548: Chapter 549 Divine Court!

For a moment, Lu Ming even felt a bit of sympathy for True Monarch Yuji Sitian.

At the same time, he was curious about who exactly had the audacity to replicate the True Monarch's Legacy. Could they really bear such massive Karma?

Although he did not know why the person behind the scenes was doing this, or what impact it might have on the True Monarch.

Lu Ming was very curious about it and planned to go in and take a look; after all, he was already here.

He took a step forward, his figure transforming into an afterimage, rapidly approaching the barrier of this Realm.

He then raised his hand, tentatively reaching out toward that layer of the Realm's barrier.

However, the moment his fingertip touched the barrier, a sensation like needles pricking his back suddenly washed over him.

His spiritual sense was screaming warnings at this very moment.

Clearly, if he were to take another step, a great terror would likely descend.

Lu Ming immediately withdrew his foot and flashed back to a great distance away.

He frowned, staring intently at the Realm barrier before him.

This was the first time he had encountered such a situation.

Although those previous Realms also had the effect of blocking outsiders, with his Nascent Soul status, he could enter as if walking through an empty place.

But why did it not work here?

Actually, it wasn't that it wouldn't work; if he forced his way in, the barrier before him could not stop him.

But the status of a Nascent Soul is immensely majestic, and every move could lead to uncontrollable consequences, potentially blowing this Realm apart directly.

Not only would that be too abrupt, but... Lu Ming knew without even thinking that the consequences of doing so would be very serious.

It might even provoke the person behind the scenes to act, or even attack him directly.

Lu Ming was not afraid of the other party attacking him.

Relying on his own strength, even if a True Monarch descended, he could handle it a little.

Besides, this was only a descent body; even if it died, he wouldn't feel pained, but he didn't want to startle the snake.

Furthermore, he hadn't even gone in yet, and it was already so tense.

Presumably, the secret inside must be massive.

Lu Ming had a hunch that this time he might have truly stumbled upon some incredible secret.

This not only made him decide against leaving, but instead pushed him to want to investigate it clearly.

What exactly was the secret that it would be valued so highly by a True Monarch?

But he definitely couldn't just force his way in; he had to think of a method.

Just as he was deep in thought, a sword light soared into the sky from within the Realm.

Suddenly, the sword light dissipated, and a person walked out from within.

Although the aura radiating from his body was distinct from the Immortal Dao Realm, judging by the strength of his Qi, this person's strength was roughly at the Late Golden Core Stage.

As soon as the person appeared, he fixed his gaze on Lu Ming, then looked wary and vigilant, speaking in a deep voice:

"May I ask which Fellow Daoist is visiting?"

Lu Ming raised an eyebrow, not expecting this Realm to react so quickly.

He had only just probed it a little, and someone had already come out to investigate.

However, it was truly a case of 'finding something after breaking through iron shoes, only to realize it took no effort at all.' He was just pondering how to get in, and this person delivered themselves to his door—wasn't this an opportunity delivered on a silver platter?

But Lu Ming remained quite cautious and did not immediately try to search the other party's soul or replace their Karma.

Who knew if there was a Restriction placed on them? Or if some backup plan had been left to prevent such things from happening.

It would be better to probe the bottom first before making plans.

Lu Ming reacted very quickly; in just an instant, he wore a look of confusion and bowed to the newcomer.

"This Fellow Daoist, I am Wang Chan of the Taiqing Palace in the Tianyuan Domain. I did not know this was your territory and stumbled in by mistake; I hope you will not take offense."

Lu Ming did not report this name and background randomly; it was taken from a Realm he had visited before.

Because the other party at that time had means to discern lies and investigate Karma, he simply took it out for recycling now.

"So it is Fellow Daoist Wang Chan."

The newcomer heard this and just chuckled, neither confirming nor denying Lu Ming's words. He did not seem surprised that there were other Realms outside, evidently not unfamiliar with this.

"Fellow Daoist, there is no need to be nervous. I am Zhang Heng, the Patrol Envoy of the Divine Court. I also discovered movement outside the Realm and came to investigate."

He paused, then his gaze fell on Lu Ming.

"But may I ask why you came to our Divine Court Realm?"

Hearing this, Lu Ming put on a look of grief and indignation.

"To tell you the truth, I am a refugee."

Speaking of this, his expression was very sorrowful.

"I was originally an ordinary Cultivator in the Tianyuan Domain. Although I dare not say I had extraordinary talent, I had some small talent and gained some dao attainment.

But then, a great Devil Head appeared from nowhere, running rampant in the Realm, killing countless people and committing monstrous sins.

In the end, they even wiped out the Legacy of our Tianyuan Domain, causing the Heaven And Earth Spiritual Essence to weaken and the path of Dao to collapse.

With no foundation left, I wanted to escape the Tianyuan Domain and drift outside, searching for a place to settle down, but ended up stumbling into this place by mistake."

Lu Ming originally thought his somewhat absurd explanation would make the other party suspicious.

As it turned out, after the other party heard it, not only did he not suspect anything, but he revealed an 'as expected' expression.

F*ck, there really is a problem!

Lu Ming's Face remained unchanged, but his heart was shocked.

From the other party's reaction, it was not hard to see that he not only knew about the existence of other worlds outside the Realm.

But after careful consideration, he could even draw a chilling conclusion.

That was that his own actions along the way had already spread here.

And precisely because of this, when the other party heard this very absurd explanation, he did not show a look of disbelief.

"Fellow Daoist guessed right."

Patrol Envoy Zhang Heng watched the momentary change on Lu Ming's Face, his tone carrying a bit of complacency.

"The Divine Court has actually not encountered this kind of thing for the first time.

Similar things have happened before, with some people from outside Realms stumbling into this place.

However, the Divine Court has always had the heart to accommodate the world; as long as one submits to the rule of Your Majesty the Heavenly Emperor, then they are one of our own.

Since you, Fellow Daoist, have drifted here, it can be considered fate. Why not follow me into the Realm, seek a position in the Divine Court, and obtain a place to settle down?"

His tone was very ordinary, as if he were talking about a most mundane matter; clearly, this was not the first time he had done this.

And after Lu Ming heard this sentence, his heart stirred.

So that's how it is.

It seems it's not necessarily because they heard of his notorious reputation, but just that the news in this Realm is not closed off, and their acceptance of outsiders is also very high.

As for joining the Divine Court, he actually didn't care.

He originally wanted to get an identity to go in and probe the bottom, and having someone offer an invitation would save him a lot of trouble.

As for lowering himself before a Late Golden Core Stage, would that lose the dignity of a True Monarch?

Heh, Lu Ming didn't care!

Let alone just treating each other as peers, he wasn't losing anything anyway.

If there were huge benefits, he would even be willing to perform a full prostration to a Qi Refining stage Cultivator.

After all, how could Face be more important than concrete benefits?

Thus, Lu Ming immediately bowed, thanking him sincerely: "Then many thanks, Fellow Daoist, for the introduction."

Zhang Heng nodded and then signaled: "Then come with me."

Zhang Heng arrived before the Realm barrier and began to chant incantations while forming hand seals.

A beam of mysterious light surged from his palm and submerged into that layer of invisible barrier.

The barrier trembled slightly, and suddenly a golden door large enough for one person to pass through split open, as if opening a passage to another world.

After finishing all this, Zhang Heng put away his techniques, signaled to Lu Ming, and turned to step into that golden portal.

Lu Ming did not hesitate and stepped forward to follow.

He followed half a step behind Zhang Heng, mimicking his every step.

Yet his gaze inadvertently swept over the Realm barrier that was slowly closing, and he muttered in his heart.

"Trusting me just like that, without any precaution at all?"

If he harbored ill intentions, wouldn't this be inviting a wolf into the house?

However, seeing Zhang Heng's fearless appearance, Lu Ming didn't say anything more and followed closely behind the other party.

The moment he stepped into the Divine Court Realm, a beam of mysterious light suddenly shone down upon his head.

The light was pale gold in its entirety, as if an invisible eye were scanning his whole body.

From his Physical Body to his Divine Soul, from his aura to his Karma and fate, it illuminated him inside and out.

Lu Ming's footsteps paused slightly, then returned to normal.

He did not resist, nor did he try to cover it up, just letting that mysterious light sweep over him.

This was only because he had already anticipated that this would happen before entering.

Therefore, he had used the Hunyuan Law in advance to simulate the unique aura of Dao charm belonging exclusively to the Tianyuan Domain.

With this, he masked and disguised this descent body's Immortal Dao cultivation tightly.

Unless a Nascent Soul True Monarch personally investigated, he was confident that no one could see through his disguise at a glance.

Of course, if he were to take action, it would be difficult to cover up.

After all, his true self had not truly devoured and refined the Luck Origin he had obtained; at most, he could only simulate it based on the uniqueness of the Hunyuan Dao, rather than completely transforming it.

Therefore, for future actions, he would avoid taking action if possible, and it would be best to learn a Cultivation Technique from here to completely integrate into it.

Of course, if he were really discovered, he would have no choice but to use his main account and flip the table.

And just as Lu Ming was deep in thought, that mysterious light shone on him for a moment; seemingly finding no abnormalities, it slowly dissipated.

Zhang Heng, who was leading the way, did not look back, but his attention had actually been on the movements of the person behind him.

Only when the feedback from the Heaven Monitoring Mirror came, confirming no issues, did he relax slightly, and his tone became a bit lighter than before.

"The Heaven Monitoring Mirror has passed; Fellow Daoist, no need to be nervous. As long as you are not a spy or an infiltrator, the Divine Court does not turn away visitors."

Lu Ming nodded slightly, but secretly noted the name "Heaven Monitoring Mirror" in his heart.

A Magic Treasure capable of scanning Karma and fate must be of at least a high grade; if there was an opportunity, he could take it to study a bit.

After all, similar treasures are very rare; perhaps it might even have an effect on the karma golden book.

Lu Ming did not speak, just followed behind Zhang Heng and walked forward.

The further he walked, the wider the view became.

The scene of the Divine Court Realm slowly unfolded before him.

Above the firmament, the Nine Heavens palaces were layered, like nine inverted mountains, arranged in order from low to high.

The lowest three layers had the smallest area, and their spiritual light was dim.

The buildings within were crude, and one could vaguely see some creatures of various shapes shuttling through them.

The middle three layers were much larger in area, and the buildings were clearly more orderly and magnificent than the lower three layers, their spiritual light flowing ceaselessly.

However, they seemed to be shrouded in a layer of mist, making them somewhat unclear.

As for the upper three layers, Lu Ming could not see them, given that he could not use his Immortal Dao magic power.

Zhang Heng seemed to notice Lu Ming's curiosity, introducing things as he walked, his tone carrying a hint of complacency and pride.

"Fellow Daoist might not know, but the Divine Court is divided into the Nine Heavens: the Lower Three Heavens, the Middle Three Heavens, and the Upper Three Heavens."

"The Lower Three Heavens are the gathering place for wild gods who have not yet been officially enfeoffed."

"Mountain spirits, wild monsters, ghosts, Loose Cultivators, Mortals..."

"As long as one enters the Divine Court, they can reside here."

"However, without enfeoffment, there is no authority, and one cannot enjoy the incense Power Of Faith, having to rely solely on one's own cultivation to sustain oneself."

As he spoke, he raised his hand and pointed to the middle three layers.

"This is the Middle Three Heavens, where the True Gods who have been enfeoffed with official positions reside."

"Land Deities, City Gods, Mountain Gods, River Earls, Thunder Lords, Lightning Mothers... each performs their duty, each guarding a territory."

"Every True God has corresponding authority and territory, responsible for managing the incense and order of their region."

Lu Ming listened quietly; in fact, he had roughly deduced and divined these things before he had even entered the Divine Court Realm.

However, at that time, he did not know about the abnormalities here, so he didn't take them too much to heart.

Later, to prevent startling the snake, he did not calculate it carefully again.

Anyway, he had already entered, so it wouldn't be too late to understand it slowly.

"As for the Upper Three Heavens..."

Zhang Heng was still babbling on, but when he reached this point, his footsteps paused noticeably.

He then continued walking forward, but his tone carried a bit of imperceptible respect.

"The Upper Three Heavens are the place where the Divine Lords reside, though most Divine Lords are distributed across the first two layers."

"And the topmost heaven is where the Heavenly Emperor Palace is located, named the Supreme Heaven, which is the Dao field of Your Majesty the Heavenly Emperor."

Speaking of this, Zhang Heng did not say more, clearly having some taboos.

But Lu Ming could already feel that the aura of the upper three layers was completely different from the lower three and middle three layers.

It was a more pure, more ancient power, like the embodiment of some Law itself.

"Why does it feel a bit familiar? It seems like I've seen it somewhere."

Lu Ming pondered in his heart; he was certain that that power was definitely distinct from the Divine Dao Law.

If it weren't for the fact that his Divine Soul was at the Nascent Soul level, he wouldn't have been able to detect it at all.

It was just that what exactly it was, he couldn't quite say clearly for a moment.

But Lu Ming had already quietly remembered that aura in his heart, preparing to study it privately later.

After all, if it could make him feel familiar, it must have some related Karma connection!

"By the way, after entering the Divine Court, there are some rules that Fellow Daoist needs to know, to avoid breaking the rules and suffering the Punishment of Xing Tian; that would be agonizing."

Zhang Heng seemed to have suddenly remembered something and reminded him.

Lu Ming could feel that when Zhang Heng said this, he clearly shivered.

Just when he wanted to ask what the Punishment of Xing Tian was, Zhang Heng continued to speak.

"After you are enfeoffed with a divine position, you must switch to cultivating the Divine Dao Cultivation Technique and pay the tithe on time."

He seemed to guess that Lu Ming would ask, and added.

"The tithe is one-tenth of the incense Power Of Faith you obtain."

"This tax will be handed up level by level: wild gods pay to True Gods, True Gods pay to Divine Lords, and Divine Lords pay to Your Majesty the Heavenly Emperor; layer by layer, advancing level by level."

Lu Ming nodded and did not ask why.

Because this system was actually not strange; it could be said to be seen everywhere.

It was nothing more than the exploitation of the lower levels by the upper levels.

In the end, all resources would converge into the hands of the one at the very top.

As for whether, during this process, they would kill the innocent to claim credit because they couldn't pay the incense Power Of Faith tax.

Or deliberately create some man-made disasters and then appear as a savior, saving the common people and collecting the incense Power Of Faith.

That is a matter of opinion.