Immortal Dao is dead, I am the mastermind behind it all.

Shen Moyan spent the next three days at the academy.

The rain had just stopped in the courtyard, and a gentle breeze was blowing. A few peach blossoms drifted through the gaps between the hanging screens and landed next to the stacks of yellowed scrolls inside the room.

Shen Moyan studied these books diligently, gaining a deeper understanding of cultivation.

"An Introduction to the Hundred Arts of Cultivation" begins at the Qi Gathering Realm and revolves around the four essential arts of cultivation: alchemy, talismans, artifact crafting, and formations. It details the hundreds of arts derived from these four. Most well-trained cultivators will choose one of these four as their primary art and another as a secondary art, while highly skilled, ambitious cultivators will choose to cultivate all four. After all, these are the foundation of cultivation combat.

"Dharma, Companion, Wealth, and Abode: All Indispensable" explains the importance of cultivation methods, Daoist companions, wealth, and grottoes. The author also emphasizes to newcomers that Daoist companions are not spouses in the narrow sense of ordinary people, but rather fellow practitioners who walk together on the path of cultivation, with a mutually supportive relationship—in short, a good network of connections.

The scrolls in Kongsang Academy only describe the first four realms of cultivation. As for the realms beyond the Guicang realm, they are euphemistically called the warnings to students not to be overly ambitious.

"It seems that even in an academy, one's understanding is still limited."

Shen Moyan held a copy of "A General History of Mountains and Seas" in his hand, which detailed the major events that had occurred since the ancient war and the collapse of the immortal path.

"This general history is full of flattery about the current supreme ruler of the Holy Court, praising the 'Xuanhuang Emperor'."

This book is full of flattery; without the Xuanhuang Emperor, there would be no relatively stable Three Thousand Provinces of Mountains and Seas as we know it today.

Putting aside the fanatical personality cult, objectively speaking, what this book says is not wrong.

The Emperor's might extends across the eight wastelands, and his heavenly army is overwhelmingly powerful. He is a ruthless figure who has emerged from chaos.

Millions of years ago, the mountains and seas were in chaos, demons roamed freely, immortals perished and their paths to immortality disappeared. The ancient calamities brought chaos to the world, and the lives of mortals were as worthless as grass.

The Xuanhuang Emperor suddenly appeared, established the Holy Court, and set forth heavenly laws, forcing the twenty-one immortal lineages to go into seclusion. They could only dare to emerge occasionally every ten thousand years to observe the situation outside.

He slaughtered all the demon races and drove the remaining demons to the eight wastelands and four seas beyond the three thousand states, and from then on, humanity flourished.

What is cultivation? This is cultivation! The Xuanhuang Emperor is the best example of how great power originates from an individual.

In the three thousand states today, mortals who can stand peacefully in the sunlight would not be too much to kowtow to the Xuanhuang Emperor a hundred times. If He had not established the Holy Court, this world would still be a breeding ground for demons and those man-eating cultivators.

What exactly happened in ancient times?

Shen Moyan searched through historical records, wanting to know the background of the Xuanhuang Emperor's birth.

But all they received were four words: "Born by Heaven."

It cannot be spoken of, cannot be investigated, cannot be described. Any attempt to pry into the origins of the Emperor is taboo.

"Furthermore, what is the connection between this [Origin Preaching Stele] and this Emperor?"

Shen Moyan carefully consulted the general history and looked at the timeline, discovering that the time of the appearance of the [Origin Preaching Stele] coincided with the time when the Xuanhuang Emperor began to be active.

"And then there are the Four Emperors of the Holy Court. Of the four Immortal Lords in the Holy Court, only Immortal Lord Jiuge was born within the last 100,000 years..."

"Forget it, I won't think about it too much. My own cultivation is the most important thing right now." Shen Moyan tossed aside "A General History of Mountains and Seas" and picked up another book, "An Introduction to Swordsmanship," and began to read it with great interest.

Another day passed, and Shen Moyan left the academy.

Unfortunately, the academy rarely mentions materials related to the Heavenly Demon Ritual, so Shen Moyan has to obtain the materials himself.

"The path of cultivation lies in diligence; young Jiang was right about you."

Zhou Zhanpeng had just finished teaching and came to visit this young man who was quite talented.

"Thank you very much, Instructor Zhou. I have benefited greatly from your teaching."

"Not at all, I didn't teach you anything. Besides, you're also at the Transcendent Realm. We can treat each other as equals."

"Thank you very much, Fellow Daoist Zhou."

After exchanging pleasantries, Shen Moyan asked if he could use his status as a student to see the stone rubbing of the Kongsang County Propagation Stele. Zhou Zhanpeng was surprised at first, but then readily agreed.

"You've come at the right time; I was just about to lead a group of students to enter the Dao."

"If it is 1-3 PM seven days from now, and you have nothing to do, then go to the plaza below the Gaoshengtian Tower."

…………

Construction and Maintenance Department.

With some time still remaining before the date agreed upon with Zhou Zhanpeng, Shen Moyan arrived at the Construction Department to clock in, using the deputy director's token given to her by Xu Mingxuan.

Wearing a concealment talisman, Shen Moyan could better conceal his physical aura, making his body appear more mature to others' spiritual senses. This, in turn, interfered with their ability to observe his bone age.

"The Construction and Maintenance Department is responsible for civil engineering projects such as the construction of city wall defense arrays, teleportation arrays, and spirit gathering arrays."

"Xu Mingxuan's job is to provide logistical support, such as transporting ethereal mica, a special material related to spatial magic."

Xu Mingxuan, this spy from the Biyang Sword Sect, actually managed to infiltrate the Holy Court's rear, which shows he has some skill.

Shen Moyan is now disguised as Xu Mingxuan and recalls the other's instructions before leaving, thus figuring out the work of the Construction Department.

"Fellow Daoist Xu, this batch of goods is ready. Farewell."

In the backyard of the Construction Bureau, Erxuan, who had come to collect the materials, tucked them into his sleeves and left immediately.

"This job is a bit easy. I just sit in the office every day, check the logistics materials that are delivered, and after confirming that they are correct, I hand them over to the right person."

"At worst, I'll just be responsible for receiving the materials reported by the front-line projects, giving them the required amount, taking spirit stones from the treasury, and using public funds to purchase them from various merchants."

Shen Moyan sat bored in the golden nanmu chair, writing down all the records of materials coming in and going out in the ledger.

Suddenly, a series of messages came through the deputy chief's token:

"Fellow Daoist Xu, there was a problem with the number of Fire Melting Pearls you gave me last time. After they were placed on the array base, the fire went out and the water flourished, causing the Five Elements of the Four Seasons Grand Array in the county to be disordered for several days."

"It's been raining every day, disrupting the natural rhythms of the spiritual plants in the fields near the city. The spiritual farmers are making a fuss every day, and they've almost taken their hoes to the courtyard."

Upon receiving this information, Shen Moyan immediately took out the previous account book and compared it.

"Not enough Fireballs? How is that possible?"

He checked the ledgers, his expression strange.

"The Cen family? This Fire Melting Bead was bought from the Cen family?"

Shen Moyan was momentarily disoriented.

The Cen family was a trading company. To buy a Fire Melting Pearl, one had to go through this trading company and then through the Construction Bureau. The Fire Melting Pearl changed hands several times before it reached the construction site.

"That's a problem with the supplier. Wait, they'll deliver it again within three days," Shen Moyan replied.

"How much do you need?"

"The entire Kongsang County needs them, a total of 30,000," the person in charge opposite the token replied seriously, as if he had done meticulous calculations.

"Only 30,000?"

Shen Moyan was surprised and fell into deep thought as he looked at the account book which stated that the number of coins had reached 300,000.

Suddenly, he realized what was happening.

Xu Mingxuan from the ditch embezzled more than 270,000 Fire Melting Pearls. Even plucking a feather from a passing goose wouldn't be as ruthless as you!

Shen Moyan got up and rummaged through the table, eventually finding the blueprint for the Four Seasons Grand Array of Kongsang County.

He quickly mastered the formation in the past few days, and he could roughly understand the rotation of the five elements of spiritual energy.

However, the more Shen Moyan calculated, the gloomier his expression became, and the corners of his mouth twitched from time to time.

"The five elements counteract each other. The earth veins of Kongsang County contain a great deal of true fire, so it is not lacking in the spiritual energy of the fire element."

"Therefore, maintaining the entire Four Seasons Grand Array only requires three thousand Fire Melting Pearls to ensure its operation for over a hundred years. Why the hell do we need so many Fire Melting Pearls?"

Shen Moyan stood frozen in place, unable to look directly at the entire Construction Department.

Suddenly, the deputy chief's token began to tremble again.

"The Chief Justice of the State will be visiting Kongsang County this month. All departments in Kongsang County are requested to prepare for his arrival and carry out their daily duties accordingly."

After seeing the information above, Shen Moyan was stunned for a moment before bursting into a rage.

Xu Mingxuan, you're trying to use me as a scapegoat, aren't you!