Chapter One Hundred and Two: Rites and Propriety, Part Two

In the City of the Gods, within the Imperial Palace of the Divine Sovereign, in the Hall of Granting Heaven.

Nan Luo sat upon the Divine Sovereign Throne atop the cloud platform. Radiance streamed around him in ten thousand beams, auspicious splendor shone in a thousand folds, as though he were the sole master of heaven and earth, the full majesty of supreme rulership utterly and unmistakably revealed.

With a gesture from the void, Nan Luo drew the sacred memorial from Fang Yan’s hands. He opened it gently with both hands and regarded the sacred document with stern, brilliant golden eyes.

Nan Luo placed far greater importance on divine script and ritual law than the gods had ever imagined. Not only did he examine every line carefully with his golden eyes, he also used his divine sense to furiously calculate, within his mind, the gains and losses of divine script and ritual law.

The Hall of Granting Heaven was silent. An entire hour passed quietly as Nan Luo studied the memorial.

While the gods waited for Nan Luo to finish reading, their reverence for divine script and ritual law quietly rose to a new height.

Long ago, when Nan Luo ordered the Celestial Venerable of Letters to lead the officials of the Department of Letters in spending one hundred thousand years drafting divine script and ritual law, it had already astonished the gods.

From that moment on, the gods knew Nan Luo attached immense importance to divine script and ritual law.

Thus, the Celestial Venerable of Letters did not dare slight the command of Nan Luo in the slightest. He devoted himself wholeheartedly to leading the officials of the Department of Letters, spending one hundred thousand years drafting divine script and ritual law.

Yet the Celestial Venerable of Letters and the officials of the Department of Letters only understood the true difficulty of the task once they began.

Out of reverence for the order of the Divine Sovereign Nan Luo, they had dared not underestimate the creation of divine script and ritual law.

But when they followed Nan Luo’s requirements and drafted a divine script and code of ritual suitable for all living beings of the myriad races of the primordial wilderness, they finally understood how far from simple this task was.

The myriad races of the primordial wilderness each possessed different customs and cultures.

How difficult it was to devise a script and ritual system applicable to all of them!

What was more, Nan Luo demanded that the divine script fuse the essence of the dragon script, phoenix script, and other forms of writing.

This undeniably raised the difficulty of creating a universal divine script yet again.

The Celestial Venerable of Letters and the officials of the Department of Letters spent a full hundred thousand years investigating the customs and habits of all the myriad races of the primordial wilderness and fusing together the essence of many scripts before they finally managed to produce the ten-thousand-character divine script and ritual law.

However, because so much time had been spent investigating the cultural habits of all races, the actual time devoted to creating the script itself was relatively limited.

Even now, the Celestial Venerable of Letters did not know whether the painstakingly crafted divine script and ritual law he and the officials had produced would satisfy the Divine Sovereign Nan Luo.

Especially after seeing Nan Luo spend a full hour reading the memorial, the Celestial Venerable of Letters grew even less certain.

One must know that among those above the level of gods, all could sweep over things with divine sense, and their speed in reading text was astonishingly fast.

For a peerless powerhouse like Nan Luo, a mere thought of divine consciousness could sweep across everything in an instant.

Moreover, in the past, when Nan Luo carefully read memorials, he never spent more than half an hour.

Now, however, Nan Luo had actually spent more than an hour reading this memorial. Clearly, he attached extraordinary importance to it.

His profound regard only increased the pressure in the Celestial Venerable of Letters’ heart.

If this memorial were sent back unanswered by Nan Luo, how could the Celestial Venerable of Letters ever face the officials of the Department of Letters again?

Inevitably, the officials of the Department of Letters would be unable to lift their heads before the other eleven departments from then on.

Time flew by amid the Celestial Venerable of Letters’ wild conjectures, and before anyone knew it, three hours had passed.

Snap.

The crisp sound rang through the silent Hall of Granting Heaven like a great bell and resonant chime.

Nan Luo gently closed the memorial and looked expressionlessly at the Celestial Venerable of Letters. His golden eyes remained as stern and radiant as ever, without uttering a word.

When the gods heard the memorial close, all were startled, and their eyes could not help but turn toward Nan Luo.

Especially the Celestial Venerable of Letters, whose heart quivered violently. He did not even dare raise his head to meet those stern, brilliant golden eyes, fearing that in the next instant Nan Luo would send the memorial back.

The Celestial Venerable of Wondering Words took in the reactions of the gods, especially the worry of the Celestial Venerable of Letters, and could not help but sigh inwardly: “The majesty of His Majesty Nan Luo grows ever more profound, vast, unmatched, and irresistible. Even the divine scribe Fang Yan of old is nearly unable to bear His Majesty’s威严 anymore.”

The Divine Sovereign was the ruler of the divine court, holding supreme authority. Every word and deed carried immense power.

Nan Luo had already been Divine Sovereign for one hundred thousand years. Through day and night of bitter cultivation, the pressure of the Divine Sovereign upon his body had grown ever more overwhelming and invincible.

Especially for the gods of the divine court, the pressure of the Divine Sovereign Nan Luo was almost impossible to resist; to see Nan Luo was almost to wish to bow.

In the past, only those below the level of ordinary divine lords had been unable to withstand Nan Luo’s pressure. Now even the Celestial Venerable of Letters, one of the divine court’s top experts, was nearly unable to bear it.

Perhaps this was the sorrow of the gods of the divine court.

Enter the divine court, hold power, enjoy immortality, and be incomparably honored, yet also give up one’s independence and dignity and submit to the Divine Sovereign.

Seated upon the Divine Sovereign Throne, Nan Luo naturally saw the gods’ awe, and especially the worry of the Celestial Venerable of Letters. His golden eyes remained as stern and radiant as ever, yet the tranquil waters of his heart quietly stirred with a few ripples.

Feeling the ripples in his inner lake, Nan Luo frowned inwardly and used divine power to erase them in an instant, restoring the calm, ruthless, and supremely holy state of mind.

But even if the ripples on the heart-lake were erased, did that truly mean they no longer existed?

Nan Luo’s golden eyes fixed upon the Celestial Venerable of Letters. A trace of pleased smile suddenly appeared on his divine and martial face as he praised, “Celestial Venerable of Letters, your memorial is very good.”

With only this light praise from Nan Luo, the Celestial Venerable of Letters, who had borne tremendous pressure, could not help but reveal a joyful smile.

He answered happily, “It is all thanks to Your Majesty. This minister would not dare claim the credit.”

“Celestial Venerable of Letters, you are too modest. I merely raised an idea, yet it was you who led the officials of the Department of Letters for one hundred thousand years to draft divine script and ritual law. Your merit is truly immense.”

“When the divine race unites the primordial wilderness in the future, divine script and ritual law will surely spread across all lands and become the foundation of the divine race’s order of rule.”

Nan Luo smiled as he praised the Celestial Venerable of Letters’ achievement, while also expressing his expectations for divine script and ritual law.

“The foundation of the divine race’s order of rule?” The gods were all greatly astonished.

In the present world of the primordial wilderness, where power alone reigned supreme, writing and ritual held no practical use, so the gods naturally found it difficult to determine the value of divine script and ritual law.

However, there was one Celestial Venerable who was an exception: the Celestial Venerable of Fate, Wondering Words, who could see through the future.

Hearing this, the Celestial Venerable of Wondering Words praised aloud, “Your Majesty’s depth of thought and far-reaching vision are beyond what this humble deity can attain.”

Looking at the suddenly enlightened Celestial Venerable of Wondering Words, Nan Luo could not help but smile and say, “Celestial Venerable of Wondering Words, you truly understand my heart.”

All along, the Celestial Venerable of Wondering Words had been the first to grasp Nan Luo’s intent; he truly understood Nan Luo’s heart.

“Celestial Venerables, in your view, how can the beings of the world be made to obey the rule of the divine race for all time?” Nan Luo looked at the gods and asked with a smile.

The Celestial Venerable of Martial Soldiers said solemnly and loudly, “Of course it is force. Only force can conquer everything.”

“Right! Right!” The other Celestial Venerables all agreed with the words of the Celestial Venerable of Martial Soldiers.

“Force can indeed conquer everything,” Nan Luo first agreed with the Celestial Venerable of Martial Soldiers, and then asked, “Can force maintain rule forever?”

“This...” The gods very much wanted to agree, yet also felt that something seemed wrong, and were left speechless.

“Force can conquer a race for a time, but it cannot forever make that race loyal to the divine race. Culture cannot conquer a race, but it can make that race recognize the divine race’s rule from the depths of its heart, and willingly uphold it.”

Nan Luo looked at the gods and said with a smile.

The gods were all clear-minded and extraordinarily intelligent. Hearing Nan Luo’s words, divine sense in their minds set off a storm of wisdom, and they quickly understood how correct and how fearsome his words were.

To enslave a race through culture—how terrifying. Yet it was indeed the best way to uphold the divine race’s order of rule.

“Your Majesty is sage and enlightened!” the gods chorused, loudly praising the Divine Sovereign Nan Luo’s wisdom and brilliance.