Chapter 365: The Dazheng Empire

A day later, in the city of Beidou, Nalan Qiankun's avatar entered a meditative state to recuperate from his injuries. His main body stepped toward a patch of fog within the palace, where the papier-mache Yanluo Court was located. Countless shadow cursed effigies were trapped within.

"Xiao Nanfeng must have snuck into Beidou in order to search for Lu Yan, considering he didn't try to excavate my draconic veins. Lu Yan's nothing more than a pile of ashes now, so he could never have succeeded." Nalan Qiankun smirked.

"We were all mistaken. That blood peach tree was just an illusion. That was another king of the Yanluo Courts," the paper figure said.

"Oh?" Nalan Qiankun sounded perplexed.

"Just like me, it used to control a Yanluo Court in the past. It must not have regained its memories of that time—that was how it ended up under the control of the spirits' Imperial Court. The Yanluo lords can transform their appearances. It became a blood peach tree, and then a peach branch," the paper figure said.

"Is it dangerous?" Nalan Qiankun asked.

"Not particularly. It's very weak, and all it can do is leech off Xiao Nanfeng's spoils. That said, I am a little worried," the paper figure said.

"What about?"

"The ten Yanluo lords have abilities that counteract one another, and I'm concerned that it's the one that's opposed to me. It was silent, as though worried I would discover its identity." The paper figure frowned.

"Oh?" Nalan Qiankun asked.

"Husband, we need to deal with Xiao Nanfeng as quickly as possible, then catch that peach branch. Even if it can counter my abilities, it's currently too weak. As long as I can subvert it instead, I would gain control of two of the Yanluo Courts and grow even stronger," the paper figure said expectantly.

"My avatar is injured, and the Gourd of Divine Flame is damaged. To avoid the demonic sect master escaping from the gourd, I'll need to devote all my attention to repairing it and distilling his essence. I don't have time to worry about Xiao Nanfeng for the time being," Nalan Qiankun said, frowning.

"But he's growing too rapidly, as are his forces. The crane and crow kings made it back in a wretched state. They failed to stop Blue Lantern and were soundly defeated by Ao Zhou and the dragons under his command. Tomorrow, once the kingdom of Dazheng ascends into an empire, it'll become even more dangerous."

"That's not a problem. We'll grow stronger and deal with him then," Nalan Qiankun replied, looking toward the papier-mache Yanluo Court.

"Husband, are you finally about to absorb the shadow cursed effigies trapped there?" The paper figure's eyes lit up.

"I'd been worried that their cursed spiritual power would pollute my body, but we have bigger problems to worry about now. At worst I'll become a cursed effigy like you," Nalan Qiankun said, smiling.

The paper figure smiled back. "There's nothing wrong with being a cursed effigy. Since you've made up your mind, Husband, I'll assist you in breaking through, becoming an Earth Immortal, and forging an invincible body."

The next day, in Yongding, all manner of Immortal cultivators from across the Eastern Sea quietly watched the imperial ceremony unfold. They were shocked to see the thirty giant dragons flying overhead, along with the mountains and rivers that rose into the air all around them.

As Blue Lantern guided the mountains and rivers around with a compass in his hand, they seemed to form a loose ring around the city of Yongding, making it look like a metropolis in truth. Draconic veins keened underground, and dragons flew overhead. All this made Yongding appear sublime, freed from the fetters of the mortal world.

Ao Zhou took on human form and flew up to Blue Lantern regretfully. "Xiao Nanfeng tricked me. I'm so angry!"

"What's the matter now?" Blue Lantern glanced skeptically at Ao Zhou.

"I helped him repel the crane and crow spirits and safeguard you, but he only handed me two blood peaches! Not only that, he said that I wouldn't obtain any of the fortune to be distributed later. Why's he so miserly?!" Ao Zhou fumed.

Blue Lantern grimaced at him. "That's your own fault. Xiao Nanfeng told you to nab all the crane and crow spirits. He specifically instructed you to execute sneak attacks on them, and that he needed them to make more peaches. If you don't work hard, how do you expect to get anything?"

"He never said that those peaches would be mine! If he'd said that from the beginning, I'd have put in way more effort. I'm very trustworthy, after all!" Ao Zhou replied shamelessly.

"You're rather thick-skinned to be trying to get something for doing nothing. Do you think Xiao Nanfeng's a fool who doesn't know what you're thinking?" Blue Lantern's reply was disdainful.

"Well, then! I won't deign to share in his fortune. Just how much fortune could a nascent empire possess, anyway?" Ao Zhou stewed in jealousy.

Just then, from afar, an official's shout came from the direction of the palace. "The auspicious hour draws near! Drums, resound!"

Drums began to beat and horns began to blow in the vicinity of the palace as everyone's attention turned toward it.

The largest hall of the Dazheng Palace was known as the Xuanhuang Hall.

On the plaza outside, the officials of court stood in full regalia and the generals in martial robes along either side of the plaza. Immortals radiated with light. Croak and Warble drew themselves up to their impressive heights. Ceremonial music played, grand and imposing. A five-colored altar had been erected outside the hall, and all humans, Immortals, and spirits were looking straight at it.

"May the king enact sacrifices to heaven and earth!" the minister of the rites proclaimed.

Footsteps came from the hall. As everyone looked at him, Xiao Nanfeng slowly walked out, dressed in a golden dragon's robe, an ornamental crown on his forehead, looking every part the emperor.

His face calm, his body poised, he walked up the altar.

A podium stood atop the altar, on which had been placed a purple seal and the scroll that formed the Dazheng Code of Laws.

After Xiao Nanfeng walked up the altar, he stretched his arms wide, stretching his sleeves and allowing a gentle wind to ruffle them. The music suddenly stopped. The plaza was so quiet that the drop of a needle could be heard. Everyone looked toward him.

Xiao Nanfeng raised his head toward the sky. He took a deep breath, his arms placed one atop the other within overlapping sleeves, as he bowed and addressed the heavens. "Xiao Nanfeng, of the kingdom of Dazheng, in concert with its court officials and the common people that it governs, humbly requests the attention of the heavens. On this day, in acknowledgement of the size of its borders, the hearts and minds of its people, the glory of its achievements, and the ambition that unites us all, we ask that the heavens grant us a karmic reservoir by which we might accumulate the fortune of the world."

𝗳𝚛𝚎𝚎𝘄𝕖𝕓𝕟𝕠𝚟𝚎𝕝.𝗰𝕠𝐦

"May the heavens grant us a karmic reservoir to accumulate the fortune of the world!" the court officials echoed.

"May the heavens grant us a karmic reservoir to accumulate the fortune of the world!" the common people of Yongding echoed.

Those cultivators with avatars quickly spread the news all over the kingdom of Dazheng.

The officials, forces, and the common people of cities throughout the kingdom bowed in earnest entreaty.

The request resonated across the kingdom as all its people echoed it. Their combined voices seemed to form a connection straight to the heavens above.

With a huge boom, a burst of thunder could be heard above the city of Yongding, as though the heavens had granted it permission to advance into an empire.

"We thank the heavens!" Xiao Nanfeng shouted.

"Bow!" the minister of rites commanded.

All the people of Yongding bowed.

Howling winds surged across Dazheng. Golden motes of light gathered, trickling up from the common people of Yongding and massing in the skies. More and more of the light condensed, forming golden clouds of fortune.

"Incredible! To think that there would be so much fortune as to form a sea of golden clouds!" Blue Lantern exclaimed.

"So much fortune? There's barely any, far less than what the Tianshu Empire possesses," Ao Zhou replied disdainfully.

"This is only the fortune of a single city. Do you know just how many cities Dazheng consists of?" Blue Lantern replied archly.

Just then, the golden clouds seemed to redouble in number. Golden streams formed, with fortune trickling in from all over, like a thousand rivers leading into the sea. The massed fortune grew to an incredible size; the layer of clouds thickened once and again.

Over the next four hours, the fortune that gushed in from the thousands of cities of Dazheng resulted in the formation of a golden sea of clouds.

"This sea of fortune wouldn't pale in comparison to that of the Tianshu Empire, and there are fewer citizens in Dazheng than Tianshu! Fortune gathers in concordance with the hearts and minds of the people. Could the citizens of Dazheng be so thankful to the empire?" Blue Lantern was astounded.

"So much fortune—I'm going to be losing out on far too much if Xiao Nanfeng doesn't share a single portion of it with me!" Ao Zhou cried out.

Just then, a black hole appeared in the sky like a giant mouth. It swallowed up half the fortune before slowly vanishing.

"What was that black hole? It stole half the fortune!" Ao Zhou exclaimed.

"The maw of heaven," Blue Lantern explained.

"What? Why would the heavens seize all that fortune?"

"On what grounds should the heavens grant Xiao Nanfeng the ascension of his empire? Half the fortune is owed to heaven as a sacrificial offering. This is standard practice."

"The heavens need to be bribed to make a kingdom an empire?!"

"Silence! Do not disrespect the heavens. Do you want to die?" Blue Lantern demanded.

Ao Zhou's face stiffened as he clamped his hands over his mouth.

Just then, back at the altar, Xiao Nanfeng called out, "Fortune of Dazheng, enter my body!"

Fortune gushed down from the heavens and surged into Xiao Nanfeng's body in the form of a dragon. Xiao Nanfeng radiated with golden light.

"Fortune of Dazheng, enter the seal of Dazheng!" Xiao Nanfeng called out again.

The fortune within his body poured into the purple seal in his hands, forged from the divine purple rock of the Eastern Sea Draconic Palace. The seal's base was engraved with five words: 'On Heaven's will, eternal prosperity.' The purple imperial seal was the Divine Seal of Dazheng, and would serve as a repository for the imperial fortune.

The Divine Seal of Dazheng glowed with blinding light.

Xiao Nanfeng unrolled the Dazheng Code of Laws and placed the imperial seal over it. With a huge boom, as the imperial seal landed, the code of laws was surrounded by fortune and connected to the Dazheng Empire. Henceforth, the laws it codified would become the laws of the empire.

"I hereby declare that the kingdom of Dazheng has ascended into the Dazheng Empire. Its capital shall be the city of Yongding!" Xiao Nanfeng declared.

A burst of fortune emanated from the imperial seal and code of laws, flying up into the air and spreading over the sky above Yongding, like a cloud of golden fortune safeguarding the capital.

Xiao Nanfeng's words, transmitted through this cloud of fortune, could be heard by all the citizens who had supplied even the smallest mote of fortune. Be they in Yongding or by the borders of the empire, all the citizens of the new empire could hear Xiao Nanfeng's declaration of ascension.

"Long live the Dazheng Empire! Long live His Majesty!" the officials in the plaza chorused.

From the sea of fortune came countless scattered voices in congratulations.

"Long live the Dazheng Empire! Love live His Majesty!"

The voices echoed over the city of Yongding.

"The sea of fortune can transmit the voices of the common people?" Ao Zhou exclaimed from afar.

"Of course!" Blue Lantern replied.

"How incredible it must be to be an emperor! Not only will you receive the adulation of many, you can even command large quantities of fortune. I'd like to become one myself," Ao Zhou said admiringly.

"You? You'd be deposed right away," Blue Lantern replied disdainfully.

Afar, after a series of raucous cheers, the city of Yongding gradually quieted down.

Xiao Nanfeng, holding the Dazheng Code of Laws, began to officially appoint the officials of the court.

"I hereby declare Ye Sanshui the first marquis of the Dazheng Empire, to be granted a commensurate share of fortune!" Xiao Nanfeng declared.

Ye Sanshui stepped forward, his eyes bright, first among the imperial generals. He bowed. "Thank you, Your Majesty! Long live Your Majesty!"

"I hereby declare Zheng Qian the second marquis of the Dazheng Empire, to be granted a commensurate share of fortune!"

Zheng Qian stepped forward, first among the imperial officials. He bowed. "Thank you, Your Majesty! Long live Your Majesty!"

"I hereby declare Ye Dafu the third marquis of the Dazheng Empire, to be granted a commensurate share of fortune!"

Ye Dafu stepped forward and bowed. "Thank you, Your Majesty! Long live Your Majesty!"

"I hereby declare Croak the first guardian spirit of the Dazheng Empire, to be granted a commensurate share of fortune!"

"I hereby declare Warble the second guardian spirit of the Dazheng Empire, to be granted a commensurate share of fortune!"

"I hereby declare Blue Lantern the Imperial Astrologer of the Dazheng Empire, to be granted a commensurate share of fortune!"

Xiao Nanfeng appointed officials one after another, his words transcribed on the Dazheng Code of Laws.

Only three marquises had been appointed to date: Ye Sanshui, Zheng Qian, and Ye Dafu. However, none of the cultivators were upset. All knew how hard these three had worked for the empire. None were aware that there had been two further appointees on the Dazheng Code of Laws, which Xiao Nanfeng hadn't reported.

His avatar was personally handing them each an imperial seal and granting them their titles.

"I hereby declare You Jiu the spectral marquis of the Dazheng Empire, to be granted a commensurate share of fortune!"

"I hereby declare Tang the liminal marquis of the Dazheng Empire, to be granted a commensurate share of fortune!"

"Thank you, Your Majesty! Long live Your Majesty!" the two cultivators replied.