Above the Great Dao

Chen Shi was intrigued: "What outrageous thing has happened to me?"

Wu Qingyu replied: "It's nothing serious. Just make sure not to get too close to Nannan in the future; it's because of her that we were caught."

Chen Shi became increasingly suspicious.

Nannan is the reincarnation of the Great Heavenly Lord, the last of the Ten Halls of Yama, renowned for his ironclad impartiality, and the only Yama not captured by the Thirteen Families.

Could it be that the mother and son committed heinous acts in the underworld, thus falling into the hands of the Great Heavenly Lord?

Chen Tang formulated various Demon Extermination Methods, accounted for all scenarios, and then gathered Granny Sha, Du Yiran, and others to practice them.

Chen Shi arrived at the Little Heavenly Realms, and during the time he was extracting demons, the people of Yu Tiancheng had constructed the Little Heavenly Realms to a considerable scale, complete with pavilions and towers. The palace structure here was designed by Chen Tang, modeled after the Six Ministries system, comprising six palace structures: Official, Revenue, War, Justice, Industry, and Ministry of Rites.

Now, the number of people in the Heavenly Court is still small, so the Six Ministries suffice.

The Ministry of Official Personnel Affairs led by Du Yiran, Ministry of Revenue by Chen Tang, Shao Jing, Ministry of Rites by Li Tianqing, Sha Qiutong, Ministry of War by Qing Yang, Heavenly Fox, Ministry of Justice by Zhuge Jian, Azhuo, Ministry of Industry by Situ Wen.

Led by the Ministry of Rites, it oversees the transmission of various supreme teachings from the True King's Tomb, the dissemination of cultivation techniques and spells, and the talent selection for Red Mountain Hall, Lu Ban Sect, and other powers.

Next comes Situ Wen's Ministry of Industry, which primarily replicates the Court's various firearms and refines talismanic weapons and magical treasures.

The Ministry of Revenue governs the distribution of money and talismanic weapons and magical treasures.

The Ministry of Official Personnel Affairs is responsible for the appointment of Incense Masters and Hall Masters across various regions.

The Ministry of Justice monitors corruption phenomena and investigates difficult cases in various regions.

The Ministry of War is responsible for dealing with evil spirits and demon transformations that cannot be resolved in various regions.

Chen Tang personally designed the Heavenly Court's Six Ministries, which is much improved over its original structure, and everyone's talents are utilized.

Currently, the Heavenly Court has few personnel, usually only thirty to fifty people, and often they are minor officials from the Court's Ministry of Revenue or students of Chen Shi. Another group comes from the talent selection of Red Mountain Hall and Lu Ban Sect.

Within Little Heavenly Realms, there is another document department specifically responsible for contacting various regional halls, managed by the private school teacher Fu Leisheng, who uses the Heavenly Court Token to liaise with halls across the regions, not included in the Six Ministries.

Among the fifty provinces of the West Bull New Continent, forty-seven provinces already have Heavenly Court halls. However, these are established under the guise of Red Mountain Hall's Talisman Master Association, recruiting talisman masters to help the people eradicate evil spirits. Furthermore, these talisman masters can support their families, learn better cultivation techniques, and receive better guidance from Red Mountain Hall.

Zhuge Jian said to Chen Shi: "From the aggregated information from various halls, as the celestial changes intensify, the evil spirits in various regions have increased rather than decreased. The Talisman Master Association's talisman masters have tried their best to help more people, resolving more evil spirits, yet their numbers keep increasing. Furthermore, there have been reports of demon seeds appearing in some places."

"Demon seeds?"

Chen Shi's face turned solemn and asked, "How can demon seeds be distinguished?"

Zhuge Jian replied: "It's very hard to distinguish. Some demon seeds disguise themselves as heavenly materials and earthly treasures about to be born. Last time in Red River Province, a demon seed appeared, hidden beneath the Red River, shining brightly at night and illuminating the sky, creating an illusion of reality fading in and out. Many cultivators thought a magical treasure was about to emerge, rushed to the scene, and saw faintly visible palaces at the river's bottom. They dove into the river to search for treasure. Those cultivators, one died after another, and no one came back alive. Hearing this, the Talisman Masters of Red Mountain Hall suspected it was a demon seed and reported it to the Hall Master of the Red River hall, who passed the message to Little Heavenly Realms. We went to verify, and only then did we confirm that the river's scene was an illusion cast by a demon seed to trap people."

Chen Shi frowned slightly.

"Red Mountain Hall has many experts, and I mobilized some people to deal with this demon seed."

Zhuge Jian said, "Similar demon seeds are easy to spot and not hard to handle. However, some demon seeds blend into crowds, making them very difficult to find. Their behavior is indistinguishable from ordinary people; they eat, drink, defecate, and sleep, showing no differences. But at night, they come out to eat people. Those near them won't defend against them at all, suddenly being devoured by them. This situation has been detected several times by the Talisman Masters of Red Mountain Hall. But the demon's power is strong, and we suffered considerable casualties among the talisman masters."

Just as Chen Shi was about to speak, a document report arrived, "Instructor, someone claiming to be Tong Qianshou from the Medicine King Sect is outside, seeking you."

Hearing this, Chen Shi laughed: "The Pharmacist has arrived!"

He rallied his spirits and immediately left Little Heavenly Realms. Zhuge Jian followed him outside, and they saw a yellow cloud floating in the sky at the edge of the village, covering the surroundings. Beneath the cloud was a massive Yellow Tiger, beside which a lean and lively elderly man led numerous pharmacists to Huangpo Village's outskirts.

The elderly man glanced at them and hurried forward, saying, "Which of you is Chen Shi, the top scorer?"

Chen Shi smiled: "Tong Sect Leader, how have you been? Have you visited the Medicine King's ancestral temple?"

This old man was indeed Tong Qianshou, and in the underworld, they were both skeletons and had never seen Chen Shi's face until today when they met properly.

Tong Qianshou hurriedly bowed: "If it weren't for Chen Top Scorer, my Medicine King Sect might never have been able to return to the ancestral temple, let alone receive guidance from the Medicine King!"

The pharmacists from the Medicine King Sect behind him then knelt down with a whoosh.

Chen Shi helped them up, laughed, "It's my duty, no need for formalities, please rise quickly."

Tong Qianshou's gratitude was evident, "To be honest, my Medicine King Sect has had many incompetent sect leaders; my master was incompetent, my ancestor was incompetent, the Great Ancestor was incompetent, and the Forefather was also incompetent. More than half of the Medicine King's lineage was lost. Today, we've finally restored the lineage, and the revival of the Medicine King Sect is just around the corner. Chen Top Scorer's righteous act is a grace of rebirth for us!"