Great Ming Kingdom

In the main hall of the Elder Council, all 20 elders were present. Qu Heng sat upright in front of the stone table, presiding over the meeting.

There should have been 24 elders, but two of them surnamed Lin have already been killed. Two others were a bit rough around the edges when they were in Southern Forest and were killed by the Lin Family's Supreme Elder who used Half-Immortal Artifact to turn the tables on them.

Now that the war is over, it's time to distribute the spoils.

Qu Heng took out his phone, scrolled through the reports prepared by Deep Blue, and read aloud, "The total area of Southern Forest tribe's territory is 500,000 square kilometers, the area of its tribal region is 2.6 million square kilometers, and the total population is 1.2 billion. Excluding the Southern Forest tribal region, the total area of Southern Forest is 19.84 million square kilometers, the total population is 1.9 billion, and the number of countries is 39. These countries were either established by people with the surname Lin or by people related to the surname Lin; their high-ranking Imperial Families have been completely wiped out."

"So now we have 39 countries under our control, and a superpower that is much larger in area and has a larger population than ordinary countries!"

"The Southern Forest Clan District is mine!" Zhao Wudi and beard were all white, and his long eyebrows hung down to his chin. However, he didn't have a nickname called Long Eyebrows, because there were quite a few cultivators with this appearance.

Zhao Wudi spoke up, "Zhao Wudi the Taiheng Sect Supreme Elder, how can the Zhao Family behind me, which is merely a small country, be worthy of my position?"

"Didn't you establish a sect in the outer realms?" someone asked. "It's said to be the number one sect in the Star Sea."

"What's wrong with me establishing a sect in the Star Sea? It's not like none of you have done it. Besides, I'm expanding the territory of the Taiheng Sect!"

"When the founding of the dynasty, Taiheng was not mentioned at all, but when it came to claiming credit, Taiheng expanded the territory, right?"

The elders haven't yet become immortals, so naturally they have their own interests and demands.

Some do it for good fortune, some for their descendants, and some cultivate some strange and bizarre supernatural Divine Ability, requiring all sorts of odd things. They can usually be peaceful and amiable, but as soon as there is a conflict of interest, they immediately drop that peaceful facade.

Qu Heng listened to the commotion below and found it amusing. As the sect leader, he was bound to benefit from this incident; otherwise, who would be the sect leader?

After a long while, the argument subsided, not because a result had been reached, but because one of the elders, who had just emerged from seclusion and received his phone, was extremely curious.

Since we're already arguing about this issue, let's just pass it on to Deep Blue.

List out the map of Southern Forest, its country, population, resources, and even the performance of its elders in battle, and then let Deep Blue allocate these things.

Deep Blue actually came up with a pretty good allocation plan.

"Where did this come from?" an elder asked curiously. "Is it Artifact Spirit? But how come every cell phone has Artifact Spirit?"

"It's built into the phone!" Qu Heng said. "I asked the president of the Artifact Forging Master Association, and he said that the phone uses a lot of complex runes. When these runes are combined, a life form similar to a spirit of nature is born. This life form is dependent on the phone, so it's like the phone's Artifact Spirit!"

"I see!" The elders nodded.

Natural spirits are quite common, such as fire spirits, water spirits, earth spirits, and so on. They all exist by relying on a core of Spiritual Qi, and their life dissipates when the Spiritual Qi dissipates.

These creatures only exist in places rich in Spiritual Qi and cannot be seen in the outside world, but their elders can see them often.

"Deep Blue was born from mobile phones and grew with the wisdom of all living beings. When it was first born, it was a mentally challenged creature that couldn't even do 1+1. But as more and more people use mobile phones, its wisdom has become stronger and stronger. Now it has surpassed the wisdom of ordinary people, cough, it has surpassed the wisdom of ordinary people!" Qu Heng said.

"I see!" The elders nodded, and then paid no more attention.

If you give the spirit of nature more Spiritual Qi, it will become smarter and wiser, and may even embark on the path of cultivation.

Nothing special about it.

"Does anyone have any objections to Deep Blue's suggestion? Should we proceed with the allocation as proposed?" Qu Heng asked.

"I have no objection!" Zhao Wudi nodded. Although he didn't get more, he didn't lose a single penny that was rightfully his, and he was very satisfied.

The other elders nodded in agreement; it was normal to receive rewards based on the amount of work done.

If you try to get more, that's just shameless!

After exchanging glances several times, everyone nodded in unison. "No objections!"

"Then..."

Just as Qu Heng was about to announce the results, a golden light suddenly appeared in the meeting hall.

All twenty-one people rose in unison, bowed, and greeted Lord Hengming: "Greetings!"

"No need for formalities!" Hengming said calmly, "I heard you're assigning students to positions in Southern Forest?"

"Yes!" Qu Heng nodded. "These are the allocation results. Would you like to take a look, sir?"

"No need to look!"

All the elders breathed a sigh of relief. They had thought Hengming was going to hold them accountable for destroying Southern Forest, but then they heard Hengming continue, "Stop arguing. From now on, Southern Forest belongs to me!"

"Huh?" Qu Heng was dumbfounded. "Senior Hengming, why...?"

You're just a celestial artifact; you've mastered the Great Destiny Technique over 300,000 years. What use is a nation to you?

"There's no reason why, I just want it!" Hengming said calmly.

"This!" Qu Heng was speechless.

Hengming had made an agreement with the two Immortal Venerables, but they did not know the specific details of the agreement and could only vaguely guess that it was related to protecting Taiheng.

Given that Hengming took the initiative to attack the Southern Forest tribe's territory, he might be able to defend it, but disciplining his disobedient son would certainly not be a problem.

He didn't want to repeat the mistakes of Southern Forest.

Qu Heng then looked at the other elders and said, "If you have any objections, speak up quickly!"

"Well, Lord Hengming, the land is available to you, but as a celestial artifact, you surely wouldn't appreciate such mundane things. As for the management of this matter!" an elder asked, "Could I send some people to help?"

Upon hearing this, the other elders' eyes lit up. Yes!

Hengming was indeed powerful, but that was only in battle, not in governing the country.

Isn't it the same as having your own king if we send people to govern the country?

Under the expectant gazes of the elders, Qu Heng gently shook his head. "No need!"

"Ah..." The elders were speechless.

"From this day forward, Southern Forest will be renamed the Great Ming Kingdom. All unauthorized personnel must withdraw from the Great Ming Kingdom within seven days. You will be notified of your entry time via mobile phone!" Hengming, "Alright, that's all I came here to tell you. You can continue the meeting!"

After speaking, a flash of golden light appeared, and the person had vanished.

Looking at the empty space, the elders were first bewildered, then filled with anger. "Why?"

"I'm asking you, on what grounds?"

"We worked so hard to build this territory, and he just wants it back?"

"Yes!" Zhao Wudi Zhao Wudi angrily, "We lost two people in battle! Is there really no compensation at all? Qu Heng, as the sect leader, you just stood there and watched without saying a word?"

Qu Heng was not intimidated by Zhao Wudi's demeanor. After all, having cultivated to this level, maintaining a calm demeanor even when one's heart is filled with turmoil is just a basic skill.

Their expressions were so lifelike, but no one wanted to be perceived as too calculating; such people would be targeted.

"I don't know why Lord Hengming wants a piece of land. Maybe he's gotten too bored after living for 300,000 years and wants to try governing a country for fun?" Qu Heng laughed. "But as everyone knows, governing a country is no easy task. Can Lord Hengming manage it?"

"Once he's been in charge for a while and has made a complete mess of things, he'll naturally realize he can't do without us! Then it won't be too late for us to step in!"

The elders exchanged glances; indeed, that made sense.

Moreover, what knowledge does someone possess of a celestial artifact have of governing a country?

One of the people who was just playing on their phone thought of a possibility.

Even among cultivators, Deep Blue can distribute profits in a very orderly manner. If Hengming can't do it, why can't Deep Blue?

After all, governing a country is essentially a test of the ability to distribute the spoils, isn't it?

However, this was just his guess, and he pondered it for a while without saying it aloud.

To put it simply, governing a country using communication tools is absurd.

Even so, the elders were still seething with anger.

As if remembering something, one of the elders asked, "How is Yang Ning doing? Has he been given the mission?"

"We've given it to them, but we haven't set off yet!" Qu Heng said.

"Hurry him up and make him set off in the next couple of days!" the elder said. "Lin Tianheng is right. How dare a mere commoner go against a noble Aristocratic Clan? Taiheng cannot tolerate such an impolite and unruly disciple!"

"Yes!" Qu Heng's eyes narrowed slightly. What was there to be intolerant of? It was just that he had his eye on the 30,000-mile- Defiant Fate Power above that person's head!

In the past, this 30,000-mile- Defiant Fate Power would have been nothing special, insignificant compared to the vast territory.

But now that the territory is gone, even if Yang Ning's place is small, it's still a piece of meat. If he doesn't want it, handing it over to a member of the Lineage is still a good option.

After all, Yang Ning's luck was too immense. Even just killing him would yield Fortune Destruction Power comparable to annihilating a city or a country!

Moreover, it's hard to say whether these elders' murderous intent towards Yang Ning stemmed from jealousy.

They've lived for so long and haven't created a decent method, yet Yang Ning, at such a young age, has directly added another realm to the Body Refinement Realm!

Doesn't this make it seem like they've wasted all these years of their lives?

It's a bit of a shame that my investment went down the drain!