The Jade Clarity Daoist showed no emotion on his face, casually humming and responding to other reincarnators, and coldly watching Ji Fu calling upon other newcomers, inquiring one by one. Yet within his heart, waves surged like a storm.
“The Temple of the Sovereign Deity… tasks… other realms?”
“In the Zhou Dynasty world, there has long been a hidden current—an outsider force pursued by all factions. Only three hundred years ago did it begin to reveal itself. Who would have thought the truth would be this…”
“The Temple of the Sovereign Deity… transcendence…”
“Could my Dao possibly be pursued upon it?”
…
Within the Temple of the Sovereign Deity.
Wu Ming sat high upon his throne, pages of floating screens appearing before him, displaying the situations of various reincarnation tasks. Naturally, Jade Clarity Daoist was among them.
“Hmph… Not bad for an old fox. This Jade Clarity Daoist accepted things rather quickly, didn’t he?”
As Wu Ming watched Jade Clarity Daoist piece things together step by step, mimicking the manner of a seasoned reincarnator, a slight curve formed on his lips.
It was, after all, his own doing that turned Jade Clarity into a reincarnator.
A mere fifth-level being—what ripples could he possibly create before the Temple of the Sovereign Deity?
Below the level of a Celestial Immortal, the Temple’s power of annihilation could bury any secret forever in darkness.
Now, with all authority concentrated in Wu Ming, other reincarnators had no chance to climb the ranks step by step.
To oppose him within the system Wu Ming had built was likely nothing more than a dream.
Therefore, now he actually wished for more reincarnators, and fifth-levels in particular.
“Placing such a pawn beside Wu Qing, at a critical moment, I’ll have a force I can deploy…”
Wu Ming observed for a moment longer before turning his attention elsewhere, looking at other screens.
What interested him more were the initial meetings and adjustments between new and veteran reincarnators.
Since he had taken the position of Sovereign, those veteran reincarnators had been kept in cold storage for about a year, enjoying a period of leisure and happiness. Now, with his promotion to Celestial Immortal and the Temple of the Sovereign Deity brimming with primal energy, unafraid of any challenge, he reopened the system.
“The path of the Temple of the Sovereign Deity is to accumulate primal essence, constantly evolve, and ultimately transcend…”
“For example, the cultivation of the Western Regions Chronicle world of the Zhou Dynasty—if we disregard other gains, purely from the perspective of world essence, it was entirely a loss. After all, it was a virtual world that produced no primal essence of a world…”
“Now, we must have reincarnators enter other worlds in person, disrupt their heavenly decrees, and accumulate primal energy for the Temple of the Sovereign Deity…”
For the Temple of the Sovereign Deity, selecting reincarnators and exploring the myriad worlds was a highly profitable endeavor.
It was like running a business—first, you invest, which is the selection and enhancement of reincarnators, then you proceed to conquer other worlds and reap the returns.
Of course, whether it was a loss or profit ultimately depended on the model established by the Sovereign.
The previous Temple of the Sovereign, which solely bred contenders for authority and eventually determined the Sovereign, was entirely a losing proposition.
What Wu Ming intended to do was increase oppression, raise task difficulty, reduce rewards, and strive to find a balance between rewards and consumption, ensuring that each reincarnator ultimately contributed to him, forming a balanced and sustainable development.
“Therefore… temperament is very important… if we cannot simply pile enhancements to create strong individuals, we must demand more exceptional elite talents who can maximize every ounce of power… Fortunately, in this regard, they have absolutely no choice!”
Wu Ming felt that the only advantage he had over black-hearted entrepreneurs from his past life was that his employees had absolutely no choice but to walk the path until death.
“This reincarnation task system of the Temple of the Sovereign Deity can no longer be described as a black-hearted enterprise—it’s more appropriate to call it a form of slavery…”
A gleam of sharpness flashed in Wu Ming’s eyes as the surrounding void shifted, transporting him to another space.
The Temple of the Sovereign Deity was originally an inconceivable artifact composed of countless worlds and planes, containing myriad spaces, like grains of sand in a starry sea.
This space, however, was like a prison. Chains of violet laws formed, resembling nine purple dragons, firmly sealing a violet-black talisman at the center.
This was a trophy Wu Ming had taken from the hands of Demon Cloud Immortal—a talisman suspected to be left behind by a seventh-level powerhouse.
“I have never seen such a manifestation of world energy before…”
Wu Ming mused, looking again at the talisman.
The talisman was entirely violet-black, covered with thousands of extremely fine golden sigils, like tadpoles constantly swimming and colliding, forming four golden cloud-characters.
“Primordial Cloud Script?”
These four characters were quite different from what Wu Ming had seen before, representing cruelty, destruction, darkness—every negative aspect of the world. An ordinary Daoist cultivator might fall into madness merely by glancing at it.
“Temple of the Sovereign Deity…”
Faced with something that had already exceeded the level of a Celestial Immortal, Wu Ming could only directly invoke the Temple of the Sovereign Deity.
[Ding!]
The Temple of the Sovereign Deity immediately responded, a mysterious and transcendent light, filled with the aura of eternity, descending.
The black-violet talisman struggled, but against the might of a Great Sage, it had no resistance at all. The golden cloud-characters continuously changed, beginning to reveal their essence.
“Indeed, it is world energy… but it has taken another extreme…”
Wu Ming immediately sensed the difference: “World energy is primal essence, capable of creating all things… but this strand of world energy carried only pure destruction, decay, and death… as if…”
He suddenly recalled the situation when the Zhou Dynasty Western Regions Chronicle world was destroyed.
“As if it were the Five Decays of Celestial Beings, or the great calamity of an era…”
“The Zhou Dynasty world is a real one, developing in a healthy manner. It should not have such problems… Obviously, there are hidden secrets within the Four Regions of the Zhou Dynasty!”
Realizing this, Wu Ming did not immediately act.
One must wield power proportionate to the task at hand.
With his status as a Celestial Immortal, recklessly involving himself in matters concerning the birth and death of worlds would be extremely dangerous. Exposing the Temple of the Sovereign Deity would not be worth it.
“Just watch and wait…”
Just as he made this decision, Wu Ming suddenly froze.
Before him, an image appeared—a golden-feathered Celestial Immortal, transforming into a giant roc, soaring swiftly for an unknown duration, finally arriving at a void high in the heavens: “Leader! Your subordinate has failed…”
The void opened, and Wu Ming could only see a pair of blood-red eyes.
Those eyes were filled with coldness and gloom, even faintly exuding the same aura as the black-violet talisman.
“You… come in and report everything to this seat!”
The owner of the crimson eyes spoke in a deep voice, extending a giant hand.
“Aye… Understood!”
The golden-feathered Celestial Immortal’s expression changed instantly, his body trembling slightly, yet he dared not resist, allowing the massive hand to pull him into another void.
This was a broken world, where endless natural disasters and tribulations constantly occurred, as if it were in the process of destruction.
Throughout the heavens and earth, a corrupt and withered aura filled the space.
These energies instantly breached the golden-feathered Immortal’s defenses, settling onto his body. In no time, his hair turned completely white, his face aged, and filth oozed from his pores.
The Five Decays of Celestial Beings!
A phenomenon said to only appear on a Celestial Immortal during a great era calamity was now manifesting upon him.
“Your leader’s divine might is too much for this subordinate to bear… Please spare my life…”
The golden-feathered Immortal’s face was filled with pleading, quickly speaking: “This subordinate first went to…”
Even his voice became aged, as if he had truly become an old man.
As time passed, the image on the screen flickered more and more, twisting as if the signal were being interfered with by some invisible force.
Snap!
Finally, the image turned completely dark, as if the hidden measures Wu Ming had placed on the golden-feathered Immortal had been completely removed.
“Tsk tsk… Who is this person? Could it be the Celestial Venerable Jue Tian?”
Wu Ming was quite surprised: “Although he hasn’t yet discovered my arrangements, his own space is so terrifying that it can slowly counteract part of the effects of Great Sage power… This person’s status likely rivals even the Celestial Emperor, both being seventh-level Golden Immortals at their peak…”
“Still… if this person is truly the Daoist Grandmaster Jue Tian, how could his paradise world have become such a mess? One might even believe it belonged to a Demon Immortal Ruler of the Four Regions.”
“Celestial Immortal, Demon Immortal… the key to all this likely lies with this person…”
After obtaining this intelligence, Wu Ming’s external avatar showed no hesitation and immediately set off on the return journey to Dingzhou.
This time, appearing as the Celestial Immortal Wu Ming, revealing himself to establish his reputation, was partly also to support Wu Zhi.
A dragon supported by a Celestial Immortal!
Such a force was rare even throughout the entire Zhou Dynasty world.
The feudal lords across the land, and even some hidden undercurrents, would likely quiet down immediately.
Of course, the small court in the secondary capital would inevitably grow even more uneasy.
“With my status as a Celestial Immortal, I am fully capable of supporting a true dragon to ascend the throne… Even though Wu Zhi is a woman, I can ensure her a century of kingship…”
His actions this time, establishing his authority among the Celestial Immortals, were also for this consideration.
With this deterrent now in place, Wu Ming could temporarily rest easy and attend to other matters.
Although the Zhou Dynasty world was powerful, it was merely a resting stop on his journey toward eternal transcendence. The myriad worlds and different cosmic dimensions were his true path forward!
If he could attain Golden Immortal or even Great Sage status, even forcibly defying heaven, making a hen crow at dawn and establishing a female dynasty, would be no difficulty at all?
…
Within the Temple of the Sovereign Deity, Wu Ming’s eyes gleamed as he immediately issued an order: “Temple of the Sovereign Deity! Record the reincarnator reward rules—calculate contributions based on the primal energy of worlds obtained through their disruption of other worlds and assistance to the Temple of the Sovereign Deity!”
“The actual reward shall be half the original contribution!”
“For new reincarnators, the first three missions may be appropriately adjusted to seven-tenths!”
…
[Ding! The rule record will be added to the reward system!]
The Temple of the Sovereign Deity thundered in response, instantly modifying the entire reincarnation system, implementing Wu Ming’s will in every aspect.
Once this rule was put into place, Wu Ming immediately felt the Temple of the Sovereign Deity tremble, countless tiny points of light continuously flowing into the primal energy pool. Although each was extremely small, they accumulated into a continuous stream, filling him with great delight.
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