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Translator: Fate
Translation Checker: Silavin
The resounding Dao Sound echoed, and astonishing phenomena occurred everywhere. Even the universes beyond the Divine Empire were filled with radiant and holy light while Golden Dao Lotuses bloomed everywhere and the Great Dao enveloped everything. It was truly an awe-inspiring sight.
Many who had listened to the sermons for over half a month had deep comprehension and developed a deeper reverence for Dark Heaven. Let alone the younger generation, even some of the Seniors with profound cultivation couldn’t avoid being influenced.
After all, the act of delivering sermons had rarely been seen since the flourishing era of ancient times. In the current era, there were no supreme experts who would explain the Great Dao like this to all beings.
Everyone cherished their accomplishments and wouldn’t share their insights and experiences with others for no reason. The explanations given by an Immortal Being contained many concepts that contradicted the mundane world. However, it was undeniable that these ideas provided a refreshing and enlightening perspective.
“Those who enter the Divine Empire can listen to these sermons at any time. There is also the opportunity to be listed on the Immortal Selection List. As long as you are in the Sacred Emperor Realm and above, you will have a chance. There’s no need to struggle and exhaust yourself to cultivate to the level of the hidden experts.”
They had to admit that Gu Changge’s words stirred the hearts of all those who came to pay their respects, making them consider submitting to the Divine Empire as a viable option.
“For us, this is like an opportunity to ascend to heaven in one step. It’s truly enticing…”
Even the hidden experts began to consider it despite having their hearts filled with mixed emotions. They couldn’t sit idly by as they did before. The true method and path to becoming immortal were in the hands of Gu Changge, and he was the one who could decide at will who could become Immortal. No one could guarantee when the Immortal Path would appear if they continued to wait without doing anything else.
Moreover, if the Immortal Path did appear, who could guarantee that Gu Changge wouldn’t interfere? His ruthlessness and indifference had been fully displayed during this period, sending shivers down people’s spines. Furthermore, the strength of the Divine Empire was evident to all. The only Immortal in the Upper Realm was Gu Changge, who was the ruler of the Divine Empire. In addition, the Divine Empire’s plan to establish the Immortal Selection List was like a beacon of hope in the darkness for those who had no hope of achieving greatness.
They had reached a stage where they could no longer see the end or any hope. And yet, they were suddenly told that they could reach the end and become Immortals without much effort as long as they could be listed… How was anyone supposed to resist such temptation?
Even those prodigies, who were invincible among their peers, had their greatest ambition limited due to the World Principles. Becoming Immortal was a distant and extravagant dream for them. Throughout history, those who reached the level of hidden experts were all exceptionally talented and gifted, and possessed extraordinary aptitude.
Gu Changge’s plans were clearly perfectly capable of grasping the current situation in the Upper Realm. Even the Forces that had closed their doors couldn’t help but feel tempted and consider the gains and losses. However, they wondered what restrictions and requirements they would face to be listed on the list.
Gu Changge didn’t explicitly state it, nor did he reveal any details. This uncertainty caused many to be unsure and worry about potential traps.
Gu Changge’s gaze swept across everyone in the hall. He was not surprised, as he had already anticipated their reactions. Although he had other plans and strategies, for the time being, the Immortal Selection List and the listening to the sermons were sufficient.
The Immortal Selection List targeted cultivators in and above the Sacred Emperor Realm, while listening to the sermons was open to cultivators of various cultivation realms. It was especially useful for the ordinary cultivators with low cultivation levels, who formed the majority. As for how one could enter the list…
In fact, Gu Changge had long planned this out. He wouldn’t simply do a good deed and provide such a shortcut to the world without benefiting himself.
After entering the list, one must sincerely submit to the Divine Empire, give their life to the Empire, and live or die with the Empire under Gu Changge’s control. In addition, sufficient contributions were also crucial. Gu Changge couldn’t just let those cultivators who joined the Divine Empire directly enter the list. Those who believed otherwise were too naive.
The myriad Domains under heaven were boundless with many unknown areas waiting to be explored. Gu Changge thought that those who wanted to be listed were the simplest and most useful tools for exploration.
The Immortal Selection List seemed simple, but it involved replaying the World Principles, using the immense Power of Faith to shape True Immortals. This process could even trigger the rejection of heaven and earth, causing calamities and divine condemnation.
However, Gu Changge didn’t need to consider these matters at the moment because he knew that only by truly presenting such promised rewards could he create an uproar.
Afterwards, many guests in the hall decided to take their leave and return to their respective Forces to discuss the matter in detail.
The Immortal Gu Family, Unrivalled Celestial Dynasty, and other Forces didn’t have such concerns. In their view, the Divine Empire was established by Gu Changge, who was not only the Young Master of the Gu Family but also the future Head of the Family. The current Empress of the Unrivalled Celestial Dynasty was also Gu Changge’s wife. Therefore, the Immortal Gu Family, Unrivalled Celestial Dynasty, and other Forces existed as the foundation of the Divine Empire. Since they didn’t have a relationship of dependence or submission, there were no conflicting interests between them.
Gu Changge remained silent as he observed the crowd with a calm expression. The devout followers and believers of the Divine Empire prostrated themselves outside, and the immense Power of Faith surged, converging towards the radiant sun in the sky.
Among them was the Golden Fortuity Cauldron refined by Gu Changge. He had refined it in a different way, not only to gather the Power of Faith but also to use it as a container to transform the Power of Faith into other powers. The so-called Immortal Selection List was essentially forged using this power, allowing cultivators who hadn’t reached the Immortal Realm to unleash might of that level.
In the following days after the Divine Empire was established, news about this place had already spread throughout the universes. Many Forces, after considering the situation, decided to submit to the Divine Empire as its subjects.
Since that day, Gu Changge had not actively appeared. He entrusted the management of the Divine Empire’s affairs to Yin Mei.
Previously, Yin Mei had been in charge of the Great Yu Celestial Dynasty, the Alliance of Thousand Merchants, and other Forces, so she was already adept at handling such matters. In addition, Gu Changge summoned Ji Qingxuan from the Chaos Star Territory to assist Yin Mei. He also gave Hei Yanyu, from the Celestial Ancient Continent, who was an ambitious individual, a certain degree of authority after considering her loyalty.
There were many matters to be resolved when the Divine Empire was established, but Gu Changge himself was not interested in these trivial matters. He didn’t want to waste his time and energy on them, and he was glad to have the leisure.
Even so, he didn’t just let time pass in the past few decades. He had been busy refining the Demon Lord’s True Blood and refining six puppets.
Now, the ‘Ah’s had nine people. Starting from Ah Da, next was Ah Er, being the former Palace Lord of Neraka. Ah San was the Ancient Reincarnation Supreme Being. The other six ‘Ah’s were puppets he had refined.
Their strength was comparable to Remnant Immortals. They even surpassed the strength of the 36 Star Kings. These 36 Star Kings were all hidden experts, some of whom had their divine consciousness erased by Gu Changge and forcefully refined by him. Although their cultivation levels had slightly dropped, they could still easily crush True Daoists. The rest were hidden experts with profound cultivation bases from various Forces, and they voluntarily served Gu Changge.
In terms of foundation and strength, the Divine Empire was not inferior to any other Force throughout history. It had a large number of Immortal Grade Artifacts, most of which were obtained by Gu Changge by refining the hidden experts during the events at the Resplendence Universe. He took their artifacts, fixed them, and subsequently stored them in the national treasury.
In the past, those Immortal forces had at most one or two Immortal Grade Artifacts as their foundation and couldn’t compare to the extravagance of the Divine Empire.
…
In the grand hall, Gu Changge was calmly reading through the many Jade Tablets in front of him, reviewing the various matters he had dealt with during this period.
“The Divine Empire has just been established, and the territories it governs include not only the ones it previously occupied but also some distant world. They can also be considered part of the Empire,” reported Yin Mei, who was dressed in a snow-white long gown. Her slender figure was graceful and her flawless face was serious as she discussed these matters.
“For example, everyone in the Eight Wastelands and Ten Domains knows about your relationship with the Sky Deer Goddess. She is in charge of those territories, so logically, the Eight Wastelands and Ten Domains should also belong to the Divine Empire. And there is the Demon World. Empress Yao Xi—”
“These issues don’t require excessive consideration… As for the Sky Deer Goddess, we can establish the Sky Deer Palace within the Divine Empire as a small gesture. She will understand what needs to be done. The same goes for Empress Yao Xi.” Gu Changge nodded. He didn’t pay much attention to these minor matters.
The Sky Deer Goddess was intelligent. When the Upper Realm attacked the Eight Wastelands and Ten Domains, she showed her extraordinary judgment and reason. At this time, she definitely wouldn’t voice any objections to Gu Changge. As for Empress Yao Xi, she might be considering how to lead the Demon World into the Divine Empire even though she hadn’t spoken up yet.
Ironically, what Gu Changge was currently looking at were the situations of various Forces submitting to his rule. Compared to his expectations, it was still progressing slower than he had hoped. But that was to be expected. Although the Divine Empire was powerful and had Immortals presiding over it, the environment of the Upper Realm was changing. Perhaps, in the near future, there would be a major collision with the Immortal Domain and everything would be reshuffled again.
For now, Gu Changge didn’t plan to forcefully subdue those Forces unless it was absolutely necessary. After all, the Upper Realm had finally restored peace and tranquility, and in the eyes of ordinary cultivators, it was Gu Changge’s establishment of the Divine Empire that resolved these issues. So, at this time, if Gu Changge were to disrupt this situation again, it would greatly impact the faith and reputation of the Divine Empire. It would contradict his long-term ambitions.
Establishing the Divine Empire and gathering the Power of Faith was one aspect. On the other, Gu Changge had to consider that the current situation would undergo drastic changes once the Immortal Domain and the Upper Realm connection was established. He needed to have control over the Upper Realm to maintain the power of discourse in such a situation. After all, for the Immortal Domain, the Upper Realm was its foundation.
Over the years, instead of saying that the Immortal Domain abandoned the Upper Realm, the Upper Realm was more like rootless floating duckweed that was adrift. It was forced to disconnect with the Immortal Domain. Even Gu Changge was not clear about the current situation in the Immortal Domain. This was the reason why he had to make preparations in advance; regardless of whether the situation in the Immortal Domain was good or bad, he needed to do so to ensure it would not affect him.
“Young Master, should we establish various positions similar to their past statuses within the Divine Empire? I have collected the opinions of many Forces. They hope to gain some rights within the Empire… They don’t want to feel like they’re being swallowed up, with everything belonging to the Divine Empire once they submit to it. That has always been their concern when they considered whether to submit or not,” Yin Mei spoke up, her eyebrows slightly furrowed. As the Divine Empire had just been established, many things were being handled haphazardly without careful delineation of various positions and powers.
Although Gu Changge was revered by the world as the Divine Lord, she still preferred to address him as ‘Young Master’ in private.
“You must have considered these matters as well, yes?” Gu Changge nodded after hearing this. He knew that Yin Mei must have thought about how to handle them and was just informing him.
Yin Mei gingerly nodded at those words as she handed Gu Changge a thick book that detailed the process and rules of how to divide authority and other matters. “I discussed it with Ji Qingxuan and the others. We decided to divide the Forces into nine ranks based on their strengths. Apart from that, we can further sort them into categories like Mortal, Spirit, Enlightened, Sacred, Nirvana and so on. According to the different levels, we’ll allocate territories and authority, which can be promoted or demoted based on changes in their strength.”
Gu Changge carefully read through it and found nothing amiss. Although it resembled the system used in most places, it nevertheless took into account the strength and foundation of the various Forces of the Upper Realm.
“Perhaps we can also use this to create rankings… In this world, no one can escape the power of reputation regardless of who they are. It applies to both Forces and experts.” Yin Mei continued to mention another plan. Over the years, as the person in charge of the Alliance of Thousand Merchants, she had established institutions related to divination of Heavenly Secrets.
These institutions were dedicated to collecting information from various regions and compiling rankings, and they had proven to be quite effective.
With that, she believed that if the Divine Empire ruled over the heavens and myriad realms, it could naturally establish various rankings. From the hidden experts to mortals, as well as the foundations of Forces, their weapons and treasures, and divine abilities. All could be included in the rankings. The benefit of this approach was that it could gather Fortuity, absorb the Power of Faith, and make all beings more submissive as they foster a sense of identification with the Divine Empire.
“Great idea. I hadn’t thought about it in such detail before,” Gu Changge praised. He also understood that no one in this world could escape the allure of fame and fortune.
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