Chapter 359: Phoenix Nirvana

"The Third Imperial Son has been enfeoffed as Prince of Xing!"

A series of enfeoffments drew the attention of many court officials.

According to the regulations for enfeoffing imperial princes drafted by Zhang Jian and the civil and military officials, the lowest rank for a prince's enfeoffment is usually that of a duke, after which they are successively promoted to prince and then to imperial prince.

This time, the Third Imperial Son, Zhang Xian, was enfeoffed as Prince of Xing, which is the second rank among princely titles.

It is quite normal for Zhang Xian to be enfeoffed as a prince at his age.

After all, he has not yet come of age.

Meanwhile, the Eldest Imperial Son, Zhang Yi, has already come of age and was enfeoffed as Prince of Nan'an, clearly a princely rank.

What is surprising, however, is that the Second Imperial Son, Zhang Zhao, was not enfeoffed with a princely title this time, indicating that the Emperor of the Great Xia Dynasty has other considerations.

Yet Zhang Zhao continues to follow Zhang Jian closely, day in and day out, showing no sign of having fallen out of favor.

Therefore, there remains only one possibility: the Emperor of the Great Xia Dynasty holds special hopes for Zhang Zhao.

……

Inside the inner hall

At this moment, Zhang Zhao was leaning over a sandalwood table in front of the hall, attending to state affairs.

On the dragon throne, Zhang Jian, on the contrary, had relaxed, having more time to integrate his Daoist arts and refine his magical power.

With the founding of the Great Xia Dynasty, the complete authority over the state and altars has, in a short time, freed him from thousands of years of arduous cultivation.

His primordial spirit's golden body radiates a round and flawless aura throughout, and within the innate Dao embryo, another thread of mysterious state-origin power has been nurtured and formed, coalescing into the merit of the Creation Convergence, which in turn nourishes and elevates his primordial spirit.

This is the radiance of creation.

After consuming the flat peaches, his primordial spirit's magical power at the golden body stage had actually already been perfected, his Dao heart steadfast; he merely wished to, and in fact could, forcibly break through the Creation realm, condense the radiance of creation, and merge it into his primordial spirit's golden body.

However, Zhang Jian felt that such advancement would waste the profound foundation he had accumulated beforehand, so he chose to temporarily restrain himself, waiting until after the Great Xia Dynasty was established and authority was complete, when advancement would be more appropriate.

This would also allow the primordial spirit of the State Emperor to erupt with maximum power.

He had consulted relevant records in the sect and also inquired of the Slaying Demon True Lord.

For an ordinary primordial spirit true person, the four realms of the primordial spirit may merely be a long and arduous path.

But for a primordial spirit true person born of the Great Immortal Sect of Longevity Dao, it is the best opportunity to expand their own advantages.

After proving the primordial spirit, one's foundation accumulates deeply and then bursts forth.

During this eruptive phase, one must continuously expand their advantages in order to form an indestructible and immortal Dao foundation.

The profound mystery of the Creation realm comes from a thread of creation radiance hidden deep within the laws of the Great Dao of Heaven and Earth.

A cultivator at the primordial spirit stage can only, after gaining a certain level of understanding of the heavenly and earthly Dao laws through their control of authority, grasp a thread of creation, condense the radiance of creation, and merge it into their golden body and primordial spirit, laying the foundation for future union with the Dao.

Now, as Zhang Jian ascends the throne, his grasp of the Great Dao laws of the state and the authority of the Emperor gradually reaches a certain level, and the radiance of creation naturally condenses into form.

Yet Zhang Jian did not immediately choose to merge with it, because he felt he could still do better.

He controls multiple Great Dao laws of Heaven and Earth, as well as many primordial spirit immortal arts.

He can completely deduce other primordial spirit immortal arts to the Creation level, able to condense even more creation radiance to merge into his primordial spirit, his life-bound magical treasure, and even into the primordial spirit immortal arts themselves; at that time, when he advances, he might even, within the Creation realm, comprehend the Great Dao laws of Creation, achieve perfection in Creation in one step, and reach the verge of union with the Dao.

Nine-colored light flows and turns deep between Zhang Jian's brows, and the Map of Mountains, Rivers, and the State continually absorbs dragon qi, imperial qi, and earthly qi, as if embracing all rivers.

At this moment, there is also a continuous influx of flat peach essence qi into the creation radiance deep within the innate Dao embryo, transforming it into creation primordial qi, one thread after another continuously gathering, making it grow stronger.

The greater this creation radiance becomes, the greater the benefits Zhang Jian will receive after his advancement.

Zhang Jian naturally will not miss this opportunity to expand his advantages.

At this moment, Zhang Zhao had finished handling all state affairs at the sandalwood table, also set down his vermilion brush, and let out a relaxed breath; there was also some fatigue visible between his brows.

Seeing this, Zhang Jian had the few little yellow gates beside him bring over the nearby spiritual fruit.

At the same time, he said with a smile:

"Zhao'er, I am preparing to establish a cabinet next; if the cabinet gradually takes shape, you will not be so weary!"

"A cabinet?"

Zhang Zhao's expression stirred, and he could not help but ask: "Father Emperor, is it similar to the Former Shu, where many civil officials formed a cabinet?"

Zhang Jian nodded slightly.

"More or less, but it cannot be entirely composed of civil officials; it ought to be formed by a portion of civil and military officials, as well as various types of 'professional' talents from all levels of the court, together constituting the State Academy, to assist you in handling state affairs, with specialized expertise, and many professionals available for consultation with the cabinet and you, making many problems easier to resolve!

Having you handle all these state affairs alone is too inefficient, and it would also delay your cultivation!"

Upon hearing this, Zhang Zhao thought for a moment and then said: "Your child will entirely follow Father Emperor's wishes!"

With Zhang Jian's personal example, Zhang Zhao also clearly understands that for the Zhang family to achieve the ideal of a sage king holding court, what is even more needed is 'individual martial prowess'!

If martial prowess is not outstanding enough, even if he were to be enfeoffed as heir apparent in the future, he might also fail to command respect.

Moreover, nowadays, whether it is his elder brother Zhang Yi or his younger sister Zhang Chang'an, both have entered the immortal Dao lineage, and he cannot fall behind.

No matter what, he cannot become the laggard.

After thinking it over, Zhang Zhao then raised another thorny issue.

"Father Emperor, how should we deal with my aunt and the Li clan?"

He was referring to the Grand Empress Dowager Qi of the Qian Dynasty and the Grand Grand Empress Dowager Li.

Upon hearing this, Zhang Jian's expression remained calm.

"Li shall be relocated to the Western Mountain Observatory, and the Black-Clothed Guard shall be assigned to closely monitor her, not allowing her to leave the Western Mountain Observatory a single step!"

"As for your aunt, she shall be enfeoffed as a First-Rank Shun State Lady, and a Shun State Lady's mansion shall be built for her in front of the gate on Yujing Street, for her residence; as for Wei Xian, he shall also be given a quota to enter the Western Hua Dao Institute!"

Zhang Zhao nodded upon hearing this.

"That would just be letting Li off easy!"

During this period, Li has been stirring up trouble, and there have even been rumors of secret edicts attempting to contact the former dynasty's imperial clan and old officials.

Zhang Zhao has long harbored murderous intent in his heart.

Zhang Jian glanced at Zhang Zhao; this son of his is young and vigorous, with a strong killing intent.

In fact, he was no different, but the Li clan was already old and could not stir up trouble, and he did not wish to tarnish his own wisdom over this, so he showed mercy beyond the law.

If the Li clan still does not know good from ill, then she can only be left to "die of old age" silently and unnoticed.

After all, she is old, so a natural death from illness would raise no suspicion.

After dealing with numerous trifles, at this moment Zhang Jian's eyes shifted, and his gaze turned toward the depths of the imperial palace.

He sensed a vast tribulation aura descending.

Feng Ling has begun to undergo tribulation and nirvana!

At the same time, he sensed that several ill-intentioned gazes were following from the void.

He had noticed this long ago; ever since Feng Ling revealed her true form, many cultivators have been eyeing her, openly or covertly.

The essence blood and soul of the divine beast phoenix can prolong life, refine high-grade elixirs, and are treasured materials for spirit treasures—naturally, there are those who covet them.

"In the end, I cannot avoid taking action myself!"

Zhang Jian secretly mused in his heart.