Daojun, start from Penglai foundation building

"This seventh trial is to test whether those juniors can be qualified as Heavenly Court deities."

"The Divine Firmament Emperor is right. The Heavenly Emperor resides in the Seventh Heaven Realm, holds a lofty position, and wields great power in his region. He cannot easily entrust such a position to others."

"Therefore, I have deliberately sealed their supernatural powers, magical treasures and artifacts, so that all of them can start from scratch, step by step, from the positions of village land god, well dragon king, and barren mountain god, to become lake god, river god, mountain emperor, and then become heavenly god, god king, and emperor."

"During this period, I also set up many tests to let them know the hardships and difficulties of the divine path. They must strive for incense offerings, protect their people, and then everyone will compete for that one purple imperial edict position."

"Those who can rise step by step from the White Edict God to the Purple Edict Venerable position will be the first in this level. The rest will be judged according to their respective divine titles, merits and incense offerings."

The Emperor stroked his beard and spoke of his vision. Inside the Lingxiao Palace, all the immortals, Buddhas, and saints looked towards that vast and desolate land, where towering mountains, great lakes and marshes, rushing rivers, and shady forests could be seen.

Upon closer inspection, this continent contains tens of thousands of villages, over a thousand towns, and more than a hundred counties, divided into ten kingdoms.

Clearly, according to the will of the Heavenly Emperor, the top ten in this trial must occupy the incense offerings and merits of at least one country.

Fortunately, everyone starts from an ordinary point, and their future development depends on their experience and understanding.

Jingxuan Daojun frowned slightly. This test examines everyone's understanding of the divine path, and how to be a celestial god, managing the divine palace, educating the people, controlling the wind and rain, and harmonizing autumn and summer.

This is naturally a required course for a qualified priest, including how to obtain incense offerings and merits, how to manage the various parts of the divine realm, what rules to establish, and how to reward and punish...

However, among the 109 people in the trial, how many were from the Divine Path?
Regardless of what the Heavenly Emperor says, this trial is advantageous to the cultivators of the Divine Path.

Emperor Liuyuan, Emperor Tianyun, God of Spring and Autumn, and Fairy of a Hundred Flowers are all very familiar with the cultivation of the divine path. Now, it is simply a matter of letting them walk the path they came from again.

What's more, among these people was the Divine Firmament Emperor, one of the four Heavenly Emperors. This trial seemed to have been specially prepared for him...

"Fellow Daoist Jingxuan, what are you thinking about?"

"Could it be that you feel there is something unfair about the challenges set up by the Heavenly Emperor?"

Bodhisattva Zhenque looked at Daoist Jingxuan with a half-smile, clearly quite interested in Daoist Jingxuan's unconscious frown.

One bet cost him the Seven Treasure Golden Lotus that he had painstakingly cultivated for tens of thousands of years. Who would believe he didn't care at all?

Even if you raise a cat or dog for over a hundred years, you'll develop a bond with it, let alone a pond of the incredibly precious Seven Treasure Golden Lotus!
That pool of golden lotuses was a gift from the Buddha Jinjue, painstakingly nurtured for millennia, only to be given away to that lowly woman from the Eastern Heavenly Daoist family…

Therefore, as long as she can find something that displeases Daoist Jingxuan, Bodhisattva Zhenque will never let the opportunity pass.

Daoist Jingxuan remained calm and spoke indifferently: "It is understandable for immortals, Buddhas, and saints to favor their own. I am merely pondering how my juniors should break this deadlock."

As she spoke, Daoist Jingxuan glanced at Bodhisattva Zhenque and said, "Speaking of which, is Bodhisattva Zhenque so concerned about the situation of others because she has nothing to do now that the true disciples of the Great Lingyin Temple are gone in the seventh level?"

Jingxuan Daojun's words were undeniably venomous; they were practically stabbing Zhenque Bodhisattva in the lungs.

The Bodhisattva Zhenque's expression changed several times before finally calming down, clearly indicating that she had no intention of arguing with Daoist Jingxuan in the Lingxiao Palace.

This minor verbal contest between the Eastern Taoists and the Western Buddhists did not cause much of a stir.

Ultimately, it only involves two Daoist masters, Jingxuan Daojun and Zhenque Bodhisattva, who have entered the Dao and are of pure Yang rank. As far as the Heavenly Court is concerned, when the East and West stop arguing and making trouble, then it will be the Heavenly Court's turn to have sleepless nights.

After the minor incident, the gazes of all the immortals, Buddhas, and saints in the Lingxiao Palace returned to the checkpoint set up by the Emperor of Heaven.

Amidst the vast mountains and rivers, some people had already obtained divine talismans and begun to develop their businesses.

The first to obtain the divine register was the Divine Emperor of Shenxiao.

As the Heavenly Emperor, holding the rank of Purple Edict, the Divine Firmament Emperor was perfectly clear about what the seventh trial was. Therefore, his first step was to explore the surrounding desolate mountains and rivers. After assessing the situation of the mountain gods and river gods, the Divine Firmament Emperor disguised himself as a hunter and then misled the villagers into believing that a fierce tiger ate people.

Finally, the Divine Emperor of Shenxiao organized dozens of young men in the village to practice archery diligently. In the end, he shot and killed a fierce tiger in the desolate mountains, and took the mountain lord's divine talisman into his possession. Then, with the momentum of his great victory, the Divine Emperor of Shenxiao further occupied the position of the local earth god in the village.

When the positions of mountain god and land god were all occupied by the Divine Emperor of the Firmament, he finally set his sights on the winding river in the mountains.

Finally, the Divine Emperor Shenxiao expended great effort to seize the position of the River God, and with the three positions of Mountain God, Earth God, and River God, he elevated himself to the position of Mountain and Wilderness God with the Red Edict.

Slightly slower than the Divine Firmament Emperor was the Spring and Autumn Divine Lord.

Although this fifth-level divine lord of the divine path has lost his cultivation and supernatural powers, his experience cannot be sealed away.

Upon entering this level and sensing the rich incense and divine power of heaven and earth, the Spring and Autumn God Lord can determine that this level is a test of how everyone can become gods.

Spring and Autumn God had extensive experience in this regard. His first target was the temple in his own village. He needed to obtain its divine position before he could develop step by step.

Moreover, judging from the divine experience of the Spring and Autumn Divine Lord, the deities worshipped in such small villages are either ancestors or some kind of local ghosts and gods.

So the Spring and Autumn God first learned about the situation of this small village. After learning that the whole village was surnamed Wang and that the village was developed by a family who fled from disaster, the Spring and Autumn God could basically conclude that the deity worshipped in the village was the ancestor of the Wang family.

Finally, the Spring and Autumn God went to the Earth God Temple in the middle of the night to examine it carefully. After confirming that it was the Wang family's ancestor being worshipped, he made his own plan.

The next day, Spring and Autumn God followed the whole village to the temple to worship their ancestors. In the temple, Spring and Autumn God suddenly changed his aura. The people of Wang Village felt that Spring and Autumn God was possessed by his ancestors. Otherwise, how could they explain that the previously timid mountain boy suddenly had an overwhelming aura as if he were a god?
The Spring and Autumn God, pretending to be possessed by ancestors, pointed out that Wang Village would experience four disasters in the future: floods, droughts, and windstorms. The whole village must work together to worship the ancestors in the temple and obey the Spring and Autumn God's command.

At first, the villagers were skeptical, but as the river outside the village really flooded, their attitude towards the Spring and Autumn God changed drastically.

The Spring and Autumn God also took this opportunity to become the temple's keeper, and replaced the original statue of the Wang clan's ancestor in the temple with his own, thus quietly taking over...

Following the ascension of the Divine Emperor Shenxiao and the Spring and Autumn Divine Emperor, the Liuyuan Divine Emperor and the Tianyun Divine Emperor also obtained their divine positions.

The two emperors had different methods.

Emperor Liuyuan taught the villagers how to hunt and fish, then taught the children to read and write, gradually gaining prestige in the village. Finally, he led the villagers to annex other villages and obtained the divine positions of two villages in one fell swoop.

The Heavenly Emperor, on the other hand, instigated a conflict between the Mountain God and the Earth God. By constantly stirring up trouble, he caused both the Mountain God and the Earth God to be severely injured, and then seized the Earth God's divine position and took his place. Then, while the Mountain God was recuperating from his injuries, he launched a surprise attack and seized the Mountain God's divine position.

As several divine cultivators successively obtained divine positions, geniuses from all walks of life began to vaguely guess some of the secrets and started vying for divine positions.

The demon kings Jinni and Baiming entered the mountains to compete for the position of mountain god, while the venerable ones such as Miyin and Puhua used their silver tongues to win the people's faith in the mountain villages.

Compared to the immortals and demons, Buddhism's use and study of incense and merit are by no means inferior to those of the divine path.

To some extent, the two schools of gods and Buddhas are built on the merit of incense offerings. Therefore, whether it is Miyin, Mijian, Puhua, or Putai, they each used their own methods to obtain a lot of merit from incense offerings, and then began their work of sculpting golden statues.

Since it's all about offering incense and accumulating merit, the golden statues of deities and Buddhist statues are pretty much the same...

Aside from these prodigies from the divine and Buddhist sects, there are also experts among the independent cultivators.

Duoming Daoren did not learn from the gods to seize divine positions, nor did he learn from the Buddhists to create a golden body. He simply found an auspicious place and built a simple Taoist temple among several mountain villages. He would occasionally help the people in the surrounding villages to treat illnesses and injuries, teach them how to avoid rain and drought, when to go hunting in the mountains, and when to go fishing in the water. Before they knew it, Duoming Daoren had made a name for himself as a living immortal. The surrounding villages worked together to help him build a Taoist temple, and Duoming Daoren also gained his own foundation of worshippers.

Inside the Lingxiao Palace, a group of immortals, Buddhas, and saints watched the performances of their disciples and chatted and laughed.

The Spring and Autumn God, the Liuyuan Emperor, and the Heavenly Fortune Emperor obtained their divine positions through three different methods, which drew nods of approval and praise from all the emperors and great emperors of the divine path.

The actions of Miyin, Mijian, Puhua, and Putai in vying for incense offerings and sculpting golden statues greatly pleased the several bodhisattvas in Buddhism. Their performance in vying for divine positions using Buddhist methods greatly enhanced the bodhisattvas' prestige.

The Daoist Duoming's free and unfettered spirit also made the immortals and emperors from the Xuanmen sect nod in approval. This spirit of non-contention is the essence of contention, which is in perfect harmony with the Daoist philosophy.

If nothing unexpected happens, the offerings of incense to those ten kingdoms will surely be taken by those who have performed outstandingly.

In addition, several celestial demons of the demon race also vied for the positions of mountain god and river god, and began to use the demons in the mountains and waters to expand their power. The demon race reveres natural selection, and developing in such a wild land is nothing short of paradise for the demon race, which is used to the survival of the fittest.

However, in Buddhism, there are venerable ones who teach the people and spread their faith, using incense offerings and merits to create golden statues; in the realm of gods, there are deities who occupy divine positions and compete for territory, using their divine status to ascend to the ranks of gods.

Unorthodox cultivators and demons have all forged their own paths, interpreting their own understanding of the divine way and divine duties.

But where did Jiang Sheng of the Eastern Heavenly Daoist sect go?
Inside the Lingxiao Palace, the immortals, Buddhas, and saints suddenly realized that Jiang Sheng was nowhere to be seen and couldn't help but wonder: What is Penglai Lingyuan doing?

"What about the Spirit Abyss of Penglai?"

"He was first in the first, second, third, and sixth levels, so how come he's nowhere to be seen in the seventh level?"

As the Supreme Emperor of the Divine Path spoke, a host of immortals, Buddhas, and saints began searching for Jiang Sheng's whereabouts in that vast and desolate world.

Finally, someone discovered Jiang Sheng's location: "Ling Yuan's location has been found!"

All the immortals, Buddhas, and saints looked at the mountain village where Jiang Sheng was, only to see that Jiang Sheng had no intention of developing his power, educating the people, or vying for a divine position.

This contemporary chief of the Eastern Heavenly Daoist School, who is also the most outstanding performer in this Fruition Ceremony but has the lowest level of cultivation among the Penglai True Disciples, is idly strolling around the village!
This greatly surprised all the immortals, Buddhas, and saints.

The Bodhisattva Zhenque couldn't help but exclaim, "Everyone is striving to elevate their divine status and expand their power, yet Lingyuan is actually..."

"Eating fruit?!"

Indeed, Jiang Sheng was strolling leisurely through the small mountain village with a piece of fruit in his hand.

Compared to the hardworking farmers and the hunters who went up the mountain to hunt, Jiang Sheng was undoubtedly the epitome of idleness.

Jiang Sheng was seen holding a piece of fruit, munching on it as he walked, his face completely nonchalant.

The fruit was about the size of a palm, yellowish in color, with thin skin and plenty of juice; it looked like a sweet fruit.

One of the children, his mouth watering, couldn't help but ask, "Brother Jiang, where did you find these wild fruits? They're so delicious!"

Jiang Sheng laughed and said, "Those picked from the mountains outside the village, well, they're probably all gone by now."

The child was greatly disappointed upon hearing this, but after thinking for a moment, he asked again, "Then, can I have a bite of that thing you're holding?"

Looking at the expectant child, Jiang Sheng glanced at the fruit in his hand and couldn't help but laugh, "You can't eat this fruit."

"I eat it because it's a juicy and sweet wild fruit, but it might make you feel bloated if you eat it."

As he spoke, Jiang Sheng walked forward with a smile. The child watched Jiang Sheng's departing figure and couldn't help but say, "If you don't want to eat, then don't! What do you mean you're fine eating it but I'll get a stomachache? Is that fruit some kind of magical fruit?"

The child didn't recognize it. The fruit in Jiang Sheng's hand, which looked golden yellow, actually shone with multicolored light, and was surrounded by various magical charms and spiritual traces.

This fruit is called the "Hanhai Chijin Jujube".

In the days that followed, the villagers often saw Jiang Sheng loitering around the village, either going to the river or the mountains, or finding a sunny spot to eat fruit.

The villagers had no idea where Jiang Sheng had picked so many strange and unusual fruits; each one looked incredibly delicious, sweet, and tempting.

What are those bright yellow dates that look like peaches?

What are those crisp, greenish-yellow fruits that look like apricots?

What a beautiful, pale golden pear.

And there were watermelons bigger than your head, a vibrant green; peaches with thin skin and thick flesh…

Heaven knows where Jiang Sheng picked so many different fruits; it's not even autumn, the season for wild fruit harvesting yet!

The villagers in the mountains couldn't help but wonder if Jiang Sheng had found an orchard and taken it for himself, otherwise how could they explain the origin of so many fruits?

Despite the villagers' inquiries, both overt and covert, and the threats from those scoundrels, Jiang Sheng remained indifferent, continuing to idly stroll around every day, munching on fruit.

Vast Sea Crimson Gold Dates, Seven-Aperture Crystal Fruits, Bright Light Empty Gold Fruits, Emerald Jade Melon Fruits…

As each immortal fruit was consumed, pure magical power began to grow within Jiang Sheng's body.

Although Jiang Sheng's original cultivation and supernatural powers were sealed and he could not mobilize his magic power, this did not mean that Jiang Sheng could not use the newly acquired magic power.

In fact, Jiang Sheng had already figured out the requirements of this challenge. Through his observations inside and outside the village these past few days, listening to the villagers' gossip, and his discoveries by the river and in the mountains, Jiang Sheng was certain that the goal of this challenge was to obtain a divine position.

Moreover, the level of a deity will inevitably affect one's ranking in the game.

This requires everyone to use their strengths to obtain a divine position and improve themselves step by step.

However, Jiang Sheng's choice was different from everyone else's. While others were trying to obtain divine positions and expand their power, Jiang Sheng was eating fruit.

As the first to pass the first, second, third, and sixth levels, Jiang Sheng, who had amassed numerous immortal fruits, only had these fruits at his disposal in this level. Therefore, Jiang Sheng was certain that these immortal fruits were not an oversight by the Heavenly Emperor, but rather a hidden door deliberately left by the Heavenly Emperor in this world:
Anyone who performs exceptionally well in the first six stages will be guaranteed a spot to pass, even without any special abilities.

After all, these immortal fruits will restore a significant amount of magical power once consumed, and by casually killing a mountain god or river god, one can obtain a spot to pass the test.

As for Jiang Sheng, he received the top prizes for winning the first, second, third, and sixth rounds, as well as a Pure Yang Immortal Fruit.

What about painstakingly educating the people, and what about trying every means to seize a divine position?
Once Jiang Sheng has swallowed and refined all the immortal fruits, he won't need to struggle to compete for them; a divine position will naturally be bestowed upon him!

Sensing the pure magical power within his body, Jiang Sheng gently stroked a three-inch square jade seal with his left hand hidden in his sleeve. As Jiang Sheng's magical power recovered, the jade seal gradually came out of its sealed state, as if the jade seal had a special function in this world.

"Don't rush, don't rush. Once I've regained some strength, I'll ask the heavens for a divine seat to sit on..." (End of Chapter)