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

Compared to the previous three deities, Zhu Xing was already a local deity, enjoying exclusive incense offerings. There was no reason for him to join the Heavenly Officials' faction and "offer sacrifices" to Li Yi.

"Although that monkey spirit has opposed me several times, it's just that we each have our own duties and we have no personal grudges against each other."

Having witnessed the extraordinary power of the "Spiritual Root Treasury," Li Yi was truly envious.

It's a real pity we can't bring the monkey spirit under our command.

With nothing else to do, I thought I should gather Qi in advance to prepare for body training the next morning. Suddenly, I saw a monkey spirit emerge, its bright monkey eyes particularly striking in the night.

He produced a peach from who-knows-where, tossed it to Li Yi, and said to himself:

"I, Zhu Xing, agree to submit to the lineage of the Great Zhou gods today, but on one condition."

Who asked?

Li Yi raised an eyebrow, rubbed the peach skin with his thumb to remove the fuzz, and then took a bite of the flesh.

"There is a group of demonic beasts in the western border of the Great Yan Kingdom who have a grudge against me. It is hateful that once I, Zhu Xing, leave the territory, my cultivation level will be greatly reduced and I will be unable to fight them."

The leader of the demons established his foundation thirty years ago. His name is Ge Xing, and he is a fire-elemental pig demon.

Liao Qingming promised this god to exterminate the demons, but the task will likely fall to the army. In that case, it will be necessary to send scouts ahead to scout..."

Upon hearing this, Li Yi had a premonition.

"You want me to take on this myself?"

Zhu Xing glanced at him sideways, his gaze mocking, "The army has no shortage of Foundation Establishment cultivators, why would they need you?"

His tone suddenly turned somewhat melancholy, "I've just been away for a while and wanted to talk to someone..."

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Li Yi leaned against the tree trunk, his body swaying, when he suddenly felt a glint of light on his eyelids and slowly opened his eyes.

Last night I listened to the monkey spirit talking to himself all by myself, and I don't even know when I fell asleep.

His gaze shifted downwards, and he saw Zhu Xing lying on his back on his thighs, mouth wide open, fast asleep, occasionally letting out a soft snore, sound asleep.

"Ten miles south of the capital, in the desolate courtyard of Laoni Village..."

Li Yi muttered something, then gently lifted the monkey spirit by the neck and shoulders, pulling its legs out.

He led his horse to the main road and found that the tea stalls had already been set up. So he went up and asked for two cups of hot tea, and waited quietly for the city gates to open.

The stall owner picked up a pot of boiling water, steeped the tea leaves, and said carefully:

"Are you from the Great Zhou, sir?"

Li Yi thanked him and nodded, saying, "Indeed. How is your family, sir?"

The stall owner nodded repeatedly, "Very good, very good! The soldiers have not ravaged the village..."

He stole glances at Li Yi several times, finally unable to contain his curiosity, "Is the Great Zhou going to take over the Great Yan now?"

Li Yi took a sip of tea and asked in return, "Aren't you afraid, old man?"

"We are not afraid!" The stall owner raised his voice a few notches. "We are the children of the local earth god. The might of the Great Zhou Dynasty cannot sit on our heads."

Li Yi chuckled, "You seem quite confident."

The stall owner grinned, then changed the subject, "Things aren't doing so well in the west. If you ask me, they'd love for either the Great Zhou or the Great Li to replace the Great Yan."

Before last night, Li Yi might not have understood, but after listening to Zhu Xing's ramblings last night, he now has a better understanding.

The Great Yan Dynasty lacks cultivators, and even the few Foundation Establishment cultivators are unwilling to risk their lives. As a result, the demons in the west have been rampant and have treated the local people like wild beasts. As a result, the people's livelihood is in ruins and countless villages have been abandoned.

No wonder such a kingdom could not withstand a large army and perished in a single day.

Li Yi stopped chatting idly. As pedestrians gradually appeared on the official road, he finally remembered to retrieve the list of successful candidates.

Jin Mantang returned to Ghost Village in the early hours of the morning and immediately finalized all the arrangements with Liao Qingming. He then sent several messages via Zibang.

Li Yi glanced at it briefly, then immediately led Jin Mantang into the spiritual realm.

Xiaoqing and Qin Kaixian worked diligently on building their immortal abode, and gradually developed a tacit understanding, spending almost every morning at dawn.

Jin Mantang felt a blur before his eyes, and in the blink of an eye, he found himself in a spiritual realm, utterly astonished.

He looked around and found that the place was only a few miles in circumference. There was a small lake beside him, and not far ahead stood a mansion gate, which was three zhang long and wide. There were two pillars in front of the gate, which were carved with dragons and phoenixes and were quite impressive.

After climbing the steps and passing through the gate, all that remains is a mud-brick structure, with only the outline of a main hall.

Two figures were busy at work ahead, one controlling the water and the other moving the earth, both moving with ease and fluidity.

The place was filled with the energy of water and earth, so Xiaoqing and Lao Qin naturally noticed the newcomers early on and turned around to look.

"Congratulations, fellow Daoist, on attaining divinity. To be able to catch the eye of the Divine Venerable, you must be extraordinary."

Jin Mantang was thrilled to learn that he had a colleague, and he quickly clasped his hands in a gesture of respect.

"I wonder what kind of place this is?"

Qin Kai put down the shovel first. "This is the place opened up by the Divine Lord, for our exchange. As the Heavenly Official lineage grows stronger, it will become our place for discussion."

Xiaoqing chimed in, "The divine deity bestowed a name upon this place; it is called 'Heavenly Court'."

Heaven, Court.

Jin Mantang savored these two words, finding them increasingly meaningful with each chew, and happily said:

"Good, much better than the likes of the Immortal Dynasty and the Martial Dynasty."

Xiaoqing looked smug. "In the past, the Celestial Dynasty was a mixed bag, while our Heavenly Court was the abode of all gods. How could we compare?"

……

Li Yi quietly left the spiritual realm, and pedestrians gradually appeared on the official road.

After a short while, the city gate finally opened.

Li Yi rode over and was about to take out his waist token when he was surprised to see that it was the four brothers from Sanyi Manor guarding the city.

Li Erhu chuckled, "We were afraid you'd get disoriented after entering the city, so we reassigned a few brothers from the Tiger Might Battalion to take a break."

Li Yi handed the reins to Liu Zhi and asked, "What's the situation now?"

Li Erhu pulled the man aside and said in a low voice:

"I heard that yesterday the commander-in-chief led the central army straight into the palace, causing Emperor Wang Xianzhang of the Great Yan, Minister of Personnel Xu Jili, Minister of War Zhao Bin and other ministers to voluntarily abdicate and relinquish the Great Yan."

Guan Tian couldn't help but feel sentimental, "It's a pity we can't witness it with our own eyes—but the news that Lord Xu promised the Emperor of Great Yan and all the civil and military officials has spread throughout the camp."

"That's right." Liu Zhi handed Li Yi a bag of water. "The city was breached by the army, and the Great Yan was conquered by Xu Gong's army. Yet they still promised the Great Yan court a county. Many brothers are indignant."

Li Yi had just finished drinking his fill of water, but holding the water bag, he didn't drink any more. He said calmly:

"Promising to build an entire continent is none of our business; why should we concern ourselves with such trivial matters?"

"That's true." Li Erhu chuckled, then suddenly nudged Zhong Wending with his elbow.

"Ziqi, what are you thinking about?"

Zhong Wending suddenly came to his senses, shrugged, and said, "Nothing much. I just feel that after a day of fighting, I didn't gain any insights. It's just that a kingdom has changed dynasties. Although it's so close, it's still too far away from us."

"They're just worrying about things that aren't their business."

Li Erhu scoffed, grinning, "Now that the war is about to end, we've been scouting the terrain, so we'll all get a share of the military merit. Yi-ge'er discovered the new god of the Great Yan, and even played a crucial role in connecting them; I wonder how much he'll get?"

Yes, now that the Emperor of Great Yan has voluntarily abdicated, the war should come to an end, and it's time to reward those who have contributed!

The five men from Sanyi Village stood guard at the foot of the city wall for an hour. After handing over their shift to the brothers from Huwei Camp, they finally had time to cultivate. Before they knew it, the sun had completed its sunrise and sunset.

The capital was bustling with people, but Commander Meng and Commander Liu were nowhere to be seen; they must still be busy in the palace.

Li Yi stood guard for one or two hours each day, but two days passed without any movement, as if he had been forgotten.

It wasn't until he encountered Zhong Ming and his group leading a team out of the city that he had the opportunity to ask them questions.

Zhong Ming looked on in surprise and dismounted, saying:

"We tallied our military merits yesterday and received our orders this morning to survey the mountains around Yinsi. Why haven't we seen Commander Li yet?"