Chapter 274 - 269: Qingxu Tongxuan Guanmiao True Monarch

Emperor Shunde had been brimming with frustration, suppressing his temper to negotiate with Du Youqian. But upon hearing his cousin’s tone, he suddenly felt at peace.

Sometimes, finding happiness is simple. It all depends on who you compare yourself to.

’Look at you,’ he thought, ’a peerless beauty and an Immortal Sect disciple, yet you still have to suffer at the hands of Master Baili.’

’Then isn’t it perfectly normal for me, a mere Mortal Emperor, to suffer at his hands?’

Du Youqian glanced at the screen but said nothing.

’This is the kind of young girl who bursts into tears if you speak to her too harshly.’

’If I make her cry, am I supposed to be the one to comfort her?’

’I’m not her grandfather, after all.’

’I’m her great-grandfather’s great-grandfather’s great-grandfather’s great-grandfather... By my count, I must be her ancestor from twenty or thirty generations ago.’

’I have no interest in doting on my descendants.’

Seeing her verbal jab miss its mark, Du Suxin felt even more displeased. She huffed again and changed her mode of address. "Mr. Baili, the Wu Kingdom is a land garrisoned by the Shengxuan Sect. It’s impossible for the Sect to turn a blind eye to you serving as the Celestial Master here. I can only try my best to mediate, but I can’t guarantee the Sect won’t come to investigate."

Du Youqian’s tone was cold. "You’d best explain things to them clearly. Don’t add fuel to the fire. It would be best if they don’t come looking for trouble. Otherwise, your Shengxuan Sect only has a handful of Foundation Establishment Cultivators. If I accidentally kill a few, your sect will suffer a Demotion."

The first half of his statement filled Du Suxin with rage. She couldn’t believe how tactless this Baili Jianxin was. She was offering her goodwill, and he was treating it like dirt, speaking with such arrogance.

But the second half of Du Youqian’s words was like a bucket of ice water poured over her head, shocking her into immediate calm.

Knowing about a Sect’s Demotion was not something an ordinary Loose Cultivator could do.

Even most Outer Disciples in a Sect would never come across such information.

She only knew about these things because a senior had taken a liking to her, and it was basically guaranteed that she would be accepted as an Inner Disciple upon returning to the Sect after her garrison duty. She had learned of it while chatting idly with her future senior brothers and sisters.

’So, does this Baili Jianxin have a powerful Cultivator backing him?’

’Was his threat not just empty words? Could it be that the person behind him truly possesses Foundation Establishment Combat Power?’

No matter how wild Du Suxin’s imagination was, she could never have guessed that Du Youqian’s powerful backing was himself.

A mere Qi Cultivation Early Stage Cultivator—yes, she had carefully sensed it, and Baili Jianxin was indeed in the Qi Cultivation Early Stage.

Of course, there was no way she could see through Du Youqian’s Nine Yin Nine Yang Ten Thousand Transformations Hidden Heaven Technique.

A Qi Cultivation Early Stage Cultivator could never pose a threat to a Foundation Establishment Cultivator.

If a Foundation Establishment Cultivator just stood there and did nothing, a little Qi Cultivation Early Stage Cultivator could use any Magic they wanted and not even scratch them.

They wouldn’t even be able to break through the person’s Protective Gang Sha Qi.

After a long silence, Du Suxin emerged from behind the screen and gave Du Youqian a Daoist salute. "Sir, I will report your words truthfully to the elders of my Sect."

Du Youqian said faintly, "Do as you wish. In any case, I won’t be the one at a disadvantage."

Du Suxin took a sharp breath, her cute nostrils flaring slightly.

’So infuriating!’

And the worst part was, she had no way to rebut him.

’Forget it. I’ll just go back behind the screen and pretend I was never here today.’

After chatting idly with Emperor Shunde for a bit longer, Du Youqian returned to Prince Rui’s Mansion.

As for the things he planned to do after becoming the Celestial Master, now was not the time to discuss them.

For one, his foundation in the imperial court was far too shallow. He certainly couldn’t start making sweeping changes right away.

Besides, some things could be said but not done.

And some things could be done but not said.

First, he would make some subtle arrangements, waiting until everyone had accepted them with the same disgust as if they’d swallowed a fly. Then, he would slowly up the ante.

This was better than setting the bar high from the start and shouting slogans to the heavens, as if he were afraid no one would come to oppose him.

After returning to Prince Rui’s Mansion, Du Youqian tried using his Divination Technique to determine the title he should receive after becoming Celestial Master.

The first few characters were easily determined: "Qingxu Tongxuan Guanmiao."

’A bit long, isn’t it...’

’Then the full title should be "Qingxu Tongxuan Guanmiao Master," right?’

No, that wasn’t it!

An intuition from the great beyond told him he was wrong.

’Then, could it be "Qingxu Tongxuan Guanmiao True Monarch"?’

His intuition told him yes, that was the title it should be.

Du Youqian felt a little terrified.

Thanks to the wily old fox Feng Xiaoyi, he had learned some secret knowledge that was unrecorded in Momenan but was common among the First Class and above in the outside Human World.

According to Feng Xiaoyi, many years ago, before the Human Race’s Celestial Court shattered and the Human Race lost its Mandate of Heaven, Tier Five Cultivators were able to ascend to the Celestial Realm.

In those days, the Human Race was filled with brilliant talents, a dazzling constellation of stars.

Especially in the Celestial Realm, True Immortals were everywhere, and Divinity Transformation Cultivators were a dime a dozen.

Only those at Tier Five Divinity Transformation and Tier Six Returning to the Void were qualified to be called "Master."

And only those at Tier Seven "Harmonization" were worthy of the venerable title of "True Monarch."

As for what lay beyond that, Feng Xiaoyi never said.

"You can’t say it out loud," she had told Du Youqian with a grave expression at the time. "Try not to even think about it."

After the Human Race lost its Mandate of Heaven, many Great Powers were killed or injured due to internal strife.

The top-tier combat power was severely depleted.

Slowly, the prestige of the titles also declined.

Tier Three and Tier Four Cultivators could be called "Master," while those at Tier Five and Tier Six were called "True Monarch."

This was easy to understand. On Earth, for example, during the Shang and Zhou dynasties, the supreme ruler was called "King."

But by the late Warring States period, especially after the Qin unified the land, "King" officially became a second-tier title, and the supreme ruler of the world became the "Emperor."

But even if the title "True Monarch" had depreciated in value to the point where Tier Five and Six cultivators could use it, Du Youqian was still unworthy.

He was now just a pitiful, weak, and helpless Tier One Qi Cultivation Cultivator...

That was why he was so apprehensive.

As the old saying goes, when virtue does not match one’s station, disaster is sure to follow.

But when he performed the Divination again, the result was unchanged.

Using the title "True Monarch" was auspicious: "Good Fortune."

Conversely, not using the title "True Monarch" was inauspicious: "Calamity."

’In that case, to hell with it. I’ll just trust my Divination Art.’

So, when Du Youqian went to see Emperor Shunde the next day, he had settled on his title.

National Guardian Celestial Master "Qingxu Tongxuan Guanmiao True Monarch," with a Grade of Senior First Grade.

Of course, actually enfeoffing him as the National Guardian Celestial Master was not something that could happen overnight.

After all, the current political situation was one where the Monarch ruled the world alongside the Civil Servants.

Although the National Guardian Celestial Master was not part of the Civil Servant hierarchy, the authority to manage religious affairs was rather ambiguous.

Sometimes the Emperor could decide with a single word, and the Civil Servants wouldn’t bother arguing with him over such a trivial matter.

But at other times, the Civil Servants would try to suppress any expansion of imperial power on all fronts, and would therefore clash with the Emperor over religious affairs.

In any case, over the next month, Du Youqian would visit the Imperial Palace every few days, show his face, and let people get used to his presence. He let the rumor that he was about to be named National Guardian Celestial Master spread through the court.

At night, he would return to Prince Rui’s Mansion. Although there was no more Human Dao Fortune to advance his Body Refining Cultivation, he could resume practicing some Secret Techniques to strengthen his combat power.

A month passed, and the ceremony for inheriting the title was more or less prepared.

Du Youqian simply used a crude Blinding Technique, having a servant of similar height kneel and complete the ritual in his stead.

He had already discussed this with Emperor Shunde, and Du Suxin also turned a blind eye.

Another month after inheriting the title, Emperor Shunde held a grand ceremony to confer the title of National Guardian Celestial Master.

There were voices of opposition, but they were not too strong.

As for the few who strongly objected, after Du Youqian paid them a visit and had "intimate and friendly conversations" with them, they naturally came to realize they had misunderstood Du Youqian’s loyalty to the state and his painstaking efforts. They immediately began to sing his praises, supporting his appointment as National Guardian Celestial Master so he could contribute to the Wu Kingdom in a more suitable position.

Thus, during the conferment ceremony, everything proceeded according to plan and concluded perfectly.

As the name of the National Guardian Celestial Master "Qingxu Tongxuan Guanmiao True Monarch" spread throughout the Wu Kingdom, Du Youqian had yet to formally begin his reforms. Before he had even lit the "three fires" of a new official, he felt a massive amount of Human Dao Fortune continuously flowing into his account.

’This... how can I possibly accept this?’

He spent a month using this Human Dao Fortune to raise his Body Refining Cultivation to the Qi Cultivation Fifth Layer. Then, without stopping, he began to travel to various parts of the Wu Kingdom...

Not for unannounced inspections, of course, but for praying for rain and averting disasters—the traditional duties of a National Guardian Celestial Master.

With his Divination Art, it was natural that wherever he went, the rain would fall.

Oh, that came out wrong. It should be that he knew where it would rain and would rush over in advance to "pray for rain."

Coupled with Emperor Shunde’s strong cooperation and vigorous official propaganda, people all over the country soon knew that the National Guardian Celestial Master was a Great Power of profound Daoist cultivation who cared for all under heaven.

As for the Shengxuan Sect, although they received an unbiased report from Du Suxin and others, they were rather dismissive of Du Youqian’s rise and did not rush to deal with such a trivial matter.

Almost a year after Du Youqian’s reincarnation, and after he had served as the National Guardian Celestial Master for over eight months, the Inner Disciple specially dispatched by the Shengxuan Sect to investigate Du Youqian finally arrived.

"Sir, are you the National Guardian Celestial Master, Baili Jianxin?" The Qi Cultivation Eighth Layer Inner Disciple blocked Du Youqian’s path as he was walking toward the Celestial Master’s Mansion after court had ended.

Du Youqian shot him a blank look and deactivated the Concealing Breath effect of his Nine Yin Nine Yang Ten Thousand Transformations Hidden Heaven Technique.

As the Shengxuan Sect’s Inner Disciple stared, dumbfounded, he spoke faintly. "Junior, you call me ’Sir’?"

Sensing the Foundation Establishment aura radiating from Du Youqian—as vast as the sea, an oppressive force that made him want to fall to his knees—the man quickly bowed his head. "Greetings, Senior!"