Ming Dynasty: pacifying the rebellion and defending the border, dominating the world

Chapter 412 His mouth held the mandate of heaven, like the Heavenly Emperor descending to earth.
Ming Dynasty, Beijing.

Zhu Jinzhen stood with his hands behind his back, gazing at the heavens.

The Imperial Seal of the State, held in his left hand, shone with countless rays of light. The destiny of the Ming Dynasty and the spiritual beliefs of countless people converged like a surging torrent, causing the Imperial Seal of the State to continuously transform.

Meanwhile, the golden dragon of fortune on Zhu Jinzhen's right hand, blessed by the accumulated fortune and national destiny of the Ming Dynasty, continued to grow, leaping from its original nine-inch size to a full ten feet long, with a golden pearl of national destiny constantly condensing.

"Today, I, Zhu Jinzhen, establish the Ming Dynasty."

"There should be a Investiture of the Gods to record the merits and demerits of the officials of the Ming Dynasty, to bestow titles upon them as gods, and to enshrine the spirits of mountains and rivers. This will gather the merits and fortune of the Ming Dynasty, gather the abundant virtue and fortune of the land, and assist the Imperial Seal of the State to protect the country and ensure its peace and prosperity for ten thousand generations, and that the national fortune will never perish."

As soon as Zhu Jinzhen finished speaking, the Emperor's Conferment of Gods technique, "with the mandate of Heaven in one's mouth," manifested itself. A golden scroll, hundreds of feet long, with the image of the Ming Dynasty's land and people engraved on the back, and a completely blank Investiture of Gods list, descended from the sky.

It gently floated in mid-air in front of Zhu Jinzhen.

At that moment, everyone around held their breath.

Whether they were envoys from various countries or officials of the Ming Dynasty.

Investiture of the Gods!!!
To confer titles upon deities?

Everyone who heard Zhu Jinzhen's voice, saw the sky suddenly burst into light, and then witnessed the Investiture of the Gods fall, couldn't help but swallow hard to calm their overwhelming shock.

Yet he feared that his actions might disturb Zhu Jinzhen, and even the heavens and the earth.

Everyone subconsciously held their breath, staring intently at the golden scroll of the Investiture of the Gods.

Especially the officials of the Ming Dynasty, including the civil officials such as Xu Yu and Shen Bing, who were from Shaanxi, were so excited that their bodies began to tremble uncontrollably.

Conferred God?

Will they be fortunate enough to be deified?
Such a thought appeared in their minds for no apparent reason and then could not be shaken off.

Meanwhile, the officials of the Ming Dynasty were equally excited, their faces flushed. They secretly rejoiced that they hadn't gone too far and had restrained their greed. Otherwise, they would have ended up like those officials who were purged before, missing out on such a tremendous opportunity!

"Boom!!"

As if sensing the will of Heaven, Zhu Jinzhen's hand touched the Investiture of the Gods of the Ming Dynasty.

Suddenly, a thunderclap struck from the sky.

Just when everyone thought that Zhu Jinzhen was trying to use a human to become a god and anger the heavens, they were surprised to find that the thunderbolt was different from what they usually saw, but was... golden!
Even Zhu Jinzhen was extremely surprised. It wasn't until he felt the vibration and information emanating from the Investiture of the Gods in his hand, as well as the newly added golden lightning mark on it, that he breathed a sigh of relief and laughed: "The Heavenly Dao has stamped its approval, the Investiture of the Gods... is complete!"

The Investiture of the Gods was not a necessary requirement for the rise and fall of dynasties.

However, powerful dynasties generally had a list of deities to honor the merits and demerits of their officials, reward and punish good and evil, and so on. Its uses were endless. It could not only appoint people as gods, but also appoint mountains and rivers as mountain gods, river gods, dragon kings, and so on, to help the ruler of the dynasty govern the world.

at the same time……

The Investiture of the Gods was also a rudimentary form of the emperor's investiture of gods.

Zhu Jinzhen was unsure whether other rulers of dynasties would create a list of deities, but possessing the imperial decree of bestowing titles, he was the first to think of creating one after establishing his dynasty.

……

Although Zhu Jinzhen's voice was very soft, it was almost drowned out by the lingering sound of thunder.

The appearance of the Investiture of the Gods drew great attention from the officials of the Ming Dynasty, including the envoys from various countries who came to witness the ceremony. They were all on edge, listening intently.

Even experts above the level of terrestrial immortals, such as Emperor Tianwu Xiao Yi, the Green-Robed Sword God Li Chungang, the Confucian Sage Zhang Fuyao, and Zuo Ci, the Grand Historian who accompanied the Sui Dynasty, could still clearly hear Zhu Jinzhen's voice.

In an instant, the expressions on their faces changed drastically with horror.

"Grand Ancestor, what's wrong?" Xiao Ruofeng asked curiously via telepathy.

Xiao Yi's lips moved, as if he wanted to speak, but the words were on the tip of his tongue as if an invisible hand was choking him. Even if he tried to communicate with his voice, he could not reveal the information he wanted to tell Xiao Ruofeng.

Not only Xiao Yi, but also the Confucian sage Zhang Fuyao, Li Chungang, Zuo Ci and all others who wanted to convey the message had their faces flushed and their eyes filled with fear. They frantically tried to signal to the people around them, but they couldn't utter a single word.

No one is a fool. After a brief period of confusion and bewilderment, whether it was Xiao Ruofeng, Xu Fengnian, or the envoys from other countries, they had all guessed something that made them shudder upon closer examination.

They tried asking other questions, and Xiao Yi and the others answered them without hesitation.

Only when asked about the golden lightning and Zhu Jinzhen's question did Xiao Yi, Li Chungang, and the others remain completely speechless.

Zhu Jinzhen naturally noticed the near-disruption below, and a slight smile curved his lips:
"This is the Great Ming Dynasty. Now that the dynasty has been established, my will is the will of Heaven."

"I forbid it. No matter if you are peerless celestial beings, sages who spread your teachings and established Confucianism in the wilderness, or immortals who roam the world freely, you are not allowed to speak."

"Otherwise... that would be defying the will of Heaven!"

Sword God Li Chungang, with a single shout of "Sword, come!" borrowed swords from the entire capital city, and his peak strike possessed a killing power comparable to that of a celestial being.

The Confucian sage Zhang Fuyao and Emperor Tianwu Xiao Yi are among the best in the terrestrial Celestial Realm.

Zuo Ci was a carefree immortal who lived for hundreds of years.

But so what?
This is the Ming Dynasty. Zhu Jinzhen forbids them from speaking. They cannot even circulate a trace of true energy, let alone speak. Zhu Jinzhen even thinks that with just a verbal order, he can completely strip them of their cultivation and turn them into ordinary mortals.

"what?"

Zhu Jinzhen's smile quickly froze on his face.

It's not bad, it's better, much better.

After the establishment of the Ming Dynasty, a golden thunderbolt descended from the sky, granting Zhu Jinzhen the power of imperial deification and allowing him to obtain the Investiture of the Gods from heaven. In Zhu Jinzhen's vision, many remnants of national fortune and destiny appeared, rushing madly towards the Ming Dynasty like moths to a flame.

"This is... the remaining national destiny of the Qin Dynasty."

"This is a remnant of the Han Dynasty, from Kunlun?" Zhu Jinzhen's gaze pierced through thousands of miles, landing on Kunlun. He discovered that the black dragon totem, which was the embodiment of the Han Dynasty's national destiny, seemed to have only lost a few "national destiny scales" and had not been greatly affected.

He then breathed a quiet sigh of relief.

Yu, Xia, Shang, Zhou.

Spring and Autumn Period and Warring States Period.

The remnants of national fortune that Zhu Jinzhen sensed, more or less, some of which were already so hazy as to be almost nonexistent, still carried the imprint of the brilliant civilization and glory that had once been left on this land, and like moths to a flame, they plunged into the body of the golden dragon of the Ming Dynasty's fortune.

"Ang~!"

The dragon body of the auspicious golden dragon rapidly expanded, growing several feet in an instant. Every scale and every inch of its body was the result of countless condensed and concentrated auspicious energies.

Zhu Jinzhen's aura rose even higher, continuously soaring.

Although his realm is only above the terrestrial celestial realm, according to the classification of immortal realms he learned from the immortal Du Zi, it is the Refining Spirit realm of returning to emptiness.

However, whether it is true internal energy, qi and blood, or physical body, they are all continuously elevated at this moment.

Throughout history, no one has ever absorbed fortune to temper their body, and naturally, no one knows the wonders involved. Only Zhu Jinzhen at this time turned fortune and national destiny into his own.

Only then did I realize just how terrifyingly beneficial the tempering and refining of one's spirit by fortune and national destiny truly is.

"So powerful!" Zhu Jinzhen made a grasping motion with his empty hand, and the three-inch space in the palm of the martial arts world shattered into a dark hole with his grasp.

He didn't use any supernatural powers; his mere strength alone was enough to shatter the void.

Zhu Jinzhen even had a strong intuition that even without the Nine Dragons Divine Robe, with the help of the national fortune and luck that had lasted for thousands of years, he had the ability to suppress and kill all the immortals who had descended to the mortal world after the last time the Heavenly Gate was opened.

In other words, even a celestial being from the Upper Realm who has reached the stage of Refining Emptiness and Merging with the Dao can be killed by Zhu Jinzhen without him needing to use any divine techniques based on sword rules, even if it means crossing a vast realm!

I am the will of Heaven, I am the world, I am... truly invincible.

This was Zhu Jinzhen's truest thought at that moment.

(End of this chapter)