Chapter 217, People's Will
Chapter 217, People's Will
There were still two sticks of the six third-grade incense sticks left, which was something no one expected.
As a prince of the royal family, Chu Junhao found it hard to accept that people from the Dong'an Palace, Xiping Palace, Nanding Palace, and Beizhen Palace had obtained the secret realm, but he hadn't even lit the third-grade incense.
Doesn't this tell the world that the royal family is inferior to the four royal palaces of different surnames?
When Prince Shou saw that the royal family had gained nothing, his face became terribly gloomy. Of course, his face had never been bright since the arrival of the people from the Hudao family.
Hua Changxi was also a little surprised that Chu Junhao didn't light the third-grade incense. After seeing the four royal palaces of different surnames in the southeast, northwest, and northeast lighting incense, she inferred that maintaining social order was also a merit, and the sacred tree would bless her for it.
But the Chu royal family is still the most orthodox rulers of the Great Jin Dynasty, and their merits and virtues should not be less than those of the four royal palaces of different surnames.
Chu Junhao didn't light the elixir incense. Was it because the royal family's luck was bad, or was it because Chu Junhao was not good enough?
Not only Hua Changxi had such doubts, Gu Xing and Xia Zhen also had similar thoughts in their minds. Wei Zhenjie and Zhang Tianshi also looked thoughtful.
The situation on the Hudao family's side was also beyond Hua Changxi's expectations. She originally thought that the ten wood spirits brought by Xia Zhen would all be blessed by the sacred tree if the elixir fragrance was sufficient. Unexpectedly, four of them gained nothing.
Only one of the Long brothers and sisters obtained the secret realm. It should be that only one person can come out of a family. This is easy to understand. What surprised her was that Dongfang Hao, whose physique she could not see through, and his brother Dongfang Xu were not favored by the sacred tree.
Hua Changxi's attention was on the Long siblings and the Dongfang brothers, while Gu Jinfan was paying attention to Jiang Nianyi.
Seeing that Jiang Nianyi did not light the third-grade incense and did not obtain the secret realm of the sacred tree, Gu Jinfan's heart finally settled down.
In the previous life, the Dan Sheng Temple was controlled by external cultivators led by the Jiang family. In this life, the people from the Guardian families showed up ahead of time, and the descendants of the five major Guardian families all came to the Dan Sheng Temple. With these people, the Jiang family and other external cultivators would definitely not be able to stir up trouble like they did in the previous life.
"Qingyao, it's your turn to worship the sacred tree."
The person Xia Zhen values most is Meng Qingyao. As the protector of the Dan Sheng Temple, he certainly hopes that the future lord of the holy land will be chosen by himself. Since Long Jin, the Dongfang brothers, and the Jiang family girl have all failed to receive the blessing of the sacred tree, he is now a little worried, fearing that he has too high expectations of Meng Qingyao.
Meng Qingyao took a deep breath and walked towards the altar. There were only two first-grade incense sticks and two third-grade incense sticks on the table. Without hesitation, she picked up a stick of first-grade incense, knelt three times and kowtowed nine times, then inserted the incense into the Shenmu Ding with a little nervousness.
"It's burning, the incense is burning!"
As wisps of green smoke emerged, Meng Yuchuan shouted excitedly, and the expressions of the others also brightened.
Hua Changxi stared at the rising red smoke and counted the number of times the green light flashed in his mind: "One, two, three, four, five, six, seven!"
After the green light lit up for the seventh time, the elixir fragrance in the Shenmu Ding quickly burned out.
Meng Qingyao obtained a seventh-grade secret realm!
Hua Changxi's lips curled up involuntarily. The peerless genius selected by the protector was not as good as herself, which made her feel somewhat proud.
However, when he noticed Gu Xing was looking at him, he quickly suppressed the corners of his mouth.
"What do you mean, old man?"
Hua Changxi saw Gu Xing look at her, then at Meng Qingyao, and his gaze went back and forth between the two of them several times, his eyes full of scrutiny and weighing, which made her frown. Xia Zhen was very pleased that Meng Qingyao had successfully lit the first-class incense. Seeing Gu Xing, the head of the Heaven Department, and Zhang Tianshi all looking at Meng Qingyao, he immediately told them in detail about Meng Qingyao's outstanding talent in alchemy.
The royal family gained nothing, and Prince Shou had long been impatient. Looking at the one stick of first-class incense and two sticks of third-class incense left on the altar, he interrupted Xia Zhenzheng and Gu Xing and the other two, who were chatting enthusiastically, and said, "Senior Xia, what should we do with the remaining three sticks of incense?"
Xia Zhen's eyes flashed with sternness, and he said unhappily, "Since no one has lit these three incense sticks, I will naturally take them back."
After hearing this, the King of Shou thought for a moment and then spoke: "Since Senior Xia has already brought the elixir to the Medical Bureau, it would be too much trouble to take it back. Why don't I select some outstanding alchemists to come and worship the sacred tree?"
Xia Zhen knew that King Shou was coveting the secret realm of the sacred tree. He looked at the cultivators who came with him. In addition to the ten wood spirit bodies, there were also many cultivators with single wood spirit roots. These people must have more talent in alchemy than those chosen by King Shou.
"That's fine. I still have many cultivators here who haven't worshipped the sacred tree yet."
Prince Shou didn't want to compete with the cultivators selected by the protector. He wanted to get the three pillars of incense directly. "Senior Xia, this is the capital of the Great Jin Dynasty. You brought so many people to the Medical Department this time, and you are competing with the people selected by the court for the position of the head of the hall. Out of respect for the protector family, this prince agrees."
"But, of the nine museum owners appointed by the court, the people you brought directly took up six without informing the court in advance. You were a little too overbearing."
"If this matter were to get out, I'm afraid it would affect the reputation of the Protector. People would think that you relied on your status as the Protector to wantonly place your own people in the Medical Department. That would definitely cause dissatisfaction among many people..."
Prince Shou didn't finish his words, but everyone present understood.
He was threatening Xia Zhen that if he wanted the court to recognize the positions of the museum masters including Meng Qingyao, the remaining three incense sticks must be lit by people selected by King Shou.
Xia Zhen was extremely annoyed when he heard this and wanted to teach Prince Shou a lesson, but he held back.
There is no other reason. The royal family is afraid of the background of the protector, and the protector's family is also afraid of the identity of the royal family as the legitimate ruler. The royal family can legitimately issue decrees to influence public opinion and directly affect the will of the people.
For the cultivators themselves, it is not important whether or not they have the support of the people. However, if they want to establish a sect in a world where cultivators compete for supremacy, if they want to become the master of the Dan Sheng Temple, the support of the people is very important.
Because of the merits of protecting the way, the Guardian Family can indeed occupy a certain advantage in the early stage of the revival of spiritual energy. However, as time goes by, as more and more geniuses who stir up the times are born, the role of the Guardian Family will gradually weaken. No one can tell how far the Guardian Family can go in the future.
The Hudao family must also prepare for the future!
Xia Zhen didn't want to break off relations with the royal family as soon as the Hudao Family appeared in the world, but he was also unwilling to hand over the three incense sticks to King Shou for distribution.
"Shou Prince, for the remaining three incense sticks, you choose a few people and I will send a few people, and then we will take turns to worship the sacred tree. This is the biggest concession I can make."
But for Prince Shou, he did not retreat at all. He was naturally unwilling to do so, but he also did not dare to do anything to Xia Zhen. For a moment, the atmosphere at the scene became tense.
"Cough cough~"
A heavy cough broke the stagnant atmosphere. Everyone looked for the source and found that it was Hua Changxi who was coughing.
When Gu Xing looked over, Hua Changxi looked at him and said, "Senior Gu, the Guardian Family has been protecting the Holy Land for generations, which is of course a great merit. But the Gu Family who has been protecting the Holy Land for generations has also worked hard and made great contributions. Don't you have any opinions on how to deal with the remaining three incense sticks?"