Chapter 663
Conferred the Title of Mountain God
“This Sun Yuchong is not bad.” Zhuang Yan nodded and said, “He knows how to use the power of the Dipper constellation between heaven and earth to reverse the earth’s veins. It seems that although his talent for cultivation is very poor, he has the ability.”
Chi Ling said, "By using himself as the central hub of the Star Altar and breaking the formation with his own body, it shows that this person also has the righteousness to sacrifice himself."
Zhuang Yan nodded, and then issued an imperial edict saying, "Send someone to announce this edict."
Chi Ling bowed and accepted the imperial edict before leaving the main hall.
Soon after, an imperial messenger from the Southern Mountain Divine Palace, escorted by two generals, arrived at the Baiqi Temple between the Ao and Tai Mountains.
After Sun Yuchong broke the formation with his own body, his physical body was shattered by the immense power that overturned the earth's veins, and only his soul temporarily resided in the Bai Qi Temple.
The messenger stood outside the Bai Qi Temple and called out, "Sun Yuchong, come out and receive the imperial edict."
A moment later, a spirit floated out; it was none other than Sun Yuchong.
Upon seeing the celestial official's robes on the messenger, Sun Yuchong immediately stepped forward and knelt down, saying, "This humble Taoist, Sun Yuchong, pays his respects to the Supreme God."
The messenger unfolded the edict and read it aloud to Sun Yuchong: "By the mandate of Heaven and the supreme ruler of the human realm, the Great Emperor of Shenxiao has decreed that Sun Yuchong, a disciple of the Lingbao School, is a man of great righteousness who, despite being a mortal, bravely faces danger, saves immortals and gods, and quells calamities. His heart and virtue are truly a model for all spirits. Therefore, Sun Yuchong is hereby specially appointed as the God of Aotai Mountain, a seventh-rank immortal official of the Lower Yuan, as decreed by law."
As soon as the messenger finished speaking, a golden light flew out from the edict and went straight into Sun Yuchong's forehead.
This golden light was none other than the Jade Tablet of the Celestial Official. As the Jade Tablet flew into Sun Yuchong's brow, a divine light immediately enveloped Sun Yuchong's soul.
Subsequently, Sun Yuchong's soul gradually solidified and was shaped into a 'divine body' under the power of that divine light.
The so-called divine body is the body created for those who become gods after death. It has all the functions of a normal human body, but is free from the suffering of birth, aging, sickness and death, hence the name 'divine body'.
After the divine body was formed, a flash of immortal light appeared, and a set of immortal robes naturally appeared on Sun Yuchong's body. It was the robe of a seventh-rank immortal official, the 'Nine Heavens Cloud Crane Robe'.
Not only that, Sun Yuchong's wrinkles, which were like old tree bark, have also disappeared, and his appearance has returned to that of his youth.
Even his beard and hair had turned bluish-black again, making him look like a middle-aged man in his thirties or forties.
Looking at the changes in his body, Sun Yuchong secretly pinched the flesh of his palm. A sharp pain shot through him, but Sun Yuchong's face was full of joy.
He knew he had made a gamble. He dared to break the formation with his own body because he was going all out. If he missed this opportunity, he would really have no choice but to wait to die of old age and be reincarnated.
With a heart full of excitement, Sun Yuchong knelt on the ground, extended his hands to receive the imperial edict, and then kowtowed, saying, "Your subject Sun Yuchong receives the decree and kowtows to thank Your Majesty the Divine Firmament Emperor."
At this moment, the imperial messenger helped Sun Yuchong up and said, "His Majesty has merged the Aoshan Divine Palace and the Taibaishan Divine Palace into the 'Aotai Divine Palace,' and appointed you as the God of Aotai Mountain. Do you know the heavy responsibility you bear in this position?"
Sun Yuchong nodded solemnly and said, "Please convey my message to His Majesty that I, Sun Yuchong, will do my utmost to build the Aotai Divine Palace and, in accordance with His Majesty Shenxiao's decree, thoroughly clean up all matters inside and outside the Aotai Divine Palace."
"Alright." The messenger nodded with a smile and said, "It's good that the Mountain Lord understands. The Mountain Lord will have to handle the follow-up matters personally, so we won't disturb you any longer. Farewell."
Sun Yuchong hurriedly bowed and saw him off. After the messenger left, Sun Yuchong went to the Aoshan Divine Palace first.
Meanwhile, after the messenger returned to the Southern Mountain Divine Palace and reported the matter to Zhuang Yan, Zhuang Yan immediately smiled and said, "This person is insightful and has the makings of an official." Zhuang Yan could have broken the heaven-earth formation between Ao and Tai with just one talisman, but he did not do so. Instead, he recruited someone who could break the formation by issuing an official gazette, precisely to select talent.
It is obvious that Sun Yuchong is a talented person. He is not only capable, but also has the righteousness to sacrifice himself. Regardless of his original intention, this is exactly the kind of person Zhuang Yan needs.
In the past, he would have chosen those who were more stable to be the righteous gods.
But now that he knows about the existence of the 'Five Elements Heavenly Dao', he will no longer be confined to one type of person; he will recruit any talented individual.
"Where did Zhong Lan and Du Yao escape to?" Zhuang Yan asked Chi Ling.
Zhong Lan was originally the god of Mount Taibai, and Du Yao was originally the god of Mount Ao.
Chi Ling reported, "According to reports from various local divine palaces, after they deflected the earth's veins and activated the Ao Tai Line Heaven and Earth Array, they fled all the way to the East Sea."
At this point, Chi Ling added, "Zhong Lan is the brother-in-law of the Dragon King of the East Sea, so they must be going to the Dragon Palace of the East Sea for protection."
"Brother-in-law?" Zhuang Yan asked in surprise, "Isn't the Dragon Mother of the East Sea a member of the dragon race?"
Chi Ling said, "They are dragons, but the situation is complicated. The mother of the East Sea Dragon Mother was married to more than one husband, and Zhong Lan and the East Sea Dragon Mother are half-siblings."
"I see." Zhuang Yan smiled faintly and said, "How about this, we don't need to send people to arrest Zhong Lan and the others. You can directly issue an edict in the name of the Dust World Jade Palace to arrest Zhong Lan, Du Yao and the others. Let's see how the Dragon King of the East Sea decides to act."
A smile immediately appeared on Chi Ling's face: "Your subordinate understands."
Several days passed in the blink of an eye. On this day, Ye Meicang, the Minister of the Southern Mountain Divine Palace, came to see Zhuang Yan. As soon as he entered the main hall, he reported: "Your Majesty, the God of Aotai Mountain has completed the investigation of the original Aoshan and Taibai Mountain Divine Palaces and has escorted all the files and stolen goods to the Southern Mountain Divine Palace."
Zhuang Yan nodded and said, "Have all the files been stored and the stolen goods been inventoried?"
"The inventory has been completed," Ye Meicang said. "Zhong Lan and Du Yao took away a lot of the stolen goods and valuables from the two mansions. What remains are some treasures that are difficult to carry, as well as some assets that they didn't have time to take. The total amount converted into purple coins is 2.46 million purple coins."
As he spoke, Ye Meicang presented the list to Zhuang Yan. Zhuang Yan did not look at the list, but simply placed it on the table and said, "Very good. Issue an edict to reward the God of Aotai Mountain with 50,000 purple coins and assign ten Southern Mountain God Generals to his subordinates."
Ye Meicang bowed and accepted the order, then took his leave.
When the God of Aotai Mountain, also known as Sun Yuchong, left Mount Heng in the south, he was no longer the frail and despised figure he had been seven days earlier. Now, he was full of vigor and high spirits.
This is simply the best illustration of "rising from a peasant in the morning to a high-ranking official in the evening".
The ten divine generals assigned to him by the Southern Mountain Divine Palace were all fully armored and stood guard on his left and right. At this moment, one of the divine generals asked, "Mountain Lord, this doesn't seem to be the way back to the Divine Palace."
The gods looked up and saw that this was indeed not the way back to the Ao Tai Divine Palace.
But Sun Yuchong said with a smile, "When I was cultivating at the Lingbao Sect, I lived there for seventy-five years. There are still many old things there that are of great significance to me. Now I want to take them back to the Divine Palace. I hope those kids haven't thrown them away."
Upon hearing this, the divine generals' expressions turned solemn, and they immediately quickened their pace towards Gezao Mountain. (End of Chapter)