Chapter 782: An Empire's Fortune for Cultivation

The primordial altar was a mysterious force, one that seemed central to the world at large. It was able to communicate with the world away and facilitate the exchange and acquisition of a cursed effigy body.

Xiao Nanfeng watched on intently as all of Shenfeng's fortune was absorbed within.

After a prolonged period of time, the primordial altar quaked. The fortune that it had absorbed was expelled once again, though its quantity had diminished greatly. Fortune descended from the heavens and headed straight for the Divine Emperor. It surged into her body, causing her to glow in resplendent light. A dragon's cry could be heard from within her body, resounding across the heavens and all throughout Shenfeng.

Then, a giant golden dragon of fortune erupted from the Divine Emperor's body. All the empire's fortune had gone into manifesting the dragon, which was thousands of meters long and large beyond belief. It hovered in the sky above Shenfeng's capital, a magnificent sight.

In its mouth were the Divine Emperor's imperial seal and code of laws, both seemingly infused with special energy and bathed in golden light.

The Divine Emperor accepted the two treasures from the golden dragon of fortune, who roared again and rose into the air. At a designated location, it stopped and began to coil its body up.

All of Shenfeng's fortune had been consumed to manifest this golden dragon of fortune. Shenfeng formally advanced from an empire to a divine empire.

"On behalf of Shenfeng, I thank the heavens for granting Shenfeng a golden dragon of fortune. I am deeply grateful to the primordial altar," the Divine Emperor exclaimed.

The golden dragon of fortune transmitted her words across the divine empire of Shenfeng.

Countless shouts and exclamations rang out across the empire.

"We've succeeded! Shenfeng's a divine empire now!"

"Long live Shenfeng!"

The citizens all across Shenfeng were jubilant about what had just happened.

Wisps of fortune rose into the air all throughout the divine empire of Shenfeng, manifestations of the gratitude of the people. They formed a golden haze around the golden dragon of fortune, one which would rapidly condense into a sea of fortune.

The primordial altar vibrated and vanished from sight. The dark clouds in the air faded away.

"Citizens of Shenfeng, the empire of Shenfeng shall henceforth be known as the divine empire of Shenfeng. All of you shall remain citizens. Shenfeng will dedicate itself to guarding and defending the rights of its people, both within the empire and outside of it. If anyone offends you, report the matter to your closest magistrate. Shenfeng shall stand behind you and investigate your claims!"

The golden dragon of fortune transmitted her words throughout the empire.

"Long live Shenfeng!"

"Long live the Divine Emperor!"

A festive spirit bloomed across Shenfeng.

The officials cheered in excitement, and the disciples who had joined Shenfeng during its imperial examination a few months ago were elated.

"Now, official appointments!"

The officials of rites took over the ceremony. Those who had earned the greatest merit during the recent war would now be granted titled positions.

Xia Hong had earned an incredible amount of merit and was granted the position of marquis.

The cultivators of Dazheng, who belonged to another empire, weren't granted titles but instead large sums of fortune.

Though that fortune couldn't be disbursed just yet, the sums of fortune would be delivered as quickly as possible.

Xia Hong was radiant with joy, and all the disciples from the Yuqing holy land were excited for him.

"It's all thanks to Senior Brother Xia Hong. We wouldn't have gotten such a wonderful opportunity otherwise."

"No, we should thank Senior Brother Xiao instead. He was the one who heavily recommended Shenfeng to us."

"Right, Senior Brother Xiao really had incredible foresight!"

The ceremony was almost over.

The Divine Emperor glanced again at the peak of a mountain in the distance, where Xiao Nanfeng sat in a pavilion and continued to watch her.

Two months later, as Shenfeng impressed its policies upon the various Immortal cities of Hongyue, countless civilians who had originally been from Hongyue belatedly realized that Shenfeng's treatment of the common people was far beyond what they had anticipated. Roiling fortune flooded the sea of fortune above Shenfeng's capital.

The fortune had quickly snowballed to the point that it was comparable to the quantity of fortune that Hongyue had had at its peak.

The Divine Emperor smiled. Wielding her imperial seal and code of laws, she announced, "I award all of Shenfeng's fortune to Xiao Nanfeng."

Fortune descended from the heavens and flooded into Xiao Nanfeng's body.

Xiao Nanfeng took advantage of the fortune to enter secluded cultivation as he focused on clearing away the karmic consequence of his spiritual cultivation.

He transformed to his True Yin spiritual avatar. White light radiated from him, along with intense frost.

If his spiritual cultivation involved an ordinary cultivation technique, it would have been straightforward to break through. However, what he cultivated was Body of Yin, a complex, arcane technique that dealt with the core of spiritual cultivation itself. He had complemented his spiritual cultivation with countless star maps of heavenly domains that dealt with both natural and heavenly law, greatly magnifying the difficulty of his cultivation.

With so much fortune available to him, however, things were very different. His bottlenecks burst open from the force of the fortune that flooded into him as previously inaccessible insights became clear.

More and more light brimmed from Xiao Nanfeng's body. Frost gushed out from him. Despite the fact that he kept his spiritual moon firmly within his mindscape, snow began to fall in his vicinity.

A blizzard began to form around the palace and quickly spread outward until it covered the entirety of the capital.

Guards and cultivators cried out in surprise as the Divine Emperor hurriedly informed the people of the capital about the news.

Snow fell for an entire day as Xiao Nanfeng's aura grew stronger and stronger. The palatial valley froze over and became encased in a block of ice. Even the Divine Emperor hadn't suppressed it—though that was partly because she was worried it would interrupt Xiao Nanfeng's breakthrough.

Finally, as the last drop of fortune was consumed, a white wave of energy emanated from Xiao Nanfeng's body.

He reined in his aura and returned to normal as he opened his eyes.

"Well? Have you broken through?" the Divine Emperor asked curiously.

Xiao Nanfeng nodded. "I'm a late-stage True Yin cultivator now."

"Good. Once Shenfeng amasses enough fortune, I'll cede it all to you again." The Divine Emperor smiled.

"Very well!" Xiao Nanfeng replied, laughing.

Xiao Nanfeng stood up. "It's time for me to set off now."

"Must you go?"

"Don't worry. With my strength now, what's there for me to fear? Ye Sanshui will assist me too."

"Be careful," the Divine Emperor murmured. She didn't want to see him leave.

"Don't worry. You need to be careful too. That charm of heavenly law is deteriorating further and further. Before it dissipates, try to recover the strength you had in your past life."

"I will." The Divine Emperor nodded firmly.

"I'll leave the Demon Child with you. Urge him to study, will you? While you're in secluded cultivation, he can guard the empire on your behalf."

The Divine Emperor smiled gently at the fact that Xiao Nanfeng had planned all this out for her. "Very well. Come back as soon as you can."

Xiao Nanfeng hugged and kissed her.

"Don't!" The Divine Emperor flushed, but didn't refuse the kiss.

It was only quite a while later that Xiao Nanfeng finally released her. "I'll be back."

He flew off from the palace; the Divine Emperor, her cheeks still flushed, saw him off.

Xiao Nanfeng met up with Ye Sanshui as they departed from Shenfeng's capital.

With Ye Sanshui leading the way, the two cultivators flew quickly due east.

"Ye Sanshui, the Divine Emperor has collected what remains of the black blood cursed effigy that was left behind when Lou Yujing's ancestral zombie avatar exploded, and I'm now in possession of it. However, I don't want to hand it to you for the time being. I'm worried that something bad may happen when the three ancestral zombies' bodies are united. The Divine Emperor believes this to be the case as well. I'll ask the Heavenly Emperor about the situation and help you advance your cultivation only when I can be sure that nothing bad will happen."

"As you will, Your Majesty."

Xiao Nanfeng nodded. Not only did he not allow Ye Sanshui to absorb the other two ancestral zombie bodies, he didn't merge Lou Yujing's third black coffin with the other two, either. He was worried that the original owner of the black coffin and black blood cursed effigy had a conspiracy in mind. He didn't want to be embroiled in it just yet.

The two cultivators arrived on Taiqing Island as quickly as they could, only to see the remnants of a huge, celebratory banquet. Plenty of Taiqing disciples were cleaning up the mess with radiant smiles.

When they saw Xiao Nanfeng arrive, they turned to him and bowed deeply. "We greet the Heaven division leader!"

Xiao Nanfeng smiled and nodded, then flew toward the Taiqing Hall with Ye Sanshui in tow.

There, Ye Dafu, Zhao Yuanjiao, and Chang Bing were all already present. They seemed to have been in the middle of a discussion. When they heard the Taiqing disciples greet Xiao Nanfeng, they all rushed out of the hall.

"Nanfeng, you're late! If you had come two days earlier, you would have made it for the banquet. Everyone's overjoyed that we've finally exterminated the traitors to our sect."

"I'm afraid I was waylaid by some affairs. Let's speak inside, Senior Brother," Xiao Nanfeng suggested.

"Very well!" Zhao Yuanjiao nodded.

All four division leaders of the Taiqing Immortal Sect had gathered. They entered the hall.

"Nanfeng, according to the sect master's letter, he should arrive within the next two days. Why have you gathered all of us here?" Zhao Yuanjiao asked curiously.

Everyone turned toward Xiao Nanfeng.

Xiao Nanfeng took a deep breath. "The sect master was not present for Taiqing's revenge on the traitors from two centuries ago. How many times has he neglected his duties in recent memory? He never shows himself even when the Taiqing Immortal Sect is beset by grave danger. What right does he have to be the sect master of Taiqing? I have gathered all of you here today in hopes of deposing him."

The gathered cultivators were taken aback.

"Lu Yan isn't qualified to remain the sect master any longer," Xiao Nanfeng said firmly.