Outside the Outer Heavens, within the Heavenly Dao Palace.
Upon returning, Ding Yun summoned Haotian and Yaochi. "How is the preparation for Heavenly Realm personnel coming along?" he inquired.
"Master, most individuals don't seem interested in serving as officials in the Heavenly Realm, nor do they wish to become deities. The current recruits are barely enough to establish the basic framework of the Heavenly Court. To ensure its smooth operation, more personnel are needed. I have disappointed you..."
Ding Yun had long since elevated Haotian and Yaochi's status from attendants to disciples. Thus, it was perfectly natural for Haotian to address her as Master.
"It's alright. Most beings are accustomed to freedom these days. It's normal for them to dislike restraints or serving others. However, this may not be the case in the future. You should be aware of the notification recently issued by Samsara to the outside world and the new rules engraved within the world. Henceforth, cultivators who do not attain the Da Luo Golden Immortal realm will have a lifespan limit. However, innate spiritual roots are an exception. Consuming the fruits of innate spiritual roots can extend one's lifespan. I have specially prepared Flat Peaches for you. By using Flat Peaches as rewards, we should be able to recruit beings with less aptitude who cannot break through within their lifetimes. The Heavenly Court is in its nascent stages, so let's not be too particular about personnel quality; let's gather people first. Once the Heavenly Court is formally established, there will be immeasurable merit. You two can seize this opportunity to attain the Dao. With two Dao-proving experts presiding, there will be no shortage of followers."
Every era has its characteristics. However, whether it was the ancient era of gods and demons or the era of the three tribes, their methods of establishing power were through coercion and enticement, not by posting recruitment notices. Therefore, the current formation of the Heavenly Court not being particularly successful was within Ding Yun's expectations. Even the limitation of lifespan for innate beings by Samsara was partly for the sake of establishing the Heavenly Court.
After speaking, Ding Yun handed over to Yaochi nine thousand Flat Peach trees, cultivated from a top-grade innate spiritual root, the Ren Water Flat Peach, which had been divided, along with the specially crafted Flat Peach Garden. She was made responsible for its management.
Following this, Ding Yun continued to provide personalized instruction to the two of them, helping them enhance their control over the innate Yin and Yang法则. This continued until their comprehension of their respective Laws reached over ninety-five percent before allowing them to leave. First, they would hold the Flat Peach Banquet, and after the banquet, they would recruit personnel before formally establishing the Heavenly Court. The entire process remained within Ding Yun's plan, with no unexpected issues arising.
Upon leaving Ding Yun and returning to the Heavenly Palace, Haotian and Yaochi, after a rough count of the edible Flat Peaches and their inventory, immediately began sending out invitations. They also publicized the event on the Heavenly Dao network and organized a live broadcast of the Flat Peach Banquet. At the banquet, except for a few who were in critical closed-door cultivation and could not attend, sending a disciple or follower instead, most of those who received invitations honored them with their presence. After eating their fill and praising the marvelous effects of the Flat Peaches, they all remained for the time being, not departing immediately. Some chose to join the Heavenly Court, while others decided to stay longer to witness the formal establishment of the Heavenly Court.
After a few more days of busy work, all preparations were complete. Haotian and Yaochi officially declared the establishment of the Heavenly Court in the Lingxiao Treasure Hall on the twenty-fourth heaven. They announced that the Heavenly Court, by the decree of the Dao Ancestor and the permission of the Heavenly Dao, would henceforth act on behalf of Heaven, maintaining order and balance. From this moment on, immeasurable merit began to gather in the Heavenly Realm. However, as the matter was not yet concluded, the merit was only accumulating and had not yet descended.
In response, Haotian, unhurriedly, followed Ding Yun's previous instructions. He established the concepts of time, the cycle of the four seasons, and the concepts of spring growth and winter storage. He selected the most powerful cultivators from the Dragon, Phoenix, White Tiger, and Black Tortoise clans at that time and enfeoffed them as the Four Celestial Beings, establishing them in the four corners of heaven and earth for protection. Subsequently, he enfeoffed the twelve Yuan Chen deities and deities of the stars such as the Taiyin Star Lord and the Taiyang Star Lord. Through his arrangements, the order of the entire world was essentially brought under the control of the Heavenly Court. Heaven was governed by celestial beings, and the earth was managed by earth spirits. Even the Samsara Daoist held a nominal position above the Heavenly Court, indicating the vast scope of the Heavenly Court's dominion. If the Heavenly Dao network controlled the world in secret, then the Heavenly Court was the entity that the Heavenly Dao network put forward to manage and control the world in the open.
As Haotian completed the enfeoffment of the last minor deity position, the immeasurable merit in the heavens finally fully gathered and began to descend. Along with the merit came various divine positions and statuses, such as Haotian's Heavenly Emperor position, Yaochi's Queen Mother position, as well as the divine official positions and heavenly statuses of other deities. It could be said that everyone who had just been officially enfeoffed received some merit, with the Heavenly status bestowed upon them, the difference being only in the quantity.
Of course, this was not the end. Subsequently, Haotian and Yaochi, empowered by the immeasurable merit and divine positions, successfully attained the Dao, similar to the Samsara Daoist. They attained the Dao through three channels. However, as there were two of them attaining the Dao and they also had to distribute a significant amount of merit to the other enfeoffed deities present, they only managed to barely break through to the Hunyuan Da Luo Golden Immortal realm. They could not compare to the Samsara Daoist, who directly reached the Perfection of Hunyuan Da Luo Golden Immortal. However, if they worked together in the Heavenly Realm and mobilized its power, they could contend with and even suppress the Samsara Daoist who had left the mortal realm. In essence, they held a certain advantage on their home turf.
Following this, naturally, there were congratulations from everyone, more onlookers who wished to join the Heavenly Court, and Haotian and Yaochi subsequently held another Flat Peach Banquet and expounded on the Dao. By this time, Ding Yun had already left the Heavenly Dao Palace and sought out her other disciples, one by one, to provide them with personalized guidance for their Dao-proving.
In the period that followed, Ding Yun's disciples successively attained the Dao. Under Ding Yun's guidance, the Creation Daoist, based on the current world's landscape and using the world as a foundation, created the human race, which contained the mysteries of the world. He successfully attained the Dao first through the creation Law, and then through merit, simultaneously obtaining the position of the Lord of Humanity. He too directly reached the Perfection of Hunyuan Da Luo Golden Immortal realm. Pan Piao attained the Dao through the creation of heaven and earth. With Ding Yun's help, he directly opened a boundless world outside the Eternal World, which surpassed the Great Thousand Worlds. Ultimately, he incorporated the entire boundless world into his body, transforming it into sustenance for his physical cultivation. Although his realm was difficult to categorize due to his lack of focus on magical power, his strength was undoubtedly comparable to the Perfection of Hunyuan Da Luo Golden Immortal, even potentially rivaling the Hunyuan Wuji Da Luo Golden Immortal. Excluding the bestowal of divine positions and the amplification of the world, if compared outside the world, he was the most powerful among Ding Yun's disciples.