Chapter 134: Granting an Official Title

Chen Mo stepped into the third level of the secret treasury; the shimmering treasure light that met his eyes was dazzling, leaving him overwhelmed.

Unlike the Treasure Pearls used for illumination on the first and second levels, some treasures on the third level were constantly emitting dazzling light of various colors, lighting up the entire level of the secret treasury.

Compared to the first and second levels, this place was significantly smaller, only four or five mu in size, but the quantity of stored treasures was still quite astonishing; a rough count suggested there had to be at least four or five hundred items.

This was normal, after all, this was the accumulation of the Great Gan Heavenly Son over more than three hundred years.

And beyond the third level was the secret treasury belonging solely to the Heavenly Son; the things stored inside were not necessarily very precious, but they were all the personal collections of the current Heavenly Son.

This fourth level of the secret treasury had a separate Array guarding it, and it was not currently opened.

Chen Mo did not pay much attention to this, his gaze constantly searching through the treasures before him.

In fact, there were quite a few treasures that were very much to his liking, but since he had said he wanted armor and weapons this time, it was best to only choose armor and weapons.

Being too greedy is not a good thing.

He flipped through various rare armors and weapons one by one, noting down those he favored, intending to make his choice only after he had seen them all.

After a basic browse, Chen Mo quickly selected a set of armor.

This was a set of black full-body armor with a beast-face swallowing-head design; the total weight of the full suit was only three hundred and ninety jin—not heavy, but its defensive power was extremely strong.

The reason it was not heavy was that an Array was embedded within the armor, using Heaven and Earth Power to offset most of the weight.

Otherwise, the total weight of this armor would have been over one thousand four hundred jin.

Furthermore, there was another point: if a Martial Artist could withstand the full weight of this armor, then this Array could carry the Martial Artist's True Qi, providing the Martial Artist with an extra layer of protection.

This treasure could be called a rare treasure, though it was indeed too heavy and not very convenient to wear.

Yet, compared to the advantages of this beast-face swallowing-head chain armor, these shortcomings were not shortcomings at all.

According to the brief introduction beside the armor, this Heavy Armor was originally used by an Innate Martial Artist, who held it to roam the battlefield without restraint.

Even without using the Martial Artist's True Qi for reinforcement, this armor itself could effectively withstand the attacks of an Innate Martial Artist.

Taking it with him on his diplomatic mission would certainly be strenuous, but it would undoubtedly be much safer.

As for weapons, he did not manage to pick out any that he favored.

There were indeed some good weapons in the third-level secret treasury, but there was no spear that Chen Mo was skilled at using.

They were either swords, sabers, halberds, or long spears; Chen Mo did not find them very suitable in his hands, so he only kept them as backups.

If there were no suitable long spear on the second level, he was prepared to take a large halberd, and at most, he would just go back and pick a halberd technique to practice well.

With Chen Mo's current control over his physical body, if it were just some ordinary moves, he would learn them very quickly and would not need much time to basically master them.

What he needed to practice were merely those martial techniques that stimulated Qi and Blood; regarding this, he had no plans to cultivate them for the time being.

The martial techniques contained within the Greedy Wolf Seven Kill Fist and the Eighteen Tremors of Running Thunder were already enough for him to use for a very long time.

Especially the three martial techniques of the Greedy Wolf Seven Kill Fist, which themselves could be said to have almost no upper limit; as long as one could withstand the consequences of stimulating Qi and Blood, one could continuously increase the power of these martial techniques.

And Chen Mo was the person most suited for this martial technique; his physical body was strong enough to withstand the consequences.

Even if he unleashed power far exceeding his own limits, he could slowly recover later through the fetal breathing state.

Therefore, his biggest goal at the moment was to first master these three martial techniques, and he did not intend to waste energy practicing other martial techniques for now.

A person's time and energy are limited; rather than wanting everything, it is better to focus on one first.

In addition, Chen Mo also selected a treasure bow, named the Seven Absolute Treasure Bow.

If this treasure bow were drawn using only physical Blood Qi, it would require at least twenty-seven thousand jin of strength.

If it were activated using Inner Qi, then it would be much easier to draw.

Only seven thousand jin of strength would suffice, and more importantly, there was no need to carry arrows with him.

The Seven Absolute Treasure Bow could condense a Martial Artist's Inner Qi into form, flying a hundred zhang without dissipating; if it were the True Qi of an Innate Martial Artist, that arrow could reach a distance of a thousand zhang.

Chen Mo could not determine how his Inner Qi, which was beginning to undergo preliminary sublimation, compared to the True Qi of an Innate Martial Artist, but it should far exceed that of an ordinary Martial Artist, so flying an arrow several hundred zhang would not be a problem.

Putting away the Seven Absolute Treasure Bow and the beast-face swallowing-head chain armor, Chen Mo set off to return to the second level, searching carefully once again.

Upon this search, he actually found a long spear; the spear was named Autumn Dragon, and its style and length were not much different from the long spear Chen Mo had used before.

The weight was slightly lighter, only five hundred and sixty-three jin, but as a secondary weapon, it was quite suitable to use.

Although Chen Mo took this long spear, he still prepared to pick a basic halberd technique to study well later.

This way, if he changed weapons again in the future, the range of choices would be relatively broader.

As for asking someone to forge one?

The better the weapon, the longer it takes to refine and forge; some cannot even be forged by ordinary blacksmiths and require asking a weapon refiner among the Qi Refiners.

For a weapon refiner to forge a weapon, it takes three to five years at the shortest, and it is not impossible for it to take ten years for longer ones.

With the speed of his cultivation improvement, by the time the weapon was forged, he would probably not be able to use it.

Carrying the selected weapons, he returned to the exit of the first level, where the old eunuch was still sitting there waiting with a smile.

"These are the weapons and armor I have selected; I ask that you register them in the records, Senior."

Chen Mo took out the weapons he had selected from his Storage Bag one by one.

The old eunuch nodded, asked for the names of the weapons and armor, and carefully wrote them down in the ledger.

"Chen County Baron, please wait here for a moment; I will be right back."

After finishing the ledger, he stood up and did not take Chen Mo away, but instead walked toward the deeper parts of the secret treasury.

Chen Mo did not pry further and sat quietly at the desk waiting.

After nearly the time it takes for a stick of incense to burn, the old eunuch returned, holding a Talisman in his hand.

Unlike Talismans drawn with yellow paper and cinnabar, this Talisman was made of human skin.

The source of its material was likely those human-skin lanterns floating in the air.

"This is a Lesser Teleportation Talisman; it can also be activated using a Martial Artist's Inner Qi, but the effect will be much worse, and it can only teleport ten li at most.

His Majesty previously specifically sent someone to give instructions, ordering me to enter the Heavenly Son Secret Treasury to retrieve this Talisman and give it to you."

The old eunuch smiled, wiped the thin sweat from his forehead, and reached out to hand the Talisman to Chen Mo.

"Many thanks." Chen Mo took it, and the old eunuch hurriedly spoke again, "County Baron Chen, you had best not thank a lowly person like me; if you want to thank someone, thank His Majesty when you return."

After saying this, he stepped into the corridor.

Chen Mo put away his weapon and the Heaven and Earth Displacement Talisman, following closely behind him.

The old eunuch did not take him out of the Palace City immediately, but instead went to a side hall, where he was summoned by His Majesty together with the current year's second and third place scholars.

This audience was merely a routine one; the Son of Heaven offered them some words of encouragement and bestowed a jade pendant upon each of the three.

This jade pendant was an ordinary one, at most made of high-quality material with good clarity—it was a rare piece of jadeite, but otherwise had no special properties.

After bestowing the jade pendants, Zhao Huaili waved his hand to signal the three of them to leave.

"Two elder brothers, we have all passed the examinations and are now of the same year; I, your younger brother, am hosting a banquet at the number one restaurant in the city, I wonder if you two elder brothers would do me the honor of attending?"

After leaving the Palace City, the new second place scholar Li Yuchen suggested with a laugh.

He hailed from the Li family of Sanshan Zhou, and the current General Suppressing the South was his own grandfather.

The Li family of Sanshan Zhou, while not among the very top aristocratic families in Great Gan, was still in the upper tier of the first class.

Their family was deeply rooted in Sanshan Zhou, and their influence was immense.

However, his attitude toward Chen Mo had always been humble and polite.

The reason was simple: Chen Mo's strength was sufficient, and his talent was excellent.

Even their Li family currently only had one Innate Expert.

Building a good relationship with Chen Mo was, for both him and his family, entirely beneficial and harmless.

Since he had extended the invitation, Chen Mo and the other third place scholar of this year naturally would not refuse.

The three of them went to the Outer City together, had a hearty feast at the restaurant, and did not disperse to return home until evening.

Stepping back into his home, Zhao Yu saw him return and smilingly held up a gift list to hand to him, "There were many officials and nobles who sent you gifts today; I have organized everything they sent, take a look."

Chen Mo smiled and took the gift list, which clearly stated the identities of the gift-givers and the quantities of the gifts; clearly, Zhao Yu had put in quite a bit of effort to get this done.

He read through it carefully, nodded lightly, and praised, "You've worked hard."

Zhao Yu gave a chuckle, looking to be in a very good mood.

…………

The next day, Chen Mo went to the Wanfa Tower and selected a halberd technique called the Six Harmonies Great Halberd to study.

After practicing steadily at home for two days, the Imperial Court held another morning assembly.

It was just that this time it was not a Great Morning Assembly like the last one, but a small morning assembly that only officials of the Fifth Rank and above could attend.

Although it was called a small morning assembly, the number of officials who came was actually not small, totaling over two hundred people.

The main purpose of this assembly was to confer official positions upon the many Martial Scholars who had passed the examinations, and Chen Mo was, of course, among them.

Rising early according to custom, Chen Mo changed into his County Baron robes to prepare to enter the hall for the assembly.

His noble rank was higher now, so according to the rules, he had to wear his County Baron robes when attending the assembly.

Once he was conferred an official position and his rank became higher, he would then wear official robes to the assembly.

After changing into his official attire and stepping out of his home, Chen Mo first greeted several neighbors.

In fact, apart from him, everyone who could live in the Inner City was a high-ranking official of the second or third rank or a duke or marquis of the Imperial Court; after all, this place was not only closer to the Palace City, but was also equivalent to a Blessed Land.

If Chen Mo had not performed great meritorious service, coupled with his excellent talent and sufficient strength, and gained the favor of the current Son of Heaven, he would never have been able to live in this Inner City.

Walking into the Palace City hall, Chen Mo stood in one place with the many new scholars.

The Son of Heaven attended the assembly, the hundred officials paid their respects, and once all the established procedures were completed, the General of the Central Army spoke, requesting His Majesty to confer official positions upon the new Martial Scholars.

By rights, this matter should have been handled by the Grand General, but the Grand General controlled the military forces of the entire world and was a nominal position.

It had always been a position only conferred posthumously; few people could attain this rank while still alive.

Conferring positions upon the many scholars was done from the back to the front, with those who had attained the status of "presented scholar" receiving their titles first.

It was not until all the scholars of this year had been rewarded that it was finally the turn of Chen Mo, the Top Scholar.

"By the grace of the Emperor, the decree states! County Baron Chen Mo of Qingmu, young, quick-witted, and wise, is loyal to the country. He is conferred the rank of Xuanwu General of the Third Rank, temporarily holding the position of Attendant of the Ministry of Rites, and is dispatched as a special envoy to the Northern Li!" the Palace Attendant responsible for reading the Imperial Edict shouted loudly.

Diplomatic missions were the business of the Ministry of Rites, so since Chen Mo was to be the chief envoy, he naturally had to hold an official position in the Ministry of Rites as well.

However, this official position of his only had a name, and his actual power was limited to this mission.

Otherwise, if he were a proper Attendant of the Ministry of Rites, he would at least have to be a Right Fourth Rank official.

The Minister of Rites was a Third Rank official, while the Prime Minister of the Secretariat and the Chief Minister of the Department of State Affairs were only Second Rank officials.

However, if they were to die, they would be posthumously conferred the First Rank.

"Your subject accepts the decree!" Chen Mo responded loudly, bowed, and then accepted the Imperial Edict.

(End of chapter)