After breaking up with my girlfriend, I became a Great Sage of the Demon Clan.

"It's just a small preference, why make such a fuss? Nephew Wang, it's been ten days, has your family made up their minds yet?"

Wang Xuan nodded.

Ten days ago, Wang Xuan agreed to Zhongdou Xingjun's request to hand over the "All Heavens Star Chart". However, as the national treasure of the East Sea Kingdom, Wang Xuan could not simply decide on the "All Heavens Star Chart".

Therefore, Wang Xuan simply reported his idea of ​​lending the "All Heavens Star Chart" to Zhongdou Xingjun to his own parliament. After ten days of discussion, and several members of parliament ending up in the hospital due to fighting, the majority finally agreed to lend out the "All Heavens Star Chart".

Of course, this borrowing must also be in accordance with the rules.

Wang Xuan hesitated.

“My family says that the ‘Celestial Constellation Chart’ is a national treasure of our Donghai Kingdom and cannot be taken abroad. If Mr. Wei wishes to borrow the ‘Celestial Constellation Chart,’ he can only go to our country’s High Heaven Altar in person. At that time, twelve high priests will naturally lead Mr. Wei to see the ‘Celestial Constellation Chart,’ or…”

Wang Xuan stared intently at Zhongdou Xingjun's face.

“Mr. Wei told me that whatever you want to do, I will do it for you.”

Zhongdou Xingjun's expression remained unchanged, and not a single muscle moved.

"You guys..."

Zhong Dou Xingjun adjusted the sunglasses on his face.

"He does have ambitions, but that's alright. Wolves only learn who to ally with after they've been fed meat."

Zhongdou Xingjun took out an old-fashioned blue book from his bosom, the edges of which were worn and rounded. He opened the book and tore out a page.

Zhongdou Xingjun handed this page to Wang Xuan.

Wang Xuan went over and took it.

There was a black talisman pasted on this page, with a message written on it.

"He patrols on behalf of Heaven, his power covering the eight directions."

……

The capital of the Eastern Sea Kingdom, Dajing City, also known as the Divine Capital.

A thousand years ago, the sage of literature, Wang Siming, had no choice but to flee to the Eastern Sea Kingdom with his relatives and royal nobles after the fall of his country. After arriving there, he spread education and propagated Han etiquette, and adopted the official system of the Tang Dynasty. After decades of education, the sage of literature, who had become wealthy, built an army of less than 10,000 people and trained them every day, preparing for the day when he could launch a counterattack against the Eastern Xia Federation and continue the glory of the Tang Dynasty.

Tragically, this army of less than 10,000 men never set foot in Tang territory until the Sage of Literature died. Instead, various Tang-style buildings were erected in Dajing City, the site where the Sage of Literature spread his teachings. The largest of these buildings was Shendu, which was similar in style and layout to the Daming Palace, the royal palace of the Tang Dynasty.

This group of remnants lacked the courage and strength to continue their glory in Tang territory. They could only entrust their sorrow and helplessness to the capital city, which resembled the Daming Palace. As a result, in the history of the Donghai Kingdom, there are many legends of the ancestors weeping in the capital city at night, their cries echoing for three days.

This refers to a group of remnants of the old regime who often cried at night because they could not restore their country and could only live a life of hardship in barbarian lands.

Even now, after a thousand years, the Divine Capital Palace, where the old man who cried at night died, has naturally become the political center of the entire East Sea Kingdom, thanks to the support of its culture and history.

A black luxury car drove up to the west gate of the capital city. After the gatekeeper opened the door, the car drove into a courtyard complex that had been converted from the dormitory-style houses where servants lived in ancient times.

The car stopped in front of a courtyard, and a pretty and cute girl carrying a black box got out of the car and walked into the courtyard.

The courtyard was arranged in a three-sided layout, with three houses and a gate around the perimeter, and a small courtyard in the middle. Four elderly people stood in the courtyard: the president of the East Sea Kingdom, the speaker of the lower house, and two elders from the two main branches of the Xia clan.

These four people, all considered top figures in the East Sea Kingdom, are playing mahjong.

A pretty young girl carrying a box walked in and saw the elders playing mahjong in the center of the courtyard. She obediently walked to the side and stood still.

Half an hour later, as President Jiulianbaodang won the game, an elder of the Xia clan turned to the pretty young girl and asked her a question.

"Xingchu, what brings you here?"

The Speaker of the House of Commons snorted in displeasure.

When the direct descendant elder of the Xia clan communicated with Wang Xingchu, he used Chinese, the official language of the Eastern Xia Federation.

This Xia tribe constantly demonstrated their differences from the native inhabitants of the East Sea Kingdom, and one of their ways of showcasing their superiority was by using Han script and speaking the Chinese language.

In particular, these direct descendants of the Xia people, in addition to their names in their native language, also have a fixed Chinese name. Many of them also take their names from ancient books such as the Book of Songs and the Analects, in order to appear cultured.

The name Wang Xingchu is taken from the poem "Chou Mou" in the Book of Songs, specifically the section "Tang Feng".

Even though the Donghai Kingdom has its own indigenous language and Chinese is a foreign language, when the upper and lower houses of the Donghai Kingdom hold meetings, as well as when the senior executives of some large local companies hold meetings, even if everyone present is a Donghai Kingdom person, they will still prefer to communicate in Chinese.

As the Speaker of the House of Representatives, who is more than half Indigenous, I have always disliked the trend of people who are clearly Chinese but pretend to be foreigners.

The pretty young woman, Wang Xingchu, spoke in perfect Mandarin.

“My brother called from the Eastern United States.”

Wang Xingchu picked up the box in his hands.

"It was given to me by that Zhongdou Star Lord... well, he said it's a treasure that can be activated using the Heavenly Star Chart."

The president and the two Xia clan elders looked at each other, their faces beaming with joy.

Only the Speaker of the House of Commons expressed his displeasure in his native language.

“We don’t actually need to do that much. A thousand years have passed since the era of the Sage of Literature, and our relationship with the Eastern Xia Federation has been severed.”

The Speaker of the House of Representatives completely failed to understand why his own country, the East Sea Kingdom, wasn't good enough.

Aren't our own resources and international standing enough?

Why are these Xia clan members always eyeing the Eastern Xia Federation?

If the Eastern Xia Federation was weaker than the Eastern Sea Kingdom, that would be one thing, but the Eastern Xia Federation is a behemoth with a population and economy ten times that of our own country.

You have the audacity to covet such a monster?

The other three pretended not to hear, and the president even stood up and laughed.

"In the end, the Eastern Xia Federation collapsed from within."

Another Xia clan elder stroked his beard with a smile.

"I'll start preparing a media offensive right now."

Long ago, the Xia people began to spread the orthodox Eastern Xia tradition in the Eastern Xia Federation. It was in the East Sea that a large number of Eastern Xia cultural classics, artistic performances, and so on were stored.

However, since the Eastern Xia Federation was much stronger than the Eastern Sea Kingdom at that time, these propaganda efforts were insignificant. Now that the Eastern Xia Federation is weak and a large number of its people are dissatisfied with their federal government, these propaganda channels have become useful.

Another Xia clan elder stood up and said happily.

“You kids have grown up and can all do things on your own now. Good, good. Xingchu, come with me.”

The Xia clan elder walked out of the courtyard, went to the back seat of the luxury car outside the courtyard, opened the door, and Wang Xingchu also got into his own luxury car, sat in the driver's seat, inserted the key, and started the engine.

The vehicle drove out of the capital and headed towards the royal tombs in the mountains behind the capital.

After arriving in the Eastern Sea Kingdom, the sage of literature, Wang Siming, with the help of the Imperial Astronomical Observatory Master who came with him, found a geomantically auspicious site as the starting point for his rise to wealth. He also found a treasure trove where nine dragons gathered water as the future burial site for all the royal families of the Xia clan.

In the past, this mausoleum was guarded by two organized elite cavalry regiments. Now, a mechanic is stationed next to the mausoleum. Due to his special status, the stationed mechanic can kill any suspect who approaches without cause.

Of course, Wang Xingchu had already spoken with the division commander stationed there before driving over. When he arrived, the hidden sentries around him made way and all the gates were opened.

Upon reaching the foot of the mausoleum hill, an army composed entirely of awakened beings guarded the main roadway.

When Wang Xingchu arrived, he opened the car window, reached out and handed over his identification. A colonel took the identification, looked at it, and then handed it back.

"Let's go."

The colonel waved his hand impatiently.

Wang Xingchu smiled and nodded, then drove the car onto the main road, all the way from the foot of the mountain to a flat area halfway up the mountain.

Upon arriving at this location, Wang Xingchu and the Xia clan elders alighted from their carriage, and a middle-aged man dressed in a Tang Dynasty purple robe approached them.

The Tang Dynasty court was described as being filled with officials in purple robes, as officials of the third rank and above wore purple robes and gold and jade belts.

Fourth-rank officials changed into dark scarlet official robes and wore gold belts.

Fifth-rank officials changed into light scarlet official robes and wore gold belts; sixth-rank officials wore dark green robes and wore silver belts.

This middle-aged man in purple robes was wearing a purple robe from the Tang Dynasty, which was worn by officials of the third rank or above.

The Xia clan elder hurriedly clasped his hands in greeting to the middle-aged man.

“Master Zhang, the one that the Dipper Star Lord mentioned has arrived.”

The purple-robed Celestial Master Zhang nodded.

“Wang Xuan has already told me about this. Please come with me.”

Chapter Two: Suppression

Fire City, located at the border between urban and rural areas.

A car drove into Huocheng from the suburbs, passed through several strictly controlled streets, and stopped next to a shopping center called Wuyue Plaza.

Wearing sunglasses, Zhong Douxingjun got out of the taxi and entered Wuyue Plaza.

The Wuyue Plaza was vandalized by rioters during the previous outbreak of the epidemic, but the damage was not severe, and the plaza reopened shortly after the epidemic ended.

However, this shopping center, which was originally full of various snacks, cinemas, and clothing factories, now has half of its shops closed, and the remaining shops are also struggling.

Zhong Douxingjun took the elevator to the fifth floor and then touched the roof of Wuyue Plaza.

Facing the wind on the rooftop, Zhongdou Xingjun walked to the railing at the edge of the roof. Looking out from the railing, he could see half of the buildings in Fire City. Then, in an inconspicuous corner among these buildings, Zhongdou Xingjun found his target.

That was a warehouse guarded by one of Suzaku's strongest clones.

This warehouse is filled with divine artifacts and rare treasures collected by the Vermilion Bird over the years.

……

Leaving the platform halfway up the mountain, you'll find a cluster of buildings. Walk around the cluster and follow a path to the end, where you'll find a small house in a remote area.

The Xia clan elder turned and glanced at Wang Xingchu, whose expression darkened.

This small house does not exist in this area. To be precise, this small house does not exist. Only when a Celestial Master like Zhang Tianshi wants to come out of the tomb will this small house appear anywhere on the tomb hill for the Celestial Master to enter and exit.

Zhang Tianshi walked to the door of the small house, opened it, and found that the house inside was extremely bare, with only a staircase leading down to the ground.

Zhang Tianshi, dressed in purple robes, walked down the steps with his head down.

Holding the box, Wang Xingchu and the Xia Clan elders descended the stairs one after another.

There are no modern electrical appliances, no lights, no wires in this staircase; all lighting comes from candles that are three meters apart.

After walking for a while and looking back, you can no longer see the staircase you came from. Even now, no matter how far you walk up the stairs, the staircase will never end.

The Celestial Masters called this phenomenon the "Suspended Heavenly Ladder," meaning that without any special method, the ladder is infinitely long and can never be climbed.

Therefore, when the people of the Dongxia clan walk on these steps, they feel fear, thinking about how powerful their ancestors were. Even though they were just a branch that escaped from the fall of the Tang Dynasty, they were able to build such a terrifying suspended ladder.

"Boom..."

As Zhang Tianshi, who was walking in front, stepped onto the first step, Wang Xingchu and the Xia clan elders did not notice anything wrong with the step. As soon as they stepped on it, the steps below all shattered, and a flat square plaza appeared.

The small square had twelve exits around its perimeter. Zhang Tianshi pinched his fingers a few times and then walked toward the third gate on the east side.

The Xia clan elders exchanged a glance with Wang Xingchu, their expressions both grave.

If you take the wrong exit from any of these twelve exits, you'll never be able to get back. This is one of the mysterious methods left behind by our ancestors. Every time they come here, these unworthy descendants are a little afraid.

Passing through this gate, you arrive at a vast underground palace complex.

This is the true tomb of the Xia clan nobles and royal family.

Two old men in purple robes stood at the city gate of the palace complex. Zhang Tianshi walked quickly to the two old men and clasped his hands in greeting to one of them, an old man with a white beard that reached his chest.

"Master Li, the things from the Central Dipper Star Lord have arrived."

The white-bearded Celestial Master reached out his hand to Wang Xingchu, who nervously swallowed. These old men guarding the tombs were the descendants of the Celestial Master of the Imperial Observatory who had fled to the East Sea Kingdom with the Sage of Literature, Wang Siming. They had their own religious association in the East Sea Kingdom, which contained many awakened individuals. Their power was so great that they controlled the interpretation of the divine authority in the entire East Sea Kingdom.

This white-bearded old man was the previous president of the Religious Association. His position was so high and his power so great that Wang Xingchu had never dared to bare his teeth in front of him before.

Wang Xingchu carefully handed the box that his elder brother had obtained from Zhongdou Xingjun to the white-bearded old man. The old man took it and opened it a crack.

For the first time ever, Wang Xingchu saw the white-bearded old man's pupils contract slightly.

Beside the white-bearded old man, an old man with little or no beard whispered.

"This is... the Three Mountains True Talisman..."

Another elderly man, whose face was covered with age spots, asked in confusion.

"The Three Mountains True Talisman of the Three Mountains Talisman? Wasn't it already lost?"

The white-bearded old man sighed.

"It has been lost to the mortal world, but Zhongdou Xingjun is a true god. I never thought that I would be able to see such a talisman in my lifetime."

"You all wait here."