Xiuxian: I studied abroad in modern times

Chapter 631 General Assembly, Fundamental Law

"Welcome the Emperor!"

The gates of the Nine Mountains Realm opened wide, and the Nine Nether Emperor led Yan Changge and the others in, but the expression on his face was somewhat awkward.

Yan Changge chuckled to himself. The Nine Nether Emperor had whispered to him before, saying that even the Heavenly River hadn't made him submit back then, and that he could be summoned and dismissed at will.

The Nine Mountains Sect doesn't even have a Golden Immortal anymore, so what...

In short, it's about going against the Heavenly Spirits and disrespecting him.

Despite the complaints, the Emperor still expended effort to condense an avatar and bring them to the Nine Mountains Sect when they summoned him.

After all, given the Emperor's arrogance, going back on his word would be more humiliating than bowing down to the Nine Mountains Sect.

But the frustration and inner turmoil are always there.

"Greetings, Sect Leader." As expected, upon seeing the Heavenly Emperor, the Nine Nether Emperor paused for a moment, then cupped his hands and said, "What are your orders for summoning me here?"

"I wouldn't say I gave orders, but I have some matters to discuss with the Emperor." The Heavenly Emperor gestured for the Nine Nether Emperor and the others to enter, saying, "However, the most important matter is that we invite the Emperor to attend the first sect council meeting of our Nine Mountains Sect."

"Sect Council Meeting?"

"Oh, it's the grand council ceremony that all cultivators belonging to the Nine Mountains Sect can participate in," the Heavenly Emperor explained. "Now that Your Majesty is a member of the Nine Mountains Sect, you are naturally qualified to participate in this grand ceremony."

“Qualifications…” Emperor Jiuyou paused, silently pondering the word, then frowned and asked, “What is the purpose of this Nine Mountains Council?”

The Heavenly Emperor stopped in his tracks, thought for a moment, and said, "It is the true core of the Nine Mountains Sect."

Having grasped the implication, the Nine Nether Emperor's eyes widened slightly.

Yan Changge watched from the side, knowing that the Emperor had become curious. To be honest, he was quite interested in what the Emperor had said as well.

……

The number of disciples in the Nine Mountains Sect is actually quite large now. Over the past hundred years, the Nine Mountains Sect has enrolled anywhere from two thousand to tens of thousands of students each year, and the total number of disciples in the Nine Mountains Sect today is several hundred thousand.

Therefore, the Nine Mountains Sect Council did not gather in one place, but was divided into several sub-venues.

The teachers and students of Jiushan University stay at Jiushan University, the disciples of Tiangong Pavilion are in the factory, and there are even some outside Jiushan Realm who are in charge of the Thick Earth Magnetic Array.

They could only watch and participate in the grand ceremony through the Tongjian (Comprehensive Mirror for Aid in Government).

However, there were also tens of thousands of core disciples and elder representatives present at the main venue.

The Heavenly Palace was a bit too small to accommodate everyone, so the Heavenly Emperor and his entourage decided to move the main venue to the theater in the Heavenly Market Enclosure.

As the group entered the theater, Emperor Jiuyou was welcomed to his seat by Uncle Pang and the others. They watched as the Heavenly Emperor walked to a high platform in the center of the theater.

The Heavenly Emperor stood on a high platform, and above the theater, eight light screens appeared, each displaying the image of the Heavenly Emperor.

"Fellow disciples," the Heavenly Emperor said, looking around as if at all the disciples present, "Today is the first council meeting of our Nine Mountains Sect, and also the founding day of our Nine Mountains Immortal Court."

"Nine Mountains Immortal Court?" Yan Changge withdrew his gaze from Yan Wushuang, and upon hearing the Emperor's mutterings, he was also somewhat puzzled.

Is the Nine Mountains Sect going to change its name?
"The Nine Mountains Sect now has 653,203 cultivators, and the Tongjian has already joined this conference," the Heavenly Emperor continued. "The first council meeting is to invite all fellow disciples to discuss and agree on the Nine Mountains Celestial Court's 'Nine Mountains Heavenly Rules.' Each rule must be voted on by both those present and those attending remotely. Only if more than 50% approve it will it officially take effect."

"The General Outline of Heavenly Laws?" Emperor Jiuyou slowly sat up straight, seemingly sensing that something was amiss.

"First, we need to vote on the 'General Outline of the Heavenly Rules of the Nine Mountains Immortal Court,' which was drafted by me and revised by the Supreme Elders after collecting the ideas of all my fellow disciples."

Yan Changge raised her head and looked at the light screen, where densely packed rules appeared.

In my ear, the Heavenly Emperor was reading the rules and regulations while explaining them:

"The General Principles of the Heavenly Rules of the Nine Mountains Immortal Court are the laws that everyone in our Nine Mountains Sect must abide by. Fellow disciples, please review each rule and take out your copies of the General Principles to conduct a secret ballot."

Yan Changge held the Zizhi Tongjian, swallowed hard, and suddenly felt that the thing was heavy.

"The first general principle of the first volume of the Nine Mountains Immortal Court's Heavenly Laws: Within the territory of the Nine Mountains Immortal Court, authority belongs to all cultivators and mortals, who shall jointly protect the peace of the realm."

"Please vote."

"..."

"by!"

"Secondly, the Nine Mountains Immortal Court takes the Nine Mountains Sect as its supreme authority and governs all forces. The purpose of the Nine Mountains Sect is to safeguard the Immortal Court's fairness and justice, the inheritance of its lineage, the prosperity of its realm, and the safety of all living beings, which is witnessed by all living beings of the Immortal Court."

"..."

"by!"

"The third provision states that within the Nine Mountains Immortal Court, all living beings shall enjoy the right to life protection and the right to education."

"……pass!"

"Article 4: The spiritual veins, mineral resources, and secret treasure lands under the jurisdiction of the Nine Mountains Immortal Court are all owned by the Immortal Court and are allocated and used by the Nine Mountains Sect in a coordinated manner, according to the amount of cultivation contribution, merit, and achievement."

"……pass!"

"Article 5..."

The general principles of the "Nine Mountains Immortal Court Heavenly Rules" are actually not long, only nine articles, but the Heavenly Emperor explained them in great detail, and the disciples of the Nine Mountains Sect reviewed them very carefully, taking a long time.

Yan Changge listened attentively. He secretly glanced at the Emperor and noticed that he was holding the Tongjian and voting with great enthusiasm. His expression was exactly the same as the other disciples, showing a strong sense of participation.

Is there still that awkward feeling from before?

"I hereby declare that the General Provisions of the Nine Mountains Celestial Court's Heavenly Laws have been adopted!"

The Heavenly Emperor paused for a moment, and upon hearing the cheers of the Three Enclosures and Four Symbols, he couldn't help but smile.

"Now, I would like to ask all fellow disciples to begin reviewing the 'Nine Mountains Immortal Court's Code of Duties'."

"Regulations for the division of duties?"

Yan Changge looked up again and saw that more rules appeared on the eight light screens.

"The first volume of the 'Nine Mountains Immortal Court's Regulations on the Division of Duties' is the chapter on deliberations. The Nine Mountains Sect Council is the highest deliberation venue of the Immortal Court, and it has the power to revise regulations, make major decisions, and recommend important positions... During the recess, the Supreme Elders Council acts on behalf of the council to handle daily affairs."

After Yan Changge looked up and read the message, she realized why the Heavenly Emperor had invited them earlier—it was because they were now qualified.

Within the structure of the Nine Mountains Immortal Court, the Nine Mountains Sect Council wields considerable power.

On the one hand, they can amend the Heavenly Laws and approve various proposals from the Nine Mountains Sect.

On the other hand, they can also recommend leaders of other important institutions.

In some ways, his power was greater than that of the previous leaders of the Nine Mountains Sect.

Of course, the truly powerful one is the Supreme Elders Council.

"The second volume of the 'Regulations on the Division of Duties,' the Administrative Chapter, states that the Nine Mountains Celestial Court's Executive Council is the highest executive body, responsible for coordinating all affairs related to the Celestial Court's education, people's livelihood, resource allocation, merit calculation, and so on..."

Yan Changge understood after watching for a while.

The Executive Council actually inherited most of the functions of the Nine Mountains Sect. It can be said that the Executive Council has enormous actual power. In fact, most of the disciples of the Nine Mountains Sect are managed by the Executive Council.

Thinking of this, Yan Changge frowned. Although this format was unfamiliar to him, he understood one thing very well:
If you let someone supervise you, it's almost the same as not supervising at all.

From this perspective, the overlapping powers of the Nine Mountains Sect Council and the Executive Council... may not be a good thing.

But after thinking about it, he couldn't help but sigh. This kind of thing was difficult to solve—it wasn't just a matter of checks and balances. The problem was that Xuanwei revered cultivators, and the Nine Mountains Sect, as the representative of the Nine Mountains Immortal Court cultivators, had little power to check and balance them.

It wasn't easy for Zheng Fa to achieve this.

He couldn't think of any other solution.

"……pass!"

"Now, the third volume of the 'Nine Mountains Immortal Court's Division of Duties, Chapter on Supervision,' establishes the Divine Path Supervision Bureau."

Yan Changge suddenly looked up at the light screen.

He had never heard of this organization before. Not only him, but the entire theater buzzed with confusion. As if sensing everyone's incomprehension, the Heavenly Emperor explained, "This organization was actually proposed by Xiao Qing."

"Xiao Qing?"

The Nine Nether Emperor was taken aback, clearly not recognizing the person.

But many people looked at a woman who was in her early twenties, with a beautiful face and seemed a little shy, with her head down.

"Xiao Qing said in her proposal that when our Nine Mountains Sect governs the mortal world, the division of power and responsibility is not clear."

“Some disciples within the sect have taken on the mission.”

"There are also Shinto disciples."

"The two sides often clash with each other."

Upon hearing this, many disciples nodded in agreement, clearly sharing the same sentiment.

"On the other hand, Xiaoqing also mentioned something: some people are just going through the motions, and while others don't harm the people, they never care about the mundane matters. They only care about completing their tasks and even oppress the common people..."

At this point, the Heavenly Emperor couldn't help but sigh.

Many of the Nine Mountains Sect's systems have actually been in place for over a hundred years, and some of their drawbacks have inevitably begun to surface.

Even though Zheng Fa and other high-ranking officials have always been careful, not all disciples are worthy of trust.

"Therefore, Xiaoqing proposed to define the responsibilities of the gods, no longer participate in the governance of the mortal world, and instead focus their main efforts on supervision."

The Nine Nether Emperor's eyes lit up, as if he had thought of something.

"In the future, the governance of the Celestial Court will be entirely handled by the Executive Council, and junior disciples can utilize the Thick Earth Magnetic Array."

While the Thick Earth Magnetic Array has undergone improvements over the years, its power has not increased significantly, but its functionality has become much more diverse.

"As for disciples who practice the Shinto path, they will be transferred to the Shinto Oversight Bureau, where they will be responsible for supervision and will have the power to impeach and review cases."

The Nine Nether Emperor slapped his thigh suddenly, seemingly excited.

Even Yan Changge now felt a sense of admiration—Zheng Fa had indeed found a way to maintain balance.

The Divine Path is quite unique within the entire Xuanwei Sect; it is a rare cultivation method that operates from the bottom up.

For anyone practicing the divine way, the suffering of the audience is their suffering, and the calamities of the audience are their calamities.

Therefore, even for the sake of spiritual practice, they are motivated to solve these problems.

On the other hand, they can directly experience the experiences of mortals, and for the Nine Mountains Immortal Court's Executive Office, it is difficult for them to hide this from the Oversight Council.

If the Shinto disciples were involved in governance before, it's possible that they concealed their interests.

Now that the power between the two sides is separated, it allows Shinto disciples to take a more secular stance.

Within the Nine Mountains Immortal Court system, the Divine Path can be seen as the representative of the mortal world, used to supervise the Nine Mountains Sect.

"Volume 4 of the 'Nine Mountains Immortal Court's Regulations on the Division of Duties, Chapter on Military Defense, establishes the Military Academy..."

This is easy to understand; they are responsible for controlling the current military forces of the Nine Mountains Sect, including the Sun-Shooting Army, the Divine Firmament Legion, and the Immortal-Slaying Legion.

The "General Principles of the Heavenly Court of the Nine Mountains" and the "Regulations on the Division of Duties" were complex in content, and by the time they were voted on and passed, the council had already been in session for more than two months.

"The second item on the agenda is to vote on the candidates for the heads of each agency."

"The nomination of candidates shall be discussed and proposed by the Council of Elders."

"Military Academy, candidate: Zheng Fa."

It passed without any surprises.

"Now we will vote on the candidate for the head of the deacon council, Zhang Wuyi."

The crowd picked up the Tongjian and voted, and soon approved Senior Sister Zhang's appointment.

The Nine Netherworld Emperor nodded slightly.

Even Yan Changge breathed a sigh of relief, which showed that Zheng Fa and the others were quite steady and hadn't taken too big a step.

In the organizational structure of the Nine Mountains Immortal Court, the council naturally holds the greatest power, but this organization is not permanent; rather, it is managed on a daily basis by the Supreme Elders Council.

Therefore, there are three positions with the greatest power in the Nine Mountains Sect.

The heads of the Military Academy, the Executive Academy, and the Supervisory Academy are considered the Three Dukes of the Celestial Court.

Given the current situation in Xuanwei, with Zheng Fa and Zhang Wuyi continuing to take charge of the Military Academy and the Executive Academy, the entire Jiushan Sect, from top to bottom, felt much more at ease.

Even the Nine Netherworld Emperor felt more at ease.

Yan Changge was somewhat curious: who would be in charge of the Director of the Supervisory Council?

He thought about it and had a guess: Zheng Fa was the Heavenly Emperor!

The Heavenly Emperor himself had cultivated divine arts and had managed the Nine Mountains Realm for many years; his experience, abilities, and status were all sufficient.

As for the fact that two of the three high-ranking officials are involved, they are actually Daoist couples...

"The head of the Overwatch Council, nominated by the Council of Elders..."

The Heavenly Emperor paused slightly. Yan Changge, somewhat impatient, adjusted her posture, thinking that he was embarrassed to speak about himself.

"Nine Netherworld Emperor!"

"!"

Yan Changge suddenly turned her head and looked at the Emperor, only to see that the Emperor of the Nine Netherworlds was also somewhat bewildered, clearly quite shocked.

Some of the Jiushan disciples were also discussing it, clearly not very satisfied with this candidate.

"The position of the Director of the Oversight Council is established to supervise the powers and responsibilities of all parties in the Celestial Court." The Heavenly Emperor suddenly spoke up. "We invited the Nine Nether Emperor to take up this position in order to find a transcendent person who is not affiliated with the Nine Mountains Sect, so that we can be impartial and fill in any gaps."

The Nine Nether Emperor's expression shifted.

"The Underworld has the Three Lives Stone, which can distinguish truth from falsehood and right from wrong, and is sufficient to conduct a final review of the impeachment cases of the Overwatch Council," the Heavenly Emperor explained, recounting the views of the Supreme Elders on this matter.

On the one hand, they certainly wanted to improve the Nine Mountains Sect's system so that the new Overwatch Council could truly play its role.

The Nine Nether Emperor's strength is enough to ensure that the Oversight Council is not just a figurehead in the Celestial Court.

On the other hand, this is also to absorb the forces of the underworld.

Emperor Jiuyou joined the Jiushan Sect because of a bet, but for a period of time, the relationship between the Jiushan Sect and the Underworld was somewhat awkward—Emperor Jiuyou was too powerful, and the two sides could only be considered allies before, with the Underworld's forces remaining hidden outside the Jiushan Sect.

Appointing Emperor Jiuyou as the Dean of the Supervisory Council was also to allow Emperor Jiuyou, a Taiyi Golden Immortal, to fully integrate into the Jiushan Sect, and to absorb the forces of the Underworld along with him.

Yan Changge sighed inwardly, thinking that Zheng Fa really understood the Emperor; he had him completely under his control.

The head of the Supervisory Council holds a high position of power in the Nine Mountains Immortal Court, and is on equal footing with Zheng Fa and Zhang Wuyi. It can be said that he respects the Emperor very much and gives him a lot of face.

On the other hand, the emperor might look down on other positions and not be that interested.

The Censorate... is just what the Emperor wants.

"Now, fellow disciples, please vote."

The disciples of Jiushan looked at each other, unsure whether they were persuaded by the Heavenly Emperor or by the prestige of Zheng Fa and the others, but they all cast their votes in favor.

"……pass!"

The Heavenly Emperor himself announced this.

The Nine Nether Emperor remained silent for a moment, then stood up, cupped his hands in a gesture of respect to the four directions, and looked solemn and serious.

(End of this chapter)