Safe City Ch.205

Chapter 205: Formal Dispatch

It wasn’t just the County City God’s head that was buzzing. The human cultivator, Jing Weizi, was also struggling to process what he’d just heard.

Of everyone present, the only one whose mind was probably still completely empty was the giant tiger Mountain Lord.

The dispatched representative of the Heavenly Soldiers, Xiong Cuicancan, didn’t concern herself with any of that.

Having finished reciting her prepared lines, she cupped her hands in a salute toward the humans at the temple and the giant tiger on the other side, making sure to spread the courtesy evenly so that no one was left out.

Only then did she turn to Song Xi.

“Now that the tree demon has been eliminated, we shall return to the Heavenly Court to report on the mission. We must ask Your Reverence to continue guarding this territory. Should any demonic disturbances arise again in the future, please promptly send a formal dispatch to the Heavenly Court. The Heavenly Court will make the necessary arrangements.”

Xiong Cuicancan recited the entire speech in one breath, then gave herself a little pat on the back.

People in Fallen Heaven really do use a lot of words when they talk! All that, translated into plain language, basically means: “We’ve taken care of this. Next time another demon shows up looking for a fight, just give us a shout.”

Still, she had to admit that despite all the extra words, delivering the speech made her feel rather impressive.

She cupped her hands toward Song Xi once more.

“Farewell.”

Song Xi returned the salute.

This time, She wasn’t merely going through the motions. Their God had issued a divine oracle instructing Blue Sea’s residents to follow Fallen Heaven Star’s standards of etiquette whenever they acted there.

Since it was their God’s divine oracle, Song Xi returned the salute particularly naturally. It felt just like saying “See you next time” to another resident back in Blue Sea.

The local deity, the County City God, could only watch as the two gods completed their handover. The deity who appeared to be the leader of the Heavenly Soldiers waved a hand, leading the several hundred soldiers back up into the clouds. In the blink of an eye, they had vanished from sight.

Song Xi also turned around and cupped Her hands toward the three of them.

“This battle consumed quite a bit of my divine power. I shall return to my divine statue to rest. Until fate brings us together again.”

Her figure transformed into a streak of golden light and headed toward Daluo Village.

The County City God had a whole bellyful of things He wanted to say to build a closer relationship with this Broom God, but He could only swallow them all on the spot as He watched Her disappear before His eyes.

Jing Weizi walked over and asked quietly, “Lord City God, may I ask what exactly this Great Luo Heavenly Court of Blue Sea is?”

He had certainly never heard of a Heavenly Court before. However, since he was only a mortal, he thought perhaps the City God, being a deity Himself, might know something about it.

Unexpectedly, the County City God shook His head in bewilderment as well.

“I don’t know, either. I only know of naturally born deities, those who attain godhood after birth, and those appointed by imperial decree. But an appointment by the Great Luo Heavenly Court of Blue Sea… I’ve never heard of such a thing.”

The words Heavenly Court carried tremendous weight.

Of all things in the world, Heaven was supreme. Even emperors called themselves the Sons of Heaven. So what did Heavenly Court mean? Could it be that this court existed above Heaven itself?

The County City God’s gaze involuntarily drifted toward the boundless sky.

He would never have imagined that this was a divine system that had only just come into existence. Even from the few words He’d overheard, He could tell that the Heavenly Court had a complete administrative structure.

The Broom God was assigned to “guard” Daluo Village.

When the Broom God encountered danger and called for reinforcements, She submitted a “formal dispatch” to the higher authorities.

After killing the tree demon, the Heavenly Soldiers still had to return and “report on their mission.”

Everything had seemed so natural, so utterly natural that it was as though the Heavenly Court had always existed.

“Could it be that I’ve been living in an isolated corner of the world and simply know too little?”

A voice suddenly came from beside Him.

“You were only a minor official before. It’s perfectly normal that you hadn’t heard of certain things.”

Now that the other gods had all departed, the giant tiger Mountain Lord, who could easily beat the one human and one deity still present, sauntered over without a care in the world.

It squatted down beside the County City God and gazed up at the sky as well.

“The Heavenly Court…”

Its tiger eyes gleamed. “Just hearing the name makes it sound incredibly powerful.”

The demon race couldn’t become gods. At most, they could earn the title of demigod. But until now, the Mountain Lord had never felt that it was inferior to the gods.

People revered and aspired to become gods, but in its view, a god’s life wasn’t all that comfortable.

After all, the gods it had encountered were either naturally born deities, who were essentially trapped in one place, or deities appointed by imperial decree, whose fate was even more miserable. No matter how well they performed their duties, the moment the imperial court fell, they would immediately vanish along with it.

That was why the Mountain Lord had never dared to get too close to the County City God. It feared that one day, when the dynasty’s fortune ran out, the County City God would die along with it. And that would make the Mountain Lord sad.

Its own life, on the other hand, was quite pleasant. It was powerful, lived in the mountains it loved, and only had to include the people living at the foot of the mountain within its territory and help them drive away a few minor demons. In return, those people would regularly bring it offerings.

Take today, for example. If the Heavenly Soldiers hadn’t arrived and Qingtian County had truly been destroyed, the Mountain Lord was confident it could have escaped.

It might have been deeply frustrated. It might have been furious. It might even have hated the tree demon for destroying its home. But compared with the County City God, at least it would have survived.

Yet now, after witnessing those powerful gods kill the tree demon as effortlessly as killing a butterfly, the Mountain Lord suddenly felt that being a member of the demon race wasn’t so appealing anymore.

So it wasn’t that gods weren’t powerful. It was that the gods I’d encountered weren’t powerful.

The County City God, who had been listening to the Mountain Lord voice its feelings and speak its mind, couldn’t help saying, “…Mountain Lord, as a County City God, my strength is actually quite respectable.”

After all, He had been a military officer in life. Ever since being appointed as a City God, He had consciously trained both His own abilities and His ghostly soldiers. He could confidently say that He was stronger than at least seventy percent of County City Gods.

The Mountain Lord replied without the slightest hesitation.

“Then the gods appointed by your imperial court simply aren’t very strong.”

The County City God: “…”

Forget it. Why bother arguing with a member of the demon race who had never attended school?

Jing Weizi stepped in to smooth things over.

“The world is in chaos these days. Although none of us knows where this Heavenly Court came from, it’s a good thing for the Divine Path to have such powerful deities, regardless. Just look at Qingtian County. With that Broom God stationed here, neither of you will need to worry about demons invading in the future.”

The County City God nodded repeatedly.

“Indeed! I must thank you both for your help today. Otherwise, I’m afraid we wouldn’t have held out until the Heavenly Soldiers arrived. Although my City God temple has been destroyed, I still have a separate residence in the outskirts. If you two have some free time, why not accompany this humble god there for a little chat? It would also give me the opportunity to express my deepest gratitude.”

Jing Weizi cupped his hands in a salute. “In that case, thank you for the invitation, Lord City God.”

On the one hand, as a human cultivator, it was beneficial to maintain good relations with the Divine Path.

On the other hand, he’d realized that the County City God intended to reward him for his assistance.

City Gods generally kept a fair amount of human gold and silver in their possession. Even the smallest county would have a few wealthy families who hid their gold and silver underground or in some other secret place. Some died before they could tell their descendants where they’d hidden their valuables, while others were struck by sudden calamities. Either way, their hidden gold and silver eventually ended up in the hands of the City God who governed the county.

Such things were useless to deities, but since they had once been human themselves, they still tended to collect them. Sometimes, if they took a liking to someone, they might even gift that person some of their hoard.

Clearly, the County City God now intended to give Jing Weizi some of the gold and silver He’d collected as compensation.

Jing Weizi was already looking forward to it. Traveling far and wide and exploring the world required money, after all. Now that he’d finally come across an opportunity to earn some, he was more than eager to take it.

The Mountain Lord, however, wasn’t nearly as enthusiastic as Jing Weizi. It was still immersed in the imposing spectacle of the Heavenly Soldiers and found the invitation nothing but a hassle.

“Don’t you just want to throw a banquet to thank us? Thank him, then. Besides, half of Qingtian County is my territory anyway.”

After saying that, the Mountain Lord thought for a moment and added, “But if you really insist on thanking me, have your ghostly officials get me some cattle and sheep. Roast them and send them over. Don’t cook them too thoroughly, though. I like my meat medium-rare.”

The County City God wasn’t offended by its tone. He simply smiled and said, “Are you really not coming, Mountain Lord? Freshly roasted meat tastes the best. Neither of us has ever left the county, and since we have such distinguished guests visiting today, we could also listen to Jing Weizi tell us about the state of the world beyond our borders.”

The Mountain Lord hesitated for a second. It loved listening to stories.

But in the end, under the County City God’s astonished gaze, it shook its enormous tiger head.

“I’m not going. I want to visit the Broom God.”

This time, the County City God was genuinely surprised. The Mountain Lord’s least favorite thing had always been social niceties. For it to actually take the initiative to visit the Broom God was truly remarkable.

“Are you planning to thank the Broom God, Mountain Lord? I noticed She left in quite a hurry today. She probably won’t want visitors for the next few days. Why don’t we wait a little until Her divine power has recovered, then go together with some gifts?”

The Mountain Lord wasn’t having it.

“She might not refuse visitors. I’ll take some of the treasures I’ve collected and go ask Her. Maybe She’ll be willing to see me.”

It openly explained why it wanted to visit the Broom God.

“I don’t just want to thank Her. I also want to ask how the Heavenly Court appoints its gods. Can it appoint me as one of its deities, too?”

Now Jing Weizi was surprised as well.

“B-but, Mountain Lord, you should know that the demon race cannot become gods.”

The Mountain Lord swished its tail.

“The demon race just can’t cultivate its way to godhood on its own. That doesn’t mean we can’t be appointed as gods. It’s just that our demon race never wanted to be appointed by the imperial court before.”

After all, as long as they cultivated on their own and didn’t cause too much trouble, they could live for eight or a thousand years—or even longer. But a dynasty was lucky to last seven hundred years.

Besides, humans might be willing to accept the Divine Path, but that didn’t necessarily mean they would accept the demon race. After all, most demons weren’t like the Mountain Lord, who never ate humans. In many places, demons were hunted down and killed on sight. Even if one joined a dynasty, it would probably still face discrimination.

Under such circumstances, what demon would be foolish enough to accept an appointment from the imperial court?

The Mountain Lord turned to the County City God and spoke in its characteristically blunt, tiger-like manner.

“This appointment by the Heavenly Court looks pretty different from an appointment by the imperial court. Those Heavenly Soldiers even greeted me! Their gods can call on others for help, unlike you City Gods. You were nearly beaten to death, and your imperial court didn’t even send anyone to help.”

The County City God felt as though He’d just been stabbed.

Truthfully, He’d never thought there was anything wrong with this arrangement before. After all, things had always been this way.

City Gods came into existence by borrowing the fortune of a dynasty, but the rulers of that dynasty—including the emperor himself—were nothing more than ordinary mortals.

In essence, the imperial court appointed City Gods to protect the dynasty, not the other way around, with the dynasty protecting them.

—The main problem was that mortals couldn’t defeat demons and monsters anyway.

But today, He’d witnessed firsthand how two groups of deities could be so different. When faced with a life-or-death crisis, He could only watch helplessly as the common people suffered and wait for His own death. Those other gods, meanwhile, had the Heavenly Soldiers there to help them.

The County City God said nothing, but inwardly, He was deeply shaken.

The Mountain Lord didn’t notice the expression on His face. More accurately, it found human facial expressions difficult to interpret in the first place.

Having explained its plans, it turned its enormous tiger body around, dropped onto all fours, and sprinted away.

The giant tiger was so massive that its movements stirred up cries of alarm among the people of Qingtian County. However, since they had personally witnessed it fighting the tree demon, most of them felt a mixture of fear, nervousness, and awe toward it.

Some of the braver ones even cautiously placed whatever food they could find beside the road, offering it in gratitude to the Tiger God for saving their lives.

The Mountain Lord was in a hurry and paid no attention to these small offerings. It simply charged straight ahead, raising a trail of dust behind it.

The County City God watched the Mountain Lord disappear into the distance, then could only offer Jing Weizi an embarrassed smile.

“The Mountain Lord has always been straightforward in temperament. That’s just how it is. Well, I suppose that leaves only me to entertain you today, Daoist. I’ll have someone prepare—”

Before He could finish speaking, the enormous tiger came rumbling back, its footsteps shaking the earth.

“I don’t know the way! How do I get to Daluo Village?”

…

Song Xi hadn’t stopped to chat with the local deities. Instead, She had raced back at full speed on orders from Cheng Qisheng, who had issued a divine oracle.

The appearance of the “Heavenly Soldiers and Heavenly Generals” had actually been a test in itself.

When the Heavenly Soldiers appeared before the local gods, the local people, and the local demons, and the “Great Luo Heavenly Court of Blue Sea” made its first public appearance and gained the County City God’s recognition, Cheng Qisheng, who had been watching the battle, immediately sensed something.

As the supreme deity of the Heavenly Court’s divine system, she felt that this world had opened a tiny crack to her.

The Great Luo Heavenly Court of Blue Sea had received a faint trace of recognition from the world itself.

This tiny bit of recognition was essentially an access-card authorization issued by Fallen Heaven Star. Only now could Cheng Qisheng be said to have truly “entered” this world and gained the ability to examine its internal state.

And the moment she took a look, she deeply understood what it meant for everything to be a complete mess.

No wonder the world had recognized her so quickly. The entire order of Fallen Heaven Star was in chaos: Heaven and Earth, yin and yang, the four seasons and the cycles of cold and heat, the rotation of the stars—everything had gone haywire.

If Fallen Heaven Star had once been like a collection of balls of yarn neatly arranged in rows, it was now like a room strewn with tangled, knotted yarn, with countless fine fishing lines mixed in among it all.

Cheng Qisheng had always been the type to tackle things first and worry about the consequences later.

But after sensing the internal state of Fallen Heaven Star, her first thought was, This is going to be really difficult to deal with.

For starters, the place where souls returned was empty, too. Previously, she’d assumed that at least the City Gods had the ability to manage ghosts, just like the City Gods in the legends of Blue Star.

As it turned out, the City Gods of Fallen Heaven Star merely sent the souls to the place where they were supposed to return, then washed their hands of the matter and left the Heavenly Dao to handle the rest.

So, if they were going to rebuild the Heavenly Dao, Blue Sea would have to do more than establish a Heavenly Court. They would also need to build the Underworld, and even the stars would have to be created from scratch.

And Fallen Heaven Star had dragons. They could bring rain, but they didn’t, because the Heavenly Dao had always managed the weather itself. Now, if Blue Sea wanted Fallen Heaven Star to function normally, they’d have to go out into the sea and catch those wild dragons.

How on earth had the Heavenly Dao managed all this before?

Even if they put several hundred million Blue Sea residents to work on it, they might not be able to get the job done!

Moreover, judging from Fallen Heaven Star’s current state, their plan to use the Heavenly Court as a foundation to nurture a new Heavenly Dao simply wouldn’t work.

By the time Blue Sea finished establishing its Heavenly Court, Blue Sea Safe City would still have to leave this world eventually.

What would happen to the Heavenly Court then?

The World Mission definitely wouldn’t count as completed.

Cheng Qisheng grabbed Aether and, for the first time, found herself thinking, Maybe I should wait and see. Perhaps I shouldn’t invest so much effort just yet.

The next moment, her whole body suddenly jolted.

Perhaps the world’s consciousness had sensed her reluctance to take on such a daunting task. A vast surge of mental power suddenly appeared right in front of her, delivered as if it were a food order arriving at her door.

Cheng Qisheng’s mental power skyrocketed in an instant.

She slowly raised a hand.

“Ha~ ha~ ha~”

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