Chapter 176

As the voice fell, the tightly closed vermilion gates outside the morning court slowly opened.

Qin Jiang walked in slowly dressed in white clothes, and half a step behind him, Ye Yuanling held a square wooden tray with his palms suspended at his waist.

Inside the wooden tray was a black robe with patterns woven in gold thread, and a golden command token was pressed on top of the robe, with rare and exotic beasts carved on the outside and a 'Qin' character embossed on the inside.

"Welcome—Longevity Sect Master!"

The civil and military officials stood up one after another and bowed, hundreds of voices overlapping and vibrating, appearing quite imposing.

Qin Jiang raised his brows slightly. What was the situation? Such a big formation? He had felt something was not quite right when Ye Yuanling was holding the tray just now.

"Young friend, wait a moment, you will know in a while," Ye Yuanling said softly, his voice only spreading between the two of them.

Afterward, he looked at the officials and said loudly: "Everyone, please sit; His Majesty has important matters to announce today."

After the officials were seated, on the high platform, the Xia Huang nodded slightly, then waved his hand, and an illusory golden edict appeared out of thin air.

Among the officials, an old man recognized it, "This is... the golden edict connected to the national fortune of our Great Xia? Since the First Ancestor of the Xia Huang, it has been used no more than ten times! Why is it being moved today?"

Another person was excited, his voice trembling, "This golden edict of national fortune is a vital asset of our dynasty; could it be that something major is going to happen today?"

Just as the officials were puzzled, the Xia Huang's voice sounded, instantly drowning out all other sounds.

"The Emperor of Heaven shines upon the earth below, responding to the period of the autumn sacrifice, inheriting the spirit of the ancestors, and flourishing with sweet wind and rain.

I have received the order of heaven, drinking like the teachings of the predecessors, conferring titles of kings, clarifying the virtuous, this is the order of the ancient wise kings.

Now there is the Longevity Sect Master, who repelled Huai Wang and beheaded Fushan, his name is in the present age, his merits are for a thousand autumns. Now, complying with the will of heaven, I hereby confer the title of Qin King, to assist in the government, manage the mountains and rivers together, and use gold to form the emblem."

As the words fell, the civil and military officials were all shocked.

Since the First Ancestor of the Xia Huang, no king of a different surname had ever been conferred, and even Ye Yuanling back then was only conferred as the National Teacher.

Not to mention that the Xia Huang's golden words were spoken, saying to assist in the government and manage the mountains and rivers together; this was simply a Regent King!

Ye Yuanling raised the tray slightly, "Qin King, please put on the king's robe."

Qin Jiang looked at the king's token and king's robe in the tray; he knew that if he put on this king's robe, it meant he was willing to take on the fate of the Great Xia.

There was nothing to hesitate about; he pointed his fingers slightly, the golden token flew up, and the king's robe danced.

The next second, he grabbed with his large hand, the black king's robe drew a semicircle and draped over his body, the ferocious evil dragon embroidery roaring like a living thing.

Raising his hand, the king's token landed in his palm, and he hung it casually at his waist.

"I am the Qin King."

He spoke, his voice not loud, but carrying majesty.

As he finished speaking, a wisp of golden light appeared in the void, falling onto the golden edict in front of the Xia Huang, leaving Qin Jiang's name.

The golden edict shattered, and the next moment, Qin Jiang felt an inexplicable power connect with himself.

Under the blessing of this power, this heaven and earth seemed to have a thin film torn away, becoming clearly visible; he could even see some golden threads enveloping the entire heaven and earth.

He knew that was the national fortune of the Great Xia.

From this moment on, his every word and action was enough to influence the entire Great Xia.

"Congratulations to the Qin King!"

The civil and military officials stood up and bowed, much more respectful than before, because they knew that the two words 'Qin King' represented more than just a title.

At the same time, this represented true control over the Great Xia; although not as much as the Xia Huang, it was completely different from the meaning of an official position.

"Rise," Qin Jiang said. Looking at the officials, he was actually a bit disappointed; previously, because of the shroud of the imperial dynasty's fortune, it was not easy for him to investigate the strength of the officials at will.

But now that he himself had mastered part of the imperial dynasty's fortune, the strength of the civil and military officials was clear at a glance.

Most were still high-level Secret Martial Artists, with a total of less than twenty Divine Martial Artists; although the quality was quite good, ten of them were Divine Martial Artists of the fifth rank or above.

But it was still a bit different from what he had guessed.

However, considering that the Great Xia was now on the verge of collapse and hundreds of thousands of troops were stationed at various border areas, he thought that many Divine Martial experts were in the border army.

The officials stood up, and the Xia Huang laughed loudly, "Obtaining the Qin King today is truly a great fortune for the country! A banquet will be held at noon to hold the cabinet entry ceremony to celebrate the Qin King!"

At the Cheng Tian Hall, at the banquet celebrating the King.

Qin Jiang sat at the same table as Ye Yuanling, drinking fine wine, and Qin Jiang asked: "Elder Ye, what is this cabinet entry ceremony?"

Ye Yuanling smiled upon hearing this, "The so-called cabinet entry is actually inviting your divine position into the True God Pavilion. At that time, the national fortune will use your divine position as a guide to bless everyone related to you. From then on, the family you are in can be said to share the same fate as the country."

Qin Jiang nodded, "I observed that there don't seem to be many Divine Martial Artists among the officials; were they all sent to the border areas?"

"Hmm? There is no such thing," Ye Yuanling said somewhat puzzled, then realized and couldn't help but laugh.

"The reason you feel there are not many Divine Martial Artists in the court is actually because you are in Yuan Prefecture; the comprehensive strength of the Longevity Sect is actually one of the best among the nine provinces.

Eighth-rank Divine Martial Artists are extremely difficult to cultivate; even if the governors of each province use the national fortune, no one has achieved it. They are already invincible combat power below the True God level; there are only a few in the entire Great Xia, not even counting on five fingers.

This is still counting the eighth-rank Divine Martial Artists who are hiding and cultivating bitterly; if we only talk about the forces on the surface, the only one that can compare with the Longevity Sect is the Cangya Sect in Qizhou.

The Sect Master of the Cangya Sect is also an eighth-rank peak Divine Martial Artist, and he is now in his prime. It's just that Qizhou borders the Rong Kingdom and cannot be moved lightly, so I didn't transfer him to Yuan Prefecture back then."

Qin Jiang understood; it wasn't that the officials in the court were weak, but that the Longevity Sect was too strong.

"By the way, what was the eight-hundred-mile emergency from Qizhou the day before yesterday actually about?" he asked.

"It wasn't anything major; the Rong Kingdom seemed to have received some news from the Huai Kingdom and reached some kind of cooperation, gathering an army of 500,000 at the border.

However, there were no powerful figures among them, and no True God personally took the field, so I mobilized the military forces of the surrounding three provinces to go there, which is enough to defend," Ye Yuanling said.

If it were a few hundred years ago, this would have been a major event.

But for the current Great Xia, as long as it didn't involve the existence of a True God, it didn't count as anything.

Qin Jiang nodded, "If there is a need, I can go there."

Ye Yuanling shook his head gently, "No need, the Rong Kingdom does not have a True God peak, I can deal with it. Now for the Great Xia, the most important thing is you. As long as you can break through to the True Immortal realm, then all crises will naturally be resolved."

A True Immortal is the foundation of a country; this is the consensus of the seventeen kingdoms of the Shenzhou.

Only with a True Immortal suppressing the foundation does one have the qualification to be a member at the dining table.

If there were no True Immortal, then the surrounding kingdoms would attack in groups.

Usually, they wait until the True Immortal has feathered before taking action, but the Immortal Ancestor of the Huai Kingdom wanted more, which is why he took action first.

As for the True Immortals of the other kingdoms, they wouldn't have any opinion on this, and some were even happy to see it.

Being a step late just meant getting fewer benefits; if the Great Xia Immortal Ancestor dragged the Huai Kingdom Immortal Ancestor to die together, then the benefits obtained would directly double.

Dong dong dong! Dong dong dong! The crisp sound of gongs shook the sky, a fifth-rank Divine Martial Artist dressed in palace clothes walked forward carrying a copper gong, followed by two people, who were also Divine Martial Artists.

The two held up a three-foot-high golden tablet, with the words Qin King written on it, and the merits inscribed below.

This was the True God tablet; even in the True God Pavilion, there were not many.

(End of chapter)