Reborn in Liangshan: I built the strongest lineup

At the end of 1114, Ren Yuan was at Liangshan. He adopted Yi as the name of his state and Hua as his title of king, and officially proclaimed himself king!

At the moment Ren Yuan proclaimed himself king, his state of mind improved, and he finally understood the age-old question of who he really was!

Therefore, he successfully broke through to the highest realm of martial arts pursued by all martial artists in the world—the pinnacle realm! As a result, he rose two places in the Liangshan martial arts rankings, replacing Wang Jin and becoming the new seventh in the world! Wang Jin, who was originally seventh, moved up to eighth place, and Lu Zhishen, who was originally eighth, moved up to ninth place.

For Ren Yuan, this was a double blessing!

Ren Yuan was overjoyed. He even thought he was a genius, otherwise how could he have broken through the realm by simply establishing a country?

"You think you're so great?"

But Zhou Tong, as the master, was responsible for giving Ren Yuan a good beating at this moment.

"Master, isn't that right?"

Ren Yuan was somewhat puzzled.

"Of course not. Tell me, what does it feel like to break through to a higher realm?"

Zhou Tong asked Ren Yuan.

"Well... how should I put it, I feel like I've fallen into the water and I'm likely to keep sinking. Personally, I feel like the deeper I sink, the better."

Ren Yuan tried to describe his understanding of the pinnacle, because Lin Chong had told him before that every person at the pinnacle has their own understanding and perception of this realm, so this thing cannot be explained or taught to others.

"That's interesting."

Zhou Dong stroked his beard. To be honest, this was the first time in all these years that he had heard someone describe it like this.

"So, roughly where are you located?"

“Master, I’m from the spot where it just sank…”

Ren Yuan said somewhat embarrassedly that he had only just sunk down.

"Okay, I think I understand now."

Zhou Tong nodded. Although it was rather eccentric, he roughly understood that all martial arts paths lead to the same goal.

“You’ve only just sunk. According to you, your senior brothers have probably been sunk for a long time. As for me, judging from your statement, I should have sunk to the bottom.”

"So you still have a long way to go. Besides, you're just lucky, kid. It's because you became a king and established a kingdom that you have a different aura, which allowed you to break through to the next level smoothly. Strictly speaking, you took a shortcut."

"Yes, Master."

Faced with Zhou Tong's guidance, Ren Yuan obediently bowed his head and followed orders, because he couldn't be proud in front of Zhou Tong at all.

However, this is also a good thing, after all, Ren Yuan's status is different now, and if he gets carried away, he may implicate many people.

"Has the date for your official coronation as king been set?"

Zhou Tong asked Ren Yuan.

"It's settled, Master."

Ren Yuan said that he never had to worry about these things, as he had two Taoist professionals under his command, Gongsun Sheng and Qiao Daoqing, who would handle everything very well.

Furthermore, to ensure Ren Yuan's smooth ascension to the throne, Tao Zongwang ordered the engineering corps to prioritize the construction of a sacrificial altar for Ren Yuan at Liangshan. In his words, "Brother has worked so hard for so many years; this time it must be a grand ceremony!"

"Alright, on the day of the ceremony, you better be in top form!"

"Yes, Master!"

……

In 1114 AD, the fourth year of the Zhenghe reign of the Song Dynasty, in the twelfth month, a large flag fluttered atop a small hill in Liangshan Marsh!

This is the location chosen by Gongsun Sheng and others, the place where Ren Yuan offered sacrifices to Heaven and declared himself king. Tao Zongwang has been leading people to work continuously to build an altar for offering sacrifices to Heaven here!

This altar is twelve zhang high in the center, with four smaller altars on each side, each nine zhang high. There are five altars in total. When all five altars are opened at the same time, it represents the five directions of the world celebrating together!

Around the five altars, banners and flags for royal processions had been prepared. Here, I must commend Hou Jian's craftsmanship; the banners he made looked even more imposing than those of the Zhao Song imperial family!

Because the terrain of this altar was quite interesting—with a raised mountain in the middle and low, flat land all around—many Liangshan people had gathered around the altar to watch the spectacle. After all, many of them had never seen anyone claim to be a king in their lives.

Today, Ren Yuan is proclaiming himself king, and Liangshan allows the common people to attend the ceremony. So, the people brought their stools over, found good seats, and waited for it to begin.

The Liangshan soldiers also maintained strict guard around the altar. Li Yun led the Liangshan constables to patrol among the people to ensure safety, while the Liangshan patrol battalion, led by Xue Yong, was on high alert, patrolling again and again!

"The chieftain is here! The chieftain is here!"

Not long after, Ren Yuan slowly appeared in everyone's sight, sitting in a large carriage drawn by four warhorses. His junior brother, Yue Fei, was driving the carriage for him.

The carriage stopped in front of a red carpet that led to the altar. Ren Yuan stood up and waved to all the soldiers and civilians of Liangshan, which drew very enthusiastic cheers!

"The chieftain is mighty!"

"Long live the chieftain!"

……

Amidst enthusiastic cheers, Ren Yuan steadily alighted from the carriage and strode confidently toward the altar, with Yue Fei following closely behind a few steps behind.

Wherever he went, the elite Liangshan soldiers guarding both sides of the red carpet knelt down in turn. At the foot of the hill, Lu Junyi, Lu Zhishen, Li Jun and Lin Chong, the four leaders of the four armies, were already waiting with their respective commanders and deputy commanders!

Today, they were all dressed in red and colorful decorations, and they looked very energetic!

"Good job, brothers!"

Ren Yuan said this from the bottom of his heart.

"It's no trouble at all, please come up on stage, brother!"

The four army leaders spoke in unison. Ren Yuan nodded to them and continued walking uphill. The four army leaders also lagged behind a few steps and followed Ren Yuan along with Yue Fei!

After they all went up, the other generals and deputy generals of the four armies lined up in order and followed Ren Yuan to the foot of the altar.

Here, the seven-member strategist group (Wen Huanzhang and Wang Yin, who were maintaining the situation in Goryeo) was already waiting.

Hsiao Chia-hui and Hsu Kuan-chung stood at the front. After exchanging a glance, they stepped forward together and said in unison:

"Please, elder brother, ascend the altar! The crown, jewels, and ribbons have been presented!"

The crowd followed the two men in bowing, while on the other side, Hou Jian held a black dragon robe, Jin Dajian held the royal seal, and Xiao Rang held the coronation edict, loudly proclaiming Ren Yuan's achievements to the surroundings!

Of course, he doesn't really need to read it, because everyone in Liangshan knows that the chieftain is exceptionally good!

On the altar, Zhou Tong stood with his hands behind his back. On the platform in front of him was a crown, which was Ren Yuan's crown!

What Zhou Tong had to do was put it on Ren Yuan!

"Master!"

Ren Yuan steadily ascended the platform and bowed to Zhou Tong.

"Great, you look very energetic today!"

Zhou Tong patted Ren Yuan on the shoulder. He was very satisfied with Ren Yuan's appearance today. Then Zhou Tong gestured for Ren Yuan to lower his head.

Then, he picked up the crown, and to Ren Yuan's surprise, this crown actually had twelve tassels! (That is, twelve rows of beaded curtains)

"Master, this..."

Ren Yuan was somewhat surprised, because according to the original regulations of the Han Dynasty, the twelve-tassel crown was a crown that only the emperor could wear, and later generations basically followed this system.

Ren Yuan is merely proclaiming himself king today; logically speaking, he shouldn't be using that term.

"It's okay, just wear it. You'll have to wear it eventually anyway."

Zhou Tong didn't care about all that. He simply picked up the crown and solemnly put it on Ren Yuan's head!

"Kid, from now on, you'll have to carry the entire nation on your shoulders!"

……