Am I the old man who's always by my apprentices' side?

Chapter 159 Letters of State and Envoys

In many Xianxia (fantasy martial arts) worldview novels by Dianping, the system of cultivating immortal sects to govern regions and form de facto independent sovereign "nations" is a logically complete system that has been designed.

But in this martial arts and cultivation world governed by a highly centralized feudal kingdom, the idea of ​​governing a "country" with a "sect" is simply unheard of!

Therefore, when the White Stone Immortal Sect's "national letter" was sent to various countries, several countries were dumbfounded.

How could such a large kingdom like Zhou just disappear like that?!

Not only was it gone, but it was also neither annexed by the Xiao Kingdom nor incorporated into the Chu Kingdom. Instead, a "Jianghu sect" reaped the benefits!

"This is unprecedented and utterly absurd! Your Majesty, how can you recognize a mere martial arts sect as the nation! This is utterly contrary to the will of Heaven!"

At the Chu State court assembly, this official letter from the White Stone Immortal Sect almost turned the Chui Gong Hall into a bustling marketplace, causing a great uproar.

Along with the official letter, a piece of brocade and a pair of crane-shaped eternal lamps were also sent to various countries as "gifts." In the official letter, they were also written as "gifts." However, regardless of what they were called, they were essentially state gifts, used to maintain the diplomatic relations of the Zhou state and as a symbol to declare sovereignty and independence to other countries.

Although the Silkworm Chamber within the White Stone Immortal Sect has been producing silkworm cocoons and can synthesize some fabrics, including Cloud Brocade, the output is very low. Over such a long period of time, Zhang Chengdao has only accumulated a few dozen bolts, which is why he is so stingy in giving only one bolt in each state gift.

In fact, if it weren't for the long distance and the fact that peaches would easily spoil, he would have preferred to send the least valuable "immortal peaches".

As for the "Crane Everlasting Lamp"...

Hmm... it's the lamp he took out from the [Crane Pool Reflecting the Moon Lamp] when he was making the large lake and waterfall in the sect.

These lamps are all made of silk cloth, but this silk cloth is not ordinary silk cloth. It is a precious material like Yun brocade or Tiancan brocade, which is impervious to water and fire. That is why it never gets wet in the pool all year round.

More importantly, these lamps will never go out—that's how the original game's code was written anyway. Several months have passed, and the crane lamps that Zhang Chengdao first placed in the [Crane Pool Reflecting the Moon Lamp] on Lingyao Peak have all remained lit. That's why he named them "Eternal Light Lamps," using a counterintuitive "immortal item" to intimidate these countries.

However, before these gifts could be displayed, the Chuigong Hall was already in an uproar.

Besides the Zhou state's envoys, there was another very special person on the mission, named Feng Guang.

Feng Guang became an outer disciple of the White Stone Immortal Sect through the Immortal Fate Conference. In Zhang Chengdao's character profile, he is only listed as a blue card. However, he is from the Bohai Kingdom and is neither from the Chu Kingdom nor the Xiao Kingdom. Therefore, he is the most suitable person to serve as an envoy to the Chu Kingdom.

Although Feng Guang was not among the first disciples to cultivate Qi into his body, he had successfully cultivated Qi into his body in the ten days or so between the incident in Zhou and the preparation of the official letter. He had also spontaneously learned three sword techniques, which is why Zhang Chengdao took notice of him.

In addition, Feng Guang came from a scholarly family; both his parents were officials in the Bohai Kingdom. Under their influence, he was able to do a good job as an envoy.

Besides Feng Guang, Zhang Chengdao also sent a Lanka disciple named Qin Jiang, who came from the Zhou Kingdom, as an envoy to the Xiao Kingdom. Although Qin Jiang had only managed to draw Qi into his body and had not yet learned any magic or supernatural powers, the Xiao Kingdom was close by and its attitude towards the Baishi Immortal Sect was relatively ambiguous, so the danger was not great. That's why Qin Jiang was chosen as one of the envoys.

The Bohai Kingdom was represented by Zhong Hui, while the Dachanghe Kingdom was accompanied by Heshilie Tudi. Even the Jinsha Kingdom was overseen by Sun Ping, one of Zhang Chengdao's earliest disciples to achieve Qi cultivation. Amidst the uproar in the Chuigong Hall, Feng Guang stood silently to the side with the Zhou envoy, waiting for the farce to end.

It was a farce, of course.

The ministers who argued the loudest were clearly dressed in military attire. Since the Zhou dynasty had no successor, they could no longer use the Zhou name to demand military expenses, so of course they were unwilling to accept it.

Even more absurdly, these ministers dressed in military robes were all civil officials. Feng Guang didn't know where the money ultimately went, but at least it wouldn't end up in the pockets of those soldiers.

"Alright! Stop making such a racket! What kind of behavior is this?!"

After a long while, Emperor Liu Xun of Chu finally gave a reprimand.

The ministers immediately bowed and begged for forgiveness: "Your Majesty, please calm your anger!"

Once the hall quieted down, Liu Xun turned to Feng Guang and slowly asked, "I've heard that this Immortal White Stone is a celestial being. How did he come down to the mortal realm?"

Feng Guang replied neither humbly nor arrogantly, “Reporting to Your Excellency Liu, the sect leader sensed that the spiritual energy between heaven and earth was about to rise, that demons and evil spirits were about to emerge, and that chaos was about to arise. That is why he came to Baishi Mountain to set up a Taoist temple, establish a sect, and spread the immortal way. The affairs of Zhou Kingdom were also thanks to the intervention of the sect leader of my Baishi Immortal Sect, which saved everyone. This matter... was also mentioned in the official letter.”

"Hmm... the official letter..."

Liu Xun was holding the "national letter" from the White Stone Immortal Sect in his hand. Of course, he knew the whole story of the death of Emperor Huaiyi Liemin of Zhou. However, Chu was too far away from White Stone Mountain, and as an emperor living in the high hall of the temple, he did not know much about the White Stone Immortal Sect. Even with Ye Nanting's secret report, he still had no concept of gods or demons.

So, he squinted, carefully examining the contents of the official document, and pressed on, "Since the Zhou Kingdom will be governed by the White Stone Immortal Sect from now on, how was the name of the kingdom chosen? The White Stone Immortal Kingdom? And who is in power?"

Feng Guang was prepared for this and replied, "The former Zhou Kingdom's territory is all under the control of the White Stone Immortal Sect. There is no emperor or national title. The prefectures and counties will gradually be converted into main cities, and the city lords of the main cities will govern their respective jurisdictions. The city lords of each city will be directly responsible to the sect leader of my White Stone Immortal Sect... This is the law of governance in the Heavenly Realm, and the White Stone Immortal Sect will inherit it."

"Ah,"

Liu Xun couldn't help but chuckle, then, as if realizing that this was undignified, he quickly reached out and touched the beard on his lips.

Then, although his tone remained normal, his expression was sarcastic as he continued to ask, "Could it be that Immortal Baishi intends to emulate the ancient feudal system and divide the land of Zhou among numerous vassal kings?"

Feng Guang raised his head, a mocking glint in his eyes: "No, the ancient system of enfeoffment was a last resort when carriages and horses could not travel and roads were blocked. But since my White Stone Immortal Sect has successively built teleportation arrays, we can travel thousands of miles in an instant. The time it takes for the city lords to enter the sect to pay homage is less than the time it takes for ministers like Liu Guanjia to walk out of the palace gates. The so-called city lords have merely changed the names of their respective places to 'Jingzhao Prefecture' and the 'Prefect' to 'City Lord.' How... how does this become the enfeoffment of feudal lords?"

……

(End of this chapter)