First Year of Shenwu.
The perpetually troubled Second Yan Han Empire, since the Emperor ascended the throne, had finally welcomed a joyful occasion.
—Lord Qingyuan and East Splendor Daoist True Monarch were married!
It's said that on the day of the celebration, the entire Changluo was covered in ten miles of red decorations, a display of grandeur that even outshone the Emperor's own wedding.
Chaoyang Street, Donghua Prefecture.
In the backyard, using Daoist Skill, all the flowers were made to bloom brilliantly, among them a peach blossom thrived especially well.
Beneath the shade of the peach tree, there was also a recliner.
Zhong Shenxiu, dressed in light white garments, lay leisurely on it, her black hair cascading softly over her shoulders, her posture extremely relaxed.
Beside her, Lord Qingyuan, dressed as a married woman, her eyes brimming with laughter, gazed at Zhong Shenxiu, occasionally taking a few Spirit Fruits and feeding them into Zhong Shenxiu's mouth.
"Peach Blossom Village houses the Peach Blossom Nun, beneath the Peach Tree resides the Peach Blossom Immortal. The Peach Blossom Immortal plants peach trees, again picking blossoms to sell for wine money..."
Zhong Shenxiu squinted her eyes and intoned the verses.
"My husband desires fine wine, why bother to buy?"
Lord Qingyuan laughed, "Seeing how fond you are of peach blossoms, why not rename this place 'Daoyuan Pavilion'?"
She thought Zhong Shenxiu was reciting the poem to hint at a place they had once stayed, and her cheeks quickly flushed with a beautiful blush.
Zhong Shenxiu quietly sighed but only smiled.
At that moment, a servant girl bowed at the door, "True Monarch, County Lord... Housekeeper Er Ha requests an audience!"
Yan Han nobility all had the tradition of maintaining housekeepers and servants, Lord Qingyuan was no exception; when she married, she brought a large retinue of civil and military officials, palace maids, and servants.
Zhong Shenxiu had adapted to local customs by summoning Huang Xie and his grandnephew, two unworthy fellows, to serve as confidants and useful subordinates.
"Let my husband handle the outside matters; Lady Qingyuan, go enjoy yourself in the garden."
Lord Qingyuan, unaware of what Zhong Shenxiu planned to discuss with the dog-headed housekeeper, withdrew some distance, strolling leisurely through the garden.
Soon, Er Ha, with his distinctive black and white dog head and deep blue eyes, arrived: "Awroo... woof... greetings, True Monarch!"
Zhong Shenxiu looked at the large dog head approaching and couldn't help but sigh.
Even though Er Ha had ascended to the Divine Power Realm, his innate silliness remained.
Fortunately, Huang Xie was much steadier than his nephew. Zhong Shenxiu had previously used a Secret Technique to strip away his original cultivation and then had him re-condense Daoist Skill, elevating him to the Divine Power Realm, making him now just about serviceable.
As for Er Ha, he was just a messenger.
"Hmm, what's the word from Huang Xie?"
Zhong Shenxiu took a white jade wine pot from beside her and poured herself a cup of Spiritual Wine, casually asking.
"Following True Monarch's instructions, uncle has already compiled the distant news, intelligence from other provinces, and local developments for True Monarch's review!"
Er Ha presented a specially-made scroll of bamboo slips.
Though it seemed small, each bamboo slip had been refined through Daoist Skill and could contain vast amounts of information.
These were all collected specifically by Huang Xie in Zhong Shenxiu's name — one glance was enough to discern the major trends of the world.
Holding the bamboo slips, a stream of information instantly emerged before Zhong Shenxiu, evolving into a vast world.
In the West, since the dispersal of the Black Fog, the Clement Kingdom ruthlessly invaded the East, then knelt without a trace of spirit, presently being utterly conquered and its land claimed by the East.
The remaining two kingdoms, Bauhinia and Enrique, last had their support pushed back, and top figures within the country also suffered severe injuries. Recently, it's been relatively calm.
However, there is danger in the convergence of Western nations. Once the most Western, the Western Court Empire, joins in, the situation could deteriorate instantly.
As for the interior of the Second Yan Han Empire, it is even more stormy!
The death of two disintegrated immortals was the erasure of the source, which outsiders might not know, but the comparison of strength couldn't be faked.
Today's Second Yan Han Empire, already shaky, is constantly facing rebellions in various states, and numerous factions are rising, with each major sect preserving themselves locally.
Even though the newly ascended Emperor Shenwu tried to coax and persuade, it was of little effect.
Instead, last time, after Zhong Shenxiu destroyed the Dongping Haomiao True Monarch, those sects under the top factions showed some signs of freezing in their tracks.
Although Zhong Shenxiu didn't consider this aspect when he made his move, it was still used by the court for propaganda and deterrence.
Of course, it cannot be admitted publicly. Otherwise, using one's people as a tool is not particularly commendable.
However, ultimately, it demonstrated the court's deterrence, capable of erasing any sect of Dharma Body!
Sects without disintegrated immortals must carefully consider their worth before turning against the court.
"The empire and the realm, Yan Han has already lost half, what a mess…"
Zhong Shenxiu shook his head, then continued to look at other intelligence.
Among them, the Supreme Dragon and Tiger Sect ran smoothly, obviously subdued, and no longer harbored any ambitious dissidents.
Zhong Shenxiu was happy with this and could concentrate entirely on deducing the ritual for the Divine Transformation.
Regarding the Divine Transformation, the greatest aid was the "Original Scripture" obtained from the Demon Hunter World and some memories from Da Mo's last moments.
Sadly, Da Mo's memories were too fragmented, containing little useful information.
The best example, however, was his own previous experiences.
Those times of traversing and advancing... were key in partially grasping the "Order of Light."
Therefore, Zhong Shenxiu felt that what he needed to do was to replicate everything he had done before, create some Golden Fingers for ordinary people to explore and advance...
Even if it didn't work, it was still a trial, at least providing references and experience.
'Golden Finger… System… Crafting it with the Key of Intention is quite convenient… focusing on the "Order of Light" as the core. Giving only a projection to the other party, there's no need to fear backlash as they grow strong…'
'And the most crucial thing... Who will be the target?'
Zhong Shenxiu scanned around, finally resting on Er Ha's dog head: 'Husky system? The gaze of a forever-alone dog? Forget it…'
The waters of the Seven Luminaries Heaven were too deep, he wasn't keen on stirring up trouble in this realm.
In fact, real powerhouses looking to create chaos would seek out other Small Thousand or Medium Thousand Worlds.
Like Da Mo, like the King of Ten Thousand Demons... Of course, these two are classic negative examples, both hiding in worlds that were exposed or mistakenly entered, then got disrupted, rituals failed, ending in total disaster…
'Fortunately, my ritual doesn't concern life and death or breakthroughs... It's merely an attempt, even if it fails, it's no big deal to give up, and then start over in another place…'
Zhong Shenxiu immediately made a decision to use the Key of Heart, searching for more Small Thousand Worlds to conduct experiments slowly.
And he had already deduced most of the ritual content.
'Collisions between different orders… Cross-world travel!'
'Advancements within the same order… Systems and upgrades!'
'So... at least two worlds are needed for a large-scale cross-world game, right?'
PS: The cross-world game chapter starts, if book friends want to be extras, you can go to the comment section in Qidian to leave a message…