Chapter 1268: The Vice-Executive of the Immortal Gate

"Immortal Gate Banyan Tree Television:"

"This report: On this day (Year 1, January 1), the Meritorious and Honored Great Day Canghai Tianjun returned to the Immortal Gate Mother Star. The Immortal Gate Vice-Executive, Master Canghai Zhenzun, came to welcome him, warmly greeting the hero who opened up the Jiao Jiao Mingyu Minor Thousand Worlds, one hundred and fifty-five in total."

"Hundreds of millions of citizens on the Mother Star lined the streets to welcome him. The cheers shook the planet, causing the atmosphere to ripple... The purpose of Great Day Canghai Tianjun's return to the Mother Star this time is to succeed Master Canghai Zhenzun, take up the post of Vice-Executive, and shoulder the heavy responsibility of guarding the Mother Star."

"The handover ceremony is currently underway. This station is broadcasting it live for you..."

At this moment, it was the Immortal Gate National Day. Hundreds of billions of citizens watched the television with eyes unblinking, witnessing together the handover of the Mother Star Vice-Executive and the permissions of the Mother Star Central Array Spirit Computer.

Many citizens felt it was very strange, watching with eyes unblinking.

A change in the Vice-Executive was something very unfamiliar to them. For ninety-nine percent of Immortal Gate citizens, the Mother Star Vice-Executive had always been Master Canghai Zhenzun for over a thousand years, generation after generation. They thought it was something eternal.

In the Immortal Gate Grand Hall.

Master Canghai Zhenzun, dressed in a formal Daoist robe, held the Immortal Gate Vice-Executive Seal with both hands, waiting amidst solemn and dignified ceremonial music.

After a moment, the music slowed slightly.

A youth, dressed in a formal Daoist robe but slightly shorter, fifteen or sixteen years old, with a touch of childishness on his face, walked up slowly and took the seal from Master Canghai Zhenzun's hands.

"I swear..."

He began to speak, his voice clear and crisp.

"..."

Many citizens, who had been watching the Immortal Gate Vice-Executive succession ceremony with an admiring posture, were stunned.

"So young?"

"No mistake?"

"Looks like a middle school student wandered in..."

Many were greatly shocked.

They knew Great Day Canghai Tianjun, but no one expected his appearance to be so small. It wasn't in the history textbooks, giving people a sense of unreality.

"So cute!"

"Like my little kid..."

Many women's eyes sparkled with little stars; they wished they could rush into the Immortal Gate Grand Hall, grab that suspected intruder, and give him a fierce kiss.

Of course, most of these people were mortals and mid-to-low-level cultivators.

High-level cultivators above Nascent Soul had no such thoughts; they listened carefully to Great Day Canghai Tianjun's succession speech, extracting important key information.

"... Reform is inevitable."

"... The population of the Immortal Gate Mother Star must also increase. The Immortal Gate is a star-domain level regime possessing nearly two hundred Minor Thousand Worlds and nearly two hundred life planets, yet the population is only hundreds of billions. Is this reasonable?"

"This"

"is a path to disaster!"

"If this continues for thousands or tens of thousands of years, the Immortal Gate's strength will plummet, eventually facing the situation of annihilation once again."

"Citizens, I know everyone is unwilling to see the citizen count increase too much, diluting public welfare."

"This is a fact, indeed so."

"However, these newly added citizens did not fall from the sky; they are our children, our kids, our relatives. What is wrong with sharing with them?"

"Within the realms, it is cold and cruel, where the strong devour the weak. If the Immortal Gate falls into a momentary dream, corrupts and decays like those dynasties in history, no longer understanding the principle of hard struggle, then it will inevitably perish..."

The citizen population might increase significantly!

Many high-level cultivators felt a chill in their hearts, extracting this keyword. The will of the Immortal Gate upper echelons was extremely firm; it seemed a consensus had been reached, otherwise Great Day Canghai Tianjun would not have delivered such a speech at the Vice-Executive succession ceremony.

Words spoken on such an occasion represent not just himself, but the entire Immortal Gate.

Did you not see? Great Day Canghai Tianjun does not even mention his famous Great Day Soul Transformation Strategy now, because it is still a controversial thing, not suitable for private use of public tools, and to be published on this occasion.

A massive increase in population!

Many Immortal Gate high-level cultivators calculated in an instant that this policy would have a huge impact on themselves.

Ordinary citizens live only one or two hundred years; within their lifespan, the citizen count cannot increase much. But high-level cultivators will almost certainly face competition from many later cultivators, as their lifespans are sufficient to see this policy truly become reality.

The succession ceremony lasted several days.

After the ceremony ended, Master Canghai Zhenzun almost instantly shot out of the Grand Hall, flew into his planetary warship, and became a beam of light rushing toward the Super Transmission Array.

"Jiang Ding, buddy, I'm leaving first!"

"I haven't seen my big brother for over a thousand years!"

Master Canghai Zhenzun's voice came through: "He lacks me as a little brother; I don't know how unaccustomed he is. You don't need to see me off. Guard the Mother Star well. Once an enemy at the Dao-Integration stage attacks, adopt the emergency plan... Alas, the Immortal Gate is still poor; the Mother Star needs a Tier-7 Great Array."

"Senior Master Canghai, safe travels."

Jiang Ding saw him off beside the Super Transmission Array, just as Zhenjun Shenji Canghai Tianjun had seen off cultivators departing for battle one by one in years past.

"You too."

Master Canghai Zhenzun's final voice came through, and then the warship disappeared amidst the overwhelming light of transmission.

Jiang Ding's figure also vanished.

At this time, the Great Day Dayang Tianchi fell toward the Mother Star's surface, guided by layers of array light, landing in the Immortal Gate Vice-

Executive Office.

This is the place where Jiang Ding will stay for the next thousand years.

Jiang Ding looked left and right.

This office was about the size of a Minor Thousand World, located at the center of the Mother Star's many arrays, where the computing power of the Central Array Spirit Computer was most concentrated.

Here, possessing the best cultivation conditions on the Mother Star, even for Void Refinement cultivators, the conditions were excellent, comparable to the conditions for a Profound Heaven Sect grand expert during the Void Refinement realm.

Additionally, there were numerous advantages in comprehension, the computing power of the Central Array Spirit Computer, priority allocation of heavenly treasures and earthly gems, rights to mobilize numerous national-level laboratories, and so on.

As the Immortal Gate Vice-Executive, the cultivation conditions in all aspects were top-tier; even a peak Void Refinement cultivator would envy them.

Of course, for Jiang Ding, who possessed numerous military merits, these were dispensable, because what he needed could be obtained entirely on its own, without having to acquire it through position.

Guarding the mother star was, more than anything, a duty.

"Deputy Governor, these are the official documents submitted by the various departments, requiring your signature."

Teacher Gu Lin walked in carrying a small mountain of physical paper documents and reported.

Teacher Gu Lin's current position as Secretary-General of the Deputy Governor's Office was not a promotion by Jiang Ding—he did not have that authority. It was appointed by the Immortal Gate Citizens' Assembly, serving as a check and balance.

The documents requiring Jiang Ding's signature were mostly extremely important, concerning the lives of at least hundreds of billions of people across multiple Minor Thousand Worlds, and therefore required paper archives to cross-check and confirm against the electronic documents in the Central Array Spirit Computer.

(End of this chapter)