The comet remained silent, only relentlessly unleashing heavenly tribulations.

"Lü Yue, this is the Heavenly Pivot Palace! How dare you act rashly? Where do you place the Heavenly Laws?"

Venus, with a displeased expression, lightly waved his whisk, and a gentle breeze blew out. The seemingly fierce celestial claws vanished instantly upon touching the breeze, without even causing a ripple.

Song Yi was secretly alarmed. This Chang Geng Star Lord was a primordial star god, a primordial deity born from the origin of the ancient Venus.

Unfortunately, it was unlucky, and the gestation process was extremely long, so much so that it had not yet taken form even after the Lich War.

In the final battle between the Lich King and the Primordial Star, the void was shattered, and the origin of the Primordial Star was also damaged, making it unable to continue to develop.

Over time, the innate divine fetus will gradually evolve into a stone fetus, which is a stillborn fetus.

Fortunately, when the Jade Emperor was tasked with establishing the Heavenly Court and sorting out the vast starry sky, he discovered this fetus and personally used his great supernatural powers to help it be born ahead of schedule.

From then on, Venus became loyal to the Heavenly Court and assisted the Jade Emperor, remaining steadfast and a truly invaluable minister.

After the Investiture of the Gods, none of the righteous gods in the heavens dared to disobey this Heavenly Pivot Prime Minister, firstly because of his esteemed position, and secondly because his cultivation had already reached the realm of the Great Luo Golden Immortal, making him unfathomable.

Lu Yue's face turned ashen, but he knew that it was a big taboo to make a move in Tian Shu Prefecture, so he could only hatefully withdraw his gaze, snort coldly, and sit down.

"Broom Star Lord," Venus looked at Song Yi, "you, a seventh-rank star lord, have taken it upon yourself to capture a fifth-rank deity and even brought this trouble to the Heavenly Pivot Palace. What is your purpose?"

"It was not that I, a minor deity, overstepped my bounds or committed insubordination. Rather, it was Li Qi, the Plague Envoy from the South, who caused a great disturbance at the Qingtianjian, intending to kill and seize treasures. I was forced to take action to resist," Song Yi stated calmly.

Upon hearing this, Lu Xiong, Luo Xuan, Zhao Gongming, and the others all showed slight changes in expression, and their gazes toward Song Yi became more scrutinizing.

Li Qi was quite powerful among the third-generation disciples of the Jie Sect. Even though his cultivation was limited after being enshrined as a god, he was still far beyond the reach of ordinary seventh-rank star lords. Moreover, this Broom Star Lord was a mortal who was enshrined as a god after death, so it was truly surprising that he was able to capture the Plague Department God alive.

Lu Yue's face turned red. If this matter were to spread, how could the Plague Department save face?

"Li Qi, is what the Broom Star Lord said true?"

Venus waved his whisk again, and the Immortal Binding Rope formed from the Xuanhuang Qi on Li Qi's body shattered instantly.

Li Qi regained his freedom, but dared not act recklessly again in the Heavenly Minister's Palace. He could only suppress his shame and indignation, and bowed, saying, "I report to the Heavenly Minister that it is clear that the Qing Celestial Observatory has gone too far in humiliating the Plague Department, refusing to even allocate a single celestial servant. I was outraged and that's why I took action to teach them a lesson!"

"Heavenly signs, the Plague Department is ravaged by innate plague energy. The celestial servants dispatched by the Qingtianjian have already suffered over a hundred casualties. Sending more people would only increase the number of dead and wounded," Song Yi argued logically.

"Hmph, absurd!"

At this moment, Lü Yue sneered and said, "The Plague Department acts on behalf of Heaven to enforce the laws of the Plague Path, and is naturally accompanied by plague qi; this is the principle of Heaven. As for the deaths and injuries of the celestial servants, that is due to the incompetence of the Qingtian Supervisory Bureau; what does it have to do with my Plague Department?"

Venus remained noncommittal, surveying the assembled deities in the hall, and slowly asked, "What do you, esteemed celestial beings, think?"

"What the Plague Emperor said is indeed the truth," said Luo Xuan, the Fire God.

The Qingtianjian also withdrew the fire department's immortal servants, but he hadn't had time to settle the matter with Song Yi yet.

Neither Lu Xiong nor Zhao Gongming spoke, as if they were not concerned about the matter.

Venus, seated high above, lightly flicked his whisk, his gaze sweeping over the two below him:

"This whole affair stemmed from the Qingtianjian's forced relocation of the Plague Department's celestial servants. While there were reasons for this, the incompetence in deployment and inadequate protection are undeniable facts. Lord Broom Star, you are hereby fined ten years' salary. Do you accept this?"

Song Yi remained calm, stepped forward, and cupped his hands, saying, "This humble god accepts the punishment; I thank Heaven for its magnanimity!"

Venus nodded slightly, then turned his gaze to the other side and said in a deep voice, "Li Qi, as a celestial official of the Plague Department, you actually attacked and injured people in the Heavenly Palace, violating the Heavenly Laws! You are hereby fined one hundred years' salary and punished with three hundred copper hammer blows! Do you accept this?"

Upon hearing this, Li Qi's face flushed red. He wanted to argue, but seeing Lü Yue's face ashen, sitting upright to the side with his eyes slightly closed, as if in meditation, he could only swallow his anger and grit his teeth, saying:

"This humble god...is willing to accept the punishment!"

"If you have nothing else, you may leave." Venus waved his hand, as if to dismiss the crowd.

Song Yi quickly stepped forward, cupped his hands, and said, "I humbly request Your Excellency's permission to address this matter. The root of the problem lies in the generally low strength of the Heavenly Court's celestial servants, whose magical forms are all substandard. Even if they possess magical artifacts such as antidote talismans and fire-repelling beads, their weak magical power makes them difficult to use. I earnestly request Your Excellency's permission to allocate a group of powerful celestial servants to the Qingtianjian, preferably those with the strength of the ninth rank, so that they can assist the Plague Department, Fire Department, and other relevant departments."

The golden body of the Dharma Image is the foundation of the righteous gods of the Heavenly Court.

The seventh rank corresponds to the Heavenly Immortal realm, the eighth rank to the Earthly Immortal realm, the ninth rank to the Tribulation Transcending realm, and the ninth rank to the Returning to Emptiness realm.

As for those inferior Dharma forms, they are merely at the Nascent Soul stage.

Below the level of immortals, there are three major realms: drawing qi into the body, refining qi into spirit, and cultivating spirit to return to emptiness.

Within the Void Returning Realm, there is the Tribulation Crossing Realm. When a cultivator's cultivation reaches the late stage of the Void Returning Realm, it will trigger a Heavenly Tribulation. Only by passing through the ninefold lightning tribulation can one attain immortality.

The immortal servants of the Qingtianjian today are mostly at the Nascent Soul stage. Relying on their Dharma forms, they possess some supernatural powers, such as flying on clouds and having immense strength.

Upon hearing this, Venus frowned slightly and turned to Zhao Gongming beside him: "Marshal, could you allocate a batch of ninth-rank Dharma Images to the Qingtianjian?"

Zhao Gongming was taken aback, not expecting this matter to involve him. After a moment's thought, he said, "Heaven is watching. The Heavenly Court has only been established for a hundred years. The gods of the mortal realm, such as the Earth God, City God, Mountain God, River God, and Dragon King, have not yet been fully appointed. The Ministry of Finance is struggling to make ends meet with the donations from incense offerings. We are even short of funds. We haven't even finished creating the incarnations of the Twenty-Eight Constellations. We simply don't have the resources to allocate any more."

The golden body of a deity is the physical body of a god, and its core material is incense and merit.

The donations and merits from the incense offerings in the three realms are all centrally managed and allocated by the Ministry of Finance.

As for the Twenty-Eight Mansions, in addition to their primary duty of guarding the stars, they also hold important positions in various departments of the Heavenly Court.

For example, the water leopard of Jishui, the water worm of Zhenshui, the water monkey of Shenshui, and the water yu of Bishui served in the Ministry of Water.

Tail Fire Tiger, Chamber Fire Pig, Beak Fire Monkey, and Wing Fire Snake serve in the Fire Department;

Xin Yuehu, Wei Yueyan, Bi Yuewu, and Zhang Yuelu are responsible for patrolling the Taiyin Star;

The Sun is guarded by the Rabbit of the House Sun, the Rat of the Void Sun, the Rooster of the Pleiades Sun, and the Horse of the Star Sun.

These constellations have overlapping responsibilities, so they are unable to be in two places at once, which is why it is necessary to create another Dharma form clone.

In fact, according to common sense, Song Yi could also create an eighth-rank avatar for himself to take charge of the Qingtianjian.

But he also knew that the Ministry of Finance was short of funds for donations, and such a good thing was far from being his turn.

"Heavenly Minister," Song Yi said, changing the subject when he saw that this approach was not working, "When I was cleaning the Heavenly Prison the other day, I discovered that it contained many minor demons whose karmic burdens were not high. If they are allowed to flow into the mortal realm without any control, they will eventually become a hidden danger. How about... we recruit them as celestial officials to atone for their crimes?"

"Recruit them into the army..." A glint flashed in Venus's eyes, and he tapped his fingers lightly on the table. "That's not a bad idea. It would both replenish our manpower and eliminate potential troubles."