Chapter 40 - Pillars of the Saint Court (2) (Patreon)

Everything was already being put together. 

The Imperial Censorate would have two main primary branches. 

Holy Inquisition and Doutian Ministry.

Aside from these two, there would also be the entire structure of the Officials, Civil Officials, and gods know what that would be running the entire Imperial Censorate. Yet, only those two branches were the most important due to the power that they would hold and their duties.

The Holy Inquisition would deal with the Evil Spirit Masters, various kinds of threats to the Imperial Douluo Saint Court, corruption, and many other issues. Before Hun Tiandi left to meet with the Wu Zhangkong, Ghost Douluo Gui Mei was named as the Lord Inquisitor of the Holy Inquisition. 

He was already Spirit Rank 96 Super Douluo, and in a few years, he would reach the Hyper Douluo Rank. Meanwhile, Yue Guan, Chrysanthemum Douluo, became the Tower Master of the Pill Tower with Yang Wudi of the Breaking Clan becoming Vice Tower Master of the Pill Tower.

The Pill Tower, similar to that in his first life, was the holy ground for the Alchemists of the Douluo Continent and was tasked with the production of Pills, the study of Alchemy and Medicine, teaching new generations of Alchemists, and so on.

Xuan Ziwen, after some negotiations and signing a pretty strict contract under the Holy Light of the Angel Goddess, was named as Director of the Soul Tool Research Center, which would be researching and producing the Soul Guidance Devices on the Douluo Continent.

What was rather unfortunate was that right now, there was only one member...

It's the Director.

Though the Princess of the Sun Moon Empire, Xu Tianzhen, often volunteered to help there, because it was a good opportunity for her to learn from Class 9 Soul Engineer and receive lessons that were worth more than gold.

The Soul Tool Research Center faced a rather problematic issue, because finding people with the aptitude to become Soul Engineers was problematic, but fortunately, Hun Tiandi already solved the problem by introducing the concept of a proper way of cultivating the Soul of Spirit Master.

Without sufficient Spiritual Realm, it was impossible to become a Soul Engineer and carve out the Soul Guidance Arrays. Unfortunately, in the short term, even though Hun Tiandi introduced very intricate and detailed methods to cultivate Spiritual Power, it would take some time for it to bear fruit. 

"So what is your answer? The deal is good, and we really don't have many suitable people for the position of the Marshal. Not to mention, this rank already belongs to one of the highest-ranked echelons of the Imperial Douluo Saint Court."

In fact, Wu Zhangkong deeply contemplated the choice, primarily because of his fianceé, who was already a member of the Spirit Hall. By extension, she would also be a member of the Imperial Douluo Saint Court, and due to her achievements as a Scholar, her status wasn't really that low.

"As long as the Saint Court can adhere to them, I have no problem with these conditions."

One of the main reasons he accepted the position of the Marshall was because he could see the current developments of the Spirit Hall or Saint Court, or whatever they called themselves.

Sooner or later, the entire continent would be ruled under their banner and iron fist.

Right now, it was the best option to advance in his position and status, and while he didn't really care about it, he did care about his fiancée and their future family. Being Marshall of one of the Armies of the Imperial Douluo Saint Court was a position of power that would already be counted among the highest echelons of the entire nation.

If he reached the Titled Douluo Realm, then his standing wouldn't be any less than that of the Cardinals and other Elder-Level figures within the Saint Court. So, in the end, he agreed because the conditions given by the Saint Court were rather good considering all things.

Right now, the Imperial Douluo Saint Court had only one army, which was the Templar Knights Army, and the second army was just in the process of being built and trained. And that would take some considerable time to be finished. 

At the same time, Wu Zhangkong knew that he could get resources from the Spirit Hall and Imperial Douluo Saint Court. He practiced only the Spirit Energy Gathering Method as he wasn't a member of the Spirit Hall, and even his fianceé had access to the Spirit Essence Cultivation Technique.

Though from Long Bing, he knew that Spirit Hall had even more advanced cultivation methods that were practiced by the core personnel of the Spirit Hall. 

It was something that could give Spirit Master tremendous power, and once he assumed the position of Marshall of the Templar Knights Army, he would get the same resources and acess like the other core personnel of the Spirit Hall.

***

Somewhere on the Douluo Continent

It took Qian Daoliu several days to reach the place where he was heading, even with his speed of Limit Douluo and someone who cultivated the Celestial Spirit Mantra to the 9th Spirit Transformation.

Not long ago, he reached the Demi-God Stage of Limit Douluo, and arguably, he could be considered one of the strongest people in the Douluo Continent. Even when the entire known history of the Douluo Continent was taken into account, the number of the Demi-God powerhouses could be counted on two hands.

The place where he was right now was located in the far outskirts of the Douluo Continent, in a far, faraway place within the Heaven Dou Empire's borders with the Orlank Kingdom, one of the petty kingdoms that were originally part of the Heaven Dou Empire.

Barak Kingdom, Orlank Kingdom, High Gryphon Kingdom, and Frost Spirit Kingdom were originally, at some point, part of the Heaven Dou Empire. But as time went on, these Kingdoms, formerly Grand Dukes, grew stronger until they gave birth to the Titled Douluo in some generation.

And then, they conquered some of the uncoppied space that didn't belong to the Heaven Dou Empire while also declaring their own independence from the Heaven Dou Empire.

This happened every few hundred years in the Heaven Dou Empire, primarily because the Heaven Dou Empire lacked powerful Titled Douluos, and sometimes it lacked any Titled Douluos.

Qian Daoliu remembered the creation of the last one, which was the Frost Spirit Kingdom that was established on the borders of the Heaven Dou Empire and the Extreme North.

What was most peculiar about this Kingdom was that it was created with the support of the Spirit Beasts in the Extreme North and protected by several Fierce Beasts, even if it didn't have any Titled Douluos back then.

When the Heaven Dou Empire sent their army of seventy thousand troops that included several thousand Spirit Masters, including several tens of Soul Douluos, an entire Division of the Heaven Dou Imperial Guards of the Heaven Dou Imperial Guard Regiment, and even one Titled Douluo whom they paid to participate in the suppression, it ended in an absolute catastrophe.

The Great Beasts of the Extreme North appeared as the army of Heaven Dou Empire was about to set foot into the newly created Frost Spirit Territory and froze everyone to ice sculptures.

Everyone perished in a mere moment.

The Spirit Hall at that time refused to participate, as the internal affairs and rebellions didn't concern them, nor did the fact that the Spirit Beasts had allied with the humans of the Frost Spirit Kingdom.

Instead, for many, the existence of the Frost Spirit Kingdom was a weird symbiosis between the Spirit Beasts and humans, especially the Ice-attributed Spirit Masters who lived in the areas near the Extreme North.

Soon enough, after more time spent flying, Qian Daoliu arrived at a very tiny monastery located in the border area between the Heaven Dou Empire and the Orlank Kingdom.

The hostility between the Heaven Dou Empire and the Orlank Kingdom was always the deepest one among the four Kingdoms, because the Orlank Kingdom was the first one to secede from the Heaven Dou Empire more than one and a half millennia ago.

Unlike the Star Luo Empire, when a secession happened there, the Star Luo was able to conquer it back in some time. Sometimes it would take them years, but sometimes it would take them mere moments.

For the Heaven Dou Empire, once they lost the territory, it would remain lost. 

The Heaven Dou Empire didn't have the capabilities to actually reconquer their lost lands, especially if those Kingdoms that declared independence had some powerful Spirit Masters and protectors on their side.

Not to mention, during such events, the Star Luo Empire would purposely stir trouble, because they wanted to conquer the Heaven Dou Empire, and one of the easiest ways was to let the Heaven Dou Empire perish from the constant infighting.

As expected, the person whom he was searching for was already waiting in front of the small monastery as Qian Daoliu landed on the ground.

Romario Traviola.

Asura Judgment Douluo.

He was a tall, rigid-looking man with dark skin, a shaven head, noticeably full lips, large ears, and a piercingly unnerving gaze. In the center of his forehead, he had a small red bindu, and his head was decorated with a series of silver dots. He appeared to lack eyebrows, instead having prominent eyebrow ridges, and hanging from his ears are large, hooped gold earrings.

He wore garments reminiscent of both the military uniform and a stylized green jacket-like garment, bearing the symbol for the word "Judgment" on each shoulder, with a long central flap that falls beyond the waist and blue pants that noticeably flare out around the thighs, which are tucked into his knee-high black boots.

Over his jacket, he had a few sets of white, stylized stole which had large gold rings fastened in them at their bottoms. 

Qian Daoliu took a look at the black-skinned man as he noticed that he had gotten stronger since the last time he saw him, already reaching the Spirit Rank 95 and becoming a Super Douluo... 

Coupled with his very unique Martial Soul, he was certainly a pretty formidable opponent.

"Grand Worship."

It was the first time that the two of them met, because in one way or another, all Titled Douluos across the entire continent knew each other, because the world was small and their community was even smaller.

"Monk Traviola."

Qian Daoliu said as both of them scanned each other before the black-skinned man broke the silence.

"What has brought Donor to the Monastery of this poor Monk?"

When he said that he was poor Monk, it was true because he didn't have any worldly and material possessions. What he had and obtained was divided into two categories. Either it was used as something useful for his own cultivation, or it was not useful and given to the poor.

He lived without the worldly possessions and temptations of material things, unlike the others who hoarded the wealth and things that they personally didn't really need. For Romario Traviola, it was very different as he didn't need all those things.

"I have a proposition for you, Monk."

Qian Daoliu stated as he looked at the Romario Traviola, who was holding praying beads in his hands as he listened to the proposition of Grand Worship with a neutral expression, but he was interested.

Due to the influence of the Asura Martial Soul, Romaria Traviola was already strongly affiliated with the Law of Judgment, and it was his best chance at the Godhood. Either that, or the concept of Order, even though that wasn't fitting him entirely, and the concept of Judgment was a far better match.

If he accepted the position of the Imperial Censor, he would be able to deepen his understanding of the Law of Judgment and increase his chances of achieving Godhood.

Qian Daoliu, as someone who reached the Demi-God Stage of the Limit Douluo, was also comprehending the Laws of Light that were closest to him.

For him, reaching Godhood would be very high, because he obtained the Grand Baptism of God, meaning that a large part of his cultivation was initially directly increased by the Angel Goddess or her Divinity.

Only because of the Celestial Spirit Mantra was he able to rebuild his foundation and have a real chance at achieving Godhood. Based on the information that Qian Daoliu received from the Angel Goddess, like every High Priest before him, to become God, the Limit Douluo must start comprehending Laws.

Then there were two choices.

The first and easier choice was to inherit God's Position and convert their Spirit Energy to the Divine Energy and comprehend 1% of the Dao Source of the Law.

The second and much harder path was to create the God Position.

Creating God Position was very hard and nigh impossible to create for the Mortlas without the help of some Heaven and Earth Wonder, Treasure, or something that would help them to condense the God Position of Laws.

Though the advantage of the second path is that, once the Mortal succeeded, they could easily skip straight to the peak of the 2nd Class God by achieving 9,99% Dao Source Comprehension and even have a good chance at reaching the higher ranks.

Both paths had their own advantages and disadvantages.

For the ones with the already existing God Positions, it was easier to increase their Divine Rank. At the same time, for those who had created the God Position, it was easier to increase their Dao Source Comprehension.

The Angel Goddess was a generous Goddess with the knowledge, and she actually encouraged her descendants to create their own God Positions, because in the long run, the Dao Source Comprehension was everything.

While the Divine Ranks, which signified how much Divine Energy the God had, were important, they paled in comparison to the comprehension of the Dao Source. Because that was comprehension and understanding the fundamental Laws of the Universe and everything.

Not to mention, it was the path forward.

A path in which even the Angel Goddess failed herself, apparently.

"You are giving me a lot of trust, Donor."

Romario Traviola said after some time that the two of them stared at each other in the silence. And indeed, Qian Daoliu wanted to agree with him, but at the same time, it wasn't just a matter of trust, because there was also the restriction of Traviola's own Law.

"We both know that your own Law is something that makes you perfect for the position and at the same time restricts you a lot."

Due to the Law of Judgment that he was comprehending, and if Qian Daoliu were a betting man, he would say that he wanted to create a God Position based on the Law of Judgment.

He knew that for him, it was nigh impossible to become corrupt and abuse his position, because that way he would be literally forced to carry out Judgment on himself, and if he didn't, then his Law would collapse.

And that was the worst thing that could happen for the Limit Douluo.

Once a Limit Douluo underwent this process, where their Law collapsed, it would be their death.

At the very best, they would be severely crippled and fall from the Limit Douluo to the Soul Douluo if they were especially lucky.

"Amithaba. I accept the proposal, Donor."

Qian Daoliu knew that in the end, he would agree, because the position would be pretty beneficial for him too. As the Imperial Censor, he could exert the authority of the Judgment as far as possible and increase the understanding of the Law.

For someone who wanted to have as deep an understanding of the Law of Judgment as possible, a position like the Imperial Censor was like a heaven-sent gift. One could argue that he could be a better fit for the position of the High Justice, but one couldn't forget that the Imperial Censorate was overseeing the Holy Inquisition and the Doutian Ministry.

For the better simplicity, the Imperial Censor himself would also take the position of the Doutian Minister, as, for the time being, the position of the Doutian Minister was too sensitive and important to hand over to another person.

The foundation of the Imperial Douluo Saint Court wasn't really that deep, and it needed time to grow. Finding people for the highest-ordered position within the Saint Court that could help develop the Saint Court was of paramount importance.

"Are you going to leave now for the Saint Court, or do you have something to take care of?"

Qian Daoliu asked as he looked at the Romario Traviola, who held his prayer beads as he muttered some mantras.

"Thank you for the offer, Donor, but this monk has some things to take care of before."

The Grand Worship then spread his Spirit Wings as he headed toward the Extreme North because he had some business with the Fierce Beasts of the Extreme North. The negotiations with Beast God Di Tian went rather well, and even though there was a lot of initial distrust, they managed to find some common ground.

Even though Di Tian despised humans and Spirit Masters, he understood that if not for the strict Laws of the Spirit Hall about hunting the Spirit Beasts, the situation of the Spirit Beasts would be worse.

At least the Spirit Hall forbade the senseless killing of the Spirit Beasts and other kinds of atrocities against their kind and punished them with death.

'Well, this is done... who would have thought that the brat's plan would work very well to the point where even Beast God was open to working with us and creating a relationship with the Court.'

Qian Daoliu knew that a large part of this was attributed to the Soul Binding Contract they used, as well as some kind of message that Qian Daoliu had passed to the Beast God from Hun Tiandi.

He himself didn't know what was in the message, but once Di Tian unveiled it, his demeanor changed significantly, and he became more open to working with the Spirit Hall, no longer being outright hostile.