Within the Immortal Realm, clouds and mist lingered.

Compared to the mortal realm, this place was truly worthy of being called an immortal domain, with abundant and rich天地元气 (Heaven and Earth Spiritual Energy),显化 (manifested) rules,灵禽飞鹤 (spiritual birds and cranes), various birds and beasts, and all kinds of wonders.

After the fall of the three Great Immortal Sovereigns, although the immortals of the Immortal Realm once again bore a yoke, they also unlocked a layer of shackles. Moreover, Chen Yuan had not been to the Immortal Realm for decades.

The immortals naturally did not feel much pressure.

Instead, they appeared more relaxed and carefree.

It was vastly different from the Immortal Realm of the past.

The most significant difference was actually the addition of palace buildings and halls within the Immortal Realm.

The former Immortal Realm was a world where the true body of Taihao Immortal Sovereign resided. His aim was always longevity, so he did not focus much on the construction within the Immortal Realm.

It was more like ancient times, with immortals dwelling in洞府 (cave dwellings) and only a few immortal palaces.

But now it was different. Chen Yuan had instructed the immortals in the Immortal Realm earlier that they would establish a Heavenly Court in the future, so they had to thoroughly change the situation here.

With their extraordinary strength, profound神通 (mystical powers), and abundant resources, the immortals could create a true Celestial Court in just over a decade with their combined efforts.

Just as it was now, everywhere one looked, there were halls and palaces.

At the entrance to the Immortal Gate, a huge portal stood, with the three characters 南天门 (Nantianmen - Southern Gate of Heaven) written on it. The strokes were vigorous and powerful, containing the power of rules.

Without a second thought, Chen Yuan immediately recognized these characters as the handwriting of Martial Emperor Lu Chengfeng.

His rule power was carved on it.

Compared to the past, he seemed to have made a slight progress.

One should not underestimate this slight progress. For Lu Chengfeng, who had already reached the peak of Earth Immortal cultivation, every breakthrough, no matter how small, represented a step closer to the Heavenly Immortal realm.

In front of the Nantianmen, dozens of immortals were lined up in order. Some wore white robes, some wore袈裟 (kāshā - Buddhist robes), and others carried long swords or were covered in armor. Behind these people stood hundreds of young Dan Realm (丹境) Grandmasters.

They were all peerless geniuses selected from the mortal realm in the past decade. They were the reserve force of the mortal realm and even the Great Yan Dynasty, and the pillars of the future.

In the future, they would hold up this world.

Although there were also武者 (martial artists) who accumulated power slowly and surpassed others later, according to most situations, the vast majority of strong individuals were famous geniuses when they were young.

This was the reason why Chen Yuan valued them.

The resources of a world were always limited, and the fall of immortals was slow. Especially with the addition of the longevity platform, it was impossible to maintain a good balance.

If they didn't want future wars in the mortal realm for resources, then星辰大海 (the sea of stars), would be the necessary goal to pursue.

Even without the threat of域外邪魔 (demons from beyond the realms), it was still necessary.

Chen Yuan had already told some important immortals about this matter. Therefore, everyone did not dare to slack off, especially those immortals who had been opposed to Chen Yuan in the past.

They knew their current position. It was easy for Chen Yuan to control them.

If they wanted to secure a better future, they had to obtain more bargaining chips.

Investing in future generations and guiding their cultivation was a very good choice.

"Greetings, Human Emperor!"

"Greetings, Human Emperor!"

"Greetings, Human Emperor!"

Hundreds of people saluted in a mighty manner and bowed down.

The faces of the martial arts geniuses behind them were uniform, all filled with awe, respect, and excitement, without exception!

This was actually normal.

Not to mention them, which martial artist in the entire mortal realm would not be excited to see Chen Yuan?

It should be known that he was a true legend.

Besides his miraculous growth, he had also resisted foreign enemies and quelled disasters several times, creating a prosperous era for the Central Plains human race. Such a person was worthy of everyone's respect.

Of course, these aspects also included the imperial court's unreserved propaganda.

Chen Yuan was shaped into a perfect god!

"Rise!"

Chen Yuan's face remained impassive. Thunderous sounds echoed through the heavens and earth, reverberating in all directions.

An invisible force instantly enveloped the surroundings, lifting everyone up.

"I have come here today to establish the Heavenly Court. You all should prepare quickly and establish a Conferred God Altar (封神祭坛) in the mortal realm, summoning the heroes of the world to enter the Immortal Realm and enjoy longevity!"

"Understood!"

"Understood!"

......

At Chen Yuan's order, the immortals of the Immortal Realm quickly contacted the Great Yan Dynasty to transfer a large amount of resources to refine the Conferred God Altar, preparing for the Conferred God ceremony that would follow.

The entire mortal realm was now in full swing.

At this time, Chen Yuan came to the center of the Immortal Realm, the immortal palace where he had met Taihao Immortal Sovereign. The 'Longevity Platform' was located here, built on the foundation of the entire Immortal Realm.

That's how it could be created.

Because of the gift from Taihao Immortal Sovereign, Chen Yuan controlled the Longevity Platform very easily, without any effort. After all, the power belonging to Taihao Immortal Sovereign on it had long dissipated.

It was now an unowned object.

However, that was only on the surface. In fact, it still took some time to completely refine it, but this did not stump Chen Yuan.

After more than a month, Chen Yuan successfully refined it.

It was officially renamed the Conferred God Platform (封神台).

At this time, the Conferred God Platform, after some changes by Chen Yuan, had become very different from before.

Not only had its appearance changed greatly, but the things inside had also changed. One could clearly see that the dozens of divine soul powers stored in the Conferred God Platform had completely taken root here.

It could be said that the current Chen Yuan could inflict heavy damage or even directly kill all the immortals with a single thought.

In the future, all the immortals who entered the Conferred God Platform would not be able to escape his control.

In addition, in order to better restrict the Conferred God Platform and prepare for the future, Chen Yuan also refined a God-Smiting Whip (打神鞭). All the immortals who entered the Conferred God Platform would not have any ability to resist when facing the God-Smiting Whip.

Every swing could directly penetrate the soul with pain, amplifying it hundreds of times. Even immortals could not withstand many swings of the God-Smiting Whip and would be annihilated.

Another most important thing was that the boundary of the Conferred God Platform was no longer limited to immortals. Even martial artists in the Huayang Realm (化阳境界) could separate their Nascent Soul (元神) power and invest it in the Conferred God Platform.

Of course....

What they could get was naturally not comparable to true immortals.

At most, they could only extend their lifespan by one fold.

But this was enough to be tempting.

Once entering the Conferred God Platform, one's life was no longer in their own hands.

Unless Chen Yuan personally unlocked the confinement, otherwise... there was no hope of escape at all.

It could only be said that if one wanted to get something, they would inevitably lose something.

.....

The lower realm was abuzz with news of the Conferred God Altar, which caused many people to feel pressure because, to this day, there was no definite news as to who could enter the Immortal Realm.

Many people's understanding of the Immortal Realm was very one-sided, but even so, it still could not stop their enthusiasm. After all, no matter what, it was still the Immortal Realm!

And no matter how good the mortal realm was, it was only the mortal realm.

Many forces wanted to get close to the top figures in the imperial court through various means, such as the four異姓王 (Yìxìngwáng - Kings with different surnames), such as Jiang He, who was about to become the future head of state.

Even more, some people had set their sights on the imperial relatives, such as the Zhang family, the Shangguan clan, and the Su family, but unfortunately...

Even they were not clear about all this.

Among these imperial relatives, a very surprising figure also officially stepped onto the stage, namely Ouyang Zhi, the Valley Master of the Hidden Weapon Valley (藏兵谷).

Now everyone in the world knew that he was the nephew of the current Consort Xu, and even called her mother, which made countless people envious. Naturally, some people wanted to go through his connections.

But when many people were preparing to go to the Hidden Weapon Valley with a lot of gifts, they were surprised to learn that Valley Master Ouyang Zhi had already left for a long time.

Many people regretted not coming sooner.

So, where was Ouyang Zhi?

In front of the Anle Duke's residence (安乐公府).

A middle-aged man in luxurious clothes was standing with his hands behind his back. If Chen Yuan were here, he would definitely recognize that this man with a beard was Ouyang Zhi.

In the years that the Great Yan Dynasty had stood, the rewards that Ouyang Zhi himself had received were not low. He was the current Earl and controlled the Hidden Weapon Valley, which was extremely important for forging weapons.

In addition, with Madam Su's face, few people dared to go against him.

However, he had always been careful and very low-key, not wanting to cause trouble because of this. For nothing else, just so that others would not misunderstand that he was Consort Xu's son.

Although he knew that Chen Yuan liked this, could those things be said publicly?

Ask the world today, how many people dare to discuss the rumors of Chen Yuan's love for other people's wives?

So, he had to be low-key.

However, being low-key was being low-key, he was not without any desires. For example, the Conferred God matter that was being talked about all over the world now, he was very excited about and wanted to take this opportunity to gain longevity.

Without being summoned by the imperial court, he decided to personally see his mother and concubine.

Ask the Human Emperor for a favor.

Seeing their past relationship, give him a chance....

And he didn't know many people in the capital. Many of them had gradually lost contact with the passage of time and status. The only friend he had left was the current Anle Duke, Sima Ke.

Since the first time the two met in front of the Wuan Marquis's residence many years ago, they hit it off right away, were very close, and often contacted each other.

Sima Ke did not alienate him because he became emperor, and Ouyang Zhi did not avoid suspicion because Sima Ke abdicated. The friendship between the two had continued.

The gate of the Anle Duke's residence, which had not been opened for a long time, opened, and Sima Ke, with disheveled long hair, ran out barefoot happily and came to greet Ouyang Zhi in person.

"Brother Ouyang!"

"Brother Sima!"

"Hahaha, I haven't seen you for many years. I am very happy that you can come to see me. In these years, those former subordinates see me like a mouse sees a cat.

They are unwilling to pay attention to me, a useless person. Only you, Brother Ouyang... have always been the same."

Sima Ke's face was filled with a smile that was not necessarily genuine and was quite touched.

He directly grabbed Ouyang Zhi's arm.

Ouyang Zhi also laughed heartily and said:

"Brother Sima, when you ascended the throne and became emperor, didn't we still treat each other as brothers? What does this matter?"

"Yes, from the first time you and I met, I felt you..."

The two spoke loudly. A nearby stall owner quietly picked up a charcoal stick and wrote on the paper:

"In the 26th year of Shenghwu, on a certain day of a certain month... Ouyang Zhi, the Valley Master of the Hidden Weapon Valley, visited the deposed emperor and talked happily... The recorder, Wu Datong, a Baihu (commander of 100 men) of the Brocade Guard (锦衣卫)."

......

"Brother Ouyang, why did you come to the capital this time?"

After three rounds of wine and five flavors of dishes, Sima Ke asked casually.

Sima Ke took a sip of tea and asked with a smile:

"Why don't you guess with Brother Sima's intelligence?"

"Hehe... What intelligence do I have? If I were really intelligent, I wouldn't have ended up in such a state. Now, there wouldn't be a story of 'Lèbùsī Jìn (Happy and not thinking of Jin)' circulating in the world."

"Hey, others don't know, how can I not know? To be honest, even if anyone else had replaced you, I'm afraid they couldn't have stopped the trend from moving forward. As for Lèbùsī Jìn....

Forgive me for speaking frankly, Brother Sima's trick is very clever. Once this story comes out, your safety is basically guaranteed. No one will pay attention to you anymore."

"Do you think His Majesty cares?"

Sima Ke suddenly asked after drinking a glass of sullen wine.

The smile on Ouyang Zhi's face froze:

"What do you think?"

"Of course not..." Sima Ke replied immediately after hearing the question.

"Yes, His Majesty is an unprecedented existence, the emperor of the mortal world. His vision has always been focused on the world, not on us."

"With Consort Xu taking care of the matter of the Immortal Realm, Brother Ouyang doesn't need to be anxious."

"Who can say for sure about this? On the other hand, Brother Sima, Consort Chen and Consort Yang in the harem... seem to be..." Ouyang Zhi hinted in a low voice.

Obviously, he was one of those who knew the inside story.

In fact, under normal circumstances, Sima Ke, who had two relatives in the harem, could have had better development, but who let him be the former Jin Emperor?

This identity was the biggest constraint on him.

Even if Chen Yuan didn't care, could the officials in the imperial court not care?

I'm afraid they would hate to trample him to death.

Sima Ke chuckled and shook his head, sighing softly:

"Actually... I really don't want to gain any longevity. It's good to die in peace... After all, I've experienced ups and downs, wealth and glory in this life, and I have no regrets."

"Really no regrets?"

"Hehe... Maybe not."

That day, the two of them got drunk.

......

January 6th, the 27th year of Shenghwu in the Great Yan Dynasty.

At the beginning of the new year, before the Conferred God Grand Ceremony, the entire capital was filled with laughter and joy.

For nothing else, this day was the day when Chen Sheng, the Crown Prince of the Great Yan Dynasty, married the only daughter of the Duke of Jiang. It could be said that the whole world celebrated, the whole city was happy, and countless people envied the wealth of the Jiang family.

Envy the noble status of the Jiang family.

But there was nothing they could do because this was all earned by Jiang He himself.

When Chen Yuan was still weak, he helped him through many difficulties and always supported him. The most important person was Jiang He. Although he didn't talk much, he was trustworthy.

This was an opportunity that no one could ask for.

Because the current Shenghwu Emperor was already invincible in the world and had no rivals.

There was no chance for anyone to help him anymore.

In the palace, Chen Yuan held a grand banquet for his ministers, with Jiang He sitting at the head seat on the right, and Saint Buddha Moro and National Teacher Lu Chengfeng seated on either side, showing his honor.