From the Carp that Brings Children to the Celestial Officials

Chapter 200: Were they already in control?

"That was really exciting."

You Ming flew thousands of miles in one breath, then found a deserted corner, transformed into a [Celestial Stone Turtle], and waited patiently for a long time before continuing his journey towards Yuanling Mountain.

The Pan Sui Tianfu possesses the power to control space, allowing it to move trial participants from various locations into the Tianfu.

But You Ming didn't have that ability. When he escaped from Pan Sui Tianfu, he found himself in the southern part of the Nine Provinces of the Human World, tens of thousands of miles away from Bingzhou.

Fortunately, he can now be considered a great cultivator, and after flying for a day and a night, Tai'an Prefecture came into view.

You Ming breathed a sigh of relief. Back at Yuanling Mountain, that was his territory. Even if the Pan Sui Tian Fu came knocking on his door, he wouldn't be afraid.

It's like they're acting like nobody has any powerful connections.

"Om."

His figure swayed, and a long rainbow appeared beneath his feet. Almost all the cultivators and gods in the area looked at the sky in astonishment.

In an instant, the rainbow contracted, and You Ming had already reached the top of Yuanling Mountain.

The spiritual energy of Yuanling Mountain seemed to be awakened, surging forth like a surging tide.

The Azure Divine Tree on the back mountain has a canopy like an umbrella. Its branches and leaves tremble and emit a deep yet clear sound. Spiritual leaves fall one by one, swirling and dancing in the air.

You Ming was also quite excited.

This trip was really tough, but we finally returned with a full load!

The gods of Yuanling Mountain looked up, somewhat astonished, at You Ming who had entered from the outside world.

Wasn't it said that the master had been in seclusion in the Cold Pool? How could he have come in from the outside?

……

"Start taking stock of the harvest."

You Ming rubbed his hands together, finally the part he had been most looking forward to had arrived.

In the final moments, he was so focused on frantically collecting items from the shelves that he didn't have time to count them carefully.

Immediately, he closed the mountain gate's restrictions layer by layer, creating layers of spiritual curtains to isolate the aura and seal off the entire main peak.

But just then, a jade talisman flew outside the temple, causing the wind chimes on the eaves to flutter slightly.

This means that a deity requests to see you.

You Ming froze, but official business was more important, so he had to suppress his excitement. With a flicker, he appeared in the main seat of the Yin World Temple.

Wu Mo slowly entered from outside and respectfully bowed to You Ming.

"What's wrong? Is something urgent?"

You Ming's face showed little emotion; he simply waited quietly for Wu Mo's report.

"My lord, Changning County... has been promoted to a prefecture."

"This is the 'Agreement on the New Determination of Changning's Territory by Earth Veins.' A few days ago, the Prefect invited you to Tai'an Prefecture to attend the meeting for the promotion of the prefecture, but you were in seclusion, so this document could not be presented to you."

Wu Mo handed over the document, and You Ming casually flipped through it.

"The Prefect originally promised that as long as Yuanling Mountain accepts the imperial decree from Tai'an Prefecture, not only will the existing twenty-three villages continue to be under our control, but fifty more villages will also be allocated to us, and we will be allowed to recruit people on our own."

Wu Mo slowly began to speak and recounted what had happened.

You Ming nodded. The offer was very generous, but he could not possibly agree to it.

"However, since you have been in seclusion, we have not been able to reply to the Prefect, so Tai'an Prefecture has assumed that we do not accept the imperial decree."

"We are only allowed to keep the existing twenty-three villages, and then there has been no further news."

Wu Mo glanced at You Ming, his tone becoming much more serious. After all, You Ming was backed by Bixia Yuanjun, and the City God of the Prefecture couldn't go too far; at the very least, he wouldn't take back the previous villages.

But that's all.

The county magistrate had promised You Ming that once Changning County was upgraded to a prefecture, a county seat might be allocated to You Ming for direct administration.

It seems that this plan has fallen through as well.

You Ming nodded. This was indeed a serious situation. It seemed that his previous actions had indeed displeased the prefect of Tai'an Prefecture.

Not designating a county seat for himself means that his population growth can only rely on reproduction. Although the population in the villages under his jurisdiction grows rapidly, no matter how naturally the population grows, it cannot compare to the speed of directly governing more villages or the large influx of outsiders.

You Ming estimates that the other side will next have to restrict its influx of people from outside the region.

If you want to settle near Yuanling Mountain, it's not enough to just move there; you must register with the government.

Only those who are registered can receive incense offerings.

The Shinto shrine is very strict in this regard, since, to some extent, incense offerings represent tax revenue.

"They've really got them on their side."

"However, there's nothing we can do about it. We have no roots in the human world, so we can only be controlled by others."

You Ming sighed inwardly.

If it were an ordinary deity, they would naturally be trapped in this corner of the world.

But You Ming is actually alright. After all, he also cultivates the immortal path, and he is expected to break through to the [Dharma Aspect] soon. Even if he doesn't become a god, he still has a lifespan of a thousand years and great supernatural powers.

The amount of incense offerings did not have a significant impact on him.

"Alright, that's settled then. I'll ask the Golden Boy God later to see if he can mediate and find any way to ease the tension."

“Mount Yuanling is not open to outsiders, but I can continue to cooperate with them and share the profits, which is a huge benefit after all.”

You Ming remained calm. Everyone was a member of the Divine Path, and it was normal for them to have conflicts of interest, but it hadn't come to the point of fighting to the death.

Just like the City God of the Prefecture, he controlled himself but did not take back the previous village, otherwise You Ming would really have to guard the empty mountain.

Since we haven't completely fallen out, everything is negotiable; it's simply a matter of how the benefits are distributed.

"My lord, I do have some ideas."

Just as You Ming was about to look for the Golden Boy God, Wu Mo suddenly spoke up from the side.

"Oh? You said."

You Ming sat up straighter. He spent most of his time cultivating every day, and when it came to understanding the divine way, he was far inferior to Wu Mo.

"Break down mountains and temples, and incorporate the mountain people into their ranks."

Wu Mo raised his head and said seriously.

As he spoke, he waved his hand, and the smoke in the air transformed into a vast expanse of land, mountains, and rivers.

"My lord, please take a look."

“Our Bingzhou is located in the northwest of the Nine Provinces. If we go further west, there are the Yinshan Mountains that stretch for thousands of miles. If we go north, there is the vast Northern Plains.”

"I have heard that there are barbarians living in both Yinshan and the Northern Plains. The barbarians worship wild gods and grass gods. If we can kill their gods and stop their sacrifices, and then educate them with civilization, they can be used by us after several generations."

"Moreover, look at the geomantic map. Our Bingzhou borders Sizhou to the south. We can cooperate with whoever we choose. Rather than being trapped in a corner by the gods of Bingzhou, we might as well cooperate with the gods of Sizhou as well. Perhaps they will be willing to release a county for us to govern."

Wu Mo reached out and drew on the geomantic map, explaining it carefully to You Ming.

(End of this chapter)