The Human Emperor Palace was revered by the Nine Provinces, its status transcendent. One of its duties was to mediate between the various powers, preventing immortal cultivation factions from fighting to the death and leaving all living things devastated.
At the peak of cultivation, a single thought could topple mountains and overturn seas. If two peak cultivators fought each other to the death, the harm they would bring to the Nine Provinces Continent was easy to imagine.
There had been such examples in history. At the time, the Old Human Emperor had died, while a new Human Emperor had yet to emerge. An Ancient Sect and an Imperial Dynasty came into conflict, which eventually escalated into an irreconcilable feud. The two sides battled without mercy, sweeping across half the Nine Provinces. Anyone daring to step forward and urge peace was jointly wiped out by the Ancient Sect and the Imperial Dynasty.
It was not until the new Human Emperor, Jiang Li, ascended the throne that he carried the wishes of all living beings and slew the Ancient Sect's Sect Leader and the Imperial Dynasty's monarch, finally quelling this slaughterous calamity that had engulfed the Nine Provinces.
Imperial dynasties and sects stood in great numbers across the Nine Provinces Continent, competing with and spurring one another onward. This was the policy laid down by the First Generation Human Emperor, and the conclusion reached through repeated deductions by generations of Human Emperors.
Immortal cultivators possessed both a yearning for eternal life and a fierce, combative nature. Blind suppression was not a lasting solution; cultivators needed a path through which to contend. Therefore, the Human Emperor Palace did not suppress other powers. Instead, it offered all manner of aid and encouraged them to compete. It was precisely because of this that geniuses continued to emerge throughout the Nine Provinces, with no break in succession.
This was also why the Nine Provinces Continent had so many nations.
Over a thousand small states and nine great imperial dynasties formed the continent's basic structure.
Only an imperial dynasty with ten thousand years of national fortune, enduring without decline, could be called a great imperial dynasty.
Jiang Li's hometown lay within the Great Zhou Dynasty. It was merely an inconspicuous little city of Great Zhou, situated on a plain, with neither beautiful mountains and waters nor mineral veins or spiritual treasures. Had it not been Jiang Li's hometown, even the people of Great Zhou might never have known such a small city existed.
In Jiang Li's memories, the strongest person in that little county town had only been in the Foundation Establishment Realm.
Jiang Yixing, who had once had a chance to break through to the Golden Core Stage, had naturally counted as an extraordinary genius.
Jiang Li stood at the city gates, staring blankly at Green City, which bore not the slightest resemblance to his memories.
The short, moss-covered Green City of old had vanished. In its place stood towering walls built from refined steelstone, along with gates broad enough for exotic beast mounts of any size to stroll through at leisure.
Young wandering heroes roamed the rivers and lakes; parents brought their children to bask in the Human Emperor's spiritual aura; cultivators prayed for the Human Emperor's blessing to break through their bottlenecks. All this had turned the once-unremarkable Green City, from the very moment Jiang Li became Human Emperor, into a low-key city of deep substance.
Even the guards at the city gates were Golden Core Stage cultivators.
For that very reason, the city gates were crowded with people coming and going, bustling beyond measure.
The moment he entered Green City, Jiang Li saw a colossal Bronze Statue. The man in the statue was imposing and majestic, holding a great halberd as he gazed in every direction, like an immortal god inspecting the mortal realm.
It was none other than Jiang Li, the Human Emperor.
He had thought that upon returning, it would be like "smiling as he asked the guest where he came from," with no one recognizing him. He had only worn a straw hat, and beneath its shadow was his true face, identical to the Bronze Statue.
Who could have expected reality to be "who under heaven would not know him"? Quite a few people were worshipping around the Bronze Statue, and Jiang Li could even sense the Faith Power emanating from it. He hurriedly used a spell to alter his appearance.
"Sorry to trouble you, but where is the Jiang Family?" Jiang Li casually stopped someone and asked.
The man looked rather old and walked at an unhurried pace.
Of course, Jiang Li's actual age was still greater.
"Young man, you're from out of town, aren't you? Who in Green City doesn't know that the Jiang Family is right in the center of the city, next to the City Lord's Mansion?" the old man said with a smile, raising a hand to point. "Over there."
The old man's accent was heavy, and outsiders would have found it difficult to understand. But Jiang Li was originally from Green City, so it posed no problem for him.
"I heard the Jiang Family used to be just a minor lineage, tucked away in a corner of Green City. But after Human Emperor Jiang ascended the throne, cultivators kept coming here to investigate how Human Emperor Jiang had grown stronger. The Jiang Family seized the opportunity and maneuvered behind the scenes, becoming Green City's greatest lineage in one stroke."
"Although the Jiang Family never moved its residence, as Green City expanded, its location gradually became the very center of the city."
The old man looked around to either side. Seeing too many people nearby, he pulled Jiang Li into a corner and lowered his voice. "There are rumors that the Jiang Family controls all of Green City. Even who gets to be city lord is decided by the Jiang Family."
"Great Zhou governs the country through law. How could such a thing happen?"
Jiang Li shook his head, rejecting the old man's claim.
The Great Zhou Royal Family specialized in the Time Dao and could Trace Time, allowing any matter to be laid bare in its true form. Jiang Li had met both the previous and current Great Zhou Monarchs. They strictly followed the law and had never overstepped their bounds. As those above acted, so those below followed; the people beneath them ought to have obeyed the law as well.
Jiang Li had also traveled through Great Zhou, seen its local customs, and had disputes with influential local figures. When the authorities stepped in to settle matters, they ruled according to the facts and showed no bias because of the other party's local power.
Among the nine great imperial dynasties, only the Great Zhou Dynasty was especially unique. It bound its national fortune to its laws and governed through legal codes. If its ruler knowingly failed to punish someone who had broken the law, the national fortune would be affected. In severe cases, it might even crush the ruler to death!
The other imperial dynasties all worshipped strength. Their laws were things that could be trampled at will, openly or in secret.
Jiang Li believed that the Jiang Family could influence the city lord. But to say that whoever they wanted to take the position could take it was unreasonable.
Seeing that the old man knew something, Jiang Li continued asking, "Is the Jiang Family's Old Ancestor, Jiang Yixing, still alive? What is his cultivation realm?"
"I don't know that," the old man said, shaking his head. "But if you want to visit the Jiang Family, it would be best to wait another two days. It is currently the Jiang Family's ancestral worship period. Their residence is sealed for nine days, and they do not receive outsiders. Today is the seventh day."
"I didn't expect to run into their once-in-ten-years ancestral worship. I don't know whether my luck is good or bad." Jiang Li laughed. The Jiang Family indeed had a tradition of ancestral worship once every ten years. When the original owner of this body died, he had been only eighteen and had experienced it only once.
The old man looked at Jiang Li strangely and slowly said, "According to what the older generation said, the Jiang Family originally held ancestral worship once every ten years. Since Human Emperor Jiang ascended the throne three hundred years ago, their worship ceremonies have become increasingly frequent, changing from once every ten years to once every five years, and now to once every year."
The old man asked respectfully, "Senior, your cultivation...?"
To live for three hundred years, one's cultivation had to be at least in the Nascent Soul Realm.
Jiang Li smiled faintly and did not take up the old man's question. After thanking him, he followed the road to the Jiang Family's great residence.
The Jiang Family's gates were tightly shut, and a Formation had been activated. It was indeed the sign of a sealed residence during ancestral worship.
Though the Formation protected the estate and several Golden Core Stage cultivators guarded the four directions, entering was still effortless for Jiang Li.
With Human Emperor Jiang's status, he would naturally receive a unanimous welcome from the Jiang Family. But Jiang Li had no wish to do that. He had never held much fondness for the Jiang Family. In the five hundred years since leaving it, he had never returned here. Even so, the Jiang Family still had the nerve to flaunt his name and lord it over Green City, having utterly forgotten how they had once neglected and bullied this body's original owner.
If he revealed himself now, the Jiang Family would likely be so delighted they would soar into the heavens, taking the chance to trumpet it everywhere.
Jiang Li casually cast a spell to conceal his figure, then swaggered into the Jiang Family.
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