Chapter 615: Enforcing a Strict Hierarchy!

"Vulgar and crass, your words filthier than mud, your spirit cheap." Nine Kites stood at the doorway, fists clenched, lightning dancing in her nine pairs of eyes, rage burning in her chest.

Nine Kites would eventually be married into the imperial family. Any other person would have suffered dire consequences for such an affront.

The son of the Chaos Sovereign was perhaps the only exception, or else she truly wouldn't have held back.

"You think too highly of yourself." Yun Xiao, tired of her antics, slammed the cultivation room's door shut. The impact sent the hair and dresses of the nine beauties flying, their faces colder than ever.

It was all a misunderstanding. Nine Kites was the one who had wandered into the wrong place. Had she not threatened to gouge out eyes, Yun Xiao wouldn't have countered so fiercely.

As for charming him with her beauty, such tactics were useless on Yun Xiao. His Creator Immortal physique was peerless, unrivaled by any man, needing no subservience to charm any beauty under heaven.

After closing the door, Yun Xiao turned to the thunder array and chuckled helplessly. "My Rank 9 Arbiter armor can't withstand this array. I'm going to make use of it, I'm going to have to take off my clothes!"

And so, Yun Xiao did just that, removing his armor and tossing aside the various Bags of Holding and the small black beast. Barefoot and naked, he stepped into the thunder array.

SIZZLE! SIZZLE! SIZZLE!

Streams of electricity surged, weaving a dense net of lightning over his skin, with sparks twining through his long hair, making him appear as a deity of thunder!

"The Lightning Tempering Array forges the body by fusing flesh with celestial power, stimulating growth! In such an environment, whatever you do, the efficiency is indeed higher." Yun Xiao quietly envied the resources available to these elite second-generation Immortals of the Celestial Court.

Suddenly, the cultivation room's door trembled!

BANG!

The blue thunder door was kicked open!

"Who?" Yun Xiao opened his eyes and looked toward the door.

There stood nine stunning girls with blue-violet hair, their nine pairs of eyes glaring at Yun Xiao, lips bitten in a silent snarl.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" Yun Xiao asked, his voice tinged with disbelief.

"We're even now!" the nine declared in unison, as if the mere utterance could dispel the anger in their hearts.

After speaking, their eyes swept over Yun Xiao's form, their heartbeats quickening, cheeks flushing. They quickly turned and left.

"Close the door," Yun Xiao called out.

"In your dreams!" she retorted, already far away.

"Boring!" Yun Xiao flung his Flying Sword, striking the door and shutting it with a klang, before returning to his cultivation.

Yun Xiao was currently in the Early Celestial Expanse Realm. Any further breakthroughs would require waiting for Blue Star and Red Moon to produce more Tri Heaven Sariras. So, he decided to dedicate this downtime to mastering the Thunder Department's Ten Great Dao Heaven Arts.

The first four grades of the Nine Heavens Celestial Grades were Common, Grand, Supreme, and Dao.

Yun Xiao had skipped over Supreme grade and went straight to learning Dao grade celestial techniques. Once he mastered them, not only would he surpass his peers but he would also surpass his seniors like Cao Shuo, Cao Sheng, and Gu Suwan, reaching the same level as Yun Yin, Gu Zhenxiao, and Feng Xuan.

The strength of these Ten Great Dao Heaven Arts was evident.

Yun Xiao, having glanced over these celestial techniques within the Myriad Divine Thunder Bureau, had almost completely memorized them. But applying and mastering them would take more time.

?ι══????????══ι?

The Thunder Department and Divine Gateway sat on opposite points of the blazing hot sphere called the Celestial Court. It was said this allowed the Heavenly Palace to project their authority and power over the greatest area.

So, the journey from the Thunder Department to the Divine Gateway was the longest route in the Great Dao Celestial Realm.

Immersed in his cultivation, Yun Xiao lost track of time. Suddenly, he heard Yun Yin's voice, "We're approaching the Divine Gateway; everyone, gather on the deck!"

Yun Xiao had pretty much gained all the insights he could in the Ten Great Dao Heaven Arts anyway. So, he emerged from the thunder array, donned his Arbiter armor, and stepped out.

Just outside his private cultivation room, Yun Xiao encountered Nine Kites, now a singular cold figure, who didn't spare him a glance and walked straight ahead.

Yun Xiao's gaze lingered on her form, particularly her waist and hips, as he followed behind her.

Nine Kites halted in her tracks, unable to tolerate his staring any longer. She turned around and glanced at him icily. "What are you staring at?

"The human body, crafted by the heavens, is endlessly fascinating. A woman's rounded hips, like the perfect circle of the Dao, signify both birth and endless cycles," Yun Xiao replied, as if he were reciting the wisdom of the wise sages.

"If you're sick, just die and stop wasting air," Nine Kites snapped.

"Just a sudden reflection, pay it no mind," Yun Xiao said, stepping past her and continuing on his way.

Gu Suwan waved and smiled at Yun Xiao from the outside, saying, "Lu Yao, come out quickly. We're nearing the Divine Gateway. It's magnificent."

For someone of Lu Yao's standing, it was a lifetime's dream to visit this core of the Celestial Court.

Yun Xiao had long wished to come here as well. The Western Kunlun Mountains, the Immortal Asylum, and more—all were here.

The Immortal Asylum had flown here, and from the time it emerged from the Nine Hells, Yun Xiao had treated it as his personal possession.

He hurried to the deck and looked ahead.

With a hum, the fiery red celestial clouds parted, revealing two colossal dragon-wrapped columns at the horizon's edge, majestic and towering like mighty mountains.

These were the pillars of the Divine Gateway!

The Divine Gateway, the solemn symbol of the Celestial Court, marked the heart of the Great Dao Celestial Realm... and yet, it was just a gate!

Beyond this portal lay the true Celestial Court.

Yun Xiao’s gaze pierced through the Divine Gateway, peering into the dense, ethereal white celestial mist beyond. There, in contrast to the blazing vastness of the entire Great Dao Celestial Realm, lay the true exalted Heavenly Palace, a realm of Immortals!

"The Divine Gateway is the only entrance to the Heavenly Palace's divine land, a realm ten times larger than the Thunder Department and the most exalted part of the Celestial Court. It's untouched by the dark canopy, making it a place of eternal day," Gu Suwan remarked, not so much explaining to Yun Xiao as reflecting on her own dreams of reaching this place as a Rank 3 Heavenly Officer.

Indeed, as Gu Suwan had described, the divine land before them was sacred and vast, far grander than any mortal's dream of a heavenly palace. Wrapped in white celestial mist, countless towers and lofty pavilions could be seen, their elegance sublime. Within, celestial music floated, and auspicious creatures roamed and raced in all directions, a scene of harmony and tranquility, where time stood still and spirits were lifted.

"The Nine Thunders Divine Ark may not enter the Divine Gateway. We must disembark at the Celestial Steps below shortly," Yun Yin announced.

The so-called Celestial Steps were a series of white jade steps leading to the Divine Gateway, extending downward like a sinuous, gigantic white dragon amidst the clouds.

Not long after Yun Yin spoke, the Nine Thunders Divine Ark reached the base of these steps.

Led by Yun Yin, a Rank 2 Heavenly Officier, the group disembarked. Solemnly, they stepped onto the white dragon steps, faces grave, ascending step by step.

And so, the strictness of the Celestial Court's laws were evident.

Yun Xiao treaded the Celestial Steps, looking up to see the Divine Gateway suspended high above, like twin colossi scrutinizing their subjects come to pay homage.

"The Celestial Steps number 9,999 steps, serving as part of the divine land's defensive array. Remember, you must tread each one to gain entry to the Divine Gateway. Miss even one, and you'll be obliterated," Gu Suwan warned Yun Xiao as she noticed his casual pace.

"Oh?" Yun Xiao then realized that with each step, a mark like a small white dragon appeared under his foot.

In essence, visitors needed to collect all 9,999 marks to ascend to the highest reaches of the Celestial Court!

From this very first sacred step, it was clear how the Celestial Court impressed the rigid hierarchy upon everyone under its rule.

"Does everyone have to complete the steps? Even the Nine Thunders Sovereign?" Yun Xiao asked in a low voice.

The Nine Thunders Sovereign was a Rank 1 Heavenly Officer and the overseer of the Thunder Department!

"Yes... unless one has imperial blood or marries into the imperial family." After saying this, Gu Suwan glanced at Nine Kites not far away and murmured, "With the imperial marriage, once Nine Kites joins the imperial family, both the Nine Thunders Sovereign and our Thunder Department's status in the Great Dao Celestial Realm will rise."

In short, it was nepotism and elitism at its finest. Those of royal kin were spared the scrutiny and did not need to laboriously climb up each step.

"Impressive."

What Yun Xiao marveled at was this very structure of power within the Celestial Court.

This was no mere ethereal pursuit of immortality by a cult; this was a celestial empire, extending the dynastic governance to its pinnacle. Such a mechanism was stable and powerful, yet should its rulers ever deviate towards malevolence, the consequences would be dire and inescapable.

"The matter of incense offerings, is it the privilege of the Thunder Department or has corruption started from this core of the Celestial Court, now festering throughout the entire Great Dao Celestial Realm?"

Yun Xiao had no evidence, but his journey to the Celestial Court's divine land was driven by two motives: to check on the Immortal Asylum and to confirm this suspicion.

He knew that if every petal of a once vibrant flower was decaying, it wasn't the fault of the petals—rather, the root had to be rotting.

Now, having moved from petal to root, Yun Xiao wished to see firsthand if the core was indeed thoroughly corrupted.

A total of 9,999 steps, each taken with solemn reverence. A journey he could have flown in moments took a grueling hour on foot!

Such was the so-called pilgrimage to the Celestial Court!

By the end, Yun Xiao was more than displeased; he now wanted nothing more than to flip the whole place over.

"We've arrived." With Yun Yin's hearty laugh ahead, the stifling ascent finally ended.

After collecting 9,999 tiny white dragon marks under his feet, Yun Xiao passed between the twin dragon-wrapped columns of the Divine Gateway and officially stepped onto the Celestial Court's divine land!

Passing through the Divine Gateway felt like crossing a barrier, and the marks under his feet vanished.

This meant if he had to make the journey again, it would take another laborious hour, treading each step earnestly.

"Inside the Divine Gateway, one must be solemn, stern, and efficient," Gu Suwan instructed.

"Understood." Yun Xiao looked ahead through the endless celestial mist to the sprawling palaces.

What a wondrous world!

Compared to the Thunder Department, this place was truly dreamlike, everywhere radiating an atmosphere of peace and prosperity.

"People from the Thunder Department, come forward for inspection!"

Just as Yun Xiao was taking it all in, two deafening voices called out ahead. Looking forward, he saw two giants each 50 feet tall shouting at them!

"Not beasts?"

Standing as tall as several storied pagodas, Yun Xiao only reached their ankles! He had thought they might be beasts, but upon closer inspection, these two divine gatekeepers were indeed human!