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

Why does this monkey seem a bit too enthusiastic?

Li Yi glanced at Zhu Xing, and then caught a glimpse of Liao Qingming dressed as a bodyguard of the commander, and suddenly realized what was going on.

His entire focus was on reporting military intelligence, and he had no time to pay attention to him. He clasped his hands and said:

"I have met several officials."

"About seven or eight li northwest of Huai County, I discovered a ghost village nestled in a valley. There are six Qi-refining ghost cultivators there who have been working tirelessly for the souls of the Great Yan Dynasty for years. Although they have no official position in the underworld, they perform the duties of the underworld..."

At this point, Li Yi's expression turned strange, and after a moment's hesitation, he continued:

"The leader of the ghost cultivators is named Jin Mantang. He was a soldier in the Great Yan army more than a hundred years ago. Today, he has achieved the goal of completing his cultivation and has become the City God."

Liu Tianyun and the others listened patiently to the report. Although they belonged to enemy countries as well as the six ghost cultivators, they couldn't help but feel a deep respect for them.

Meng Yunjie was pondering how to deal with the six ghost cultivators when he heard the words "City God" and exclaimed in astonishment:

"What??"

Li Yi lowered his head again, "Jin Mantang has now completed his merits and become the City God of Qi Refining. He has also appointed the five fellow Daoists as underworld messengers, each holding a soul-guiding bell and a soul-locking chain."

Seeing the astonished expressions on the faces of the assembled officials, Li Yi simply finished reporting the intelligence to the general.

"Then the City God Jin Cheng asked me to convey his greetings to the Grand Marshal and the five commanders. The City God Jin Cheng has no intention of interfering in the war here; he only wishes for the peace of the Great Yan's spirits."

Zhu Xing wasn't annoyed that Li Yi had selectively ignored him; upon hearing that those ghost cultivators had suddenly achieved enlightenment, he was also delighted.

Liao Qingming was overjoyed and grabbed Li Yi, looking ecstatic.

"You're truly my lucky star, lad!"

He turned to Liu Tianyun, "Commander Liu, may I borrow some of your scouts?"

Liu Tianyun had no objection. He watched Liao and Li ride away on horseback, then looked at Meng Yunjie and said:

"I know that Commander Li won first place in the military scout competition. It seems he has some connection with the Fengshen Division?"

Meng Yunjie had only met Li Yi once before, at the prefectural governor's mansion, where he incidentally helped Li Yi determine the military merit value of the spell "Lingmingqing." He hadn't learned much about Li Yi since then, so he shook his head and said:

"I am ashamed that I have not shown enough concern for my subordinates—however, Commander Gongsun and Commander Li are quite familiar with each other, so I suppose they know something about this."

Zhu Xing listened from the side, his expression even more exaggerated than when he heard that Jin Mantang had become a god, and blurted out:

"That kid is so unknown in the Great Zhou army?"

"Oh?" Liu Tianyun cast a glance at him. "What do you mean by that, fellow Daoist?"

Zhu Xing's eyes darted around, and he chuckled, "I think he's quite responsible; I thought he'd become some kind of influential figure."

Liu Tianyun nodded slightly, "Commander Li is courageous and fearless, and he was able to face fellow Daoist and rush to the aid of Commander Meng. He is indeed a promising talent."

"It is absolutely true, absolutely true."

Zhu Xing smiled and responded twice.

That kid is able to fight me, a god, with his Qi cultivation level. Such a genius is being overlooked.

Hehe, okay!

Although I, Zhu Xing, have just signed the oath, I am still somewhat displeased with the Great Zhou, so I will keep it a secret for him for now.

The monkey spirit suddenly remembered Li Yi's arrogant disdain when he smashed its giant tree-like hand with a single punch.

Then, thinking about the dejected and forlorn look on the face of the Meng-surname Foundation Establishment cultivator in front of him, the difference in their abilities became immediately apparent.

……

Meanwhile, Li Yi led Liao Qingming to the Ghost Village, and they had quite a conversation along the way.

The latter seemed to still have feelings for Li Yi, sighing:

"With your crystal body, your cultivation is extremely rapid. I originally hoped to use foundation-building techniques to win you over and persuade you to switch sides. Now it seems you won't have to worry about military merits."

Li Yi felt quite ashamed, "I am just an ordinary body cultivator, how could I be so unforgettable to you, sir?"

Liao Qingming chuckled.

"We are quite destined to meet, so there's no need to belittle yourself. Your crystal body is a rare and excellent physique, and your speed of absorbing Qi and opening acupoints is comparable to that of a god. You are almost certain to become a Foundation Establishment cultivator."

"By bringing you into the Conferred Gods Bureau, I am looking for a future inspector for the bureau, which will also come with meritorious rewards."

Li Yi only learned of the power of the Earth Deity from Zhong Wending around noon, and couldn't help but feel a little doubtful.

"Even if I successfully establish my foundation, I fear I would be ill-equipped to shoulder such a great responsibility, unable to face the gods alone. How could I possibly be fit for the position of Inspector?"

Liao Qingming laughed loudly: "Are all the inspectors of the Conferred God Bureau like me? Inspectors of various prefectures in the Great Zhou usually have to work in pairs to barely deal with the Qi-refining deities, but I, Liao Qingming, am enough on my own."

Therefore, I am in charge of most of the divine affairs in Qifeng County.

The other three were responsible for monitoring monsters and spirits within the county, as well as various trivial matters.

Li Yi showed admiration at the opportune moment.

Since Liao Qingming was capable of dealing with the Qi-refining Earth Deity alone, according to Zhong Wending, he must at least have cultivated his liver and gallbladder, becoming a Foundation Establishment cultivator of the second realm who can harmonize the Yin and Yang of Wood Qi.

Or perhaps only the ordinary three realms are acceptable.

Judging from his appearance, he is not much older than Commander Meng, so it seems that he was also a rare genius in his youth.

The two had traveled halfway when it was completely dark. Fortunately, they were both wood-element cultivators with good eyesight for night vision, so they kept moving and finally arrived at the mountain pass before the first watch of the night.

"The City God has important matters to attend to tonight, and Your Excellency may have to wait all night. I also have military duties to attend to, so I will take my leave now."

Liao Qingming nodded slightly, and upon hearing Li Yi spur his horse, he suddenly spoke:

"Since you've made up your mind to join the army, let me give you some advice."

Li Yi turned his gaze back. "Please speak, sir."

Liao Qingming remained silent, gazing at Li Yi. Some words seemed to be stuck in his throat, but he ultimately didn't say them.

"You'd better figure it out yourself, kid! Who told you to be so ungrateful and refuse me, Liao Qingming, time and time again!"

He dismounted and walked directly down the mountain to the ghost village, waving his hand without looking back.

baffling……

Li Yi muttered a curse to himself, silently clasped his hands in a fist salute towards the foot of the mountain, and then returned the way he came. By the time he got back to the capital, it was already the end of the second watch of the night, and a little while later it would be the early hours of a new day.

He stood outside the city wall of the capital, but could not find a single soldier. He figured that all five divisions had already entered the city, leaving him behind.

I reckon the other scouts won't get away with it either; they'll probably be out in some nook or cranny surveying the terrain.

Li Yi looked around and then simply sat down against a willow tree in the dense woods beside the official road. He then took a cotton quilt from the spiritual cave and covered himself with it.

Before returning, he had already contacted Jin Mantang through Jin Bang, and as usual warned him not to reveal anything about the Investiture of the Gods, and then ignored him.

"Once the war is over, we'll find an opportunity to take Jin Mantang to the Spirit Realm so he can get to know Xiao Qing and Lao Qin."

"In this way, my Heavenly Official lineage will have gathered the three elements of water, earth, and metal, and the three of them are all Yin Five Elements cultivators. If we further bestow Yin Wood and Yin Fire upon them, wouldn't that complete the Yin Five Elements?"

Li Yi's mind wandered for a moment. Although there was no benefit to be gained, he still felt a great sense of accomplishment.

"That monkey spirit appears to be a Yin Wood Qi cultivator, but unfortunately, he is a born deity. How can we win him over?"