Just as the old patriarch forced me to my death, I achieved the unity of Dao and fruition.

The council hall was almost in sight, but Gu Changjin suddenly stopped.

Chen Xiao and the grass and wood soldiers behind him stopped.

The entire team went from moving to still without any chaos.

Gu Changjin ignored the argument in the main hall and turned slightly to look at the deepest part of the Xuanwang Mansion.

There stood an inconspicuous gray pavilion, with no guards stationed around it and no visible array or spiritual light.

However, in Gu Changjin's perception, there were three extremely powerful auras residing within.

Each one is comparable to that of a true immortal!

That's not surprising.

The Xuanwang Mansion has been stationed in Beishuo for generations, ruling over a province. If they couldn't even afford to support a few True Immortal level experts, that would be truly strange.

However, the original self of this body spent his days either cultivating or simply eating and waiting to die, and had no knowledge of many of the secrets of the mansion.

Gu Changjin naturally didn't bother pretending to know everything.

"What kind of place is that?"

Chen Xiao followed his gaze and immediately took half a step forward.

"Your Highness, that is Zhenbei Pavilion."

"The true retainers of the Prince's Palace are all in seclusion there."

"There are now three terrestrial immortals in the pavilion."

The first one is Gu Xuansong, the seventh great-uncle of the Gu family.

This person was incredibly talented in his youth and was personally trained by the previous Xuan King. For thousands of years, he has enjoyed the Xuan King's Mansion's top-tier resources.

Gu Cangyue was in charge of commanding troops to guard Beishuo.

Gu Xuansong is responsible for taking action when truly powerful individuals attack, and is one of the strongest talents cultivated by the Xuanwang Mansion.

The second one is from the Hanyue Sword Sect, which has been on good terms with the Xuanwang Mansion for generations. He is Shen Guhong, the Supreme Elder of the Hanyue Sword Sect.

This person will enter the Northern Northern Mortal World for trials once every hundred years.

This time, I happened to be staying at the Xuanwang Mansion.

As for the third one, he was a rogue cultivator recruited by Gu Cangyue, known as the Iron-Clad Old Man.

Gu Cangyue offered a celestial mine and three hundred years of offerings in exchange for him to take charge of the royal palace.

"The three seniors have all stepped into the realm of terrestrial immortals."

Chen Xiao's voice became much more serious as he spoke.

"His cultivation level is earth-shattering."

"Even tens of thousands of troops might not be able to hold them back."

Gu Changjin nodded slightly.

He already had a general understanding of the cultivation system of this world.

In order to facilitate the registration of celestial registers, the distribution of salaries, and the management of cultivators throughout the land, the Great Yin Dynasty unified the various sects' methods into nine ranks.

Body refinement from the ninth to the seventh grade.

The sixth to fourth ranks cultivate qi.

From the third rank to the first rank of Refining Spirit.

Above the first rank are the celestial beings.

Once a celestial being breaks through another barrier, their physical body and soul transcend the limitations of mortal lifespan and are thus called a terrestrial immortal.

There may be different names for each sect within the immortal sect.

In terms of conversion, the so-called terrestrial immortals are equivalent to the level of true immortals that Gu Changjin is familiar with.

If such a powerful individual were placed in an ordinary world, one person would be enough to establish a sect and suppress a region.

However, in the Great Yin Dynasty, they could only become the foundation of immortal sects or be offered as offerings in royal palaces.

The reason is also very simple.

Military formation!

Tens of thousands of cultivators, their blood and qi connected, and with the general's seal, military tally, and the dynasty's fortune as a guide, can condense a military soul.

Once the military spirit is formed, it can gather the power of ten thousand people to suppress the divine soul, blood and qi of the terrestrial immortals and their connection with heaven and earth.

A powerful military formation can even besiege and kill a terrestrial deity head-on!

Moreover, the army is not lacking in generals of celestial or earthly deity caliber.

First, the heavens dealt a blow to their fate; then, the military spirit suppressed them; and finally, the strongest soldiers in the army joined forces to surround and kill them.

This is the real reason why the Great Yin Dynasty was able to suppress the major immortal sects and force the immortal sects to obey the imperial decrees.

"That's a bit shameless."

Gu Changjin smiled.

After countless years of arduous cultivation, one finally manages to become a terrestrial immortal.

As a result, the imperial court summoned a large army. Once the army was in formation, it first suppressed your strength by 30-40%, and then sent several experts of the same level to besiege you.

Indeed, not many people can withstand it.

But now, he's even resorting to such shameless tactics.

Gu Changjin's mind stirred slightly.

The myriad spirits within the bodies of nearly a thousand grass and wood Dao soldiers behind him lit up simultaneously.

hum!

Countless energies intertwined in the void.

The phantom of a towering, ancient, verdant tree flashed across the sky above the army formation.

The spirit of the army is found in the grass and trees!

For an ordinary army to forge a strong military spirit, soldiers need to eat and live together, go through countless battles, and ensure that orders are obeyed and minds are aligned.

However, these plant soldiers were originally created by Gu Changjin using the same Myriad Spirits Seed.

There's no need for any adjustment period, because they are from the same source and won't cause any rejection.

With nearly a thousand Dao soldiers connected by their qi, the difficulty of condensing their souls was far lower than that of ordinary troops.

Even though the number of people was small, this spirit of grass and wood still steadily stepped into the level of a terrestrial immortal!

The three auras within Zhenbei Pavilion stirred slightly.

Clearly, the three terrestrial immortals had also sensed the spirit of the grass and trees.

However, in the end, no one left Zhenbei Pavilion.

Gu Changjin is the sole heir of the Xuanwang lineage.

They are the core members of the Xuanwang Mansion, not the private soldiers of the Liu family or any particular clan elder.

Since Gu Changjin did not damage the Prince's Mansion, they naturally had no reason to take action.

Having confirmed that the three wouldn't be a problem for the time being, Gu Changjin was about to look away when his expression suddenly changed.

Something's not right! The Grass and Wood Dao Soldiers have taken over the key area of ​​the Prince's Palace, and their military spirit has openly manifested itself under the heavens.

The sky above remained completely unresponsive.

It wasn't that the plant soldiers completely evaded the perception of Heaven.

Rather, the power of this sky is far weaker than it should be!

Using the roots of plants and his own celestial register, Gu Changjin extended his perception all the way into the azure sky.

Soon, he realized that countless amounts of luck and power of rules that should have been scattered across the thirteen states were converging in the same direction.

Tianjing!

Or to be more precise, it is the Nine Heavens Palace that has not yet been built!

"I see."

Gu Changjin narrowed his eyes.

The heavens are connected to the Great Yin Dynasty. Officials and vassal kings who receive imperial titles and appointments will gain benefits in cultivation, fortune, and territorial authority.

However, if one defies the capital, the emperor can also use the power of Heaven to turn this benefit into a shackle.

Of course, one can also voluntarily relinquish their heavenly status.

However, doing so would not only cause everything that was originally gained to disappear, but would also incur the wrath of Heaven, leading to a decline in fortune and suppression of power.

There are gains and losses.

But now, in order to prolong his own life, Emperor Yin has drawn a large amount of the power of the heavens to Tianjing.

The shackles of the world naturally loosened as a result.

No wonder Lu Cheng'an was able to gather such momentum in such a short time.

"The Blue Heaven is dead, the Yellow Heaven shall rise..."

"Should we set another day?"

Gu Changjin smiled.

He was actually quite interested in this method.

Since the heavens can be formed by the combined fortunes of dynasties, immortal sects, mountains and rivers, and all living beings.

If we take all living beings as our root and plants as our seed, why can't we also establish a sky of our own?

The moment a thought arises, the path to enlightenment begins to unfold on its own.

The "Scripture of Ten Thousand Spirits", the military spirits of plants and trees, the Heavenly Register of the Azure Sky, and the flow of fortune that I had just sensed all turned into traces and fell into the pure white light.

A completely new method has begun to slowly unfold.

Gu Changjin did not rush to check.

Eat your food one bite at a time.

Right now, let's focus on getting our hands on the Xuanwang Mansion first.

He turned around and finally walked towards the council hall.

At this moment, the argument inside the hall reached its most intense point.

The elders of the Gu clan demanded that the royal seal and military tally be handed over to Gu Changjin immediately.

The Liu family insisted that since the imperial decree from Tianjing had not yet arrived and the military situation had not been fully investigated, the royal seal and military tally must be temporarily sealed.

Most of the former officials of the Prince's Palace and the generals left behind in the army remained silent.

This is a family matter for the Gu family.

Before the situation becomes completely clear, none of them want to take sides prematurely.

"So what if the second young master is the only male heir of the main branch?"

Behind Madam Liu, a noblewoman from the Liu family finally couldn't help but sneer.

"Over the years, how many times has he inquired about the affairs of the Prince's Palace? How many times has he visited the military camp?"

"Everyone else is trying their best to share the burdens of the Prince's mansion, but all he knows how to do is grow flowers and plants in the courtyard!"

"Such an incompetent fool, does he even deserve to hold the royal seal?"

"Does he even deserve to be called the Mysterious King?"

A calm voice suddenly came from outside the hall.

"Oh? Is that so?"

The hall fell silent instantly.

Everyone turned their heads at the same time.

However, the first person to enter the main hall was not Gu Changjin.

Instead, it was a row of grass and wood Taoist soldiers clad in dark green armor!

tread!tread!tread!

The sound of orderly footsteps reverberated throughout the hall.

A group of soldiers entered from the left and sealed the windowsill and side door.

Another team spread out from the right, taking up positions behind the pillars and the crowd.

More Taoist soldiers made of grass and wood, each wielding a long halberd formed from branches and leaves, filed into the main hall, their blades falling diagonally.

Within moments, all exits were sealed off!

The aura that had been rising within the main hall was instantly suppressed by the spirit of the grass and wood army.

Those clan elders, relatives, and officials who had been arguing just moments before were all frozen in place.

Only then did Gu Changjin lead Chen Xiao slowly across the threshold.

He glanced at everyone in the hall, finally fixing his gaze on the woman from the Liu family, a gentle smile appearing on his face.

"Why did you stop talking?"

"I, too, would like to hear whether I am worthy!"