Chapter 200: Remnants of the Great Sun

The simulated sound of pages turning rustled loudly.

Jiang Ding turned page after page, reading very carefully, pausing every so often to ponder and compare it against the Xiang Qiyu Sect golden vein inheritance, the *Pure Yang Golden Lotus Scripture*, in his memory.

His brows furrowed from time to time, then smoothed out, shifting back and forth, until they almost formed a knotted '川' character.

His eyes were full of confusion and bewilderment.

"... There are similarities... the principles of the Gong Fa..."

"But the details are completely different!"

"Two entirely different paths to realizing a single Gong Fa concept, worlds apart — why is that?"

"Could it be that in just three thousand years, some Great Sun remnant came to the Xiang Qiyu Sect and independently deduced another version of the *Pure Yang Golden Lotus Scripture*?"

Jiang Ding muttered to himself.

"That doesn't make sense!"

"Concealment? What kind of concealment leaves even the title unchanged?"

"Localization? That doesn't fit either — both the original *Pure Yang Golden Lotus Scripture* and the Xiang Qiyu Sect's *Pure Yang Golden Lotus Scripture* can be practiced in Yue Country without any hindrance, and neither requires any specific materials or pills to work."

"It's a completely pointless innovation."

Countless possibilities surfaced in his mind, only to be rejected one after another — he truly couldn't find a direction.

"I'll go ask the Xiang Qiyu Sect library to look up some information."

Jiang Ding simply stopped thinking, returned to his quarters, and his figure vanished.

Of course, he sent someone to go.

He wouldn't leave Gold Spirit Mountain until he reached Foundation Establishment.

……

Gold Spirit Mountain.

After two months of silence, the mountaintop that seemed devoid of people once again received a new transmission.

"The Junior Martial Uncle-Grandmaster summons you."

Liu Liu Sanqi, who had been cultivating in the cultivation room, gave a start, waved out a transmission talisman, and hurried toward the mountaintop.

A moment later.

"Greetings, Junior Martial Uncle-Grandmaster!"

Liu Liu Sanqi bowed respectfully alongside a beautiful young woman as cold as ice.

"How are matters proceeding? Have you encountered any obstacles you cannot overcome?"

Jiang Ding asked casually.

Two months earlier, he had commissioned Chen Xi and Gong Gong Caiyu to establish a Mortal Oversight Bureau to control the Innates of Yue Country, manage the mortal realm's situation, and — without harming the Xiang Qiyu Sect's interests — improve the livelihood of Yue Country's common folk as much as possible.

He didn't ask for doors left unbolted at night, lost property unclaimed, or everyone well-fed and warm; at the very least, no great man-made disasters should occur, natural calamities should be relieved as much as possible, and the realm should reach the level of a flourishing age in a feudal society.

Chen Xi took the lead, with Liu Liu Sanqi and the three Winter maidservants supervising.

"Reporting to the Junior Martial Uncle-Grandmaster."

Liu Liu Sanqi said respectfully: "So far, progress has been smooth. The Mortal Oversight Bureau has already brought the Yue Country Innates — 'Heavenly Poison Divine Physician' Liu Po, 'Meteor Lightning Sword' Zhou Zhou Weitu, and others — into the fold. Green Ox Palace Grandmaster Green Daoist is the mortal master of Supreme Elder disciple Li Li Qingyun, so we couldn't use force against him, but through an exchange of interests, we also secured his support."

"Inner disciple Chen Xi has handled this aspect very well. Apart from repeatedly trying to annihilate Tang Country and restore the Chen dynasty's realm — which was stopped by the three Winter maidservants — there have been no other abnormalities."

Tang Country still existed.

The Xiang Qiyu Sect continued rebuilding the Immortal Seed Dragon and Phoenix Rankings, reorganizing the Green Garment and Heavenly Mechanism Halls, and had no desire for another imperial succession struggle that would plunge Yue Country into further turmoil and chaos.

The specific method was to casually find an infant and have him inherit the Tang dynasty's rightful line, letting the ministers govern collectively.

Thanks to the previous purges and reforms of accumulated ills in every region carried out by Founding Ancestor Tang Wang, combined with the Xiang Qiyu Sect's will pressing down on every ambitious schemer, Yue Country's court was currently functioning well.

"Well done."

Jiang Ding nodded, silently noting this lesson.

Everyone has their own private interests and will look after their own benefit alongside the work, placing the two side by side.

They might even place their own interests above the task at hand.

"I want to give her a small warning, yet I also want her to keep working wholeheartedly — how should I do it?"

Jiang Ding said directly.

He never concealed his inexperience in such matters.

"You wish to discipline inner disciple Chen Xi, correct? Simply combine kindness with authority."

Liu Liu Sanqi showed no contempt whatsoever; instead, he grew even more respectful: "The Director of the Mortal Oversight Bureau receives a stipend. You need only dock her stipend for three months."

"Additionally, the Chen clan is currently trying to maneuver to have an outer disciple at the fourth layer of Qi Refining become an inner disciple without a master. You may send a letter to Disciple Peak to facilitate this matter."

"If she still refuses to mend her ways afterward, the stipend granted shall be confiscated at several times its value, and every Chen clan inner disciple without a master shall be demoted to outer disciple status and never employed again."

"Furthermore, select other sect disciples well-versed in administrative affairs to take charge of this matter. Such talents are few, but they are not unique."

"Let it be done as you say."

Jiang Ding nodded, fully trusting the professional's opinion.

He then looked toward the cold and aloof maidservant.

"Your name?"

"This servant is Dong Dong Xue."

The cold maidservant showed a flicker of excitement, quickly hid it, and slightly bent her knees in greeting.

"During the operation of the Mortal Oversight Bureau, is there anything worth noting or improving?"

Jiang Ding asked.

He had swiftly learned the lesson of placing sole trust in one person.

A maidservant and a steward did not always share the same interests, and he was confident he could offer the other party more—even if the two formed an alliance of interests, it would not be very solid.

"This servant is apprehensive; Miss Chen has done very well, and I have not found any room for improvement."

Dongxue pondered for a moment.

"There is only one point worth noting: the outer-disciple Han Lin has participated extensively in the affairs of the Mortal Inspectorate. Whether it was recruiting, threatening Innates, or using the imperial court of Yue to deal with corrupt officials, he handled everything extremely well — far surpassing the others."

"Although his cultivation is low and his aptitude poor — only at the second layer of Qi Refining — his talent for miscellaneous affairs is extremely outstanding. The several times Miss Chen made mistakes in her decisions, he was able to compensate for them."

"If Master has need of handling similar miscellaneous affairs in the future, you may consider entrusting them to this person."

"Second layer of Qi Refining?"

Jiang Ding was surprised — this was even faster than the cultivation progress of Chen Xi and the other three-spirit-root cultivators.

"It is said he is some countless-generation descendant of the Founding Patriarch Zhongxing, and obtained a fortuitous encounter at the Founding Patriarch's cenotaph, consuming a great quantity of spirit pills in the process; his potential is already exhausted."

Dongxue said.

Jiang Ding gave no opinion either way, looked toward Liu Liu Sanqi, and stated his main purpose: "I want to see the sect's history — not the public version, but a detailed one, containing all manner of secrets, and it must be delivered up the mountain."

"This…"

Liu Liu Sanqi's face showed difficulty.

Such classified material — let alone him, even ordinary Foundation Establishment martial uncles would find it hard to access.

"Go. If there is any obstruction, just let me know."

Jiang Ding said calmly, seemingly with some assurance.

"Yes."

Liu Liu Sanqi straightened, cupped his fists, descended the mountain, and flew toward the Scripture Pavilion.

……

A streak of spiritual-light talisman flew from the Scripture Pavilion to the summit of Lei Feng Peak, then flew back at an even greater speed.

"Granted."

……

Scripture Pavilion.

"This disciple accepts the order."

An old man at the late stage of Foundation Establishment wore a respectful expression, received the talisman, walked into the top floor of the Scripture Pavilion, and carefully collected into his storage pouch jade slips, stone tablets, beast-hide scrolls, and the like that recorded the sect's secret major events.

He then came down the stairs, personally handed them over to the uneasy Liu Liu Sanqi, and admonished: "Please tell Martial Uncle Xiao that these things may only be viewed by himself, may not be transcribed, may not be taken out of the sect, and should ideally be returned within three days."

(End of chapter)