"Hao Tian was delighted, using a meaningless position, pulling the clone of Nuwa's disciple into his own camp. This move is definitely a profit."
"The Phoenix, who is from the Fengzhi tribe, is a bit of a deterrent to other forces, carrying a bit of original sin. For Hao Tian, it's just another matter. He has accepted the Sea Dragon Kings and the Underworld; a single Phoenix is hardly an issue and may even show the legitimacy of TianTian from the side."
The moment the phoenix joined the heavenly court, a trace of the court's faintly detectable fortune split off and fell upon her head. In the future, as the court's fortune surged, she would also benefit. If the heavenly court were to collapse, she would suffer misfortune as well. It's that simple.
This matter of blessing the gods was actually orchestrated by Hao Tian. If he hadn't gone to the Zixiao Palace to complain, the six sages wouldn't have signed the list of blessed gods. He has a say in this matter of blessing the gods.
The Dao of Heaven originally defaulted to Deng Chanyu to hold the position of Liuhe Xingjun. Now that her avatar has taken this role, it can also be said that "The tide cannot be reversed, but small matters can be changed." The moment Liuhe Xingjun was sealed away by Hao Tian, the entry for Liuhe Xingjun on the List of Blessed Gods vanished.
"Hahaha, Xingjun, follow me, the old man will introduce to you the duties and subordinates of the Liuhe Hall." Taibai Xingjun led the phoenix to her place of employment.
The phoenix was a bit surprised: "Is there also an underling?"
"It's a given."
"How many subordinates do you have?"
Taibai Xingjun counted the fingers for her: "Thirty-six inferior officials, and seventy-two subordinates."
The phoenix was far more straightforward than Deng Chanyu, with all her emotions displayed openly on her face. Before she could fully smile, Taibai Xingjun feigned a laugh: "Of course, now all of these are still lacking."
"Insufficient? How insufficient?"
"Thirty-six officials lacking, and seventy-two subordinates lacking."
The phoenix: "..."
It seems like there's not even a single subordinate, right?
The Ten Thousand Immortal General's ten thousand navy, at least they have a name "Ten Thousand" and "Naval Army," two subordinates in total. I'm even worse than old pig!
She muttered to herself, somewhat unhappy.
Taibai Xingjun hurriedly comforted her, "Don't worry, don't worry. I'll assign you two heavenly soldiers to assist you shortly."
Just those two heavenly soldiers, still "allocated," the phoenix was speechless. However, thinking of the nine out of ten troops in the heavenly court going to Qianji Dong, she couldn't say anything.
They talked about work as they walked towards the northern gate of the heavenly court.
Through her conversation with Taibai Xingjun, the phoenix also gained a general understanding of the composition of the various factions in the TianTian court.
The area around the Southern Heaven Gate is where the officials' palaces are located, and Sun Wukong often enters the heavenly court from the Southern Heaven Gate. One reason is that it is closer to the mortal realm, and another reason is that its defensive strength is relatively weak.
The Eastern Heaven Gate is the strongest in terms of power, guarded by the Taiyi Jiu Ku Tianzun. This powerful figure is not related to Taibai Zhenren (Taizi the Immortal). He is an old school Daoist quasi-sage, and he also holds the title of Dongji Qinghua Emperor.
The Taiyi Jiu Ku Tianzun is not constantly patrolling the gate, as his duties are quite limited. In fact, he might only come to the heavenly court once every hundred Yuanhui (eons), but even lesser deities would hesitate to pass through the Eastern Heaven Gate frequently due to their fear of disturbing the immortality meditation of Dongji Qinghua Emperor.
The Western Heaven Gate is guarded by the Emperor Gouchen. He has not yet returned to his position, and the List of Blessed Gods does not mention who was enshrined as the Emperor Gouchen. According to the saying "The image of Gouchen is actually Qilin, positioned in the center, governing Wuyi days, being a benevolent beast ruled by the earth element," it is certain that this figure must come from the Qilin lineage.
Once a warlike and capable Qilin tribe, they were reduced to being musical and artistic by the harsh reality. It is truly pitiful. However, it is difficult to say which specific Qilin was invited to the heavenly court.
There is another theory that states that Lei Zhenzi is the "star of the military." Specifically, which star this military star refers to, no one knows.
After the war of blessing the gods, there were a total of seven surviving disciples from the San Dai of the Chen School, namely Li Jing, Jin Zha, Mu Zha, Nezha, Yang Jian, Wei Hu, and Lei Zhenzi. The first six all had obvious destinations. Only Lei Zhenzi seemed to have disappeared into thin air. This gave rise to a theory that suggests Lei Zhenzi was Emperor Gouchen descending to earth to meet a disaster.
The phoenix has no interest in the Western Paradise and is unlikely to join the Qilin tribe. Her office, the Liuhe Hall, is located in the northern part of the heavenly court, almost near the Northern Heaven Gate.
As a Southern Phoenix, she has been assigned to serve in the "North" region, which could be considered "serving in a foreign land," right?
The Northern Heaven Gate is currently also in a state of unguarded. The future guardian of this place will be the True Martial Immortal Driving Out Demons. Wang Linggong, whom Sun Wukong struggled to defeat with his magical staff, is a senior general under the True Martial Immortal. This level of subordinate, the True Martial Immortal has no fewer than thirty-six!
The phoenix looked at the Northern Heaven Gate from a distance. The gatehouse is quite magnificent. However, the heavenly soldiers guarding it are not very powerful. She feels that she could blow these soldiers away with a single breath.
The heavenly court's procedures are very cumbersome. Now that she has become the Liuhe Xingjun, Hao Tian's appointment is just the first step, and the phoenix must take up her duties at her Liuhe Hall, which is considered as the official return of the Xingjun.
During Sun Wukong's era, the power of the heavenly court had reached its peak, and even a clerk responsible for managing the celestial horses, Bi Ma Wen, had two immortals as his attendants.
The current state of the heavenly court is humble, using a hundred or so immortals as attendants? You must be thinking of the Peach Fruit to eat.
The heavenly court has fewer gods working on things, but there are many buildings. They all look like ancient architectural styles from the early ages. The Liuhe Hall of the phoenix has been prepared early, and she can take office now.
Looking at the outwardly decent yet dilapidated palace, she asked, "Is this where I will be working from now on?"
Taibai Xingjun nodded vigorously: "That's right, that's right, that's right."
"And I can tidy up and repair it afterwards, right?"
"Of course, Xingjun, do as you wish."
"If a government official does not maintain the office, it is not in line with the current situation of the phoenix. At present, there are a large number of officials lacking in the heavenly court. She can relax and play on earth, but once the worship of gods is completed, she must come to work seriously."
Working in the heavenly court, of course, is not free labor.
Doing a thing, there is merit in it.
If we follow the method of listing on the List of Blessed Gods and then being blessed, the merit would be split evenly between the List of Blessed Gods as a middleman and the TianTian, and it would have little to do with the actual laborers. Even if merits were given, it would only be a small amount.
Now that the phoenix is ascending to heaven to serve as an official without the intermediary role of the List of Blessed Gods, she will share the merit equally with the TianTian. For doing 100 merits, she can earn 50 merits herself.
The merit of the heavenly court is far inferior to the merit of the Dao.
Normal merit granted by the Dao can enhance one's cultivation, avoid disasters, refine treasures, bring one's wishes to come true, and merge with the Merit Golden Chariot.
The merit gained from working in the heavenly court can only be used "for specific purposes." That is, it can enhance one's cultivation, but cannot refine treasures or avoid disasters.
This is good news for the phoenix, as she lacks cultivation but does not need the Daoist merit for avoiding disasters.
