Chapter 1 Ji Xiang Officially Enfeoffed

Ji Xiang was personally ennobled by Emperor Wanli during the grand朝会 (chao hui, imperial court assembly) and went through the formal ceremony, officially giving him a place within the Ming Dynasty's bureaucracy.

Afterward, Emperor Wanli heard that Lao Zhang wanted to paste the Jade Emperor onto the ceiling to patch a hole and needed his imperial sanction. This made Emperor Wanli hesitate.

Every time he sanctioned something, nothing good came of it, and he almost lost his life.

*Why don't you look for the next emperor?*

"Your Majesty, don't worry. With the Jingzhen Sword in hand, even a properly enshrined god can be cut down with a single strike."

With the Jingzhen Sword in hand, one sword can break all laws. After all, it was a national weapon forged by the Song court, and it was extremely reliable.

Emperor Wanli weighed the pros and cons. If the sky wasn't mended, who knew how many monsters would come crawling out of that hole? Enfeoffment it was then, but he kept a trick up his sleeve, demoting the Jade Emperor's position by two levels.

This wasn't targeting; it was a technical adjustment.

"Demoting from God to Great Emperor, Your Majesty, this doesn't seem to be in accordance with the rules?"

Some ministers objected, saying it didn't conform to the system of bestowing titles. It was always a promotion, so how could he be demoting?

"Don't even mention demoting to Great Emperor, I wanted to demote him below the level of Emperor Lord!"

Emperor Wanli gave a strong rebuttal, and Old Xu, who arrived later, strongly supported the Emperor's actions!

Demote! Must demote! If not, the Ming Dynasty would become a ghost realm controlled by gods and monsters!

Emperor Wanli was immediately overjoyed!

Old Xu's experience in the imperial prison had greatly improved his mental awareness.

*Now you know my worries, join my camp, it's not too late!*

Lao Zhang stepped in to smooth things over, saying that demoting to Great Emperor was fine. Any further demotion would diminish the effect of mending the heavens and affect the casting of some spells.

Furthermore, even if the Jade Emperor's position was just an empty shell, the people's faith in him remained strong.

Moreover, there was also the popular saying of "Jade Emperor," so demoting to Great Emperor was just about right, and it also conformed to popular belief.

The ceremony of bestowing titles was quite complicated and took an entire day. By evening, the Jade Emperor's position had calmed down. Emperor Wanli granted him the duties of mending and suppressing the heavens. Lao Zhang began to act, pasting the Jade Emperor onto the hole in the nation's prestige. It couldn't be removed.

The Jade Emperor's position gradually disappeared, transforming into an invisible force, and began to merge with the nation's prestige.

"It will take ten days to completely fill the gap with the Jade Emperor's position."

Lao Zhang began his ritual. For ten days, his true form had to remain motionless at the altar.

From then on, another position protected the Ming Dynasty, and that special statue that could connect to the Jade Emperor's position was moved by Emperor Wanli to the Longde Hall. After placing it, no idle person was allowed to approach the statue.

At this time, Lao Zhang split off a wisp of Yang spirit incarnation and went with Ji Xiang to see the artisan's child.

The boy with the Nezha hairstyle had already been settled in the West Market. Ji Xiang instructed Lao Zhang to send the child to a sloppy Daoist priest surnamed Lei on Mount Wudang.

"That's my body's master."

Ji Xiang's predecessor, this young Daoist, under the guidance of that sloppy master, had memorized many scriptures at a young age. Although the master was sloppy, his teaching level was not bad, and he was even one of the best in Wudang.

"Speaking of which, my predecessor's master also happened to be surnamed Zhang..."

Lao Zhang thought it was great. They were from the same family, so the connection was established.

The artisan father was very reluctant but also happy for his son. So the boy with the Nezha hairstyle respectfully kowtowed and said goodbye to his father. Lao Zhang's Yang spirit incarnation hugged the child, raised a thousand zhang of rosy clouds, and flew away.

With Lao Zhang's protection, nothing could possibly happen along the way.

Back in the Longde Hall, they encountered eunuchs delivering clothes.

It was a black-based, red-accented dark Daoist official robe.

And Ji Xiang unexpectedly saw an old acquaintance... a "celestial"?

A handsome little child, looking about ten years old, with bright red lips, white teeth, bright eyes, and delicate eyebrows.

Holding Lao Zhang's horsetail whisk in his hand, wearing a Daoist robe from the Daolu Si (Daoist Registry), he also had a bit of a celestial air about him.

"Grandmaster, you're back."

Ji Xiang turned his head and glanced at the door of the Longde Hall. Although the door was burned down, a new plaque had been brought in, but it hadn't been hung up yet.

It was indeed the Longde Hall, not the Five Villages Temple.

"Grandmaster, it's me! Look, Golden Light Charm!"

This child was actually a little fox. Ji Xiang didn't have the Dharma Eye skill. Identifying monsters relied entirely on his fists. The little fox wasn't a big demon, so the Inner Landscape Divine Tablet was too lazy to give a strategy. That's why Ji Xiang didn't recognize him.

"It's you, how did you transform into a human and sneak into the Forbidden City!"

Ji Xiang was a little surprised and told the little fox that it wasn't safe to come here!

If he was seen by the people from the Northern Garrison Office, he would be thrown into jail!

"And why are you calling me Grandmaster? Didn't you call me Senior Brother before?"

In the Daoist sect, Senior Brother was a polite term, expressing a closer relationship than "Daoist friend."

"This isn't a transformation! Zhang Zhenren (True Man Zhang) enlightened me!"

The little fox was very happy and gave Ji Xiang a naive smile, explaining how Lao Zhang found him and brought him to the Forbidden City, including how Lao Zhang suppressed the East Mountain Temple and how he used firearms to kill ghosts.

Now, he could truly transform into a human, freely switching between human and fox forms!

This wasn't the previous Transformation Technique, but a true human form. After all, it was a very complicated process for a fox spirit to cultivate into human form, but it was different with the enlightenment of a flying immortal!

As for the change from Senior Brother to Grandmaster... after all, Lao Zhang called Ji Xiang Senior Brother. Lao Zhang was like the principal of the Dragon Tiger Mountain, while the little fox was just a first-year dropout from the Dragon Tiger Mountain. So Ji Xiang was like the principal of another school, how could he dare to call Ji Xiang a brother?

Ji Xiang was greatly moved when he heard about the firearm magic!

He had been careless. Lao Zhang had such good magic, shouldn't he take it out to please his Senior Brother?

*Lao Zhang, I want to learn this!*

Now that Lao Zhang was busy with the aftermath of mending the heavens, Ji Xiang decided to wait until it was over and then ask Lao Zhang to teach him this magic. He then looked at the little fox:

"Do you remember that Firearm Divine Mantra?"

The little fox smiled naively.

Ji Xiang sighed:

"So, it's because you weren't talented enough that you couldn't re-enroll!"

The little fox was very embarrassed. The makeup exam was too difficult, but he still cleared his throat and muttered, "That's not my fault. My mantra is so weak, how could I beat the Yin spirits in the East Mountain Temple! He chanted the mantra so fast, of course I can't remember it!"

"That's right, it's clear that the Celestial Master doesn't want me to go back!"

The little fox told Ji Xiang that he couldn't survive on Dragon Tiger Mountain and that Zhang Tianshi (Celestial Master Zhang) wouldn't let him return, so he could only transfer to Wudang and asked Ji Xiang to introduce him.

In order to participate in the Mount Tai Examination, you must have the student status of a famous sect!

He grabbed the corner of Ji Xiang's clothes, gently shaking it, a little anxiously, and began to beg:

"Grandmaster, Grandmaster! Just teach me!"

Ji Xiang laughed: "Nonsense! Why do you need to hang around with me? Borrow the reputation of Zhang Tianshi and perform well in the Forbidden City, maybe Emperor Wanli will entrust you with an important task."

"That won't work, that's too scary!"

The little fox quickly refused. Foxes were afraid of entering the palace as officials. If someone put the label of fox spirit on them, they really couldn't handle it.

Ji Xiang thought about it. Lao Zhang enlightened this little fox, which meant that he still had some expectations for him.

Was he trying to get him to tutor this little fox?

After all, Lao Zhang and Emperor Wanli might still have things to do, asking him to stay in Shuntian for a while, also meant to be stationed for emergencies.

The little fox was devoted to the Dao and insisted on drawing talismans for many years without wavering. This Dao heart was also commendable.

"Oh, extracurricular tutoring."

Having understood this point, Ji Xiang took out a pile of talismans from his pocket: "I took a lot of large talismans from the Han Jing Factory. Because the situation was urgent at the time, I didn't have time to draw too many, so I only made a hundred or eighty to deal with Zhao Xuanlang. Here are the rest, I'll give them all to you."

"However, if you really follow me and learn to draw talismans, my teaching method may be a little radical. Are you really going to learn with me?"

Ji Xiang asked, and the little fox immediately became serious and bowed repeatedly: "Grandmaster is above! Disciple Hu Xiaoshi is wholeheartedly devoted to the Dao and will never give up halfway. I will definitely cultivate into a fox immortal and have my name recorded in the Palace of the Sun and Moon!"

"Please Grandmaster, don't hesitate to teach me!"

——————

The years passed quickly. In the blink of an eye, six days had passed.

These six days were finally peaceful. Emperor Wanli was able to sleep well, Lao Zhang was busy patching the heavens at the altar, and the little fox was constantly drawing talismans under Ji Xiang's supervision, and this was also the beginning of his hellish days.

A desk was set up in front of the little fox, with large bundles of paper on it.

The people from the Han Jing Factory were dead, but they were quickly replenished, and many goods were still there. The paper was just ordinary paper, not talisman paper.

"To draw talismans, you must first be familiar with the writing of the talisman characters. Don't rush to write on talisman paper, but copy them on ordinary paper first!"

"The morning's homework, after reciting the scriptures, is to copy the talisman characters, fifty times. After noon, copy them another fifty times, and in the evening Shen hour, copy them another fifty times."

The little fox's eyes turned into circles:

"Grandmaster, I don't recognize these characters anymore!"

Ji Xiang nodded: "You don't recognize them anymore, that's a good thing. It means you've copied to a certain level. You have to copy to a state of forgetting yourself and the characters. The next step is to have words without words, and instinctively write the Golden Light Mantra with your muscle memory."

"That's it, copy it another hundred times today."

Bang!

The little fox slammed his head on the desk, feeling very uncomfortable, but Ji Xiang's nagging was still ringing in his ears:

"Foolish, foolish! How can you achieve the Dao without great perseverance! A reminder once a day, have you forgotten your vow? Strive for a hundred days, and dropouts can also participate in the Mount Tai Examination!"

"Legend has it that Mencius's mother moved three times to ensure that her son had a good learning environment. If you think this place is not suitable for learning, then I can apply to the emperor to lock you up in the imperial prison, which may greatly increase your sense of crisis. Once people are pushed to the limit, they can do anything, including drawing talismans."

"I heard that the people in the imperial prison are covered in pus and blood, their limbs are swollen, their bodies are full of sores, and they also suffer from foot tumors, making it impossible to walk or stand. They can't hear, they can't see, their hands and feet don't obey their commands, and only a breath of air is left in their throats..."

The little fox shivered, his face mournful, his eyes tearful, and his mouth making呜呜 (wu wu, whimpering) sounds, and he could only continue to write on the paper with strength.

*Be strong! Strive for a hundred days! Great Fox Rise, Little Ten Reign!*