Chapter 685 — The Heavenly Palace Takes Shape

The chieftain of the Black Tortoise clan had also fallen in that battle. The new chieftain who came was a tall, imposing yet sluggish fellow named Xuan Wujing, who, whether walking or speaking, lagged several beats behind everyone else.

Emperor Yanfeng found talking with Xuan Wujing the most trying of all.

The Wing King, the Kun King, and the others were old acquaintances, and they held no fondness for Lizheng, who in former days had loved to summon them with the Human Emperor Seal to strike back at Heaven Above.

But when the chieftains of the clans beheld the First Ancestor Human Emperor, they could not help but grow reverent.

Emperor Yanfeng also invited envoys from Chiming; Chi Xi came in person. The Demon Race's envoy was Zhe Huali; Fu Riluo did not come himself.

Most of the people of Taihuang Heaven remained in the Wasteland, and the True God Pang Yu did not come in person either, sending his disciple Yu He in his place.

In those days, Shen Mu, Emperor Yanfeng, the Woodcutter Sage, the Imperial Preceptor of Jingping, and the others had long since drawn up their plans. Yanfeng assigned offices and enfeoffed a great many officials, reformed the system of officials, abolished certain posts and added others.

This grand assembly had many matters, and many of them were endlessly trivial — the promotion of officials, the testing of abilities — all of which required Yanfeng's personal involvement. The assembly lasted more than a month before it ended.

Besides the clans, the Silent Artisans, the pill masters, and others were also granted offices, while the Si family of the Heavenly Sage Cult was put in charge of Jingping's finances. Si Yunxiang was elated for a long while, but Xue Hu'er was somewhat downcast.

Soon, however, Shen Mu used his authority to insert Xue Hu'er as well, to oversee Si Yunxiang, lest Si Yunxiang line her own pockets and empty the national treasury to fill the Heavenly Sage Cult's vaults. Only then did Si Yunxiang's elation fade.

Shen Mu, the Woodcutter Sage, and the rest set the plans, while all the doing was handed to Emperor Yanfeng. Yanfeng was worn to exhaustion, and at last finished handling these affairs; yet the memorials from every quarter requesting money from the Emperor still came flying like snowflakes.

Yanfeng's head swelled to the size of a bushel. He summoned Chi Xi and asked about the three heads and six arms, saying, "It would make reviewing memorials faster."

Chi Xi laughed. "If Your Majesty wishes to cultivate three heads and six arms, you should ask the Human Emperor Shen. The Divine Son says the Human Emperor Shen's attainments have already reached the level of the Imperial Throne."

Yanfeng was startled, and summoned Shen Mu to the palace.

"Your Majesty, the two Imperial Throne methods, the Immortal Consciousness and the Profound Scripture of Flawless Creation, have both been sent to the Grand Academy and the Four Great Academies."

Shen Mu smiled. "Cultivating these two methods requires great attainments in the divine power of creation. I am gathering masters of that power, intending to study these two methods closely and sort out the creation methods they require, so that cultivation will yield twice the result with half the effort."

Yanfeng was reassured. He set down the memorial he was reviewing and smiled. "Come, walk with Us."

Shen Mu walked out with him from the imperial study. The night was already late. Yanfeng raised his head to the sky and for a long time said nothing.

Shen Mu looked up. The stars were brilliant, but one star was especially dazzling — the strange star of the remnant Chiming clan.

The strange star looked the size of an orange, but a piece of it was missing; it floated motionless in the night sky over Jingping.

"Shen, Our beloved minister, can Taihuang Heaven still be restored?" Yanfeng looked west and suddenly asked.

To the west lay the Wasteland. At this moment the Wasteland had fallen into darkness, but because of the appearance of Taihuang Heaven and Luofu Heaven it was not so dark after all, for both Taihuang Heaven and Luofu Heaven were then bathed in sunlight; even in the capital one could see the sky above the Wasteland bright.

"Life can be restored."

Shen Mu thought a moment, then said, "It will only take time. The spiritual power and spiritual energy of Taihuang Heaven are not wholly spent; Luofu Heaven, though its spiritual energy is exhausted, is after all in the Wasteland, and will soon recover. For now, we need only have the Sun-Herding God Race sail a few Sun Boats across those two heavens, and sunlight will shine there. But to restore life, I fear it will take more than ten years."

Yanfeng smiled. "Plant trees first. I hear the Moon-Herding God Race has been wiped out — is there still any chance of choosing a few Moon-herders to control the Soul Boats?"

Shen Mu hesitated, then said, "Perhaps there are still descendants of the Moon-herders in the Wasteland. Has the Ministry of Revenue ever taken a census of the Wasteland's people?"

"There has. Let this be given to the Ministry of Revenue to handle — choose a few Moon-herders to inherit their ancestors' work."

Yanfeng withdrew his gaze, looked at Shen Mu, and smiled. "Shen, Our beloved minister, is it not time you took a wife? Is there no maiden who has caught your heart?"

Shen Mu said, "The realm is not yet at peace; how can I think of a family?"

Yanfeng was left half-choked. He waved a hand and said weakly, "You may go."

Shen Mu departed.

Yanfeng glanced at Ling Yuxiu, who was hurrying away with her face covered, and shook his head. "So clever a girl, and yet a fool in matters of the heart."