving the victorious report, everyone was joyous. This was something to be commemorated ever since ancient times. The Officials in Court would all be mentioned in history because of this achievement.
Moreover, the vast territory of the grasslands signified the size of the interests involved. Some shortsighted individuals in the Court were immediately lured by the benefits and tempted to renege.
They seemed to regret their previous agreements now that they had become reality, and were unwilling to grant out more than half of the land.
What disappointed Gu Ji most was that these views gained a lot of approval and support.
"Fools! I never expected that there would be so many fools in the Court. I'm ashamed to mix with them." Gu Ji complained to Wang Bo'an, expressing his dissatisfaction.
These fools, do they think the powerful Great Ming Court can suppress all under heaven like it used to be? Were they muddleheaded by the benefits, forgetting who was the main instigator behind this event?
It was Pei Xuanjing who caused the royal family of Great Ming to lose face, divested of their power, and had to cooperate forcibly.
Even if Pei Xuanjing seemed very amiable when dealing with him, Gu Ji wouldn't think that Pei Xuanjing was a merciful person.
Gu Ji believed that due to his relationship with Pei Xuanjing, he knew how dreadful it would be if Pei Xuanjing got angry, and this was something those fools couldn't bear.
In addition, if they went back on their word, they would offend not only Pei Xuanjing, but also all major forces in the world, the soldiers who fought bravely, and the ordinary Martial Artists.
Frankly speaking, should a man of ambition make a cry and the army marches in once the public sentiment is aroused, chaos in the world might happen.
Wang Bo'an's face was grave; even though he had suspected it, he didn't expect the Court to be in such a chaotic state.
He was very clear about the crucial nature of the current situation. Though it seems prosperous on the surface, it is like oil tempered with fire underneath, capable of causing tremendous damage in an instant.
Moreover, with the spread of Martial Classics, there are more and more Martial Artists and stronger individuals. If real chaos occurs, even if he has a well-disciplined and battle-hardened million soldiers, it would hardly prevent the imminent collapse of Great Ming.
Also, the most eager to share the achievement and interest are not only the major forces and Martial Artists, but also the millions of elite soldiers who fought to death. They fought because they were enticed by the promise of merit and fortune.
The interest of millions of elite soldiers, their influence is so grand!
If the imperial court were to break their promise and prioritize their self-interest, the morale of these millions of soldiers may well be lost in an instant and it would be impossible to recover.
"So how was this resolved in the end?" Wang Boan pressed on.
Now that Gu Ji has arrived, it naturally means that the situation has been resolved, but it is still unknown how it ended.
A hint of satisfaction emerged on Gu Ji's face, as if a weight had been lifted from his chest.
"Those people are fools, but none of the Council Elders are dullards, how could they not know the consequences of breaking promises? Plus, our emperor is no ordinary person. Once they spoke out, those voices were naturally suppressed, and no one dares to bring it up anymore." Gu Ji smirked.
Of course, he did not disclose the full details; there was more to the story.
Apart from the possible consequences and external pressures they have mentioned, there is one more point: for these Council Elders, nothing is more enticing than the promise of longevity.
If they hadn't had the opportunity in the past, they might have been more short-sighted for immediate benefits, and let those people run rampant, even if it meant taking some risks.
But the current situation is quite unusual. After the revival of Heaven and Earth, Longevity is within reach. Although becoming a True Immortal is a dream, extending life and achieving immortality is not mere talk.
If you ask who is the most eager for the Divine Dynasty Plan, it is not Pei Xuanjing and his group, but the Council Elders in the Court who are already advanced in age. They hope to extend their lives through this Divine Dynasty Plan.
Compared with their own life and death, those benefits are not worth mentioning. At least for now, life is the most important thing.
These benefits are only useful if they can be used on themselves while being alive. If they die, what is the point of those benefits?
Furthermore, there is the Emperor, who is well-known for pursuing longevity. How could he possibly let this opportunity slip through his hands?
As for why he, Gu Ji, was so keen on making this happen, completing tasks back and forth for Council Elder Wang, it was also for the same purpose.
He did not possess Wang Boan's cultivation talent. He could easily make thousands of miles in a day on the path of Martial Arts and have a long life.
But if he were to give up this opportunity, he would have to watch himself grow old day by day.
Therefore, the result has actually been predetermined; there will absolutely be no surprises.
Even if Gu Ji didn't spell it out, Wang Boan had a clear understanding.
Gu Ji said solemnly, "Before leaving, the Emperor said that as long as the Dragon Vein Qi Luck could be led into the Central Plains, facilitating the plan of the Divine Dynasty, then even if all the vast grasslands were to be enfeoffed, it wouldn't matter."
For the Emperor, what he is now seeking is longevity. As long as the plan of the Divine Dynasty is completed, not only will he gain personal strength, but it will also be a transformation for the Great Ming Empire.
By then, if he has formidable strength, he can naturally suppress the world again and retake what was originally his.
After all, the matter of weakening the territory is not unheard of. In the past six hundred years of Great Ming, it had done so before.
"In that case, let's invite representatives from all forces to brainstorm this matter." Wang Boan nodded.
Wang Boan naturally guessed about the Emperor's plan. However, he didn't find anything wrong with it.
After all, to put it bluntly, since ancient times, a powerful territory doesn't listen to the imperial court's orders, behaves independently, and even starts uprisings; while the central Dynasty, when strong, starts to weaken the territorial lords.
This kind of situation is inevitable and doesn't need to be mentioned. Those people among the great forces are very clear about it. Everyone is now playing a game of chess, betting that they will be stronger in the future and will be the ultimate winner.
Until the last moment, no one is willing to give up their interests easily.
Now that the imperial court has kept its word, it is a very good result for him.
Although he, Wang Boan, longs to be a loyal and filial subject, that doesn't mean he wants the subordinates and soldiers who devote themselves to him to end up with nothing.
After all, while Wang Boan is a loyal subject of the empire, he is also a member of a prominent family and a Noble Official. In the upcoming enfeoffment, he will also receive a fair share.
Unless it is necessary, he doesn't wish to give up what he deserves. Because he now represents not only his own interests but also those of countless soldiers and subordinates. The people behind him wouldn't want to see him do that.
"Let's go! Go meet the soldiers who have risked their lives for the empire!" Wang Boan said to Gu Ji.
Gu Ji nodded with a smile, "I'll follow your lead, Brother Wang!"
A potential major disaster dissipated. Regarding the happenings in the imperial court of the Great Ming, even if Pei Xuanjing did not intentionally pay attention, people from all walks of life would still relay the news to him.
However, Pei Xuanjing was not bothered by it. The city of Tiandu is currently under the control of Bai Xiaosheng and Daoist Xuanming who has ascended to the Spirit Realm; they will naturally take care of everything.
Moreover, regardless of anyone else, with those elderly Council elders and that Emperor, who is single-minded in his pursuit of Becoming Immortal, all efforts of the opponents will undoubtedly be in vain.
Pei Xuanjing on Shenxiao Mountain is refining the Taoyun from the Purple Thunder Immortal Gold, and studying the Door Incense Refining God Skill at the same time.
He is not in a hurry to cultivate this skill. Instead, he absorbs the essence of this skill for his own use.
After all, the times have changed. If Pei Xuanjing had obtained this skill before the fight with the Howling Moon Gray Wolf, he would naturally cultivate this skill, even if the path of the Incense Faith has flaws.
But now he has glimpsed the possibility of cultivating the Golden Core Dao of the Taoist School. He naturally wouldn't abandon this unparalleled Dao of the Taoist School to try an uncertain path.
However, just because he doesn't cultivate this skill doesn't mean others can't. In Pei Xuanjing's view, the person most suitable for this skill is not himself, but the current Emperor of the Great Ming, the young Jiajing Emperor.
He does indeed have an extraordinary talent in Refining Spirit; after many years, he has reached the apex of mortal Refining Spirit and formed his Divine Soul. It's just that he is unsure about the Yin God Crossing Thunder Tribulation transformation, so he has not broken through yet.
After all, the technique he practiced was taught by Pei Xuanjing. However, so far, Pei Xuanjing has only compiled a technique on how to gather his Divine Soul, and he doesn't have too many clues on subsequent cultivation methods.
Now, the Incense Fire God Refining Skill that Pei Xuanjing has obtained seems very suitable for that person in his view.