Bang! Bang! Bang!
Eight majestic and holy figures knelt on one knee beneath the high hall, their knees striking the ancient floor with dull thuds.
Like Tianyin and the others, they clenched their left fists and pounded them against their chests.
Zhou Xingdou lowered his eyes, lightly tapped the armrest of the throne, and looked at the eight majestic and holy figures. His eyes were filled with purple energy, and he could not see any emotion.
Among them was one person Zhou Xingdou had met once before, and this person spoke at this moment.
He was dressed in a white, close-fitting outfit, his eyebrows were broken and his face was weathered, his body covered in shocking scars, yet he appeared heroic and sacred, his deep voice resounding throughout the Zhou Tian Hall:
"The Divine Martial Sect congratulates the young master on his return to the beginning of time. May the Zhou family never perish, and may the Zhou dynasty prosper forever!"
This person was the one who sat above the chairman of the Divine Martial Sect when Zhou Xingdou was crowned at the Xuantian Dao Sect.
Now Stephen Chow knows who he really is.
The founder of the Divine Martial Sect, the Undying Martial God, Martial Law Heaven!
The existence that could kneel alongside him and step into the Zhou Tian Palace was naturally beyond guessing.
Before the words were finished, the founder of the Heavenly Punishment Demon Sect, a cold-faced and fierce-looking deity, lowered his head and shouted:
"The Heavenly Punishment Demonic Sect congratulates the young master on his return to the beginning of time. May the Zhou family never perish, and may the Zhou dynasty prosper forever!"
Next came the founder of Burning Medicine Valley, a kind-faced, red-haired, blue-eyed saint:
"Burning Medicine Valley congratulates the young master on his return to the beginning of the world. May the Zhou family never perish, and may the Zhou dynasty prosper forever!"
The descendant of the founder of Burning Medicine Valley was a skeletal deity with an extremely large mouth:
"The Devouring Heaven Demon Sect congratulates the young master on his return to the beginning of time. May the Zhou family never perish and may the Zhou world prosper forever!"
Zhou Xingdou also lowered his eyes and glanced at the emaciated saint a few more times. To be honest, if this person hadn't spoken, he really wouldn't have guessed that this person was the founder of the Devouring Heaven Demon Sect.
After all, he remembered that the disciples of the Devouring Demon Sect were all fat and bloated, so he never imagined that their ancestor would be so thin.
Beside the founder of the Devouring Heaven Demon Sect was a saint who resembled an iron tower, standing nine feet nine inches tall. If the Zhou Tian Palace had not been large enough, it would have been difficult for someone of his size to enter the room.
However, this person's identity was easy to guess. Zhou Xingdou knew at a glance that he must be the founder of Guyang City.
As Zhou Xingdou had expected, the sacred figure, resembling an iron tower, opened his mouth and identified himself as Guyang City:
"Guyang City congratulates the young master on his return to the beginning of the world! May the Zhou family never perish, and may the Zhou dynasty prosper forever!"
The founders of the remaining Shadow Secret Pavilion, Divine Refinement Pavilion, and Heavenly Stele Sect are also easy to recognize.
The founder of Shadow Tower was a black-clad saint who was always by his side, seemingly present yet absent, which was somewhat eerie.
"Shadow Tower congratulates the young master on his return to the beginning of the world. May the Zhou family never perish, and may the Zhou dynasty prosper forever!"
Although the founder of the Divine Refinement Pavilion did not possess a flawless, perfect physique like Gu Yangcheng, his muscles were still bulging, and his entire body was bronze.
"The Divine Refinement Pavilion congratulates the young master on his return to the beginning of time. May the Zhou family never perish, and may the Zhou world prosper forever!"
"The Heavenly Stele Sect congratulates the young master on his return to the beginning of time, wishing the Zhou family immortality and the Zhou dynasty eternal prosperity!"
The founder of the Tianbei School is somewhat difficult to identify, but since he is the last one, there is no need to guess.
The reason he was hard to recognize was that he was different from the disciples of the Heavenly Stele Sect. His hands were not large; they were just normal size, even smaller than the hands of the founder of the Divine Refining Pavilion.
Moreover, his hands were extremely fair and delicate, like a woman's, which was quite strange.
Stephen Chow nodded:
“All of you patriarchs are my seniors, please rise, there is no need for such formalities.”
"Thank you, young master."
The eight patriarchs rose to their feet, but before they could fully regain their footing, Zhou Xingdou spoke again:
"Now that the eight sects have joined the Star Heaven Alliance, I urge all the patriarchs to set an example and not to divide into sects again, lest I be put in a difficult position."
Upon hearing Zhou Xingdou's words, all eight patriarchs except Wu Fatian showed slight changes in expression.
Although Zhou Xingdou's tone was polite, his words were anything but. They were undoubtedly asking them to abandon the sects and factions they had built and managed over countless years.
For those disciples of the Holy Temple, and even the elders and Holy Temple Masters, after twenty years of gathering, there has been a tendency to be assimilated to some extent.
However, these founding masters were not so easily assimilated, because for them, their sects were the culmination of their lives, and alliances were merely a temporary measure for preservation. They were not so easily assimilated.
But just as the seven were pondering this, Wu Fatian, the founder of the Divine Martial Sect, once again knelt on one knee, his fist clenched, and said with a voice full of vicissitudes:
"Your subject misspoke, and I beg Your Highness to punish me!"
These Zhou family affiliated forces are naturally different from Tianyin's servants; they can only be considered subjects, not subordinates or slaves.
Wu Fatian seemed to be the heaviest among the eight patriarchs; his request for punishment immediately dispelled the hesitation of the remaining seven patriarchs, who each spoke:
"Your humble servant was old and made a slip of the tongue. Please punish me, young master."
"Your subject had no intention of splitting the country; it was just that I hadn't changed my habit of saying such things. Please forgive me, young master."
......
Zhou Xingdou lowered his eyes and sighed:
“What fault have you committed, my esteemed masters? It is I who have put you in a difficult position. I am ashamed.”
However, at this point, Stephen Chow changed the subject:
"Master Wei, listen to my command: From today onwards, the Starry Sky Alliance will establish an Ancestral Master Palace. All those who join the Starry Sky Alliance now and in the future must first pay homage to the eight Ancestral Masters and then pay homage to me."
"A new Divine Palace will be established. Outstanding talents from the eight sacred halls can enter the Divine Palace after passing an examination. Disciples of the Divine Palace can study all the Zhou family's classic texts and will be taught by the Buddha Emperor Fahai, the Half-Emperor Yuan Tian, and the Quasi-Emperor Juling. The resources needed by the disciples will come from the Zhou family's treasury."
Master Wei immediately responded respectfully:
"I will obey the young master's decree!"
After saying this, Zhou Xingdou looked at the eight patriarchs of Wu Fatian and said:
"This is my humble contribution to all the venerable masters."
The eight patriarchs were quite helpless upon hearing this. Zhou Xingdou's actions were not meant to compensate them, but rather to completely bind them to the Star Heaven Alliance.
After all, these eight founders held extraordinary positions. Although their disciples have now joined the Star Alliance, who in the Star Alliance could have controlled these eight founding founders before?
Therefore, even on the day of the alliance meeting, few of the eight sect patriarchs showed up; they were more like anchor points for the outer sanctuary of the Transcendental Alliance and the Starry Sky Alliance.
If it weren't for the news of Zhou Xingdou's return today, these eight patriarchs probably wouldn't have been able to gather together unless there was a crisis of the alliance being destroyed.
When Stephen Chow opened the Ancestral Temple, he was actually telling them that the Ancestral Temple was their place of practice, and they shouldn't run around aimlessly all day.
As for the claim that the Star Alliance first paid homage to the eight patriarchs and then to Zhou Xingdou, it did show respect to the eight patriarchs, but in reality it was just a formality.
However, the Ancestral Master Palace is not a big deal; the truly ingenious thing is the establishment of the Divine Palace.
This is equivalent to handing over the most outstanding disciples of each generation of the eight holy halls to Zhou Xingdou, and through teaching and subtle influence, integrating these disciples into the Star Alliance, rather than individual members of each holy hall.
Moreover, these disciples will surely become hall masters and elders of their respective holy halls in the future. After several generations of disciples, each holy hall will have no possibility of breaking away.
This was a legitimate, overt scheme, but even so, these patriarchs could not refuse, because even if they refused, their outstanding disciples would find it difficult to resist the temptation of the Great Emperor's teachers, divine skills and sacred scriptures, and cultivation resources.
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