At the court, only fourth-grade and above officials, both civil and military, could receive divine enfeoffment. The rest could only attain Qi Yun. Titles were granted through official seals.
Since the nobles were fewer in number, all dukes and marquis received enfeoffment. Although they had divine position records, they did not have subordinate divine positions. Only those with real positions could receive subordinate divine assistance.
The situation was similar for relatives. Depending on the nobles' ranks, only princes, dukes, and their heirs and grandsons could have divine positions.
Of course, the most surprising part was the so-called passing on to wives and children. The rightful wives and eldest sons of all fourth-grade or above officials, dukes, and marquis enjoyed protection, but no one else did.
According to the emperor's wishes, this divine investiture was the first of many. With the continued growth and imposing Qi Yun of the Great Ming Divine Dynasty, divine investiture would occur periodically like the imperial examination, and the required rank for obtaining divine investiture would gradually decrease.
The divine investitures given to Pei Xuanjing's group were not as grand and one could even say they were rudimentary.
Once the negotiations were complete, Pei Xuanjing merely created Divine Position Seeds in accordance with the negotiated number of divine positions, handed them over, and then washed his hands of the matter.
Once the divine investiture was over and the gods had returned to their places, even the Qi Yun increased instead of decreasing as the divine positions of the Great Ming Divine Dynasty became slightly fulfilled.
However, just when the world hadn't recovered from these important events, Pei Xuanjing, the Master of the Great Ming and now the world's number one, announced news that shocked the world and drove countless martial artists crazy.
" I, Pei Xuanjing, will establish a Taoist Academy. All aspiring martial artists may apply. Those selected to join the academy will be able to practice any skill within the academy, receive instruction from famous teachers, and even receive guidance from me. If one is qualified, one may cultivate my "Shenxiao Heaven's Will Skill."
After this news spread, it immediately stirred up the already bustling Great Ming Divine Dynasty, like throwing water into boiling oil.
Who is Pei Xuanjing? He is the Master of the Great Ming, the leader of Shenxiao Sect, a powerful figure at the Spirit Realm Sixth Level, and today's number one in the world.
His "Shenxiao Heaven's Will Skill" has long been known to the world's martial artists and is considered the top divine skill in today's world.
Every year because of this reputation, countless people hope to join the Shenxiao Sect and receive Pei Xuanjing's guidance, hoping to become his disciple, but no one has ever succeeded.
Over the years, Pei Xuanjing has only had two disciples, one is the main disciple, now the Deputy Leader of Shenxiao Sect – Pang Hong, the other is a nominal disciple, who is now the Emperor of the Great Ming Divine Dynasty.
Now, upon hearing that he's establishing a Taoist Academy – a place where anyone of respectable origin can cultivate, practice any skill, and receive guidance from esteemed teachers – this undoubtedly drives the world's martial artists mad.
According to the information leaked, the Taoist Academy will consist of an internal and external institution, not to mention the internal institution where future strong practitioners in the Spirit Realm will reside.
The external institution will have three divisions, each corresponding to the lower, middle, and upper realms of martial arts. At the opening of the academy, the number of disciples recruited will be minimal, with a thousand for the lower realm, five hundred for the middle realm, and a hundred for the higher realm.
Despite this, the news still attracted countless martial artists. With such an opportunity before them, everyone wanted to take a gamble, as it might change their lives.
On that day, countless martial artists flooded towards Tiandu, nearly bursting the city.
"Is he lightly bestowing others with these skill books which are the foundation of our sect?" Xue Hanyi asked in surprise.
When he heard this news, he was stunned. He didn't understand what Pei Xuanjing was trying to do. It seemed like a radical move.
For any religious sect, the skill books are considered more important than life; they are the basis of their heritage, the flame that keeps their heritage alive.
Even in a country like the Xue ancient country, when passing on a skill, selection was done carefully, and only those with merits had a chance of learning.
He didn't understand Pei Xuanjing's actions. Even if he wanted to establish a Taoist Academy, he could understand. But why would he pass on his skills so lightly?
In the Sky Wasteland, every cultivator keeps his cultivation methods a secret. Sometimes, even between master and disciple, and close relatives, there isn't the slightest leak. The method of cultivation is a fundamental principle, not to be peeped at by anyone.
But now Pei Xuanjing is doing this, isn't he afraid that his own fundamental skill will be known, and people will find faults, leading to his fall?
Xue Hanyi just couldn't understand this.
By his side, Mu Binghua's eyes flashed with various colors. She too was not certain what Pei Xuanjing was trying to do.
She looked up sharply and turned to Mr. Wu: "What do you think of Master Pei's actions, Mr. Wu?".
Mr. Wu had interacted with Pei Xuanjing a lot recently and should be able to understand his intentions.
Mr. Wu just smiled lightly: "Master Pei's vision is outstanding, his actions are beyond my comprehension."
Clearly, he didn't want to answer this question, and he had no intention of answering these two.
Although Mr. Wu had a rough idea of Pei Xuanjing's intentions, he didn't intend to tell these people anything at all.
Because it didn't make sense to.
The Witch Deity Teaching has a long history, and the wise men who managed to preach to the world like Pei Xuanjing, recorded in the Witch Deity Teaching records are all saintly figures. Only such a benevolent person, who harbors the world in their hearts, could do such things as not being private with their skills and willing to give their knowledge to the world.
However, most of these sage figures appeared in ancient times, with the decline of a hundred families after pre-Qin times, such wise men rarely emerged. Even those who survived the great disaster of the Tang Dynasty, many didn't have such impressions, let alone the younger generation who grew up in the Tianhuang region?
Even if he told them, these people, who have been deeply influenced by the current situation, would find it hard to believe.
Pei Xuanjing didn't pay attention to any of these things; he was currently instructing Deng Zhong.
"After weighing up the options for the location of the Taoist Academy, I still think that outside of Tiandu is the most suitable option. I've already discussed this with the emperor. Your next task is to collaborate with the Capital Camp in selecting disciples. Make sure to strictly follow the rules we have set and not overlook any details," said Pei Xuanjing.
"I'll carry out your orders," Deng Zhong responded respectfully.
Pei Xuanjing nodded. This selection was of great significance, and a careless mistake could prove counterproductive.
Pei Xuanjing naturally didn't need to personally handle the affairs of the Taoist Academy, as people were there to help supervise and track everything.
After all, with Pei Xuanjing's current status, even if he wanted to teach disciples and impart cultivation methods, it would normally be taught only to disciples of the Shenxiao Sect, at most allowing some disciples of the Taoist School to eavesdrop.
But now, such a world-leading powerhouse was willing to give public classes, a good deed that drew countless supporters. Even those forces who understood that Pei Xuanjing's actions would harm their own interests and intensify the Internal Competition among martial artist cultivators knew that this was a rare opportunity.
Therefore, since it was impossible to stop it, they might as well cooperate fully to minimize losses as much as possible.
However, despite the fact that the blueprint for the Taoist Academy was provided and completed by the Ministry of Works, it underwent many amendments after being requisitioned by Pei Xuanjing.
Though the people at the Ministry of Works couldn't understand the revised blueprint, that didn't stop them from conveniently keeping a copy and sending it to Imperial City.
Pei Xuanjing didn't say anything about this; in fact, he was quite pleased.
It was a small experiment of his. If someone from the imperial court was willing to duplicate it, he wouldn't mind, as it would provide him with more experimental data.
Afterward, Pei Xuanjing went into seclusion. During this time, he adjusted his essence, Qi, and spirit to their optimal state, ready for another attempt.
"This time, don't let me down," Pei Xuanjing murmured to himself.
He sat down on his meditation cushion, and the Heaven and Earth Essence Qi around him began to gather and circulate. The entire room was filled with the rich scent of Heaven and Earth Essence Qi.
But this attempt was not carried out with jade as the medium, but with an actual External Incarnation.
He transformed his hand into a blade, and scraped off flesh from his own body. He spat a few mouthfuls of blood essence on the jade, the dropped flesh flickered with light. The imposing aura of Pei Xuanjing burst forth, and an abundance of Shenxiao Origin Qi surged into it.
In a blink of an eye, the flesh turned into a ball of meat. Pei Xuanjing continuously dripped blood into it. The meatball spun rapidly, absorbing Heaven and Earth Essence Qi and Shenxiao Origin Qi like a bottomless black hole..
After a long while, a figure identical to Pei Xuanjing emerged before his eyes.
Next, Pei Xuanjing closed his eyes, focusing his attention on his External Incarnation.
The incarnation opened its eyes, then sat on the ground and continued to attract the Heaven and Earth spiritual energy from the surroundings.
At this moment, Pei Xuanjing started his skill, harmonizing the essence, Qi, and spiritual power in this body, attempting to integrate them into the Dantian and condense them into a Golden Core.
Humans have the three treasures: essence, Qi, and spirit. It is said by the Taoist School that the human body is a melting pot. Using body's essence and Qi as precious medicinal ingredients, and the spirit as the flame, condense them into a Holy Embryo, undergo a complete change, and reverse to the Primordial State.
In his cultivation journey, aside from the help of the life simulator, Pei Xuanjing has been following the Cultivation Method Manuals, observing the principles of Heaven and Earth, and learning from nature.
The whole universe is within the Heaven and Earth; a small universe is within the human body. Heaven and Earth serve as the blast furnace, Yin and Yang serve as charcoal, and nature serves as the worker. Hence, the human body being the furnace, the essence and Qi being the medicine, and the spirit being the charcoal, all follows the same reasoning.
Pei Xuanjing was controlling his divine soul power, balancing Yin and Yang, smelting the essence and Qi, allowing the three treasures of essence, Qi, and spirit to gradually blend together.
As Pei Xuanjing continued to circulate his skills, an intangible object, the inner alchemy formed by essence, Qi, and spirit, emerged inside him. This inner alchemy kept hammering, rotating, and emanating an immortal and indestructible aura…
However, no matter how much Pei Xuanjing refined it, it seemed that there was always something missing from this intangible inner alchemy inside him.
"What am I missing exactly?" Pei Xuanjing pondered.
According to his previous attempts and inferences, many failures were due to the imbalance of essence, Qi, and spirit in his incarnation. This imbalance led to the inability of the perfect fusion of condensed inner alchemy and the destruction of inner alchemy due to instability after refinement.
But now, the powers of this incarnation, including physical strength, Primordial Qi, and divine soul strength, have all remained at the Spirit Realm Third Level. Logically, it should successfully condense the inner alchemy, so why does it seem to be lacking?
"Sigh…"
The countless Heaven and Earth Essence Qi gathering around the incarnation of Pei Xuanjing quietly dispersed, and the room eventually returned to tranquillity again.
He temporarily stopped circulating his skills. He couldn't continue any further; otherwise, this incarnation might suffer the same fate as in previous experiments.
"Hmm?"
Just as Pei Xuanjing was about to withdraw his incarnation, he suddenly noticed some changes in the incarnation's body.
Although the creation of the inner alchemy was not complete this time, the smelting of the essence, Qi, and spirit through the incarnation earlier was not in vain. Instead, it made the Primordial Qi in his body even more refined, his divine soul more resilient, and his body slightly stronger.
"Perhaps it's because this incarnation was only initially polished. Although the essence, Qi, and spirit are balanced, they have not truly reached perfection yet. Could this be the reason it failed just now?" Pei Xuanjing guessed.
He wasn't sure about this guess as he couldn't verify it. After all, his previous experiments ended with the destruction of the incarnation.
Regardless, at least for now, his incarnation has not been withdrawn. This allows him to have an additional guess, and as long as he keeps trying slowly, it is ultimately a possibility.
Creating laws is difficult, let alone exploring the Supreme Golden Elixir Path of this school. The failure of this experiment was within his anticipations. He never thought that he would succeed in one try.
Despite continuous cultivation, Pei Xuanjing's talents have only changed from ordinary. His comprehension skills are average. If it weren't for the help from the life simulator and experiences from his previous life, it would have been difficult for him to get to where he is today.
If the Supreme Golden Elixir Path was so easy to succeed, it would be a joke.
Given the situation of exploring it alone, Pei Xuanjing was already satisfied with the current situation.
In the main hall, Pei Xuanjing asked, "How is the selection process going so far? Are there people deliberately causing trouble and hindering it?"
As he said this, there was a hint of coldness flashed across Pei Xuanjing's eyes. The Taoist Academy plan was crucial to his own Dao cultivation and it was something that must be carried out. Anyone who dare interfere, need not be surprised by his ruthlessness.
"Master, not only did the various forces not hinder this time, they also sent many disciples from various schools to participate in the selection," Deng Zhong shook his head and said to Pei Xuanjing.
This was odd to him at first. Whether or not the establishment of the Taoist Academy could be pushed forward was uncertain in the eyes of many people. After all, Pei Xuanjing's move was akin to digging at the roots of those powerful family sects, especially the recruiting sects. However, due to Pei Xuanjing's awe-inspiring presence, no one dared to voice any differing opinions. Even if they were unsatisfied, they had to hide it and dare not expose it publicly.
Of course, even if they resent it, since they can't stop it, they definitely won't ignore it. Instead, they actively participate by sending many disciples to the Taoist Academy.
When these powers asked if their disciples could enter the Taoist Academy, Deng Zhong understood: It's an open scheme. I can't stop you from spreading your teachings, but I can allow my disciples to claim these spots and minimize your influence.
"As long as these people have come to the selection, there is no need to stop them." Pei Xuanjing understood what they were thinking and signaled not to bother with them.
Pei Xuanjing had prepared for this. Even with the transmissibility of the Martial Classics, allowing more people to become martial artists, most martial artists without master guidance and environmental edification were generally not as powerful as those from major forces. This was an inevitable fact, and it was what Pei Xuanjing aimed to eliminate.
Therefore, he had already informed Deng Zhong that they needed to handle the selection of martial artists from major forces differently from those of ordinary origin, and needed to make flexible adjustments.
Pei Xuanjing certainly wouldn't completely reject these martial artists from major forces either. Since he decided to teach all to the people, he naturally wouldn't care about their background, nor would he be prejudiced.
However, at this point, ordinary martial artists held significant meaning for Pei Xuanjing. He needed to set an example with these ordinary martial artists to show all martial artists that his words were true and not simply empty talk.
Of course, these martial artists from major forces weren't useless to Pei Xuanjing. On the contrary, they were of great use to him, just not urgently so at the moment.
What he needed was to spread his ideas to these people, slowly influencing them, and letting these ideas take root in their hearts.
He didn't need all of them to agree with his viewpoint, just a part of them. Even if only one person approved, if they agreed with Pei Xuanjing's ideas in the future, they would be his biggest supporters.
"No matter which sect's disciples come, they can all apply for the selection. However, remember that their quotas must be kept within a certain range, and the quotas for ordinary martial artists must not be encroached upon." Pei Xuanjing stated.
"Understood."
Deng Zhong also knew what to do.
They needed to maintain a balance, allowing more ordinary martial artists to join the Martial Academy, even if adjustments were needed.
"Have all parties responded to the assignment of instructors?" Pei Xuanjing asked about another matter.
Initially, it was agreed with the Taoist School and other Ji Fang Alliances that they would send experts to act as instructors in the Taoist Academy. In response, they also agreed to send people.
Pei Xuanjing noted that these instructors could obtain teachings and exchange for skills based on their time teaching at the Taoist Academy.
Given the duration, it should be time for their response.
"No one has arrived yet. They have all responded that it will take some time to decide on the candidates." Deng Zhong reported honestly.
Pei Xuanjing was confused. He frowned slightly and said, "Why not yet? Are there no volunteers?"
He felt that the conditions he provided were generous. Could it be that these current strong martial artists all looked down on his offer?
"Not at all." Deng Zhong shook his head and explained with a bitter smile, "You may not know, Master, each household has made a big fuss about this instructor position. Not only them, but even our Shenxiao Sect has had serious disputes over these positions."
For Pei Xuanjing, to teach many martial artists, he didn't need to be too strong. Especially for those ordinary martial artists below the Fourth-grade, basically, any Grandmaster martial artist was qualified.
If these Grandmaster martial artists could receive Pei Xuanjing's guidance, it would presumably be much easier for them to breakthrough to the Spirit Realm later.
This prime opportunity that many people sought was eagerly accepted by martial artists.
However, although the Heaven and Earth had recovered, making it easy for martial artists to cultivate and breakthrough, transitioning from Mortal Realm to Spirit Realm remained a hurdle, trapping countless martial artists who were unable to breakthrough.
This opportunity was good, but for major powers, it was more of a case of more monks than porridge, with many coveting those places, to the point of nearly coming to blows over places.
This was also true within the Shenxiao Sect. Even though Pei Xuanjing was the master, he was often cultivating and had few opportunities to guide others, except for his direct disciple, Pang Hong and other people like Yu Zhenzi.
The rest of the martial artists who couldn't step into the Spirit Realm probably didn't even have a chance to have a few words with Pei Xuanjing, let alone receive his guidance.
After hearing Deng Zhong's explanation, Pei Xuanjing couldn't help but feel a little embarrassed, realizing he'd been neglecting the affairs of the Shenxiao Sect.
He thought for a moment and said, "Okay, ordinary martial artists from our sect can listen on the side of the Taoist Academy. As long as they break through to the third-grade or above, they can listen whenever I preach in the Taoist Academy in the future."
This was his blessing to his disciples as the master of the Shenxiao Sect, and nobody would object to it.
"Thank you, Master." Deng Zhong thanked him emotionally.
When this news is passed on, it's bound to please his disciples and appease the sect's martial artists. His job would also become a bit easier.
"Alright, go and get busy." Pei Xuanjing signaled.
Deng Zhong left with his orders, and Pei Xuanjing continued to flip through the records in his hand. These were some of the happenings of this period, Bai Xiaosheng felt it necessary for Pei Xuanjing to pay attention to and would compile them into a book and send it over.
He looked through these records and understood what had happened in the Great Ming Divine Dynasty during this period.
During this time, after the Divine Dynasty's enfeoffment, the Great Ming Divine Dynasty made many reforms, especially regarding the previous ranks of the imperial court's nobles.
Originally, as per the old system left by Emperor Taizu of Great Ming, regardless of whether they were prince or duke, all nobles were above rank and did not enter the nine-grade system.
But now, since the Divine Dynasty's officials' grades are related to the divine position and Qi Luck they occupy, Zhu Houji, the master of the Divine Dynasty, immediately decided to incorporate these noble ranks into the nine-grade system.