While Pei Xuanjing found no immediate use for the inheritance left to him by Shenxiao Sect, it does not mean it offered no value to others. Therefore, he handed its commanding token over to Pang Hong, and asked him to find the location of the secret realm and its inheritance.
With his current high-level power in the martial arts Spirit Realm, Pang Hong should be able to obtain the inheritance. And just to ensure his successful quest, Pei Xuanjing planned to arrange for Yu Zhenzi to accompany him, using his abilities to safeguard Pang Hong.
"My sincere thanks to you, Master." A fleeting hint of joy crossed Pang Hong's face before he kowtowed.
Pei Xuanjing raised his hand gently, supporting Pang Hong with an invisible power. "No need for thanks. You are my disciple, and it's only natural I plan on your behalf."
Pei Xuanjing continued, "I've brought two items with me this time to Tiandu. The first is the Sacred Fire Order from the Holy Flame Sect, which I initially obtained in the Mountain God Temple. The second is the Seven Kills Sword, a weapon entrusted to me after the Seven Kills Sword Master's death."
He then said, "Both of these items are of no use to me anymore. You can hand the Sacred Fire Order over to Zhao Baiyang."
The Sacred Fire Order held no value for Pei Xuanjing, but for Zhao Baiyang it was extremely beneficial. He had long wanted to gather the various martial arts skills from all branches of the White Lotus Sect in order to perfect his Three Yang Skill.
Originally, Zhao Baiyang gave the Sacred Fire Order to Pei Xuanjing, hoping that it would serve as a pretext for him to challenge Pei Xuanjing in the future. However, Pei Xuanjing's rapid growth took him by surprise, and his power had become something that Zhao Baiyang himself could hardly challenge.
In such a difficult situation, the stronger Pei Xuanjing became, the more awkward Zhao Baiyang felt about asking for the Sacred Fire Order. Even if it meant his martial skills could not be improved, he could not swallow his pride and voice his request.
Pei Xuanjing understood that if he himself were to directly offer the Order to Zhao Baiyang, it would probably make Zhao Baiyang overthink matters and possibly view it as a sign of disdain.
Now, Pei Xuanjing's considerations were not limited to the present. He needed more powerful individuals to share insights and verify hypotheses so as to draw on the collective wisdom of many in order to find the path to immortality.
As far as Zhao Baiyang's talents were concerned, Pei Xuanjing acknowledged them and did not want to see a potentially powerful future martial artist be nipped in the bud just because of this predicament.
So, by having Pang Hong present the Order to Zhao Baiyang, he believed that Zhao Baiyang would understand Pei Xuanjing's intentions. Even if just in order to save face, Zhao would surely offer enough of an equivalent value to give to Pang Hong in return.
"Yes, Master." Pang Hong nodded, showing that he understood Pei Xuanjing's intentions.
Pei Xuanjing spoke on, "As for the Seven Kills Sword, based on my promise to the Seven Kills Sword Master and my agreement with Xue Wuheng, once the younger generation of the Seven Kills Sword Sect matures and they can challenge me, the Seven Kills Sword can be returned to them."
At this point, Pei Xuanjing chuckled lightly, "With my current strength, it will look like I'm a bully if I am on the receiving end of an attack from any member of the Seven Kills Sword Sect."
"Still, if they have confidence in their younger generation, then I should not be short of confidence myself. Therefore, the Seven Kills Sword will be temporarily entrusted to you. In the future, if anyone from the Seven Kills Sword Sect proves worthy, it can then be returned to them."
"I will obey!" Pang Hong nodded.
However, he thought to himself that since this matter involved his Master's reputation, he definitely wouldn't just let it go easily unless someone from the Seven Kills Sword Sect proved impressive to him.
"That's all. Go now," Pei Xuanjing commanded.
Pang Hong nodded and left alone.
Watching Pang Hong's retreating figure, a smile appeared on Pei Xuanjing's face, "Hopefully, these tasks can provide you with more challenges, helping you to move forward more steadfastly."
Currently, he had only two disciples. Although Zhu Houji was technically one of them, the extent of their bond was limited by their numerous entangled interests.
In essence, the only disciple that Pei Xuanjing personally guided was Pang Hong. As such, he never neglected Pang Hong.
Pei Xuanjing considered Pang Hong's progression in the martial arts as too smooth. If you were to say that his hardships during adolescence provided him a greater understanding of the warmth and coldness of human nature, then…
After Pei Xuanjing consolidated his power, Pang Hong, because of his status, lacked worthy opponents and was surrounded by sycophants. Coupled with receiving inheritance from the blessed land of the secret realm, his power rose rapidly, but the hardships he faced were fewer.
According to the feedback from Yu Zhenzi and others, even though Pang Hong still maintained respect in front of Pei Xuanjing and themselves, he couldn't help but show some arrogance and condescension towards others.
Pei Xuanjing considered this a negative development. Therefore, he entrusted the Seven Kills Sword to Pang Hong not only to challenge him using the sword but also to provide him some opponents from the Seven Kills Sword Sect of the Demonic Cult, helping to temper his character.
Next, Pang Hong went to visit Zhao Baiyang, who also stayed at the Taoist temple.
As expected when Pang Hong presented the Sacred Fire Order, Zhao Baiyang was slightly taken aback. He quickly understood Pei Xuanjing's intentions.
Without hesitation, he first gifted Pang Hong with a skill, and then presented several more skills and asked him to share these with Pei Xuanjing.
After giving the skills to Pei Xuanjing, Pang Hong, accompanied by Yu Zhenzi, left the Taoist temple to explore the secret inheritance of the Shenxiao Sect.
Unperturbed by the imperial court's intense competition over their divine positions, they decisively departed Tiandu.
This was understandable. Given their talents, even without relying on the divine positions, they could still tread far on the path of cultivation. Besides, even if they could not progress a step further in the future, how could Pei Xuanjing, who possessed the Auxiliary Golden Book and Jade Scroll, not make arrangements for them?
Not only them, many of the strong martial artists and disciples of Shenxiao Sect also thought the same way. With Pei Xuanjing, the leading martial artist in the world, at their helm, they felt secure. Despite facing the temptation of immortality, they collectively put on a brave face and united to request the divine position from the Taoist school.
As expected, they soon received a response from Pei Xuanjing.
"Tell them, not everyone can have a Divine Position. But if they want a Divine Position, they need to give something in exchange, they can't just swallow the benefits without offering anything in return!"
Although Pei Xuanjing didn't show himself, his words were clearly transmitted, reaching every force's ears.
The various parties didn't object to Pei Xuanjing's request. After all, if Pei Xuanjing were to monopolize the Divine Position and let the Taoist School absorb it alone, unwilling to share it with them, they could use the initial reasons to jointly coerce him.
But now, Pei Xuanjing has agreed to share, as long as they pay the price, they have no excuse to object.
After all, to get something, one has to pay a price. This is only fair. Regardless of Taindu's opposition, Pei Xuanjing held the high moral ground.
Bai Xiaosheng smiled slightly, raising another question: "Are there counting limits to the Divine Positions?"
"Depends on whether those people can think through it." Pei Xuanjing replied to Bai Xiaosheng with a smile.
As for the matter of the Divine Positions, Pei Xuanjing hadn't thought of monopolizing. There was no need for that.
Others might be ignorant, but how could he and Zhu Houji, the two controllers of the Golden Book and Jade Scroll, not know? The Divine Position is more than sufficient. To put it bluntly, even if all the martial artists and civilians of this world are given Divine Positions through enfeoffment, it could be done.
Of course, indiscriminate granting of enfeoffment not only reduces the efficacy of the Divine Position to the minimum but is also meaningless.
After the establishment of the Divine Dynasty, besides granting Divine Positions, the greater benefit is that the entire Great Ming territory will be linked together, covered by countless streams of Qi Luck, and draw more Heaven and Earth Essence Qi. This Heaven and Earth Essence Qi will gradually change the bodies of ordinary people and martial artists, transformation in their cultivation talent.
Moreover, as the saying goes, "scarcity makes things precious". If the Divine Position is common, it will make the position seem tasteless. Therefore, the number of Divine Positions needs to be controlled to show its preciousness and its value.
According to Pei Xuanjing's estimate, with the current Qi Luck of the Great Ming Divine Dynasty, the warriors who truly exert the effect of the Divine Position must at least step into the third-grade realm. Only the strong of this realm can fully bring out their combat power and bear the Divine Position.
Indeed, can bear the Divine Position.
This Divine Position is not cheap. It's not that you can bear it as soon as it is granted to you. It takes qualifications. Come to speak about it, the third-grade realm is most suitable now.
In the future, when the strength of the Great Ming Divine Dynasty is further elevated and accumulates more Qi Luck, the strength to bear the enfeoffment will be lowered, and there will be more Divine Positions.
Of course, even now, some things aren't fixed.
If Pei Xuanjing or Zhu Houji are willing to pay a certain price, those with lower strength can also be granted the Divine Position, but this will consume more Qi Luck and other costs.
But, as always, why do you have the qualifications for Pei Xuanjing or Zhu Houji to bear the cost for you?
"It seems I'm correct in my guess." Hearing the answer, Bai Xiaosheng immediately understood Pei Xuanjing's idea.
At the same time, he also guessed the thoughts of Emperor who was in the Imperial City.
With an abundant quantity of Divine Positions, the Emperor can deliberately let this matter go, observe the real faces of his ministers, and the situation.
With the big target of ground Divine Dynasty before them, everyone could unite. But when it comes to sharing the fruits of success, many people begin to show their real faces.
But then, Bai Xiaosheng, and Pei Xuanjing had no intention to meddle. After all, this is an internal matter of the Great Ming imperial court, and they should not intervene.
Even if they were to intervene, it could easily cause unnecessary trouble and arouse the Emperor's suspicion. Now that the Emperor has greatly improved in prestige, they need to maintain a certain level of respect for a strong person.
Of course, the Emperor will also understand not to interfere in the matters of the martial world and leave it to Pei Xuanjing to handle. This can be considered a tacit understanding between the two parties.
"I believe the wise ones already know what I really want." Pei Xuanjing played with the Golden Book and Jade Scroll in his hand, laughing playfully.
Bai Xiaosheng also smiled slightly: "Of course, the world has never lacked wise people. It's just that many people appear stubborn and slow, but that's only because the current benefits are not enough to prompt them to change."
As for Pei Xuanjing's thought, Bai Xiaosheng understood that he wanted to use this opportunity to exchange for those people's skills and accomplish his own plans.
In Bai Xiaosheng's opinion, Pei Xuanjing has succeeded. After all, previously, those people were conservative and persistently claimed that their ancestral skills could not be leaked. But the temptation of the Divine Position is another matter, and it far surpasses any material possessions.
The inherited skills mean nothing if they could get a Divine Position. This long life would not only give the strong more time to become stronger but also add to their faction's resources.
"Let's see what choice they make." Pei Xuanjing said with a smile, he seemed to be confident about the following events.
Bai Xiaosheng smiled but said nothing, because he held the same opinion.
But at this time, he heard Pei Xuanjing say, "In addition to teaching all the skills, I also plan to establish a Taoist Academy like the academies of the Confucian Gate."
Bai Xiaosheng showed a surprised face: "Taoist Academy?"
"Yes, it's going to be called the Taoist Academy. I'll be the dean myself, spread the Way to the world, give lectures on time, and anyone willing to learn is welcome," Pei Xuanjing said.
His statement of imitating the academies of the Confucian Gate is just a metaphor. His real aim is to design according to the education system of his previous life, and start a school teaching the method of cultivation.
If this plan can be implemented, combined with his plan to release all skill inheritances to all martial artists in the world and spread these schools throughout the states, prefectures, and counties of the world, that would really encourage countless people to cultivate.
After hearing Pei Xuanjing's plan, Bai Xiaosheng felt a flash of shock and said, "If this plan truly gets implemented, your status might become as prestigious as those founders of the Taoist School, and the scientists of the Hundred Schools of Thought."
He couldn't help but express his admiration for Pei Xuanjing's grand plan. If accomplished, Pei Xuanjing will win the support of martial artists all over the world and become a living saint, earning countless people's respect and admiration.
Pei Xuanjing did not hide his thoughts, saying, "Just as I said before, individual plans fall short. Only by gathering the wisdom of all beings, maybe we can explore the Path of Longevity."
Upon hearing Pei Xuanjing's words, Bai Xiaosheng sighed silently.
He naturally understood Pei Xuanjing's thoughts, and knew that although the latter's idea sounded insane, it was indeed a grand one in reality.
However, for thousands of years, factional prejudices have deeply embedded in people's hearts. No one is willing to reveal their precious methods for no reason, especially those that pertain to the core cultivation of their Great Dao.
Even if they could bring out a considerable number of skills borrowingly by leveraging Divine Investiture this time, prosecuting such a plan would still require considerable effort.
"No need to worry too much—I have already considered it in detail." Pei Xuanjing wasn't discouraged at all and seemed like he was holding a winning hand.
Bai Xiaosheng made no response to this. Since Pei Xuanjing wanted to move forward with his plans, he had no intention of stopping him. Furthermore, in the current world, no one could thwart what Pei Xuanjing wished to do.
While the two were discussing, within a mansion in the Capital city of Tiandu, a group of people, dressed in splendid silk, who were either rich or prestigious, were debating and negotiating amongst themselves.
"Gentlemen, we have discussed for half a day now. We need to determine our plan of action and whether or not we will agree to the terms. We have to make a decision." a Spirit Realm powerhouse from the Aristocratic Alliance spoke up.
This location serves as a base for the Aristocratic Alliance in Tiandu. Those who came for the discussion today were all decision-makers of the Aristocratic Alliance—about a dozen of them. All of these individuals were Spirit Realm powerhouses, with no First-grade martial artists qualified to join in the discussions.
As of now, decades have passed since the Heaven and Earth revived, making the essence of Heaven and Earth Qi denser and denser. It's become simpler for First-grade martial artists to break through to the Spirit Realm. Moreover, they have killed countless demonic beasts in these past few years and used these beasts to refine elixirs which aid their cultivation. This led to the number of Spirit Realm martial artists growing like bamboo shoots after a rain, surpassing five hundred by now.
However, as anticipated by Pei Xuanjing, even though the strengthening Heaven and Earth essence made cultivation easier for martial artists, the ones who yielded the most profit initially were these great powers.
Relying on their heritage and the foundation they've built, they had countless strong individuals. But the constraints of circumstances and limits of Heaven and Earth kept them at bay, only allowing them to exist as a form of dissuasion. Nevertheless, the revival of Heaven and Earth has lifted these shackles and allowed them to further progress their cultivation.
Among the more than five hundred Spirit Realm powerhouses around the world, about seventy percent of them originate from the various major powers or are in some way, associated with them. The rest of the individuals are from smaller forces or are Independent Practitioners who made a breakthrough by accidentally receiving heritage from the previous generation.
Today, here in Tiandu alone, the headquarters of the Aristocratic Alliance holds over a dozen Spirit Realm powerhouses. Though most of them are merely Spirit Realm Onefold powerhouses, they are still enough to suppress a region in the outside world.
They gather here today to discuss how to reply to Pei Xuanjing's request.
'Confer God's position and achieve immortality.'
Such a massive temptation is not insignificant even for them, these Spirit Realm powerhouses. And what about other people?
Even though they, themselves, had broken through to the Spirit Realm and have had their lives immensely extended, they aren't alone—they have families. How can they just forsake them?
"The other party just wants our methods, right? In my opinion, we simply give them to him." someone nonchalantly stated.
"But these methods are our hereditary teachings, they form the essence of our clans. We can't just leak them out casually." someone else retorted reluctantly.
The prejudice of clan gates is heavier in comparison with Sects or Religious Institutions. They mainly rely on blood lineage to connect everyone. These inherited methods are their roots for existence—the bottom cards that ensure an unbroken line of descent.
"The world now is not what it used to be anymore. Gentlemen, the times have changed." a Spirit Realm powerhouse spoke: "We, the aristocratic clans, may boast about our long heritage, but in fact, we all know that we're nothing but the descendants of branches that survived the cataclysm during the Tang Dynasty. Even though we bear a significant designation, the skills we possess are not enough to support us in breaking through to the Spirit Realm. Most of us who made the breakthrough have received inheritance from some Forbidden Place or Blessed Land."
Hearing him reveal everyone's secret, the expressions of the Spirit Realm powerhouses present varied. Some were indifferent, some remained unchanging, but, in the end, none refuted him. The reason for this was that what he said was the truth, with no errors whatsoever.
Our-line has been severed, and the skills they currently possess can only guarantee a smooth cultivation to the peak of the First-grade, but they don't have any real method for stepping into the Spirit Realm.
If it weren't for this, why would they need those Divine Positions? They could simply focus more on cultivating the powerful individuals within their clans. After all, they aren't short of resources in the present day.
"So, in my opinion, these things are outdated and do not hold much value anymore. Instead of holding on to them, it'd be better to give them to him."
"That person managed to get to where he is today starting from an unknown foot soldier of a mere border county—he's not an ordinary person. You all are aware of his plan. If we actively agree to help him push forward this plan, our gains will certainly exceed whatever we currently have."
In his opinion, at this stage, the skills that they have in their possession may seem precious to ordinary martial artists. However, in the eyes of Pei Xuanjing or those who have stepped into the Spirit Realm, they aren't considered precious at all.
Pei Xuanjing was able to make it this far and must undoubtedly have had some extraordinary opportunities or secrets. Although they aren't strong enough to pry into this secret, they can certainly ride along with his momentum.
Now that such an opportunity presents itself, they might as well use these things to win favor with Pei Xuanjing which certainly promises substantial gains.
Hearing his words, the entire room fell into silence. However, everyone present was intrigued.
After all, according to the information that has been shared, Pei Xuanjing intended to publicize all the skills as part of his plan, including his personally cultivated "Shenxiao Heaven's Will Skill."
Although these people have broken through to the Spirit Realm, with a few exceptions of people with exceptional talents, most of them can only be considered as mediocrities, and they have not even established their own paths.
Now, such a powerhouse is willing to teach what he knows — this is a great fortune. It's as if a beacon has been lighted up in the night to illuminate the path ahead.
With such an opportunity present, what they have in their possession, even if it looks precious, doesn't amount to much.
Not just the Aristocratic Alliance, upon learning of this news from Pei Xuanjing, emotions stirred within the Demonic Cult, the Heretical Alliance, and even the Buddhism and Taoist Schools.
After all, just as Bai Xiaosheng said, in front of real benefits, nothing else mattered.