"Dong" "Dong" "Dong"
Fifteen thunder drums boomed, resounding throughout the thirty-six heavens. All the celestial officials above the fifth rank wore official robes, lined up in neat rows, and stood outside the Lingxiao Palace.
"Dang" "Dang" "Dang"
Then, fifteen divine sounds of jade chimes resounded through Daluo Heaven. All the super-ranking immortal officials of the Heavenly Court, as well as the great gods and immortals of Taoism and Buddhism, stood respectfully and solemnly and lined up in front.
But this time, the gods did not enter the Lingxiao Palace, but were waiting for rewards.
The reason for waiting for rewards is that the positions of the immortals in the Lingxiao Palace have changed. One needs to be rewarded before entering the palace and ranking according to the new immortal rank.
Taibai Jinxing, holding a whisk, stood outside the Lingxiao Palace and chanted loudly, "All ministers and immortals, be silent. I invite the Eastern King and the Western Queen Mother to announce the decree of the Great Celestial Lord on behalf of the Five Imperial Emperors, conferring titles and rewards upon all ministers and immortals."
It is certainly impossible for the Five Great Emperors to come out in person to announce the decree, so someone has to do it on their behalf, and the most suitable people are the King of the East and the Queen Mother of the West.
As Taibai Jinxing finished speaking, two nine-colored auspicious clouds slowly floated out from the Lingxiao Palace. The King of the East and the Queen Mother of the West stood in the clouds, with a brilliant canopy and auspiciousness covering the sky.
The next moment, all the ministers and immortals outside the palace bowed and said, "Greetings to the Eastern King and the Western Queen Mother."
The Duke of Dong smiled and said, "Stand up."
All the ministers and immortals said: "Thank you, the Great Emperor Dongwanggong." Then all the ministers and immortals stood up straight and looked forward solemnly.
After a while, Dong Wanggong raised his hand, unfolded the golden edict in his hand, and read out: "In compliance with... the command of the Jade Emperor of the Great Heaven, the Mysterious Sky Supreme God, the decree states: The way of heaven is impermanent, the destiny of heaven is changeable, and the mandate of heaven by the heavens is also subject to change. Today, the Tao and the Dao have merged, and the ranks of the immortals and ministers must be redefined. Above the ninth rank and below the super rank are "orthodox gods." The super rank is "celestial god," and further rank is added, from the following to the highest, in order: superior human, true person, true monarch (same as star monarch), Taoist monarch (same as emperor monarch), and celestial monarch (same as great emperor monarch)."
Fang Jian was slightly stunned when he heard this. He didn't expect that the Great Celestial Venerable would actually re-determine the grades of fruit positions and the ranks of immortal ministers.
This time the changes are huge. The grades of the eighteen super-grade gods have been cancelled and changed to "fruit positions". The fruit positions of heaven and Taoism have been unified. In other words, heaven and Taoism will share a set of "fruit positions" in the future.
The rank of the immortal officials in heaven, from the ninth rank to the first rank below the super rank, remains unchanged, but they are collectively referred to as "righteous gods."
Super-grade immortal officials are collectively called "gods".
Above the super-grade immortal officials, the distinction of high and low is based on "fruit position". That is to say, among all super-grade immortal officials, those with fruit position are greater than those without, and those with higher fruit position are greater than those with lower fruit position.
Then it seems that the new list of immortal officials in the Lingxiao Palace is arranged according to this.
Then the Duke of Dong continued to announce the decree, and Fang Jian understood it very well. Next, a series of fruit positions would be conferred, but for the sake of ranking, some who already had fruit positions but would not be conferred this time would also be ranked together.
First up are the Taoist Daluo. They had long been conferred the title of "Taojun". This time they were given a two-character title. As there are too many names, only a brief introduction will be given below.
Dou Mu Yuanjun was granted the title of "Tianzun", the same as the Great Emperor, with an additional two-character title.
Zhen Yuanzi, the Golden Spirit Holy Mother, the Yunxiao Goddess, the Lishan Laomu, the Qiongxiao Goddess, the Bixiao Goddess, the Wudang Holy Mother, the Taiyi Taoist Lord, the Yuding Taoist Lord, the Chisongzi Taoist Lord, the Guangchengzi Taoist Lord, and the Yunzhongzi Taoist Lord were all granted the title of "Taojun", the same as the Emperor, with an additional two-character honorific title.
The original Nine Emperors of Shenxiao, the Five Mountains Emperor, the Three Officials Emperor, the Five Thunder Emperors, and the Underworld Emperor remained unchanged and remained the same as usual.
Then came the conferment of the title of "True Lord" to the super-grade immortal official:
"...The decree reads: Conferring upon Fang Jian Zhenjun the status of a fruited one, and adding the honorific title of "Nine Heavens Mysterious Origin Si Lu," he is to be known as Nine Heavens Mysterious Origin Si Lu Hongqing Zhenjun, the leader of all Zhenjuns. He is to be designated the "God of Justice," in charge of the "Haotian Palace," and in charge of the "Heavenly Laws." He is to be granted the "Jade Emperor's Calendar" and the "Golden Palace Mi Luo Dao Robe," reinforcing his authority. He is directly under the command of the Five Heavenly Emperors. Below them, all things in the Three Realms are supervised by the God of Justice."
Hongqing is Fang Jian's Taoist name, and Jiutian Xuanyuan Silu is Fang Jian's honorific title. At this moment, Fang Jian finally secured his position as the number one person "under the Emperor".
Amidst the envious and admiring gazes of all the gods and immortal officials, Fang Jian immediately stepped forward, bowed, and said, "Your servant Fang Jian, I kowtow to thank the Great Celestial Venerable for his great grace."
At this time, Taibai Jinxing announced: "The Five Imperial Emperors have issued an order that the Nine Heavens Mysterious Origin Si Lu Hongqing Zhenjun enter the Lingxiao Palace and be ranked first among the immortal officials."
Fang Jian bowed again loudly and said, "I obey your command."
Afterwards, Fang Jian climbed the jade steps and stepped into the Lingxiao Palace.
After Fang Jian, there is Taiyi Supreme Protector of Dao, True Lord Kunpeng, who is ranked next among the immortals and is given the Qingxia Yudou Qilin robe.
After Kunpeng comes Qingyuan Miaodao Erlang Xiansheng Zhenjun, who ranks third among the immortals and is given the Lingxiao jade belt robe.
Tianpeng Yuansheng Zhenjun, Tianyou Chide Zhenjun, and Yishen Baode Zhenjun ranked fourth, fifth, and sixth respectively, and were given Lingxiao jade belt robes.
Then:
Sun Wukong, the True Lord of Heaven
Bixia Yuanjun
Red God True Lord Red***
Yunliu Zhenjun is afraid of Liusun
Daoxing Zhenjun
Qingxu Daode Zhenjun
Nanji Zhenjun Nanji Xianweng
Wei Huacun, the Purple Void Lord
The Pagoda-Bearing Heavenly King, the True Lord of Anti-Heaven and Subduing Demons
Nezha, the True Lord of the Three Altars and Sea Assembly
Ma Lingyao, the True Lord of Huaguang
Zhao Gongming, the True Lord of the Mysterious Altar
Guangling Zhenjun Wen Qiong
Guan Yu, the True Lord of Heaven
Chen Tuan, the True Lord Xiyi
Zhong Huang Zhenjun Zhong Huang
Yide Zhenjun Suqing
Yiren Zhenjun Suhua
Re-presenting the True Lord Wen Zhong
Jianming Zhenjun Yu Yuan
Zhang Daoling, the True Lord of Zhengyi
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