Chapter 664
Two Criminals Executed
The God of Gezao Mountain looked at Sun Yuchong with a sigh. Just a few days ago, this man was a cultivator whose lifespan was about to run out, but today he has become the God of Aotai Mountain.
Thinking of this, the God of Gezao Mountain couldn't help but feel a little jealous. If it were the God of Ao Mountain or the God of Taibai Mountain, it would be fine, but the Emperor Shenxiao merged the two mountains into one and established the Aotai Divine Palace.
In other words, the power of the Aotai Mountain God has been expanded by a full two times compared to the original Aoshan Mountain God and Taibai Mountain God. Sun Yuchong's luck has truly turned around.
"Fellow Daoist, what brings you back this time?" After exchanging greetings with Sun Yuchong, the God of Gezao Mountain asked.
Sun Yuchong said with a smile, "I'm coming back to pack up my old things. From now on, I'll be residing permanently in the Aotai Divine Palace."
The God of Gezao Mountain nodded and smiled, "Then please make yourself at home, fellow Daoist. If you have some free time, how about coming to my residence for a visit?"
Sun Yuchong cupped his hands and smiled, "If I have the time, I will definitely come to visit you."
"Alright." The God of Gezao Mountain responded, and then Sun Yuchong led a group of divine generals to Lingbao Sect.
Upon arriving at the mountain gate, the subordinate deity immediately stepped forward and said to the disciple on duty, "Please inform Immortal Ge that the new Aotai Mountain God has returned to the mountain to collect the old things."
Upon hearing this, the disciple looked at Sun Yuchong in surprise, then frowned slightly. Why did he feel that the person in front of him was so familiar?
It's normal that he doesn't recognize Sun Yuchong now, because Sun Yuchong was already an eighty-year-old man when he became a disciple.
Sun Yuchong now looks only in his thirties, more like Sun Yuchong's son.
However, the disciple still responded, then turned and entered the mountain gate, heading straight to the ancestral hall of the Lingbao Sect.
At this moment, Ge Hong, the leader of the Lingbao Sect, was discussing matters with his senior cultivators and disciples when a boy suddenly entered from outside the hall and announced, "Reporting to the leader, the disciple on duty at the mountain gate has something to report."
Ge Hong raised his head and said, "Let him in."
A moment later, the disciple guarding the mountain gate strode in, first bowing to Ge Hong, and then to the high-ranking immortal masters on both sides.
Ge Hong asked, "Is there anything wrong at the mountain gate?"
The disciple bowed and said, "Reporting to the sect leader, some divine generals have come to the mountain gate. They say that the newly appointed Aotai Mountain God has returned to the mountain gate to clean up the old things, and ordered me to come and report to the sect leader."
"Oh?" Upon hearing this, all the high-ranking cultivators of the Lingbao Sect, including Ge Hong, were stunned. "The new Aotai Mountain God has returned to settle old things?" Zhang Yuming asked in surprise, "So the new Aotai Mountain God is a member of our Lingbao Sect?"
Another immortal master, Lin Yuxiu, frowned and said, "But all the high-ranking immortal masters and true disciples of my Lingbao Sect are still in the mountain gate, and none of them have graduated. Who has managed to obtain the position of the God of Aotai Mountain?"
Another immortal master asked, "Aren't Mount Ao and Mount Taibai two divine palaces? Which mountain god is Mount Aotai from?"
Ge Hong then did some calculations with his fingers and suddenly showed a look of surprise. Then he regained his composure and said with a smile, "So that's how it is. Truly, the paths to greatness are different, and so are the opportunities."
Upon hearing this, the high-ranking cultivators immediately asked, "Master, do you know who it is?"
Ge Hong laughed and said, "You will never guess who this person is. Come on, you will all follow me to greet him."
After saying this, Ge Hong stood up, and the group of high-level cultivators around him also stood up. Then, with puzzled expressions, they followed Ge Hong out of the main hall and headed towards the mountain gate.
When everyone arrived at the mountain gate and saw Sun Yuchong dressed in the robes of a seventh-rank celestial official, everyone except Ge Hong was stunned.
Zhang Yuming and Lin Yuxiu, in particular, were somewhat dazed, as if they were seeing Sun Yuchong in his youth.
However, when Sun Yuchong walked up to them, they realized that it was not an illusion; this really was a younger Sun Yuchong.
“Disciple Sun Yuchong greets the Ancestral Master.” Sun Yuchong stepped forward and bowed to Ge Hong.
Ge Hong stepped forward to help Sun Yuchong up, and said with a smile, "Good, good, you have finally found your opportunity."
Sun Yuchong, with a look of shame, said, "I'm afraid I'll never be able to become an immortal in this lifetime."
“Hey,” Ge Hong said with a smile, “You are now a seventh-rank celestial official in the Heavenly Court, which is much better than being an earth immortal. You are free from the suffering of birth, old age, sickness and death, and are not bound by the three calamities and nine tribulations. Many people want this opportunity but cannot obtain it.”
Sun Yuchong said, "Without the teachings of the Patriarch, I would not have been able to seize this opportunity. Please accept my three bows, Patriarch."
After saying this, Sun Yuchong knelt down and bowed three times and kowtowed nine times to Ge Hong.
Ge Hong smiled broadly and quickly reached out to help Sun Yuchong up from the ground. Then he said to Sun Yuchong, "This is not the place to talk. Let's go to the main hall for tea."
"Yes," Sun Yuchong replied, cupping his hands in greeting.
Then Ge Hong looked at the ten divine generals and asked, "Who are they?"
“Oh, it’s a divine general assigned to a disciple by the Southern Mountain Divine Palace,” Sun Yuchong said.
Upon hearing this, Ge Hong immediately summoned a young attendant and said, "Lead all the deities to the hall to serve tea, and also bring more of the immortal fruits, rare delicacies, fine wines and delicacies from the gate for all the deities to enjoy."
The boy bowed and accepted the order, saying, "I will obey the ancestral master's decree."
Sun Yuchong also said to the ten divine generals, "Eat and drink well, don't worry about me. I will send someone to call you if I need anything."
Upon hearing this, all the gods beamed with joy and bowed, saying, "Yes, Mountain Lord."
Then the gods followed the boy to the waiting hall, while Ge Hong led Sun Yuchong back to the Ancestral Hall.
Incense smoke curled and tea steam rose in the hall as Sun Yuchong recounted to everyone his experience of volunteering to break the formation and becoming the god of Mount Aotai.
Everyone was full of admiration after hearing this. Zhang Yuming said, "I underestimated you before. I am ashamed to admit that you were able to come up with such a way to break the formation."
"Not at all," Sun Yuchong waved his hand and laughed, "It's just that everyone has their own expertise."
Ge Hong said with a smile, "Now my Lingbao Sect has two people serving as officials in the Heavenly Court. One is my Lingbao Sect's Patriarch Ge Xuan, and the other is you."
Ge Xuan was the founder of the Lingbao School and is also one of the four great celestial masters of the Heavenly Court.
Sun Yuchong said, "This disciple will certainly act in accordance with the law, uphold justice impartially, and not bring shame to my sect or my ancestors."
Ge Hong laughed and said, "Good, good, good."
Then Ge Hong asked, "I heard you came back to sort through old things?"
Sun Yuchong replied, "That's right."
Ge Hong waved his hand and said, "There's no need to pack up the old things. Just tell me what you need, and the sect will do its best to help you."
Sun Yuchong cupped his hands and smiled, "Thank you for your grace, Ancestor. However, I have just received a reward from the Divine Firmament Emperor and lack nothing. Most of my old belongings are just souvenirs, which is why I want to take them to the Ao Tai Divine Palace."
At this point, Sun Yuchong suddenly asked Lin Yuxiu, "Senior Brother Lin, a few days ago, Junior Nephew Yuancai said that the sect had recruited many new disciples, and there weren't enough private quarters to go around. He wanted to clear out my private quarters to distribute to other disciples. I was in a hurry to break the formation that day, so I don't know about my old belongings."
Lin Yuxiu was stunned when she heard this, and immediately broke out in a cold sweat.
Ge Hong frowned and looked at Lin Yuxiu, then asked, "Yuxiu, are there not enough rooms in the manor for everyone?"
Lin Yuxiu hurriedly stood up and bowed, saying, "Master, there are many more retreats in the sect."
"Then why did you clear out Yu Chong's hermitage?" Ge Hong asked with a stern face.
Lin Yuxiu was sweating profusely and quickly explained, "Master, please forgive me. I was thinking of what was best for Junior Brother Sun. He is over ninety years old and has not yet become an immortal. I wanted him to go down the mountain and go home to enjoy the happiness of family life."
"Nonsense!" Ge Hongqing shouted. "What do you mean by 'for the good of your junior brother Sun'? You just think he has no hope of becoming an immortal and don't want to support him with the sect's resources anymore, don't you?" Lin Yuxiu prostrated himself on the ground, not daring to argue, and could only say repeatedly, "Master, please forgive me, this disciple knows his mistake."
Ge Hong snorted coldly and raised his hand, saying, "Go to your junior brother Sun's residence now and see if those old things are still there. If they are, send them all over. If they are not, explain it to your junior brother Sun yourself."
Sun Yuchong stood up and said, "Master, I will go with Senior Brother Lin."
Upon hearing this, Ge Hong immediately nodded and said, "Alright, whether you find it or not, come back here. I will not interfere."
Sun Yuchong bowed and said, "Yes, Ancestor."
Fortunately, Zhou Yuancai was very prudent. Although he took back the hermitage during the time Sun Yuchong was away, he put all of Sun Yuchong's belongings into a wooden box.
Seeing that Sun Yuchong had checked all her belongings, Lin Yuxiu finally breathed a sigh of relief and quickly stepped forward to say, "Junior Brother Sun, I'm so sorry."
Sun Yuchong smiled and said, "Senior Brother Lin is in charge of the distribution of sect resources, and he also has his own difficulties. I can understand."
Upon hearing this, Lin Yuxiu quickly reached out and grasped Sun Yuchong's hands, saying, "So many years have passed, and Junior Brother hasn't changed much. It's us senior brothers who have all changed our hearts."
At this point, Lin Yuxiu immediately summoned Zhou Yuancai and her newly accepted disciples, and pointed to Sun Yuchong, saying, "This is your Uncle Sun Yuchong. He has made great contributions and has been appointed by the Divine Emperor of Shenxiao as the God of Aotai Mountain, a seventh-rank celestial official in the Heavenly Court. You should all come and pay your respects quickly."
Upon hearing this, the disciples stepped forward and bowed to Sun Yuchong. Sun Yuchong helped them up one by one and said with a smile, "Uncle-Master is an honest official, so I have no gifts to give you."
At this point, Sun Yuchong took out some purple coins and gave ten purple coins to each of his disciples.
Sun Yuchong then put the box containing the old items into his mustard seed bag, and then returned to the Ancestral Hall with Lin Yuxiu.
On the way back, Lin Yuxiu took out a whisk and handed it to Sun Yuchong, saying, "Junior Brother Sun, this whisk is a spiritual treasure with considerable power. Please accept it."
Sun Yuchong quickly replied, "How could I, your junior brother, accept such a treasure without contributing anything?"
Lin Yuxiu said, "If you think highly of your senior brother, then accept him as your disciple."
Upon hearing this, Sun Yuchong could no longer refuse, so he reached out and took the whisk, then bowed and thanked Lin Yuxiu.
After returning to the main hall, Sun Yuchong and Lin Yuxiu reported to Ge Hong that all the old items had been put away. Upon hearing this, Ge Hong did not pursue the matter further, but only reprimanded Lin Yuxiu a few times.
Ge Hong then set up a vegetarian banquet inside the gate to celebrate Sun Yuchong's success.
It wasn't until late afternoon, around 3 PM, that Sun Yuchong left the Lingbao Sect amidst the farewells of everyone present, heading to the Aotai Divine Palace to take up his new post.
Time flies, and five months have passed in the blink of an eye.
The purge of the divine path in the Southern Jambudvipa is proceeding in full swing. According to statistics from the Human Remnant Gazette, in the past six months, a total of 41 sixth-rank celestial officials in the Southern Jambudvipa have been executed, and 117 people have been stripped of their celestial official positions.
More than 600 seventh-rank celestial officials were executed, and 1,400 were stripped of their celestial official positions.
More than 3,000 eighth-rank celestial officials were executed, and more than 2,000 were stripped of their celestial official positions.
Five thousand ninth-rank celestial officials were executed, and more than nineteen thousand were stripped of their divine titles.
Such a large-scale cleansing instantly emptied half of the divine palaces in the entire Southern Jambudvipa, and also gave the divine path of the entire Southern Jambudvipa a brand new look.
Those righteous gods who were lucky enough not to be purged did so not because they didn't want to commit crimes, but because they didn't have the opportunity.
Take the God of Gezao Mountain, for example. He wanted to learn from other mountain gods and rent out blessed lands and auspicious sites, but Gezao Mountain was the gate of the Lingbao School, which was the lineage of Master Ge. He couldn't afford to offend them.
However, since the Lingbao sect usually makes generous offerings to the God of Gezao Mountain, there is no need for the God of Gezao Mountain to take that risk.
Even if some clergy members haven't committed any crimes, Zhuang Yan wouldn't let them get away with it so easily.
Lin Ruhai, the water god of Songjiang, who had been a groom for less than three months, was standing with his head bowed outside the newly built Sitian Hall of the Nanyue Divine Palace, waiting for Zhuang Yan's summons.
At this moment, inside the Palace of Astronomy, Zhuang Yan was summoning the Dragon King of the East Sea.
The Dragon King of the East Sea, accompanied by two East Sea generals, stood in the main hall, bowing and kowtowing to Zhuang Yan.
After Zhuang Yan finished speaking, the Dragon King of the East Sea thanked him and stood up. He then reported to Zhuang Yan, "Your Majesty, the criminal officials Zhong Lan and Du Yao recently fled to the East Sea. They have been captured and brought to justice by me. Today, I have bound the two of them and brought them here to report to Your Majesty."
After he finished speaking, the two divine generals behind the East Sea Dragon Dynasty waved their hands. The two divine generals immediately bowed and left the hall. Then, one of them escorted Zhong Lan and the other escorted Du Yao into the hall.
Upon entering the main hall, four generals took over and escorted the two men to the front of the hall. With a forceful push, the two men knelt down with a thud.
Zhong Lan and Du Yao prostrated themselves on the ground and respectfully bowed, saying, "The criminal Zhong Lan (Du Yao) pays respects to the Divine Firmament Emperor."
Zhuang Yan said, "Do you think that if you escape to the East Sea, the Dragon King of the East Sea will protect you?"
Zhong Lan sighed, recalling the shocked look in the eyes of the East Sea Dragon King when they first escaped to the East Sea. But after the shock, the East Sea Dragon King almost without hesitation ordered the capture of both families and imprisoned them.
Zhong Lan initially wanted his sister to plead with the Dragon King of the East Sea, but the Dragon King was ruthless and even imprisoned his sister, the Dragon Mother of the East Sea.
So the two of them were escorted here by the Dragon King of the East Sea. Even Zhuang Yan couldn't help but chuckle after hearing the Dragon King's report.
There's a reason why the Four Dragon Kings have been able to hold their positions for so many years. Take the East Sea Dragon King, for example; he didn't even blink when it came to putting righteousness before family.
Having served as the Dragon King of the East Sea for so many years, he knew one thing deeply: never defy the laws of Heaven. If he hesitated even for a moment on this matter, his position as the Dragon King of the East Sea would be revoked.
Moving your butt is fine, but if your head moves too, that's not worth it.
Zhong Lan and Du Yao didn't say much, but directly kowtowed and confessed their crimes, begging Zhuang Yan to spare their family members' lives.
"Please, Divine Emperor, have mercy and spare the lives of our family members. We will never forget Your Majesty's kindness for all eternity," Zhong Lan and Du Yao said in unison.
Zhuang Yan nodded slightly and said, "As long as your family members are willing to hand over all the ill-gotten gains they have embezzled over the years, I can forgive them."
Upon hearing this, the two men's expressions immediately relaxed, and they kowtowed again, saying, "Thank you for your grace, Your Majesty."
The two were then taken away by the divine general and beheaded in front of the gate of the Southern Mountain Divine Palace. Thus, Zhuang Yan's great purge in the Southern Continent added two more heads.
After beheading Zhong Lan and Du Yao, Zhuang Yan asked the Dragon King of the East Sea, "Where are the families of these two traitors?"
The Dragon King of the East Sea quickly replied, "They are all imprisoned in my East Sea Dragon King's prison."
Zhuang Yan said, "Go to the Aotai Divine Palace and settle accounts with the Aotai Mountain God. See how much ill-gotten wealth they still haven't handed over. After the settlement, return to the two families and give them three years to hand over all the ill-gotten gains to the Nanyue Divine Palace. Then they can be pardoned."
Upon hearing this, the Dragon King of the East Sea breathed a sigh of relief and bowed, saying, "Your subject obeys the decree and thanks Your Majesty for your mercy."
After the Dragon King of the East Sea took his leave, Zhuang Yan called out to the outside of the hall, "Summon Lin Ruhai, the Water God of Songjiang, to an audience."
The boy inside the hall immediately announced loudly, "His Majesty has decreed that Lin Ruhai, the water god of Songjiang, be summoned to the hall for an audience."
Lin Ruhai was stunned. Just now, he only saw Zhong Lan and Du Yao being taken away, and soon after, they were brought back as two bloody heads by the Divine General Zhechong.
Upon hearing his name being called from inside the hall, he trembled and his body immediately tensed up.
Then, Lin Ruhai, with heavy steps, slowly walked into the majestic and solemn Hall of Astronomy. (End of Chapter)