Chapter 641: Determining the World's Overlord

Chapter 641: Chapter 121: Determining the World’s Overlord

Wang Ping discovered the name of the Seventh Prince of Lishui Prefecture on the ritual roster. This was a name not previously included by the Daoist Scripture Hall. The True Monarch from the Taiyan Sect was still Huishan True Monarch, and below him were two Lords: one was Li Miaolin’s master, Chongyuan Taoist, and the other was Zhongde Daoist.

This Zhongde Daoist was a fallen Taiyan Cultivator and the Ancestral Master of Daoist Chengxi’s lineage. Wang Ping couldn’t understand why he was being venerated, but he could only suppress the question and search for the answer on his own.

Subsequently, over a hundred Third Realm Cultivators began constructing the ritual altars according to the order on the roster. At the forefront were, of course, the two Saints. They were followed by the True Monarchs of the Five Profound Sects and the two Heavenly Gate sects, then the Demon Race and the Star Gods, and finally, the various Lords.

Wang Ping noticed that True Monarch Yuan Wu was ranked just below the seven True Monarchs of the Mystic and Heavenly Gate sects, placing him eighth. The Dragon Monarch, however, was ranked at the very top, ahead of all other True Monarchs.

Wang Ping personally presided over this ritual. In attendance were over a hundred Third Realm Cultivators, more than seven hundred Second Realm Cultivators who had rushed in from all across Zhongzhou, and over a thousand Entering Cultivators. The Qi Cultivators alone filled nearly half of Zhonghui County Town.

As the sound of Wang Ping’s prayer echoed between heaven and earth, everyone knelt in unison. The city of over a million people fell silent, its destiny connected to the fortune of the Qianmu Temple mountain range. The scene was one of incredible solemnity and reverence.

After the prayer, Wang Ping led everyone in the grand ceremony of three kowtows and three bows.

When the ceremony concluded, Wang Ping recited two scriptures from the Daoist Family before the altar on behalf of the assembled cultivators. This was an act of demonstrating their resolve to the True Monarchs—a declaration of their determination to follow the Dao and an acknowledgment of the True Monarchs as the Ancestral Masters of the Taoist Family.

After the recitation, the other cultivators came forward in turn to pay their respects to the True Monarchs. Wang Ping, acting as the altar’s Guardian, stood to the left and witnessed it all.

This process lasted for half a month, as even the lowest-level Qi Cultivators were permitted to come forward and pay their respects.

Once the ritual concluded, the next step was selecting members for the remaining third, fourth, fifth, sixth, and seventh-tier seats. It was a tedious process. Wang Ping moved the selection to the Daoist Palace’s headquarters in Jinhuai City and put the twenty-one sects—those holding the second-rank chief positions of the third tier—in charge of the proceedings.

The bustling Qianmu Temple grew desolate in just two days, as everyone eagerly rushed to Jinhuai City to vie for a seat.

「Qianmu Temple, Front Hall.」

Wang Ping sat at the left side of the Eight Immortals Table at the head of the room. Seated in order after him were Jiangcun of Lishui Prefecture, Mingxin of Vajra Temple, Hua Yun of the True Yang Sect, Liu Shibin and Wu Quan of the Earth Cave Sect, Lian Ji of the Taiyin Sect, Lu Shan of the Nine Tripods Sect, and the representative from the Star God Alliance, Miaoyu. That was correct; the last of the nine permanent seats belonged to the Star God Alliance.

Eight of the nine permanent council members were present. The Yuqing Sect had failed to appear at all. The Taiyin Sect had long wanted to oust them from the Daoist Palace, but no one else had agreed.

“Today marks the first permanent council meeting since the founding of the Daoist Palace. We have three items on the agenda…”

Jiangcun presided over the meeting. He sat with a straight back and said formally, “The first item on the agenda is to begin construction of the communication network required for the third-tier seats and above of the Daoist Palace. We have two preliminary plans. The first is to follow the precedent set by the Daoist Scripture Hall: each faction will be responsible for its own jurisdiction and will install Transformation Arrays at the borders where they connect.”

The Mystic Sects and the Heavenly Gate sects both had their own methods of communication, all based on similar principles. The unorthodox sects, on the other hand, all used Communication Jade Tokens, as they lacked access to the fundamental Five Elements Yin Yang Energy.

Hearing this, Lu Shan frowned and asked, “And the second plan?”

“The second plan is for the Daoist Palace to deploy the network uniformly.”

As expected, most chose the first plan. Lu Shan didn’t press the matter. If it came down to it, he could always ask someone else to build the communication apparatus for him.

With the first item passed smoothly, Jiangcun’s tone relaxed. “The second item concerns Fellow Daoist Changqing. It is about the regulation and use of the special ‘Power Pills’!”

Just then, Yu Lian poked her head out from Wang Ping’s sleeve to look at Jiangcun. She was hiding in his sleeve because no outsiders were permitted to attend the permanent council meeting.

“Fellow Daoist, are you certain the refined ‘Power Pills’ can be created with limited energy output?” Hua Yun Daoist’s calm voice asked.

“I am certain,” Wang Ping replied confidently. “Currently, I have only experimented with energy levels below the Entering Realm. The energy consumption for anything higher is too great, making it cost-ineffective unless it’s for a specially made ‘Power Pill’!”

No one was actually opposed to the special ‘Power Pills,’ as they could all see ways to profit from them.

“So, we set a limit on the energy output, and then we can craft and sell corresponding defensive devices?” Liu Shibin from the Earth Cave Sect proposed, looking eager. He appeared to be quite short on funds at the moment.

The proposal passed quickly. After all, everyone present had large clans and vast operations to support; no amount of money was ever enough. With the possible exception of Jiangcun, the others were probably always worrying about their finances.

Monk Mingxin of Vajra Temple clearly wanted to propose some restrictions on the ‘Power Pills,’ but he swallowed his words. He realized the others shared his concerns but were not voicing them.

This prompted him to look up at Wang Ping, who sat in the seat of honor. He remembered that face. The first time they met, Wang Ping had only possessed a Second Realm Cultivation. Back then, Mingxin himself couldn’t have been bothered to give him a second glance. Now, a mere few hundred years later, this man sat above him, and the roles were reversed—it was Wang Ping who couldn’t be bothered to look at him.

‘Some people have all the luck!’

He grumbled to himself.

They discussed the finer details for another half hour before Jiangcun brought up the third matter. “The third item on the agenda: who will we support in the contention for Zhongzhou’s Divine Artifact?”

“The Datong Marquisate’s government is just and its Duke is deeply loved by the people. They should be the ones to control the Divine Artifact of the world!” Lu Shan was the first to speak, not mincing his words.

“The Chu Country is a land of exceptional people, with an army hundreds of thousands strong. It, too, could be the sovereign of the world!” This was Jiangcun’s declaration. The Southeast Sea Region had already merged with the Chu Country, so he naturally hoped Chu would control the Divine Artifact.

In the Zhongzhou World today, only these two powers could truly vie for supremacy. The ensuing discussion, therefore, revolved entirely around the Chu Country and the Datong Marquisate.

Seeing that they weren’t getting anywhere after some time, Wu Quan, who had been silent until now, spoke up. “Why don’t we just flip a copper coin to decide?”

Jiangcun’s interest was immediately piqued. He looked at Wang Ping and asked, “What do you think?”

“I think that’s a fine idea!”

But it was Monk Mingxin who spoke. “Let everything be decided by fate. The Datong Marquisate is in the Northwest, which we can consider ‘up,’ so let it be heads. The Chu Country is in the south, which is ‘down,’ so let it be tails.”

As he spoke, he took out a copper coin and casually tossed it into the air.

Everyone’s gaze instantly fixed on the coin. An instant later, just as it was about to land, Wang Ping flicked his sleeve, pulverizing it into dust with a burst of Wood Spirit Qi.

The others all sensed his move, but no one tried to stop him.

“You disagree, Fellow Daoist?” Jiangcun asked.

“We are talking about the future sovereign of the world, the Venerable Emperor. To decide their fate with such child’s play is too humiliating. Since we have already singled out the Chu Country and the Datong Marquisate, I say we let them contend for it themselves. We should simply remain spectators.”