Chapter 942: Chapter 52: Promotion in Rank, Heading to Shangluo Academy! (12,000 Words) _2
"His Majesty has specially decreed to confer upon me the rank of a First-Rank Official, but not the title of Prince, nor any other rewards." King Heavenly Destiny said, "This matter will also not be announced to the world."
Zhao Xing nodded slightly. This is beneficial in substance, but not in name.
The special trait of a Fate Officer prevents them from stepping into the limelight.
In truth, besides Zhao Xing and his small group, most high-ranking individuals are not even aware of King Heavenly Destiny’s existence.
"Congratulations, Your Highness." Zhao Xing sincerely congratulated him.
With this conferment, King Heavenly Destiny could live for about another hundred years.
Of course, this lifespan wouldn’t last until the Emperor Wu Period, and he would likely die by the end of Yongzhi, ahead of Emperor Jing.
There was little warfare during the two reigns, and King Heavenly Destiny could enjoy these last hundred years in peace.
Even with tasks in the Dragon Court Ancient Land, it wouldn’t be as exhausting as the Ping Man War or Prince Liang’s unrest, which frequently led to coughing blood and losing longevity.
"Speaking of which, I should also thank you." King Heavenly Destiny remarked.
Why did Emperor Jing extend his life?
Because he discovered Zhao Xing, a genius, picked him from the arena, and took him to the Star Palace to cultivate the Derivation God Decision.
Moreover, Zhao Xing compiled the correct cultivation insights.
During this process, King Heavenly Destiny halted other cultivators of the Derivation God Decision from comprehending it, and in those years, summarized Zhao Xing’s cultivation insights into a manuscript and submitted it.
The real merit lies here!
What merit is there in quelling Prince Liang’s rebellion? It’s simply his duty, as Prince Liang had left backdoors in the Creation Plate and instigated certain Fate Officers, and there was a dereliction of duty during the Ten Suns Cave Heaven.
These two grievances, Emperor Jing refrained from charging King Heavenly Destiny due to his already short lifespan.
Discovering the correct cultivation method for the Derivation God Decision changed everything.
Originally, those cultivating the First Level of the Derivation God Decision could generally cultivate fewer than ten thousand strands of Divine Thought and lacked the traits of the seven main souls.
Zhao Xing, however, pushed this limit to 49,999 and possessed all seven main souls.
If it were just an isolated case, it would be dismissed.
Yet King Heavenly Destiny later compiled Zhao Xing’s cultivation insights into a book and conducted experiments with many individuals.
As a result, those cultivating the First Level of the Derivation God Decision generally saw improvements.
Though they couldn’t reach Zhao Xing’s limit, they still became significantly stronger than before.
Many people’s Divine Thoughts expanded to over ten thousand.
This was something only supreme geniuses like Liu Tianning could typically achieve, but now average geniuses could do it.
It was precisely this action that caused Emperor Jing to change his mind.
Being ennobled as a First-rank Prince was out of the question, but conferring him as a First-Rank Official and granting him longevity to extend King Heavenly Destiny’s life by a hundred years posed no issues.
"Your Highness is overly courteous; it is entirely the grace of His Majesty." Zhao Xing replied earnestly.
"Mm."
Both understood implicitly, and did not continue this topic.
Zhao Xing also felt a sense of admiration; Emperor Jing was indeed Emperor Jing.
The signals he had previously conveyed made Liu Tianning, Luo Hou King, and others feel that King Heavenly Destiny wouldn’t have his life extended.
In his heart, he likely already decided to grant King Heavenly Destiny longevity.
He still needed King Heavenly Destiny to continue this work.
However, Liu Tianning, Luo Hou King, and other experts were destined not to know the inside story, as this was a top-level secret.
Everyone would just think that Emperor Jing ultimately remembered past ties.
The monarch’s grace was profound indeed!
Unable to discuss King Heavenly Destiny, he could only talk about his own rewards.
"Does Your Highness know where I will be headed?"
King Heavenly Destiny replied, "Your merits largely come from four parts."
"First is the management of Tianhe Prefecture and Bright Moon Prefecture, assisting the Lord of Tianhe and the Bright Moon Prefecture Master in stabilizing the situation. Of course, the disasters in other regions primarily occurred in Tianhe and Bright Moon Prefectures."
Zhao Xing nodded slightly.
After he was assassinated, his true self returned to the Star Palace.
The three Grand Minister of Agriculture factions participated in countering Prince Liang’s actions, and disaster management in other prefectures wasn’t Zhao Xing’s clone’s responsibility.
The main merits were concentrated in Tianhe and Bright Moon Prefectures.
Though aided by Sima Yunhai and Pang Yuanzhen, Zhao Xing took the lead, and his primary contributions were undisputed.
"Second is resolving the Tianhe Prefecture’s rebellion crisis, saving the transmission envoy Zhang Ping, the devine temple’s Tongxuan priest Wu Xuan Ying, suppressing the Tianxia King’s rebellion, and the other seven stationed armies."
The distinction was made because administrative merits and military merits need to be calculated separately.
The rewards for civil officials’ administrative achievements and military officers’ military achievements are different.
Rising in rank, gaining noble titles, scattered ranks, and merit ranks need separate consideration.
For example, civil officials rarely rise to a prince or marquis through administration alone, and the same goes for merit ranks. Conversely, high-ranking scattered ranks are mostly held by civil officials.
"Third is the ’Three Yin and Three Yang Six Qi Circulation Theory,’ calculating the timing of the Military Realm Passage." King Heavenly Destiny said, "The Ten Great Forbidden Armies seizing the passage into Pinghai State so smoothly was due to your Cave Heaven Numerology essay."
Zhao Xing’s eyes glinted with thought, not expecting the Ten Great Forbidden Armies’ deployment to be involved.
However, it made sense; otherwise, he wouldn’t have been on the Heavenly Fate Golden List and ranked so highly.
"In terms of military achievements, cutting down ten thousand Tianxia Kings wouldn’t compare to this merit."
Zhao Xing chuckled, "If the Tianxia King knew of your calculations, he might turn into an enraged ghost."
King Heavenly Destiny also chuckled lightly, "He indeed isn’t a formidable character; apart from some merit in battle formations, he ranks low among Commandery Princes."
"During the Great Zhou’s campaign in the Southern Desolate, establishing the Jiutian Yingyuan Mansion, it was mostly a string of victories. Many commanders achieved high positions by luck and attributed the court’s capability as their own."