Gentlemen, it's time to enter the Banner of Ten Thousand Souls.

Chapter 163 The Emperor Shepherds the People, Gods are Conferred in the Underworld.

Chen Yezhen never expected that establishing a sect would be so troublesome.

They clearly occupied the land themselves, built the city themselves, and acquired everything themselves, yet they still needed approval from the five major sects.

No wonder most cultivators are independent practitioners; this process is far too complicated.

However, what the Venerable One said was true. The Yellow Springs Sect established itself by using the method of achieving divinity through incense offerings, and it was located in the northern border region. Sooner or later, it would arouse suspicion from the five major sects. Rather than waiting for others to come and investigate, it would be better to take the initiative to invite them to come and prove that he had a clear conscience. With this in mind, Chen Ye stopped worrying about other matters and devoted himself to cultivation.

Chen Ye disregarded everything else and began cultivating again.

Forget about the eighteen levels of hell yet; that's not something that can be resolved in a day or two. Let's first use the power of the ginseng fruit to complete the body tempering with Qi and then stabilize this bronze bell hell. Then Chen Ye will truly reach the Profound Realm.

A sect leader must be at least at the Profound Realm to maintain order.

Inside the underground palace, Chen Ye gritted his teeth and persevered in his cultivation. Under the powerful medicinal effects and the pressure of cultivation, his internal organs were repeatedly churned into a pulp, only to be reborn time and again. Thanks to the miraculous effects of the ginseng fruit, his speed of repairing damage was more than a hundred times faster than that of ordinary people.

When Chen Ye's internal organs were completely regenerated, he took a deep breath. His abdomen and chest seemed calm and still, but a series of booming sounds suddenly rang out all around him, as if the air had not had time to fill the void after he took the breath.

A deep, resonant energy emanated from Chen Ye's body. As he focused his mind and immersed himself in the sensation, he was pleasantly surprised to find that his internal organs were covered with a hazy golden light. At this moment, Chen Ye felt that his internal organs were extremely resilient, as if they could be used as magical weapons.

This is the true indestructible golden body, flawless from the inside out. The stronger the physical body, the more spiritual energy it can contain, and the longer one's lifespan naturally becomes. Judging from Chen Ye's current state, even if he never cultivates again, living for a thousand years would be no problem.

Once the bone marrow and internal organs have undergone the tempering of the body with fierce energy, the cultivation of the skin and flesh becomes relatively simple.

Chen Ye pressed on with his energy, circulating his internal energy until his skin was torn and bleeding.

His skin shattered instantly, leaving a bloody, mangled mess, but it regenerated at an astonishing speed in the blink of an eye. Although this torture was comparable to slow slicing, Chen Ye had already endured the far more grueling ordeal of the Qi Refining Marrow Cultivation, so this pain was nothing to him.

Inch by inch, his skin cracked, pus and blood seeping from the wounds, yet fresh flesh and blood quickly grew back. Chen Ye's body was thus constantly breaking down and rebuilding, appearing from afar like a deity walking on the edge of life and death, constantly transforming.

It's unclear how much time passed, but when Chen Ye exhaled a long white breath, enveloping his entire body in mist, he finally opened his eyes.

The body has been fully sculpted, and the body tempering technique has been perfected.

At the very moment when his flesh and blood were completely transformed, Chen Ye felt his dantian surging and instantly growing many times larger.

Chen Ye's eighteen Qi Seas were already as deep as the abyss, and now he felt that the spiritual energy was inexhaustible, as if he could never use it up.

"Tongxuan, indeed extraordinary."

Chen Ye has come to understand firsthand why each realm is so clearly divided.

Only after fully refining his body was the transformation from Fire Serpent Hell to Bronze Bell Hell complete, and only then did he realize what Pang Wen had said: using supernatural powers doesn't consume much spiritual energy.

Chen Ye can now summon fire serpents with a mere thought, and even if he were to fight the Lord, Chen Ye feels he could fight him for ten days or half a month without worrying about running out of spiritual energy.

This is the Profound Realm, where supernatural powers are so formidable that it has become a completely independent cultivation realm.

Chen Ye sighed, "No wonder high-level cultivators can destroy the world so easily. Master Zhang's sword can traverse thousands of miles and even cut the sky in half. Master Fangyuan can destroy the stars in the sky with a single palm strike. Given time, I can do it too."

Now that he had successfully refined his body with the power of the Qi and Sha, Chen Ye left the underground palace and came to Fengdu City.

Riding the Black Whirlwind high above, overlooking the city, Chen Ye thought he had made a mistake.

The place has changed dramatically in just a few days.

Originally, the entire city of Fengdu was built in the shape of the Bagua (Eight Trigrams), with each trigram constructed using materials corresponding to the five elements, thereby drawing upon the earth's spiritual energy and blessing the entire city.

Besides the mountain-protecting formation, it also has effects such as gathering spiritual energy and manipulating the weather.

Chen Ye himself didn't fully understand the specifics.

Now that it has been completed, all the hexagrams have disappeared, and it looks like an octagonal city with the towering Yellow Springs Palace standing in the center of the city, no longer the simple city it used to be.

The carved beams and painted rafters, flying eaves and brackets, although magnificent, did not quite suit Chen Ye's aesthetic taste.

Chen Ye preferred simplicity, but the Venerable Lord particularly liked this extravagant design and vowed to make this Yellow Springs Palace the most magnificent and tallest building in Fengdu City.

Apart from the Yellow Springs Palace, Fengdu City appeared very empty.

After the divination symbols disappeared, only a few wide avenues connecting all parts of Fengdu City remained. Then, only a cluster of small buildings was built in the southwest, temporarily serving as residences for the city's residents.

Although Chen Ye had already subdued the Northern Frontier, it hadn't been long enough for more than a hundred people from the Northern Frontier to settle in Fengdu. Many of them remained outside the city to herd livestock for Fengdu, so there were hardly any living people to be seen in the city. On the contrary, ghosts were rampant, always roaming around underground and then suddenly popping out.

Chen Ye frowned; this was not a good thing.

Fengdu City is relatively empty now, so this kind of thing won't scare many living people. But when there are more people in the city, it will be troublesome if humans and ghosts live together, and it will be very easy for the living to be harmed.

Chen Ye circled twice before flying into the Yellow Springs Palace, where he found the Venerable Master at the highest point.

The Yellow Springs Palace is thirty-three stories high, with the top floor being the residence of the sect leader, where Chen Ye should live when he is not in seclusion.

However, since Fengdu City was still under construction, the Lord served as its supervisor at the highest level.

Upon seeing Chen Ye appear, the Venerable One exclaimed in surprise, "Not bad, not bad! You have finally completed the Gang Sha Body Refinement. Compared to before, it is a true transformation. The Sect Master of the Yellow Springs Sect should look like this."

The body-refining process under the aura of ginseng fruit was more effective than the Lord had anticipated.

Chen Ye was already handsome, and now that he has transformed into a primordial body, he looks even more pleasing to the eye.

Don't say that cultivators don't care about physical appearance; they just don't care about the monotonous beauty of the mortal world. A discerning cultivator would immediately recognize that someone like Chen Ye is capable of becoming an immortal ancestor, which is in line with the aura of a sect leader.

Chen Ye skipped the pleasantries and got straight to the point: "Your Excellency, the underground level should be completed by now, right? These wandering spirits are still running around everywhere. If this continues, Fengdu will truly become a ghost town."

The Venerable One laughed and said, "Of course I know, but Fengdu City has just been built. Look for yourself, it's empty and there's nothing there. The spirits have no need for food and water, and you can't keep them locked up in the Ten Thousand Soul Banner forever. Of course, I don't mind using some methods to discipline them. A good beating will make them obedient, but can you bring yourself to do it?"

Throughout the millennia, countless demons have slaughtered countless people, so why has no one forged a banner that can summon 100,000 souls?
Firstly, it's useless. For high-level cultivators, Yin spirits are simply not presentable. Chen Ye's Ten Thousand Soul Banner poses no threat whatsoever to the Venerable Lord.

Secondly, it's troublesome. Raising a vengeful spirit is not an easy task. Even with demonic methods, it requires tormenting and cultivating its malevolent energy day and night. This cannot be left unattended; it requires time and effort, which can be considered an obstacle to cultivation.

Therefore, the Myriad Soul Banner can only be considered a common magical artifact of the demonic sects. It is particularly useful when one's cultivation level is low, but once one's cultivation level is high, it is usually discarded or given as a reward to one's disciples.

Someone like Chen Ye, who not only collected over 100,000 Yin spirits but also didn't impose any restrictions, would be a real problem to manage.

The Lord also wanted to take this opportunity to teach Chen Ye a lesson.

In the Lord's view, Chen Ye had extremely high talent for cultivation and was also intelligent and quick-witted, but he was too soft-hearted. If he were to become a rogue cultivator, he would definitely live a very comfortable life, clinging to the Qinghe Sword Sect's coattails. Even if he couldn't join the Qinghe Sword Sect, he could still cultivate smoothly.

But this is not enough to make one the leader of a faction.

The saying "A kind heart cannot command an army" is not just a saying among ordinary people. To manage a sect, kindness alone is not enough.

These days, wandering spirits are not only because they are bored, but also because they have no manners.

Chen Ye gave the spirits too much freedom. Now that they have no worries about food and drink, they will only cause trouble when they are idle.

The Lord wanted to see how Chen Ye would handle the situation, and when he was in a state of utter distress, he would give him a good talking-to and teach him how to be ruthless.

Unexpectedly, Chen Ye said, "Wandering spirits do not need to eat or drink, but without the nourishment of spiritual energy, they will gradually dissipate. Your Excellency, when you built Fengdu City, you used spiritual energy to condense nectar to nourish the wandering spirits, supplying it almost without limit, and you have taken too good care of them. Now that Fengdu City is built, I see that this nourishing nectar is still being supplied in unlimited quantities. Isn't this a bit too wasteful of you?"

The Lord was surprised that Chen Ye was lecturing him instead, and couldn't help but say, "You want to discard me after I've served my purpose? That's really beyond my expectations. You're not going to destroy these 100,000 Yin spirits, are you?"

Chen Ye laughed and said, "Where did this 'discarding the millstone after it has served its purpose' come from? They were originally wandering ghosts. I saved their lives and gave them a place to live. When I built Fengdu City, I did not mistreat them. I specially reserved an underground space for them so that they could live freely. But I can't really raise them like children for thousands of years."

The lord asked curiously, "Then what do you intend to do? Collect taxes from the spirits?"

This is how the imperial courts of ordinary people dealt with things. The emperor, as the ruler of the land, treated the people like livestock to be herded. When he was in a good mood, he would grant them a few years of tax exemption, but when he was in a bad mood, he would conscript laborers and kill hundreds of thousands of people.

The Lord did not believe that Chen Ye was so ruthless; if he were, it would save him a lot of trouble in disciplining him.

Chen Ye shook his head and said, "It's not a matter of discarding them after they've served their purpose. I only promised to give them a place to live. Now that Fengdu City is built, I'll pay them according to the standards for mortal craftsmen. I'll use the nectar of the Yin spirits to pay them. I don't need to calculate how many years it will last them. But from now on, the distribution of this nectar will be limited."

The Lord said, "If a spirit is hungry, it will really eat people."

“I understand, so we need to find them some jobs so they can earn their living through work.”

Chen Ye handed a drawing to the Venerable Lord. The Venerable Lord unfolded it and saw a drawing made of simple strokes.

"King Yama, Judge, Impermanence, City God..." the Venerable Lord exclaimed in surprise, "Is this the Investiture of the Gods chart you created?"

(End of this chapter)