At his words, the faces of all the ministers in the hall drained of color. They stared, utterly dumbfounded. Lu Zi was accepting him as a junior!

Th-th-this…

They were all in a daze, realizing that this Prince Zheng was about to soar to the heavens—he was truly about to make a meteoric rise!

On either side, Shang Yang and Duke Mu of Qin’s eyes went wide. After a moment, Duke Mu of Qin came to his senses, ecstatic.

“I couldn’t ask for anything more! I couldn’t ask for more! Zheng’Er, what are you waiting for? Come and pay your respects!”

Zhao Zheng’s heart hammered in his chest. He stepped forward respectfully, gazed at the venerable old man seated on the throne, and immediately performed a deep bow!

Lu Xuan smiled, stroking the long beard of his current form. He said:

“Though you cannot inherit my mantle, since you are now my junior, it is only right that I bestow a gift upon you.”

Duke Mu of Qin was frantically signaling Zhao Zheng with his eyes. Understanding, Zhao Zheng bowed again and called out:

“I humbly ask for your gift, Honorary Grand-patriarch!”

“Very well.”

Duke Mu of Qin was Zhao Zheng’s ancestor, making Lu Xuan his “Honorary Grand-patriarch”—a forefather in name, if not by blood.

The old man on the throne first chuckled, then his expression grew solemn as he began to speak words of great gravity.

The instant he spoke, the celestial phenomena shifted dramatically. Winds and clouds swept across the sky, thunder rolled, and then, for ten thousand miles, the tempestuous weather transformed into auspicious Qingyun clouds, forming a magnificent canopy!

In the Central Celestial Court, Thousand-Mile Eye and Shunfeng Ear, who were passing the time with a game of Go, suddenly froze. They sensed another change in the Human World and directed their gazes below, but the vast, ten-thousand-mile canopy of auspicious omens completely blocked their view. The color drained from their faces.

“This is…” Thousand-Mile Eye frowned. “The Qin Region? Is it related to that Lu Zi?”

“It most likely is. Should we report this?” Shunfeng Ear asked.

Thousand-Mile Eye thought for a moment and was about to speak when his expression suddenly changed, and he hurriedly turned to the side to bow.

Shunfeng Ear glanced over, startled as well, and bowed.

“Greetings, Taibai Upper Immortal! Greetings, Pagoda-bearing Celestial King!”

Venus nodded with a smile, but his gaze drifted down toward the Human World. “Hm?” he murmured in surprise.

“Hm? What is happening down in the Human World?”

“To answer the Upper Immortal, we suspect this phenomenon is caused by Lu Zi in the Human World.”

“Lu Zi…” Venus mulled it over, the name sounding familiar. Beside him, the Pagoda-bearing Celestial King smiled. “Ah, you mean the Lu Zi who was invading Qi thirty years ago?”

“That’s him!” Thousand-Mile Eye and Shunfeng Ear nodded in unison.

Venus and Li Jing exchanged a thoughtful look.

The events of thirty years ago had always been shrouded in suspicion. The West Pole Celestial Court had been shattered by a single slap from the Supreme Great Celestial Venerable, and a Direct Lineage heir of the Taishang Lineage had even threatened to call the Western Celestial Court to account.

Afterward, rumors spread from the West Pole Celestial Court that Lu Zi of the Human World was that very heir—the one known as Supreme Profound Clarity, whom the Supreme Great Celestial Venerable had personally announced to heaven and earth as his disciple…

But not a single Immortal God dared to verify it. After all, it involved the Supreme Great Celestial Venerable, and the miserable state of the West Pole Celestial Court was still fresh in everyone’s minds!

‘But this… this might be an opportunity?’

The phenomena in the Human World—the shifting skies, the appearance of auspicious omens and Qingyun clouds, the tremors in the Human Dao Trend…

Venus considered this for a moment before turning his head to ask:

“Celestial King, why don’t we take a trip to the Human World and see for ourselves?”

The Pagoda-bearing Celestial King pondered for a moment, then nodded decisively.

“Very well. If this Lu Zi is truly the heir of the Taishang Lineage, we can befriend him. If he isn’t, it’s of no consequence. We can just consider it an excursion.”

Beside them, Thousand-Mile Eye and Shunfeng Ear exchanged a look of bewilderment. ‘The Taishang heir??’

For tens of thousands of years, the Central Celestial Court had been at odds with the Four Directions Celestial Court, and they had no interaction with the West Pole Celestial Court either. Since their duties were confined to observing the Human World, they had never heard this rumor.

Venus then added with a laugh:

“However, I doubt it’s him. A Direct Lineage heir of the Taishang Lineage cultivates the supreme Great Dao. Why would one walk the path of the worldly philosophers? It must be a rumor that’s been twisted in the telling.”

On the day of that celestial upheaval, all the immortals had their attention fixed on the Thirty-Three Celestial Realms. Aside from a few high-ranking Immortal Gods from the West Pole Celestial Court, no one was paying attention to what was happening in the Human World.

Li Jing nodded in agreement.

“My thoughts exactly. If I’m not mistaken, the Taishang heir from thirty years ago was likely traveling with this Lu Zi of the Human World. The Upper Celestial Venerable of the West Pole Celestial Court acted rashly and provoked that entity from beyond the heavens…”

As they spoke, the two high-ranking ministers of the Central Celestial Court stood side by side, their figures vanishing into the void. The next moment, they were in the Royal Palace of the Qin Kingdom.

But they were hidden in the void, unnoticed by anyone, except for a large Cyan Bull lying outside the hall, which slightly raised its eyelids.

The Cultivation of the two immortals was a level beneath the Cyan Bull’s, so they remained completely unaware of its presence, standing within the void inside the hall and silently observing the scene.

Li Jing studied the old man on the throne and began to size him up.

“He is indeed one of the worldly philosophers, of the Virtue school… Huh? Why is the Human Dao Fortune on this Lu Zi so powerful??”

Venus frowned as well, a look of stunned disbelief on his face. Though he could not perceive it clearly, he could vaguely sense…

…that the Human Dao Fortune swirling around the seated old man… seemed no weaker than that of the Celestial Son of Zhou!

No, it was even stronger!

The two immortals exchanged a puzzled look, then fell silent, merely observing.

At this point, they could be certain this Lu Zi was not Supreme Profound Clarity. The reason was simple: his Cultivation was far too low…

He was just an Earth Immortal.

After all, one had to pass the [Ten Trials] to even be initiated into the Taishang Lineage, and to even attempt the trials, one first had to pass the Nine Tribulations of the Earth Immortal.

The two high-ranking ministers of the Celestial Court could never have guessed that the master of Douluo Palace would bend the rules for Lu Xuan…

Meanwhile, in the hall.

Seated on the throne, Lu Xuan frowned slightly. The five apertures of his Form, Sound, Smell, Taste, and Touch resonated, and his exceptionally keen Divine Sense detected a prying gaze, yet he could not pinpoint its source.

He pushed aside his doubts and fixed his gaze on the bowing Zhao Zheng, smiling warmly as he spoke.

“I shall grant you three gifts. The first is a Divine Technique. You were born with the mien of a king and may one day bring peace to this chaotic world. In that process, you will inevitably resort to warfare and the deployment of soldiers.”

After a pause, Lu Xuan continued.

“The Divine Technique I bestow upon you belongs to the ranks of the Celestial Spirits. It is called Scattering Beans into Soldiers. With sufficient Cultivation, you can summon tens of millions of Celestial Soldiers with a wave of your hand. Waging war with them will prevent you from exhausting your people and resources… But you must remember this: when you conquer the Dukes States in the future, you must not bring harm to the common folk.”

As he spoke, he pointed a finger, condensing the Great Divine Technique—Scattering Beans into Soldiers, which he had gained from cultivating the Supreme Tribulation Chapter—into a speck of profound light that descended upon Zhao Zheng’s head.

Zhao Zheng closed his eyes, silently absorbing its profound mysteries, while the expressions of the two hidden Celestial Court ministers changed drastically.

The ministers in the hall exchanged stunned glances. ‘Such a miraculous Skill exists in this world?’

‘To summon tens of millions of Celestial Soldiers with a wave of the hand!’

‘This…’

“Scattering Beans into Soldiers?!” Li Jing exclaimed in the void, utterly astonished. “That’s one of the Thirty-Six Celestial Spirit Great Divine Techniques, isn’t it? How could this man possess such a power?!”

The Thirty-Six Celestial Spirit Great Divine Techniques were all incredibly profound, and the one at the very top, Mediation of Creation, was the ultimate technique in all of heaven and earth!

A look of astonishment also flashed across Venus’s face. He stared at the old man who radiated an aura of old age and decay, deep in thought.

After a moment, he spoke.

“This man is more than I imagined… Perhaps he had some great opportunity in the Human World? Let’s watch a while longer.”

While the two Celestial Court ministers conferred in secret,

Zhao Zheng stored the profound mysteries of [Scattering Beans into Soldiers] deep in his mind and bowed respectfully.

“Zheng thanks the Honorary Grand-patriarch for this gift!”

Lu Xuan nodded with a smile and continued.

“My second gift to you is a measure of power. You were born possessing the Human Dao Trend, but it is purely Innate and cannot be actively wielded. Now that you are my junior and have called me ‘Honorary Grand-patriarch,’ you shall inherit a hundred shares of the Human Dao Trend I possess. This is a Postnatal power that you can control, making it so that even Immortal Gods will find it difficult to approach you.”

As he finished speaking, the old man pointed a finger. He unhesitatingly severed one hundred of his own eight hundred shares of the great power, causing it to manifest, gather the wind and clouds, and descend entirely upon Zhao Zheng’s head!

The ministers looked around blankly, not understanding what the Human Dao Trend was. However, Duke Mu of Qin, who had some inkling, and the two Celestial Court ministers hidden in the void all turned pale.

Duke Mu of Qin swallowed hard.

“Lu Zi, this gift is too great! Zheng’Er…”

Before he could finish, something unexpected happened.

Zhao Zheng closed his eyes, receiving the hundred shares of the Human Dao Trend bestowed by Lu Xuan. The one hundred shares of Postnatal power acted as a catalyst for his own hundred shares of Innate power, causing them to resonate with each other. This, in turn, triggered a resonance in the Human Dao Fortune that permeated the mountains and rivers of the entire Human World!

The vibrations grew increasingly violent. The landscape itself seemed to shift in color. The Five Directions Celestial Court appeared to sense the disturbance, and their Immortal Gods were all filled with shock and uncertainty.

And then, amidst the resonance, the Celestial Vault flickered between light and dark, wind and clouds gathered, and a strange phenomenon suddenly appeared over the Qin Region!

Simultaneously with the birth of this phenomenon,

another three hundred shares of Human Dao Fortune were drawn forth. Half descended upon Zhao Zheng, and the other half upon Lu Xuan.

Lu Xuan was taken aback. He had given away one hundred shares of fortune, yet his own hadn’t diminished. Instead, it had increased by fifty…

He was at a loss for whether to laugh or cry. His gaze toward Zhao Zheng grew even more solemn as three words surfaced in his mind.

‘Child of Destiny!’

‘No, more like… the Child of the Human Dao!’

‘As expected of the future First Emperor, I suppose?’

As his thoughts turned, a smile appeared on Lu Xuan’s face, and he spoke again, his voice like mighty thunder.

“My third gift… is…”

Before he finished speaking, a soldier suddenly stumbled in, looking terrified, interrupting Lu Xuan’s words.

Duke Mu of Qin frowned and demanded:

“What is it?”

The soldier fell prostrate, his voice choked with sobs as he cried out:

“My King, the Drought Demon has burned down seven more cities! Now it’s heading… it’s heading toward Yong City!!”

“What?!” Duke Mu of Qin’s face fell. The ministers, who had just been marveling at Prince Zheng’s world-shaking fortune, erupted into chaos.

Shang Yang, standing to one side, looked grim. He clenched his fists and said:

“Lu Zi, Your Majesty, this is a disaster… I implore you both to relocate for the time being. I will remain in Yong City and oversee the evacuation of its people to another city!”

A minister exclaimed in alarm:

“We mustn’t! Rashly relocating the capital’s entire population could destabilize the very fortune of our Qin Kingdom…”

“Indeed! Why… why don’t we immediately perform a grand sacrifice to the heavens? The Drought Demon came on the order of the West Pole Celestial Court, did it not? If we offer sacrifices, the Drought Demon might just retreat!”

“Yes, yes! Let’s arrange the grand sacrifice at once. There should be time! It’s certainly better than suddenly evacuating the entire capital…”

Amidst the clamor, Duke Mu of Qin’s expression was uncertain. Zhao Zheng, who had been contemplating the profound mysteries of the Human Dao Fortune, also gritted his teeth, a sense of powerlessness rising in his heart.

The Drought Demon was powerful, to be sure, but not so powerful that the Qin Kingdom was completely incapable of stopping it. The problem was that it came bearing a decree from the West Pole Celestial Court. The entity standing behind it was the West Pole Celestial Court itself…

Zhao Zheng suddenly felt a sense of suffocation. He raised his head and looked at the hall’s ceiling, his gaze seemingly piercing through it to see the majestic Celestial Realm.

With the Immortal Gods reigning above, the common people cannot live.

The people cannot live!

In the void, the two Celestial Court ministers exchanged a knowing glance. Then, their interest piqued, they turned their gazes back to Lu Zi, eager to see how he would handle this.

‘This Lu Zi possesses an immense Human Dao Fortune. We don’t know why, but it’s clearly extraordinary. Will he choose to avoid the confrontation, or will he choose to appease the heavens with sacrifices?’

‘Or… will he fight the Drought Demon?’

Li Jing shook his head slightly. ‘If he really dares to move against the Drought Demon, the Western Celestial Court will be enraged!’

Just as the two immortals were quietly observing,

The old man seated upon the throne slowly raised his eyelids and asked in a faint voice:

“Duke Qin, what is this Drought Demon? And what is the meaning of it burning seven cities?”

“And why… has no one spoken to me of this?”

His tone was ice-cold. It was phrased as a question, but it carried the weight of rising anger—an accusation!

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep