I subdue demons and monsters, and cultivate immortality in hell to become a saint.

"Indeed, people's obsessions are hard to change."

Zhong Jiu sighed softly. Since Yuan Zun was unwilling to turn back, he said no more, and the regret in his heart dissipated.

He had no intention of interfering in the conflict between the five religions. As long as they didn't cross his bottom line, he would let them fight to the death.

"Enough, I will say no more about this matter."

Zhong Jiu waved his hand, his tone returning to its usual calm, "Let's get back to the main topic. Tell me about how you, a skilled teacher, dared to dig up information about my temple—"

As soon as he finished speaking, the atmosphere in the hall instantly became heavy. Yuan Zun's heart jumped into his throat again. He knew that the real judgment had arrived.

"Don't use the excuse of your subordinates acting on their own. Such nonsense only disgusts and makes me laugh!"

"From beginning to end, the fault lies with you, the so-called Yuanzun. Holding a high position yet unable to control your subordinates, you cannot escape blame!"

"You must bear the full responsibility for this crime today; there is no room for excuses whatsoever!"

Yuan Zun's face was ashen, a bitter smile playing on his lips. He bowed deeply and said, "This junior... is willing to bear all the blame."

Zhong Jiu's eyes turned slightly cold as he slowly nodded, his tone calm: "Considering that the Benevolent Sect still has some merit, and considering that you have already had 20% of your luck reduced, I will not make things difficult for you. The Five Elements Mountain outside is protected by a restriction personally set up by me."

"You should sit quietly at the foot of this mountain and reflect on your mistakes."

"When you write a scripture that meets my standards and contains the ultimate truths of heaven and earth, the Five Elements Mountain will naturally dissipate, and then you can leave with your disciples."

Hearing Zhong Jiu's undeniable words, Yuan Zun felt a mix of emotions, unsure whether to laugh or cry.

Is this scripture?

He knew better than anyone that this was no easy task.

When one has an insight, one can complete a piece in a few days; but if one has no clue, even hundreds of years may not be enough to put down a single stroke.

To put it bluntly, he was essentially under house arrest at the foot of the Five Elements Mountain, and whether he could get out depended entirely on his own courage and determination.

"Yes, ma'am."

Yuan Zun felt a tightness in his throat. Despite his thousand unwillingnesses, he could only bow respectfully and accept the punishment.

Since then, a peculiar sight has appeared at the entrance of the Kyoto City God Temple.

The dignified Yuanzun actually sat down at the foot of the Five Elements Mountain, holding a writing brush in his hand, with a stack of plain paper in front of him, his expression solemn.

He frowned, deep in thought, as if bound by invisible shackles, unable to put pen to paper for a long time.

Behind him, the suppressed disciples cried and begged, but he seemed not to hear them, only a resolute look in his eyes.

This scene caused a huge sensation in Kyoto, with countless people rushing to the City God Temple just to see the fallen Yuanzun with their own eyes.

Yuan Zun was stared at like a monkey, losing all face. His expression fluctuated several times, and his hand holding the pen trembled slightly.

He knew that if he gave up, not only would all his previous efforts be wasted, but he would also be even more humiliated. He gritted his teeth and treated this endless ordeal as a touchstone to temper his resolve.

As time went by, people grew tired of it and gradually lost interest, and the City God Temple returned to a state of tranquility.

Spring goes and autumn comes, cold comes and heat goes; time flies like an arrow, and several years pass in the blink of an eye.

The biggest change in the minds of Kyoto residents is their perception of the City God Temple.

Previously, they considered the City God Temple to be an outdated institution, and since the underworld deities had not made any moves for many years, it had long been forgotten by the world.

They believed more in the teachings of Shanjiao, Zhuojiao, and Yunshengjiao. These three teachings did indeed bestow favors and provide many benefits to the people in order to win over the fortune of the human race.

But they forgot that showing kindness is far less effective than showing power!

Since Chung Kau suppressed the cult and established the Heavenly Laws, the incense offerings at the City God Temple have instantly returned to their peak, even surpassing previous levels.

Countless people flocked to offer incense, including many practitioners, as well as disciples of the three religions and the plant and tree creatures of the Elf Sect, all of whom came to respectfully offer incense.

They expressed goodwill in this way. In the past, they might have tested the bottom line of the underworld, just like the Good Teachings. But now, they dare not even have the slightest thought of testing it. The majesty of the underworld has long been engraved in everyone's bones.

When these disciples of the three religions offered incense, their thoughts varied, but after they finished, they couldn't help but look at the Yuanzun statue under the Five Elements Mountain.

Some arrogant fools even came up to greet us with a smirk, their tone seemingly polite but actually full of sarcasm and mockery.

In the past, this would have been an unbelievable fantasy. An ordinary disciple dared to provoke Yuan Zun, which was no different from an old man hanging himself!

But they dared to do this for a reason.

Now the whole world knows that Yuanzun is being punished by writing scriptures; if he cannot write scriptures containing the ultimate truths of heaven and earth, he will never be freed.

The disciples of the Zhuo and Yunsheng sects wanted to take the opportunity to disrupt Yuanzun's Dao heart and slow down his scripture writing speed; the disciples of the Shan sect saw this and were anxious, but helpless and could only be furious.

But Yuan Zun remained unmoved, his expression serene, his gaze focused, the brush in his hand hovering above the paper, ink about to drip but not yet, as if he were in a trance, with only his body sitting there quietly.

Later, the Shanjiao sect specially sent disciples to stay here and guard the Five Elements Mountain day and night, just to prevent people from other sects from disturbing Yuanzun's writing of the sutra.

In recent years, high-ranking members of the Good Teachings have frequently come to inquire about important matters, but Yuanzun has become too lazy to even pay attention to his own people, and has completely fallen into a strange state of seclusion and asceticism.

Among the high-ranking members of the Good Church who came to visit and inquire was Zhong Yingmei. Zhong Jiu noticed her presence and couldn't help but pay more attention to her.

Back then, Zhong Jiu didn't make things too difficult for Yuan Zun, partly because he considered that Shan Jiao still had merit and had already paid the price, and more or less because of Zhong Ying Mei's feelings.

Zhong Yingmei holds a high position in the Shanjiao sect. Although she has not formally become a disciple, she is one of the seven vice leaders of the Shanjiao sect and is known as Fairy Zhong.

The Good Sect has seven vice leaders, each with varying levels of cultivation, and each in charge of different affairs within the sect. Zhong Yingmei is exceptionally capable and has many years of experience serving in the government, which is why she was valued by Yuan Zun and appointed as a vice leader, specifically responsible for educating and guiding the human race.

Over the years, she has traveled extensively and made many contributions to the cause of good education.

When his younger sister arrived, Zhong Jiu was naturally delighted, but he showed no intention of meeting her.

He now holds the position of King Qin Guang, and his fate is not entirely in his own hands.

Zhong Yingmei glanced at Yuan Zun from afar, then turned and left, and remained missing for several years.

In recent years, City God Temples in the mortal realm have sprung up one after another, the reason being that the incense offerings in the underworld have become increasingly prosperous.

The number of living beings in the world today is more than a hundred times greater than before the spiritual energy was restored, and the amount of incense offerings brought by them is also extremely considerable.

The influx of incense offerings finally made Chung Kau more financially secure, and he no longer had to struggle to make ends meet.

The system of City God Temples in the mortal realm was gradually established, starting with major provincial capitals and then extending step by step to prefectures and counties.

This was a huge undertaking. After Zhong Jiu succeeded as the City God of Kyoto, he had the power to appoint city gods, land gods, and mountain gods throughout the land.

The mere act of those minor and major deities requires a massive amount of incense offerings, not to mention that the Western Wandao Sect has also built a City God Palace, which requires the underworld to send people to guard it.

Although the area is mostly inhabited by ghosts, the Underworld has always treated everyone equally. Zhong Jiu could only send a large number of underworld spirits to take up their posts, and the amount of incense consumed was countless.

This vast underworld system, besides the underworld gods, officials, and underworld messengers, what gives Zhong Jiu the biggest headache is the underworld soldiers—the shortage of underworld soldiers is frighteningly large, and they can't keep drawing them from the underworld, as that would only drag down the underworld's defenses.

"Incense is needed in every part of the underworld. To perfect the entire system, we can't rush it; we can only wait patiently."

At the Xuanming Palace in Kyoto, Zhong Jiu, using the perspective of his clone, takes in the entire situation of the mortal realm.

Now, his biggest problem is perfecting the underworld system.

Before being promoted to King Qin Guang, he never imagined that the underworld system would be so vast and complicated beyond his imagination.

The seventy-five departments of the underworld alone have an endless number of vacancies, and the number of underworld gods, officials, and messengers required is astronomical.

Now that he has another complete mortal realm to manage, although his "incense offering income" is plentiful, his expenses are astronomical and simply not enough.

There's no use in being anxious; we can only wait patiently. As time goes by, enough incense offerings will eventually be collected.

Once the entire underworld system is fully established, he will be able to fulfill the first condition for advancing to the Five Ghost Emperors.

He is now King Qin Guang, presiding over the Xuanming Palace. If he takes another step forward, he will become one of the Five Ghost Emperors, a top-tier existence in the underworld.

The Five Ghost Emperors are stationed in the five directions of the Underworld, holding supreme positions and even being exempt from the laws of the Underworld, wielding immense power.

It is important to know that under the Ten Kings of Hell, all the officials in the underworld have clear responsibilities, such as judging cases, collecting souls, or controlling reincarnation. Each has its own division of labor.

However, the Five Ghost Emperors are different. They are beyond the scope of ordinary divine offices. Apart from being in charge of a region, they do not need to manage the trivial affairs of the underworld. They only need to listen to the Pavilion Lord's report on the achievements of the underworld every once in a while.

Whether they watch or not is entirely up to them.

Moreover, the five Ghost Capitals are all top-tier supernatural beings in the Underworld, serving as the Underworld's elite military force. They can establish their own offices and recruit their own Underworld soldiers.

Each of the Ghost Capitals has its own sacred mountain as a sacred site, which is quite magnificent.