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After finishing all this, Fang Yuan had a faint premonition. He immediately ordered a turtle attendant to go down and arrange an incense table and other items.

Before long, clear music descended from the heavens, dragons and phoenixes accompanying it. It was as if the Vast Sky had opened a gateway, and a group of celestial envoys descended.

"Mountain Water Lord, hear the decree!"

The divine envoys wore impassive expressions. Above the palace, they opened a heavenly decree.

A heavenly decree was a sacred edict of the Heavenly Dao, naturally far more splendid than anything in the mortal world. It was nine feet long and three feet wide, stretched across the empty sky as Auspicious Clouds appeared all around it, radiating immense majesty.

"Your subject is here!"

Fang Yuan went through the motions to the very end. He bowed before the incense table and listened solemnly.

"...Considering this is your first offense and that circumstances warrant leniency, you are hereby summoned to the Heavenly Court. Strive diligently and encourage yourself. So be it!"

The divine script in the decree turned into celestial music, clear as day for ten miles around.

Hearing it, Fang Yuan's thoughts stirred. I never expected the Heavenly Court to be even more magnanimous than I imagined. It didn't even ask about the Lingfei Sword Sect's destruction. It simply said that cultivation is no easy matter and promoted me to the Heavenly Court. Heh... This is a plan to pull the firewood from beneath the pot!

What was left of an Earth Deity who had departed their divine realm?

For a concrete example, consider a warlord who abandoned his base and entered the imperial court as an official.

No matter how high the rank he was given, he was destined to become a puppet and a figurehead—or