In the Numinous Sky Hall, Celestial Emperor was seated upon his treasure throne. The ten Celestial Venerables were also present, each of them sitting upright in a solemn fashion. Under the throne, all of the civil and military officials were gathered together, and all kinds of divine light illuminated the air.
Below, Gongsun Yan kowtowed. Celestial Emperor gave a few words of encouragement and allowed her to rise.
A court official submitted a report, praising Gongsun Yan for her compassion and virtues and having both ability and political integrity, hence moving the heavens. Celestial Emperor again gave a few words of encouragement and instructed to give them a seat.
As Gongsun Yan sat down, a court official submitted another report, praising Gongsun Yan as having extraordinary morality and conduct and also saying that she was a talent that was able to rule the world. He said, âMother Earth is morally corrupt and has fallen. Now, the Primordial Realm is without a leader and has descended into chaos. Itâs difficult for Celestial Venerable Xiao to guard the Primordial Realm alone. Hence, I recommend appointing Gongsun Yan as Virtuous Earth Sovereign, to be stationed in the Primordial Realm to share Celestial Venerable Xiaoâs burden.â
Celestial Emperor looked at the ten Celestial Venerables and laughed. âWhat do my beloved ministers think?â
The ten Celestial Venerables already had a tacit understanding and nodded in approval in succession. Celestial Venerable Xiao laughed. âWeâll let Your Majesty decide.â
Hence, Celestial Emperor issued a decree, appointing Gongsun Yan as Virtuous Earth Sovereign, permitting her to build celestial palaces and command up to a million troops.
Gongsun Yan bowed to give her thanks.
The gods chanted in unison, and the hall was enshrouded in divine light. Waves of melodious Dao sound rippled, extremely pleasing to the ear.
The ten Celestial Venerables also blessed Gongsun Yan with ten light halos behind her head. Upon seeing this scene, Celestial Venerable Mu, whose consciousness was hiding in the heart of Gongsun Yanâs brows, couldnât help but be put on the spot. âThere are now ten pairs of eyes staring at Gongsun Yan. Sheâs unable to hide anything from them now!â
At that moment, a halo behind Gongsun Yanâs head quietly exuded a strand of consciousness, which entered the heart of her brows. Qin Mu gave a cold laugh as the consciousness of his that was hiding in the heart of Gongsun Yanâs brows exploded!
The consciousness that snuck into the heart of Gongsun Yanâs brows apparently didnât expect to find someone else hiding inside. Immediately, the consciousness became a Great Overarching Consciousness Heaven! To his surprise, Qin Muâs consciousness also turned into a Great Overarching Consciousness Heaven. The two Great Overarching Consciousness Heavens collided, and the two consciousnesses immediately knew each otherâs identity.
âGrand Emperor!â
âCelestial Venerable Mu!â
Celestial Emperor also bestowed money, palace maids, and all kinds of treasures. âVirtuous Earth Sovereign, compared to here, the lower bound is going through turbulent times. I hope that youâll do your best to suppress that and ensure the safety of the people.â
Gongsun Yan nodded, completely oblivious that there was a great battle raging in the heart of her brows.
Celestial Emperor dismissed the court, and the ten Celestial Venerables stepped forward to congratulate Gongsun Yan and gave her some words of encouragement. The rest of the ministers also stepped forward in succession to give their well-wishes. Gongsun Yan followed the guidance of Ling Yuxiu and acted orderly in accordance with court ritual. She was dignified and stately, which won endless praise from the ministers.
As Qin Mu had deposited more consciousness in the heart of Gongsun Yanâs brows, he was about to break the enemyâs Great Overarching Consciousness Heaven. However, the Grand Emperorâs consciousness was more skilled, attacking with an endless stream of consciousness divine arts. Even if Qin Mu was able to overwhelm him by a notch, there was nothing he could do to him.
The consciousness of the two kept battling in the heart of Gongsun Yanâs brows. When Gongsun Yan was done and walked out of the Numinous Sky Hall, Qin Mu immediately came up to her and tapped on the heart of her brows gently. Immediately, the Grand Emperorâs invading consciousness was destroyed by him!
âThe Grand Emperor is still very remarkable. He possesses high attainments in the path of consciousness, which Iâm unable to match up to.â Qin Mu couldnât help but confess his admiration.
That confrontation with the Grand Emperor in the heart of Gongsun Yanâs brows had given him a deeper understanding of the Grand Emperorâs abilities.
The Grand Emperor was able to become one of the ten Celestial Venerables, and his attainments in the path of consciousness were unmatched, especially after he assimilated the system of divine treasures and celestial palaces. His consciousness divine arts were now much more powerful than before.
âYoung Master, what should I do?â
Immediately after Gongsun Yan left the Numinous Sky Hall, she became that simple girl again, without any ideas or opinions of her own. She whispered, âI donât know how to be this Virtuous Earth Sovereign, I...â
Qin Mu laughed. âYou donât have to do anything.â
Gongsun was puzzled. Qin Mu continued talking, saying, âYou just need to be yourself and do what you have been doing. Watering every day, planting flowers, fertilizing, catching bugs, raising a nest of phoenixes, and following Granny around, learning her paths, skills, and divine arts.â
Gongsun Yan blinked her big sparkling eyes. âBut, His Majesty Celestial Emperor asked me to build a Virtuous Earth Celestial Palace, and I have no experience in this area...â
âThatâs even simpler.â
Qin Mu said, âYou can request a sum of money from Celestial Emperor. After that, you can ask Eternal Peace to build the celestial palace for you. As for recruiting soldiers and buying horses, you can leave it to Emperor Yanxiu. Ling Yuxiu would be happy to help you do all these things. You can just concentrate on cultivating. Once your abilities are stronger, you can defeat ten thousand enemies by yourself in battle. Thatâs all you need.â
âI still have to fight battles...â Gongsun Yan felt some uneasiness.
Qin Mu laughed heartily. âVirtuous Earth Sovereign controls half of the Primordial Realm. If there are rebellious powers, wonât she need to suppress them?â
As he was talking, the god official returned, bringing along with him the treasures bestowed by Celestial Emperor, along with a hundred palace maids and an Eight Phoenix Carriage. The eight phoenixes were gorgeous and were abnormally big and strong, not inferior to the nine dragons of Qin Muâs Heavenly Dragon Treasure Carriage.
The Eight Phoenix Carriage was the standard for powerful officials. It was a grade lower than the Heavenly Dragon Treasure Carriage, but it still wasnât trivial.
Gongsun Yan boarded the treasure carriage and reluctantly bid farewell to Qin Mu. The carriage started to move, carrying the many treasures and palace maids as it flew towards the Spirit Energy Mutual Shift Bridge.
Qin Muâs gaze flickered, watching as she left. âThe blessings given by the ten Celestial Venerables behind Yanâerâs head are troublesome things. They are very difficult to remove and are even more tricky than those given by the ancient gods!â
However, after Gongsun Yan became Virtuous Earth Sovereign and established the Virtuous Earth Celestial Palace, Eternal Peace would be famous to foreign troops.
That was a good thing!
After the calamity of Eternal Peace, instead of training more soldiers, troop strength had been reduced. Even with the help from North Deity and West Deity, which the country received powerful divine weapons like the Five Thunder Pot from, it didnât set up the Five Thunder Army. Rather, it concentrated on developing itself.
In the long run, even though the country was wealthy, it wouldnât be strong.
In Eternal Peace, there were currently many gods who had cultivated to the god realm that could be sent to the Virtuous Earth Celestial Palace. Eternal Peace would also need to recruit divine arts practitioners into the army, sending them into battle to gain experience in preparation for the future.
At that moment, Celestial Venerable Hao, Celestial Venerable Huo, and the rest of the ten Celestial Venerables walked out of the Numinous Sky Hall.
âCelestial Venerable Mu!â
Celestial Venerable Hong quickly stepped forward and bowed, laughing as he said, âCelestial Venerable Mu was actually waiting outside the Numinous Sky Hall all along. Why didnât you enter the hall to speak? His Majesty has always been thinking of Celestial Venerable Mu!â
Qin Mu returned the courtesy and laughed. âI came late, and the court was already in session. Iâm afraid of disturbing His Majesty and our fellow officials.â
He was full of suspicion as he examined Celestial Venerable Hong.
Celestial Venerable Hong shared some similarities with Da Hong, whom he met during the Dragon Han Era. They both wore loose robes with large sleeves. However, Da Hong was a young man, and Celestial Venerable Hong was an old man with a white beard and white hair, full of vitality.
Both were of the demon race. However, according to Divine King Gong Yun, Da Hong was dead. In that case, was Celestial Venerable Hong the Grand Emperor or not?
Could it be that the Grand Emperor had come down from the Ultimate Void in the Great Overarching Consciousness Heaven and entered Da Hongâs corpse?
He was full of smiles as he exchanged greetings with Celestial Venerable Hong.
Earlier, the two were pitting themselves against each other in the heat of Gongsun Yanâs brows. Now, they were chatting happily as though nothing had happened.