The establishment of the Celestial Dynasty began with the bestowal of the title upon the River God.

"This, this..."

Old Wang was caught in the middle, unsure of what to do. After Feng Jun left, he quickly whispered his advice:

"Lord Feng has deep connections within the garrison. His father serves as a captain in another centurion's garrison and I hear he's close to breaking through to the late stage of Qi Refining. You shouldn't offend him easily, sir!"

Li Yi waved his hand, "It's nothing, just some friction between colleagues."

He persuaded Old Wang to leave, and after reviewing the situation in his mind, he became even more convinced that what he had just done was correct.

Once Feng Jun opens this door, Sanyi Manor will never be able to form an effective fighting force.

At that time, apart from Erhu, Guantian, and Liuzhi, there will be seven others who are related to different minor officials. How will they be trained?

"This person is truly ungrateful for ignoring my wishes. If I grant his request this time, will he always grant my every wish in the future?"

Li Yi snorted coldly, not wanting to waste his energy on such sordid matters and only add to his anger, so he put it out of his mind and practiced boxing in the courtyard to calm his mind. Before he knew it, it was late afternoon, when he suddenly felt something and quickly brought up the Investiture of the Gods and unfolded it.

[Xiaoqing, the God of Mountains and Rivers during the Great Cold.]

[Opening acupoints for Qi circulation, Foot Shaoyin Kidney Meridian (16/27).]

[A minor Qi Refining deity, with meager cultivation, wielding the Qi of a river and enjoying the offerings of incense.]

Xiaoqing has finally broken through the blindness!

Zhang Junyi and Xiaoqing were both Yin Kidney Water cultivators, so Li Yi remembered it very clearly. Once the sixteenth spiritual acupoint of the Kidney Meridian, "Blind Shu Point", was opened, it meant that he had officially entered the later stage of cultivation. The water qi was further solidified, and the power of his techniques was also enhanced.

In just over a month, the green snake was able to connect the two spiritual acupoints, a remarkable speed of cultivation.

Most of this time is spent on advancing to the later stages of cultivation. If there are no obstacles, it is estimated that progress in opening three or four spiritual acupoints is possible.

This good news instantly dispelled the irritability in Li Yi's heart. Xiao Qing's successful breakthrough also strengthened his trump card.

Even without mentioning these things, Xiaoqing's increased strength would also help increase the number of offerings and allow Li Yi to accelerate his cultivation.

"The incense offerings received by the Qingchi River are limited, unlike the densely populated area here. Although the vast majority of incense offerings in the county town are made at the City God Temple, the incense offerings are not exclusive to one place, and the people can offer incense and worship in many other places."

What Qin Kaixian can enjoy is definitely incomparable to what Xiao Qing can...

Having experienced the wonders of incense-based body tempering, Li Yi couldn't help but begin to look forward to Qin Kaixian's progress.

Unfortunately, the incense and wood energy have been completely used up today. The few remaining incense sticks are not enough to circulate the Qi throughout the body, so I simply rested and waited for the food in my stomach to digest before getting up to absorb Qi again to prepare for the next day's practice.

Two days passed in this way. Just as Li Yi finished his daily cultivation, he heard a shout outside Sanyi Manor.

Not long after, Old Wang knocked on the door to deliver the message that the people from the Fengshen Division were coming.

Those junior officers and soldiers were bored, so they all claimed they were going to support the local earth god and hopefully get to know the officials of the Investiture of the Gods Bureau. In reality, they were just bored and had nothing better to do.

Li Yi, however, was not keen on joining in the fun. If it was Liao Qingming again, he would see an acquaintance at the birthplace of the new god...

"Yi-ge'er!"

A shout came from outside the courtyard; it was obvious that it was Li Erhu.

This guy dragged Guan Tian into the courtyard and shouted for Li Yi to come out and go with him.

Li Yi reluctantly got up, thinking that since he had already met them, he might as well go with the two of them. Suddenly, he stopped and said:

"Let's go to Liu Zhi's house first and call him along."

This was the first time that the soldiers of Sanyizhuang had gone out together, so Liu Zhi should feel a sense of participation. Perhaps we should give him something to do so that he wouldn't be filled with sorrow all day.

Liu Zhiben was chopping wood at home, chatting casually with his wife who was holding their baby, when he was slightly surprised to see Li Yi and the others arrive.

"Greetings, Your Excellency."

After speaking, he nodded to Li Erhu and Guan Tian.

Li Erhu grabbed Liu Zhi's wrist. "The Investiture of the Gods Department wants to add the Earth God to the list of deities in the Wu Dynasty. Go and take a look!"

As he spoke, he turned his head and smiled at the woman in the courtyard, "Sister-in-law, may I borrow your husband for a stroll?"

Liu Zhi's wife jumped to her feet, holding her baby boy, and said, "I'm going too!"

Li Erhu was taken aback, thinking to himself, "How dare those young women in Lijia Village go out so casually? Aren't they afraid of having their legs broken?"

He grinned and said, "That's great!"

Liu Zhi glared at his wife, quickly made a few self-deprecating remarks and said "please excuse me," then tacitly agreed to his wife's wishes, following behind the three of them, listening to their laughter and conversation, a smile appearing on his face.

The group walked quickly to the north, and soon they saw eight or nine people standing outside the manor, who were the same junior officers from before.

The other military households dared not step forward, and all watched from a distance, each one extremely curious.

Li Yi could hear Liao Qingming's movements from a distance, and from his conversation with Qin Kaixian, he guessed that the two sides had reached an agreement.

"Let's go, there's nothing else to see."

Since there wasn't a large crowd watching, Li Erhu didn't dare to be a braggart and join in the fun, giving Liu Zhi and his wife an awkward smile.

"My brother and sister-in-law made a wasted trip."

Liu Zhi grinned and said, "Oh, really, it's quite nice to be able to come out for a walk together."

Li Yi stopped hesitating and led everyone back. Unexpectedly, Liao Qingming's eyesight was terrifyingly sharp. He was having a good talk with Qin Kaixian when suddenly his eyes twitched, and he shouted:

"Isn't that the young master from the Li family?"

Li Yi froze on the spot. Despite his helplessness, he turned around and strode over to meet him.

"Shangguan, we meet again."

The junior officers on the side were all extremely surprised. Didn't they say that Li Yi came from that small place, Hanshan County? How could he know one of the four great inspectors of the Fengshen Division?

Liao Qingming had successfully recruited two deities into the register in less than a month, and he was overjoyed. He placed a hand on Li Yi's shoulder and teased him:

"Well, you lad, instead of coming with me to take up your post in the Conferred God Bureau, you haven't even returned to the army. Instead, you've settled down in the garrison, haven't you? What, ashamed to face anyone?"

Liao Qingming had already come up with an excuse for himself, which Li Yi found amusing. He replied awkwardly:

"Yes, there are some..."

Liao Qingming seemed a little regretful, but he was also quite magnanimous, saying, "It's alright, we're all working for the Wu Dynasty. With your talent, you'll definitely make a name for yourself."

He paused for a moment and then said, "I had planned to give you a body-forging technique called the 'Life-Renewing Body Technique.' Since you don't want to join the Divine Conferment Bureau, you should accumulate military merits, which you can exchange for in the garrison or barracks."

Li Yi's heart stirred. "To be honest, sir, I was fortunate enough to obtain this method thanks to the care of Commander Gongsun. Is there some secret behind it?"

"Gongsun Ling? No wonder."

Liao Qingming nodded slightly, knowing that Li Yi had just begun his cultivation journey. Taking advantage of his good mood, he patiently explained:

"Our Great Zhou Martial Dynasty has a nine-rank military merit system. In the early stages of Qi Refining, one can usually only earn enough to obtain a first-rank military merit. However, to exchange for the 'Life-Refining Body Method,' one needs a third-rank merit. What do you think of this method?"

Li Yi had heard of the nine-rank military merit system, but didn't understand it very well. So, it seems that only those at the late stage of Qi Refining could have a chance to obtain third-rank military merit?

Seeing Li Yi lost in thought, Liao Qingming smiled and said:

"The 'Life-Refining Body Method' has been designated as a third-grade technique by the Ministry of Rites because it is most suitable for wood-element body cultivation during the Qi Refining stage, and it also contains methods for the Foundation Establishment stage. With your current cultivation level, you should not be able to obtain this technique."

The inspector added meaningfully:

"You're lucky to have benefactors wherever you go."

Li Yiqian chuckled twice, clasped his hands in a fist and said, "You flatter me, sir."

Liao Qingming waved his hand, then turned to face Qin Kaixian, the land deity, and cupped his hands in greeting:

"Once this matter is settled, the Fengshen Division will soon set up a shrine for you, so that you may enjoy the incense offerings of the people. We wish you prosperity in your divine path and that your incense offerings may last forever."

Qin Kaixian's attention was still on Li Yi, and he quickly returned the greeting upon hearing this.

Having settled all matters, Liao Qingming did not linger any longer and hurriedly returned to the Fengshen Division with his two subordinates, presumably because he still had much work to do.

As soon as the three from the Fengshen Division left, Qin Kai and the other junior officers all turned their attention to Li Yi, especially Feng Jun, whose expression was particularly interesting.